tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69489666060842637972024-03-12T19:56:16.276-06:00Life is Sew GoodJudihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.comBlogger754125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-6523307351351794712014-12-20T21:23:00.002-07:002014-12-20T21:23:46.114-07:00Things Fall Apart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, ironically, at my evening book club Thursday night, we chose Chinua Achebe's Thing Fall Apart for our next month's read. A few hours later, the main water line to our hydronic heating system burst and flooded our house. So yes, things really did fall apart.<br />
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The leak occurred in the middle of the night.<br />
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If these pictures look familiar to you, that's because we had a similar issue over the summer when the water line into our refrigerator burst and gave us the same sort of results. This was easily twice as much water though.<br />
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Our rental company called in a crew to clean up, and we had to move everything out of two rooms in the basement, and put it all into the school room/library. Thankfully there was no damage in there.<br />
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I thought they were just going to remove the carpet but before I knew what was going on, drywall on the walls and ceiling was removed.</div>
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This is what it looked like when I last saw it.<br />
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Now all the drywall is off the walls, and they've begun pulling up the floorboards. Not sure if they're going to remove the floorboards or not. They're definitely soaked and there is standing water under them. They are also starting to bubble, so they should. I'm a little concerned that mold will grow if they don't. We're starting to wonder if it's time to look for another house. I love our location, the view, the house... But we pay a crazy high amount of rent to have constant problems (water issues twice now, plus constant septic and heating issues).</div>
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For now they've put us up in a nice hotel - two adjoining rooms for the six of us. Obviously with the problem related to our heater, we have no consistent heat at the house, and the kids all sleep in those downstairs rooms, so until they get that fixed, looks like we'll be camping out. Nice place to camp :) Not exactly what I had in mind for Christmas though...Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-77942928046465626132014-12-11T00:12:00.000-07:002014-12-11T00:12:06.417-07:00Time to Find a Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tuesday we had a rare day when all of us were home at once, so we went out to find a Christmas tree. We always cut our own. It's part of the fun tradition and we have great memories (like of the time they let me pick it, and we ended up needing to wire on extra branches to fill in the gaps. Yeah. That's the last time they let me pick it by the way, and it's been at least 4 or 5 years ago.) Our ten year old noticed the ice crystals on the snow. It was very cool.<br />
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We went to a different area than we normally do, because our library found their tree up here, and we love the tree they got. We were hoping for a similar result. The problem is that there isn't anywhere to pull off the road, so we had to park away from the trees, and when we did find a place to park we weren't near very many - you see the total amount in this picture.<br />
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The snow was pretty deep - almost to our knees, and we kept sinking through the crust. The six year old rode on the sled, but the three year old didn't want to.<br />
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So I held his hand while he walked. He didn't sink. I did. Finally I put him up on my shoulders, and he was pretty freaked out by that. He kept telling me not to drop him in a hole (dad's footprint).<br />
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Then we came to our next challenge. Barbed wire. <br />
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The six year old was determined to help, so he and his older brother crossed the fence with Dad.<br />
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By then, I was ready to let the guys figure it out, so the three year old and I stayed at the fence.</div>
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This is the total distance we made it. Where the sled tracks end is where we are parked lol.<br />
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The six year old found a tree. He couldn't figure out why I wouldn't let him cut it down.<br />
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I told him it was too small.<br />
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So he picked a big one. Yes, THAT big one. HA. I told him we had to pick one that would fit on top of our vehicle. When we gave up on this location and headed back to the truck, he told me he wanted to go to his sister's station (she works at a convenience store). I told him that she wasn't there right now. He shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Somebody is." - HA. I thought he wanted to visit her. Turns out he was only wanting some chocolate milk. :)<br />
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So, in the end, there were no trees of the right size in this little stand, and we couldn't find a suitable place to pull off the road for one that was. I knew this process would probably take longer than I had time for, so I had driven separately from the rest of the crew. When I needed to head to work (I'm a librarian now) I left the guys to search for the tree. When I came home, they had an absolutely beautiful, uniform tree ... which they had purchased at Smith's in Jackson Hole (77 miles away) lol. Oh well. At least they had a fun day, and we now have a tree. This will be a fun memory too. :)<br />
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I'll post pictures of the tree once we get it decorated.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-89983141736171493152014-12-07T20:09:00.001-07:002014-12-07T20:09:50.665-07:00My Superhero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This little man is so creative. He is always impressing me with his imagination. Today he was really on a roll. He put these boxes on his legs and told me he was Ironman.</div>
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Then he put them on his arms and jumped on my bed and told me he was a supermodel. Ha. I'm sure he doesn't know what a supermodel really is. This was more like a bird with flapping wings. Later he put the boxes back on his legs, and used a pillow for wings (it has one of those covers on it with an opening in the middle of the back, so he put his arms into it and flapped the pillow for wings. I missed getting a picture of it.</div>
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He also created this interesting Lego ... thing.<br />
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It was made of castle pieces and one axle with two wheels.<br />
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He told me it was a king's car :) Looks somewhat like the popemobile, eh?Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-89321627752751266422014-12-06T21:17:00.002-07:002014-12-06T21:17:48.880-07:00The Moon, the Moose, and a Mug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Can you see the big circle around the moon? I thought it looked pretty neat. Almost like a wagon wheel.</div>
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We've had several moose hanging around nearby. These were taken within a mile of our house. There have been as many as six spotted together, but only three the day I had my camera.<br />
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These two are pretty decent bulls.<br />
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We had our Christmas party for the library tonight. It was a very nice party catered with all sorts of fancy foods. We had a white elephant gift exchange, and I actually came home with the item I wanted most :)<br />
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Here's the other side. I just love this mug. :)<br />
<br />Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-11733631528845003222014-12-04T21:13:00.000-07:002014-12-04T21:13:46.652-07:00MESA Christmas Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wednesday night the MESA Therapeutic Horseback Riding program our six year old participates in had a Christmas party.</div>
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Santa was there. The three year old wasn't sure what to think of him. (We don't do Santa, so they know he's not real.)<br />
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Each of the kids was given a gift - all very nice gifts, purchased and donated by their main volunteer helper. When his name was called, our son belly crawled up to get it. You can see how cute it was by the look on the faces of everyone else. It was a huge accomplishment for him to be brave enough to go up alone and get it on his own. </div>
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He got a Lego set.<br />
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He was very excited about it. He put it at our table for awhile so we could go to the craft table and make ornaments with his horses on them, and when it was time to go, he told me, "I'm supposed to take the Legos home!" :) He wasn't about to leave without them.<br />
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Once we got home, the brothers spent over an hour working together on building the cars.<br />
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The ten year old was so good and patient with the 6 year old. <br />
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He found each piece and showed him where to put it.<br />
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And then he backed off and let his brother assemble the whole thing, one piece at a time.<br />
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The set makes a couple of race cars and items to go around the track. It is also a set that can make several things, so they took the cars apart and will work on the other items another time.<br />
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It was the perfect toy. He had a great time at the party, which I didn't think he would. Crowds and noise are not his thing. He also doesn't like sweets, but he scarfed down two cookies and a cupcake (after I scraped the frosting off the top). It was a great night. :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-25785491674806086672014-12-03T10:59:00.000-07:002014-12-03T10:59:00.076-07:00Breakfast is a Circus at My House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I found the coolest waffle maker ever at the Family Dollar. <br />
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It makes waffles in the shape of lions, elephants and giraffes. (Pardon the blurry pictures).<br />
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I was skeptical that they would come out as neatly as pictured.<br />
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But they did. I had to trim a little of the overflow off, but they popped right out without a problem. The most challenging thing was making sure to pour batter right into the trunk, tail and legs - all the skinny areas. I mixed my batter in a measuring bowl with a pour spout, so that helped.<br />
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Pretty cute :)<br />
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Our six year old is obsessed with waffles. It's all he will eat for breakfast. (That, and a piece of fruit. He had already devoured the banana when I took this picture.) So when I found this waffle maker, I knew it would be a big hit.<br />
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So if you're trying to solve the age old question of how a person could eat a whole elephant, here's a simple answer for you :)<br />
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These sure are a lot of fun. Even the ten year old asked for waffles this morning. I might have to buy a second one so I can make allergy free ones for him. I'll have to see if I can find a recipe that would work though....Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-66148521949148626142014-12-02T10:41:00.001-07:002014-12-02T10:41:25.253-07:00Winter Friends and a Swimming Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're very blessed with the place we live in. We have a great house, an amazing view, and plenty of live entertainment. The yard has been full of deer lately. There is one particular plant that grows in patches around our yard that they especially love. It reminds me of clover, but it's bigger and bushier. And when it dries out the seed pods rattle like the sound of a rattlesnake. No idea what it's called, but the deer love it.</div>
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This young buck stayed to visit all day a couple days ago.<br />
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This picture was taken from our master bedroom on the third floor, looking straight down over the deck. He was within 12 feet of the door downstairs.<br />
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The ten year old took these pictures of the bunny. We have lots of rabbits around here too.<br />
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He was right outside the downstairs door - closer to the house than the deer was.<br />
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The ten year old also spotted an eagle flying over our yard one of the days I was in town taking care of Papa. He got some great pictures.<br />
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These three are Magpies. I love their coloring, but most people around here (especially ranchers) think of them as a nuisance).<br />
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Here's a picture of the eagle with a magpie.</div>
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Swim therapy for the 6 year old has progressed amazingly well. His instructor asked for the brothers to come too, and that has helped him to loosen up and be more comfortable in the water. And the brothers are loving it too.<br />
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He's still afraid to get his face wet, but with the goggles on, he will look under the water. We had great success Monday when he didn't have his goggles on, and willingly got his lips wet twice. Lol. We celebrate small victories here as well as big ones. He will also lay back and get the back of his head wet (very cautiously and not for long - ha.) But considering when we started, he was terrified to even touch the water, this is huge progress.<br />
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The three year old is fearless. He makes me nervous. He'll march right out to the deep water with his brothers, with no concern for whether he'll be able to touch or not. He's so small the slightest current or disturbance knocks him off his feet. I haven't been swimming in the mornings because we're there for such a short time, and I have a very small window between the time the lesson ends and the time the bus arrives. One of these days, I'll get the guys together earlier and we can swim before the lesson. Hard to do when the lesson starts at 9, and the boys are not early risers.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-44392094434381887312014-12-01T08:07:00.001-07:002014-12-01T08:07:38.014-07:00November Reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I finally had a chance to get back to reading more. Things have settled down some here. I had been taking care of my in-laws the last few months, but now they are both in places where they can get the help they need, so I'm back to a little more normal schedule ... though normal for me has changed. One of the biggest changes is that I am now working two part time jobs. And one of those is a bit of a dream job for me. I'm now a librarian! I've wanted to do that since I was a little kid. :) I used to organize my books and make cards so my sister and I could pretend to check them out. </div>
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So now I have a great reason to say my reading is necessary ... research for work, right? :) And my other job includes a lot of down time where I am free to read (and get paid for it lol). So here's what I read in November...<br />
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November Totals:<br />
Total books - 4<br />
Total pages - 1,754<br />
Total inches - 7<br />
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Year to Date Totals:<br />
Total books - 56<br />
Total pages - 16,514<br />
Total inches - 65<br />
(in other words, WAY behind where I expected to be, and where I was last year)<br />
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I read:</div>
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1. The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, a Turkish author. This was for my evening book club which focuses on books from different countries, written by people native to those places. I couldn't get into this book. It was about whirling dervishes and the Sufi poet Rumi. The book is written with a connection to present day, so parts of it are present tense and parts are history. The historical parts were interesting, but I couldn't buy into the present day story.</div>
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2. The Bone People by Keri Hulme, a New Zealand author - also for evening club. I really liked this book. It was very well written, though poorly titled, I think as it was hard to even understand why she chose that title. It's a pretty depressing story, but I did enjoy it. She writes well.</div>
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3. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Talk about depressing subject matter. This was about a school shooting. I really like Picoult's writing, and will probably eventually read all of her books. This is the third one I've read. Very well done, but not nearly as good as The Storyteller, which is one of my all-time favorite books (but extremely depressing and heavy, dealing with the Holocaust).</div>
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4. A Sudden Light by Garth Stein. This was probably my favorite of all of these books. I wanted to read this new book by Stein because I loved his previous book - The Art of Racing in the Rain - which you really should read if you haven't. He's a very good story teller, and I couldn't put this one down.</div>
Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-6706721147322227422014-11-30T23:02:00.001-07:002014-11-30T23:02:24.785-07:00Happy 6th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We are now the proud parents of a new six year old. He was quite excited to celebrate his birthday. (And now that it's over, he's already telling us what he wants for his next birthday. HA)<br />
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He really doesn't like sweets or desserts, so birthday planning is a little difficult. But he does happen to love chocolate glazed donuts. So he got to start his day off with a big one of those.<br />
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We put the candle on the donut and sang to him at the breakfast table.<br />
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He had to wait until evening to open his presents.<br />
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He loved the minion hat and gloves we got him.<br />
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He had to pull it all the way down so we could see what he would look like as a minion. :)<br />
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This summer I saw that Kohl's was having their Little Critter and Little Sister stuffed animals and books on their Kohl's Cares program. We live hundreds of miles away from the nearest Kohl's (not exaggerating) so I had my sister pick them up for me and we saved them until his birthday came around. This kid loves to read and he loves stuffed animals, so it was a big hit. It was kind of funny though, when Grandpa called and he told him he got a little sister for his birthday. I had a lot of explaining to do - ha.<br />
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His ten year old brother got him a toy car.<br />
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He was doing pretty well with the unwrapping until he decided he needed to wear the gloves that came with his minion hat. It was pretty comical, and it really slowed down the process.<br />
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He had to show the Little Critter doll the book about him.<br />
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Grammy sent him a horse that looked like his Sadie horse he gets to ride in therapeutic horseback riding lessons. It has been a real hit. The three year old is really into toy horses and especially likes to play with Sadie too (mostly when his brother is at school - ha).<br />
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Grammy also sent a game called Jumping Jack. It is really a cute game. You spin to see how many carrots you have to pull from the garden, and if you pull the wrong one, the "Jack" rabbit pops up into the air. If you catch him before he hits the ground, you win the game. If you miss, whichever player has the most carrots wins. The boys think it's hysterical when the bunny pops off the top.<br />
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Since he's not into cake, we got him ice cream and cookies. He's not really into cookies either, and ended up picking all the m&m's off the cookies and leaving them behind - only eating the cookie part (which is the exact opposite of what most kids do.)<br />
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He likes "Rocky Road" ice cream - and any chocolate ice cream with stuff in it is called Rocky Road. He doesn't like soft serve chocolate ice cream, and he doesn't like vanilla or any other kind than "Rocky Road."<br />
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I think he had a pretty fun birthday. Messy, but fun. :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-83276342854616153362014-11-29T11:43:00.000-07:002014-11-29T11:43:22.996-07:00A Place For Papa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago we placed my father-in-law in an assisted living facility. It is the nicest retirement home I've ever been in...</div>
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His room has two areas - we brought his chair, side table and lamp down and placed it in the section of the apartment where the kitchenette is. He won't need or use the kitchen.<br />
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We put up a white board so we and the nurses could leave messages for him.<br />
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The room is divided between the living area...<br />
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And the bedroom.<br />
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He has a door leading to the courtyard - where he is free to safely wander around outside. The building wraps around it.<br />
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He has a chair so he can sit outside if he likes.<br />
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His apartment door is inside the hallway. We put up a decoration on the door from his house so he would be able to find his room back.<br />
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This is a really nice place. This room is the theater. They call it the "Rialto."<br />
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The main common area (the first two pictures in the post) has a grand piano at one end, and they have people coming in to provide entertainment several times each week.<br />
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My boys especially liked the horse statue in that area, and kept going back to "pet the horse."<br />
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They have nice artwork throughout the building.<br />
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This is the game room. Lots of small tables in here.<br />
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I took a bunch of photos from their house and made copies of them, framed them, and labeled them so the nurses could help him remember who everyone is. (Their names are below each picture.)<br />
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The boys liked the huge closet.<br />
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There are always lots of activities each day.</div>
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On the Saturday we moved him in, a group from the Seventh-Day Adventist church came in to provide music. Papa is somewhat anti-religious, but the guy was wearing a western suit and playing a guitar in the style of old country, playing hymns. Papa clapped and tapped his hand and enjoyed the concert. He and my husband are sitting near the fireplace.<br />
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I have to say I'm very impressed with this place - no bad smells, everyone and everything are extremely clean and well cared for. When I need to go to a nursing home, I want to go somewhere like this. It's the first place like this I've been in that I would be willing to move into today :) They also have a lockdown memory-care unit that he is on the waiting list to get into. That will be a better fit for him. He wanders a lot and is very confused. But they take residents first for openings over there, so we had to put him there before we could get him into memory care. He still has lots of assistance and supervision. So far, we've been impressed. The unfortunate thing is that it is in a town 100 miles away from us. But we didn't have any other options, and this seems to be a perfect fit.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-39591687049738789112014-11-02T09:17:00.002-07:002014-11-02T09:17:44.500-07:00Hangin in There<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Thanks for hanging in there with me, since I haven't been able to post much lately. Life kind of threw us a curve ball, but we're doing well, given the situation. I've been living at my in-laws' house caring for my father-in-law, who has advanced Alzheimer's, while my mother-in-law has been in a hospital about three hours away from home. For the past month, I was first at their house from breakfast to bedtime, trying to help them out, and then this past week I've been living here full time. So our life is a little bit chaotic right now. But "it is what it is" (that's my mantra lately). That, and "playing it by ear." I've caught myself saying those two phrases almost on a daily basis. </div>
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Every time someone asks me how I'm doing, I'm surprised by the question. I can honestly say I've been at peace with the whole arrangement. We're not getting everything done that we should be doing at home, and I really miss being with my little guys full time, but it will all work out in the end :) Thankfully my daughter (21) and my husband have been able to help out with the home-front and take care of the boys. And they do still get to spend several hours a day with us. It just doesn't work out very well to have them here overnight. We did try that, and it was a disaster. No sleep for anyone - ha.</div>
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So, here's what I have managed to take pictures of (which isn't much - ha). This was my view of the sky the day of the solar eclipse. I was really looking forward to using the eclipse as a great homeschool teaching opportunity, but the clouds did not cooperate.<br />
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Last week we had a few snow flurries. Nothing on the ground, but it was a reminder of what's to come.<br />
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See - not much accumulation.<br />
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We're still making great progress on the adaptive swimming program. He's still very nervous in the water, but he's trying new things each time, and allowing her to take him deeper and deeper all the time. (She's crouched down here, but he's okay with it, and even kicking!<br />
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Kids with autism are all about routine, and his routine is pretty much nonexistent right now, due to the family chaos. But he's handled it well. One routine that he has now is to go to the gas station after his swimming sessions, and get a chocolate milk. He likes to drink it in the yard - under the tree where the squirrel usually is. He tried to convince the squirrel to come down and be his pet, but the squirrel didn't care for that idea :)<br />
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I'm sure life will settle down eventually, but it might take awhile for that to happen. For now, we're working on getting through one day at a time. :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-51551894941229688022014-10-21T11:14:00.003-06:002014-10-21T11:14:45.306-06:00He Got in the Water!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was a little concerned with how the swim therapy would go this time around as this was what he looked like first thing this morning. He insisted that we buy him goggles and a "mouth golf" - that's what he's always called it. :)<br />
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I convinced him that his helper probably needed to see his face, so he just kept his flippers on.<br />
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I think this was our fourth or fifth session, and we finally got him to touch the water. It started with convincing him that flippers are made for being in the water.<br />
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At first he would only get the front edge of them in.<br />
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But it didn't take him long to ease in further.<br />
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He needed to use the bathroom, and I was able to convince him to take the flippers off so he could walk better. Then he never put them back on.<br />
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She asked him if he could put his elbows in :)<br />
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We sure carried a bunch of stuff to the pool. But I was glad he was able to leave it in a pile and just enjoy swimming :)<br />
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Eventually she got him to reach farther and farther into the water to pick up toys. This part of the pool just slopes slowly deeper.<br />
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His lessons are supposed to be half an hour, but she has taken a full hour with him nearly every time because he gets more and more comfortable with it.<br />
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He really had a good time once he got comfortable.<br />
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This is what success looks like :)</div>
<br />Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-81024430516753604222014-10-20T23:03:00.003-06:002014-10-20T23:03:58.564-06:00Not the Only Artist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So it turns out the ten year old isn't the only artist in the family. These were done by our 21 year old daughter.</div>
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<br />Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-5856002760948017382014-10-19T09:12:00.001-06:002014-10-19T09:12:07.550-06:00Adaptive Swim Therapy for the 5 Year Old With Autism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've just begun therapy at the pool for the five year old. He is and always has been extremely afraid of water. Baths have been a real challenge, but typically once he's in, he's good to go. But this summer we got him into a pool and he was riding on an inflatable toy and fell in over his head. Now we're back to square one on all water.<br />
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These pictures are from his second therapy session. He goes twice a week, and has a great lady working with him - she is very patient and encouraging. He hasn't actually made it into the water yet, but at least we're making progress.<br />
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The first day we went he played with a toy that looks like a diver - and he has been obsessed with divers ever since, and dressed up like them. But the second time we went, he had a complete meltdown just going into the pool room. Thankfully he eventually settled down.<br />
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A second grade group from the school came in for swimming lessons, and at first he was pretty overwhelmed by the number of them, but then he became interested in watching them, and didn't want to leave.<br />
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He even let his helper carry him over to the submarine. You can see how shallow it is. But he hasn't even dipped his toe in the water yet.<br />
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He was pretty timid in the sub. The therapist suggested allowing him to come to the next lesson dressed as a diver.<br />
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So this was how we came to the next lesson. The temperature was in the 20's, but I brought him in shorts so we wouldn't have to change. He had a shirt and coat on, and we cranked the heat in the car. Normally at home he wears a ski helmet and ski goggles, and puts gloves on his feet for flippers. But he spotted these flippers at the grocery store the day before, and when it was time to leave he couldn't find the ski helmet. So he grabbed the ski mask.<br />
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It was SO hot in the pool room - steamy - but he never took off the mask.<br />
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He played on the sub again - still not touching the water - but the therapist said the mask seemed to give him confidence to move around and interact more, rather than just standing in one spot like he had before. See him in the front circle window?<br />
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He was much more calm. So, this is our swim gear. Lessons again this coming week. He is insisting that we go back to the grocery store for the goggles and "mouth golf" - which is what he has always called the scuba tube you breathe through. So after church, we're getting those. :) Ahh. Never a dull moment in this thankful Mama's life :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-28872178071902802572014-10-17T21:53:00.000-06:002014-10-17T21:53:10.327-06:00Fire Department Open House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last Saturday I took the little guys to the fire department open house for a quick bite to eat and a ride on a firetruck. Had a great time :)<br />
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We got to ride in the fancy new ladder truck - which I failed to get a picture of from the outside. We rode in the seats facing backwards, which was a fun change, and a couple little friends from church rode with us.<br />
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Horrible picture of me, but look at how excited he was :) This was at the beginning when they took off fast like they would for a fire.<br />
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I didn't realize until I looked at this picture how close the three year old's eye color is to mine.<br />
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Fun times :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-13478224218751033612014-10-15T20:02:00.001-06:002014-10-15T20:02:45.990-06:00It Never Gets Old<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From today -<br />
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Yesterday (or was it the day before) - our spiderwebs were frosted over. Can you see them?<br />
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That same cold morning...<br />
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It even looks cold, don't you think? Our hummingbird feeder even froze over. The feeder had been empty until our overzealous ten year old thought he could lure them back for Grandpa :)<br />
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And these are from a few days ago...<br />
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Like I said, it never gets old :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-32343916505299209642014-10-08T07:27:00.002-06:002014-10-08T07:27:57.232-06:00One Last Football Game, and Horse Therapy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We've all been very focused on football lately. The little boys love wearing their brother's uniform. </div>
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... and cheering on the Denver Broncos and Wyoming Cowboys.<br />
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The five year old suited up in all his brother's gear - the pants, with pads go clear to his ankles :)<br />
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The older ones among us as are hooked on playing a football pool. These are my picks this week - I missed three (the red ones). I new I should have gone back and taken the colts over the ravens, but I didn't do it, so I ended up in a tie with three other people. It came down to total points in the Monday night game for the tie-breaker, and I was 8 points too high. Boo. Last week my husband won it, and I was second, but he has me to thank for the win. I talked him out of two bad picks. Should have kept my mouth shut and I would have won :)<br />
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Last night was the ten year old's last game against our arch rivals from the next town over. We played in their town, and beat them. They had a good team.<br />
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We have also had company - my Dad and his friend have been here for a couple of days, so they got to come to the game, and also to the five year old's therapeutic horseback riding lesson.<br />
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They were learning the parts of the horse - going from post to post identifying the body part and collecting colored pasta pieces to make a necklace.<br />
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He refuses to wear it, but likes the necklace. It was a beautiful day for both events yesterday. Sunny and warm and just a little breeze. Perfect fall weather.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-26869264694481322692014-10-04T17:56:00.002-06:002014-10-04T17:56:27.462-06:00Football Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Friday night at the high school homecoming football game, the youth football players were introduced. First, they lined up to high-five the varsity players as they came onto the field.<br />
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My ten year old is in the orange section there, but he's behind another player so you can't actually see him.<br />
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After the high school players made it onto the field, they lined up to high-five the youth players. It was hard to get a good picture because they are so much shorter than the varsity players, so you'll have to just trust me that he's running through there :)<br />
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Our son is the first orange blur :) It was getting dark and I tried to zoom in. Guess that didn't work.<br />
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All the youth players are in the center of this mass, with varsity all around them, and middle school on the outside. They were jumping and chanting like football players do :) Lots of energy on the field.<br />
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The band performed the national anthem.<br />
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And then we were on to the game - unfortunately playing the team that will probably take state this year.<br />
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Oh - and another cool thing. Our band marches now. Remember the last post I mentioned that they just got real uniforms? Well, we're moving up in the world. Probably won't be invited to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for a few more years, but I was impressed :)<br />
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Then this morning, it was the the young kids' turn. We're done with 8 man ball and are on to 11-man, where only 4th and 5th graders get to play. Now the kids are all on the green team. They played against Jackson Hole (in the orange and black).<br />
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They played really well and it was a fun game to watch.<br />
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I saw these cleats and thought they were pretty cool. Reminds me of that commercial from years ago when the football player got a concussion and said, "I'm batman." I think it was a Snickers commercial or something like that. I saw another player with Superman cleats but didn't get a picture of those.<br />
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It was sunny, but extremely windy. Papa and Bugga did make it to the game with us though, which was nice. She's gone through a few rough months healthwise, so we were really glad she could make it to the game.<br />
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The five year old insisted on bringing his monkey along. If you don't believe me about the wind, here's proof. If we didn't hold onto or attach the monkey to something, it would roll onto the field.<br />
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We won the game 18-8 - woohoo! In case you're wondering about the scoreboard, they played 6 quarters, so all the smaller kids could have a chance to play. The starters played the first 4 quarters...<br />
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... then collapsed on the sideline ;)<br />
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We had a fun time watching.<br />
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... and snacking.<br />
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The five year old took the camera and came back to tell me he was taking pictures of shadows :)<br />
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Pretty hard work being a football player :) Good job!!Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-49229586891230180832014-10-04T16:25:00.001-06:002014-10-04T16:25:35.817-06:00Homecoming Parade and a Moose in the Yard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Friday morning we headed to town for the homecoming parade. The weather was pretty decent, but still chilly and breezy. We picked up Papa and Bugga and brought them along. The five year old got out, but when the band started playing, he ran back to the Excursion. He did seem to enjoy the parade from the safety of the vehicle though. (He hates candy, so he wasn't disappointed not to get any.)<br />
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Our band finally has real uniforms! For years they wore green and white striped rugby-style shirts with green sweat pants. Looked like they were ready for a nap. These are SO much better.<br />
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Very festive, but I'm glad I'm not the one who has to wash the paint off.</div>
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The high school classes have a competition for decorating floats. I didn't do a good job of getting pictures because I was trying to make sure the three year old didn't pick up any candy he is allergic to. <br />
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He was thrilled to get a little beach ball. <br />
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And he did get one candy he isn't allergic to - Smarties :) The girl coming by had two hands full of Tootsie Rolls with one pack of Smarties in the middle. He lit up in joy and just took the one he knew he could have :) She dumped the rest at his feet, but he was thrilled to get one he could have.<br />
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Look closely at the back of the house. See the moose?<br />
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How about now? When we pulled in to my in-laws driveway he was laying by the back porch.<br />
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I *carefully* sneaked around the front of the house to snap her picture.<br />
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The boys enjoyed the view from the safety of the back porch.<br />
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Looks like a framed picture, don't you think?<br />
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She looks like she's in great shape heading into winter. Sleek coat, decent weight. I'm guessing this one's a yearling.<br />
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We shooed her out of the yard. I took this picture of her going by the garage for size comparison. Judging from the windows in the garage door, I'd guess she's about 6 feet tall. I'll have to measure when I'm there next time.<br />
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I love that a boy can be so excited over one little packet of candy. :) I opened it for him and he waited patiently, then asked me, "Can I eat it?" This was his expression when I said yes. Sure do love this boy :)<br />
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Such joy. And he was perfectly happy that there was only one packet :)Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-31181293061185196982014-10-03T17:32:00.001-06:002014-10-03T17:32:46.386-06:00September Reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Only three books this month, but they were all good. I'm still not back up to the 5-8 books a month I was reading earlier this year, but things have been B-U-S-Y, so I'm good with three. I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get through three in October. So, here's what I read:<br />
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1. Spring Moon by Bette Bao Lord - what a great book. I probably never would have read this book apart from the Evening Book Club at our library, but I'm so glad I did. I have already checked out another of her books (but surprise, surprise, I haven't started it yet, and don't know when I can).<br />
2. Winterkill by C.J. Box. - I always love CJ Box books - set in Wyoming with a game warden for a main character, in a place that sounds like it could be right here. This one felt that way even more. Not elite reading by any means, but I do enjoy it.<br />
3. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - this was a very well done book. If you love reading, you'll enjoy this book.<br />
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September Stats:<br />
Total Books: 3<br />
Total Pages: 1,066<br />
Total Inches: 4.5<br />
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Year to Date Stats:<br />
Total Books: 52<br />
Total Pages: 14,760<br />
Total Inches: 60Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-18895815540319221422014-10-03T17:17:00.001-06:002014-10-03T17:17:38.154-06:00A Little Catching Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I mentioned the other day that my mother in law took us to dinner at the fancy restaurant on the lake. I forgot I had these pictures on my phone. The five year old thought he was pretty cool wearing sunglasses. <br />
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The view out the window next to our table.<br />
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Tuesday we had therapeutic horseback riding for the five year old. He has been obsessed with cats lately - meowing constantly. Bugga (his grandma) and I were trying to convince him to purr instead, but then realized he probably had never heard purring. When we got to the horseback riding arena, Paws was there, and willingly showed him what purring was.<br />
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Unfortunately then Paws thought he should just make himself comfortable on my lap and purr through the whole lesson. We used to have a cat that looked a lot like this - her name was Polly because when she was little, she would sit on my shoulder in the rocking chair, so it was "Polly wanna cracker?" She reminded me of the parrot.<br />
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Lessons went amazingly well - better than ever. He connected the bridle by himself, untied the lead rope, and led the horse into the arena completely by himself. His helper was over at the gate - probably 15 feet away from him, letting him do everything himself. He was pretty proud of accomplishing that.<br />
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They played a sorting game today, going around the arena to buckets that had grooming tools in them. He had to pick up all the tools that went in the red grooming bag, then weave his way through the cones to come back and put them in the bag. He has been reluctant to do any reining on his own, but this week she showed him how to switch the reigns back and forth in his hands to reign with one hand. He did it! We were both shocked and pleasantly surprised.<br />
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After they had all the grooming tools collected, it was time to sort them. She gave him the option of getting off the horse to sort, or staying on. He chose to stay on.<br />
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So she showed him how to turn around backwards in the saddle and use the back of the horse as a table. <br />
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Then they discussed which brush is used first, what each tool is for, etc.<br />
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After the lesson, instead of tying up the horse like normal, they took off the saddle and reins in the arena. He unhooked the reigns on his own.<br />
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Sadie had been kind of itchy and they hoped she would roll in the dirt for him to see, but she waited until we were on our way out of the arena, and then hid behind some stalls where he couldn't see her.<br />
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Thursday morning the Forest Service hosted an event at the library to celebrate Smokey Bear's 70th birthday. They told the story of the real Smokey Bear...</div>
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... and they had a puppet show about campfire safety.<br />
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And then Smokey showed up. The boys were too shy to go see him. Neither of them would go so hi, despite the fact that the three year old told the five year old, "It's not scary. It's just a guy."<br />
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After that, we dropped Bugga off at physical therapy and headed to the park. It was chilly but we've got to get out while we can. We saw an interesting X in the sky from where two planes had crossed paths. The boys were very impressed. :) This is the biggest letter they've ever seen.<br />
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It was interesting to watch it move with the jet stream too. I guess I'd never really thought about those jet trails not being a fixed point. The X was 90 degrees to the left of where I was standing to take this picture when we got to the park. By the time we were ready to leave, it had squished down and moved to in front of me.<br />
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See how far it had moved just in these two pictures? That was 10 minutes or so.</div>
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We had snacks at the park - chocolate milk and pretzel crackers.<br />
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He was very excited to have a milk mustache and insisted on not washing before school, so the bus driver and teacher could see it. Oye.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-26434580951201369822014-10-02T08:52:00.000-06:002014-10-02T08:52:12.823-06:00Soggy and Cold<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've had the wettest autum I ever remember. And I'm hearing the same thing from a lot of "old-timers." It's hard to tell that we live in a high plains desert. It has rained hard for several days now, and we've had some snow.<br />
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My potted plants are completely waterlogged.<br />
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We had some hail a couple different times. Thankfully it was tiny and didn't amount to anything.<br />
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Our yard has been completely saturated to the point where no more water would soak in.<br />
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The mountains have gotten quite a bit of snow too, but it melts away pretty fast in the lower hills. Yesterday it was snowing here at the house - sideways thanks to the wind - hard enough we couldn't see the meadow in front of our house. I sent the ten year old to grab the camera and by the time he got back it had stopped. Crazy weather.<br />
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Most days, this is what my view has been - clouds and rain.<br />
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There are big puddles in the field by our house.<br />
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I love the way the clouds hang low over the lakes in the distance.<br />
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And we could still see the beautiful fall colors on the hillside.<br />
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This is a horse pasture not far from our house. The creek was flooded.<br />
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Last night the ten year old had his football "jamboree" - that's where they play 8 plays on offense, and 8 plays on defense against each team, starting on the 30 yard line. Then they each take a turn at playing defense on the 10 yard line, one play against each team. The sky was threatening, but thankfully it didn't rain.</div>
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But it was extremely cold. My son (#75) wore a hoodie under his jersey, and a stocking cap under his helmet.<br />
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His coach - crouching in the center of the huddle - wore snowpants, and many of the spectators came in snow gear.<br />
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They played well, but I froze to death. The temperature was in the low 40's, and the wind was blowing. With all the dampness in the air, it was C-O-L-D. I had a stomach ache - literally aching in my ribs - from being tense and shivering. This week is homecoming here. Last year we had heavy snow for the parade. Hope that doesn't happen again. And the youth football kids get introduced at the varsity game, so I'm hoping the weather will be decent for that. I'd settle for no wind.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-3904090219954849922014-10-02T08:19:00.001-06:002014-10-02T08:19:24.583-06:00Yummy Lunches and Preschool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Gotta love leftovers. Last weekend my mother-in-law took us out to a very nice restaurant on a lake for dinner. I had a ribeye, and brought some of it home. When I reheated it I actually cut it in half - it was so thick I didn't think I'd be able to heat it through without killing it. I added some blue cheese crumbles, toasted some Rosemary Olive Oil bread and had a very delicious sandwich.<br />
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This is what the five year old's plate looked like the other day. Probably not your typical five year old food. Grilled cheese, grapes, mushrooms, carrots, a slice of colby jack and a whole red pepper. I was out of American cheese and when he saw me slicing the colby jack for his sandwich, he wanted a piece.<br />
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I had actually gotten the red pepper out for the three year old but he decided he wanted oatmeal instead. I was going to put it away, but when I turned around, it was gone. And when I found it, it had several bites out of it. So he got the whole thing. He ate it like an apple.<br />
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I thought since I mentioned what we do for scheduling the ten year old's homeschool, that I should share what I do for preschool. We're pretty laid back. We're pretty focused on books, so each week I pick up an assortment of nonfiction, and let the boys get any other books they want. That usually amounts to fiction because of the way our library is set up. The fiction books are easy for the kids to see the fronts of. When we get home, the books go on this shelf. The kids can then bring me any book they want to read, and we sit together on the couch and read it. We typically read 3-5 books at a time, so I have to replenish the shelf fairly often. I try to pick up something about numbers/shapes/math skills, something relative to the season we're in, any upcoming holidays, and lots of animal books. If they ask a question about something, or are interested in a certain thing, I'll get books on that topic. You can probably tell the five year old is interested in pigs right now.<br />
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I also print out activities from the internet, and I have a lot of other activities here. We try to do puzzles, preschool learning games, matching games, letter and number recognition, counting, etc. each week too. I just rotate the activities so we're not doing the exact same thing every day. We do lots of coloring and constructive play throughout the week, and they always have access to paper, markers, crayons, scissors and glue that they use almost daily. I don't stress out about scheduling the younger two. We just do what they're interested. We read every single day - usually at least three different times in the day, with an average of 3-5 books each time, so on a good day, we're reading 15 or more books, as well as doing the other things I mentioned. Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-84252502110664108952014-09-29T11:20:00.001-06:002014-09-29T11:20:13.386-06:00Organizing my Week, and Homeschool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been trying to figure out how to better manage my time. Things have been crazy busy, and I found that when I did have a little time, I wasn't focusing on the things I really needed to get done. So I created this chart. It has all the main things I want to accomplish each week.<br />
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The first and last columns have items that need to be done daily, or at least multiple times a week. I wish I could get away with doing dishes once a week (a job I hate) but the people at my house think they need to eat multiple times per day, so I guess I'm out of luck. Anyway, for those items, I listed letters for each of the days of the week so I can check them off daily.<br />
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I included health and wellness goals, hoping I would be encouraged to "fit them in."<br />
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Specific daily stuff goes on the back.<br />
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I used a similar chart for the ten year old. The first column is his daily chore list, with a few weekly chores thrown into the bottom right corner. The rest is his homeschool assignments for the entire week. He has to do at least 8 items (not including daily stuff) but he can choose what he does. He can also do more if he wants to, but 8 per day is the minimum.<br />
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The circles at the top with the days of the week letters are for stickers - for the days he has a great attitude, works diligently without me having to harp on him, and is in a general good mood. (aka no whining, back-talking, etc). If he gets all 7 in a week, I will take him out for frozen yogurt. He's already negotiated this to include any ice cream treat, specifically to include fried ice cream at the Mexican restaurant.<br />
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His daily chores have letters for the days of the week like mine do.<br />
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And this is what that list looks like in book form. These are all the materials he will need this week. Now he won't be able to use the excuse that he couldn't find the book - lol. These all go in a crate and stay together.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6948966606084263797.post-62937160349668663082014-09-28T01:00:00.001-06:002014-09-28T01:00:15.664-06:00Sunrise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thought I would share some pictures of our sunrise the other day...<br />
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I love the way the light cut across the top of the mountains.<br />
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As soon as the sunlight hit the stream, fog started to rise. It was pretty cool to watch it happen.Judihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932500297659852070noreply@blogger.com0