Just the 5 of us...

My Poor, Neglected Blog!

2012-01-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

This has been a roller coaster of a year. Perfect time to have been blogging, really...but it was the first thing to be pushed aside. Major update on the way!

The "school" year comes to a close

2011-06-26T16:58:00.000-04:00

I breathe a deep sigh of relief as the year comes to a close for us. It's been a tough one. Between food allergies and trying to teach 2 kids, it's been interesting to say the least! All of the focus on health, the cooking, and the lost sleep as a result of reactions was draining, and made it very difficult to stay on task this year. But -- we did it!!!

I had really thought we'd love it, but in reality, I will be very happy when someone purchases our copy of Winterpromise American Story 1 off the trading post online. I wound up really disliking it. Many of the books were way over Lilli's head to the point of tears of frustration (and I was the one reading them out loud, not her!) and the whole thing left a lot to be desired. We wound up having a really great time studying American history this year despite it though! We snuggled up in my bed every night and read oodles of books, reliving everything from Columbus' journey, to Squanto and the Pilgrims, to a great escape of a Native American girl from another tribe, to a family's journey the revolutionary war, and more. We had a blast! And being able to go relive so man of these stories in real life around here in VA made it all the better. We can't wait to go to MA and see more!

Mickade did a TON of work this year in math. We got a little behind our goals with all the moving last year, so he had some extra do this year, and he did great. We started with Math Mammoth which, quite honestly, brought tears, so we moved to the ever-popular Singapore Math 3A. He had a few holes so we backtracked to 2B, moving through it quickly, then back into 3A. He did great with the work, but, quite honestly, the way this program teaches math was too spiral for him and we had tears on a daily basis. I pushed and pushed him through it, when I finally decided this was NOT the vision I had for homeschooling. Never once did I picture us screaming and crying every day when math came out, nor was it EVER this way before us. I'm not sure why it took so long for the lightbulb to go off in my head, but it finally did and we made one more change, this time to Math-U-See. It is mastery based, and different from other curricula in that it focuses on one thing each year. I put Mickade in Gamma, which is multiplication, and he took off! It has been absolutely fantastic for him. He watches a dvd lesson, then does worksheets until he understands it. The program has a whole set of unit blocks that goes with it, and they are used to help the child quite literally see math. He loves it (well, "loves" may be a strong word, but I can say we have not had fighting and tears since we switched.) Because he had background in multiplication but the old program didn't really allow him to get mastery, we were able to go through most of the year's work quite quickly. Out of 30 lessons, we are now on 24 I think, and he will finish it up over the summer. The way it's set up is great, because there are 3 pages for each lesson that focus on the new material, then 3 more that include that plus systematic review of everything from the past. The system makes it easy to customize to each child, since we can do less of the worksheets on topics he gets quickly, and more on the ones he doesn't. There is even a worksheet generator on the website if you need still more. Long story short, he took his first standardized test since VA requires them, and though I don't have the results yet, he kicked butt in math. :) A little hard work goes a long way!

Lillian did great this year. We tend to keep things laid back in K and 1. Lillian is a go-getter though, and even though I had started her with Rightstart Math, she had to have workbooks like Mickade, so she wound up completing Singapore Math 1A & most of 1B, all on her own. Seriously. I barely discussed and answer with her at all. I've learned this year that she is very independent (well, I knew that, but not in regard to learning lol) and hardly wants me in the equation at all! I'm making some curriculum changes for next year, even from what I used with Mickade at this age. I still really like First Language Lessons, but I can tell already she is going to fight me all the way with too much mom-lead work. Since I don't really like Singapore Math, Lillian will move on to Math Mammoth 2 in the fall, since it is an excellent program similar in rigor to Singapore but written to the student, so she can retain her independence and use me when needed! That girl will argue something to death, and never admit she was wrong. She "doesn't need" me to teach her. If she makes a mistake, she finds a way to back out of it as if she knew the real answer, she just wrote that one for fun. Ah, these will be interesting times with her!

Summer is here though, and so is the fun! Our neighborhood is jumping with new kids, they are out playing all the time, and they have a few weeks of camp starting tomorrow (read: mommy vacation time.) We're going to spend most of our time hanging out and having fun this summer, but I'll be slipping in Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry, Pre-Level, over the summer. They've been asking for chemistry and this actually looks FUN, so who am I to deny them? I've never seen a chemistry book explain things to kids in such an amazing way, maybe my kids will have a chance at making it through college chemistry if they need it to achieve their dreams!

Jamestown Settlement

2011-04-17T12:03:00.000-04:00

Jamestown Settlement is a wonderful place to go with your family. Aside from a great indoor museum, they have recreated the Powhatan camp (where Pocahontas lived) and Jamestown...it literally brings history alive. We have a blast there. Homeschool week was our second time there, and everyone still loved it. They had classes for the kids as well. I'm going to include photos from both of our visits. We read Pocohantas' biography, and this was like stepping into the story. Magical!

Learning about Powhatan life


Map of the settlers' route to Jamestown

In a Powhatan home

scraping deer hide

grinding corn


playing native games

Trying on armor in the Jamestown settlement

learning about weapons

Mickade gets put to work!

Down below in one of the life-size ship models

Homeschool Week in the Colonial Triangle

2011-04-17T11:41:00.003-04:00

The first week of March was full of fun for us! We've been studying early American History this year, and had the opportunity to go to special programs and have discounted rates at Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Victory Center, and Colonial Williamsburg. It was fantastic! All of our reading literally came to life.

Colonial Williamsburg

blacksmith

silversmith

A much needed break for Mom


At the wagon wheel maker's					'

The Millinery....clothing shop.

We got a behind the scenes tour of the horses and carts, called "Bits and Bridles." The kids learned a little bit about the animals kept here, what types they breed, and got to see the carts up close and the horses in the stables (which was their favorite part.) They have old breed working horses, and rare sheep and chickens.

Look at the size of that wheel!

The Barber....who actually makes wigs. Mickade is checking out the different hair options (goat, horse, human....)

Enjoying a cup of drinking chocolate after a tour of the coffee shop

Enjoying some Colonial games

After missing several times, Lucy decided this game was best played up close.


Setting the table for Mr. Powell (Lucy boldly decided Mr Powell's seat was hers.)

I'd like to note that all the shops, etc in Williamsburg are actual working workshops. The blacksmith makes the nails, etc that restore the buildings....the wagon wheels are used on real wagons...they make their own dresses at the millinery....the shoemaker makes the shoes they wear (and it take 8-12 hours per pair, mind you!) It's an excellent experience and I highly recommend it!

Priceless

2011-04-07T19:12:00.001-04:00

This evening before bath:

Me: "Quick, run upstairs, the tub is still running!"
Mickade and Lilli: "Ok!"

Lucy looks at me, all serious.
"The tub is running, mama?"
Me: "Yes, the water is running."
Lucy: "The tub is running? They need to go get it! They need to get the tub and put it back in the corner!"

I heart being a mom.

Just a Quick One Today....

2011-03-02T21:43:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Lucy

This one deserves a replay.

Lawn Reform at Home

2011-02-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

After our ginormous water bills last summer and the crispy grass we have to show for it, we knew we had to make some changes, but what exactly? Then I came across this great website called lawnreform.org. It was exactly what I was looking for! We waste so much time, energy, and water on grass that isn't meant to be grown where we plant it. Sure it looks nice, after you dump tons of chemicals on it and clean drinking water on it...lots of water. Lots and lots of water. So this week, we started phase 1 of Operation Lawn Reform.

First, on a nice tease of a nice day, I mapped out in the front yard where we wanted to make a bed, and dug a border around it.

Then this weekend, Stephen and Mickade worked hard. We got bricks that match our house, and they lined the beds with bricks. Then they also laid cardboard over the whole bed to kill the grass beneath. (The Lasagna Method) This is a great method, because once it's done it's job, it disintegrates under the mulch and becomes compost. We're already recycling! They covered all the cardboard with mulch, and it looks fantastic. In another month or so we should be able to start planting our new plants. Plants which will be native lovers of full sun and require little to no watering. The plants will enhance the landscape and be SO MUCH MORE beautiful and interesting than boring old grass. They will also attract butterflies and other helpful insects, while providing habitats for other small creatures. Way better than grass, don't you think????

Pinewood Derby '11

2011-02-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

Today was Mickade's cub scout pack's annual Pinewood Derby. He and Stephen have spent weeks and weeks preparing for this day! For the derby, the scouts each have a car kit that includes a block of wood and the wheels and axles...the literally carve out their own cars. They carved, sanded, ground, polished, painted, waxed...and were finally ready.

Mickade's car is in the middle lane "Future Car"

They were sooo nervous and excited this morning, but never fear! Mickade's car came in 2nd for his den (so out of about 20 boys)!!!!!! He won an awesome trophy.

His car then raced in the pack's finals for bigger trophies, and he was SO CLOSE!!! 4th place! Overall a very successful and fun day!

For the Non-Believers...

2011-02-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

This is Mickade's back after TWO Baked Lay's BBQ Potato Chips. Yes, two. The seasonings are high in salicylates.

This is after a 20 minute bath in epsom salts. The sulfates in the magnesium sulfate help the body clear out the toxins. Amazing, huh?

One Fish, Two Fish

2011-02-11T14:16:00.001-05:00

More baking adventures today! It's really hard to get anything else done when you have to cook this much...but...luckily I love cooking and my family loves the results. Today, I attempted cheese crackers for the second time. I was also armed with a perfectly cute, teeny-weeny goldfish cookie cutter!! So precious! Now my little one can be just like everyone else, with little fishy crackers. Boy was she excited! "Mama, you make goldfish crackers for me?!" she said over and over with squeals of joy. She also enjoyed "helping" me make them (all you moms out there know that when a 2 year old helps, they tend to do just the opposite lol!).

4 ounces Cheddar Cheese (I've heard Daiya cheese is great too!)
3 Tbs. Butter, softened (or your preferred substitute if dairy-free)
2/3 cup Rice Flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum (use 3/4 tsp. guar gum for corn-free)
1/2 tsp Corn-Free Baking Powder (I used less than a 1/4 tsp baking soda with the rest cream of tartar)
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
3 Tbs. Milk (or dairy-free substitute)

Preheat oven to 400 F. I use a baking stone, but if you use a metal pan be sure to grease it.
Mix all ingredients together except milk in mixing bowl with electric mixer (I use a countertop Kitchenaid) until crumby, then add milk.
Flour your smooth surface, and roll dough 1/8 inch thick (I just got these great rings for my rolling pin to make even dough!) and use teeny goldfish cutter until you use all the dough up!
Sprinkle with salt if desired, and cook about 10 minutes until getting golden brown on top. Err on the side of overcooking, or they will not have the crisp of a cracker.
Serve to smiling little people!

Oh and hey, our kids can have fun too! Next time I'm going to make some with natural dyes so we can have rainbow fish, too, without all the yucky stuff!

Oreo's....gluten free!

2011-02-10T10:31:00.004-05:00

Our homeschool co-op had plans for a potluck today (which, incidentally, has now been snowed out), and I panicked. All of our food restrictions lately make group eating situations just awful. Will my kids be able to have any? It's really awful to sit by and deny your kids food, especially when it may be something as simple and healthy as fruit salad. So, I started searching and brainstorming. I figured chicken and rice soup would be a perfect crockpot meal, so that was an easy one. But I needed a new dessert!! But what??? Then I found it. Oreos!!!! I took the original recipe from Smitten Kitchen and adapted it for our tastes and needs...fantastic!

Homemade Oreos

Gluten-free Oreos

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (For gluten-free, I used an all-purpose flour mix...details below)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used both Hershey's and Ghirardelli)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) spectrum palm shortening
1 large egg
A few tablespoons of water to obtain a slightly wet consistency. If it's too dry and doughy, the cookies won't cook thin enough.

Wheat flour Oreos

For the filling:
1/2 cup Spectrum palm oil shortening2 cups powdered sugar (I made ours in the Vitamix, using tapioca starch instead of cornstarch since M can't have corn)
1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In electric mixer, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the shortening, and then the egg. Thoroughly mix (wheat version will make nice ball of dough, gf will be slightly wetter).
Roll rounded teaspoons of dough in your hands into little balls and place on cookie sheet (I use baking stones, otherwise you may want to line with parchment paper). Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten dough with bottom of glass or your fingers. Bake for 8 minutes for wheat, 10 minutes for gluten-free. Let sit for a couple minutes then place cookies on cooling rack until cool.
For the cream filling, mix shortening at low speed, gradually adding in sugar and vanilla. Mix on high for a couple more minutes until cream is light and fluffy.
To make the best cookies you've ever tasted, put the cream in a pastry bag with a large round tip (or in a strong ziplock bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze about a teaspoon glob of cream onto one cooke, then place another one of similar size (I know I still have to work on uniform sizes for my cookies lol!) on top, pressing together lightly.

All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
3 cups brown rice flour (I make my own in my Vitamix, much cheaper and I never run out!)
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca starch

This recipe could easily be adapted for other food allergy needs...different flour mixes,egg-free, etc.

I'm going to confess....the gluten-free ones taste more like Oreos than the wheat ones!!! The wheat ones come out a little softer, whereas the gluten-free ones have that familiar crunch. So delicious!!!!

2/18/11...I just edited this recipe. I made it dairy-free and it's even better than before. The cream is just like oreos now!

Even Unicorns Need Spa Days

2011-02-07T09:28:00.001-05:00

Lucy had her hair cut Friday and was inspired.

A Lot Can Happen in 30 Days

2011-02-06T23:28:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of this year I decided my resolution was to get back into shape. After 3 babies and our last move (during which I somehow gained almost 10lbs) and the food allergy baking (because, of course, how do you know if things are coming out good if you don't ~~eat half the batch~~ taste them along the way?), I needed to do something. My ab muscles were, uh, missing. My rear end had gone south. I wasn't totally sure how I was going to accomplish this until one of the shopping blogs I subscribe to posted a link to Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It was only $7.99. I read the reviews, and was completely intrigued. I saw before and after photos on blogs and was blown away. Could that really happen in only 30 days????

So I ordered it and set forth on my journey. It was a tough workout, but the kind of tough that makes you feel awesome about yourself for getting through afterward. Sure, it was hard to walk up the stairs sometimes, but as I started to see things like calf muscles starting to cut through, I was motivated. I have been sore in one capacity or another for 30 days...but I like it! I was truly determined. I did the workout each and every day for 30 days straight, even if it meant working out at 10pm when everyone was finally asleep and the kitchen was picked up. I had to do this, for myself, for once.

And it was worth it. I know I posted my clothed photos on Facebook, but it seems I've motivated so many of my friends to try it today, I thought I'd just go all out and put myself fully out there. If I can inspire a few of my friends to get healthy, it will be worth it!

I was totally out of shape for me when I started. My before photo is a bit, um, embarrassing, but the after makes it worth it. I'll come out of hiding here and give you the real deal. In just 30 days, 25 minutes a day...less than 3 hours a week...I lost 3 1/2 inches off my waist and reduced my body fat percentage down 5% and into an acceptable range. Other places saw modest circumference reduction, but huge changes in composition. I'm much more solid.

My before photos are a little embarrassing, but I really feel like you need to see them to understand. I mean, I have visible abs (and if you were to feel my abs, you can actually feel the ridges of the 6-pack just aching to come through). You can see the outline of definition in my thigh muscles. You can't tell in these photos, but I even have calf definition starting to peek through. The best part of the whole regimen, though, was I started to see changes in only 5 days. No joke. My waist melted away that first week, I think I lost 2 inches in that first week alone. Freaking A-mazing. If you decide to try this, please take photos and measurements of yourself before you start. I totally had a freakout at the end of each week when the scale didn't move...and then I looked at my new photos compared to my first ones, and read measurements...and knew I was on the right track.

I did a little dance last night when I was finished, so excited for having completed the 30 days. I'm not quite ready for bikini season yet, but luckily I have time....and Jillian Michael's 6 Week 6 Pack on the counter waiting to be started!

Healthy Chocolate Fix!

2011-02-02T20:47:00.001-05:00

I just made this recipe for the first time! While it's certainly not as decadent as a traditional recipe, it will do the trick. Of course, my currently baking batch is full of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips, so that probably ups the rich factor. Also, I'm considering making it with butter one time too and seeing if that makes it a tad more decadent. But really, using black beans instead of flour not only makes it gluten-free, but makes it chock full of protein, fiber, and nutrients! (I wonder if this means it's ok to eat the whole pan?)

Black Bean Brownies

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used 2 cups of black beans I had prepared myself)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder (this could easily be upped)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Conversation between Stephen and Lucy

2011-02-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

This morning, before leaving for work (where he often sleeps, remember):

Stephen: Lucy, did you sleep in my bed last night?

(She did, of course, sleep in our bed.)

Lucy: No...your bed is on your boat.

Bahahahahahaha!!!!

More Mickade's Finds

2011-01-24T12:23:00.003-05:00

Bringing back Mickade's fun videos!

Food Allergy Update

2011-01-23T11:22:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've updated. We've had a lot of breakthroughs the past few months! We are now a low-salicylate family, and much, much happier. We are still working out the kinks and testing out foods, but we are healthier!!!

Lucy had the most dramatic change after removing salicylates. She went from a volatile, screaming, moody child who had tantrums for 30 min or more and locked herself in closets to cry to a calm, normal 2 year old who I am more than happy to take shopping with me. She has gone from pooping 1-2 times a week to pooping 1-2 times a DAY! And no crying when it's time to go. Just a simple "Mama I need to go pooooop!" and a run to the bathroom. It really is a miracle. I no longer supplement her with oral magnesium regularly. I do still give her epsom salt baths, but that is to make sure she maintains good mag levels in her body in general and because they are an excellent salicylate neutralizer. They can literally turn a reaction around. I do try to give her molybdenum and zinc regularly though as they are good for salicylate issues, as well as methyl B12.

The other big surprise, is we have gotten rid of Mickade's eczema for the first time in his whole life! Since he was a few months old, we have been battling his eczema. He used to be so itchy as a toddler that I literally scratched his arms for him as he drifted asleep. He is now eczema-free!!!! It turns out he is super sensitive to salicylates as well, but for him it seems to show up more in his skin. However, we are now noticing it affects his mood as well. He had some ketchup at lunch the other day for the first time in 3 months, and within 30 minutes he had itchy welts, and we also noticed he became very angry for the rest of the day. Mean, glaring looks, yelling, etc. Kind of scary, really.

It's been hard living without so many of our favorite foods, but we are managing. We have been able to add golden delicious apples back into our diet, as they are the variety with the lowest amount of salicylates. It is limiting, though, and I feel we turn to baked goods more often because we can eat so few fruits. At the moment, we are ok with peeled pears, bananas, golden delicious apples, limes, lemons, and mangoes for sure. We still need to retest grapefruit and watermelon, I'm not sure about our first go-round. We eat peas, green beans, carrots, onions, iceberg lettuce, celery, and asparagus. The kids can get away with lemon-lime soda and rootbeer for a treat, but something like orange soda can create a bad reaction. Not that we ever had soda often, but just for a glimpse of our life. We also cannot have tea, except chamomile. Coffee is high in salicylates but luckily I've been able to get away with that one! I still keep Lucy mostly gluten free, so that's another hitch in our eating but we make do.

I bake a LOT and it shows on my hips LOL but I've been working on that one. Luckily she is not direly reactive to gluten so if she has a little here or there we are ok. I'm hopeful since her reaction level to that is so low that she will outgrow it. At any rate, I prepare almost all of our food from scratch, so spend a lot of time in the kitchen (which is now never clean lol). This week I made 2 batches of granola bars, 2 different kinds of rice krispy treats, pumpkin bread, and plan to make pear jelly and nutrigrain bars this afternoon. In addition, I want to make a big batch of tomato-free "tomato" sauce. Yes, you read that right lol! We've been missing tomato sauce so, so, so very much. We've eaten sauceless pizza and been without any of our favorite Italian dishes since the middle of October. No chili either, which as many of you may know is Mickade's all-time favorite. He can eat his weight in chili. I tried out a new recipe last night and it was the answer to our prayers!!!! It sounds weird but it's delicious! It can be found here.

Adventures in Food Allergies

2010-10-23T15:59:00.002-04:00

Ever since we've moved to VA, Mickade's allergies have been awful. Per testing last year in Florida, he has severe allergies to dust mites and mold, and some other milder allergies to various trees and grass, and also sesame. We had them fully under control with some dust mite bedding, weekly laundering in hot water of all his bedding (including the quilt), and a couple Austin Air purifiers. Here, however, despite flooring the downstairs and his bedroom, he has been miserable. It got to the point where even Zyrtec wasn't making much of a dent in it for him. We finally saw our Dr here, and he said he wanted us to look into food allergies that could be affecting him and making his enviro allergies worse. We eliminated dairy, wheat and citrus, replacing the dairy with soy. What we got out of that week was NOT what I expected...it turns out Lucy is allergic to soy! She completely flipped out...tantrums, crying for literally hours, biting, unable to control herself in any fashion. It was awful. I finally realized after a few days what had changed, and what had happened. So, she is now completely soy-free. We also discovered Mickade is allergic to dairy, and gets a runny nose within minutes of a glass of milk, is stuffy all night, and also, gets gas (which explains why he has always been so gassy, even as a newborn!).

I finally had Mickade and Lucy's IgG reactions tested. Most allergists do an IgE test. This type of reaction is what most of us know as an "allergic reaction" -- hives, itchiness, anaphylactic shock, etc. IgG tests what are more commonly known as intolerances. The IgG test isn't the most accurate, but it gives a good starting place for most and helps identify odd foods, like pineapple or green beans, that might not be discovered otherwise. Mickade reacted to corn, baker's yeast, and brewer's yeast. Lucy reacted to wheat, gluten, gliadin (both parts of wheat), orange, yogurt, and brewer's yeast. We have eliminated corn now for Mickade, and Lucy and I are gluten-free since she is still nursing.

I don't know if you've ever looked at your food labels, but the pervasiveness of cheap ingredients is frightening and frustrating if you have allergies. Soy is in everything...soy lecithin, soybean oil, msg, 'natural flavors', it goes on. Then corn....there is a whole website dedicated to corn allergies, since it's not one of the "Top 8" designated by the FDA (soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy) so it's not stated on labels. You should look here to see what ingredients can mean corn!
We've started a number of supplements to help, too. Mickade has gotten more relief from 3000mg of vitamin C and 2-3000mg of methyl B-12 than he got from Zyrtec, and there are no side effects! Some other interesting things are that his sleep has improved. As you all know, he has never slept very well. It turns out that the body uses methyls to fight off allergens. If you are fighting all day, you have little to none left at night, which is a problem because the body uses methyls to combine with serotonin to make....melatonin!!!! Ever since he has been taking methylB12 during the day, he has been falling asleep much, much easier, and been a little bit less restless in his sleep. We are also taking lots of probiotics in order to try to heal everyone's guts, since the imbalance of gut bacteria is what lets the food proteins out of the intestines and into the bloodstream, causing the reactions.

Even with all this, Mickade's eczema still hasn't quite left him, and Lucy is still very volatile and poops only once a week without magnesium supplements (This week with supplements and epsom salt baths though, she has already gone 4 times since Monday....a miracle around here). We've turned now to salicylates, a naturally-occurring chemical in many foods that some people are sensitive too. In fact, it's such a big sensitivity, that a program called the Feingold Diet is 30 years old. It turned out to be a huge factor in helping kids with ADHD, and many other issues. Feingold also removes artificial food colors, flavors, and preservatives. There's a lot of data to back it up too, and the more I've read, the more I see my oldest and youngest. We are following a very strict version for this week, to see if it makes a difference, before adding in anything else. For an idea, you can look here and see what has negligible or low levels of salicylates to see what our food choices are this week (In case you're too lazy to click, our fruits this week are bananas, pears, and limes, with some veggie choices like green beans, peas, brussels sprouts, potatoes. Tomatoes, berries, apples, ketchup, cinnamon, cumin, peppers, to name a few, are out.). So, here's to hoping this one does the trick and kicks the crap to the curb. I'd like to have a sweet little girl more often. I'd also like to see Mickade's eczema stop and his sleep improve. I've had Lucy on it for 2 days now, and I think I am seeing some minor improvement already. I would the THRILLED if this works, even it means we can't enjoy a lot of the food we are used to. I'll take my kids happy and healthy anyday!

This is the much shorter version of our lives these past two months, but I know people are wondering exactly what is going on over here...hope this helps some!

First Day of School

2010-08-23T22:00:00.009-04:00

Ah, the plans we make! Today was our first day of school. We were supposed to get started at 9am this morning. That was my goal. Of course, best laid plans and all, Lucy had her own ideas. She went to sleep all nice and sweet by 8pm last night, yes! Or so I thought. One of the disadvantages of our amazing new house is that I don't hear when she cries if we are watching TV. What's that you say? Use a monitor? Yes. I know. I have it right here on the counter. Or most of it. I'm too stubborn to buy a new one. At any rate, it should turn up. Somewhere. So, I didn't hear her fast enough and she was awake. Yes, my baby had now taken a 2 hour nap. At night. Awesomeness. After a Wonder Pets marathon, at 1am I told her I simply had to go to bed. We could watch in my room (and I could doze). After some convincing, she came up with me, settled, and we watched more Wonder Pets. She curled up in the rocker at one point to sleep, but didn't. Then asked me for a pillow. Then she made a bed on the floor. Then, finally, at about 3am (!!) she crawled into bed next to me. I slept til 8:45 (so no school at 9 lol) and she slept til...10:45!!!

We sat down to start around 11am, and it went pretty well. We are excited to study early American History, especially because we are living so close to the actual locations for our early history. In case anyone is interested, we will be studying the following this year:

Together:
American Story 1
La Clase Divertida Spanish
Song School Latin
Handwriting Without Tears Cursive

Lillian, first grade:
First Language Lessons 1
Handwriting Without Tears, print
All About Spelling
Rightstart Math B

Mickade, third grade:
First Language Lessons 3
All About Spelling
Math Mammoth 3
Writing With Ease 2

We also have an awesome homeschool coop we're going to start attending once a week called Renaissance School of the Arts for art, music, and other creative classes. It's going to be a great year!!!

I presented the kids with some Native American "crowns" to kick off the new school year. We will have a big focus on Native American history this year.

Rocking out with La Clase Divertida, as they act out and sing along learning los vocales in Espanol (the vowels in Spanish.)

The Big Cut

2010-02-12T20:39:00.004-05:00

Baseball season has begun! Mickade and Lillian are both playing, and having a lot of fun. Mickade is especially excited because he gets to play his dream position....catcher!!!! He loves it, and between that and being the oldest kid on the team (actually, in his whole division....he missed the cutoff by 9 days), well, he thinks he is hot stuff. He's having a bit of a rough time because he is pretty much ready to move up, but they changed the age groupings this year, and he is playing with kids from his age of just about 8 to kids who are still 4...you can imagine the ability spread on a team like that!!! He looks darn good out there in that padding though, doesn't he?

Speaking of the padding, it lead to a new problem: the face mask pulls his hair. Mr. Competitive (Yet Highly Sensitive to Irritation) couldn't have something in the way of being the best, and decided he had to make the ultimate sacrifice: his hair. Yes, everyone, much to my chagrin, Mickade wanted to shave his head, and I had to oblige. It's his head, not mine, so who was I to say he needed to just suffer through it? I LOVED his long hair. It sort of defined him. We thought of a hat of some sort but honestly, in a month or two when it's 95 degrees out, who wants to wear a uniform, padding, mask, and a fitted hat under a hat??? So here's the before and after for you. It takes a while to get used to looking at him with hair like that, I feel like someone else's kid wandered into my house!

Who are you and why did you eat Mickade?!

Making Gum

2010-01-31T13:38:00.003-05:00

Gum, natural gum, as you may know, comes from the sap of the chicle tree in the rainforest. It's a really cool process we learned all about. We read all about it here before we got started. It's really neat if you've never read about it, I highly recommend it! Anyway, we ordered a kit from Glee Gum and had a blast!!! We made peppermint and cherry (the peppermint was our favorite). The kids LOVED the process, and now we understand where gum comes from (though a lot of the gum we buy now is man-made). One of the ways we can help preserve the rainforests is by buying gum like Glee Gum, since the chicle tree only grows there.

Melting the chicle.

The powdered sugar to mix in the chicle

Mixing

Rolling it flat

The finished product!! Delicious!

Oops!

2010-01-31T13:17:00.002-05:00

Obviously, I have been a huge slacker. I hate it when people don't update their blogs, and lo and behold, I have become one of them. If it's any consolation, I write awesome entries in my head all the time while I brush my teeth. If only I would take the time to put my genius in "print"!!!!

I'm going to see what I can do to slowly get updated here. I'll probably just pick up where we are now....it would be a log to fill you in completely on the last ten months in our household.

For homeschool this year, we have been studying animals using Winterpromise's Animals and their Worlds, and having a good amount of fun with it. We studied the Savannah, the Rainforest (and we even made our own gum with chicle from the chicle tree), the desert, and are currently working on the woods. We are using Rightstart C for math for Mickade. Lillian is learning to read really well, and recently has begun to be able to read some Dr. Seuss books. :) Lulu is just along for the ride. I'm hoping to make a trip to Busch Gardens soon to see all the animals from Africa. It will be really cool for the kids to see the animals they have studied in person.

We will be leaving Key West this summer for the Portsmouth, VA area, actually maybe sooner. We are kind of done with tiny Key West, as beautiful as it may be. We are ready for some more activity, and a lot more living space. 5 people, a dog, and a cat in 1050 sqft of living space is growing old. Really old. I will really miss having a dock out back though!!!

Dolphin Bubbles

2009-03-23T14:31:00.001-04:00

This is amazing!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuVgXJ55G6Y

Workboxes!

2009-03-23T09:23:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be fun to join the craze and try out workboxes for homeschooling. It's an interesting concept designed by a homeschooling mom, where, ideally, you set up twelve or so clear shoebox-size containers on a little 3-tier shelf with an activity in each, so the kids can visually see their progress and you have everything all set and ready for the day. Sounds great to me, especially because time to sit down and do our stuff is hard to come by with the little one. So, we're giving it a go. I made my own version with large ziplocks instead of bins though for space reasons mostly, but also because I can see Lucy emptying every box as fast as I can fill it...which of course would be counterproductive!! One of the best parts is I have things all laid out and can use the fun things we never get around to because we are too busy just trying to get things done. For example, in addition to the 3 R's there is a bag with instructions for us all to take Bunny to the dog park, one to go play on the swings for 10 minutes, one to draw a picture of a rocket from a book, and one to work on his Lego Star Wars ship for 30 minutes. Fun, huh? I made 6 bags for Lilli since she doesn't really have much she has to to do yet, and hers include writing, cutting and gluing, painting, etc.

KEY WEST FOR KIDS!!!

2009-03-20T18:23:00.029-04:00

It was so hard to find activities when we were coming here...I thought, oh no, there must not be a lot for kids in that small town...boy were we wrong!!! With a little sleuth work, we discovered Key West has a plethora to offer young families!!

Southernmost Hockey (inline hockey)
Key West Sailing Club
Young Navigators
City of Key West Rec
Coffee Mill Dance Studio (Despite what the site says, they do NOT require you pay for the whole session up front.)
Key West Library
Just4Kids Art Center
Key West Soccer **Sign up May 2 & 7 2009 at HOB....see website for details...allow late registration for transferring military families too!!!**
FREE Choir/Instrument music lessons at Bahama Village
Elie's Place (gymnastics) (305) 294-3535
Key West Junior Football League (flag, tackle, and cheerleading prek and up) ***football sign up will be May 26-28 in the evening at the trailer behind the field...cheer tryouts are complete but there may still be room if you ask***
FKCC pool has swim lessons and swim team from infants up
Kindermusik
Home Depot Kids' Workshop - 1st Saturday of every month is a FREE program for kids to build something to take home...the staff down here is super friendly and helpful!
Karate (305) 293-0772‎
Kari's Dance Factory
Sheriff's Animal Farm 2nd Sunday of every month 1-3pm FREE

SCHOOLS
Another FYI, the Montessori Charter School is taking applications NOW through April 18 2009 for next year.

Also, school related...if you want to attend a school other than the one your child is zoned for, check here....applications are due April 18 2009!!! Map of school zones

CAMPS
There are also several summer camps available. There is a soccer camp, gymnastics camp, art camp at Just4Kids, the Boys & Girls Club, MWR Key West's Youth Center, and a few more I'll remember later. Key West is anything but boring!! :)

FKCC Pool
Key West Sailing Club
Boys and Girls Club (305)296-2258
MWR Youth Center (305) 293-4437 **Sign ups start May 11 2009**
Elie's Place (305) 294-3535
Coffee Mill Dance Studio, call for details
Mel Fisher's Mer Academy
Kari's Dance Factory
Key West Soccer Camps **Sign up May 2 & 7 at HOB, see website for details**
Monroe County School District's list of summer activities 2009
The library has summer reading programs and things for tweens/teens
Camp Bravo theatre camp

Once you live here, be sure to ask EVERYWHERE for a "locals' discount". We get 10% off at even Denny's! Dante's gives a generous discount, too. If you are military as well, check...some places have different discounts for locals and military...find out which is best for you to use where. ;)

First Sunday of every month is Locals Day...the Conch Train, Aquarium, Shipwreck Museum, and a few others are FREE to locals. :)

Hopefully this will be helpful to the newbies arriving in KW this transfer season! I'll try to update as more comes around.

Battle Droid Band -- Funny things Mickade finds

2009-03-18T19:25:00.001-04:00

Hahahaha!!!

Lucy's Birth -- Take that!

2009-03-18T09:40:00.000-04:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Copyright

2009-03-18T09:17:00.003-04:00

So wow, YouTube won't let me play my video either (Facebook also pulled my upload of Lucy's Birth, set to music from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack). Really???? I mean, it's just montage of my pics set to nice music. That is so crazy. I mean, I understand artist's rights and all, but I did buy my copy of the song legally on iTunes, I'm not making any money on my use of the song, I'm only giving them positive exposure...so what's the big deal? I can't make musical picture montages anymore to share with friends and family unless I compose the songs myself, or apply for copyright permission from the recording studio? RIDICULOUS. Seriously people, aren't there bigger things to take care of? Aren't people still stealing songs off the internet? This is so stupid.

I mean, honestly, what about all the movie and tv clips on YouTube? Shouldn't those all be deleted too? It's insane that those last so long yet an innocent family photo montage is caught upon uploading by a software system. Total BS.

Happy Birthday, Lucy.....

2009-03-03T08:18:00.002-05:00

Poo on you Facebook...they deleted my upload to their server bc I used music I don't have a copyright too. I doubt the artist cares that I gave him more exposure, LOL! So here it is again!

So I looked in the couch cushions for the tv remote and found

2009-01-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

I kid you not:

-glue stick
-Wii remote
-calendula diaper cream
-unknown number of hidden candy and gum wrappers
-candy pieces (sweetarts? mints?)
-rechargeable battery
-several pretzel sticks and their pieces
-2 guitar picks
-wrapped mint life saver
-rubber frog
-cardboard game piece
-3 legos
-1 lego man visor
- 2 barrettes
-1 nickel
-cell phone
-and finally, the tv remote

For the record, I just washed the slipcovers 3 weeks ago. It's funny, life with kids.....

More from Mickade...Shark vs Octopus, guess who wins?

2009-01-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

Funny things Mickade finds on the internet

2009-01-18T13:16:00.004-05:00

In the fashion of my good friend Suzanne and her husband Matt, I thought I'd try sharing some of the random and funny things Mickade finds on the internet. His current favorite can be found on YouTube (yes, he knows how to use YouTube, Google, etc.) under the user Goldentusk. He actually has several very funny original music videos!!!!

Homeschooling

2009-01-17T20:31:00.009-05:00

On the schooling front...things are going quite well.

Books we've read:
The Boxcar Children
My Father's Dragon
Elmer & the Dragon
The Apple & the Arrow
Johnny Appleseed
The Hundred Dresses
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children

Mickade himself is reading on approximately a 4th grade level, but we still keep the selections he reads out loud on a second grade level (remember he's in "first grade") as recommended by our literature-based curriculum. The idea is to stimulate love of reading and fluency, instead of too much challenge and frustration...so he reads books to me like "Frog and Toad" and other stories.

We've made crayons. We took all our old crayons, unwrapped them, and designed our own crayons. I put them in the oven to melt them..the kids enjoyed the project. They came out quite nice!!!! One small caveat, however: do not do this in your stoneware, even with cupcake liners...the wax leaks through, forever ruining it. So while I did manage to save $3 on a box of crayons, I lost $30 for a muffin pan....oops!!! At least we ALL learned something....lol.

In October, we did a unit on presidential elections...it was fun. We made a lapbook of our work. Mickade was very interested in it all. He even went on nick.com (they had a program going for kids to vote) and researched all the candidates on his own. He knew how many children they had, where they were from, etc.....all from looking by himself. His researching skills are quite strong.

We use a program called RightStart Mathematics, and it rocks. It is actually FUN and makes math engaging...the true understanding coming from it is amazing. Mickade actually ASKS to do math and play the games in the program. He can add numbers in his head and extrapolate what he has learned and can apply it elsewhere. He recently kept score in his head for a nerf shooting match he, his dad, and grandfather had that included points of 5, 10, and 100. I included a couple of photos here of him using place value cards and base ten cards to build numbers and 'see' what they are made of, then do trading and eventually add quite large numbers.

For science....we use our backyard. :) Mickade is obsessed with sharks...he reads all about them, researches them online, finds videos....it's fantastic.

Oh Tebow, how do I love thee?

2009-01-12T13:00:00.001-05:00

One more year, baby!!!!!!

Shhhhh....don't tell Lilli!

2008-12-24T16:02:00.002-05:00

Lilli wanted a waldorf doll for Christmas, but to be honest, they are quite expensive. So, I decided to get a pattern and make one. I was unsure about it and scared, but WOW!!!! The fruits of my labor are awesome! She literally has my blood and sweat put into her (did you know you can put the eye of a needle through your thumb? lol) but I am really proud of how she came out. Her clothes are from Pottery Barn but I made the doll!!!

Visions of Sugarplums

2008-12-24T10:31:00.003-05:00

For the Holiday Helper Mamas

2008-12-18T12:43:00.003-05:00

This is the chaos that is my life. See what happens when you take 5 minutes to help others?

So come on friends and family out there...take a few minutes and help others in need. We are almost at our goal of fulfilling the needs of 200 families!!!!!

http://www.shesdreamingindigital.com/holidayhelper/index.php

Old gift cards you aren't using with money on them, blankets, clothes, toys, and coats, they need winter gear everyone with the storms coming!!!

Hand-made Toys to Become Illegal

2008-12-10T09:19:00.005-05:00

Ah, they've done it again, those crazy lawmakers! They took an opportunity to do something good, and f*ed it all up!!! After all the toy craziness, the lead recalls, etc of all the stuff mostly made in China, the CPSC and Congress got together and made some new rules. Limits things like lead, pthalates, and other toxins in our children's toys, and requires testing of items that are to be sold in the US. Great idea, right? You'd think so given recent articles like this one: 1 in 3 Toys Toxic. Well, sadly, it's a horrible idea. Really bad. Really, really bad.

This new law requires toy makers to have their tested, on their own dollar. Still fine, you think? Sure, it's fine for huge corporations who save money by making their toys in China, and other giants with more money than time. This testing must be done at least once for EACH TOY a company manufactures, at a cost of $4000 per toy. Once again, probably not so bad for a company like Fisher Price or Mattel. However, imagine you are a small-time toymaker, a true craftsman (YES!!! They still exist!!!! Check out www.etsy.com...www.maplelandmark.com,www.whittle.com...toys are still made in the USA!!! And some even by hand!) and you are forced to test a sample of each item you make. It's impossible financially. And these rules are far sweeping to all infant and child products, including clothing, cloth diapers, hair bows, etc. I'm all for keeping things safe, I'm sure you all know how nutty I am about the things my kids use, but this is a bit much. For example, Holztiger is a larger small company that produces awesome wooden animals and figures. Even though they are all made from the same say 3 woods and the same paints, each figure needs to be tested...so...the big cow, the small cow, the brown one, the black one, the horse, the little horse, the horse sitting.....you get the idea. Selecta, a European company, has decided not to distribute to the US anymore. You see, in Europe they have much stricter toy safety standards anyway...one of the reasons I order a lot of European toys. So for them to have to test all their stuff again....it just doesn't pay off. Selecta pulls out of US market

What can we do?

Please write or call your senators, representatives, and the CPSC. There was supposed to be an emergency hearing today to address this, but it was canceled. If this is not addressed soon, we are going to lose our handcrafted products and high quality toys...and thousands will lose their livelihoods. Let's face it, this is not a good time to be putting people of jobs!

Here is a link from the Handmade Toy Alliance, with info on who to write to and what to say.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help

Also, here is there info page which helps describe the issue further.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home

Hey Look, It's my Midwife!

2008-11-15T15:29:00.002-05:00

Baby, You’re Home

Homebirth in the New York Times. :)

Free as a Bird

2008-11-15T15:00:00.003-05:00

We ditched the training wheels, and Lillian took off...she is SO proud of herself! She was riding up and down the street screaming "Woo-hoo! Oh yeah! Woooo!!!!"

Best Dollhouse Ever!!!!

2008-11-15T14:21:00.004-05:00

I saw these amazing dollhouses online, waldorf style, made my a German company called Kinderkram and a US one called Elves and Angels. While both equally magnificent, at $300 I just couldn't justify it since we had gotten a dollhouse last year from Plan Toys. I wasn't overly happy with it though, and just itching to replace. Lilli didn't even care that I wanted to replace it, so you know she didn't love it either LOL. So, I showed the pictures I linked to Stephen, and he built us one! FROM SCRATCH. As in, he took boards of wood, cut them, joined them, sanded them, etc. I helped design and sand, but he put in the 30+ hours of work. Now we know why they are so expensive!!!!! The final product, however, is simply breathtaking. I think we'll be enjoying it for generations. Remember, you can click on the photos to see them bigger. :)

Halloween

2008-11-15T11:12:00.005-05:00

We went with a group of homeschoolers to a local "pumpkin patch" (not really any real patches around here LOL!!!) for story time and to get our pumpkins.

The Birthday Girl

Future babywearer :)

That night, we all went trick-or-treating.

Even Lucy seemed to enjoy her first Halloween. :) The big kids were loving it....Mickade kept saying "This is the greatest Halloween EVER!!!" He couldn't believe how much candy he was getting. He thought it was way better than NY. Which is funny, because he apparently doesn't remember that his bucket got so full there that we had to keep emptying it into the stroller!

The next day we had Lillian's 4th Birthday party at the field after the football game.

It's Not on the Test (or, one of the many reasons we homeschool)

2008-10-27T21:08:00.002-04:00

Isn't No Child Left Behind great?

I'm Rocking My Baby

2008-10-19T11:20:00.015-04:00

Ugh, if you came to my door right now, I'd probably invite you in, with about a thousand apologies, and asking you to please excuse the mess. Because, of course, if your house doesn't look like Martha Stewart's studio, that's what you do. (I went to a filming of her show once, by the way....her staff actually uses a dustbuster in the greenhouse before airing. I mean, in the greenhouse!!!! Where there's supposed to be dirt!)

Growing up, I think I had the cleanest house ever. My dad is very particular, and my mom, I think, was addicted to crack. I mean, the woman used to stay up vacuuming at 11 at night, or even 2 in the morning. I can barely wash a dish by 9:30pm. I guess I wasn't blessed with the gift of needing a small amount of sleep each night. I need my 8 hours (at least)!!! My father was so much worse. He was gone most of the week, and we would all run around like madmen picking up before his arrival Friday night, so we could pretend the house had looked this way all week, and no one left their shoes out by the front door or a dish in the sink. I feel like I spend all day stressing somewhere in my head that there is laundry to be done, floors to clean (again), dusting, picking up I can be doing...it's like an obsession I can't keep up with. So after spending 3 crazy weeks alone with the kids and trying to live up to some unattainable standards for an immaculate house and making myself crazy in the process...I found this:

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Brought tears to my eyes. It's so true. How long will my baby be a baby? How long will they want to cuddle up and read a book with me? No one ever looks back on their life and says, "Boy! I sure wish I'd cleaned my house more often!" No one ever speaks a eulogy that includes "And we will always remember what a clean and tidy house this woman kept." No -- they talk about how she listened, spent time with her loved ones, made people laugh.

So...if you stop by my house, and it's cluttered, or toys are everywhere, or the couch has laundry I'm trying to fold....know it is that way because I am playing with my kids. We're busy making crafts, reading stories, going on walks, learning together, or just plain cuddling while we watch tv. I'm going to get over it and move on. I have 3 small children...keeping tidy will not always be this difficult, and they won't always be small. So when they are bigger in a few years and my house is nice and neat when you stop by, I'll be smiling and invite you in without apology...but inside I'll be mourning the loss of my babies and the chaos that came with them.

Serenity in the Midst of Chaos

2008-10-04T18:47:00.002-04:00

7 MONTHS!!!

2008-10-02T22:45:00.009-04:00

Can you believe it? Lucy turned 7 months today!!! It's amazing how it can seem both like she has been here forever and she was just born. She is 18lbs, about 27in, and crawling everywhere. She's quite serious and observant, saving her smiles and laughs for when she means it! She is determined to get around, pulling up all day long, standing on what she can, and shocked that when she tries to turn to me or let go with one hand that she falls down. Poor little girl has bruises on her head from her efforts (darn hard floors).

I wanted to give her some teething biscuits, but I was really leary of ingredients given her allergies. I was going to order some (because of course I can't find the right ones in this town) but I didn't want to pay $10 shipping on a $2 box of cookies! So...I made my own, and she liked them. :) I ground oatmeal, flax, and brown rice in our vitamix to make a flour, then mixed 1.5 cups of that with 1tsp baking powder, some vanilla, and real maple syrup, and a little water for the right consistency, shaped them, and baked them at 350 til golden. So easy!!! And no reaction!!!

PS Just in case you didn't know....you can click on any of the photos in my blog to see them full size! ;-)

Close Encounter with a Tornado

2008-09-29T17:04:00.006-04:00

As we were leaving for swim practice today we saw THIS. We were not lucky enough to be as far away as the photographer of these shots was!

Adding in some new photos someone was kind enough to share (for reference, those flags in the pic are 1/2 mile from my house exactly)....

It was right in front of us, maybe a mile away. I don't remember the last time I was so physically scared. I didn't even know what I was seeing at first, I swear it looked like a jet had just flown through the clouds and separated them, like a cartoon; there was this clear path through the clouds. I followed the path, thinking wow what a weird jet line, noticing the path turned grayish below the cloud. Then I noticed the curvature of it...then I realized...holy shit...that's a tornado. One of my nightmares come true. Seriously, my nightmares are all tornadoes, alligators, and suddenly being back in school taking a test realizing I haven't come to class all year because well honestly I haven't been in school for years LOL. I told the kids what I saw, probably in some scary non-swear expletive form, u-turned, and sped back down the road. We were flying, like 50mph on our little 15mph street. Some lady gave me a dirty look. Obviously she hadn't looked down the road yet!! I had no idea what way it was going and I certainly didn't want to be in the car if it was headed at us! The kids were scared, they were asking if tornadoes pick things up and tear of roofs...I wasn't really sure how to answer, because I didn't want to scare them with the truth nor did I want to lie to them, either. I just told them when we got to the house to get out of the car as fast as they could. I had them close the bedroom doors while I grabbed the weather radio and a comfortor (I couldn't have fit the recommended mattress in the bathroom lol) and we huddled in the shower. We were really, really scared. We listened to the NOAA weather warnings about the water spout heading to land in Key West, and I was really wishing I had a map in the bathroom because Key West sits at a funny angle and I wasn't 100% sure where it was according to what they said. The said it was headed south, which I was fairly certain meant it was going away from us, thank G-d. Every thunder rumble made me nervous. I've always heard a tornado sounds like a train, but I wasn't really sure if that meant it was like thunder too LOL. After about 10 or 15 minutes they lifted the warning. The spout hit land at the Coast Guard station and dissipated as it crossed land, as you can see in the pictures.

I just ordered one of those weather radios with alarms. I used to have one when we lived in Vero, but it disappeared sometime in the past 3 years. I want to know an alarm will warn us if this ever happens again!!!! We obviously would have been fine this time even if we hadn't seen it, but if it had been going the opposite direction it would have come right through the base.

Weeeeeee!!

2008-09-29T15:06:00.000-04:00

Singing in the Rain

2008-09-27T21:03:00.005-04:00

Well, not exactly singing...but playing football and cheering! Today was the first day the girls FINALLY had full uniforms, and boy did they look cute! And Lilli finally remembered to look forward during cheers after critiquing herself in the videos I uploaded yesterday. :) The game started off great, Gators leading the Seminoles. It POURED for most of the game. Lots of wet children (and Mickade crying at one point). It was 22-16, then 30-16, with literally seconds to go. Awesome, a big win, finally!!! Wrong. That all changed in the last 60 seconds of the 4th quarter...it was tied 28...then we scored, missing the conversion, making it 34-28. The Noles (yes, the SEMINOLES, can you believe it? On my birthday???) tied it again, and with 9 seconds on the clock, got their 2 point conversion. The Gators gave it their all and managed 2 more plays those last 9 seconds, but gave the Seminoles their first win of the season, 34-36. :(

FYI for this and other videos on my blog: If you click on the actual picture when it starts, it will bring you to the regular YouTube site and you can then click to watch the video in high quality! :)

Then the UF Gators lost to Ole Miss. OLE MISS for crying out loud!!!! IN THE SWAMP!!!! What kind of birthday is this, anyway??????

Allergies :(

2008-09-26T22:32:00.005-04:00

I've come to the suspicion that Lucy might have some food allergies. :( While we were in Disney, a couple different things happened. She played on one of those rubberized playground surfaces and while still playing there developed a dry, scaly rash on both of her knees. Also, she ate canteloupe for the first time and developed a similar rash on her bottom. Sadly, those play surfaces can contain latex, and canteloupe is actually a related allergy. I'm afraid she might have some kind of latex allergy, and an allergy to the related foods along with it. I was hoping I was wrong. Monday she ate some pear (not from me...her sister dropped it on the floor!). She seemed find at first, so I was hopeful. You see, pears are also part of the same family (raw potatoes, pears, apples, melon, canteloupe, pineapple, mango, kiwi, strawberries, papaya, peach, and mango) so I would not have given that to her on purpose. Wednesday she seemed ok, so I gave her a little bit more. That evening I noticed a horrible rash on her legs. :( She has not eaten any other foods, nor have I seen this on her body before. I'm still hopeful it's some kind of coincidence, but I just don't know. I've since given up the foods on the list above too since she is breastfeeding (and will be of course for another couple years). I had also noticed she was not sleeping well once we moved to our new house...which is when we got our fancy blender and started having smoothies daily....which would be when I started having bananas and strawberries daily. *sigh* My mom has always had problems with many of the fruits above, and I looked up her reactions, and they are anaphylactic...so we have a family history. I also learned recently I'm allergic to kiwis. My poor baby. What the heck is she going to eat?

Go Gators!!!

2008-09-26T21:39:00.006-04:00

No, not UF. I mean, it's not like we don't still LOVE the Florida Gators but we have our own mini-Gators now! Mickade is playing flag football with the Key West Junior Football League, and Lilli is cheering...both for the Gators! They are both so cute. Mickade is #65 and plays the offensive line, and does a pretty good job knocking kids down. ;) He's learning a lot about the game and getting better and better. In fact, at practice one day they were doing some passing and he got quite a few "wow's" when they saw his arm! Lillian is the youngest on her team and pretty impressive if I can say so myself. :) But of course I'm her mom. Her biggest problem at games is that she wants to look at her favorite big girl cheerleaders in the back line on her team instead of the audience. She's such a little munchkin out there!

The cheer squad's dance routine, first time with poms.

First Tooth

2008-09-26T21:06:00.002-04:00

Yep, Lucy got her first tooth (finally, it seems, after months of apparent teething) on Saturday the 13th.

I love it here

2008-09-26T21:02:00.003-04:00

I mean, really. This is the view of the moon rising from our dock.....sheer perfection.

Children's Clothing &Chemical Burns

2008-09-22T10:13:00.003-04:00

So have you heard the latest yet? Those tagless clothing we all thought was an awesome idea....wasn't. That plasticky ink contains chemicals, and is causing rashes, burns, oozing blisters...the works. Nice, eh? Makes an itchy tag sound like a walk in the park! The best is these things are happening on BABIES. The biggest culprit at the moment seems to be Carter's clothing, specifically their Fall 07 line with a larger label. If you call Carter's, they are actually sending parents prepaid boxes to ship the clothing back to them for a full refund. They are not, however, "officially" recalling yet. Gotta keep hush-hush on these things, you know? There are a number of blogs recording the data, and it isn't pretty. And it may not be just Carter's. Gap insists their labels are pthalate and pvc free, which is good. BTW, did you know many of those plasticky inks contain pthalates, which were just banned from childrens' toys by Congress? It's probably a good thing to have sitting their skin 24-7 then, huh? I hate fricking corporations. I liked Carter's clothes too, they are soft. But of course now that I look at the label, it says, naturally, MADE IN CHINA. Why is this not surprising? Maybe bc China has poisoned our pets, their own babies...it's sickening, really. Carter's Burns Info

So, last year I became a nut about the toys we bring into our home, purged anything questionable, and thought we were good. I'm very picky about any toys allowed into our home, especially for they baby. Nothing from China. Mostly wood. Now it seems I have to get crazy about our clothes. So please, no tagless labels here this holiday season. No plastic toys (except Legos, they are made in Canada and Europe and have been cleared by Mama). In fact, if you could get us organic or anything that is made anywhere but China, I'd be very appreciative. It's quite possible anything else will end up at goodwill.

Mickade tries tubing

2008-08-23T23:43:00.001-04:00

Click to Play

2008-08-23T11:32:00.002-04:00

Cinderella at work...no really Lilli wanted to wash dishes. Kept her busy for a good hour!!

A rare sight

Hugs for Bammie

Lilli all ready for her first day of dancing camp. She was so excited! She had a great day and was utterly exhuasted when she got home (it was 5 hours long!). It was her first time doing something away from home, without me there. She did great. She spent the afternoon resting and watching tv...her eyes were glassy with circles under them when she got home LOL. Sadly, though she had fun, she refused to go back. :( I even went and stayed with her the next morning for a half hour or so...as soon as I was going to leave she picked up her lunch bag and shoes and followed me. I guess she just wasn't ready yet! She told me all that dancing hurt.

Tubing!!!

2008-08-23T11:01:00.002-04:00

We got a tube for the boat a few weeks, and the kids got to try it out. They loved it! They were so funny. Mickade liked it until any hint of speed (of course); Lilli was out there yelling "Faster! Faster!". Do these children come from the same house?

Fay Update

2008-08-23T10:58:00.002-04:00

We're back home, after another obscenely long ride with an infant. Seriously, I don't think I'll be driving anywhere to visit anyone anytime soon. If you want to see us you are going to have to come here. :)

The storm was not bad down here at all, thank goodness. They did however evacuate the Navy base so I would have had to have left anyway, to their fun little evac shelter. So glad I went to my parents' LOL!

Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-18T14:53:00.002-04:00

Woohoo, our first evacuation!! We got an early jump and left Saturday ahead of any mandatory evacs. We are safe and sound (after a trip that should have been 4 hours took 8(!!) due to a baby who is not happy in the car) at my parents' in Coral Springs. It's just as well too, because even though there was no Key West resident mandatory evacuation, the Navy did mandatorily evacuate our part of the base. Which means we would have had to stay in some buildings they have on another base in Key West that are on higher ground...like 10 to a room. Um, no thanks. Really. I'm good.

Beautiful Face

2008-08-14T10:15:00.003-04:00

I found my tongue! I stick it out now all the time...

Puppet Show

2008-08-12T23:20:00.004-04:00

My mom was down this weekend and got the kids a sock puppet kit...it was a huge hit! They bugged us for probably about an hour or so from the moment I got out of bed in the morning (I had said we'd make them in the morning the night before) until I finally was ready...I was ready to throw the thing out by the time we did it LOL. They LOVED it though. :)

When they were done they made a stage and put on a puppet show for us. Here's the first part of it.

Click To Play

The rest of the puppet show (after they went to the kitchen to talk about it at the end of the last one LOL)

Click To Play

Rear-face as long as possible!

2008-08-05T07:19:00.004-04:00

My PSA for the week: please keep your child rear-facing as long as their seat will allow (or really at least age 2). 1 year old is an absolute minimum. Kids' heads are so heavy, and their spinal cords so delicate, they really run the risk of major, major injury or death when they are in accident forward-facing. This video says it best...please watch and pass on. And keep your kids backwards...I love you all and your kids too much to let anything happen!

Oh and by the way...this is why car seats expire. Watch as the harness literally rips right out of the seat!

Deep Thoughts by Lillian Nora

2008-08-04T21:47:00.003-04:00

Lilli: "Mom, do bees make honey?"
Me: "Yep!"
Lilli: "Well who makes jelly?"

Me: "Our neighbors bought a new house, so they might be busy tomorrow."
Lilli: "They did???"
Me: "Yeah! They got a nice house."
Lilli: "How did they fit it in their car?!?!"

I love being a mom.

PS Happy Coast Guard Day!!!

A day at the aquarium

2008-07-30T16:35:00.003-04:00

Since Mickade gets to have so much fun at camp, Lilli, Lucy, and I decided to have a fun day of our own and go the aquarium. It's tiny but Lilli loved it. They have a nice touch tank where you can pick up sea creatures like sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers, and horseshoe crabs.

Fencing and crawling

2008-07-30T08:38:00.002-04:00

Woohoo!!! We finally got our fence up! Actually, I shouldn't say "we", it was really Stephen and my Supafly Uncle David who did it. It's so nice to just let Bunny out now, and I don't have to worry my head off if Lilli plays outside. Once we get some grass growing I'll take some pictures!

Lucy got to use the bath seat for the first time...and LOVED it!!! She was so happy to be sitting on her own in the tub with Lillian. They were so cute together!!!

Now here's the killer....look what my little baby can do. Yeah, that's right. She's up on her knees. Not crawling yet but starting to do that little rocking thing they do. I'm in so much trouble! Mickade was army crawling by 4.5 months, but didn't hands and knees crawl til much later, like 10 mos. Lilli crawled at 8 mos. Lucy is going to be crawling at 5 mos, aaah!!! I need to get babyproofing don't I?

Mickade Rocks Out!!

2008-07-24T16:38:00.003-04:00

They had a little talent show at camp. Mickade decided he and his buddy would do a song from Stephen's old band in NY (Mickade knows all their songs...problem is...no one else does). So, here he is rocking out. Please notice how his friend starts out happy then partway through decides he hates the song. LOL

We're still alive, I promise....

2008-07-24T16:14:00.003-04:00

I am FINALLY ready to start updating this blog, how excited are you???? For a quick fix....here are my beautiful girls!!

Key West is awesome. I love our house (though it could be just a touch bigger), we live on the water, we bought a boat (!!), the weather is awesome. I promise I'll get some more on here asap. :)

So Long Snow Angels!!!

2008-05-13T09:09:00.004-04:00

Hello Sand Angels!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Me and my girls

On the Road Again

2008-04-14T16:41:00.002-04:00

I know this is soooo outdated already, but we have been in crazy new-baby-and-moving-out-of-state-land lately. Movers came last Monday, packed, loaded our stuff up Tuesday and we checked out on Wednesday morning and started our looooooooooooong trip to Florida. Not an easy task with a newborn. Lucy did really well overall, but if she wasn't sleeping we weren't driving. We spent a lot of time in parking lots LOL!!! We had the dog and cat in the car too so either we stayed in the car or found a spot we could park it without them being hot (which wasn't a huge problem til about South Carolina). But wow it was long. We left Wed at about 1pm and didn't get here to GA (visiting Stephen's parents) until Friday evening. Whew! I thought we'd never make it!! The big kids were great, thank Heaven for DVD players!! We still have a long way to go...and sadly the 8 hour trip will have to broken up over 2 days for Lucy-lou. I promise to get pictures up again someday!! Really!!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

2008-03-07T16:02:00.004-05:00

Ironically enough, I went into labor the same night as my last post. :)

Lucille Rose was born at 5:56pm on Sunday, March 2 2008. She was over 21 in and 9lbs, 2oz!!! Our biggest baby yet. She is absolutely perfect!!

It was a long labor...I'll post more details another time, but I've lots of requests for a blog update. ;)

No baby yet

2008-03-01T08:37:00.003-05:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know real quick that my lack of posting the past couple of days is not because I'm holding a baby, LOL!!! Maybe tonight????

40 Weeks!!!

2008-02-28T21:16:00.004-05:00

So, here we are at 40 weeks. I included two pictures, one from today and one from last night, since I'm not sure the shadow in the first one from tonight doesn't make me look even bigger LOL.

I've had a cool opportunity come my way. A couple of students at Columbia University are doing a journalism project on homebirth, and I get to be involved! She came by the house today and interviewed me on camera...it was fun. And, she's going to come film the birth for us, too! She'll use some footage for her documentary (we get final say on edits) and we get a copy of the footage. I'm pretty excited to have someone else do the filming!!

Tomorrow my mom comes so we will be completely ready for baby to show up....hear that, baby?

2008-02-26T09:38:00.002-05:00

Two more days and I am going out of my mind!!! Well, I hope only two more days LOL. We all know due dates don't mean a whole lot to babies! I'm just so done. I mean, I love feeling the baby inside me and beautiful belly but gosh I am so sick of feeling miserable. I don't want to be mean anymore. Please baby please please please hurry up!!!!

2008-02-23T10:19:00.004-05:00

Hey, did you see that? My ticker says 5 days left to my estimated due date!!! CRAZY!! I've been really hopeful that this one will show sooner rather than later, but so far no luck. Mickade was born the morning after his due date, and Lilli 4 days after. I don't really want to continue the getting later each time trend, so if you could send some going into labor vibes this way, it would be greatly appreciated...

We did have a great snow storm yesterday, we had over 6 inches by the time we went to out to play at like 9am. The kids had a blast, and so did the dog. There's something so fun about snow! I'll miss it when we go to KW, but not enough to stay LOL.

2008-02-15T00:04:00.003-05:00

Stone Soup tackles Nursing in Public...I love it!!!

38 Weeks on Heart Day

2008-02-14T19:05:00.003-05:00

Mickade snapped this for me this evening...so pardon the fact that my head is chopped off LOL!!!

I'm 38 weeks today, I can't believe it! It's the 14th and I'm 14 days from my due date. Stephen should be home tomorrow night (YAY!). I'd like to take some nice photos this weekend, and with that done, I'll feel ok if the baby comes. :-)

The kids are both sick. :-( So that's the downer for today. Mickade was sick all day yesterday, still has a mild fever today, and Lillian has it now. Poor little thing, she won't take medicine because she hates the taste, so she's just miserable. I tried to coax her, and she agreed to take some since I said it would make her not feel yucky anymore...but she just couldn't do it LOL. Spit it right back out. That's ok, it's probably better for her body to work it out without interference, I just usually like to make them more comfortable when it hits 103F, know what I mean? And I guess I can assume we'll be getting little sleep tonight. Oh well.

Pregnant Woman Sledding!

2008-02-13T15:12:00.006-05:00

Yes, we FINALLY got some snow!!! Granted it's gone today because it's raining, but we took full advantage of the couple inches we got yesterday afternoon. Mickade finally got to try out his snowboard after 2 months of waiting (and did quite well) and all the kids got to sled and throw snowballs. It was a lot of fun. And Lilli of course made me sled with her. :-)

Belly Cast

2008-02-10T21:21:00.001-05:00

Tonight we all made the belly cast for this pregnancy. This time, I ordered a real kit from http://www.pregnancybellycastkit.com/index.html and it was soooo much better than the paper mache we used for Lilli's! It was easier, dried faster, and just looks so much nicer. The kids had fun helping, too.

I should have had Stephen take a regular belly photo tonight too, but I forgot. And now that I'm in my pajamas with no makeup on...I think it's too late. I really don't want what I look like right now posted on the internet LOL!!! But I do have a pic from last Sunday before the Superbowl.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I just looked at my pregnancy countdown ticker and it says I have only 18 days til my due date!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

2008-02-08T12:06:00.001-05:00

Doesn't this photo just make it look like we are all so peaceful and serene around here? Ha!!! Stephen has been gone the past two weeks, my sister left Tuesday, and I haven't gone to sleep before 1am since she left (insomnia is oh so much fun). I'm sore and exhausted. Yes, Steve gets home today, thank goodness. But he leaves again Monday. The worst is that since there isn't really any ice right now he wasn't supposed to have to go....but the CG had other ideas. He's going. So I get to spend 4-6 days all alone with both kids while 38 weeks pregnant. Doesn't that just sound thrilling? I'm just so tired. Oh did I mention I have a cold too? And I feel bad for Mickade and Lillian because I am just NOT the mommy I normally am. I'm tired, sore, unmotivated, grouchy...they deserve better. I really can't wait to have the baby so we can be on the road back to normalcy (a new normalcy, of course, but something normal nonetheless).

On a better note, the baby is doing perfectly. I feel like I have the most perfect belly ever and I can feel all the parts of the baby as it moves around. I love being able to actually grab a little leg! Yesterday in the mirror I could see a foot poking out...it's so cool. Probably the only thing that makes pregnancy worth it, really (aside from the prize at the end, naturally).

Go Pats!!

2008-01-25T16:52:00.001-05:00

We went to Applebee's to watch the Patriots beat San Diego last Sunday. It was fun and the kids actually lasted the whole game!

We went to breakfast before bringing my mom to the airport...and got a good shot of my belly at 34 weeks 4 days. :) I hit 35 weeks yesterday, woohoo!!

We did a test run on the birthing pool a few days ago, and it went very well. (We got the Birth Pool in a Box.) I can't believe how long the water stayed warm...almost 3 hours!!! That means it will be no problem to siphon out a little water here and there and replace it with hot water to keep it warm enough. I plan on filling it up as soon as labor begins to be safe, in case it goes quicker than last time. It takes over an hour to actually fill, so I'd rather have to warm it up every now and then than risk it not being filled at all when I need it! The kids, by the way, LOVED the pool. We had it all filled and warm and figured why waste it? The kids and I played in it for a while, then Lilli stayed in the pool and watched Aquamarine so she could act out being a mermaid while she watched...she was in complete heaven. It was so cute! I tried to take a picture but of course that was when the batteries decided to die.

Baby Shower!

2008-01-25T16:44:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, my friend Melissa threw me a wonderful baby shower. It was so much fun!! I never had one with Lilli because we were busy evacuating hurricanes, and my mom couldn't make it all the way to CA for my shower with Mickade, so it was extra special because she was able to attend. We played some great games, ate yummy food, and I was given some great stuff for the new baby! It was a lovely morning. :)

Homeschool Update

2008-01-22T21:39:00.000-05:00

It's official: we have a reader!!!! Mickade is SO excited. Last week, he attempted to read a real book, Green Eggs and Ham and was a complete success. He was SO proud of himself, we wound up staying up late so he could also read Go Dog Go and Snow. He's been reading a new book every day now. It's so cool to see him blossom right before my eyes, to see it all really click for him. He's been reading his readers for a long time now, and Dick and Jane, but this is the first time he really read a 'regular' book. He wants to read every book with the Cat in the Hat logo on it now LOL.

Our homeschool group has also started back up again, meeting weekly. Last week we did some walking in the woods and observing of nature using all 5 senses, then had fun learning how to make our own sushi rolls! Tomorrow we plan to go back to the woods and clean up the trash we saw out there, then make our own sourdough rolls and fresh butter.

Editing in: Lunch preparation isn't necessarily directly related to our outdoor time!!!

I Met Mario Lopez!!!

2008-01-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

We went to the theatre Thursday night to see A Chorus Line. On the way in, who was about 2 people in front of me but MARIO LOPEZ!!!! I couldn't believe it, here I am 5 feet from Slater from Saved By the Bell! I didn't want to bother him though, I hate it when people bug stars who are just out trying to be normal. However, after the show, he was very gracious and signing autographs...so I figured why not? He was so kind...and GORGEOUS!! I have to say, it's not makeup or TV lighting making him look so perfect...he just IS. His skin is perfect, his hair, his body...oh my! So I've now had Mario Lopez's arm around me. :)

Wanna See Some Hiccups?

2008-01-13T09:57:00.000-05:00

I happened to lay the remote on my belly this morning just as the baby got some nice big hiccups...I lucked out and seem to have placed it directly on his or her bottom...you'll love this!

Photos have been requested....

2008-01-10T18:35:00.001-05:00

Today, 33 weeks pregnant!!

The midwife checks Lilli's baby's heartbeat. ;)

This weekend we're all going to attend a Sibling class to prepare them for the new baby...it should be fantastic!

This one's interesting. She fell asleep on Daddy's watch at 4pm for an hour. At 11pm, I climbed in bed and turned on the tv for her, I was DONE!!! She fell asleep at...get this...1am!!!! This why naps have been banned!!! LOL

Ah, the joys of boys! He thought he'd look cool if he colored his face with magic marker! Thank goodness it wasn't a permanent one!!!

Help Save Waterbirth

2008-01-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

Well, you all know what a big advocate I am of safe, gentle birth...I've been referred to by friends as their "midwife", "sensa", "doula"...and I'm about to have my second homebirth. Not just a homebirth, a home waterbirth. There is something very special about this. First of all, having a birth at home is an amazing experience in and of itself. When a woman is in labor, the comfort of her own, safe home is incomparable. The cold and sterile setting of a hospital with its harsh lighting and unfamiliar smells and sounds can actually hinder labor. Our bodies are equipped with a 'fight or flight' response to danger...and hospitals can actually trigger this response, slowing down labor. I had Mickade in a hospital, and while it was a fairly mom and baby friendly hospital, I still wound up scared into having an IV and internal fetal monitor (yes, they actually screwed a wire into my baby's scalp to monitor his heartbeat) by my supposedly natural-birth friendly midwife and the other hospital staff. Don't even get me started on how recent studies indicate that any kind of continuous fetal monitoring has NO effect on fetal or maternal outcome, and appears to only increase c-section rates...therefore putting moms and babies at MORE risk, not less, in the end. But this is neither here nor there and I'll save my rants for another time.

What I really wanted to get to, in relation to birth, is how much WATER can play an active role. When I was in labor with Mickade, I was not lucky enough to get a birthing room with a tub but I did have a shower...and wow was it Heavenly!!! It's still amazing to me that hot water can offer so much pain relief that it can keep a woman from screaming for an epidural. I was tired, and wanting a break, yes, and considered some drugs just so I could sleep a little...but I didn't get any, and it's ONLY because of that shower. Lillian's labor was different, and I account a lot of that to being at home, and with her being my second, I knew what to expect and could prepare myself better. I labored for a little while in a tub, then in the shower for transition...and once again...could not have made it without that shower!!! I moved to the birthing tub to birth Lillian, and I honestly barely had to push...everything was so relaxing, I was able to let my body do most of the work without any conscious effort of my own. I had no tears, no soreness...I climbed out of the tub with my beautiful new baby and right into my own, comfy bed. I think no one was more surprised at the difference a home and water birth makes than my own father...he was so shocked to see me 30 minutes after birth looking and feeling so good!!! I think it erased all the doubts and worries he had about me birthing at home.

Waterbirth International has played a key role in the US over the years in getting the word out about natural birth, and water birth, and helping mothers, midwives, and even OB's see that birth CAN be natural...and how beautiful is when it IS natural. The medical model proliferates the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, treating women like ticking time bombs during pregnancy...even though we have been birthing our children this way for thousands of years. (In fact, the current model of care for women with them being flat on their backs and attended by men is very, very new...perhaps only in the past 100-150 years or so). And yet, our neonatal mortality rate continues to rise, from 10 births per 100,000 in 2000 to over 13 per 100,000 in 2006. (I find it interesting to note that the US was part of a WHO initiative to lower these rates to about 4 per 100,000 by 2010...and we are going in the opposite direction.) Incidentally, we are one of the only developed nations where midwives don't attend the majority of births. Most nations leave OB's to care for the high-risk women, and midwives to care for the rest...which makes sense for our health and our pocketbooks!

Waterbirth International is in trouble. If you think you can help in anyway, by donating money or purchasing products from them or even just adding a link to your blog...please do!!!! The women in our country need all the help they can get to learn that they do have choices in birth...choices that are often safer and healthier than the ones their care providers may openly offer.

Quick Belly Update....

2008-01-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick shot of me at 31 weeks!!

And...here we are in our matching pj's on Christmas Eve...how cute are we????

An Early Christmas Present!

2007-12-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Wow...there really is a Santa Claus!!! Stephen got a phone call from the detailer yesterday, and finalized a possibility that only came to be on Thursday. We are in total shock...we are no longer moving to Puerto Rico... we are heading to Key West instead!!! We are so completely, totally excited...we can't believe it!! We're heading back to Florida and it's fantastic. Not that we had a problem with Puerto Rico, we actually had a lot to look forward to there. Logistically, however, remaining in the continental US is MUCH less complicated. Plus, we can drive to my parents' whenever we want...PR required airplanes and planning and money. This time next year, we can celebrate Christmas in Margaritaville under a green palm tree, in our tanks and flip-flops...the way it was meant to be! ;-)

The detailer wished us all a Merry Christmas, and that it shall be!

HI

2007-12-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Sooooo....welcome to my blog. Just thought I'd make a first post to get it started...LOL. I'm hoping this will come in handy for family and friends to keep in touch with what we're up to.

The kids and I made candles from natural beeswax yesterday...that was pretty cool! The kids seemed pretty enthralled with the process...I don't think they ever thought of someone making candles before. It seems so much comes from stores these days, they don't know anyone makes anything LOL!!! At any rate, we melted the wax on the stove, then dipped the wicks over and over until we had a decent width candle. They loved it. I think we'll even use some to light the bedroom for the birth of the new baby.