Carrollot

Breakthrough!

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Ember had a breakthrough in therapy yesterday!

See, Ember talks but generally does not communicate with words. She uses echolalia, which is repeating what you (or the TV) have said, but she does not understand what she's saying most of the time. At other times she'll say phrases that have some words she understands, (like "splash in the water") but she would not be able to take out one of those words to use in another context. That was the extent of her speech.

Not so anymore!

While working with a toy piggy bank that would say "open" when you opened its door and "close" when you closed it, Ember finally grasped the concept of asking for something verbally! She said "open" and we opened it. That was huge. But she went a step further - she generalized it, asking me to "open" the raisins, to "open" the snack door, and to "open" various other things requiring that word. She has since asked for "juice," "hot dog," and "stars" (her star-shaped snacks).

While we realize that most of these words are tied to food, still, it's a major start! Ember is beginning to communicate, and after only 5 sessions with Birth To 3. She had another session today, and has just 4 more with Ms. Megan before she turns three. :( Hopefully she will have just as much, if not more, success with the school.

Yay Ember! lol (And yay for singing pigs.)

Ember

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Wow, what a month it has been. I think I need to get my thoughts out there somehow, and I know there are people praying for us, so this would be the ideal place to tell/update everyone about how Ember is doing, right? Right.

For those who don't know, on July 7 of this year Ember was officially diagnosed with autism. Since then we have been working with Wisconsin's Birth to Three program, and she sees her therapist Ms. Megan twice a week. The problem with this is that she will be turning three in three weeks! So we're looking into further options, including the school system, for her future therapies. YES I will still be homeschooling her - she just may attend certain classes and therapy sessions elsewhere while we work on getting into the program that would work with her at home.

If you don't know much about autism and would like to know more, here's a good website that explains it: http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2904

If you'd like to know more but don't have time/patience to read a big, long book, there's a book out there for siblings of children with autism called "Everybody Is Different" by Fiona Bleach that is excellent. It is short - around 65 pages of text - and it's at about a fourth grade reading level. It's in a question/answer format, too, so you can skip what doesn't apply. I highly recommend checking that out from the library if you're interested. We have a copy coming in the mail if you'd like to borrow it, as well.

Ember is at the higher functioning end of autism. She can speak, even saying individual words, but does not usually use words to communicate. She tells us what she wants in a variety of ways, from putting our hands on the object, to bringing the object to us, to screaming and kicking when she gets frustrated. She has a very good attention span when she is interested, and can problem-solve fairly quickly. She also does not fixate on acting out, but rather uses her tantrums to communicate that something is wrong. The reason this is good is because as we teach her to use words to communicate, her tantrums/screaming/kicking/hitting should lessen.

Other things that she does as a result of having autism that are "not normal" are wandering away/running away, having simple routines that "need" to be done the same exact way every time, being uncomfortable in new places (though new people don't phase her) , lining toys up or just exploring them instead of playing with them, banging her head on objects when she's too frustrated, and "stimming" (self-stimulating) by walking/marching in tight circles over and over while quoting. That's another thing she does - she quotes movies, songs, and phrases she has heard, although she does not understand their meaning. Sometimes she knows the meaning of one or two of the words in each phrase, but she would not be able to pick out a word and use it individually. She also does not seek others out for any reason other than to meet a need she has that she cannot meet on her own, or for a hug/cuddle session.

On the other hand, Ember is a bright, happy youngster with a lot of energy. She loves running, jumping, sliding, swinging, coloring, tickling, eating fruit, being swung in circles, giving hugs and receiving kisses, clapping and singing, and above all, swimming! She may have autism, but she's still our little girl and she brings a lot of sunshine into our world.

More updates to come as we have them. :)

P.S.
Ian-ism!
While giving me a hug: "It's fun to love!"

Ian-ism

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:15:00 +0000

We got our US State Quarters map out to put a new one on. Ian leaned over and searched it for a while and then frowning, turned to me and asked, "Mommy, where's Africa?"

:D

EASTER EGG HUNT!

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Are you ready to find the eggs?

GO!

Kid-isms

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:29:00 +0000

A friend of mine posts cute things that her kids say on her blog, and it is just too funny, every time. I've done the same thing a few times, except that I've put it in a word document. I found that document tonight and I thought, "Why not put it in the blog? Share the funny stuff!" So here are a few of what I call Damekisms, with an Ianism thrown in at the end. :)

5 years old

Damek: “Hmm, now what was I going to draw?”

Mommy: “I don’t know, what were you going to draw?”

Damek: “No, I was telling me.”

6 years old

(The "secret stairs" are back stairs that lead up to the third level.)

Mommy: “Damek, could you turn off the secret stairs light for me? I’ll get the other one.”

Damek: “That’s ok. You do most of the work around here, so I’ll get the other one for you.”

3 years old

Ian: “Mommy, are you sick?”

Mommy: “No, I have a headache. My head hurts.”

Ian: “I got to fix it. I got to get the scissors and clip your hair off your head. And then all better!”

hee hee hee ...

Precious

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:32:00 +0000

I don't have the words to describe what these pictures do to my heart, but hey world, this is my family. Please pray for them, because they're not out of the woods yet.

I have more of them, but they're on my cell phone and I haven't found that cord yet. That's Megara with the microphone, Kenobi playing video games with Ian, and those twins at the bottom? lol That's Damek and his Uncle Moses. (No, those aren't their real names. Protecting their identity at the moment. But they really are Calista and Damek's aunt and uncles.)

I will post more when I can find that cord.

Miss you guys ...

UPDATE!!! Megan, Ben and Aaron are now officially in foster care until their 18th birthdays!! Praise the Lord, he answered our prayers with a positive! I can now talk about them all I want. :) We'll be seeing Megan, at least, for Damek's birthday party at the end of the month! YAY GOD! lol

Google Tag

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:19:00 +0000

This is HILARIOUS! Do it! Trust me, it's really funny.

1. Type in "[your name] needs" in Google search

Result: "Bekah needs a team of committed people to pray for her and her ministry -I couldn't agree more bekah needs help."

(Yessiree! To both parts of the sentence.)

2. Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search

Result: "Bekah looks like a royal caught at the slopes."

(I wouldn't be caught dead at the slopes. Klutz. So there you have it.)

3. Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.

Result: "Bekah. says:. "You live your life like a loaded gun because you're young..."

(Yep! Me and guns. What IS it with us??)

4. Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search

Result: "Bekah wants at long last to be at peace w/ the Universe."

(That doesn't quite fit with what God said about me. I'm a boat rocker. Hee hee. Know peas!)

5. Type in "[your name] does" in Google search

Result: "Bekah does not switch her hips, she swaggers."

(Considering I've never watched my hips walk, I'll trust my husband to make that call.)

6. Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search

Result: "Bekah hates the winter weather!"

(AMEN! Finally they got something right!! lol)

7. Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search

Result: "Bekah asks: Am I doing this right? Is there anyone in here yet?"

(The real Bekah would never be so lost in a chat room.)

8. Type in "[your name] goes" in Google search

Result:"Bekah Goes Surfing"

(Absolutely no comment. That's just too funny.)

9. Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.

Result: "Bekah likes books."

(WHOO HOO! Score 4!)

10. Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search

Result: "bekah eats snow."

(Only the non-yellow variety.)

11. Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search

Result: "bekah wears girl with red tie."

(Yeah. Well, they were supposed to make sense, but I got to the 15th Google page and this was the best I could do. lol Unusually spelled names ...)

12. Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search

Result: "Bekah was arrested for reading Rachel's blog! Because when she put "Bekah was arrested for" into the Google search engine, on page 5 it had Rachel's blog! NOT KIDDING! lolololol"

(Seriously! It's right there. Try it.)

Oh that was funny. I bet Chris' name would be even more hilarious, because it's so common. The more common the name, the better results you're bound to get!

So try it. It was fun. :D

Arg.

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:08:00 +0000

This is me.

I'm tired.

It's been a busy two months.

With four sets of grandparents and their accompanying children and grandchildren, the Christmas season is usually very interesting for us. And yes, it usually lasts two months. Just took the Christmas decorations down this weekend. lol

For those who have wanted me to update my blog, even during the Christmas chaos, I can't find the darn camera cords!! I have great pictures, good stories, fun things to tell ... and no way to get the visuals onto the computer. What is a great blog story without visuals, I tell ya?

*sigh *

I will re-scour the house soon, but for now I have to wait until the family is over this stomach bug. Poor Ember has been sick for two days, but her fever broke earlier today. Ah, well. Life with many kids - never a dull moment!

Ok, now I really got to go look like that kitty. Goodnight! ;)

A Little Ham With Your Spaghetti . . . ?

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:42:00 +0000

The sound appears to be faster than the video, but oh well! Hopefully that won't last. :)

Adventure on the High ... Pavement?

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:18:00 +0000

We decided to have a pirate adventure today. Spur of the moment thing. I'm kind of an unpredictable mother. lol Should have picked a better time - 5pm isn't that great for the light. But we got all garbed up, put on our pirate gear, grabbed some mateys from below, and we were off!

This be Admiral Smoke.

I was Admiral Smoke, Calista was Pirate Spark, Damek was Captain Sephiroth, Ian was Captain Cloud, Austin was Pirate Skeleton Gun, Logan was Pirate Spikes, and Ember was the Pixie Queen. (We had to keep her safe, or the mission was doomed!)

Thar be Pirate Spark ...

And the good Captain Sephiroth, with Spikes right behind 'im.

This be Captain Cloud, restin' after the adventure. He don't enjoy landlubber publicity.

All pirates aboard ship had to have tattoos, to prove their toughness and sign on with Smoke. Unity be heartily important when facing the worst of the worst.

See, the Skeleton King had stolen our treasure and burned our ship. Then he kidnapped the pixies and hid both the pixies and the treasure in different locations. So we needed to vanquish the skeleton king, find the pixies, and rescue the stolen treasure; all before dinner!

First we had to "commandeer" a ship, (the side of the barn) so we attacked the evil marauders and jumped aboard. That ship sprung a leak, so we ended up swimming to Skull Island. (The hill behind our place.) We had half of the map, and that's where it showed them going. So we got all the skeletons, but the King escaped! Not before we grabbed the second half of the map, though! (The pics of the map didn't turn out well - they were drawn with pencil.)

The map showed that he had hidden the pixies in the Shark Whirlpool (front porch) so we raced off to their rescue, sailing in the skeleton's boat, the Black Skull. (picnic table) Admiral Smoke, though, is scared of sharks, so the other pirates had to capture the pixies and hand them to the Pixie Queen, who would do her magic (clapping) and free them. Then they all killed the sharks, of course, including Monster Shark.

Next we put the halves of the map together and discovered that the Skeleton King had hidden the treasure inside Volcano Mountain, (our house) so up we went! (It was getting dark by then.) We ran from the Skeleton King, escaped avalanches and earthquakes, and finally made it to the heart of the volcano, (the oven) where our treasure was found by Skeleton Gun.

This be him, Skeleton Gun.

We made it out of the volcano just in time, as it erupted behind us! Racing ahead of the lava (back and forth across the house, yelling our piratey heads off) we finally made it back to the ship (dining room table) and dumped out the treasure to be sure it was all there - and it was! Enough for all!

We had ourselves a blast today! Quite literally. lol

The good admiral stayed behind on the ship to guard the treasure, the Pixie Queen, and procure the vittles, of course, while the rest of the crew set off to finally vanquish the Skeleton King, which they took the rest of the evening to accomplish. Returning victorious, the pirates ate well, and are still conversing about it at this very moment!

Long live the Carrollot Pirates!

New Additions to the Family

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Aren't they the CUTEST?? Sorry the pics are so fuzzy. :(

The turtle is a baby snapping turtle that we rescued from the library's sidewalk. His name is Booker the Turtle Washington, AKA "Books." Books is a feisty guy, so we are only planning to keep him until late spring. It's a little dangerous to release him now, because he's not nourished enough to survive hibernation. Indoor turtles don't need to hibernate, though. But we ARE going to release him! Believe me, we don't have the money for the 50 - 100 gallon tank it would take to house this potentially 60 lb. 50 year old turtle!! Though it's going to be very hard. I get so attached to animals, and he is SO cute.

The tiger salamander is definitely a keeper, though! Her name is Tiger Lilly, AKA Tielle (TL). I had newts and anoles as a kid, so I know how to care for lizards. We've had Books for a while, (10 days? Something like that.) but Chris found Tielle in the parking lot of Piggly Wiggly just this morning. Poor thing was dry (which is bad) and scared to death. She's curled up in that plastic pot, and hasn't come out. Exhausted, most likely. Plus, salamanders are nocturnal. So we'll see.

Fyzh ("fish," our cat) has been fascinated by the turtle, of course, but wouldn't hurt him. She won't even kill flies that she catches. She just plays with them. How do we know she won't for sure? Because she didn't last night. We accidentally left the lid unsealed to Books' "tank," and she got him out and was playing with him, apparently, since the poor thing was on the floor this morning, hiding. I hope he bit her! lol He's fine, though. Not a scratch on him. Probably traumatized for life, but hey. That's what we get for now having THREE primarily nocturnal animals!! (Yes, for those who didn't know, that is why cats sleep a lot during the day.)

So, we have the beginnings of a little zoo, because of course the kids and I had to catch grasshoppers and crickets and worms to feed the little carnivore. Books can have veggies as well as bugs, but prefers the meat. We're going to stop by the pet store today and find out how much the food options are there, so that we can get some for the winter months, in case our backyard "jar critters" don't breed. We're going to at least keep the two for the winter, and we'll see how we're doing in the spring. We'd like to eventually hatch Monarch butterflies and have an ant farm, and maybe do a frog life cycle - there's so much you can do with little animals and science! So much they can learn, about the animals, about God's design, about responsibility ... pets are just good things. But we will see how long we keep them. Releasing animals to the wild has its lessons, too. Even if they end up dying, as hard as that would be, it would still be a good life lesson for the kids. I'm prepared for whatever comes with them. :)

So those are our new additions and we are loving them!

Adventures in Eating

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:01:00 +0000

Ok. I don't normally do really, really long stuff like this unless I'm bored, and today I'm actually not. But this was so interesting! I'm not a food person, per se, but I love variety, so it was fun looking up what some of these actually are.

Anyway.

This guy on a blog called Very Good Taste made a list of 100 varied foods he thought everyone ought to try. (Thanks, Rachel!) So here's what you do: Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions. Bold all items you've eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

Here's mine, and I am not very adventurous!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. ~~Steak tartare~~ (I draw the line at raw meat.)
5. Crocodile
6. ~~Black pudding~~
7. Cheese fondue
8. ~~Carp~~
9. Borscht (Eew.)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (I would try it, but I don’t handle spicy very well.)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. ~~Foie gras~~
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. ~~Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper~~
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I’ve had it w/o the bowl)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (Eew.)
35. Root beer float
36. ~~Cognac~~ ~~with a big fat cigar~~
37. Clotted cream tea
38. ~~Vodka jelly~~
39. Gumbo
40. ~~Oxtail~~
41. ~~Curried goat~~
42. Whole insects (That was on accident – one flew in my mouth. They’re very bitter.)
43. ~~Phaal~~
44. Goat’s milk
45. ~~Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more~~
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. ~~Eel~~
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. ~~Sea urchin~~
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. ~~Dirty gin martini~~ (Martinis are gross.)
58. ~~Beer above 8% ABV~~
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. ~~Sweetbreads~~
63. ~~Kaolin~~
64. ~~Currywurs~~t
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (Gross, but I’ve had it.)
70. ~~Chitterlings or andouillette~~
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. ~~Louche absinthe~~
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~
76. ~~Baijiu~~
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum (With chicken, yes. Prawns, no.)
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. ~~Horse~~
90. Criollo chocolate
91. ~~Spam~~
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (Bagel, yes. Never had lox.)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. ~~Snake~~

Ok, so I used to say I'd try anything palatable once ... but now I've found there are a few things I will not touch on principle, for safety reasons, or because they're insanely spicy. I still consider myself fairly open-minded when it comes to food. I would do a whole different list myself, like:

1. Brown Rice
2. Whole Wheat French Toast
3. Karen L.'s water

Yeah. Those are just three foods I cannot do without. hee hee

So try the list! Wikipedia has most of them, if you don't know what it is. Happy virtual tasting!

Confessions of An Overly-Active Imagination, Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:03:00 +0000

I'm secretly a spy. Yup. I work for the Association for the Prevention of Tiredness. (Very apt title, no?) I subtly insert comments into as many conversations as possible, trying to discover how everyone else stays awake . . . OR NOT!

Mwahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Just kidding. Of course. :D

I'm actually *drum roll * a student at M-TEC! That would be Medical Transcription Education Center. It's based out of Ohio, technically, but the program is online and home-based, because you work towards a career as a Medical Transcriptionist, otherwise known as a Medical Language Specialist, and it is a very technology-based career. Something like 80% of those in this career work from home, and that is my goal.

Is it a scam? No. There are plenty of MT scams out there - programs with substandard training, who take your money and then leave you to find a job when you have no real clue what you are doing. But I did the research, and chose MTEC for many reasons! (All of them good.)

Their website is: www.mtecinc.com if you'd like more info. Otherwise check out AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity) at www.ahdionline.org.

So THAT is why I have been so busy! I am a wife and mother, and I've been planning for the coming homeschooling year, plus keeping up with the house and with friends, and now I'm also a student and in about a year I'll be a part-time home career woman. Whew! Good to have a full life, though.

My grammar is horrible today - you'll have to excuse that. I've been getting up at 5:30 each morning to be with DH before work, and the alarm decided to go loco on us this morning and go off at 4:45 instead. *rolls eyes *

SO ANYWAY! Feel free to ask any questions and check out the above websites.

And let me know how you're combating that lethargy that comes after eating a big meal . . . What IS your secret???

Want To See Some Shoes?

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:23:00 +0000

Lol ... We couldn't pass this up, Rachel! Chris was in on it too - he kept me honest. ;)

Picture Blog Tag.
The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose. Then you tag five others.

1. The Fridge - Ok, I have kids who make their own breakfasts and most days, their own lunches as well. lol So, YES it's always messy like this, though we usually have more food in it. :)

2. The Closet - This is our living room closet, where we put coats for winter, golf clubs for summer, huge music cases, the vacuum, and all those magazines that I never get around to going through, and end up being collage-makers for the kids.

3. A Self Portrait - Here I am! Aren't I a great artist? lololololol (Playing around with my camera's photo shop-type program.) HEE HEE! (Too bad ya didn't think of this one!)

4. Your Favorite Room - This is my dining room, seen from just above the end of the table. Homeschooling books in one corner, computer and MTEC books in the other. Lol! Always cluttered but clean, I love this room because of all the memories it holds.

5. The Kitchen Sink - Here is the worst thing about my house, almost: The color of the kitchen. *dies * But yeah. There's absolutely nothing I can do to doctor up this pic to make it look good. It's a horrible sink. And I just cleaned out the fridge of leftovers about an hour ago (BEFORE taking the pictures!) so all the containers are waiting to be washed. *sigh * I WILL have a better kitchen one day. I will.

6. The Laundry Room - Ok, no way was I going to go all the way downstairs (42 stairs!!) just to take a pic of the laundry room. Sorry. :) So here's the laundry basket waiting to be folded. (The yellow is a dress of Ember's. Cute, isn't it?)

7. The Toilet - Here's strong evidence, yet again, that I have children. They mess around with bathroom things all the time. And I usually flip the calendar every day, but didn't get around to it today. lol Also again, no point doctoring this one!

8. What Are Your Kids Doing Right Now? - Well, here's the typical mess that the two boys make about four times a day, during the summer. lol

And here's Ember playing with Calista.

9. Your Dream Vacation - HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10. Your Favorite Shoes - I don't normally like shoes, but I LOVE these ones! Unfortunately, I don't get many occasions to wear them. And sometimes when you're dressing up, brown just doesn't cut it. But I still love these shoes. I believe they're the only pair I've ever loved in my entire life - I normally just tolerate shoes in general! lol But these are my "dream shoes" (hence the effects) and I actually own them. :)

Hmm, I don't know five blogging people to tag, yet! I'm new to the whole blogging world! So Sara and Sarah, since you're the only other bloggers that I know, consider yourself tagged!!

Homeschoolers: Need a Little Organization?

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:37:00 +0000

Guess what? Every so often, I get to gather together with anywhere from 10 to 80 or more women, and we talk and laugh and learn and share things about our lives. Most of us are homeschoolers, but some of us are just learning from life. The best part? I do it from home!! Cindy Rushton, a veteran homeschool mom and solid Christian woman, hosts teachings from herself and others, and while she's talking, we're all able to chat! It's amazing, and has changed my life many times. If you'd like those stories, just ask. The one about Damek coming to Jesus is hilarious! I may just blog about that one soon. But it happened partly because of Cindy's ministry.

Anyway - to the good part!

This weekend Cindy is hosting a seminar online entitled "Let's Get Organized For The New School Year!" If you would like to check it out, you can listen in for free. If you like what you hear, you can get access to the membership website, where she puts A TON of freebies! Audios, pdfs, everything under the sun related to her topic - it is more than worth the money. I still have stuff from the last one that I haven't gotten to yet!

Even if you don't homeschool, come check it out! Cindy and the Talk-A-Latte crew may be able to bless your heart and encourage you where you didn't even know you needed it!

Here's the link: http://www.cindyrushton.com/LGO2008.html

Just click on that and read what you'd like, then scroll down to the bottom and put in your info. You'll get an email to show you the rest of the way. You won't regret it, trust me. :D

Death By Camping

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Certain parts of life are more exhausting than they should be.

Take camping, for example. What could be more fun? Outside in the peace of nature, s'mores and fishing, swimming in the lake, sparklers and card games, hiking and seeing the stars ... bliss, right?

Yes. Except the sunburn and mosquito bites and calamine lotion and sand and dirt and sleepless nights on the hard ground. To name a few. But I love camping!

I don't, however, like the packing or unpacking. (Except the organizing part, I will admit. I do love to do that.)

I mean, ok, if you're single, or just married, it's probably a snap: A few duffel bags, a tent and some sleeping stuff, and you're off. But camping with kids is quite another story. I literally had a packing list two pages long, double-columned. For two adults and four children. For two nights.

*dies *

And then there's trying to stuff it AND the family into the van. For a 2 hour trip. In July, without air conditioning. Listening to Dora on the laptop because a certain toddler hates her car seat.

*decides a heart attack did it *

And then there's re-packing it to head home, with things slipping and sliding, and falling all over the floor. And wondering how you got it all to fit in the first place, because it sure looks bigger now! And whoever invented sleeping bags needs a good slap on the wrist. They're impossible to re-roll and fit in those bags without being Superman.

*and an anxiety attack *

If that wasn't bad enough, then there's the UNpacking. Lugging load after load after load after load - you get the picture - up thirty steps. And then trying to remember where everything goes, and not realizing you even had that thing you apparently packed, and why did you pack that other one in the first place? You haven't used it since you bought it seven years ago, so why was it necessary for two nights away from home, I tell ya?

*at least it was quick *

And don't get me started on the laundry. Sticks and stones and sand and silt, and other various S's that were not meant to be washed.

*and not too painful *

So then you're peeling and sore, and you feel like you were put through the spin cycle, and you're hot and sticky from not showering in three days, and being out in the heat of summer, and having to go to the bathroom in a sickeningly sweet hole with a toilet lid on top. No running water. (Give the folks at Purell a raise!) Anyhow, you just don't feel like doing a single darn thing for at least a week. Vacation from your vacation, yep.

*there will be fond memories to remember you by, at least, of the campfire variety *

And the bugs. See, bugs love you. And your stuff. They follow you home, dead or alive. The spiders in your basement absolutely love it when you come back from camping. So at least you're being nice to them. Something about doing unto the least of these ...

*and maybe they'll put wildflowers on your grave, in rememberance of why you died *

And then your cat drives you crazy because she thought you were abandoning her. (She has issues.) So she sheds all over you and follows you around - loudly - for a few weeks or so, and kneads your stomach (ouch!) as you pet her, and gives you The Look if you stop. (Because you abandoned her, for goodness' sake, so she deserves some pampering.)

*and they'll vow never to venture into the great outdoors again, on your behalf *

And seriously, did you know that calamine lotion (for poison ivy and such) is a thin liquid, like, more watery than lotion. Why do they even call it a lotion? Why not just calamine? It gets all over everything, and you think you're spreading the poison, and then you Purell your hands to a dried pulp, and then you recall that you forgot to pack the lotion. The real one. So you just have to deal. But that has nothing to do with packing or unpacking, really.

*and they'll found the Bekah Fund for the Packing Impaired, to help mothers everywhere prepare and de-stress, so others don't die in this tragic way - awareness is half the battle! *

So camping, in all its glory, is actually quite a hassle. Don't undertake it unless you're ready for a Fun sandwich - with Work being the bread!

But you know, this is just an example. Not like I've had any experience, or know this from real life. Just a hypothetical kind of blog.

*and pigs die from over-exposure to turbulence and very high mountain peaks. no radar, ya know. *

;)

The Blog Fairy's Blunder

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:42:00 +0000

Once upon a time, there was a Blog Fairy who flitted around blogger.com and sprinkled her fairy dust on the blogs she deemed the worst - because her fairy dust made them mess up! Lost links, blurry photos, misspellings and bad grammar were her favorite brands of havoc to wreak.

One day, this fairy decided that she just didn't appreciate being ignored the way Bekah had. It had been so long since she last posted a blog that the fairy took it personally. She whipped out her wand and went to work one night ... and lo and behold! Bekah's computer had to be re-serviced because of all the damage!!

Pursing her lips, Bekah did the only thing the Blog Fairy hadn't counted on: she pulled out the laptop! The Blog Fairy gaped in horror as the words spilled from Bekah's fingers, revealing the story of the mean things she had done for everyone to see!

She couldn't undo the damage she had done - nor would she if she could - and she couldn't stop Bekah from blogging once more on the laptop, but slowly a smile spread across her face as she realized that her revenge had indeed taken its toll: Bekah did not have any pictures to upload from the laptop!!

Chagrined by this realization, Bekah apologized for spreading the story of the Blog Fairy. The Fairy, in turn, apologized for her computer havoc. Together they worked out an agreement, whereby the Blog Fairy wouldn't care how long Bekah went without blogging, provided she did so at least once per month, and Bekah wouldn't tell of any more of the Blog Fairy's bad deeds.

And they lived wordily ever after.

The End

Shh!

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:38:00 +0000

It was so great, I'm still not talking much! *goes back to being silent*

Absolutely Golden

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:06:00 +0000

I am a mother of four, stepmother of one, kitty mother of one, wife to one. My house is almost never quiet. Add to that the fact that we live in a little town, next to one of its bars, on the main street in town, with working train tracks a few blocks away. Also, the house we're in is really, really old, windows included, so you can hear someone talking on their cell phone as they walk by, even though we're on the second floor. So, that quiet thing? Yeah. Wishful thinking.

But NOT for me this weekend!

I'm going on a silent prayer retreat. *basks in the anticipation*

48 hours in peaceful surroundings, with nothing but myself, a bunch of other women who have taken a weekend vow of silence, and God. No computers, no TVs, no phones, just paper and pens. I am SO looking forward to it. You just have no idea. I mean, I spent the majority of my life alone. Or at least, by myself, even if others were in the room. Until I had kids, that is! Don't get me wrong, I love my life with my kids right now. Wouldn't trade them for all the solitude in the world. But it will be nice to have the time, and the right, to think things through, and pray things through, because really, emotionally, I'm not in so good of a place right now, and I know I need to find a way to change that.

So WOO HOO for this weekend. After this past weekend--which went really well, but was still stressful--I'm going to need it.

Parties and The Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:47:00 +0000

This was written last night, but I was too tired to put the pics in! I saved it but didn't publish it. Now the pics are in, so enjoy. :)

What a week! And hey, it's only Thursday.

Wait, it's Thursday? Durn it. I thought for a second there it was Wednesday. Because that would mean I have more time between me and The Day.

See, The Day is this Saturday. We are all going to be getting up at the crack of 7 in the morning, in order to be by Granny's around 9. We're staying there for a pizza lunch. Then we're heading up to Brown Deer to pick up my two nieces. Then we're going to Grafton for a birthday party that I am helping with and Calista is attending, (and Chris will be taking everyone else--five!--to McD's for ice cream and play) and then after all the clean up, we get to go home. Chris and I are going to tape the Brewers v. Red Sox game while we're gone and then watch it that night after supper. Oh, and my nieces are staying until Monday night.

The kids are super-excited about The Day, and so am I, in a wary kind of way, because I love kids and I love my nieces and I love birthday parties. Especially when I'm running the fun part of the show. :D (More on this in a bit.)

And really, the rest of the weekend won't be so bad--we just have church on Sunday and then Rei and Brook will be joining us with school on Monday, and we'll probably go to the park and the library if it's nice out.

But methinks I'm going to need some serious caffeine on The Day. It's shaping up to be a two Diet Cokes kind of day. Plus, in case you don't live where I do, all these places are at least 20 - 40 minutes away from each other. So hey, at least I can give my feet a rest in the car. Theoretically.

I do love putting on birthday parties. And I love making them fairly big, with lots of activities and games and decorations and stuff. And I love being involved. The parties I did when Calista and Damek were little weren't very involved, but the ones from Calista's 4th, on, have been.

We did a Princess and Prince party for that one, combined with Damek's 2rd. (Chris' dad was the evil dragon king, and everything.) Then the following year, Calista did a Barbie one, Damek had a Thomas the Tank Engine one, and Ian had his mega-big Finding Nemo 1st Birthday. Then came the combined Calista/Damek Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe party, which was awesome!

And here's the point where we got smart and got a digital camera, thus the pics above.

Ian had his Incredibles 2nd party. Then Calista had a Flower Craft party (I swear, the whole party was almost silent, the entire time, because they were so engrossed in their crafts! Amazing!) and Damek and Ian had a Pirate party! We had a BLAST with that one! (Pun intended, of course.) Ember had a simple get-together for her 1st.

This year, Calista had a Cooking party, and then Damek and Ian--who were both having their golden birthdays--had a mega-big Star Wars party! That one was a ton of fun.

And now I get to pretty much do a fairy princess party on The Day. Except I don't have to pay for it. :D

I'm already brainstorming a little with what to do for Ember's party.

Four or five or fifteen people have told me that I need to start a business with this, but seriously everyone, I don't want to. In order to make any money, I'd have to be there helping at the parties, and that would mean giving up my weekends with my family, which I'm totally not willing to do. So. I will gladly help out with friends and family's parties, even for FREE as I've tried to tell one friend who insists on paying me to have so much fun. But yeah. Nothing beyond that. At least for now.

Seven Thousand Words

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:00:00 +0000

The Youth of My Nation

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Kids grow so fast, don't they?

Yesterday morning, I went to get Ian dressed and when I started to pull on his pants, they didn't make it past his thighs!

hmmm, now where does that sound familiar? ... anyway ...

I looked at the tag--3T! NO WAY! He just turned 4!

Now, ok, I can understand how sometimes one brand of pants has a 3T on it, and yet it won't fit most 2 year olds, and one brand has a 3T and it would fit Damek. But still. I almost cried. And it wasn't because we didn't have 4T clothes for him. (Thank you Sara and Drew!)

And then there's Ember.

She's 20 months, and she wears 2T. She climbs everything. Literally. Her favorite places to be are on top of the toilet watching me brush my teeth, (she thinks it's funny, for some reason--I get baby giggles every morning) or sitting in the middle of the dining room table, exploring what we've left there. She doesn't like to play, except with fake jewelry or anything that sparkles, (see above!) she just kind of explores and climbs all day.

What kind of toddler doesn't like to play? One that is way too old, in my opinion.

Oh, and here's another "too grown up" thing about Ian--he can read.

I'll give you a minute to pick your jaw back up, before it gets too dusty. Go ahead. I can wait.

. . .

It's from listening to me and the older two with our phonics program. He picked most of the verbal stuff up, too. He sounds out letters, and then sometimes puts them together. He read the word "day" yesterday. Went through the whole proces. "D says 'duh', A says 'ay', Y says ... what does Y say? 'Duh' 'ay'. Day?" *sigh*

Now, Damek is reading whole books--he read "Madeline" the other day. But he's in first grade, so that's normal. Calista is reading ... well, she's reading flower guidebooks. She's not that big on fiction books, except when they're read to her, but she'll read craft books and cookbooks and ... flower guidebooks. But third grade, yeah. Ok. But just turned 4?

Wait, wasn't I reading when I was four? I think so. But probably not this early. (Mom, if you're reading, can you comment on that? lol)

Anyway. They grow too fast. And those pictures prove it! I thought of putting them both next to a ruler and taking a pic, so you could see how big they are but that was a little too weird, even for me. So Ian is next to Damek, and Ember is on the couch with the only toy she cares to really play with.

*sigh*

I know I was a bit nostalgic when the older two were getting big, but I always knew there would be more. Now Ember is the last baby, so it's hitting me a little harder, since she's not a baby anymore. Luckily, I have many, many pictures and memories!

Thank you Lord God, for memories.

And for that guy who invented the camera.

AMEN!

A Glimpse of Our Homeschooling Life

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Here's a bit of a glimpse into what we've been doing lately. Because really, the only wholly exciting things we do during the fall, winter and spring are homeschool-related!

The second pic is of Damek and his graham-cracker-and-mini-m&m-mosaic. (It's a stoplight.) Those were fun to make when we began studying the Romans. And yummy!

The first pic is of Calista's clay Eiffel Tower. It turned out great! She made that one when we read "Madeline" for Five In a Row, a unit study series that we're doing through the early part of the summer.

The last pic is of Calista and Damek in front of the light hut that they made for Botany!! We absolutely love Apologia's "Exploring Creation" series, and Botany is probably going to be Calista's favorite, just as Astronomy was Ian's. We all learned so much from the Astronomy one, that I am just excited to be learning from the Botany one. We've only done one chapter so far (I saved it for the spring because a lot of it is spring-related.) but already we've learned a lot! And now we can grow plants inside, even in the winter!*

Speaking of growing plants, it's about time for me to get school started. :) See, we're typical homeschoolers in the fact that nothing about us is typical! I've learned that if I give myself and my children enough time to wake up, and then some time to play with each other, we all have a much better day than rushing through the morning and starting school at 8am on the dot.

We are SO not morning people.

Except Ian.

Unfortunately.

So we start around 9, 9:30, 10, sometimes 10:30 ... but there's no issue with finishing things up after supper, either! Who wouldn't want to curl up on the couch right before bedtime and learn about Louis Bleriot's flight across the English Channel in 1909? (I didn't even have to look that up! I LOVE this life! *does a mental jig*)

Ok, yeah, so time to get going. Hope you enjoyed a quick look into our lives! Til next time ...

*DISCLAIMER: I have never been able to keep a plant alive, and hereby disclaim any promises, claims, predictions or anything said that says a light hut will enable me to do so. We're wishing for a miracle, here, people!

Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Bekah) — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Hello, and welcome to Carrollot.

Ok, what else in the world do you put in a first, introductory blog? Do you even NEED an intro blog? Why? The only people who read them are people who already know you, because let's face it, there are so many blogs out there that the odds of a total stranger picking your blog to stumble on and then deciding to go all the way back and read the introductory blog and actually care about it are probably really slim. (Everyone still with me?)

So here we are, and since I'm being all weird about the whole introductory blog thing, I'll leave it at that, in a bit, and dig in with the our absatively fascinating lives with the next blog!

Thanks for reading, if you did. Now, *ahem* comment please. How ELSE to know if one truly exists if one doesn't get comments? ;)

Enough rambling on my part: Your turn!