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Fly on the wall
2008-06-09 05:07:00
Overheard:I need some money. I better go back to the arcade.It is all PrincipledMom's fault. She got my daughter started on Webkinz.Now if I could just get my husband off of it, maybe I could play some more of that word challenge game. Much better than Sudoku.
More About: Wall , The wall

Six and a half inches
2008-06-08 04:59:00
While not exactly a natural disaster as some commenters termed it, I would just like to announce that the official rain total for our storm I wrote about the other day was six and on half inches.Can you believe it? Six and one half inches in like an hour! No wonder our yard now has small deltas of mulch which was relocated from the back garden to the opposite side yard, the front yard and even our neighbor's yard.That is a lot of rain.I'm glad yesterday's predicted rain did not come. Sunny all day for two days and I feel like we're drying out. My plants may have survived. We are supposed to get more rain through the weekend, but nothing like the other night. Just normal spring stuff. Those light rains that cool things off and refresh the earth with its moisture.Not that the moisture is really needed at the moment, but most of my garden is in good shape. No wonder you can always tell a farmer by the way he watches the weather. On the brink of world peace or world war, it...
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I have waves in my backyard
2008-06-05 06:01:00
The good news is that the drought is officially over with water tables back to normal. The bad news is, we got it all at once. It has been raining all week, it seems. And if not raining, threatening to rain. Every night, my weather radio blares tornado watches, hail warnings, thunderstorm warnings. We have the flash flood alert memorized.The ground is saturated. Today, we planted our new trees. We filled in the soil, stamped it down and commenced saturating the soil with water. It took all of five seconds to make a puddle at the base of the tree that sat there for the rest of the day. There was nowhere for the water to go.And tonight it rained. Is raining. Rain is pounding the windows and running off the roof in streams. But there is nowhere for all the water to go, so it is forming a river in our backyard.That mat is actually completely underwater. When my husband took this picture, we had at least an inch of water on our patio. The bird garden is completely submerged...
More About: Backyard , Waves

The copy cat
2008-06-03 09:29:00
Each day, twice a day, I walk through our garden, turning over leaves to check for evidence of insects eating away at our vegetables and berries and picking weeds here and there. Little L. E. Fant has accompanied me a number of times and is turning into a fine gardener.When I go out, I set her down beside the large garden where we used to feed the birds. It now contains only a bush and a small tree...along with a seemingly infinite supply of sunflowers which sprouted from the bird seed. She used to sit with the shovel and push the mulch around. But she has been watching mom.Now she crawls along the outside border, carefully bending each sunflower over to look at the underside of its leaves just before picking it and tossing it behind her. She is so proud of her work, and turns to beam at me after every successful pluck.It serves to remind me how much my children learn from my silent model. The one where I'm not telling them how to behave or correcting them when they fall shor...
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To lose a tree
2008-05-30 06:50:00
Last year, a late frost took its toll on the crab apple tree outside my kitchen window. I had been looking forward to trying a batch of crab apple hot pepper jelly when it gave forth its fruit in the fall, thwarted by a freeze that took all of the tree's beautiful blossoms. All summer, I watched each of its crinkled leaves struggle to hang on, give up the fight and drop. It produced less than a dozen crab apples, and was barren of leaves in fruit long before the leaves turned in the fall. I was certain we had lost it.This Spring, however, brought new life. Beautiful blossoms sprang forth, covering the tree with pink blossoms and filling the air with their faint fragrance. Retrieving the dog from his spot under the crab apple one Spring day, I found myself in the middle of a light snow of softly falling pink petals as the air buzzed with the sound of bees working somewhere unseen overhead. It was a sight to behold, and my heart was filled with gladness that our tree had indee...
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Better than television
2008-05-29 07:51:00
Severe storms went through the area the other night, and we sat in the front room and just watched it through our picture window. 70 mph winds blew streams of water uphill on the road in front of our house. It was rather amazing, and one of those times that I did not regret not having a television.I've watched storms like that on TV, but then it is so distant. But here was reality, in all its impressive power, as it literally shook the house with its fury.I did sort of wish we had a basement, though. I never used to fear storms at all. But having children changes your perspective on things which can take all you have, even your life, with little warning.
More About: Television

Defeated by tortilla soup
2008-05-21 06:11:00
So, at the start of the year I share the rather dismal results of my new commitment to working out. But I plodded along, and have lost a little. A very little, but enough that I no longer glare at the scales with contempt. A while back, I engaged in the second half of the battle, the one I find much more difficult to take on.Eating less.It isn't really that...well, never mind. No sense qualifying it. But there is that elusive quality whose general scarceness drives most of our multi-trillion dollar economy: self-control. I am not one for fad diets, nor particularly for counting calories. I am not looking for losing ten pounds in two weeks. I am looking to change my habits which is one of the more difficult things a person can do. So I decided with a simple one: no seconds. I don't usually enjoy seconds all the much anyway. Mostly I just eat them because they are there. And I don't feel like saving that last serving. And throwing food away is bad. Still, it occurred ...
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A pleasant evening
2008-05-19 09:33:00
What simpler pleasure is there than stringing buttons while mom (and sister) sew?
More About: Evening

Blueberry trauma
2008-05-14 20:55:00
Along our fence, we have four little berry bushes lined up: a raspberry for Bug, a blackberry for Mouse and a blueberry each for L. E. Fant and Bear. Each morning, the children go out and attend to their little bushes, checking to make sure they have enough water, weeding their little patches and checking over the leaves for evidence of insects.It is mostly for fun, but a little for school. We are learning about work. And the fruits of our labor. Someday, we will get to the fruits of the Spirit, but for the moment we just talk about blueberry pie, and raspberry jelly.But yesterday, I discovered a new chore for my son. See, the blueberry bushes are covered with little white blossoms. And in the first year, you are not supposed to let them develop into blueberries so that the plant can concentrate its energy into developing a healthier root system. So, not thinking anything more about it, I instructed my son on how to carefully pluck the little blossoms.And he flew into a temp...
More About: Trauma

Mother's Day with a prudent Mouse
2008-05-11 03:06:00
My little Mouse is finding it terribly difficult to earn money to take with her to Utah. Every time she has put together a few dollars, someone has to go and have a birthday. Or the nation decides to have a holiday.I'm not even sure how she knew Mother's Day was coming. Maybe she saw a display at the store. I certainly didn't say anything, and my husband isn't the type. But at any rate, while we were at the nursery selecting tomatoes and green peppers, Mouse wandered off to look at the flowers.At first, she discussed a geranium with her father. Her shoulders dropped and she returned it. Then she went to talk to the lady that owned the nursery. They looked around and found something that met Mouse's specifications: houseplant, pretty, under four dollars, small, perennial. That perennial bit was her father's addition. Because what is the use of buying a plant that is just going to die at the end of the season?So she found this darling little whatever-it-is that has lo...

Begging, er, requesting your support
2008-05-08 04:52:00
So, yeah. I'm asking for money. Except that we won't actually ever see or touch any of it. It all just goes directly to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, a private organization supporting research and education dedicated to helping those suffering from Crohn's and ulcerative colitis to lead healthier, fuller lives.Our family will be participating in a benefit walk on June 7 and we are looking forward to meeting some people in person who are also living with this disease. And hoping to raise a little extra money for the foundation. It has already proven to be an excellent source of information and encouragement and we are not even actually members yet.So anyway...if you got online today just wondering what tax deductible donations you could make to foundations you likely hadn't heard of before at the request of someone you have never met, have I got the thing for you! Or you could just click over to see the picture of my daughter on a horse. You would not bel...
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Productivity
2008-05-07 08:50:00
One of the more difficult things for me to deal with over the last few weeks of waiting for a diagnosis and finally beginning treatment for my daughter has been just how differently my husband and I deal with stress. I have been contemplating this post for awhile, and I'm still not sure quite how to approach this issue. I don't want to sound like I'm ragging on my husband. I'm not. But I also know that differences in how spouses grief, stress and other Big Events can create a huge amount of stress in a relationship. And it is all too common.Some of it is the male/female thing. Some of it is personality. And some of it I think is related to the fact that my husband already suffers from depression. But one thing has been made clear in all of this with my daughter's illness: I want to process what is going on by talking about it, reading about it and taking notes on everything I find. My husband wants to push it aside. We can't control it, so why dwell on it?But of cou...
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At your service
2008-05-06 06:20:00
Mouse, with her budding independence, always begs for us to leave her home alone. When I was her age, I remember walking home after school and taking care of myself for the couple of hours until my parents got home. It was a milestone I looked forward to with great enthusiasm. But this little Mouse is my little Mouse. And we live an awful long way from anywhere we ever go.Today, however, we had only a short errand to run and our neighbors were home working in the garden. So we consented. And this is what greeted us at the door when we returned:She had hung a sign in the window, welcoming us to her restaurant. She seated us at our tables and gave us her handwritten menu. It was "just" leftovers which had been accumulating in the freezer, but I think it was about the best leftover night we have ever had.Why didn't anyone ever tell me that one of the hardest parts of being a parent is just letting them grow up?
More About: Service

Why we live in Nebraska
2008-05-05 08:28:00
Just a story I thought about today I thought I would share. Perhaps it is about how media affects us. Perhaps it is how threads weave through our lives, bringing together a rich tapestry we cannot fully see. Perhaps it is about how places can adopt meaning and symbolism without ever having been to them.But way back in 1982, Bruce Springsteen released an album which had a profound effect on my husband. Something about the music. Something about the cover. Something about Nebraska captivated my husband. And as long as I have known him, he has wanted to just drive through Nebraska. Straight down this highway into that great expanse of nothing which seems to stretch on forever:And here we are. And the road he takes on his 120 mile trek to work looks a bit like that. All roads outside the metropolitan area do until you hit the sandhills.
More About: Live

Taking control of her disease
2008-05-02 05:15:00
It is strange how differently you read the news when you are facing threats much closer to your family than the actions of distant politicians. I wouldn't say I have necessarily gained any great perspective. Tunnel vision would be more like it. In fact, I do not think I would want to live in a world where everyone was as focused on their own problems as I have been for the last couple of days. Imagine conversing with people whose only response was a sort of glassy-eyed shrug because they couldn't even bring themselves to pretend to care!But eventually the initial shock begins to give way to the need to do something. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do which explains the hundreds of pages of information I have read along with the many hours I have spent synthesizing the wealth of information into something my daughter can understand.And I am also slowly beginning to look at my daughter's specific strengths in dealing with her disease. Those personality traits which make p...
More About: Disease , Control , Taking

And we have a tentative diagnosis
2008-04-30 06:01:00
How did today go? I am not sure. I am still processing my feelings, my worries, my thoughts. No one ever wants anything to be wrong with their child. Everyone always wants the best possible outcome.A polyp or a hemorrhoid would have fallen into this category. Something little. Something that can be fixed. Something that is not chronic.The other end of the spectrum included things I couldn't pronounce. Along with celiac disease. Crohn's disease. Possibly even cancer. I can be thankful that was not the diagnosis.In so far as we have a diagnosis. The doctor won't commit to it until the biopsies come back.I awoke this morning to find that my blog was down. Nothing I could do about that, but I really didn't care that much. I was a little nervous and expended a little of that nervous energy scanning a couple of forums but I couldn't concentrate enough to really read anything. I was nervous and excited. Finally, hopefully, I would know what was wrong with my little gir...
More About: Diagnosis

Welcome to the soup to nuts' carnival's main course
2008-04-28 23:37:00
I've never hosted a general interest carnival before and was not really sure what to expect for this one. True to form, a bit of everything came in. To help with finding something you might wish to check out, I have organized the volumes according to the Dana decimal system in my own private blog library. Maybe that doesn't make any sense since I am the main course. But my creativity has been zapped. For the carnival lover in you, be sure to check out all the other courses:The Soul And The Witness for Hors d'oeuvres and CocktailsMusings Of A Manic Mom for AppetizersHealth Plans Plus for the First CourseThe Gonzo Papers for DessertHappy browsing:100's PoliticsNunoftheabove takes a look at the presidential race with Democratic Pyrrhic debacle.Stark County, Ohio News and Human Interest Stories shares a rare appearance of the Cousteau family.Can the US prevent a starvation crisis posts on just that.Can US Economy Survive Doomsday takes a look at the Great Depression.North Cant...
More About: Main , Soup , Main Course , Nuts , The Soup

Jell-O for Breakfast
2008-04-28 16:28:00
Update: my brave little girl is currently drinking that disgusting stuff. Her facial expressions say enough, but she is willing herself through it. What a girl.The ?Big Day? is finally almost here. And today is the day my daughter has been looking forward to, enough that she has not thought too much about her colonoscopy tomorrow. Because this is what her menu plan for today includes: Breakfast : Jell-OLunch: Jell-ODinner: Jell-OSnack: PopsiclesAnd a refrigerator full of juices all for her. Nevermind that stuff she is going to have to start drinking soon. One whole liter of stuff I have been told feels like you are drinking oil, eight ounces at a time, spaced ten minutes apart. I really hope she likes the orange flavoring. At least she enjoyed mixing it. At any rate, I had intended on posting but I hadn?t intended on getting sick myself. I appear to be all better, but my time and energy and spare neurons are being used up thinking about tomorrow. She checks in at 11 and ...

I will NOT be defeated by a fish
2008-04-25 06:22:00
I have been teaching my daughter some origami the last couple of weeks, a rather ambitious undertaking for me seeing as I haven't done anything remotely like origami since I was her age. I can't even fold towels. You can even ask my husband.The real problem with origami, however, is that the instructions are written by runaway chickens. Arrows and dotted lines obscure the picture and the stilted written instructions are not much help. I look at at the next step, cock my head, turn it around a few times, flip my paper every which way and finally determine to just make a fold. 75% of the skill involved in beginning origami is simply the ability to decipher the instructions. And at least that much of the pleasure comes from the many minor victories you accomplish getting from step A to step B, no thanks to their diagrams.So today I checked out a book from the library because we have exhausted the possibilities of the instruction packet which came with the paper I bought. I got...
More About: Fish

About last night...
2008-04-23 03:23:00
Or was it this morning? I'm not sure. But at least I got all those bags packed. Check them out at the Carnival of Homeschooling!Thanks for the peach pie delivered at midnight, though, my sweet!
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A hot water bottle named Grofa
2008-04-21 04:56:00
Not so very long ago, my mother called to ask if I had any ideas for my son's birthday present. Normally, I am not so sure how to go about answering this question which, with four children, comes up quite frequently. This year, however, my mom got a slightly different response.Well, actually...And out came the idea which had been building itself in my head for a couple of weeks: a hot water bottle pet.Now, when I first saw these, I thought they were the silliest thing. Who would spend upwards of $35 on a hot water bottle just because it is cute? Once you turn out the lights...well, suffice it to say I thought it was just another kitschy way to waste money.That was before this winter. On a cold evening, I dug up the hot water bottle for Bear because he wasn't feeling well. He cuddled it. Fondled it. Caressed it. I would check on him in the evening and find him wrapped around the hot water bottle, taking in its warmth and texture against his hand, his stomach, his cheek. ...
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At church on Sunday
2008-04-15 00:17:00
Sunday morning was a bit...hectic. Unfortunately, that is a bit of a norm around here, and mom depends greatly on each of the young children taking care of their little parts of the morning work to get out of the door at a reasonable time. And Bear has a new chore. Packing monkey.Monkey is his backpack he received from his grandparents. The dog long since chewed off the straps, so he is more of a pack than a backpack. But he is the perfect size, ensuring that no unreasonable quantities of stuff accompany us on outings. Church is a new thing for Bear. He has only been in service with us for three Sundays. Thus far, he has done fairly well, diving under the chairs and scampering off only once. In three Sundays.Anyway, he was delighted with this little task and buckled himself and monkey in for the ride to church. We even got there on time. He stood on the chair next to me through the songs, then took to his place on the floor at my feet when "the talking part" began.I heard ...
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The L. E. Fant in the toilet
2008-04-12 07:12:00
Crawling along, bobbing her head from side to side to her own private music, Little L. E. Fant crawls across the family room floor, apparently delighting in the mere pleasure of movement. A glance at mom, a flash of a smile and she is back to her seemingly aimless dance around the front room. Another glance and...what's this? Mom doesn't appear to be watching.All aimlessness, wiggling and head bopping cease as she darts for the hall. First a left. Then a right. Then enter The Room. The Room everyone goes in. The Room with the door which is almost always closed. The Room where little L. E. Fant is left out.For Little L. E. Fant has discovered the joys of the toilet. Standing invitingly at just her height, she can pull herself up easily to a stand and peer inside. If she stretches, she can just reach the water and what a wonderful feeling that is between little fingers. No wonder everyone goes in there so many times a day!But just as victory is in sight and she reaches ...
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Free gardening unit
2008-04-10 08:18:00
Since Spring isn't in the air around here...in fact, it is supposed to snow...I thought I'd dig up an old unit I wrote and make it available to anyone who would like to have it. And you don't even have to wait for me to email it to you like the last time. All you have to do is click here on my free garden unit and download it.And now available as a pdf as well.Hey...and now even with the writing assignment included. Oops. I'll get better, I promise.Isn't that cool?If you take a look at it, I'd really appreciate feedback. I am hoping to do this occasionally and would like to make my units as followable as possible.
More About: Gardening , Free , Unit

The secret to weight loss
2008-04-09 07:47:00
I know I am going to bring a billion dollar industry to its knees with this bit of wisdom which might not be the best thing to do in the current economic woes we all seem to have. But I thought I'd share, just because I was surfing around and was amazed at the amount of people promising me the secret to a slimmer, healthier me if I'd only give them money, buy their book, or subscribe to their newsletter. So I thought I'd share the real secret:Eat less.Exercise more.If only that pesky self-discipline weren't so hard. Of course, a billion dollar industry depends on our lack of self-discipline. Come to think of it, most of our economy does.
More About: Weight Loss , Weight , The Secret , Secret , Loss

Update on my daughter
2008-04-03 23:03:00
Well, I've been rather busy with my project over on Principled Discovery and since the week has had a more personal focus, I've neglected my poor little space over here.But I thought I'd update everyone on my daughter since some people have emailed me and I'm sure many more have wondered without emailing. I wrote more about this here, but basically my daughter has had some unexplained rectal bleeding which wasn't of too much concern until it started so heavily I had to take her to the ER. So now she has been seen by her doctor, the ER staff and a specialist and had blood draws taken each time. At the children's hospital in Omaha, we got to meet a phlebotomist who was afraid of shots, which we found rather comical.After the last round of blood work, they found an elevated sed rate, which means inflammation is present. She will be having a colonoscopy to hopefully determine exactly what is causing the trouble. The appointment is set, but unfortunately we weren't home when t...
More About: Update , Daughter

Richmond - Season 2008 - Round 2
2008-04-01 16:03:00
I guess losing by 41 points ain't so bad; I mean at least we're still in the top eight. After this week's performance it could be another year of the plague of the Cubs? Well at least next week the game will start on the normal side of the midnight hour.Season 2008 Ladder | Sort by attack | Sort by defenceP12345678910111213141516TeamHawtho rnGeelongWestern BulldogsSt KildaSydney SwansAdelaideCollingwoodRichmond Kangaroos Brisbane LionsEssendonWest Coast EaglesFremantleCarltonPort AdelaideMelbourneP2222222222222222W222211 111111----L----111111112222D------------- ---%1811731521311511401139593928071827069 37P888844444444----
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Whaling? Oh my...
2008-03-31 07:24:00
Well, we have been discussing whales all weekend long. Friday, my daughter decided she would like to fill our time between now and the next unit in history studying 19th century whaling. That was really what I had in mind when I asked her. (NOT!)So anyway, in preparation, we have been writing down lists of things we need to know and ideas for resources to look for. We determined week one would be about whales, since...well, since I figured I could come up with a week's worth of material about whales over a weekend. As opposed to 19th century whaling. What on earth do I know about 19th century whaling? What on earth prompted this interest?I am raising a strange daughter, but I digress.Last night, while I was tucking my two year old Bug in to bed, she looked at me with excitement in her little blue eyes.Mommy! Mommy! God made the whales!I smiled and brushed a curl out of her eyes as I assured her that yes, he did make the whales.That is so good because without them, cars cou...

Invitation to join Home Education Week
2008-03-28 03:54:00
In honor of Nebraska governor Dave Heineman's recent proclamation, I am hosting Home Education Week at my blog next week in order to celebrate homes education and all it offers. There will be a writing prompt each day so we can share our perspectives on a variety of topics and I'll include an activity that you can do with your family each day if you wish. I will be setting up a Mr. Linky thing so that you can easily share your posts with everyone. Feel free copy this graphic!Here are the topics for the week:Looking Back Sunday, March 30 Share your personal history?before you were a home educator. What was life like? Think about things you miss and things you and your family have gained. Profiling Home Educators Monday, March 31 Describe yourself, your family or one of your children. What is it like to be home educated in your family? What is ?normal? for you? April Fool?s! Tuesday, April 1 And we have likely all felt the fool in one way or another. Share your greatest chall...
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The best field trip ever
2008-03-27 06:53:00
Every February, the Sandhill Cranes begin to arrive to central Nebraska, numbering up to 600,000 birds. These magnificent birds stand four feet tall, have a six foot wingspan and fill the air with their "krroo, krroo." This is the halfway point of their journey from southern Texas to northern Canada. They stage their migration, stopping to rest and refuel for six weeks in the shallow waters of the Platte River, scouring the countryside for bits of corn left from last year's harvest.It truly is an amazing experience, and there is nothing else quite like it in the entire world. Last year, visitors from all fifty states and thirty five countries came for the spectacle, and it was the subject of a National Geographic special. We went last year and again this year, spending a day and half observing them in the field as they searched for food, danced and strutted. We took part in a class, learning about the behaviors we witnessed throughout the day. The highlight was sunset as the...
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