Angels on my door step...

So, last Wednesday night I was laying in bed feeling all sad and pitiful.  The doctor said I had and infection in my lymph gland on my left thigh/groin (I told them how the pain in my inner thigh started right when I started getting dizzy then throwing up and the whole deal of burning my leg) that they found when they were doing an ultra sound on my leg to check for blood clots.  There weren't any blood clots thank goodness, but I was in bed, in pain, barely able to hobble to the bathroom (literally only a few feet away) with out crying and realizing on top of all that my period was starting (and little did I know I would have diarrhea the next day because of the huge dose of antibiotics I am on)! 

 All of the sudden my phone goes off and I get this text:

On cue I heard my favorite Primary song, Child's Prayer, being sung by the angels that were on my door step.  I was immediately in tears because I can hear them so well it was like they were standing in my room!  I needed that so much!

 I am so thankful that the Lord knows me and knows what I stand in need of.  I am thankful that the Spirit touches the hearts of those who are listening.  I am so thankful that my friend Leandra was listening when the Lord told her I needed to feel loved.  I do feel loved. :)

I didn't get to see this:

...in person (Aaron had taken a picture of it and showed it to me.) until Friday and we just took it down today (since Papa Harmon and Jake were pressure washing the porch). 

Thank you Leandra for having an open heart that felt the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  I hope I am always listening for the quiet whispers of the Holy Ghost....I hope you are too.

Things I never did post about in January: DC

Back in the middle of January (slack I know), Jake and I rode up to DC with Tina and the kiddos to drive Mom and Dad's car down for them (long story, short version-Allen drove it up to DC and we were driving it back). We were packed in like sardines but made it in good time and didn't even have to stay in a hotel.  The family that Allen rents a room from invited us all to stay.  And they even let Jake and I stay an extra night (Tina's family was headed home to NH) so we could do some sight seeing.



And they have trains....Jake loved it.  His three year old self would have been in hog heaven!

 Our first trip all by ourselves on the Metro in DC.  I have always ridden on it with people who live there.  We did pretty darn good for tourists.

We had to goals for the day.

Mine: National Archives.
Jake's: Air & Space Museum.

 Our first stop was National Archives!  EEEEKKKKK!  I was so excited.  We saw The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights.  It was so quiet and peaceful and I may have shed a few tears...Yep is is true.  The Declaration of Independence is the most faded of the three, because it was taken on tour around our new country.  But some of the words looked like they did, I am sure, the day they were written.  "Freedom" and I think "Liberty" were still so bold.  This is a great lesson.  Jake and I were both touched and amazed by the words that had been preserved so well...If I had blogged back in January I would remember it more vividly.  We will go back and see them again.  It was amazing to see them.  Next time I will write it down immediately.  I can check that off my bucket list!  I may have seen them as a kid but I don't remember. I think Jake will remember. Lucky homeschooler who has actually learned US history....

  McDonald's has never tasted so good!  We ate lunch at the Air & Space McDonald's before we explored.  Jake thinks he wants to be a Aero (thanks for nothing spell check.  Afro?  Really?) Space Engineer so he really wanted to see it all.

And there is a ton to see.  We didn't even have time to go through the whole thing or see any of the IMAX videos.  Next time....

He did a lot of staring.  It is all very cool but I wasn't as into the staring as he was...

He may have even drooled but I'm not sure...

We've been before (a few years ago) but it was fun to see again.

I thought the life size Leonardo da Vinci flying machine was AWESOME!

The hands on things are always a hit!

Jake gave it all two thumbs up....

Especially the gift shops!

Me, a crane, and the Capitol.

We decided as we were walking back to the metro that we had a few minutes for the Natural History Museum. 


At this point Jake seemed to be losing his enthusiasm for posing...

Until we got inside. :)

We had to take this picture on the down low.  It isn't really a picture of Jake...See the two kids in the corner?  They were at a Smithsonian in Washington DC and they were sitting on a bench on their smart phones.  PI-TI-FUL!!!!  We thought we were so cool taking this picture....

...And this picture. :)

It all felt very Night at the Museum...We need to watch those movies again.  It's been a while.

I think that is the Smithsonian Castle...Maybe...?

I know this one!  The Capitol Building!










And now I am going to tell you the reason why this whole day almost didn't happen.  It started off fine.  We drove to the Metro with no problem and were so excited!  We parked and were chatting and walking through the parking deck and as I am taking a step, in my mind in slow motion (the "....'s" are me typing in slow motion so you should probably read it in that funny slow motion voice), I am seeing myself stepping into a....puddle of water/oil and....then I am slipping in it....My right foot goes... straight out in front of me...I'm going down...and I catch myself...on my left knee....{PAIN!}....So hard that I pee my pants a little (don't read the last sentence in slow motion.  That is just embarrassing).  And when I say a little I mean more than just a tinkle but not a full one pee.  Great way to start the day and my knee was kind of killing me but I was more sad to have just peed my pants.  Awesome.  But because I am an amazing mom (who really wanted to see the Declaration of Independence and Constitution), we went and got on the Metro anyway.  Jake and Aaron think it is hysterical to say (in a sad, pitiful, kind of crying voice-similar to the one I spoke these same words in...), "I peed my pants a little bit!"  So posterity you can see what I have to put up with! :)  It is all worth it when you can count it as a day of school.

I'm Word Smart...and a few things I have accomplished.

Ahhhh....It is so nice to have accomplished something.  It has been about a week since I have accomplished anything other than being sick and getting better.  That is important but you know what I mean.  I probably over did a little...but I vacuumed the living room (after picking it up), the dining room (after kind of picking it up), and the kitchen after cleaning it.  And I mopped the floor.  I folded a load of wash and put another one in.  I helped Jake memorize the Scout Law, and made a menu/grocery list.  I took breaks and put my leg up and  I am feeling pretty good.  Hopefully I can get back to the gym in a couple of days.  I am saying that as if I was some regular before...That is something I am working on!

 I also sat outside in the glorious Spring weather (with my leg up) while Jake jumped on the trampoline.   And then Jake unwrapped the spicket from it's winter protection and screwed in the hose and Sadie loved her first spray of the year!  Spring is finally here!  We skipped co-op today because the church we meet in is a winding labyrinth of staircases and long halls that I just wasn't ready to try to traverse.  I know I did a lot on my feet at home but I worked and then sat and propped my leg up.  (Keep in mind this is my list of accomplishments...Jake did school.  He started the day with math outside on the porch.  Gotta love Spring!)

Jake is outside with Papa Harmon pressure washing the porch and I just read a little bit of the birthday present I got for Tina (this is a belated gift...Her birthday was back in November...) and a book I got myself (after we read them we can switch).  It is a book by Dr. Kathy Koch (pronounced Cook).  She spoke at the The Great Homeschoool Convention (which I am still going to blog about) and she is AMAZING!!!

  I was inspired by her!  In the little bit I was reading and based on things she talked about at one of her seminars I attended I have learned I am word smart.  Here are some characteristics of a word smart person:  reads for fun (yes), reads for information (yep), accurate oral reading (read to Jake all the time),  interest in vocabulary words (I am in love with my 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary), write for fun (doing it now), writes to inform (well maybe), writes to engage the reader (I'd like to think so), enjoys talking (mmhmm)....etc.  I am word smart.  I very much enjoy words and using them.  There are 8 intelligences: word, logic, picture, music, body, nature, people, and self.  I am sure I will find I am some of them also but for the moment I KNOW I am word smart.  I can't wait to read more and learn about what "smarts" Jake and Aaron and everybody are!  How exciting is it to know how you are "smart" and then go on to use those powers for good....I am word smart. :)  What kind of smarts do you have?

Brain Declutter: Dear....

*Dear Jake (I'm talking in the future here...keep up with me), or one of his future children, or grandchildren,
   
      Hope  you are doing well and quit frankly I hope I am too (I am old by now)!  I am going to cut right to the chase.  I have had this problem for years now (unless you have fixed it...in which case disregard what I am about to say) of writing blog posts in my head when I can not fall asleep.  I know you are smart so I am going to ask you to work on something that will make you rich and help the vast majority of people.  I would like you to create a microchip that will be placed in the brain (I am not sure where or how but you are bright you will figure it out) that will keep track of your thoughts and send them straight to the hard drive on your computer!  Doesn't that sound brilliant! (If you know me well, and you had better, than you know I just typed that last sentence in a British accent...if you didn't catch that, go back and read it again please...I will wait...okay. Continue reading)  As you know I am not a fan of proofreading and quit frankly rarely do it, but if what I wanted to type was already on my computer (sent from the microchip in my brain!)  than all I would have to do is proofread and it would really be a much more pleasant experience.  Work on it and when you write a book about your accomplishments please dedicate it to me.  That's really not too much to ask since I am the one who has given you this idea. Love, Mom, Mimi...or whatever you may call me.  I love Little Women, so  Marme (I know it is for Mother but I really think it can work for grandmother also) would be delightful! (Delightful=British accent, rest of sentence=Southern accent because you BETTER live near me....) 

P.S.-my intentions are for this to only be the thoughts of a person when they are awake and only when the microchip is told to record data and save to the hard drive.  If you want to include peoples sleeping thoughts (dreams or nightmares) you are opening up a whole lot of crazy that the world doesn't need more of.  Think it through...use your powers for good....  Random Test: "Keep it secret, keep it safe."  What is that from?  Keep this secret too if you haven't done it yet so no one steals our idea. 

*Dear Hormones (present not future...again please keep up),
     Well old friend, I have to admit you have been fairly kind to me for several months.  But (and theres always a but with you) of all times for you to actually work?...Now?  Really?  I am literally using a walker to make it to the living room and you think now is a good time to have my period?  NOT COOL...Not cool at all.

*Dear Short Term Memory,
     I even made a mental note but forgot it already. You are supposed to help me with stuff like this you big ole' slacker!!!   Did I just take one (which is half a dose) of Tylenol PM or did I take both of them?   (Posterity...Are you still reading.  The microchip would have been perfect for this particular moment....Learn from history...)  I am pretty sure I just took one but I don't want to damage my liver or kidneys-whichever one it will damage if I take too much (I just read the bottle and you didn't help me remember that either! UGH!), so now my hands are tied.  I need to sleep and I am not. I will not take another pill.  Thanks for nothing.  Don't worry I will be over this by morning because I will totally have forgotten this happened...and so will you.  What?

*Dear Liver or Kidneys (whichever this applies too),
   Your welcome.

*Dear Future Me,
   Wow you look great!  You never thought you could do it, but you did! Getting really sick and burning yourself with a heating pad, and throwing up, and not eating much for (awhile...?  Not sure yet how long that is going to last) some time, and then having diarrhea from the antibiotics (and writing run on sentences), and losing weight because of it (oh yeah that so better be happening right now) really jump started your weight lose.  And look at you know-you lost it and kept it off.  You got healthy and You.Feel.Great!  And you wrote a book about it!...or something way cooler like a novel(s)...that became a best seller?  You really are amazing!  Keep up the good work. :)


One More Thing....okay...maybe two because this is WAY too much fun!

*Dear Commas,
   You know I love you!  So much in fact that I use you where ever I want to!  If  I pause in my head while typing that is where you will be.  Each, and, every, time! 

*Dear Whoever Maybe Reading This,
     Don't judge.  Everyone is a little crazy.  I just let mine out. :)

I am alive...barely.

This should be a post about how amazing The Great Homeschool Convention but it's not.  I don't have that kind of energy right now.  I am waiting to go to the doctor to have him check a burn I have on my leg....which is a longish story.

On Monday we went to co-op and then to Chick-fil-a with a few friends.  A few minutes after we ate I felt a little dizzy and the inside of my left thigh started tightening up.  We were going to friends house after that so I figured it would go away...it didn't.  Long story short I had diarrhea and threw up A LOT at their house.  I had to call my parents for them to come pick us up because I couldn't drive.  I have spent all but maybe four hours since then in my bed.  The worse my headache got the worse my muscle tensed in my thigh and my sweet sister-in-law, the girl Erin,  picked up a heating pad for me.  It immediately helped my thigh so later in the middle of the night when my calf started cramping I thought it would help.  I put it on my bare skin and having taken Tylenol PM, I promptly fell back to sleep, sitting up, with the heating pad on my leg for a few minutes.  I was so sick I didn't even realize I had burned it until the next day.  Fast forward a day and I am sitting on the couch waiting for my mom to pick me up to take me to the doctor to get the burn checked.  I still have a fever but I don't think it is from being sick any more.  I am sitting on the couch because if I lay back down I will not get back up any time soon.  It took me an hour to take a shower and get dressed because I can barely walk.  I had Jake put a chair in the hallway so that I could have a place to stop and rest from my bedroom to the living room so I wouldn't keel over from the stabbing pain in my leg!

On the bright side I have only eaten a sleeve of saltines and drank water and ginger ale since Monday so if I am lucky I will lose a few pounds! :)

Now for the part where you may not want to look.  Yep I took pictures and yes I am posting them.  Let this be a lesson to everyone.  Don't use a heating pad while partially unconscious!  And let me tell you these pictures make it look good.  It is way redder than the picture makes it look and it is really swollen...

I don't usually rock the fuzzy socks with sport slides look but I am going for comfort.  Only one more hour until I have to some how make it to the car...That is a lot of steps...Pray for me!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Green eggs and ham.  Keeping the tradition alive...we had too since we have forgotten so many lately!  Sorry Pi day...next year will be big. 

The end.

And then I remembered why I do it.

Right as I was going to make amends and discuss why I was so bummed out about what had happened, I got Jake's text and then I remembered (again) there will be days like these.  I told Jake that after he swore to never complain again.  I told him not to make that promise because it is one he couldn't keep-and that is okay as long as we are trying and working together.  I told him there will be days like this and we will have to work through them.  Sometimes our plans don't live up to our expectations.  Sometimes they do.  Life isn't perfect but it is good.

While I was in my solitude, Jake got dressed, tidied his room, packed to run away (seems we had the same plan if all else failed)...then he read a chapter in history and did a worksheet that went along with it.  He made lunch, read, and learned a lesson.  So did I.  Sometimes taking a moment (or 20) is the best idea.  Hurtful words don't have to be begged back and everyone has time to think.  Lesson learned and that is homeschooling...

Dear Bedroom,

It seems this will be the second day in a row we spend at least part of the day together.  I am sure you will notice there is not an exclamation mark at the end of that sentence, for good reason.  I'm not spending time with you for my enjoyment....You will remember I spent most of the day with you yesterday because I had a headache.  Some would call it a migraine, but I only call it that if any tiny amount of noise or light causes me to be on the verge of throwing up.  It wasn't that kind of headache but it was bad enough that the only thing that finally made it go away (after taking ibuprofen all day long) was a 44 oz Dr. Pepper and extra strength headache medicine...that also had caffeine in it.  The headache was gone but I then spent most of the night (until about 3:30 am...last time I checked) not being able to sleep, and that after taking a Tylenol PM...I was desperate.

Today I am escaping.  I started the day on my knees with a prayer in my heart that we would have a productive, meaningful, and heartwarming day of homeschooling.  Picture Snow White (with a twist) whistling while she works while she cleans and homeschools the 7 dwarfs.  Maybe it is because I am tired or maybe it is because Jake is slowly driving me insane, either way it has not ended up to be that kind of day...at all.  So, here I am spending some time with you again Bedroom.

My intentions were to get a good deal of math, science, IEW, and house work done, all the while laughing and enjoying spending time with Jake.  The day started off with me telling Jake to turn the TV off.  There was no need to have it on-we were going to eat breakfast and jump right into our wonderful day together!  I said it nicely, with a smile on my face, and the reaction was much negotiations and debate on how much better the day goes if Jake can watch TV first.  Some where along the way I have let Jake have a say in our daily routine, and I have created a monster.  EVERYTHING seems to be a topic up for negotiations and it makes me want to pull every hair out of my head, one at a time.

After the little squabble over turning the TV off we got back on track (and I made Jake go say his morning prayer so he would be on the same page as me and my plan for a harmonious day) and Jake got an hour of Khan Academy (math) done.  While he did that I read. YOu see Bedroom, I am supposed to set an example and be "studying" also.  That is what "they" say any way.  After he was done and felt good about accomplishing some things that just yesterday were tough for him, I decided to let him build for almost 45 minutes with Lego's (we have Lego Club on Thursday).  While he did this I cleaned the kitchen, dusted and vacuumed the living areas and got started on some laundry.  Ahhh...This plan of mine seemed to be coming along just fine!  I gave Jake the heads up that he had 2 minutes until we were going to do science together.  We were going to read part of the chapter together and I was going to teach him how to take notes that would be helpful when studying for a test, or just to refer back to in other chapters when he needed to refresh his memory.  You will notice, dear Bedroom, that I said I was going to.  It didn't happen and her I sit on my bed typing like a maniac about what just occurred....Not before I tidied you up a little though.  Nothing like a bed freshly made to make you feel like you have accomplished something!

You see, Jake had just finished his project when I was sitting down on the couch to curl up with the science book and bond over it with him.  Then Jake says, "Okay, I will be right there.  I am just going to fill up the sink and see if it floats (that is the theme this month.  Build something out of Lego's that floats)!"  I kindly told him we would test it after we did science.  To which he replied, "Come on.  It will only take 5 seconds!"  We went back and forth, and back and forth (again), and I told him he could do whatever he wanted because I was done and yes there were tears-on my part.  Sorry I slammed your door, but it does really make me feel better to have done it.  Jake has been to the door three times now saying he sorry and asking what he needs to be doing.  The thing is he is only really sorry when I get mad or upset, so I am going to let feel bad for a little while this time.  The first time he came to the door (he asked to come in but I said no) I told him whatever he wanted to do because I was tired of arguing about the things I would like him to do.  The second time I told him to try and figure it out-that he knows what he needs to be doing.  This last time I told him to find something to do.  Even through a closed door he wants to debate and have it his way.  After I told him to go away, I said it nicely I promise, I am just not ready to have the "do you want to go back to public school?  Do you know how good you have it?  Do you realize I am in charge!!!..." talk right now.  I am letting him sweat it.   I could just go out and talk it out but I am going to let him figure it out.  I had already told him the three main things we were going to work on today.  He is twelve.  I am hoping, praying, and dreaming, that by the time I am done typing this I will go out and find him actually doing something that could be mistaken for school.

I am tired, literally and figuratively.  I am tired of the whining every time we start school, move on to another subject, have to do a simple chore, or tell him he has to take a shower...!!!!...Hold on Jake is back at your door...Same question, plus can he have a snack added to the end of it.  He isn't going down with out a fight, but I will win this battle.  He will learn how lucky he is to be homeschooled.  That he can take initiative to do something (ANYTHING!) with out me telling him.  And when I do tell him it is time to do whatever I am telling him to do, he will do it willingly!!!!!!!  Bedroom is that too much to ask?!?!?  Also does it mean I really have lost it since I am venting to you?

Okay Bedroom!  Wish me luck.  I am going to say another prayer and go try again.  Please pray with me that I will find Jake reading a book or something, ANYTHING that I discussed earlier that we were going to be doing...or I might just pick up my keys and purse and run away! :)

De-stressing...Project #1

(It has been too long since I have de-stressed by doing a little distressing...So glad I did this yesterday.  I have four projects I am going to be doing in the next couple of weeks...Project #1 is officially DONE!)

 I love finding old things that people are throwing away. My mom found this one next to a dumpster.  I was driving behind her and she jumped out and I thought she was pointing at the dumpster...until I looked down and saw this little gem...

I almost forgot to take a before...

I did remember to take a during...

And I love the after...

I hate to part with this one...

We're moving...

...the end of April.  Same town.  We are just moving into our house. :)  More on that later....