This Momma's heart is heavy today

Today I hold my kids a little closer. I hug them a little longer. I made sure they know that I love them & am thankful for them.

Ashley's best friend was in a serious car accident early this morning. Her cousin, a passenger in the car, died in the accident. Krysta (Ashley's friend) is in ICU with a fractured skull, brain hemmorhage, & fractured neck. She's semi-consious & is moving her arms & legs.

 Krysta was just driving home. She made a mistake. She didn't yield right of way & was hit by an 18 wheeler.

It's hard to believe that such a small mistake can lead to such a huge loss. A 19 year old dead, an 18 year old seriously injured. It can all go so wrong so fast.

Hug your kids. Talk to them. Make sure they know you love them. One day they may not be here.

Blogging Rediscovered

I thought I had lost this blog. It's been 4 years (!) since I posted anything here. I finally tracked it down again & here we are. The kids are all older- 17, 16, & 12 now. I'm, well, older. I'm getting used to the idea that I have a Senior in High School & she'll be in college next year.

She's had a job- the same job since last summer. She's going to be promoted to a shift manager once she's 18 & graduates (company policy or they'd do it now). She's so smart- much smarter than I was at her age. She's also just as stubborn as I was at that age. That makes for some real arguments right now. But I think we've raised her right. Today she told me that one of her friends' Moms needed to try and be "Mom" more & not "friend" to her kid. I think that tells me she at least got some of what we've been teaching her. (c:

Jake is- Jake. I love him for all his quirkiness. After all, how boring would the world be if we were all the same. He has a good sense of humor even if he doesn't always pick up on other social cues.

Madi is hitting that difficult point in puberty that we all get to. She's up, she's down, she's happy, she's sad. Above all she's my little drama queen.

I'm still cross stitching- working on a BAP of some wolves in a forest for Jerry. Yes, we're still married (and happy!). I'm still getting migraines BUT I'm down to only taking Topamax as the preventative. I have Ultracet as the emergency back up & sometimes have Maxalt. It's working better without all those other meds. But now unfortunately I also have diabetes. I take Januvia for that.

Well, I think that's enough from me for now. If you're looking for me you can usually find me on Facebook.

Migraine-- BE GONE!!!!!!

It's been a while since I posted, and all this is going to be is a big whiny post.

I'm now on day 3 of a migraine. It's not super strong, but it's really persistant. It'll ease up for an hour or so and then WHAM! it's back full force.

I haven't missed any meds. I'm taking all thousand(well, actually only 6-7) pills every day. I've taken the Axert and Ultracet. They work for a few hours until it's time for them to wear off and then it just comes right back. I don't like taking the Ultracet because I worry about becoming too dependent on them- they are narcotic after all.

I'm getting a bunch of the auras. My left eye is twitching like it's having little mini seizures off and on throughout the day. I see all the little floaties in my vision. I'm having trouble talking- either remembering the word or saying the word. I'm sensitive to light and sound. I'm irritable(extremely according to Jerry)All that fun stuff.

I'm not sure what triggered this migraine. I have an idea, though. Tues, when all this started, we had an a/c guy out to fix our air conditioner. He accidentally cracked the line and a bunch of freon leaked out. We've also had a bunch of thunderstorms, so the barometric pressure has been rising and falling constantly(which is known to be a trigger). Then I've also had a little added stress worrying about $$ and getting school stuff.

I'm calling my neurologist when his office opens to see if he has any ideas what to do. I'm desperate. I'm even open to the heavy duty pain killers to know me out and let me (hopefully) sleep it off.

The kids also acted horribly today. If I didn't know them better I would think they hated each other.

I'm just ready for this to be gone. Well, I'm going to try and sleep- it's hard to do when I feel like this. 'night.

Long time, no blog

Well, it's been a while. Thought I'd update a little. We've had 2 birthdays and a few assorted illnesses, but nothing serious.

We're done with kids' college, and started Egypt today at home. We're watching a movie from National Geographic today. They're fascinated watching some scientists mummify a body that was donated to science. I thought they would get bored, but they aren't. I guess it's the gross factor. Well, the movie is over, I gotta go finish the lesson.

We're a regular pharmacy around here.

It's been a while since I posted anything here, but we've been pretty busy. Madi and Jake are in their 2nd week of Kids' College.

I took Ashley to the ped. because she's been having trouble with acne. The dr. said she had some kind of cystic acne and gave us 3 RX. Retin-A, and antibiotic, and another cream. Unfortunately our insurance doesn't cover it all, and it ended up costing over $100.00. Hopefully she'll just need this one treatment. The dr. said we wouldn't see any improvement for about 6 weeks, but we can already see a reduction in the amount of acne on her face. I'm betting by the time summer is over this will be almost completely cleared up. Yay!

Now onto my meds. My neurologist changed my meds. I take Neurontin, Verapamil, Nortriptyline, Topamax(aka Dopeamax), Estradiol, and Testosterone cream. I also have Ultracet and Axert for when I do get migraines. He increased the Topamax, and I'm having to adjust to that. That means it's harder to concentrate and I have a hard time talking sometimes. It's a crummy side effect, but it reduces my migraines so it's worth it. The good news is that in 3 mos. if I'm down to 1 or 2 migraines a month there's a good chance that we'll start reducing the Nortriptyline, Neurontin, and Verapamil.

Have a great day! I'm off to stitch!

Mythology, Part 2

Well, we started studying mythology this week. The kids were all so excited. They woke me up early on Monday to find out when we were going to start. They're also being co-operative with the "regular" school work from the workbooks. I did have to kind of bribe them, though.

Jake was complaining about the workbook pages. So I told them all that for every day we got through the lessons with no complaints they got 30 min. on the computer. That got a big cheer. What I didn't tell them was that I was planning on letting them on the computer for 30min. a day anyway.

So far this week we've done a word search, written and illustrated a post card about one of the Greek god/goddess/creatures, and painted a picture illustrating a story from Greek mythology. We're taking on 4 myths each day- I've condensed the myths down a little so they are fairly short.

Now to decide what we'll be studying next(we finish up mythology next week).

Locks of Love

I was watching the Today show this morning and trying my best not to cry. There were so many people on there donating their hair to Locks of Love. These people are just amazing. I wish I had known about Locks of Love when I had long hair. My hair was to my knees the first time it was cut. It was almost to my waist the second time.

I'm glad that Locks of Love exists for these kids, but I hate that it's needed. And I hate that society in general has made it so that these kids are ashamed that they lost their hair and feel like they have to wear a wig to be pretty. Every single child that has been on there has been beautiful- without their hair. The light in their eyes- they are gorgeous.

I have known women who were stunning on the surface but were ugly on the inside. And I've known some women who would be described as plain or homely but who were actually the most beautiful women you could ever know- a room would light up when they walked in. I wish people understood that it's not your outside that makes you beautiful. It's your soul, your inside that makes you pretty.

That's my rant for today. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Mythology

I spent most of today making 2 weeks worth of lesson plans for teaching Greek/Roman mythology to the kiddos. Along with that we'll be starting some workbooks for the summer.

Man, I forgot how long it takes to do those. I'm exhausted! But at least we're all set. We have a worksheet/craft/writing project for Mon-Fri for the next 2 weeks along with tons of stories. Then on Friday(6/8) we'll watch Jim Henson's The Storyteller and make a Greek pasta salad for supper.

This week is the last week of school here, and the kids are SO excited. For some reason they are doing a track and field day at Jacob's school instead of regular field day, and Jacob despises racing and running track so I won't force him to go. They won't allow him to go and not participate. They won't allow him to remain at the school and not go to the track. If I pick him up when it starts and bring him back when it's over they will count him absent for the whole day. So he will be staying at home with me instead. We'll have a nice Mom and Son day since the school is being so uncooperative.(His teacher thinks the school is being ridiculous, BTW)


Oh, the school tried to make me put Madi in summer school. I declined. They had their chance this year. I've been telling them all year she needs to be tested for dyslexia, and they have flat out refused. They said "She'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about." Well, they blew it. Now I have to spend the summer doing their jobs for them. Can you tell I'm a little angry? Over the summer I will be reading up on my state law regarding testing and officially beginning the requests exactly by the law and requiring the school to follow the law. Now that we have health insurance again I might bypass the school and pay to have her tested by a professional, not the school's designee.

Anyway, I think I'll head to bead now. Goodnight y'all!

Are we there yet?

This weekend we made the drive to Lubbock, TX to see my cousin get her Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy from Texas Tech.

It was my Mom, Dad, me, Jerry, and all 3 kids. Together. In one van. "Are we there yet?"" Get off me!"" Stop it! "and "Don't make me pull this van over!" were all things you would have heard this weekend on the way there and back.

Once we finally got there we stayed in 2 hotel rooms. Lucky for Jerry and me, all 3 kids wanted to stay in my parents' hotel room(they had 2 beds-we just had one). So Jerry and I had a nice quiet night Friday night.

We got up Saturday morning and went to the stadium. The ceremony went surprisingly well and was pretty fast(these are college students we're talking about). The kids were very well behaved.

Friday evening we went to my cousin's house for a graduation party. I got my aunt and some of her friends to send me pictures of her from the beginning of college until the present and made a scrapbook for her. She was so surprised. She and her friends laughed so hard at some of the pictures. They were all impressed with it.

I'm glad we got to go see her graduate, but I'm glad we're home. I get carsick and hate the on the road part of traveling. Now I'm looking forward to a quiet evening and Sunday.

Where have the years gone?

It seems like yesterday they were all just babies. Newborns. It's like I blinked and suddenly they are older kids and young adults.

Ashley is 13 now and becoming more and more "womanly". I have noticed she has some of the character traits I have that are perhaps less desirable. The child is SO sarcastic. She's mouthy, but is learning (verrry slowly) exactly who she can and can't be mouthy with. She's discovering that perhaps it's not wise to smart off to your mother(who is even more sarcastic and mouthy). I swear, both of us are not going to survive her teen-hood(is that a word?). I call my own Mother up often and apologize for ever having been a teenager. Her Daddy has to play referee often.

Jacob is soooo quiet. He's finally maturing, but I still worry about him. He's a loner. Which isn't a horrible thing. But he doesn't really have very good social skills. He's 11 now, and only has 1 or 2 friends at school. One good thing is he is beginning to get interested in doing things in the children's program at our church. That will give him an outlet and allow him to be around other kids his age in a somewhat structured setting. I have one of the kind of nerdy odd kids. I love him to death just the way he is. He's always been this way, but he gets teased a lot about it. He holds a lot of it in. I think that a lot of it has had to do with undiagnosed ADHD that has slowed his social/emotional maturity a little. But he's becoming a man. He had an argument with one of his friends at school. His friend got all puffed up(like little boys do when they are going to fight) and was in Jake's face yelling at him. My son(even though he was furious), rather than fight, chose to walk away.

Madi is gonna be a challenge. She's sneaky. You can tell by the way she asks to do things- the way she words the question- that's she's very calculating. She definitely knows how to manipulate. I have to admit, I've fallen for it a few times. But I'm wising up now. The tears aren't working. She's trying whining now- which is a pet peeve of mine. I ignore her when she whines, so she's learning not to. She wants to be like her sister(much to Ashley's dismay LOL).

I know they are still my babies in my heart, but they have grown so much. They don't need me like they did when they were really little. I think the thing that makes me feel the best is that all 3 will still hug me and tell me they love me in front of their friends at school. Jake and Madi still hold my hand at school even. At home we still snuggle on the couch sometimes when we watch tv. I know that eventually that will change, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can!

May 14

Well, it's been a while since I was able to post anything here. I lost all my info to log in and had to get help. *sigh* But I'm back now.

On to cross stitch:
Right now I'm working on a unicorn piece for my oldest DD and have also started a macaw for C.O.L.E.S. Quilts. After I finish that quilt square I have 2 others to do for the same group. I really like stitching for them. Those little children are so special. I feel honored to be able to participate in this.

On to the family:
Ashley's being the typical teenager. Any chores we tell her to do means that we are making her our maid.(insert eye roll). She thinks she should be able to sit around the house doing whatever she wants and not have to do a darn thing. She's doing good in school and has brought up both of her failing grades. I think for next year we are not going to have her in all honors. She's not dedicated enough to do that. Which is ok. It's her choice.

Jacob is no longer on his Concerta. We took him off of it in April when the prescription ran out. He is still a little hyper and gets overstimulated. But now he can calm himself. His grades are still good, and his behavior is great. No problems in school. With the new warnings out about the ADHD meds I'm VERY concerned about putting him back on them next year.

Madison is her usual self. She is being a little more whiny right now, but I think that's just her age and a stage she's going through. She still wakes up bright and early on the weekends in a great mood(much to my annoyance-I'm definitely not a morning person).

Jerry and I are doing good. I'm reading, cross stitching, and scrap booking. This summer the kids and I will be doing some home schooling. I've got the lessons planned out for all the kids except Ashley. My neurologist started me on Topamax, and it seems to be working. It makes me goofy and I have the tingling and memory/speech problems but I can deal with that not to have migraines as often. Yay!

I guess that's all for now. Have a great week!

March 13

Well, this is my first blog. Right now I'm working in completing my Spring/Easter Stitchery Exchange. I just finished 3 Precious Moments quilt squares for 2 families that lost their infants. I also finished the Stitch it Forward exchange(the top pic to the right). I'm working on The Castle, and there's no telling how long that will take, LOL!

My kids are on Spring Break right now. We're spring cleaning, much to their dismay.

Guess that's all for now.