No more crowds

Hurray for the return of the school year. All summer the parks, museums and zoos are crowded with children. I really hate crowds so the start of the school year is always welcome. We had a nice day at MRU today, as usual. The kids did a really fun craft and the parents decided on what the plans for the upcoming fall season. We have many classes and groups in the works and I'm very excited about it. Nicky got to switch riding toys with Nathaniel at group. Nicky loves this little tricycle. Once the trade off is over I may have to buy him one.

Have I mentioned how awesome Aaron is lately? He is! he is the happiest child ever. He is such a joy. He's sitting up, smiling and going backwards with the look of much confusion, lol. One day he's figure out that forward thing. He starts solids in a week! I'm so excited. I should be over this after 1000 kids but nope. I'm just as excited about Aaron as i was with Chris. This baby thing never gets old.

Nicky is...a trying toddler, lol. He has no gray area. I'm either laughing so hard I could cry or feeling like i just want to cry in general. I'll be glad when this time is over. I bet he'll be a great kid. he has such a winning personality.

And me! I have a soap room! This means I have indeed gone so crazy over this soap thing that I've devoted a full room to it. I've also learned to make body butter so that'll be in there too if I ever buy jars to put it in. One step at a time.

Chris is always asking to do academic classes. I always think he should do something sporty. I give up. He'll be taking learning vine classes this fall. He's taking grammar, history and writing. It's only a day a week on Monday. I hope he likes it as much as he thinks he will.

Tomorrow is La Leche League meeting. I can't wait to go since it's been a while. I'm not even sure why I'm so excited, maybe the idea of getting out of the house with 5 less kids than I normally leave with, lol. After that WILL. We're having a pot luck lunch tomorrow, fun!

Books, birds and c-section awareness

Today was a really nice day. I woke up early to sneak in a batch of soap. I made two pounds and was a little disappointed. I had no blue dye to make the purple I wanted. I underestimated the mold I used. It could hold three pounds but I only made two. The kitchen was a horrible mess so it took way longer than I wanted. I won't be making anymore soap until I get my dyes and fragrance in the mail. That won't stop me from obsessing about the perfect recipe though! I spent a ton of time writing in my soap journal and messing around on soapcalc today.

We spent a nice portion reading and doing learning related things today as well. The girls are on a worksheet kick so I spent a nice chunk of my morning 'doing' math with them. We've been reading like crazy this summer! The summer reading program seems to have kicked it off but we have all taken off. We recently finished Sign of the Beaver. We're now working on Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox. The kids heard some of this book while I was reading this series now we're reading it to them. Chris is reading Elephant....something about an Elephant, lol. It's for a library book discussion and it's late so my brain is broken until I get some sleep. The girls are starting to read one of the Magic Tree House books for their next discussion. Zach is really enjoying his Miss Spider books. One thing I love about Zachary is his complete disregard for boy stuff vs. girl stuff. He is rough and tumble, loves bugs and sister bugging and can play barbies and dress up with the best of them. A kid after my own heart. We had a book exchange at MRU next week and I need to go through all those books. We got quite a few and while the kids have been reading them, they are all over. I need to make space for them. I have 5 book shelves in my living room and we'll be looking at a 6th soon.

Back to today! We all headed out to the library this evening. The children had a Birds of Prey presentation. The big kids had a blast. I wasn't there but I got to see some nice pictures of the birds. What beautiful owls. One looked exactly like a big piece of tree bark, wonderful camouflage. While the kids learned about birds, I went to my c-section awareness meeting(ICAN). I'm so glad Mack mentioned that I should go. I'd totally forgotten and had once again convinced myself that we meet on Tuesdays instead of Mondays. I really need to remember to put meetings on my calendar. It was a nice meeting, as usual. I really need to learn to come out of my shell with this group. There are two ladies there I really like but this stupid shyness, ugh! I did get up the courage to invite one to my homeschool group. I really hope she comes. I ended up with super toddler for some of my meeting. He was running around too much so Mack brought him down to me. He was good for a while. Then he got bored. Nicky should never get bored, it's not pretty. He started pushing the stroller into the wall. So, my little star baby got passed around a bit while I nursed Nicky and he went to sleep! I was so happy for that. He can be pretty bad at the library. This is one of those times I thank God my toddler is still nursing strong. It could have gotten ugly.

Tomorrow should be MRU. We're meeting at a park and I really don't want to go. It's just so far away! I wish I lived somewhere exactly between the two groups so I had easier access to MRU. If we don't go to group tomorrow we'll head over to one of these nature places in the area to get a passport stamp.

Well, I'm off to bed! I need to be well rested. I must get these children out of the house for some fun tomorrow. I'm also going out tomorrow night! I'm so excited. I love meeting with good friends.

Excuse any mistakes, I'm too tired to proof read. I barely remembered to spell check.

Rainy days

Rainy days are best shared with friends. I was so close to staying home with the kids since it was so gray and wet but we ventured out to the park to be with our Wild Indigo homeschool friends. They played in the park until everyone was cold, wet and hungry and were off to Panera. I generally don't care for groups at Panera but I must admit it was fun and I love the food! Frankie followed her new crush around for at least an hour. It was kind of cute. Nicky had a great time sharing a cookie with Rylee. Aaron got to share his smile and impress everyone with his sweet, chatter box nature. I'm very happy to have gotten out of the house.

Loving the outside and dreading it too.

We've really been loving all the outdoor time. We missed homeschool group this week but we're planning to go to the zoo with a friend from group to make up for it. Amanda is slimming down already. Neither girl misses school. I got the notes from Frankie's IEP meeting and had to giggle. Frankie still can't read much. On the notes they listed that she'd had inadequate reading and math instruction before school and also that she'd made no real improvement at school so she must have a learning disability. It's funny that when I taught her I was doing something wrong but when they taught her she had something wrong. Amazing. I would have come to the conclusion that she simply isn't ready yet and she's not. She isn't LD she is simply not ready yet and that is okay :-)

The kids love park days! I missed them so much. We didn't go to HS group this week because there wasn't a park day due to rain. I don't think I mentioned that Chris got his CPR card at MRU last week. It was a really fun class. The kids learned a lot and had fun.

Now for the dread. Nicholas almost got hit by a car. It was no one's fault really. A man opened the door at the office we were in and he jetted out. The car swerved and missed him as I pulled him out of the way right before sliding into the pavement. It missed me by about a foot. As much as I'm against it, this little one will be using a leash from now on. I can't get the image of the car coming toward him out of my head. I can't stop thinking that he could not be here with me right now. That he could be hooked up to machines never to wake up and be the Nicky I know. I'm fairly certain I'll have nightmares about this if the road rash doesn't keep me up. This stuff is painful. Getting it wet is like being burned over and over. Fun stuff.

Back to being me!

Mack isn't around all the time anymore. He's been working on and off for the last couple years now. He really likes the security thing but it's really unstable in our area. He got a new position with MUCH more stable hours and comparable pay that isn't in the security field. I'm so glad he's not home all the time anymore, not to mention that we'll have extra money again. I can't be me when he's around. I get lazy and cranky. Since he's been away I have been early for all my appointments, the house stays clean and the kids don't fight or mess up around the house as much.

My girls are HOME! No more school, I couldn't take it anymore. I feel so much better, the stress was killing me! I missed them so much and I was really tired of feeling like the school owned my children. I found the work they did before they started school. Amanda has lost so much of the phonics she tried so hard to learn. Frankie hasn't improved but she hasn't lost any ground either. Now I know for sure I haven't done anything wrong aside from put her in school that is. I'll keep letting her go at her own pace. She's really interested in history and geography right now so I guess that is where the focus will be. We made a really cool time line the other night and she found a history of the world sticker book. She wants to put the things we read about in the sticker book on our time line. It should be a fun project. She is also into sight words. I ordered Picture Me Reading a couple years ago and the words are pictographs. She really likes those and she has a thing for flashcards. She put them some in the pockets of my pocket chart and is now 'teaching' the words to Zachary. They both seem to enjoy it. Amanda is all into writing stories. She spends most of her days asking me how to spell things. I put all the words she asks me to spell up on the wall so she can see them and doesn't have to interrupt her writing to ask me again. She wants to learn to write in cursive so I'll order her a Handwriting Without Tears book. Their approach is easy and not too stressful. I think it'll be fun for her. Chris isn't into anything right now. He still loves his rats but isn't reading much on them. He's just enjoying holding them and talking t them. Zach loves to have books read to him so I'm either reading to him or his Tag is. I really like the Tag system and so does he. I didn't think he would. He had it for 3 months before he decided he liked it. He's also hunting unicorns. It's really cute. I promised to build him a cave and buy him a bunch of toys and food for it if he finds one. No luck yet, but he hasn't given up! Yesterday we had a great day at Morton's Arboretum. I got teased about the girls being at group instead of school again but this time they WERE at school. Everyone welcomed them back officially. It was a great feeling!

Aaron had his 2 month check up today. I went because I had planned on getting the newborn screening redone and forgot the card so it's still not done. I will get around to it one of these days. He's getting so big! He's 24 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces. He's grown out of his 0-3 months clothes but he still wears them around the house. If he gets much taller he won't be able to, not to mention they are getting pretty snug.

I'm getting back into bulk cooking slowly. I made a HUGE pot of meat sauce yesterday before and after group. I browned the meat before we left and finished it when I got home. It tastes wonderful! I thought I burned it. Nicky took a spill while it was cooking and I forgot it was on. In the end Nicky was fine, though he did limp a little for the rest of the night, and so was my sauce.

Ramblings

Spring has not sprung. It's still cold here and we're missing our trip to Morton Arboretum. Boo. We did have fun at group yesterday though. I really like the church where we meet. The kids put on an impromptu play, the big kids had robotics class. I wish Chris would participate more(though I'm not sure why, it's his choice). He doesn't really like it much and usually cuts out. Yesterday he spend the whole time building a lego ship. We had chips, guacamole, fruit, and granola bars for lunch. I LOVE the guacamole from Whole Foods. It's more expensive than should be legal but it's so good. I'm going to try to match the recipe today. After all, the ingredients are listed.

Now to talk about my newborn. Rambling was indeed a great title. He's so sweet. I'm still staring at this perfect little creature. It amazes me that I grew him and am still growing him all by myself and he's healthy and thriving. Many thanks to my husband for the cell he donated to me for this little miracle ;-) This child has eyes for only me. He stares at me all the time, it's as if I'm the only person in existence in his eyes. My voice soothes him. I'm in awe of him. It's amazing to me that I still feel this way about my newborns after 6 kids. It never gets old with soft, sweet new babies.

Now, more rambling! I just bought a math set for the girls, since math is my hang up and I simply can't see me unschooling it My next step in pulling them from the jail they attend each day. They are having such fun this week! They will be so sad next when they have to return. This topic is becoming the topic of several mini arguments with my husband. He thinks they should be home now. While I agree in my heart I think that logically, it's still best they finish out the year. I'm not how this will end up just yet. We'll see.

Again about the baby. I have all items for the newborn screening. I started yesterday but he was crying so hard! My poor baby. The poke didn't phase him at all. It was the squeezing and holding his foot hostage that bothered him the most. He has this odd reaction after hard crying. The small amount of information I've found refers to what he does as a breathing spasm. I suspect this is just what the moms with this issue have started calling it. I haven't been able to find this listed anywhere as an actual medical term. He does this thing that I did as a child if I cried to hard. It's almost like a gasp but not. It's the quick inhale then exhale. I never knew it lasted more than a few minutes after a hard cry but with him it lasts a full day. When he nurses it causes him to have these but he seems to forget how to exhale. He will get a shocked look on his face while not really seeming to breath for 3-7 second and then he exhales a big breath. If it takes him a while he'll let out a startled cry if not, he just latches back on and keeps nursing. I have no clue what causes it or what stops it. I'm just careful not to let him get to that point if I can help it. The thing is that this all causes no real signs of respiratory distress. The doctor isn't worried and all the moms I've found on the Internet with this issue never find a diagnosis. I even found an adult who is still having this issue. I'm not sure what to do about this but worry. I have no clue what I should do as far as the newborn screening. My friend may come over to help me finish it today but we're both concerned about this breathing issue and not sure how to proceed. We'll see what happens.

Food! I'm writing a list. According to my weekly plan I should be shopping tomorrow. We might just go today if we get everything done. We'd really been looking forward to getting out of the house and due to....social issues in our group, in addition to the weather, it doesn't look like we'll be going to group. I'm hoping I can think of a nice variety of meals to make but, my head feels really empty at the moment. Hopefully Mack will help me think of some things.

Now for the last portion of my chaotic post: Politics. We had a bit of a political conversation at group yesterday and it made me see that I don't really identify with any one political group. For one, I've not educated myself well on what the groups truly stand for. I seem to identify with a few traits of a few parties. I guess this is common though. I have a live and let live view on life, this mostly stems from the worry that the government will one day tell me I can't homeschool/unschool, I must vaccinate and unassisted birth(or even plain homebirth) is illegal. These are choice I want to make for myself and I just don't want the government butting it. I'm also pro-life. I really feel abortion is wrong but at times I feel as if maybe it isn't always the wrong thing(this happens rarely) so I guess that could go either way. I know this view is more republican than anything else. I also feel as if the government should provide help to those on need. I don't think they should pull the weight of system moochers but the working poor should be able to get some help if they are truly trying and have a desire to do better. I don't think WIC should provide formula without prescription from a lactation consultant but I guess that's an entirely different post. What does all this make me? I simply don't know. I am starting to have a few issues with our president. While I'm quite happy the color barrier has been broken, I'm not sure he's making all the right choices. Some of his actions seem questionable to say the least. I guess I'll just wait and see how things go over the next year before I make any real decisions on how I feel about him.

I had more but I'm tired of writing and the children are calling me.

A bit of normalcy

Today feels so right. My girls are home and I'm feeling so at ease. They fight so much after school I wondered if things could be peaceful again with both of them home. Things are perfect. I had suspected that stress led them to fight each other and their brothers so much and it was. Don't get me wrong, they fought before they started school but the amount and intensity has about tripled since then. That's really saying a lot since they aren't here half as much yet the fighting is three times as much! And no, this isn't an exaggeration. I can't wait for them to be home for good. I really miss this.

I've also noticed that when writing I don't talk about our day to day stuff anymore. In older blogs, my entries were filled with the things we'd done during the day. It's not that way anymore. Things seem so empty without my daughters around. Today is so full already. I've done my normal stuff but the excitement I've been missing is back! Not that it's been a busy day. It isn't. It's been a really lazy day full with cleaning, clothes and planning. But even though that is all we've done we've seen lots of art done by my girls, Chris isn't stuck to his computer like he'd normally be, Zach and Nicky are off playing peacefully together(after they finished singing to me and dancing), the girls seem obedient and loving again. They don't have these nasty attitudes that they somehow grow at school. They are being them. It only took 2 days, they haven't been to school since Wednesday.

I'm really hoping we get to go on the trip with our group on Wednesday. My van is really acting up. We're pretty sure the issue is the fuel pump. Mack will probably take it in on Monday. It would probably be best if he went in today. I can't be stuck in the house this week. I really want to make this a week to remember since the girls are home and I've been stuck around the house first due to pregnancy exhaustion and then for the first weeks after baby was born. Speaking of my little Aaron- he's a month old! I can't believe it's been a month already. The memory of his birth is so clear to me. I hope it's always so clear. Nicky's has never faded. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. The hospital births and all the frustrations that came with them have never been so clear. Not sure if that is because of all the drugs or simply because part of me wants to forget certain parts. Not that much of most of those births weren't happy, they were, I just felt very violated and my wishes and concerns were so often ignore. I'm still trying to make peace, especially with my c-sections. I'm not sure I'll ever make peace with the nightmare that was Frankie's birth. Had any of the staff had any compassion, it may not have been so horrible.

Spring!

I'd grown quite tired of all the Panera meeting with homeschool group I LOVE my group but Panera and my toddler don't mix well. I just checked our meeting places and I'm so happy it's spring! We have lots of fun places to go this month.

April 1- 11:30a.m., Morton Arboretum, Lisle
Let’s meet in the Children’s area, using the visitor center as a warming area if needed. Dress for the weather.Cost: $7 Adults, $5 Youth, free children under 2 Morton Arboretum website: http://www.mortonarb.org/

April 8 - *1:00.*, Bowling, Fox Bowl, Wheaton
Join us for an afternoon of bowling. Outside food will be allowed but no messy foods such as popcorn or chips. Cost: $2.50 per game with free shoe rental. 1101 Butterfield Road, Wheaton.http://www.foxbowl.com/.

April 15 – 11:30a.m, Cosley Zoo, Wheaton http://www.wheatonparkdistrict.com/pgs/parks/cosley/default.htmlOlder Kids: Enjoy the zoo area together and then have some fun playing in Cosley’s open area where we can also have lunch.For the younger group, Dee has scheduled a program to start at 11:30. The class is for the little guys ages 4-2nd grade level. The cost is 4.50 per child, 3 chaperons are free but additional chaperons will have to pay 1.50. Please let Dee know if you plan to attend the program. The class description is below:
CRITTER CLASS INFO
This class is designed to introduce your students to the concept of sorting animals into groups.We will also discover adaptations that help mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians to survive in their environments.Students will view pictures, touch biofacts, and meet live animals to reinforce what they have learned.

April 22 – 11:30 Cantigny, Wheaton
We will be climbing on the tanks in the tank park and visiting the First Division Museum. Cantigny Website: http://www.cantigny.org/Cost: $5 a car

April 29 11:30 Blackwell Forest Preserve, Warrenville
The main entrance is on the north side of Butterfield Road, 1/4 mile west of Winfield Road and one mile east of Route 59.Dupage Forest Website: http://www.dupageforest.com/PRESERVES/blackwell.html*11:30 a.m. Bike ride, Meet just inside park entrance, lst parking lot on right.Bring your bikes and join us on a 6 mile bike ride to McKee Marsh and back. The entire length of the ride will be on a bike path.*12:30 p.m. Picnic & Lawn Sports, West ShelterBring lunch for your family and any of your favorite lawn games such as croquet, bocce, horseshoes, etc…