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Friday, February 29, 2008

Thinking Ahead

I have been thinking ahead this week. So far ahead you'd probably think it was August. For some reason I have felt the need to look at curriculum, some to finish out this year and some that is for next year. I don't know why, but I have definitely been looking at math and science curriculum and trying to figure out what I want to do. I think I have the math I want to do with Ian (called Math U See), it uses manipulatives to help kids see and understand why they get the answer that they get. This is big for me, because math was always my struggle and I don't want Ian to have the same problems that I had.
The science I found is pretty new (actually I can download and print it out here at home or I can order the books). It looks pretty cool, very hands on and uses lots of resource books. I think Ian will really like it.
I guess this pretty weather has just made me look forward to exploring new things!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Sunshine

We have had several days of sunshine lately, which is thrilling to me! I'm finally starting to get over all this head cold/sinus stuff and the weather has turned warmer and sunny. I think Sunday it was 55 at our house. We did as much outside as someone getting over a cold can do, which means, I got to watch Colin do some stuff and I got to get a little sunshine.
I was very excited about getting better and heading back to our normal activities, church, etc., when Ian got the tummy flu Saturday night. So we missed church and we missed Colin's grandma's birthday party because we didn't want to risk making everyone sick and starting a tummy flu epidemic. As much as I didn't want to miss, I'm glad we stayed home, I think I had a touch of the same thing yesterday, my tummy wasn't very happy.
All is well today. The sun is out and we're back to school again. Ian is in the middle of reading Bread and Jam for Frances to me. He's getting to be quite the reader!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Praises and growing up

It was back to the doctor for me today. I am still congested and my ears are plugged. I've been sick since Feb. 7th. So, third trip, third doctor, this time I saw my primary care doctor and suggested that most likely I had sinusitis as all the cold symptoms had cleared up a while ago. He agreed with me and told me that because the sinuses are such a small area when you get an infection things swell up and it's really hard for the antibiotic to get to the germs in that area. So I got a shot to help with the swelling, prednisone, augmentin and an inhaler. I am a walking pharmacy!
The good news is I think it is starting to work.

Now onto the growing up topic. When we went to pick up Ian from AWANA tonight we had to have a discussion with one of the leaders over Ian's behavior. It appears that he and his friend Lillie have been hanging all over each other. Hugging, dragging each other by the hand, etc. and Ian gets really upset if they try to separate him from his friend. To be honest, they're both really young and innocent, it's like toddlers when they're friends, they just hold on to each other, but I understand that there's a place for that and AWANA isn't the place, it gets in the way of what they need to do. So I talked to Ian about it, explaining that it isn't wrong to love our friends or give them a hug, but we don't need to hug them ALL the time and that it can hinder them. I told him that there's a time for everything and part of growing up is understanding that there are times when we don't hang all over our friends. I also explained that no one was mad at him, we're just trying to help him learn one of the lessons on the way to growing up. If the talk doesn't work, there's always a bribe. I promised him if he kept his hands to himself that we'd take him out for an ice cream next week.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day. Mine was pretty good, except for being sick and not being able to hear very well. Colin surprised Ian and me with Valentine balloons. Ian's was a frog holding a heart that said be mine. My balloon was two fish kissing with a great big heart that said 'you're a great catch'. I must confess, I like Ian's balloon best, frogs are cute, but my balloon wouldn't really be appropriate to give to a 6 yr. old. Dilly can't stand either balloon. She thinks they make scary noises and she's really touchy about scary noises.
Oh, looks like Dilly is doing better with her parasites, in fact it looks like that one pill got rid of them. I wish one pill would get rid of my sinus infection. Actually, I'd love a one pill cure for any ailment. Wouldn't that be nice??? Any illness cured by one pill..cool.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Scratch Spaghetti From The Menu

Well I am still working my way back to healthy. It's taking much longer than I would like (I'd like less than one day, please). My head is still stuffed up and I have a hard time hearing, but I'm trying to get on with this business of living.
On top of the whole family having had this nasty little bug, Dilly had a little surprise of her own today; round worms. At least, that's what I found out they were. I took her for a very short little work and she did a little doggy business and I happened to notice that it looked weird. Then I noticed a couple of things that looked like spaghetti noodles moving around. Not good. So I called the vet and described what I saw and they told me, "that's so gross, but, yeah, round worms look like spaghetti. So Colin came home and we took Dilly to the vet to get a big pill to deworm the doggy.
Then I decided to disinfect whatever Dilly came in to contact with, which included Ian's toys. I am happy to say that Ian has the cleanest Lego's in the world.
Did I mention that I won't be serving spaghetti for quite a while???

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Big Words

Ian is really catching on to reading. Sometimes he amazes me by reading words that I think I'll need to help him with. I just never know what words he'll know that I have no idea he knew.
Yesterday, I went back to the Dr., just to double check and make sure everything was okay with me since I still feel crummy even after starting an antibiotic. It is okay. The doctor told me to hang in there, I'm just really sick and it's going to take a while to get better.
Anyway, while I was at the Dr., Colin took Ian over to his office so he could get a little work done. As they were walking through one of the doors to get to his office, Ian asked Colin a question. He said, "Daddy, are you an employee?" Colin looked at Ian and then he looked at the door and asked Ian if he was asking him that because he read the sign on the door. Ian told him yes. So Colin asked him to read the words on the door out loud to him. So Ian read 'Employees Only'. I think employees is a pretty big word for a first grader! Way to read, Ian!

Lego Love

Ian loves Lego's. Most of his Christmas presents were Lego's, and those were his favorites. He loves building all the cool cars and towers and all kinds of imaginative things.
Someone else in our family loves Lego's, too. I'm not talking about Colin (although, I'm sure that applies to him as well), I'm talking about Dilly. She loves Ian's Lego's. She thinks of them as special puppy treats and tries to crunch them whenever she can. Ian gets extremely upset whenever Dilly gets some of his Lego's and starts chomping. I am sympathetic, for the most part, except for the fact that I have repeatedly told him to keep his Lego's in his bedroom and not get them anywhere near Dilly. I think I blogged earlier about explaining to Ian that Dilly is just a puppy and still learning what is okay for her to do and what isn't.
I've been sick this week with Bronchitis and Sinusitis and I-feel-yucky-itis, basically feeling pretty miserable. One of the days when Colin was watching Ian and I was trying unsuccessfully to get some rest, I heard a terrible commotion. Being mom, even though sick, means checking out the commotions in the house,so I got up to check. Ian was having a fit saying that Dilly was the worst dog ever and he didn't like her, etc.,etc. Turns out he had taken one of his nice new Lego sets into Colin's office to play with, even though Dilly was in the office, too. He drove the Lego over by Dilly and she pounced on it and chomped the little Lego steering wheel, messing it up. He was so mad and was trying to blame everyone else. I finally got him calmed down, it took a lot of discussion. I told Colin later, Ian wasn't having as much trouble with Dilly as he would with a sibling!
This has definitely been a teaching opportunity. Ian is learning that he can't leave his toys laying around without some serious consequences.
The good news is, I haven't hurt my feet by stepping on a Lego in at least a week!
P.S. Dilly tried to swipe a Lego from Ian this evening. He was playing in Colin's office and I was in the living room. Dilly wandered down the hallway and them came running back and flopped on her dog bed. I heard the now recognizable sound of plastic toys being crunched and told her no. She spit out a Lego with two wheels attached. She sure looked pleased with herself before I busted her!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Watch Out For Little Ears

My son is always listening. I know he's usually got his mouth going a mile a minute, but somehow he manages to remember adult conversations with alarming clarity for long periods of time. I think he has some sort of special recording device built into his head, although I'm not sure where he hides it, certainly not in his hair.
The great (read scary) thing about Ian remembering all these conversations (or large chunks of them) is that you never know when he'll pull them out and sprinkle them in his conversations.
One of his favorite places to use this information is at the grocery store while we're in the check-out line. Last night I needed to pick up a few things so I took Ian with me to the local grocery store. As soon as we got in the check-out line he started a conversation with our checker telling him how we like our town and how we moved here and how the house we bought was pretty much at the top of our budget (where does he pull that from?). Of course that's exactly the kind of information you'd like to tell your local grocery checker, right??? Heh, heh...no. So I kind of laughed it off and explained that we've lived here over a year (of course the guy was thinking we'd just moved here from the way Ian was talking).
Watch out for those little ears, they hear everything and understand only a fraction of it!