The Boot of Doom Saga

It has been a while, but I'm back! We have upgraded our internet service to another provider, so posting is a lot easier. Hooray!

 

The Boot of Doom Saga: 

I have posted a bit about the boot of doom, but to simplify things here is the whole story. 

I damaged the ligaments in my ankle in early December. I had the dubious honor of wearing the "boot of doom" for 4-1/2 weeks (December - April). After 4 months of the boot, the first podiatrist gave up on me. It is pretty depressing to have a doctor actually give up on you. But thankfully the next podiatrist had me out of the boot within 2 weeks. I did have an MRI after 2 months in the boot and managed to avoid surgery.

Once I graduated from the boot, I had 6 weeks of physical therapy. I had an amazing therapist. I learned that: It can be fun to write the ABCs with your toes. Walking on your tip toes can be a challenge, until you build up your strength. And, prolonged use of a walking boot also weakens your calf muscles.

Unfortunately, I sprained it again in mid-July and went back into the boot for another 2 weeks as a precautionary measure, for a grand total of 5 months in the boot of doom. I still have swelling in my ankle, but I have been boot free for almost a month now. Hip hip hooray! 

Unfortunately the first round of uneven walking caused twisting of my spine, so I am now seeing a chiropractor. I have been going for a month so far. The chiropractor is pretty amazing and she has a very sweet office dog. Good new is that I can get out of bed now without squeaking in pain and it is getting easier to bend over to wash my hands in the bathroom sink. I have been very fortunate to find some really good medical professionals this year.

I have learned a few things from this experience: 
1) There is a device called Evenup that you attach to your good foot/shoe, it helps to balance you out so one leg is not taller than the other. The chiropractor told me about it, so I had it for the last 1-1/2 weeks of the boot. I wish that I would have known about it back in December though.
2) Avoid hickory nut husks at all times. We need to keep the driveway between the house and garage either swept or scooped of hickory nuts and sweet gum balls at all times.
3) Always wear an ankle brace when on uneven surfaces, although my last two injuries were on a paved surface. 
4) Produce bags from the grocery store are awesome way to protect the soft part of the walking boot and your foot from snow and rain.
5) Safety pins and felt shapes are a fun way to decorate a walking boot.

This experience has taught me quite a bit:
~ I have more empathy for those with mobility issues. I also pay better attention to how close I park to others in parking lots. I never had a handicap placard and there were a few times, I had to wait for another person to return to their car before I could attempt to get into my vehicle.
~ I have had to learn to rely more on others and to ask for help more often. 
~ My children have become more helpful. Pumpkin is now my laundry buddy; the washer and dryer are in the basement. Princess is my dishwasher buddy, helping me to bend over to get items. 
~ A bar stool is a wonderful item to own and it was very helpful for cooking without standing in the kitchen. 

It is my sincere goal to never wear the boot of doom again. ;-)

Out Like A Lion

March was rough, but I have hope that April will be better.

 

I did not accomplish as much on my goals as I had hoped. My allergies kicked in and knocked me down for about a week, darn pine pollen. I am still rocking the boot of doom. Sixteen weeks (four months) so far. I see the doctor on Monday.

We had some serious technology problems in March. I spent over fourteen hours with tech support of three different companies. I think that the root of our problem is our internet provider and the extremely slow snail paced speed, so I am working on researching viable options. The new modem and new router that I purchased brand new is doing much better than the refurbished piece of junk that our internet provider sold us in August. My kindle is finally working again, after I had to deregister, reregister, restore factory setting (system wipe), and reregister with a tech support person because it was not able to download readable books. Finally, I thought that the laptop had been fixed, but discovered last night that Microsoft Updates is frozen at 0% again. Oh joy, more time with tech support in my future!

A positive for March . . . . . I got new glasses. My prescription has been reduced, although I am heading to the eye doc in a bit to have them retweaked. The new prescription isn’t quite right and I am having issues with my long distance vision. But I like my new frames. My previous frames I got in 2011. I try to use them through at least two doctor visits before updating them.

Goals Update

Health Goals 1) Get more sleep- I did better with the sleep before the time change. After the time change and during the days spent with tech support, I did not do so well. I was online with HP tech support until 1:30 am one morning. Ugh! When I contacted them at 9:30 pm, I thought this will only take an hour. Famous last words! Ha ha ha ha! The past few days have finally evened out in the sleep department. 2) Strengthen my ankle- Since I am still rocking the boot of doom, strengthening my ankle was not in the cards.

House Goal 1) Clean and organize the kids’ rooms. Well. . . . this one is an epic fail. We did manage a path to Princess’s dresser. Pumpkin and I got 1/3 of his room cleaned and it has remained cleaned. We still have 2/3 to tackle. The only time we have to clean the rooms is on the weekends (none homework nights), so we have been a bit limited with the Easter holiday and when I could barely walk. We will need to continue during the month of April.

Family Goal 1) Encourage everyone to clean-up after themselves in the sunroom- We have good days and bad days with this. The “Bunny” got the kids Legos, so we have a Lego explosion right now. I have given them both gallon sized baggies to pick up their Legos before bedtime each night. Then remind them if I step on a Lego with the boot, it might break. So there is another one good plus to the boot of doom, it definitely encourages the kids to clean up more. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Self Goals 1) Take the time to capture some nature photography- I have gotten a few good shots during March. I have been a bit more limited, since it is difficult to leave paved areas. 2) Have a least one girls day adventure- Aw, man! Another month goes by without getting a chance to do something with a friend or two. Parenthood is not all it is cracked up to be at times. I will have to work harder on this one. But if texting friends to keep up counts, I have definitely rocked that one with a couple friends.

Well off to have a few adventures before write my April Goals post.

Cooking Therapy

I accomplished one of my "self" goals for February- trying at least one new recipe that sounds good. 

I find cooking fun and relaxing, but I just have not had the time and fortitude to do much lately. There are two major reasons: 1) During the school year, we spend a lot of time in the evenings doing homework. If I wasn't a working mama, then I probably would have more time to prep for dinner before picking the kids up from school. As it is hubby much rather attempt to cook, than be stationed at the homework table. So we have been having quite a bit of fast food, hot dogs, cheese toasties, cereal, and pizza for dinner. I usually get a chance to cook on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. 2) I just celebrate 11 weeks with the "boot of doom" (aka walking boot). I found out in mid-February that the problem is that I seriously messed up two ligaments in my ankle. Thankfully no surgery, but more time in the boot. I go back to the foot doctor in about a week and a half. Maybe I will graduate from the boot, maybe I will be sentenced to more time. Hopefully once I graduate, I will have some PT to strengthen my ankle since it has be immobilized for an extended period. Needless to say, I have been doing a lot of sitting on a stool when attempting to cook in the kitchen.

Back to the food, I was looking around on Pinterest and found some yummy recipes. Last night I experimented with two new recipes: One Pan Greek Chicken and Garlic & Herb Cheese Bombs. Both turned out fairly well. I will probably tweak a few things next time I fix them, but definitely keepers. I have included the link to the original recipe, but have made my changes and notes to the recipes below.

One Pan Greek Chicken

(http://damndelicious.net/2015/05/30/one-pan-greek-chicken/) 

Ingredients 
1 1/2 pound small red potatoes, quartered
1 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons light olive oil
Freshly ground salt & black pepper, to taste   

For the marinade:
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1/4 cup light olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon oregano
Freshly ground, salt & black pepper, to taste

Instructions
In a gallon size ziploc bag, combine chicken, oil, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Marinate for 20-60 minutes, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade. While chicken is marinading, preheat over to 400 degree F. Lightly oil backing sheet or coat with nonstick spray. Place potatoes and green beans in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and paper, to taste. Top with chicken in a single layer. Place into the oven and toast until the chicken is completely cooked through, about 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately. (Note: I had about half of the amount of green beans. Unfortunately, there was not a good selection of fresh green beans at the store. I also forgot to add the oregano to the marinade.)

Garlic & Herb Cheese Bombs

 (http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/2014/08/garlic-herb-cheese-bombs.html)

Ingredients (20 bombs)
2- 7.5 ounce cans refrigerated biscuits
4 ounce Mozzarella cheese, cut into 20 cubes
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Separate biscuits. Place on cube of cheese in the center of each biscuit. Carefully wrap the biscuit dough about the cheese and seal. Place seam side down about an inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown and the cheese is melted. While the biscuits bake, mix the butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder together and set aside. Remove the biscuits from the oven and immediately brush with butter mixture. Serve warm. (Note: Place cheese bombs on the middle rack of the oven. The bottoms get a bit crispy if on the bottom rack while cooking the chicken recipe above. No matter how long you have been cooking, you can always learning something new. Ha ha ha!)

Have you made any new recipes lately that you would like to share? 

Win Some, Lose Some

I have not accomplished as much as I had intended for the month of January. 

I have done the best with my "House Goal." My goal was to cleaning and organize the south end of the great room. It was more challenging that I had anticipated and the southeast side got the most attention.  There was stuff on the desk dating back to 2013. In a few of the boxes, I found stuff from 2010 when the world seemed to crash around me. As I was going through stuff- filing, shredding, recycling, and saving- I realized why I never finished each time I started. It was hard, really hard at times. I did find some good memories, but I also found some stuff that I would have preferred hidden. The itemized bill from mom's funeral, the memorial print-out from grandpa and mom's funerals, the bill from mom and grandpa's gravestones (purchased on the same day), the booklet from grandpa's funeral, and more sympathy cards that apparently were not with the ones that I stumbled upon back in November. Even 5-1/2 years later it still is hard to process at times. 

Southeast corner- January 31

Southeast corner- January 1

My "Health Goals" basically crashed and burned, but it is not too surprising since I am still rocking the walking boot. I messed the tendons up eight weeks ago today. The boot and I have been friends for the last seven weeks. I have no idea when I might graduate. I check back with the doctor on Friday, if it still is not any better they will schedule an MRI to check for torn tendons. So needless to say, I have not met my five pound goal and I have not had the chance to strengthen or stretch my injured ankle.

My "Family Goal" has been come and go- reading more. I have done quite a bit of reading on the Kindle, but nothing notable enough to really mention. Princess and I read Piper Green and The Fairy Tree. It was a really cute story! We are looking forward to reading the second one. Pumpkin has been burying himself in Minecraft books lately.

The last goal was "Self Goal"- having a girls day adventure. Once again the boot and weather deterred me. We have had some snow, which makes it very difficult to walk with the darn boot (especially when you cannot see what is beneath the snow). The boot has made me more of a home body than normal. 

Well, I will need to mull over my February goals for a bit. Have you accomplished any goals that you set for the new year?

Goodbye 2015

2015 has had its ups and downs. I hope that 2016 has more ups.

Challenges

• Last school year we had a lot of homework battles. Often we were not finishing up homework until 9 or 10 o'clock at night. 
• I was sick off and on from April through August. My collapsed gallbladder was removed in August, I have felt much better. 
• I messed up a tendon in my foot earlier this month, so I have been in a walking boot for the last three weeks. I don't recommend stepping on a hickory nut husk.
• We live in the black hole of crappy internet service. We have the fastest service in our area, that is reminiscent of dial up speeds. Faster internet service is in our area, but unfortunately has not made it to our neighborhood. I might just have to start calling once a month to inquire if they have gotten around to our neighborhood yet. They are going to LOVE me.

Blessings

• Pumpkin is in 3rd grade and Princess is in 1st grade. Time sure does fly!
• Princess had a good report at the eye doctor last January. We only have to go once a year instead of every three to six months. Yay!
• Pumpkin has a wonderful teacher this school year. She has been able to cut down on the tattling in the classroom, which has resulted in better behavior on his part.
• The kids favorite movie this year is Minions. 
• Pumpkin finally passed his first spelling test of the year this month. The teacher has reassured us that he will not be held back next school year in regards to spelling.
• In the spring, I celebrated 15 years at my work place.  
• A local autism support group was started in our community. It is good to be able to talk with other parents and educators that understand.
• Princess also has a great teacher. I volunteered to help with gingerbread house decorating a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed myself, which is rare when volunteering at school. Most parents shun me when they figure out who my son is because they just don't understand and we don't advertise that he has ADHD, ASD, and SPD. They just figure that we are terrible parents that don't care because of the behaviors they see or hear about from their children.
• I cut back my hours at work to be able to pick the kids up from school. Homework battles have decreased and we are finishing our homework faster. Yay!!!!!!
• We were able to save some money back to purchase a new laptop. Our desktop that we still use is ten years old. Now more than one family member can use the computer at a time. Which is a good thing since we use SpellingCity, MobyMax, Multiplication.com and Quizlet to do homework and study.
• Pumpkin learned to ride a bike without training wheels!
• We survived the school Christmas concert without incident.
• Pumpkin was able to attend a specialized camp over the summer that focused on social skills and utilized ABA therapy. We have noticed a difference this school year. Two thumbs up!
• Princess enjoys helping great grandma make pancakes in the mornings before school.
• We went and saw our first ever Christmas Day movie. We saw the newest Star Wars movie as a family. It was good, but I am not giving anything away for those who have not seen it yet.

Hubby and the kids with cut-outs from the Star Wars movies.

What we are looking forward to

• Hubby and I are looking forward to the last season of Downton Abbey.
• I am hoping that the kids take on more chores and household responsibilities this coming year. Our biggest challenge is keeping our rooms clean.
• We are going to be an aunt and uncle again. So far we have eight nieces and nephews.
• I hope to conquer some of the clutter in the house. I may have to enlist some help.

Well, gotta go! We are having a Hobbit movie marathon this evening. Currently, we are in the midst of watching the second movie. The third movie may need to wait until tomorrow.

Goodbye 2014

Goodbye!           Farewell! 
Au Revoir!          Adios! 
Ciao!                   Aloha!

Summer Is Almost Over

Summer is almost over!  School is just around the corner.

We have the kids school supplies.  We had separate shopping trips for each child.  I have a laundry basket that is overfilled with all of their goodies.  Pumpkin was the easy one this year and we zipped through three stores pretty fast.  Princess on the other hand took at least 20 minutes to decide on each item that was on her school supply list.  I thought that the shopping trip would NEVER end.  Ha ha ha!   

Pumpkin will be going into the second grade and Princess will be starting kindergarten.  Thankful that both kids will be at the same location! We get to met the teachers with the kids this coming week, then school starts on August 18.  I think that they are both excited.  Hubby and I got a chance to met with the principal and Pumpkin's teacher to get game plan started.  We have a really good feeling about this school year and are so thankful that the staff is supportive and flexible. 

We finished our summer care Friday.  It was truly a blessing!  The kids got to play outside most of the summer.  They even got the opportunity to take swim lessons.  Pumpkin got extra help strengthening his math and reading skills.  This coming week the kids get to hang out with me at home.

Pumpkin lost his first two teeth ever on July 14.  We have yet to have a visit from the tooth fairy.  He is refusing to part with his teeth, since they contain his "memories."  So they are hidden away in his room so the tooth fairy cannot find them.  He got that train of thought from the movie "Rise of the Guardians."  His two "shark" teeth were almost fully in right behind the ones that fell out.  They are starting to shift forward now.

I am still hanging in there.  Life certainly has been rough this year, but I am still smiling.  I got released from my multiple doctors two Monday's ago.  Ten long weeks of uncertainty and just not feeling good at all.  So thankful that all of the testing and illness is gone.  Thanks be to God!  Unfortunately, I cannot say that it is the end of my health saga.  The next day I ended up with a stress fracture to my right foot.  I initially thought that it was a really bad foot cramp, but since the pain did not subside I saw the podiatrist.  So, I have a lovely black surgical shoe that I get to wear until I go back for another visit.  I think that the culprit might have been my house shoes.  I have been wearing them for about six years now.  I know, I know!  Shoes are not meant to be worn daily for that long.  I just could not bear to give them up.  I find that I have trouble getting rid of things that have sentimental value.  I bought them a few months before I had Princess and wore them in the hospital during our maternal stay.

For the upcoming week, we had planned to go to the state fair, have a garage sale, and take a few local day trips.  But since I injured my driving foot, we are going to have to stay local unless someone else does the driving and I cannot be standing for hours at a time.  I probably should not be lugging stuff over to grandma's house for a garage sale either.  I have decided that I will use my heavy duty walking boot (from my plantar fasciitis stint in 2009), when it comes to going to school for registration day.  The last thing I need is for someone to step on my injured hoof.  Funny thing is that I can move faster in the boot, than in the shoe.  Ha ha ha!

Well life is never boring around here!  Hopefully I stay a little more up to date with this little blog as we venture into the fall.

Count Your Blessings

"Count your blessings!  Name them one by one!"

I have a wonderful, supportive husband! Yay!

I have two quirky, lovable children! Yay!
 
After eight weeks of the unknown, I have found out that I do not have cancer! Yay!
 
I have had a chance to take some cool nature photography! Yay!
 
I have some really awesome friends that have offered  encouragement and advice! Yay!
 
After seven weeks, my very first bladder infection is finally gone! Yay!
 
We have an official diagnosis for Pumpkin! Yay!
 
I have some amazing prayer warriors that have been keeping my family and I in their prayers! Yay!
 
I treasure the words of encouragement and support from my school teacher cousin, nearby mother-in-law, and nearby sister-in-law.

We were fortunate to have a friend sell us a relatively new iPad mini for Pumpkin! Yay!
 
Over seven weeks, my ovarian cyst has gone from the size of a lemon to completely disappeared! Yay!
 
I am thankful for my faith in God!  Yay!

I am not quite there yet, but I finally starting to feel half-way normal again! Yay!

When it Rains

I have been such a slacker and I have not really felt like write lately anyway.  So to get the white elephant out of the way, so I can focus on happier posts.  

I have been sick for 5 1/2 weeks now.  I have an interesting time of it and have been doing a LOT of laughing.  I have bounced between three doctors, although more are going to be added.  I have taken six different medications, one of which I ended up being allergic to.  I have had a CT scan, a CAT & PET scan, a MRI and two ultrasounds.  I have been fatigued, in pain, unable to regulate my temperature, and not the happiest mom on the block.

After 5 1/2 weeks this is what I know: 
I had originally been diagnosed with bronchitis by the doc in a box, when in reality I had my very first never ending acute bladder infection.  How fever and abdominal pain are associated with a bladder infection, you got me.  Anyway 5 1/2 weeks and three urine tests later I still am suffering with this infection.  In addition, I have my very first diagnosed ovarian cyst that went from 2" (size of a lemon) to the current size of .5", it is benign so no ovarian cancer.  This of course took 5 1/2 weeks to answer, too.  My platelets were elevated a few weeks ago, but now they are in the acceptable level.  The doctors have yet to rule out lymphoma in my abdominal region and apparently the abdominal lymph nodes are hypermetabolic, so the next step is a biopsy.  So 5 1/2 weeks later, I am waiting again.  I feel like a ping pong ball.  Every time I talk to one doctor's office, I call the other to make sure that they have the information.  Then if I have forgotten, I call the first office back and tell them to send their results to the second office and vice versa.

Alrighty then, I am exhausted from just thinking about it.  So I am going to hit the sack.  Tomorrow is another day.  God has a plan.  Good night.

Gotta Have Faith

The last seven months have been rocky at times.  My faith has been tested and wavered at times.  I know that I should pray more.  Sometimes I just get so wrapped up in what is happening that I just forget, then later I think that it would of been best to pray at that time.  We have dealt with health issues, accidents, school issues, and medical bills.  As soon as something appears to slow down, wham!  We get hit again.  Sometimes I am at a loss for words and just do not know what to pray.  I need to get back to the basics, but life is so overwhelming at times that I seem to get blinded.  God has a reason for everything.  What we see is the underside of the tapestry of life, but when it is finished and turned over a beautiful picture emerges.  So I gotta faith that all is as it should be and that God is in control. 

At the current time I am the one having health issues.  I will be the first one to tell you that I do not like to take medicine.  I will take it if it is needed.  Unlike my mom, I will go to the doctor if things are not right.  I've been puny for two weeks now.  I basically got three diagnoses within eight days- of course each one seems to trump the next.  For the last diagnosis, I will be seeing a specialist this coming week.  I hope that it does not led to any more diagnoses.  I am pretty sure that I will most likely have to have surgery.  I am a bit apprehensive, but it will be whatever it will be.  I know that God is with me every step of the way, even though at times it does not seem so to me.  I am finding that I do not like the "hurry up and do this", then "oh, we need to wait" mentality of the medical field.   I am also discovering that I have to be my own advocate, trying to make sure that the upcoming appointment has all of the information they need from my primary doctor's office.

I have that "You have two choices either laugh or cry" attitude.  I have had a few tears, but mainly laughter.  So when someone backed into my parked car on Thursday morning with a SUV.  I just started laughing hysterically.  I know that it was a complete accident and the other person felt horrible about it.  But in light of everything else going on, it seems small peas.   

Music calms me when I feel lost and overwhelmed.  This morning "We Believe" by Newsboys was on the radio and it was calming balm.  "We believe in God the Father!  We believe in Jesus Christ!  We believe in the Holy Spirit!  And He's given us new life!  We believe in the crucification!  We believe that He conquered death!  We believe in the resurrection!  And He's coming back again!"  Another song that I have been listening to is "Worn" by Tenth Avenue North.  "I'm Tired.  I'm worn.  My heart is heavy.  From the work it takes.  To keep on breathing.  I've made mistakes.  I've let my hope fail.  My soul feels crushed.  By the weight of this world.  And I know that You can give me rest.  So I cry out with all that I have left.  Let me see redemption win.  Let me know the struggle ends."

To err is human and we are all human.  No person is without sin and in my opinion it takes a strong person to admit their failings.  So I trudge on and hopefully become stronger in faith as the days go on.  I appreciate the friends and family that are praying for me.  Hopefully in the next few weeks things will slow down and I will return to my normal self.  I know that I have fallen behind writing on this little old blog, but I have honestly not known what to say or what I should I write.  Life has definitely been overwhelming and I have not wanted to spend all of my blog time complaining.  I would prefer to highlight joys and fun and nature.  Until next time. . . . I bid you adieu.

I Think We Can! I Think We Can!

We have been experimenting with Pumpkin and how to motivate him in regards to education. 

Poker Chip Incentive
The grounding concept of this idea came from our childhood development pediatrician.  She had used a similar idea on her ADHD son when he was in junior high and high school.  We modified it for our first grader. 

Idea:  Use poker chips as an incentive to award appropriate behavior. 

Our Goal: To teach Pumpkin to concentrate and focus while working on school work.  A subgoal is to teach Pumpkin the value of money.

What we did:  I got a bag of old poker chips from my grandma's house and gave them a bath in the sink.  I used a permanent marker and wrote "A" on 10 blue chips, "B" on 10 red chips, and "V" on 10 white chips and placed them into a baggie.  Then I made an awards chart listing how many chips are required to earn each incentive.  We told Pumpkin that every time he brings a paper home with the grade of A, B, or V (very good) he will earn a chip.  Once he earns enough chips he can trade the chips in (like money) to collect incentives.  We found a plastic jar with a lid to deposit his chips into like a bank.

Results:  He has brought home papers with higher grades.  He has finished more in-class assignments in whole instead of leaving blank answers when he forgot or got distracted.  The purpose of this is to not make him feel like he needs to get only A's or B's.  It is to make him realize that he knows the answers and can do well on his assignments if he takes the time to focus and concentrate at the task at hand.  It is perfectly fine with me if he brings a C home, I just do not want to see the D's or F's when I know that he has the answers floating around inside his head.  So far he earn his way to see the Lego Movie and trade 7 chips to earn dinner out at the restaurant that Auntie works.  I think that he wants to work on earning the Hot Wheel Mega Loop Mayhem Track next. 

Reading Rescue 1-2-3
Pumpkin continues to have issues with reading.  We have yet to fully recover from a non-family adult telling him that she would use reading as a punishment for inappropriate behavior this past summer.  I have consulted with our friendly children department librarians for help.  The head children's librarian suggested Reading Rescue 1-2-3 by Peggy Wilber.  I have found the book useful.  I have used the test to assess Pumpkin's reading level.  He is on level 1c according to their book.  The areas that we need to work on currently are reading short passages with accuracy and rhyming.  When testing him he would say an associated word instead of rhyming word.  For example when I say "bear", he would say "polar bear" instead of something like "hair". Or "red" would end up with a made up word such as "smed".  This book gives a lot of easy to use ideas and is not hard to understand for phonic challenged parents.  

The librarians also suggested that we read books to Pumpkin that he likes.  Since he likes listening to the Junie B. Jones series, they recommended the Roscoe Riley Rules series.  Pumpkin is really enjoying listening this particular series since it has a boy for the main character.  They also suggested non-fiction books about things that Pumpkin enjoys.  Today we checked out books about sharks, snakes, butterflies, and camouflage.

Educational Games

We have been trying a variety of games to help entice Pumpkin to practice and learn words.  

POP for Rhyming

 

Oh my!  Such an amazing and fun game, both Pumpkin and Princess enjoy playing this.  It has picture bubbles and a spinner.  You spin to see how many bubbles to pull out of the container.  For each bubble you say the name of the image then say a word that rhymes.  If you rhyme correctly you keep the bubble, if the word does not rhyme the bubble goes into a discard pile.  If you get a POP bubble all of your bubbles goes back into the container.  The player with 10 bubbles wins. 

POP for Sight Words

 

We also enjoy this game.  Pumpkin gets about 80% of the words correct.  This will be a great game to continue helping him to become more fluent with reading.  It is similar to the POP for Rhyming except the cards look like popcorn and you play until the container is empty.  Pumpkin was enjoying it so much that he had his Hot Wheels playing too, so he would say their cards for them.  I looked up the company's website and there is a POP for Sight Words 2.  I will have to look into purchasing that version in the future. 

Spelling Word Matching Game

Pumpkin's teacher suggested that we turn Pumpkin's spelling words into a matching game to make the learning process fun.  Every Sunday I make up a batch of matching cards for Pumpkin to practice at great grandma's house before and after school.  I make the cards out of index cards that have been cut in half.  Pumpkin plays traditional matching with them, but has came up with a new game on his own.  He has great grandma hide one set of the cards in a different room.  He takes his matching set and looks for the cards.  When he find a matching pair, he says the word and then spells the word.  Each evening at home we work on write each spelling word twice and our spelling sentence twice.

So we are trudging along and exploring what works to help Pumpkin.  Princess should be a wiz at reading before we know it since she gets roped into playing our games to help Pumpkin.  If anyone has any ideas to try on Pumpkin, we are all ears!

The last few posts have mentioned sickness.  After about two months we are almost sickness free.  Pumpkin got his pneumonia shot earlier this week.  Princess has a bit of a runny nose.  My voice has returned and I am not coughing too much now.  Of course after all this time it would be silly to believe that I would reach 100% so soon, so as fate would have it, I sprained my ankle on Thursday.  Go figure!  At least I got a nifty new ankle brace through my workplace.

One of these days I will get back to attempting to loose a few pounds.  Maybe I can tempt hubby to join in too.  I need to get myself to my quirky normal before I can attempt to even go on a leisurely walk, take a hike, or play with the kids in the yard.  I guess that I could at least start with eating more fruits and vegetables (wink, wink).  Oh and you will never guess what happened!  My sister roasted brussel sprouts the other evening, yuck!  But I tried them anyway and liked them.  So I bought fresh brussel sprouts at the store today and will try my hand at creating my sister's recipe.

Sickies

This is the last day of February but it has gone on and on and on and on.  Besides ice storms, snow storms, and tornado warnings, we have had quite a bit of sickness.  I am the latest victim.  I want spring to get here soon!

Princess was sick for almost two weeks straight at the end of January and beginning of February.  She had the stomach flu, then a few days later had a 102 fever for four days with an infection in her eye.  The doctor put her on both antibiotic and medicated eye drops.  Then a week later Pumpkin had a 102 fever for three days ant the infection in his eye.  Once again he was on antibiotic and medicated eye drops.  Then one week later, do you see where I am going with this?  Yep, me.  

It started out with ear pain on Sunday, then progressed to a sore throat by Monday evening, then a bit of a stuffy nose on Tuesday.  I broke down and went to the doctor yesterday since it was painful to swallow, drink water, and eat.  The round about diagnosis is pharyngitis, since they are not 100% sure what is going on.  I have a very hoarse voice, so I technically have laryngitis too.  And I have a possible abscess on one of my tonsils.  What my tonsils?  I had my tonsils taken out during graduate school after having strep throat fourteen times in two years.  By the way, I do not recommend having your tonsils out as an adult.  Granted it is great way to lose weight but it took me a month to recover.  Anyway, I had the impression that tonsils do not come back but apparently I am wrong on that matter.  So I am currently on two antibacterial medications, a probiotic, and over the counter pain medicines.  I also have to eat soft foods and push fluids until I return to the doctor on Monday afternoon.  I was also given directions on when I should go to the emergency room.  They were nice enough to call and check on me this afternoon to see how I was doing.  It is still painful to swallow and eat, but hopefully once the medications really kick in I will start to feel better.  

I have basically crashed the last two evenings and have barely made it off the couch.  I seem to have more energy during the daylight hours.  Hubby has been helpful, but I have to watch what he gives me.  I did not mind the orange juice with Emergen-C (although it did burn my throat).  He gave me a teaspoon of honey which is not bad at all, but I think he laced it with garlic powder.  Eew!  And I had requested a bowl of cream of chicken soup.  I thought the sodium would help my throat, but he modified it with two chopped cloves of crunchy garlic. I like garlic, but yuck in the cream of chicken soup!  It took a while but I down the bowl.  I am going to hide the cream of chicken soup until I am well.  And, he attempted to get me to down a teaspoon of white vinegar.  I refused to drink the liquid fire.  My throat is already raw and feels like razor blades when I swallow, I definitely do not need to add to the pain.  I am glad that he is so well intentioned but he is very stealthy with his attempts. I am sure that I will be laughing about this one of these days.

The kids have seem to notice that I am sick.  Pumpkin has been more helpful and affectionate.  Princess has been more a terror to her daddy.  Both kids snuck into my bed last night to sleep with me to help me feel better.  Hubby spend his fourth night on the couch last night, apparently I sleep too loudly when I am sick.  

So we have gone through the whole family.  Except, except. . . . Hubby has yet to get sick.  If we keep with the current pattern he should start having problems starting around March 10.  Should be interesting to see if my prediction is right.

Orthotics, Not Just For Oldies

Alright, when you hear the word orthotics what comes to mind?  At one time for me, the older population.  Both of my grandmas had orthotics while I was growing up.  I just figured it was something that people needed as they aged.  I did not realize that orthotics were associated with plantar fasciitis.  Heck, I did not even know what plantar fasciitis was when I was younger. 

So what is plantar fasciitis?  There is a lot of scientific jargon when it comes to medical problems, but I will give you the easy-to-understand version instead. We have a tendon that runs along the bottom of our foot.  That tendon is attached to our heel bone.  When that tendon gets irritated and inflamed (where it attaches at the heel bone), then it can cause considerable pain.  About 1 in 6 people experience heel pain. 

Usually the most painful part of the day, when you have plantar fasciitis, is in the morning.  Those first steps of the day can be excruciating until the tendon has had a chance to warm up and stretch out.  Most plantar fasciitis pain can be resolved with medical treatment- icing, ibuprofen, stretching.  But if the issue is not resolved then heel spurs (calcium deposits) form a the connection point of the heel point and tendon.  Which is even more painful, like stepping on sharp pins or nails.  

I am special enough to have a more chronic form of plantar fasciitis, so I have had the cortisone shots into my heels to reduce the inflammation and have specially designed orthotics to lessen the strain on the tendon.  I am pretty sure at this point that I probably have the heel spurs too.  

I had no idea that I too (like my grandmas) would fall victim to this medical condition, during my 30s none the less, but I do know that this condition is more common than most people think.  So if you are experiencing heel pain, don't dismiss it like I did at first, go talk to your doctor and maybe you can head off the heel spurs before they start to form.

Anyway, around mid-April one of my orthotics broke (orange), so I had to go back to the podiatrist to get molded for new ones.  I could of just replaced the broken one, which would of been cheaper.  But there were several factors to consider: 1) My shoe size had increased since I first got my orthotics, so they were border-line of not being usable. 2) They had a new type of orthotic that had better arch support, had better flexibility and had some cushioning to them.   So the nice ladies at the office duct taped my broken orthotic back together as a temporary fix until the new ones came in.

Well, I just picked up my new orthotics (black) on Friday.  They are heavenly!  They are amazing!  I had a spring to my step and felt like I was walking on cushions instead of hard plastic.  I am so-so happy that I decided to bite the bullet and spend the money to do a total replace.  Hopefully these new inserts lessen the effects of the plantar fasciitis even more than my first pair.

Pics and More

I have gotten quite a few good pictures lately!!  (Big Smile)

Dogwood

Robin's nest

(Favorite spring picture so far this year!) 

The heron

Pumpkin picking flowers

Princess pretending that a tulip leaf is a camera

 Spring Beauties

Awesome moon pic

Trout Lily

Tulip

Our garage sale over the weekend was quite successful, especially the fact that there is less in my basement.  I like that . . . a lot!  The wind on Friday and the afternoon rain showers on Saturday created quite a few interesting moments, but we managed and even packed up early on Saturday.  Yay, more of a weekend for us!

Sunday morning I discovered that one of my orthotics for my plantar fasciitis had broken.  (Big Sigh)  I thought that maybe, just maybe I could get by with over the counter shoe inserts.  Yeah . . . that is not working too good.  Or as my husband would say "No Gooda."  Three days without them and I am icing my heels, taking ibuprofen, and thinking about crawling around the house instead of walking.  Guess I will have to break down and call the podiatrist.  The only problem is that the insurance company will not cover the orthotics so we are looking at some major expense.  I got the orthotics that just broke in 2009 and at that time we paid $450.  I still have the casts of my feet which hypothetically should reduce the price, but my shoe size has increased by 1 1/2- 2 sizes so I have a feeling that they will need to recast my feet.  Who know how much it will cost this time, but I am going to have to bite the bullet and make that phone call.  I just hope that it does not take a month to get into to see him.  I think in this case, the sooner the better.

Okay time for a kidism:   Pumpkin when referring to peaches: "It tastes like hippopotamus poop."  Mommy trying not to laugh: "How do you know what hippopotamus poop tastes like?"  Pumpkin:  "Well . . . I don't know!"  Mommy: "Eat your peaches."

Do you have any kidisms to share?

To Good Health

A couple of weeks ago I switched to a new doctor's office.  I had been thinking about it for a few years and finally decided that it was past time.  My former physician was okay, but I did not go see him unless I REALLY needed to.  I just did not feel too confident having him as my doctor and sometimes I felt like he just was not listening to me.

So I am assigned to a physicians assistant now in another doctor's office.  I had an initial new patient visit with her two weeks ago.  We went over my family medical history and what my health concerns might include.  It took about an hour to talk through everything.  She is very nice and I am very pleased.

Now my mom hated doctors and going to the doctor for herself.  I do not want to be like that.  If I have a valid medical question, I want to have a doctor that I know and trust. With both parents developing cancer in their 50s, I just don't want to leave anything to chance.  I want to be more pro-active about my health.  I am not going to look for cancer around every corner, but I also want to have a doctor that will be able to catch it at an early stage if it does occur.  

We also have Type II diabetes on both sides of my family- my dad, my paternal grandma, and my maternal grandpa- which puts me at a higher risk.  I already have to watch what I eat to avoid the dreaded capsicum; to watch my sugars too, I am not sure that I would remain sane.  I do know that I should reduce my sugar and starch intake to reduce my chances of developing it sooner than later.  

A person's weight also goes hand and hand with Type II diabetes.  I have know this for a long time and I keep telling myself that I do need to work on reducing my weight.  According to the charts (which I do not quite believe) I am just on the border line of been obese.  Most people that look at me, would probably say no way to obese, maybe overweight, but not obese.  I think that those charts are based on the average person with a medium frame, and skewed on both ends of the height scale.  I am 6'1" and I have a large frame.  It is close to impossible to find a chart for my height and frame, but I think I just found one.  According to it my ideal weight would be 161-182 pounds.  Well I am definitely over that.  

Since I chatted with the physicians assistant, I have managed to drop five pounds in two weeks.  I discussed with her that I wanted to work on managing my weight to reduce my risk of developing diabetes.  Her suggestions were to reduce simple carbs, increase complex carbs, eat more vegetables, eat greek yogurt, eat lean meat, increase protein, drink skim milk and limit starchy foods and white grains.  

Now I haven't drastically changed my diet.  I have been trying to have an omelet in the morning seasoned with cracked black pepper (no I am not allergic to this), garlic powder and dill weed instead of cereal.  I have increased the number of times during the week that I eat a salad and have been trying to forgo the cheese.  Greek yogurt with fruit is actually pretty tasty and is high in protein. I just can't do skim milk, but we did switch over to 1%.  I have also tried to limit my soda intake to occasionally.  

Now typically women do not relieve their weight, so shhhhhhhhhh and be nice. As of yesterday I weighed two hundred twenty four pounds, but I would love to whittle that number away to one hundred ninety pounds over the next few years.  I have no illusions that it will occur quickly, because it did not come quickly but instead increased overtime.  So over time it must go, with tiny baby steps. Which is how it really came, through two pregnancies, the stress of parents battling illnesses, and the heartache of losing a parent.

So I think my baby steps will include trying to increase the healthy foods and decrease (but not eliminate) the not so healthy foods.  I am not really hip on exercising, but maybe this spring we can start up walking in the evenings with the kids around the neighborhood.  We use to do this more often, but the plantar fasciitis on both of my heels usually sidelines my efforts in favor of the non-painful couch where they can be iced instead.  But I am hoping that as I shed some pounds, the pain from the plantar faciitis decreases.  We are possibly looking into how much it might cost to join the Y, but we may not be able to afford it anyway.

Okay back to the appointment.  In the eight years that I had my other doctor, he never ran any blood tests on me to even check if I had diabetes.  I actually had the eye doctor ask me if I had developed it a few years ago because my nearsightedness improved, which apparently can be linked to your blood sugar levels.  So I also discussed this with the physicians assistant and she wrote up orders for me to have three blood tests.  

I went just this past Monday morning.  I wanted to wait until after the Thanksgiving bustle was all over and I had to fast.  They drew three tubes of blood and my results came in the mail today.  They did a comprehensive metabolic panel, complete blood count with differential, glycohemoglobin total, and lipid panel.  All of the results came back within normal limits.  Yay!  Now some might think that this is a waste of time and money, but the way I think of it is that I really know number wise how I am doing and I now have a baseline to refer to in the future.  My glucose level was 92 mg/dl and the glycohemoglobin A1c was 5.1%.  So that translates to the normal range for my blood sugar levels.  Yay!

Well I think I have spewed enough this evening.  I promise that the next posting will lighter in subject.