Did you know???

Here is some things I didn't know but I have learned in the last 8 days....





People can still get Scarlet Fever. I didn't realize this. From conversations I've had, most others didn't realize this either.





Scarlet Fever is basically a reaction to a type of Strep Throat.

Scarlet fever is caused by an infection with group A streptococcus bacteria.
The bacteria make a toxin (poison) that can cause the scarlet-colored rash from
which this illness gets its name.
Not all streptococci bacteria make this toxin and not all kids are sensitive to it. Two kids in the same family may both have strep infections, but one child (who is sensitive to the toxin) may develop the rash of scarlet fever while the other may not.

The rash reminds you of sandpaper. Fine little bumps mainly on the trunk of the body.





You also get the slapped cheek look (red cheeks, white around the mouth).





It is treated just like you treat strep.





Once the rash goes away the skin starts peeling, especially around the fingertips and toes. No pain, just peeling. For little boys this can be fun to gross his sisters out with.

At least this is our experience.

50 questions about me

Since I can't figure out how to get this on Facebook, I'll post this here. Mom says I need to blog more anyway! lol

50 Questions
1. What color is your toothbrush? Blue and White
2. Name one person who made you smile today: Rara, she's wearing a headscarf like she's Muslim today. You never know what to expect with her!
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning: Checking Email
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Devotions
5. What is your favorite candy bar? Kit Kat Crunchy (or something like that)
6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope.
7. What is the last thing you said aloud? Go eat breakfast
8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Peanut Butter Perfection at Cold Stone Creamery
9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Limeade (last night)
10. Do you like your wallet? It does it's job. What's not to like
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? No. Who buys clothing weekly???
13. The last sporting event you watched? Superbowl? I caught a couple minutes of it.
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? fresh homemade popcorn with salt and butter
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message too? Probably Knight
16. Ever go camping? It's been about 12 years
17. Do you take vitamins daily? No
18. Do you go to church every Sunday? Yep
19. Do you have a tan? No, it's March. My tan died in September when the weather turned
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? No. Who would? I like Chinese though
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? No.
22. What did your last text message say? I don't remember. It was over a year ago
23. What are you doing tomorrow? Cleaning, then... I don't know. First Sat off in a long time
25. Look to your left, what do you see? Fish tank, 2008 paperwork needing to be stored
26. What color is your watch? It's a silver razor cell phone. No need of a watch
27. What do you think of when you hear Australia? Kangaroos
28. ????? I guess they missed this one
29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? I normally go in. Why bring the mess home. Isn't the point of going out to not have to clean up?
30. What is your favorite number? ? I didn't know people were supposed to have one.
31. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone? I think Jodi.
32. Any plans today? School, cleaning, interview with reporter for a magazine (yes I'm serious)
33. How many states have you lived in? 5 I think
34. Biggest annoyance right now? That I'm tired
35. Last song listened to? Haven't turned it on today. I can't remember last one played yesterday
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? No, and don't care to try
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? No, unless you count that I "made" the kids clean
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Tennis or boots
39. Are you jealous of anyone? Not really. I like my life
40. Is anyone jealous of you? I can't imagine why anyone would be
41. Do you love anyone? yes
42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes, most of them do
43. What do you usually do during the day? School, clean, cook
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? No
45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? yes
46. What color is your car? Green
47. Do you like cats? Yes, but I'm allergic to them
48. Are you thinking about someone right now? Not really. Just my to do list
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? No. Don't really desire it either
50. How did you get your worst scar? Surgery. Gall bladder. Fun times

There you have it. All the stuff you didn't know about me, and didn't really need to either.

Life Recap

I have noticed something weird about blogging. The longer it is between posts, the harder it is to come up with something "blogworthy". And nothing in my life seems blogworthy right now. So here is what we have been doing to catch anyone up who still happens to be checking this thing (Mom).

It is that time of year again where I am looking at curriculum to order for next year. I have my list pretty well set, but I still have many books to add to wish lists so it will be easy to order when the time comes. Just my history and literature book list is 314 books long. It's a lot of books but really it isn't that many considering each kid reads at least 2 books a week for school. And the younger grades read more books since they are shorter. Beyond that, my list has math, grammar and grammar, spelling, handwriting, writing, science, music theory, and art. I am thankful that we can work with a school that helps us with purchasing our curriculum. We are able to get quality curriculum without worrying too much about cost. I still am not able to get everything on my wish list, but I can get the basics, and that's all that matters.

The kids are in their last month of Awana until the fall. They are working hard to learn the rest of their verses so they can finish their books in time. The grand finale for Awana is the pinewood derby race so the kids have been working on cars along with school and Awana verses.

And the last thing that we have been doing is dealing with spring issues. Cleaning the yard up. Taking plastic off windows. And I have been thinking about repainting and redecorating some rooms. The snow is almost all gone (for now) and it has rained for the last couple days so we should be getting some beautiful green grass soon.

That's our life in a nutshell. Not too exciting, but that's how we like it!

So... I'm selfish

I will admit it.

I'm selfish.

See, I admitted it.

Last night someone gave me the rest of a bag of M&M's. I don't buy stuff like this and I thought it would be a great treat. So after the kids went to bed I pulled out the bag, ate a couple, put the twisty tie back on it and threw it in the highest food cupboard, way in the back. I couldn't even see it. I figured it would be out of sight, out of mind, and safe from little raiding vikings I have living in this house. Who would look there anyway? It's not like we make sweet bread very often, and that's what is stored up there.

Yeah, that was the plan.

Today, of all days, Rara decides to dig in the cupboards looking for things to make. Like jello, pudding, and...

"hey mom! Look what I found!"

Awww! Didn't even last 24 hours before they found them.

So much for a selfish heart. I should have known better.

Writing the right way

While talking to my mom last night she let me know that I don't post enough. Not that she is being critical, she's right. I don't.

In my defense, it is winter, and we don't do much. Well... I don't to much. I should blog. And I will. It's my Feb 13th resolution.

Anyway, I have been doing curriculum research, getting my order ready for next year. I have been looking for a decent writing program and looked through one at a friends house yesterday. Then I went home and looked on Homeschool Reviews to see what other parents had to say about using this curriculum. And then I ran into this review that made me giggle...

i, personally, LOVE this curriculum. we r doing level 3.i like that it teaches so many different kinds of writing (descriptive,informitive,etc.) i love that it is so detail-oriented. My son's writing has improved alot in the past 6 months:) We STRONGLY encourage this curriculum.

It sounds like a good curriculum, but seriously... don't you think you should form correct sentences when you are talking about how you taught a WRITING curriculum? At least she gave me something to giggle about while doing research.

Great commerical you won't see during the superbowl

What a great commercial!

How times have changed...

I felt it important to have the kids watch the inauguration today. It shows a new president taking office, and one that made history in their lifetime. And it is educational. Cross off government studies on our to do list!

Anyway... if you were watching you saw Aretha Franklin sing My Country Tis of Thee. Being kids, they didn't know who she was. So Rara, J-Bird, and I have this conversation...

J-Bird- Who's she?
Me- Aretha Franklin. A famous singer.
J-Bird- How'd she get famous?
Me- She's a singer.
Rara- She got famous because she sings.
J-Bird- Oh, I get it! I think she made it big on American Idol!
Rara- No! I think she was on America's Got Talent.

Imagine a time when people got famous without having to worry about getting voted off the show!

Brrrr!

As I sit here, and it has warmed up to a balmy -15 degrees I've made a decision...

Next chance I get, I'm going to vote for global warming.

This is ridiculous!

Tim Hawkins - Cletus Take the Reel

This is just too funny!

Back to Life... Back to Reality

We are now back into the routine of life... well, if you can consider our controlled chaos routine anyway. I have to admit that it does feel great!

Most of the Christmas gifts are now out of the boxes. We have used the quasedilla maker a couple times, I have cleaned the juicer nearly every day, and today I loaded pictures into the digital frame.

I even tried out the Wii Fit (stupid video game called me overweight, just cause I was standing on it! HUMPH!!!)

We had a great Christmas with the families. It's always nice to spend time with those we love but don't get much time with. I do wish we could see them more, but already my calendar is filling up. I even have something written in Feb already. I guess there is no rest for the weary!

If you are looking for me, I am basking in the fact that we are back to school and work.

Ahhh, routine.

Vacation... Episode 3

From the Creation Museum we headed to Chicago to see Shedd Aquarium. It was great with lots of different habitats and wildlife, both in and out of the water.

The kids each had their favorites. Sharks, Sawfish, Guitar Fish, Stingrays, and the huge sea turtle.

The aquarium was horribly busy the day we were there and we were fighting huge crowds. Since we got a membership, we hope to go back when hopefully it won't be so busy.

Then from there we headed to our last stop of our vacation. The Chula Vista water park in Wisconsin Dells. The kids spent the time burning off all the energy they stored up from all the driving. They had a good time running the lazy river, going down the water slides, and playing on the play area. The water was a little cold for Knight and I so we spent most of the time sitting in the chairs watching everyone play.

We then made our way back home. It is nice to be back home and finding our way back to our normal routine. The first major vacation with the kids went very well, with very little fighting, lots of fun and laughter. We hope to be able to take another one someday. Someday, not anytime soon!

Vacation... Episode 2... The Creation Museum

The Creation Museum opened only a year and a half ago. This was built as a state of the art museum built to talk about science from a biblical perspective. It did just that.

We checked out the planitarium, where they bring you far into space to look at other stars in the universe. We learned about blue stars, yellow stars, nebulas, and the order they have found in the universe. Watching that, you really feel how little our planet is, and how amazing it is that God cares for each of us, and knows us.

They also have a walk through history. This was one of the neatest parts. They have different scenes from the Bible along with scientific facts about those scenes from the Bible. There are dinosaurs, Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Methusala, Moses, etc. They also showed how taking God out of most of society has changed it. Very interesting. It took a lot of time to go through it all.

Anyone who knows Rara knows her sense of humor. She is such a funny kid. Because the focus was on creation verses evolution, she asked me to take her picture next to "grampa" for the evolutionists! Funny!

They had a beautiful gardens that you could walk. On the day we were there it was around 70 degrees, sunny, and grassy. What a treat! It had a petting zoo, bridges (including some rope bridges the kids loved!) and dinosaurs. In the summer time, I am sure it has beautiful flowers for all to see, but still it was great to see some foliage and be able to enjoy the outdoors.

In the evening they also had a walk from "Jeruselem" to "Bethlehem". We had to pay our taxes to the Romans (a coin they provided) in Jeruselem, and then some townsfolk pointed us on our way to Bethlehem. Along the way there were fellow travelers either wishing us well, or telling us about a couple that came by hoping to find a room for the night. Then some shephards stopped us and told us that angels visited them about a baby, the Messiah, born to us. He told us where we could find the babe. When we got there, the couple was there, holding the babe next to a manger. (A live nativity)

The last thing I'll talk about was the show. Every day they offer a show or a lecture of some sort. The day we were there happened to be Buddy Davis. The kids had heard of him from some videos they'd seen, but I didn't know I had heard of him too. (For those of us who worked with the kids at church, he's the one who wrote Billions of Dead Things along with some other great songs). He put on a great show and the kids are enjoying a lot of his music.

It was a great time, and a blessed day. I have lots more pictures, but I haven't finished talking about the vacation yet.

Stay tuned!

Vacation... Episode 1... getting there

We are hoping you are all having a great start to 2009. As for us we are recouping from our vacation.

There is so much to say about our vacation, that I figured I would have to break it down into smaller episodes.


We have been planning to do this vacation for a long time. In fact we tried to go over a year ago, but things happen and we went to Duluth for a couple days instead. Planning this vacation was fun, and the kids were SO excited.

We picked up the rental van on Christmas eve. We wanted to be comfortable on our drive and not worry about our high mileage vehicles breaking down. We decided to leave straight from my dad's on Christmas day so we tried to drop the dog off at the dog sitters.

Yes, I said tried.


We brought her over to the house and then she proceeded to wiggle out of the collar and run away.



When it was 5 degrees.


Anyhoo, we ended up getting her situated, and headed down to my dad's house. We had a great time visiting with my family and then we headed out. The weather held out for a couple hours and we made it to Wisconsin Dells for the night.


In the morning we got on the road first thing. We made decent time getting to Chicago around 11am. We figured we would make it through the city and stop for lunch around 12:30 just on the other side of Gary, Indiana. And we would have too, if it wasn't for the traffic jam.


We hit the traffic jam with only 10 miles to go before we were out of the city. Before that J-Bird was wanting to move to the city. 10 miles and 2 hours later he decided we needed to stay away from anywhere that could have that type of a traffic jam.

We definitely prefer the traffic jams in our neck of the woods. You know..."You know you're from Wisconsin when your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway."


We made it to Indianapolis only a couple house late, with only 1 kid holding a sick bucket, and only one trip to the Indianapolis Airport because of a wrong turn. Still, the hotel was great and when we woke up in the morning it was 59 degrees with grass around us.

From there we headed off to Cincinnati. The trip was beautiful, with the sun shining, no traces of snow anywhere to be seen. We didn't hit any wrong turns and wound up getting to the museum around 10.











Which leads me to tomorrows post... Episode 2... the Creation Museum

From the vacation hotel

I'm sitting in Indianapolis. It was 48 degrees today. I can't tell you what I think of the state of Indiana because we didn't see any of it. It was covered in fog all day from the melting snow. So if you are thinking of me, wondering how I'm doing...

I'm thinking about sunbathing tomorrow.

Don't you wish you came with us???

More about our trip when we get back!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days of Christmas

Enjoy some Christmas music

Vacation plans

We are planning our first family vacation where we are driving more than 3 hours away. The kids are excited and my days have been filled with trying to figure out what all needs to be done for the various Christmas parties, plays, concerts, and get togethers to be excited about a vacation.

Our first major destination will be the Creation Museum. This is a place that Knight has been wanting to go to since it opened. From there we will head to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and spend a day there. Then we are going to try out a new (to us) water park in Wisconsin Dells, Chula Vista.

I don't know what the kids are looking forward to more, Christmas or vacation. Either way, I hope that they enjoy the plans we have made for them. And I hope I can return to my house sane after spending that much time on the road.

Jelly Telly!

Anyone who has seen more than 5 kids shows in the last 10 years has watched and probably enjoyed the work of Phil Visher. You know... the guy who came up with those wonderful guys Bob and Larry. If you are like me, you were not really aware of all the turmoil that Big Idea has been through in the last 5 years (they just laid off 2/3 of the staff last week so be in prayer for those families), but if you are also like me, you became very aware of the softening of God in VeggieTales. The last movie that was in the theater didn't even mention God at all, just sort of hinted around.

What I hadn't realized is the Mr. Visher has moved on from Big Idea and has been working on a new format for Christian entertainment for kids. It comes in the form of Jelly Telly. Jelly Telly has a show everyday with a feature film on Sundays. They have games to play as well as the daily video. Jelly Telly has been out for about a month now and we have been really enjoying it. I signed up for a free months trial membership to see how the kids would like it. It is puppets, not animation, and I didn't know if the kids were getting too old for this kind of show. After all, I see them wanting to watch Disney online pretty often.

They LOVE it! It has the same quirky humor you saw in VeggieTales, great focus on God, and they have educational parts like Dr Sniffenhousen's Wonderful World of Science, Drive through History, along with my favorite Michael's Movie Reviews. One of the best things about this is that we can watch it when we have time. As long as there is Internet, we can watch it.

If you are interested head off to Jelly Telly, check out the grown ups page. Sign up for the free trial month if you are interested. Or if you really like it and want to help out a great ministry pay the $3 a month for a subscription.

And by the way... my kids watch less Disney. They love it. Even J-Bell who gets mad if they start the show without her.

This has been De's website reviews! Jelly Telly has no knowledge of this endorsement and I'm not getting paid for it (Although I wouldn't object to payment, Mr. Visher!)

Tis the Season

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas. We put up the tree, the Bethlehem village (my favorite decoration),

and took the family picture for this year.

The day we set up the tree I was doing some work on the computer in the living room and I heard a splash and thump. Thinking I knew what that was but thinking I HAD to be wrong I waited just a little then my conscience was screaming at me to check. So I told the kids that I thought one of the fish just made a break for it. They checked the tank. Sure enough there was only 2 fish in the tank. We checked under the Christmas tree and there he was laying under the tree, still alive. We put him back in the tank and he survived. His tail was somewhat shredded by the tree branches and he was slow moving for the first day and a half, but he's back to his old self. Desti named him Lucky when she first got him. Apparently the name suits him well.

Spouse Meme

I saw this meme on another blog and thought it looked fun. Plus I don't have much else to blog about.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? A Wii game. Normally Madden 09. If we had cable it would be the history channel, but we don't have cable. We don't even have one of the digital boxes you need in February. We don't plan to get one either. Anything we could desire to see on the TV, you can get through the Internet so we are just going to use our TVs for movies and video games.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Chocolate. Makes him get headaches. Other than that, he will eat anything.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Pizza. They still have food at bars, right?

5. Where did he go to high school? Menomonie High School. He still loves their football team

6. What size shoe does he wear? 10 1/2. We had to get him shoes a couple weeks ago. He went to the shoe department, I went to pick some other things up. We met at the register paid and went home. The next day I was packing the new shoes and noticed they were 9 1/2. When I asked him if he had tried them on, he said no, but he knew he wore 9 1/2. He tried them on, they didn't fit, we went and exchanged them for 10 1/2.

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Probably something Packers, or Civil War.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Egg salad, or ham, or turkey, or Philly steak, or peanut butter and honey, or.... like I said, he's not picky

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Red meat. Steak, roast, burgers. He likes his meat

10. What is his favorite cereal? Fruity Pebbles, I think. At least it used to be when we first got married.

11. What would he never wear? Women's clothes. He would go naked before he put on a dress or a pair of panties. lol

12. What is his favorite sports team? Packers, Packers, Packers. Yet he rarely watches them

13. Who will he vote for? Anyone who has read this blog knows who he did vote for. Who will he vote for in 2012? We don't know who the candidates are but he's pushing for a Huckabee/Palin ticket.

14. Who is his best friend? Me, or the kids. We have to push him to do things with boys his own age.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Get hormonal. I don't cry when I get hormonal, I get short tempered. Crying he could live with. Crabby he could live without

16. How many states has he lived in? 1 unless you consider the state of wedded bliss

17. What is his heritage? He's told me German but I think there may be some more in there. Nothing too exciting. It would be Swedish, Norwegian, or something else pretty white. Reddish hair, blue eyes, freckles.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? Funfetti. You know, white cake with sprinkles in it. Sprinkles on the frosting. No chocolate at all.

19. Did he play sports in high school? No. He was one of those scrawny red headed kids who always got picked on. The most sports he played was backyard sports with his cousins

20. What could he spend hours doing? Playing the Wii, talking politics, playing with the kids at the park

21. What's something cool about him? He truly enjoys playing with the kids. They will play baseball until it's dark, or play and discuss Wii games until it's time for bed. He's as interested in it as they are.

Homeschool Memoirs- Mom Help

Homeschool Mothers do a lot in a day…. I’d say they do more than the working mom because they have to care for the kids, the house, the meals, and much more. They are constantly on the go and with the kids! Sometimes you just need a break. You need to sit down and have a break. While I’m not a mom - YET - I know there I are times I need to sit down for a breather.

THEME:
This week I’d like to invite you to share what YOUR “Mom” help is. Some drink coffee, soda, or chia-tea. Others check email or read their favourite blogs. Some talk a walk…. what do you do when you need to clear your head and take a breather?

My "mom help" has changed over the years. I used to read blogs. I still do, but it is just down to my favorites and thanks to Bloglines I only have to check that to see who has a new post. I also used to talk on the phone. Now I am on the phone very little.

My "mom help" has turned into pet projects. I will organize a room, take or edit some pictures, or work on smaller projects. My smaller project right now is a family cookbook. I have emailed all of my side of the family with this and have been working on organizing the recipes coming in. Once I get all the bugs worked out I plan on contacting Knights side to do the same thing.

I also do run the Scholastic book club for our Homeschool group. I would consider that another "Mom help".

For me, my "Mom help" needs to have me accomplishing something. I know that homeschooling, and taking care of my kids is the most important job that I could ever have, but I also struggle at times with each day looking like the last. To help with that, I have smaller projects that I can fulfil my need for organization, creativity, and accomplishment.