Winterpast Homestead

Dad's home, first week of school, Lauren's tonsilectomy...

Ok, I've decided to stop saying I'm going to post more often, as every time I say that, I seem to go days without getting on the computer.

Here is an overdue update on us...

Dad is home from the hospital, and is doing 'ok'.  He found out Wednesday he has kidney failure and had it before the back surgery was done at the beginning of August.  None of his doctors ever mentioned this, so he / we had no idea.  They say his blood sugars being out of control probably attributed to it and they raised the dosage of his glucotrol.  He doesn't take insulin at home, but they do give it to him at the hospital, when he's there.  He has never been diagnosed with diabetes, but his sugars are all over the place.

He was discharged on Thursday and assigned a visiting nurse to have his vitals checked every other day.

My mom and dad will be moving again around September 20th.  The home they are renting now is in foreclosure and they don't know when it will be posted.  They've already put some of dad's things into storage, so they mostly just have the house things left to move. 

They will be moving into a very nice place located one block from Lake Michigan and less than a block from my brother Dustin's place.  The new place has 7 acres and yardwork/upkeep/plowing is all included in their rent.  It seems ideal.  Dad is happy about the room to roam and get into troubles with Lilli, and mom is happy that it's a nice area for walking.  I hope this place works out for them.  :)

Lilli started school with just a half day on Tuesday.  Wednesday through Friday were full days, and so far, she seems to enjoy it.  She did say that she doesn't like first grade because she doesn't like doing all that work.  I tried to warn her that it was probably going to get a bit worse before it got better.  LOL. 

She hasn't had any trouble going to bed at night (we have a 8ish bedtime), nor getting up in the morning.  She's been great on both of those, even falling asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.

She started dance on Thursday.  She had signed up for ballet and jazz.  Then decided she really wanted to take tap as well.  She stayed and tried the class and loved it, so it looks like we'll have to buy tap shoes this week, and figure out what we owe now, since we already paid for two classes, not three. 

Ballet is from 6-6:45.  Jazz is from 6:45-7:30.  Tap is from 7:30-8. 

So we'll be at dance from 6-8PM every Thursday evening.

The only reason we ok'd the third class was because it is back-to-back with the other classes she is taking.  We can't make the drive more than once per week, so she had to find something that was all on one night.  I was glad when she DIDN"T want to take tap, as that class ends at 8PM (our bedtime).  I really don't mind her taking it if she likes it though, and it's only once per week, and it's on Thursday nights, so she only has one day of school left in the week after her late night.

There are also two little girls in all three classes with her that were in her Acro class last year.  She was very happy about that.

She starts her horse riding lessons tomorrow morning, if it isn't raining.

Lauren had her tonsils out on Thursday this last week.  At 22 months, she's very young, so they told us she'd have to spend the night in the hospital following the procedure.  We made all the preparations for me to stay at the hospital with her and Lance to come home and get Lilli from school and take her to dance, etc. 

In recovery, the Dr came in several times saying that she'd probably need to spend the night, but the nurses kept saying that she would rally and probably go home soon.  She was crying and incoherent, so we weren't sure what was going to happen.  She did finally snap out of the anesthesia and when the nurse asked about a popsicle, she said, 'sicle, sicle'.  LOL.  She ate 4 popsicles!  The Dr came in and said she would be fine to go home.  LOL

They told us that french fries were great to feed her as they were soft and salty (which would make her drink more), so we stopped by McDonald's on the way home.  She seemed to eat a lot, but then we figured out she was chewing them, but not swallowing them.  She would get a mouth full and then spit them out in the box.  Ah well, she was going through the motions anyway.  Ewww.

She went right back to drinking and eating normal within just a short time of being home.  She did sleep a lot, and has been sleeping a lot since then, as she's on Tylenol with Codeine every 4 hours around the clock.  It makes her tired, fussy, and a bit confused and wobbly.  She does sometimes seem to be in pain before the next dose is due, so we continue to give it to her as directed.  Hopefully we can slow down on it tomorrow sometime. 

They also put her on an antibiotic (Amoxicillan) as her tonsils were infected when they took them out.  I had pointed them out to Lance the night before the surgery, as I didn't know if they'd still do the surgery or not.  I'm glad they did though, she got sick with them so often :(  The doctor assured us we were going to see a new little girl.  He said he didn't know how she could breathe with them being so big, much less sleep (she snores) or eat/swallow. 

Lance is doing good, but working a lot.  Usually 6AM-4PM, Mon-Fri, but lately it's been Saturday and sometimes Sunday too.  He worked today and I think he's doing some work for his cousin tomorrow.

He fixed my vaccuum today.  I'm not sure what was wrong with it.  He found that I'd somehow vaccuumed up two bouncy balls ??  I honestly have no idea how that happened.  I really don't think I did it, but I can't think of any other way they'd have gotten in there.  I don't know if that's why it broke, but he did inform me that he didn't want me running over any more.  LOL. 

I hope to take Lauren to storytime at the library, and to playgroup this week.  Both are right here in our small town, so there aren't a lot of miles involved.  Playgroup is weekly, but I don't think storytime is.  We'll have to see.

I'm off to put Lauren down for a nap.  I hope to post again SOON.  LOL

Glorious Weather

I love, love, love those first cool days of Autumn, and this is the second gloriously cool morning we have had!

I had to remind myself of Charlotte Mason's habit of declaring a "holiday" on those really lovely weather days, because this is, after all our first "official" week of school.....but, how could I resist 3 pairs of blue eyes begging to go outside and play this morning? 

So, out we went, Mom with a cup of tea and her notebook (still finishing up those curriculum and lesson plans- which will change time and time again as the year goes by); and  girls with quilts and other things to create their little home with. 

Nature study showed itself quickly- a tiny walking stick that hopped onto one little lady's leg.  Then, the hunt was on for other creatures- damsel flies, butterflies, and other things were enjoying the Autumn morning as well.

The other books can wait until afternoon, after all- Living is a wonderful way to learn!

Off to have more tea and read my own books on the porch...

Catherine

OH.....we planted the Fall garden at the new house yesterday!  So exciting, I'll tell you about it later...my tea kettle is calling!

Musings...of Autumn?

The 100 Species Challenge

We are going to participate in the 100-Species Challenge as part of our Nature Study this year.  The rules and other necessary information are below.   It would be great fun if some of you would join us! 

Blessings,

Catherine

The 100-Species Challenge

1. Participants should include a copy of these rules and a link to this entry in their initial blog post about the challenge. I will make a sidebar list of anyone who notifies me that they are participating in the Challenge.

2. Participants should keep a list of all plant species they can name, either by common or scientific name, that are living within walking distance of the participant's home. The list should be numbered, and should appear in every blog entry about the challenge, or in a sidebar.

3. Participants are encouraged to give detailed information about the plants they can name in the first post in which that plant appears. My format will be as follows: the numbered list, with plants making their first appearance on the list in bold; each plant making its first appearance will then have a photograph taken by me, where possible, a list of information I already knew about the plant, and a list of information I learned subsequent to starting this challenge, and a list of information I'd like to know. (See below for an example.) This format is not obligatory, however, and participants can adapt this portion of the challenge to their needs and desires.

4. Participants are encouraged to make it possible for visitors to their blog to find easily all 100-Species-Challenge blog posts. This can be done either by tagging these posts, by ending every post on the challenge with a link to your previous post on the challenge, or by some method which surpasses my technological ability and creativity.

5. Participants may post pictures of plants they are unable to identify, or are unable to identify with precision. They should not include these plants in the numbered list until they are able to identify it with relative precision. Each participant shall determine the level of precision that is acceptable to her; however, being able to distinguish between plants that have different common names should be a bare minimum.

6. Different varieties of the same species shall not count as different entries (e.g., Celebrity Tomato and Roma Tomato should not be separate entries); however, different species which share a common name be separate if the participant is able to distinguish between them (e.g., camillia japonica and camillia sassanqua if the participant can distinguish the two--"camillia" if not).

7. Participants may take as long as they like to complete the challenge.  You can make it as quick or as detailed a project as you like.  I'm planning to blog a minimum of two plants per week, complete with pictures and descriptions as below, which could take me up to a year.  But you can do it in whatever level of detail you like.

Homestead Snapshots...

Not sure how good these will be. I'm not what you would call tech-saavy in the least. Even joking, one probably wouldn't call me that. My 'techie' is off in Arkansas, so I'm all you have when it comes to sharing pictures here. I'm using the video camera (it takes still shots as well) and working to figure out how to upload them...it's slow-going, to say the least.