Dinosaurs #2

Carefully sweeping away rocks and dirt.

Here is Elijah on Paleontologist day.

He uncovered a skull.

Elijah found a skill and two bones. Pedro watched carefully so

 he can go out and dig for bones.

Dinosaurs #1

Elijah and I have been doing a little unit study on dinosaurs. Well.... it started out as a little unit, but it has went on and on forever it seems. I'm so ready to move on to another topic, but I do believe Elijah has had fun learning all about dinosaurs.

In fact he had so much fun there will be several Dinosaur post in the next day or so.

On this day Elijah got out his toy dinosaurs and made name plates and set them up like a dinosaur museum 

More Dinosaur post to come!

Wasted Trip

Last Monday I had a doctor appointment with the Rheumotologist 2 hours away from home.

Thankfully Dakota wasn't busy so he was able to drive me over. I was so looking forward to this appointment because I knew I was going to be seeing the Nurse Practitioner. I figured she would listen to what I was saying and ask me questions and help figure out what needs to be done.

I had my hopes WAY to high! She was rude and crude just like the doctor. What did I expect, he trained her.

If I hadn't had to pay for a doctor visit, gas in the van, wear n tear on the van and my bald tires, eating out... ummm scratch.... that eating out was the best part of the trip, this could have been a comedy!

She came in the room fussing at me. She said I was supposed to have sent some paper work from another doctor that I see. I told her this doctor said he didn't need it. She was going to set me straight. I just happened to have the letter in my notebook so I pulled it out and showed her. She said "Oh he must have forgot" and changed the subject.

She was no help at all. She was not happy that I had typed out a list of my symptoms. She said "I've never had a patient to give me a typed list of their symptoms." She kept saying stuff like "I don't even know what to do with this. How do you want me to address this?"

Her advice for me was that I need to go to counseling to find out why I hurt so bad! Wait! What? Yes, she really said that. This week while I was in Wal-Mart wondering how I was going to make it to the front of the store (I had made it to the back, sat down on a bench, sent the kids to get different things) and had tears welling up in my eyes from the pain and from embarrassment that I'm in this bad of shape I thought about what she said. I had a few words I'd like to have shared with her at that moment.

She also told me I need to get a sleep study done to find out why I can't sleep. Last night as I laid on the couch crying, moaning and yelling out from the pain every time I moved I almost laughed thinking of what a sleep study person would write down if they were watching me. Ummmm Lady can't sleep because she won't stop crying.

Also everything I asked her about she would say "You need to see your primary doctor for that."
Let me just go ahead and say when I ask the primary doctor he is going to say "You need to see the Reheumotologist for that." Who knew, I could be a doctor? I can say "You need to see ____ for that" every time I'm asked something I don't know.

She did say I have all the markers for Lupus and my ANA is +, but then she said it could be 10 years before you get the diagnosis.

They drew some blood and gave me a return appointment that I will be calling to cancel. I'm not going back over there. I'm sure I can find someone just as rude that won't listen to me right in my town.

For now I don't know what my plan is. I put in a call to my primary doctor's office the other day for prescription refill, but didn't hear back. My primary is actually out having back surgery so I expect to hear from his NP this next week. I'm also going to give the allergist a call and see if he got more of my test results in.

Oh I don't think I posted that the Allergist called me. He called and said they had some of the test in but not all. He wanted to know if I had been tested for Lupus. He said my ANA was + and my sed rate was really high. I'm told that every time I have blood work done. Then he said and when you were in the other day I noticed you have the malar rash on your face.

I really don't care if I don't get a diagnosis for anything, I just want relief so I can feel better!

Choir

Our homeschool group has a wonderful choir program. Thank you JMB for heading up choir so that our children have this opportunity.

Dakota was in Master Works Choir from 1st grade to 9th grade then at that time the choir fell apart. Master Works Choir was made up of a mixture of homeschoolers, public and private school children. So the next year JMB stepped up and began the choir for our homeschool group. Dakota didn't join in at that time but did the next two years. So during Dakota's schooling years he missed one year of choir.

Elijah joined choir in the second grade. For 3rd grade he only did half a year (his choice) and over the summer he decided he wanted to join choir again. I'll be honest I tried to talk him out of it. Not that I don't think choir is a good thing, it is wonderful, but I am so unsure about my health and want to guard our commitments. He told me choir was something he really really wanted to do. SO.......

Today was the first day of choir for Elijah. He loved it. He did tell me there wasn't enough boys in his group, but he does have a friend in there who joined choir for the first time . He moved up to the next age group. Truth be told that's why he dropped out last year, he thought he was too old to be in with younger kids.

Here are a couple of pictures from a choir concert two years ago. Elijah's hair has grown so much since then!



YES, the bow ties are HUGE and YES all the boys hate the bow ties!

Rocky the Turtle

Meet Rocky our turtle. Elijah got Rocky in September of 2007 as a back to school project. He is still small, but he has grown a lot over the years.


Rocky is very friendly and loves attention. You can see he is coming right up to see what I'm doing.


Rocky lives in our kitchen on this small filing cabinet. Every time someone walks in the kitchen he goes crazy wanting some attention. His tank could probably use some cleaning, but he hasn't complained yet.

He will eat from your hand and iff you snap your fingers he will follow you around.




We buy ReptoMin food at Wal-Mart to feed rocky. It has some little pellets and dried shrimp.

We just dump a little food in and Rocky starts munching down.

Sometimes Elijah takes Rocky outside for a walk.

If you are looking for an easy pet, a turtle might be the pet for you.

All Things Multiplication!

We came to a stand still in math until Elijah learns his multiplication facts. He does know how to figure up the answers, but he needs to know the fact better without having to figure up the answer.

I knew I would get bored with plain ole flash cards so I created a fishing game. We have used this little rod and reel with a magnet on the end for so many games over the years.


Elijah fishing for multiplication fish. Elijah catches a fish and reads it and says the answer, if he doesn't know the answer he has to throw the fish back in the pond for another try.


Pedro had to take a roll in the fish pond.

Our multiplication fish.

I found this big ole fly swatter at Dollar Tree. I didn't know what I was going to use it for, but I had to have it.

I knew I'd come up with a game to use the big ole fly swatter for. I printed out some flies and wrote numbers on them. I call out a multiplication fact and Elijah swats the fly with the right answer. The fishing game and fly swatter game are so much more fun than plain ole flash cards.

I went through the school room and gathered up everything multiplication and put them in a drawer so we would have them handy.

I made the white dice out of laminated card stock. I'm able to write the facts that we are reviewing on them and then wipe em clean to change the facts.


I bought this multiplication square at a local teacher store. In the past I have made addition or subtraction balls using a beach ball or a big rubber ball. We throw them to each other and when you catch it you have to say the fact and answer closest to your right thumb. I like the balls much better than this square.



Multiplication lapbook from Homeschool Share.



We are on our way to learning our multiplication facts!

Pedro

This is Pedro, our crazy Chihuahua that likes to get his picture made.

We took Pedro to the vet today and he has allergies. It runs in the family! He got an allergy shot that is supposed to last for 3 weeks. Ummm I do not want to have to take him to the vet every month to get an allergy shot! I do hope the poor dog can sleep tonight.

Since he got a shot the kids decided to take him to Pet Co for a prize. He got a new collar.
WAIT! I got a shot on Monday and blood drawn on Tuesday... where's my prize?

The photo was taken by Dakota.

I Love Legos

This past week we have been having Lego school. Yes, Legos are educational!
Here is Elijah's Lego lapbook. He designed the front cover.

Elijah's vocabulary words were manufacture, granule, creative, and ingenuity. For Copy work Elijah copied some quotes from some very famous men in our history.

The yellow piece of card stock is taped on at the top to provide an extension.

We used Legos to make a graph, do some estimation and multiplication.

We learned who invented Legos, where he was from, when the first Lego was invented and what material it was made from. Also learned what Lego means in Danish and Latin.


Here are a few of Elijah's creations this week. I told him to pick his 4 favorite creations from the week.





My friend, Nicole, and her sweet children are working on their Lego lapbook this week. Check out their Lego fun.

This Lego lapbook came from Ami over at Walking by the Way. Thanks for sharing Ami.

Give Me That Shot Again!

Yesterday I got a shot of dexamathasone. I wish I could get a shot of that every week. I've had such relief today.

It is a steroid which hypes you up and keeps you awake so I was unable to sleep all night, but at least I was NOT crying in pain.

This morning Dakota took me to the doctor. It was the allergist appointment the dermatologist set me up with yesterday. I loved the allergy doctor, he was very nice.
He wanted to do the skin test allergy testing on me, but since I take vistaril like candy he couldn't.
I was really glad though because I have enough going on with my skin and I don't think it would be a good idea to add scratches on purpose. So he sent me for lab work. Lots of pages listing out the lab test, the lab tech actually said "You have a book of test."
They will call with those results later on.

Next we ate some lunch before heading to Wal-Mart to get some groceries. I got some salad stuff. Then we headed to Target and got more prescriptions filled. For someone who hates taking meds I sure do have a collection of them sitting here on my desk.

The plan is to take it easy around here for rest of the week and through the weekend, get some school done and just enjoy life. Monday the kids and I will head to Shreveport for my Rheumatologist appointment.

I hope the affects from the shot will last a few days.

A Renewed Hope

I had a very bad weekend that seemed to be getting worse by the minute. I was so glad when 8 AM rolled around this morning and I could call to get an appointment. The girl who answered the phone told me I couldn't come in today and I started crying. She asked me if it was an emergency and I said YES. She said I could come sit and get worked in.
I honestly felt like I needed to be in the hospital not just going in to the office.

When the doctor walked in the room he said "OH My God, What happened to you?" First off my face is very swollen and then Saturday I woke up with this red splotchy raised whelps all over my face and neck. It is like one big whelp but just running every where.

My skin is also flared up really bad. I'm so sick of this. I've dealt with this for so long with out any relief at times I feel like I can't go on any longer.

After being up all night crying in pain and spending the day at the doctor, who wrote on my paper once again contact dermatitis because he just doesn't know, and getting prescriptions filled I finally made it home, got a shower and went to bed. I cried and cried and called out to God for relief. I can not live like this. I feel so sick I feel each day could be my last day on earth.

When I woke up I came to my computer and googled a bunch of different stuff, but basically that I feel sick all over and doctors can't help. I came up with Candida yeast infection.

I'm going drastic! I've got to give it a try. I can not live like this another day. This will be very hard, but I'm going to give it a go. Please pray that I have the strength to keep this up so I can see if it makes a difference in my health.

I have been on high doses of prednisone for well over a year now and my readings tell me that can cause this infection in your body.

With Dakota's help we've came up a small list of foods I can eat. It's the middle of the month and grocery funds have already been spent on foods I can't eat, but I'm going to buy some salad stuff and start from there.

I have an appointment with an allergist Tuesday morning. I hope he has some ideas to help me. Next Monday I have an appointment with my rheumatologist in Shreveport. Actually I'll be seeing his NP and I'm looking forward to that because I know she will sit and listen and ask questions, not like the doctor who I feel like just sticks his head in the door for a few seconds.

I LOVE how God speaks to me and knows things I don't know a head of time. Last week I started to pay something I owe. I reached in my bag and touched the envelope I had the money in. I heard WAIT. I was ready to pay so I really didn't know why I should wait, but I did even though it felt strange. I didn't know I was going to get this sick and have two doctor visits this week. But Jesus did. I was already wondering how I was going to have gas money and doctor plus prescription money for the rheumatologist in Shreveport next week, which happens to fall two days BEFORE payday. Now I've added two doctor visits and the 4 prescriptions from today. I don't know if there will be more prescriptions tomorrow.

Dakota is googling recipes for me right now. I love that kid! When payday rolls around he'll help me buy some foods I can eat.

So far in this horrible journey the only thing that has made me feel even a little bit better is when I'm in the bed so sick I can't get up and Elijah comes in to lay down with me for a few minutes and he prays for me. That is so precious to me. I hate that my child has to worry about me and pray for me like he does, but I love it when he does pray for me.

Even though I have two more doctor appointments coming up I don't have hope for answers from them, I'm going anyway... just in case! But I'm feeling a renewed hope in trying this candida/sugar free food list.
Please, yes, I'm begging you, pray for me to be able to stick to this for at least a couple of weeks to see if I can tell a difference in my health. Thanks friends.

Gosh I have rambled on and on....

One Step Away

Dakota sent me this picture and said we are one step away from this being us.

Elijah and Reading

Elijah has never enjoyed reading. I thought he was a struggling reader forever. Finally Dr. Bryan at the College, who is over the Literacy Clinic told me Elijah CAN read, he just don't WANT to.
I'd thought I'd never see him reading for pleasure.

Over the past few months he has been researching stuff online and reading about it. Mostly about animals he would like to own or sometimes something he saw on TV and wants to know more about it. I've been happy to see him doing that.

Just this month I made him a calendar reading chart. I told him each night if he reads a book or some of a book if it's a chapter book he can put a sticker on the chart. At the end of the month we will see how much he read and decide on a prize. It'll probably be something Lego. So far he has made 11 out of 14 days!

A while back Elijah bought a book, with his own money because I wouldn't buy it, A Practical Guide to Dragons. He said he read it, but I wasn't sure if he REALLY read it. I never looked at the book. I'm not into dragons and don't care to know anything about dragons.


The other night while in Books A Million Elijah found another dragon book he wanted. I looked at the book, pages and pages of sentences, 146 pages to be exact, very few pictures. I said "Elijah, you won't read this." He assured me he would read it. I went a head and bought the book because it was only $2.97, but I had my doubts about him reading it.

Once in the van he got his book out of the bag. A few minutes later I noticed he was using the light from his cell phone to read. I motioned for Dakota to look, we were both shocked. We made our way over to the grocery store and Elijah didn't want to get out because "I just got to a good part!" My heart was smiling so big! Elijah was finally reading for pleasure. For the record I did make him get out and go in with us.

Here is a snippet I found online about the book Elijah is reading.
Seventeen short selections that will appeal to lovers of dragons, fantasy, and folktales. A broad range of writing styles and plot twists are pulled together to provide readers with something fresh in each tale. Excerpts from classic novels such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and short stories such as Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon" are included. In addition, there are folktales from China, Italy, and Germany. Most of the heroes are men, but occasionally children are the only ones who can outsmart the dragon. In "Li Chi Slays the Serpent," it is a young girl who conquers the beast. Hague's beautiful full-page watercolors reflect the different moods of the stories and the temperaments of the dragons depicted. A pen-and-ink drawing of a dragon announces each new selection; delicately detailed line drawings appear throughout. The combination of well-selected stories and excerpts and dramatic artwork make The Book of Dragons a fine addition to library collections.?


Elijah also has this Dragonology book that he enjoys pouring over.

Like I said, I'm not into dragons, don't even care to read about dragons, but sometimes we do stuff for our kids even though we don't enjoy it. Elijah has a high interest in them right now so I'm creating a lapbook for him about dragons. I hope to get it done so he can make his lapbook next week. Stay tuned for lapbook pictures.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Yes, we have Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as pets, doesn't everyone? Their names are Mr. Hiss and Mrs. Hisser.


We have finished 4 days of school and it seems to be going well. This evening Elijah completed his lapbook on his cockroaches.



Here is a picture of the lapbook open.



You can see the different booklets and flaps open with information on the inside.



There is a close up of Elijah holding his pets.


This is a picture of Mrs. Hisser going through a Lego maze that Elijah built. He used the stop watch on his phone to time them making their way through the maze.
On day one it took Mr. Hiss 1 minute and 13 seconds and Mrs. Hisser 1 minute and 6 seconds.
Then on day two it took Mr. Hiss 46 seconds and Mrs. Hisser whipped through the maze in 30 seconds.

This is where Mr. Hiss and Mrs. Hisser live. They mostly stay under that piece of egg carton during the day. At night they come out and climb all over the little cage.


This was a fun lapbook and study. Elijah is so proud of his lapbook, I hope I can do more with his this school year.

You can get this lapbook and many more fun lapbooks from Homeschool Share.