Happy New Year

I love the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. This scene where Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy comes out of the water... oh my!
This clip also shows Elizabeth Bennett as portrayed in this version.




My sister in law loves the newer version of Pride and Prejudice starring Kiera Knightly. I just watched it today and while I like that she is a more expressive Elizabeth. I can not see anyone else as Mr. Darcy! To me Collin Firth is Mr. Darcy. What ever role he plays he is always Mr. Darcy to me.
The 1995 BBC version definitely tells the story better and explains the relationships deeper.
The awful cousin who comes to choose a wife among the sisters was way creepier in the BBC version!

My mom also loves the BBC version and came in today when I was watching the newer movie. Her feeling is that Elizabeth shouldn't look so anorexic. Which is funny because Kiera Knightly looks like she may have actually plumped up a bit for this movie. Like gained 5 lbs or something. She doesn't look so extremely thin as I've seen her in others. I thought she looked a more healthy weight.
I like the new Mr Darcy, but he played Arthur Clennam in Masterpiece Theaters version of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I loved him in that role and when he's supposed to be Mr. Darcy I can't help but think of poor little Amy Dorrit who so loved him. Yep, he'll be Arthur in every film forever more!
Funny thing is, I like Hugh Grant movies and he's been in plenty of these types of movies. But all of his movies I see... Hugh Grant. I can't name the particular characters he's played, he's always just himself to me! Although don't get me started on his dance scene in Love Actually!
Well which Darcy do you prefer?
Have you seen either?
I actually got to watch a movie last night also! 2 movies in as many days is HUGE for me! I feel half normal! Well, Signing Time is running on my DVD now to bring me back to reality!

Magazine Article

Last Christmas my cousin got me a subscription to Southern Living. This month they had a sort of "best of" section.

The best drive in West Virginia was the New River Gorge, Fayette County. I read the article then had to call my dad and share it. He is from Fayette county. He has a sister and a brother that live with in a mile, as the crow flies, from the New River Gorge Bridge. It is thelongest steel arch bridge in the western hemisphere. Now, I'm not saying the drive on route 19 across the bridge isn't beautiful. It is. But the article goes on to encourage people to stop by a visitor center and pick up a map that shows the other roads that you can take. Even encourages the use of the thinnest and squiggliest of roads. That's a link to the map. At the top there's an old photo of a car going between rock walls. Yes it's an old photo. No the roads haven't been improved since then.
That's what really caught my attention! I have driven those roads and they should mention that while the roads are steep and switch back, (yes! switch back not just merely curve) they are most definitely not one way roads, yet they are one lane. So it is not uncommon to go around a switchback and be head to head with a bus bringing rafters up from the river. Generally you have 2 choices here. You either get as far over on the shoulder as possible, yet not in the ditch or down the side of the mountain. Or you throw it in reverse until you come to a spot where there's enough flat land and you can actually pull over safely. I've been driving and come straight into a logging truck and had to throw my car into reverse until I got to another small road and pulled into that road until the truck passed.
Honestly, if you are driving any of these roads the people in the back seat will be the only ones able to take in the views. You and your front seat passenger will have you eyes glued to the road to see what is coming at you.

My Dad told me that his cousin bragged on how pretty it was down there and a fellow from here in town took him down there once. When the fellow came back someone asked him if it was beautiful and he said "I'll tell you. If a fella went down there with a truck full of weed eaters he could make some good money". That's the truth of it too! It is nothing but weeds and dilapidated houses.
The #3 best drive in West Virginia was route 52 from Bluefield to Welch which I'm also very familiar with. My husband is from the Welch area and we get off interstate 77 in Bluefield and take route 52 to his mother's house. I seriously don't know what they want people to look at? Old coal camps? Which are abandoned or abandoned looking small houses with dirt yards, all looking the same and more weeds. Oh I can't forget the junk cars! Where would they be without the junk vehicles piled in yards. Maybe that's what they want people to see.
Now I have been to West Virginia more times than I can count and every time we drive up out of my mother in laws going east on 52 towards Bluefield I get sick to my stomach. It is so curvy and ugh, I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it!

It is a pretty area. But if you are not familiar with the roads it is dangerous!

Why Naomi Got Coal For Christmas

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

OK ANOTHER movie!
I caught part of this movie while flipping through the channels the other night and it was so good! It's a good movie for our times. It was made in 1945 and is basically about a farm community in Wisconsin and a few trials that happen in the community. The last scene had me in tears! After the movie was over the AMC narrator said that the director of the movie was black listed during the McCarthy era. They thought he was spreading communist propaganda. I mention this because the last scene could be construed as such, in a very twisted mind! I'd call it charity, neighbor helping neighbor or a grand act of kindness that kindled a light in others to do the same!
I have to check out our library to see if they have this! It was so cute. If not I may just have to buy it!
I also watched Akila and the Bee on Disney and LOVED it! What a great story!

The Lost Prince

For some reason I woke up thinking about this movie today. It was made for TV in 2003 and I've caught it a few times on the local PBS station. It's the story of a British Royal who's been lost to history. He's forgotten because he had epilepsy and his family hid him away. Because of his "fits" he was thought of as an embarrassment to his family. It's a very touching movie. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember there being one brother in particular who tried to connect to this prince. I think the brother who befriended him was Edward, the one who abdicated his crown for the love of the divorced Wallis Simpson. It is a very very good story. If you happen across it at your local library or what ever, check it out.

HATE IT!! HATE IT!! HATE IT!!!!!

Look Quick Before She flings It!

Since I first posted this Isaiah said the following to Naomi.

"Sissy, don't think of it as a safety helmet. Think of it as a tiarra."

Last night I dreamed Naomi's helmet came and I actually cried in my sleep seeing her in the first time. Then today at therapy the girls brought her out and she wasn't wearing her helmet but they were carrying it. Her face was red and blotchy. She'd been screaming and crying while they were making sure the fit was right.

In the photos I don't have it on her right. It's not low enough. But I was just trying to get her to wear it. It's a 2 person job getting it on her head I tell ya! It was a fight then I had to distract her and throw in a video so she'd leave it on for more than a second.

It's not the run of the mill helmet. The therapists felt that the regular padded blue one wouldn't work. She'd just play with the strap. So this was was made. It molds perfectly to her head. It's the type of helmet they use for kids who's heads need to be shaped.

She went through so much today I have cancelled the ultrasound that was scheduled for tomorrow. Neither of us need to go through more stress this week and in talking with her ketogenic nurse she said the slightly elevated lipid panel is expected with the diet. So at least now I can cancel with a clear heart without feeling like "Mommy Dearest" and just waiting for children's services to come knock down my door and demand to know why I didn't follow Dr's, well Nurse Practitioner's orders!

Who's side are you on

Ok, If I've blogged about part of this forgive me.
Isaiah has really been assigning things to this side of the family or that.
Isaiah you didn't flush the toilet- "Sorry mom I get that from Dad's side of the family".
Isaiah you didn't shut the gate- "Sorry mom I get that from Papaw's side of the family".
Naomi passes gas very loudly- "OOOOOOHHHH she takes after Dad!"
Isaiah wash your hands- "That's from Grammie!"
When we go to some one's home and they're not home Isaiah puts a broom across the door or moves the trash can in front of the door "Just to let them know someone was here. That comes from the Sayler side". It really does though! This year he's met family members he never really knew before. They are cousin's to my Grandma Naomi who's maiden name was Sayler and guess what! They do that too! The 73 yr old Grandpa Sayler thinks it's hilarious and his son thinks it eerie that Isaiah just seems to do that without being shown or told that it's "a Sayler thing".
About not flushing being from my husband's side of the family.. Funny thing is my Dad's sister said she's pretty sure it's from their side of the family since they never flushed a toilet when they were growing up. They had an outhouse and it was built over a creek so the creek just carried it down stream. My Dad thought his Grandparents were rich because their outhouse had a cement floor.
Isaiah once asked "If Dad is a hillbilly and you are half hillbilly. What does that make me."
I responded "A Buckeye!" Which he thought was hilarious!

Sick Kiddo

Naomi has been sick for about a week now. Here's my week in review!
Tues.the 12th at 8pm- doesn't want to finish meal she usually wolfs down.
Wed. the 13th 11 am- vomits has no appetite. 7 pm vomits again
Thursday the 14th vomits once today
Friday the 15th 11 am vomits bile. I call the pediatrician they can't get her in. She shows no signs of dehydration. Just trying to get liquids in her. 3pm vomits a small amount of bile again. OK now we seem to have a clean slate.
Saturday the 16th- the pediatricians office opens their schedule for Sat. at 8:30 so at 8:27 I start calling over and over until I get through. Get her an appt. for 9:20 am. The Dr is running late but we get seen and she orders blood and urine labs. The nurse puts a urine bag on Naomi (OH so much fun) and we head to the hospital to have blood drawn at the lab. Check her at the lab, no urine yet. It's 11 am. Head home to wait it out, keep checking for urine. Nothing until after 3:30!!! So Bill's home by then and I leave him with her and run the urine sample to the lab, which is closed. So the hospital volunteer calls someone down and they take it and get the test done. She didn't vomit at all on Saturday. Sunday night.... 10pm diarrhea.
Monday morning first thing and I do mean FIRST. I'm sleeping Naomi has moved in bed so her head is facing the bottom of the bed and her butt is right in my face. She explodes with diarrhea. Waking me up. The worst ever alarm clock! My goodness the smell! I guess this must be the virus making it's exit, in a big way! So two more rounds of that then her stomach seems somewhat better. She's eating little, drinking a little more but sleepy.
Today she slept from 7 pm last night until 6 am this morning and even ate some breakfast. Then by 8 she was sleepy again and has acted sleepy most of this morning. Falling asleep occasionally for a nap which is then interrupted by the phone ringing. The first call was the pediatrician's office saying the nurse practitioner would like to have an ultrasound done of Naomi's liver and gall bladder, I ask for kidney too because, Hey, if we're putting her through this lets rule out kidney stones which are not uncommon on the ketogenic diet. Then my Great Aunt called wanting me to email someone for a recipe, easily done. Then it was the school nurse, they're giving out H1N1 vaccines to all the kids at Isaiah's school and he told them he'd had an immunization. I have gone over this with him! Yes, he had the regular flu shot on Oct. 26! Plenty of time has passed! I'm still on the fence something terrible about getting this vaccination for him, but it's done now! He takes the others fine. I just feel like the odds are since they're doing the entire school, one kid has to have a bad reaction! I just don't want it to be mine! But then again they're giving the nasal mist and that is a live virus. So, since such a large number is getting this vaccination what about the kids who aren't? Since it's a live virus is there any way that it could be spread to those who don't get it. It's such a hard call!!!
Well Naomi's up and about now. We'll see what this day holds. Her ultrasound isn't until Friday.
My furniture is here though! I can't get a good photo. It's green and ends up looking taupe.

My Order is In!

I got the call today that my new sofa and chair are in and can be delivered.

So where's the pictures of the nice new furniture in my home?
I told them to hold off delivery until Monday. Naomi threw up twice yesterday and is gassy today and I don't know what is to come. She isn't eating right. I'm making sure she gets her carbs because her ketones are staying high and I don't want her to get too far into ketosis because in the past that has made her seizures worse.

So hopefully by Monday we'll be back to normal. I won't have to fear her baptising my new furniture with vomit.

I've never had this with either of my kids, and it's nasty, but her gas smells the same as what a prescription of antibiotic pills smell. That moldy smell. Lovely :)
One more thing. Every time she passes gas Isaiah says "She gets that from Dad".

Kicking off the Holidays

Today was potluck at church then they decorated the church. Bill, Naomi and I left but Isaiah wanted to stay and help our cousin decorate. Not a kid, a 40 something fellow and several other older men who are past retirement age. He helped find the junk bulbs so one of the old guys could repair them.



On the way home we stopped at Sells Farm to see Santa's reindeer. Naomi noticed them and pointed, which is good. There's been times she'd have been oblivious.

Santa saying "Don't pull on Santa's beard". Good luck with that Santa!

When I told my mom that we took her to see Santa she asked if Santa had any whiskers left.

Naomi is notorious for pulling out facial hair in the men in this family! With her teeth!

Saturday we ran to Possum Run Green house for the holiday open house. They have the best Santa and Mrs Claus set up in the area! (on the way home Bill noted he didn't think that Santa would be around many more years. The poor old fellow is very shaky like he has palsy and has a hard time walking. God love him!) When Isaiah was 5 we drove past the greenhouse in October on our way to a wedding reception and Isaiah said "Hey, that's where Santa lives!".

They had two of the most gorgeous Christmas trees I've ever seen! I thought I didn't like fake white trees but these were stunning! One had all red ornaments, cardinals and such and the garland that wrapped up the tree was like red berries. Gorgeous! The other tree had no ornaments it was just those things they stick in the tree. I don't know what to call them. Anyway they were the color of leaves in the fall, but metallic. Like bronze and gold and a metallic red the color of a red maple. If that tree was in my house it would be up all year it was the most beautiful non traditional tree I have ever seen!

The Birds

No it's not a movie review. It's true life! Why do they come around every so often? They are so noisy! They are pest. Too bad they don't eat squirrel! When they all take off together they cast a huge shadow!

A Trip to the bank

Who knew a trip to the bank could be so entertaining.
Naomi and I picked up my Great Aunt, who will be 83 next week, to take her to do her banking. Here's the conversation when she got in the car and we were leaving.
Me: Did the Eagle shit? That's what Grandpa Charlie used to say when his SS check would come
Aunt: No he shits tomorrow and all that's left from last month is a whiffer

Family Photo

My cousin asked if I had a photo of the 4 of us together. No. He couldn't believe it.
I'll work on it. I told him. So on Thanksgiving I took my camera with me to my friends house and had her try to take a photo of us. Am I happy with it? No, but getting a picture of the 4 of us is like getting your drivers license photo taken. It's never gonna be great, just go with what you get! After 4 or 5 tries this was the best. It's only the best because I cropped it also! My camera has an extremely slow shutter speed and I don't know how to correct it!
Don't ask what Isaiah was doing. He should be the easy kid! Then Naomi was distracted by the items on the mantel and would not turn around with out screaming because we were trying to take her away from something that looked like it would make a good missile. We tried to stand her beside ups but she was not having that. Oh well. At least I have proof we were all at one place at one time, at least once in my kids childhood!

Something for everyone

I got a new washer

Naomi got a reading nook.

Happy Thanksgiving

Cooking

I don't mind cooking at all. With Naomi it's a little more difficult. I can't leave her alone and I can't have her in the kitchen with me. So I have to put her in the high chair to play with a puzzle or book. I don't like leaving her there too long though. So I can't get much done.
Thankfully I have a friend who has invited us to Thanksgiving. My parents will be there also. I don't have to take anything but I am going to make one thing. Here it is. It's a Paula Deen recipe

Pineapple Casserole

1 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Two 20- ounce cans pineapple chunks, drained (reserve 6 Tablespoons juice)
1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour. Gradually stir in cheese. Add Pineapple and stir well. Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish. Combine cracker crumbs, butter and pineapple juice and spread it on top of pineapple mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.


Now, the first time I read this recipe I thought "cheese and pineapple? yuk!". Let me tell you there is no yuk! It is soooo good! Doesn't a topping of crackers and butter make everything good!?!

Social Studies

What kind of kid brings home his Social Studies book, even when there's no homework, just so he can read it?
What kind of kid takes their Social Studies book along in the car so they can read on the way to the restaurant?
My kid!
It's the heaviest book he has! It weighs down his back pack. It is at least 2 inches thick. The boy just loves Social Studies!

What's Bigger than Turkey Day in Ohio?

The Ohio State VS. Michigan game of course.
If you don't know, we don't give a damn 'bout the whole state of Michigan (it's actually a song!)
I really don't give a damn 'bout football. But I love the marching band!

Back to the Clinic

Today we had our 1 year check up since starting the diet.
The dietitian is happy that Naomi has thrived. Her weight and height are going steady. She had no ideas of changing anything in her diet. So she's still on 3.5:1 ratio 1200 calories. What ever.
We told the neurologist she's still having about 30 seizures a day. The neurologist suggests that we try Zonegran. It's not approved for monotherapy, but we'll try it as just that. If she has any side effects or it doesn't work we'll stop it. Also we won't push the dosage. If it works we'll use it. If not we won't push we'll just wean her off it. That makes me feel a little better. The Dr. is not asking for a commitment to try this drug for long term.
So we'll see how that goes. I don't even have the prescription yet. The Dr. was going to check with her nusing staff and see how best to give the meds. What form I mean. It's not easy to give her a tablet, she'll either bite it or spit it out. Plus with the diet it's not like I can just stick in in a spoon of jelly like I used to.
This drug doesn't affect their kidneys and such like some of the drugs. We'll see. The side effects of any of these drugs are scarey.

The Brass Band

I took a small video of the band at church. In case you can't tell, I wore a green sweater :)

Weekend of Nov 14-15

Saturday night was our church's annual Turkey dinner fundraiser and they fed over 545 people. That includes our party of 12.
Today Bill stayed home with Naomi so I could go to church. The pastor is on vacation and a 7 piece brass band came and played for us! It was great! They ended with some Christmas music which made us all ready for the holiday to get here!
Today Bill turns 40. I got him a card. Isaiah got him the movie Transformers. (guess who will share that gift!)
I need to think about what to fix for dinner. Like most men Bill loves meat! So I may run out and buy him a big T-bone or Porterhouse steak. He also loves coconut cake, but the one I make tastes best if it set for a day or two, and it's a lot of work! So he may get another favorite, banana pudding.

Naomi's first ever school picture

She screamed and cried the whole way to the school and it's not far away. About a 20 walk! So I'm glad her nose dried up before we got her picture taken!

See how the skin is around her eye? In our last trip to the neurologist a Fellow who observed noted mild facial dysmorphisms and I think that's what she meant. I think that's like down syndrome kids etc.. But Bill's toddler pictures look the same way! So what ever. Just another Dr's note to worry over!

The Substitute Car

Isaiah calls it our substitute car. I'm thankful we got a nice new vehicle. It's a 2010 Dodge Avenger with only 4000 miles on it. Still has that new car smell. It'll be ours until Tuesday. That's how long they predict it to take to fix our car. We've had it since October 21.Right now it's in the body shop. Over $6000 in damage was done. The tow truck guy said if the air bags would have went off they would have totaled it. I guess those are like $2000 each and our car has 4 of them. The collision repair company that has it gave me an i.d. number and I can go on their website and there will be updates and photos showing the progress.
Isaiah likes the substitute car. I like it, but I wouldn't buy one. The thought occurred to me that if I were to buy a new car I should rent that model first. I like the looks of this car but learned quickly the trunk isn't what I need. I hate those black things on the back seat windows. They make for a terrible blind spot. The lights don't automatically come on at night. I leaned that the hard way! I can't remember the last car I had that didn't have lights that came on when the sun set.

Naomi had to have a new car seat. Once a car seat is in a wreck you aren't supposed to use it again. I went to Toys R Us and bought the new seat and couldn't get the box in the trunk! I had to take the seat out of the box and put it in the back seat. Then I had to break down the box and lay it in the trunk.
I miss my sunroof. I miss the display that tells me what temperature it is outside and the heated seats not to mention remote start on a cold morning. All of that was standard on our car. This one is, well not bare bones. It has power windows but it's basic and I'm someone who generally likes that in a car. Less options, less things to go wrong.
I also miss the Thomas Trackside Tunes and Mickey Mouse Playhouse CD's that are in the CD player. They keep Naomi quiet. I also miss my CD that I won from Susan. Isaiah misses it too. He asked "where's your music?". That's what he meant, he plays the Grace Kelly song over and over. This car only takes 1 cd at a time. Mine holds 6.
Over the sun visor I found a card from a funeral. Someone must have rented the car to go to a funeral in Pittsburgh. Isaiah actually found it. The rental agreement was up there too. Isaiah said "what's this junk?". Then he said "This car is just like Papaws truck. He's always got stuff over in the visor." Not so much! Papaws is so much worse!

When I look at the photos of it in the body shop the doors are off and it's covered in a tarp. I wonder what they did with all the crap in the back seat. Bill was going to clean the car out. There's a ton of books and loose (clean) diapers. Not to mention my empty Starbucks cup from that morning! I hope they throw that stuff away. I can't imagine what's growing in that cup if they don't!!!

Happy Veterans Day

My dad's Marine photo about 1968

My Grandfather on my father's side was in WWII as was his brother. Both in the Navy.
My Dad was a Marine for 2 tours of duty in Vietnam.
My Father in law was in the Army during the Korean War.
My cousin, and two different cousin's husbands were in the current war.
But saddest of all is Bill's uncle James Ray Sargent who's mother reluctantly signed papers for him to join the military at 17. He went to Vietnam when he turned 18. He only lived a short time. His remains were just identified in 2005. Fragments of him were found and they took DNA samples from his brother and identified him that way. His remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Here's another website in honor of him with pictures.

Last Treatment

Today is my Dad's last chemo treatment. Sometime this month they'll do another bone scan and CAT scan to see how it's worked. Got to be good news right? It's about to be the holiday season!
He's doing great! He never lost his appetite but isn't as active so he's put some weight on, but that's much better than wasting away. They check his finger and toe nails because they can fall out, but none of that has happened.
He was here last night and as he sat on the couch Isaiah sat stuck to his side, Naomi on his lap, playing with his chest hair. The dog sat on his shoulder, yes his shoulder, she has to make sure she can stick her head between him and any grandkid that wants more attention than she is getting.
When he got up to leave Naomi took off running and cut him off at the pass. She stood firm in front of him and threw up her arms so he'd pick her up.

Too funny not to share...

I've had a treadmill for years. I haven't used it for a LONG time! Naomi kind of makes it impossible. I had it in the living room at one time and did well. I could walk and watch TV. When it got shoved to the back room it just seemed like 15 minutes on that thing was 5 hours! I'd much rather go walk outside.
Since my dad has been on chemo it hasn't hurt his appetite one bit! It has made him less active and the last couple times he's had blood drawn his sugar has been up. He asked if I wanted to sell the treadmill. That's my dad! He would have given me exactly what I paid for it all those years ago! He's very generous. I told him no, but we'd move it to their house and he could use it indefinitely.
So one weekend Bill loaded it up. He set it up for Dad and it was actually getting used every day.
My Mom has type 2 diabetes and she even started walking regularly. When Isaiah is down there on the weekend even he would use it! Last weekend he was putting toy cars on it. So Tuesday evening my mom decides to use it. She turned it on and then turned out the lights in the room because she was in her nightie and didn't want people driving up the alley beside the house to see her in there walking.
So, she's walking and thinks "boy, this is really set at a steep incline". So she decides in the dark to start pushing buttons to lower the incline and pushes something that makes it speed up. Faster and faster. She's running trying to keep up but at some point realized that she couldn't and she was going to fall off. Well, get thrown off is more like it. She got thrown into the wall behind the treadmill. Crumpled into a ball. Hit her chin on the "tread" part and her chin is all skinned up. Hurt her ribs She said she lay there thinking "how do I get up and how do I stop this". She worked her way up, turned on the light and turned off the treadmill.
Meanwhile dad's in the living room sitting in his recliner completely oblivious to her distress. There's an old dry sink in the room and she said the treadmill was going so fast you could hear the china clinking into each other.
Now, here is why this is so pathetic! So very pathetic! The treadmill uses a magnet as a key. You are supposed to clip one end on your clothing and the other end holds the magnet. So if something like this happens it automatically would disengage the key and stop almost immediately. I asked her about it and she said she had the clip end wound around the bar on the treadmill. So why didn't you just reach out and pull the magnet off yourself when you realized it was speeding up, I asked. She didn't think of that! She said she thought she was Jesse Owens there for a minute.

If you think Pumpkins aren't safe in your neighborhood.....

An annual event by high school kids in Chagrin Falls Ohio. The "pumpkin roll". Yes, those are squashed pumpkins lining the street. Is it pitiful that I'm 35 and would LOVE to go?

Trick or Treat

Isaiah ended up making little cards last night. He got a book from the school library that showed how to draw "curiosa". It had Yoda, Dracula and other creepy beings. He was tickled pink when the kids absolutely loved them! He got rid of all the cards he made and is probably upstairs starting on a batch for next year!
Mom bought plenty of candy bars. There are 4 boxes left. I think she may have done that on purpose!
Naomi and I stayed home. It's always so chilly here on Trick or Treat night and with her cold we just stayed put. Well, it's 52 outside, which isn't bad. But in the dark it's not great! One year we saw the aurora borealis while trick or treating. That was a treat! Not usual for here!
Mom and Dad were to tickled at how excited Isaiah was! He never got this excited about going trick or treating! He is just a kid that would rather give. There's nothing wrong with that!

So here's some pics from tonight.

The sign mom made and Isaiah embellished

Last minute pumpkin decorations

Isaiah's candy stand.

cute little Wondergirl Trick or Treater. Her mom and I have been friends since I was about her age and her mom was 2

Another view of the candy stand. Isaiah drug the table off the front porch and sat on the front steps. Mom and Dad are at the end of the part of town that gives out candy so they didn't get as many as when mom goes and sits with Dougie, two houses up.

Happy Halloweener!

Tomorrow is Trick or Treat. Isaiah has decided he doesn't want to dress up and go trick or treating, he'd rather pass out candy.
Well the other night he had his colored pencils and a stack of index cards. I saw him drawing various Halloween things on the cards. Ghost, Dracula, pumpkins etc...
Then he turned them over and was writing on them. He said he was making them to pass out with the candy. I noticed in big writing "WINNER" on the card he was working on. So I checked into it a little more. He thought he'd have a contest!
"Isaiah!" I told him "You can not have a contest and promise a prize and not follow thorugh!". Well that didn't make him happy. He gathered them up and threw them away. I didn't realize it or I'd have saved a few because the were so darn cute! But the way people are now! You promise their kids something and you better follow though!
Mom's giving away full size Hershey bars this year. They seem to be what all the kids want. Usually she gives them a choice and even got Teddy Grahams last year for the little kids.
Of course Naomi won't be Trick or Treating this year. Thank goodness she's my 2nd child. I may have worried more about her missing out, or feeling like she's missing out. She'll have no clue. She'll be excited to see all the kids out. Well actually right now she has a mucus filled nose and it's green mucus too, so we may not even be outside in the cold.
At least I'm saving on costumes this year. :)

What A Wreck

I took the following photos of our car from my living room!



Isaiah needed a protractor to finish his homework so Bill offered to run to Drug Mart. Naomi still had her socks on so we put her shoes on her and he took, he NEVER takes her along! This is the first time I can remember that he alone took her to the store, he usually just runs out the door and doesn't even think about taking her!
I was talking to mom on the phone, the windows were up because it was beautiful out and call waiting beeped in. I told mom "he is so helpless, I just sent him for a protractor!" So I clicked over and Bill said "call the police" my first thought for some reason was that Naomi had a seizure and fell in the store and was hurt or something. He said "I'm right out front of the house, someone rear ended me."I opened the front door and there they were. Naomi just sitting patiently, not crying, Bill had gotten out of the car. I was already talking to the police. As soon as I got off the line with them I ran out and grabbed Naomi out of the car and brought her in the house. She seemed fine, not crying, not bothered at all.
Bill knows it's just an accident but it's just such an inconvenience and we had just checked 2 days ago to see what the pay off was. We only have about 6 more payments, and Bill had said that it was nice to know we could just pay it off anytime if we wanted.
When the cop got there he the lady kept saying "I didn't see a turn signal". Meanwhile the signal is ding ding dinging away inside the car. Bill said a semi and other cars all went around and it looked like she was trying to go around but was going too fast or realized too late that he was sitting still. He just bit his tongue, his nerves are tied in a knot!
Luckily the rear passenger side took the largest impact, Naomi was sitting behind the drivers seat. The entire bumper and whole right panel is gone. The trunk was sticking straight up and it looked like the other side was just gone. The tail lights, everything on the passenger side is just gone. The back is pushed up into the tires so it wasn't drivable.
Thankfully I called our insurance and the lady's insurance and got the ball rolling. Our insurance pushed through everything so we could pick up a rental car tonight. Naomi has a busy day tomorrow and we can't be without a vehicle. The lady's insurance is supposed to contact me tomorrow after 10 am to fill me in on what's going on. But our insurance has already had it sent to a collision repair place they use.
She said she hit her brakes and such but there are NO skid marks, nothing. No squealing of brakes, it didn't seem like she even put the brakes on.
Our insurance said to get a new car seat because once they've been in a wreck they aren't to be used again and the insurance would reimburse us.
Well, thankfully everyone is okay. Bill's neck and shoulders are stiff. He thinks because he was looking in the rear view mirror and saw her coming and stiffened up when he realized she was not going to stop. But Naomi's silly as ever!

Thursday-Therapy day

Actually Tues and Thurs are therapy days for Naomi.


Thursday her therapist were tickled pink. Her speech therapist was sitting on the floor with her and rolling a ball to the physical therapist and Naomi caught the ball said the word "ball" then rolled it back and they were so excited. She doesn't often use words purposefully. I told her speech therapist Naomi has been standing at the front door saying what sounded like ball and I finally realized it's the pumpkins sitting on the front step.


This weekend it sounded like she was saying Bill and we thought it was funny because it was like she was yelling at her Dad. Well Tuesday when Bill got home from work Naomi was sitting eating supper and when she saw him she threw out her hand towards him and yelled "BILL!". We haven't heard Dad lately, it's just "Bill".


When I was little I was visiting my grandparents and my grandma said something about my dad and I said "Old Poopyhead?". My mom got mad at my dad and curbed her language but I still repeated it :)

Cream Goatee

Lehman's Hardware Kidron Ohio

First try at taking a photo Naomi to excited about something but she IS looking at me. OOPS next try. Now there's something in the sky exciting her!
Now she turns her head away from us when we say her name.

Last try, Isaiah is getting tired of standing there! I need a digital camera with a faster shutter!

We ran to Lehman's Hardware Saturday. It's not that far from our house and generally I try to go through the week. I'm no tourist. There's something there I want and I'd like to get in, look around a little then leave. It was packed! Lehman's specializes in nonelectric items and supplies Hollywood with lots of period items for Western and period films. I bought a Doughmaker's cookie sheet. I should have taken a picture of the wall of cookie cutters they have. Sleighs, states, leaves, just absolutely anything you could imagine. It's funny to go to a town with no traffic light to try and find some rare item you can't find anywhere else!

It just happened to be the 1st Annual Red Beet Festival. Yeah, beet! They had beet ice cream which I did NOT try!

Well I tried!

I took Naomi to the preschool where she receives itinerant services to get her picture taken. A local photography studio was there taking school pictures and I squeezed my way in to try and get hers done. My thinking was, it's a special needs preschool, surely she won't be the only kid they need to do some tricks for so they get a good shot! Wrong. Typical school photography. Sit, smile, go. She doesn't work like that.
She had me sweating before we left the house! Know what I mean! How you're trying to get something done and your kid decides now is the time to get into everything and scream and cry when they're reprimanded? Then you get so worked up from chasing and handling them you just get to sweating from pure aggravation! It's 40 degrees outside too so working up a sweat shouldn't have been so easy!
She was in the dog food, screaming, crying just ugh!!!!!!! So finally I just took her out and put her in her car seat in the warmed up car and shut the door and let her get it out of her system while I ran back inside and grabbed all I needed to. A sippy cup, my keys, my purse etc... Then I jumped in the front seat put on a Thomas the Tank Engine CD and all was better.
I worried it wasn't a far enough drive to let her nose turn back to normal color and not the bright red it had become from her fit.
We got there and one of the classrooms was already lined up and getting their photo taken one by one. I'd of liked to have asked who sent their kid in shorts and a t-shirt! That poor child! Anyway back to mine! I took her in the room, sat her down and they had something on the floor like a little step for them to get up on a little stool. Well as soon as she figured out she could tap her feet on that and make noise, it was over. She couldn't pull her attention away. I moved it and she didn't like that. The photographer did take about 4 photos and I chose the best of the worst. There was no good. No smile, she wasn't comfortable and needed time to take in this new space she'd been taken to.
This is the first time since she was 1 yr. old that I've had a picture taken of her like this. I had planned on getting them taken at 18 months and we actually went, but the guy at Olan Mills had over booked apparently and we had to wait 1 hour which sent her hunger into overdrive and she wouldn't do anything but scream bloody murder because she was so hungry. So we gave up and left and then it was only a few months later and she started Depakote then Topamax and you don't want a picture of your child when they're doped up. Plus she has never been a sit down kind of kid! We need an action shot :) Time just slipped away and here we are 2 1/2 years later finally trying to get a picture of her.
This is officially going on my list of things I absolutely will not attempt to do alone with her! This list is getting long!

A Four Letter Word

It's that time of year but I'm not ready for the word snow to be said during a local forecast. The five day forecast says today will be the warmest, 51! UGH!
Very cold nights and this weekend a "wintry mix" is possible.
It just feels like 2 weeks ago I looked around and noticed how fall like it was becoming. Now, before we've even begun to rake leaves her comes the white stuff!
I love the change of seasons. But it just seems like the parts of each season I enjoy just fly by!

More X-rays

Today for no apparent reason Naomi was limping bad on her right leg. Since it was Friday and 4:00 I called the pediatrician to see if they could get us in. The lovely lady from Australia answered and said how about 4:10.
TAKE IT!
We live close enough we weren't even late.
The nurse practitioner saw her. Saw she was limping and felt around. There's nothing obvious. I thought it had just fallen asleep but after more than an hour it should have been better. We got our marching orders and went to the hospital for x-rays and checked in at 4:45. They had to take someone from ER before us so we had to wait until 5:20 ish. It's awful waiting with a toddler!
Of course the radiologist isn't even there to read the x-ray, but I'm sure if there was something obviously wrong the techs would call the pediatricians office. So we have x-rays, but no one official to look at them until Monday.
The good news is she's pretty much walking normally now! So I doubt anything will show up. But I did not want to have to take her to the ER on a weekend. That is hell on Earth!

Told you I was paraniod!

Last night Naomi was sleeping with me and I woke and thought
"Oh my God she's shaking! Is it some sort of weird epileptic tremor??"
I should say shaking SLIGHTLY
Guess what was wrong???
Thank gosh I'm not a real panicky person, and am too lazy to get out of a warm bed. How embarrassed I'd have been to have called 911 only to figure out what was wrong...... she'd kicked the covers off and was cold.
She had woken at midnight and was screaming. Nothing so wrong that a Thomas the Tank Engine movie couldn't cure it. I had taken off her pajama pants and changed her diaper and we both passed out sometime before 1:30. So at some point she kicked the covers off. Maybe she never had them on her. I was so out of it who knows!
But pulling the comforter over her and warming up her legs cured her tremor.
What an idiot I am!

Naomi today

Naomi's babbling like crazy. Well, not really babbling, she is saying something. She just says it over and over. For instance "mom mom mom mom mom mom" or my favorite"bad bad bad bad bad dad". Last night she was staying close to Isaiah and she kept saying "bub bub bub bub" and that's what she used to call him, bub or bubby. I was worried it was the increase of ketones that was helping her speech but hurting her seizures. She was falling like a tree and stiffening up and staying that way for 5-7 seconds like it was stretching her to a certain point then would let go. On Friday when I learned that her BHB was 7.37, over a full point more than it had ever been, the dietitian and I decided to lower her ratio. Not only was her BHB high, her glucose was 51, which is less than 3 mmol/l. We want it over 3. The "okay" range is something like 50-65 so she was pretty close to the bottom. She was waking up crying and wouldn't eat or drink anything. I had read about carnitine on matthewsfriends.org and it said if after the addition of carnitine the ketones trend up and the glucose down that it can make some kids too ketonic and the 1st step would be to drop ratio. I was happy when the dietitian offered that and made all changes on Friday.

Since lowering her ratio she has waken fine and is even finishing her #1 meal in decent time. Plus I don't have to follow her around at all! If she falls she just lands in a sitting position and jumps right back up and continues on with what she's doing unfazed. For some unknown reason, I swear, her seizures seem to make her want to climb. Or else the act of climbing causes a seizure! She gets up on the dining room chair and every time as soon as you get to her there's a seizure.
An odd thing I've noticed is, she can be playing in her bed for 1/2 an hour and I can observe her from a distance, she can't see me, and I see no seizure activity. But as soon I walk in her direction and she turns and focuses on me, Boom! there's a seizure! Bill says I'm a seizure magnet because there's been times I've ran to the store and he's been home with her and saw absolutely nothing. As soon as I walk in and she comes to the gate to see me, Boom! There's a seizure! We also notice them after she's been sitting for a while, say in the rifta chair (like a little high chair) at therapy. As soon as she stands and gets mobile she has one that's almost like a dizzy spell. Or when someone walks up to her. Every one who's around her any time at all has seen it and I notice they squat to her level before approaching her because they've noticed it too!! Lots of the ones she has now could pass as a dizzy spell. There's times she's had them at the store. She tends to want me to pick her up and as soon as I do she'll have one and even if I"m standing talking to someone the other person has no clue my kid just had a seizure.
I guess most people think a seizure looks like a grand mal. But there are so many different kinds!
A girl I went to school with posted on Facebook that her son woke her up in the middle of the night because he heard something and when he got to the hall he saw his brother, sound asleep with his pants around his ankles. He'd gotten up to use the bathroom and fell asleep in the hall on the way back. My first thought was at this point that would have freaked me out! How nice to not know the fear of a neurologically impaired kid! I would have been watching that boy like a hawk fearing he'd had a seizure and I missed it.
Isaiah spends a lot of time in his room drawing, watching TV, reading and playing Legos. He's perfectly healthy but it has ran through my mind "what if he had a seizure? He's up there all alone and I'd never know!".
Paranoia, I've got it bad!

Mom Up

Today I was thinking of the saying "man up".
It should be changed to "mom up".
There's a woman on a support group site who has 2 kids with severe epilepsy and after child #2 started having seizures her husband couldn't take it anymore and left. I don't understand that thinking. It's hard on 2, so if he leaves and put it all on her that is okay, why? I mean I definitely understand how hard it is to watch kids have seizures and their health deteriorate but their mom loves them no less than the dad. Why is it okay for him to be "sensitive"?
Then I was watching A Baby Story and the 26 year old Dad had to lay down on the couch in the delivery room because he was getting dizzy and felt like he'd pass out. I know how that works to! I thought Bill would pass out when I had Isaiah and he ended up leaving the room before I even had him because he felt so helpless and felt like he'd get sick. Meanwhile I pushed out a 10 lb 7 oz baby.
One thing I do that my husband will have no part of is give a suppository. I just count myself lucky he'll change Naomi at all. He has some severe ideas, I don't know what happened in his household growing up, but until I had Naomi he just really felt like a man shouldn't change a little girls diaper. I told him that I should have been exempt from changing any of Isaiah's if that's the line of thinking we're following. It took a while, and I think he was afraid of hearing about it the rest of his life, but he does change diapers.
Oh, well. Men have their place, they're just often not as strong as mom's in some ways.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

OK, I live in an area where people hunt. Lots of people hunt! I know families where the mom, dad, kids and grandparents all get their hunting license every year. So I have no problem with hunting. There's a conservation aspect to it. If they didn't kill some of the deer the deer would starve, overpopulate and end up as constant road kill.

But this is different than sitting in a tree stand, waiting for a deer to come by and taking aim and maybe or maybe not striking the animal, depending on your skill.

I saw this story on the Today show this morning and it has bothered me. They said they set hooks out the day before. Then the 5 year old, his dad and a guide went out and found on one of the hooks this record setting gator. They used the winch to raise up the gator then the kid took his shot.

Isn't that a little like shooting a caged bear?

Picking off Tigers at the zoo?

That's exactly like leaving a fishing line laying in a pond all night then coming back in the morning and picking up the fish and shooting it! I mean that would be serious overkill, but it's the same thing! The gator was already caught! There's no aim. It's like hitting the broad side of a barn!

I know lots of folks around here would disagree with me, but 5 is too young to hunt and handle a riffle. No one could reasonably argue that a 5 year old has the decision making skills to handle a deadly weapon.
I know Daniel Boone and historical figures were hunting at a very early age, but I got news for you, we have a little something called grocery stores now. There's no need for a 5 year old to hunt. Also I bet Daniel Boone was a whole lot more grown up and had more life experience and wilderness skills than kids these days. Thankfully we have hunting laws now and limits on kill. I read Daniel Boone's biography and he killed an unbelievable amount of animals per season! He was just one man! Think of all the trappers killing that many, and it's no wonder the animals faced extinction so fast!

How's Naomi

Naomi is doing o.k.
There for a while she was having some tonic seizures where she'd fall, stiffen like she was stretching out, it would last about 5 seconds then it would end. I think adding carnitor to her diet helped that. She's not doing it anymore. She's still falling because she stiffens really quick, but it's over before she hits the ground. We are constantly following her around or putting her in her play pen which is her ball pit now. It's nerve wracking! Especially when she constantly wants to climb onto the dining room table. Isaiah heard her move a chair last night and he ran to get her and as soon as he got hold of her she seizured. That happens a lot, seizuring as soon as we get to her, I mean. Sometimes it's like seeing us coming for her triggers it. Sometimes when she's being ornery and getting into stuff she knows she shouldn't she'll have a seizure when I come to pick her up and I tell her "don't try to make me feel sorry for you" :).
In July Naomi was averaging about 15 seizures a day. Now we're up to about 40 and no idea why! We upped her ratio and that just seemed to make things worse.
We took her to a gastroenterologist last week and they're testing her for celiac disease as a precaution. It's not uncommon for them to see kids with neurological disorders, they said. We're supposed to give Naomi 11 grams of Miralax a day and prilosec. Though they prescribed a liquid Prilosec which she can't take because of the carbs and her diet. I'm waiting for the ketogenic nurse to tell them what she can take.
I'm going to have to tweak the 11 gram dosage of Miralax. She's going constantly and is way too gassy. The carnitor helped her bowels a lot! So maybe she doesn't need quite so much of a boost in that departement. The GI doctor said it can take 2 weeks on Miralax to establish a routine bowel movement.
I took her yesterday for bloodwork. They drew 4 vials for testing for celiac disease. I also called our dietitian and said I wanted her BHB (ketones in blood) tested and her glucose. For some reason she doesn't want to eat in the morning. She wakes at 6:30 and will not eat until 9:30. She needs to eat before that! Her ketones have been staying high and I want to make sure they're not too high in the morning. She's cranky also.
My mom is diabetic and I went to her house while she and Dad were gone and found her meter and tried to test Naomi's glucose on my own. It is a 2 person job! There's no way I could poke her then squeeze her finger to put blood on the strip by myself! She is way too strong. She wouldn't hold still, was screaming and just totally foul! I just put her in the car and headed home. On my way Bill called me and I told him what I tried to do and he said "can't you just take her to the pediatrician office and have them test it". To which I said "Probably, but would you want to go sit in an exam room with THIS" (insert screaming child in the back seat) "while waiting 20 minutes for the doctor to come in and see what you want!?" He didn't think so. Sometimes he'd just be better off if he made no suggestions.
So now I have to wait for the lab work to come back. The dietitian is off on Wednesdays and at another facility on Thursdays. So it will probably be Friday before I hear anything. So aggravating!

Tooth Fairy

Isaiah is 10 and lost a big tooth. It bled like crazy! He immediately said "Dad! Stick it under my bed!" (meaning pillow!). Bill said " Son, remember what we told you about Santa and the Easter Bunny? Who do you think is the Tooth Fairy?"
Isaiah says "Sissy? Papaw? OOO I'd love to see Papaw in a pink tutu and tiara! Let me guess Dad, you're just gonna give me money. Right?"
Bill gave him $5.
This happened on Saturday. The same day my Dad was picking Isaiah up to spend the night and go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Which they really liked.
Sunday evening Isaiah was unpacking his bag from his overnight stay and flashed me a wad of bills.
"Where did you get that money?" I asked
"From Papaw and Grammy." He says
"How much did they give you?" I ask
" $15" he tells me.
"Is there a gold filling in it? What are you doing "shopping" your tooth around?" I say.
Later I call my dad and say "There's been a bit of inflation in the last 30 years. Since when is a tooth worth $15?!"
My Dad started laughing then told me that Isaiah showed them the tooth and told them his Dad gave him $5 and Papaw told Isaiah that he wasn't about to be out done by Bill. So Papaw gave Isaiah $10. Then later my mom gave him $5. I'm not clear whether she knew he'd already been paid twice for it or not.
Anyway, it ended up being a $20 tooth!
I only remember getting coins for my teeth!
He may be a slow reader and writer, but I think he's aced Economics!

My Investment Has Grown

Bill and I married 12 years ago.

Since then he's gained over 50 lbs.

He needed that 50 lbs. though! He's 6 ft. tall and only weighed 150 when we married and was so skinny you could see his backbone and ribs. He says he had a "6 pack" back then. He's wrong! It was just his ribs :)

This was his dinner Friday evening. Not JUST this, he had sides and then a slice of Mt. Dew cake for dessert.

That's a 12 inch plate the Porterhouse steak is sitting on. It was huge and he ate it down to the bone! I mean wolves leave more meat on a bone!

He's still slim. No one would call him fat.

Some days I hate him for his metabolism!

But my investment has definitely grown

Where I live...

I was taking a photo of Naomi by the front door and noticed after I took the photo there was a buggy in the back ground. I must have deleted that photo. I took a few others because the buggy stopped to talk to the Amish man walking down the street, so I had time to take a few.




So Here's proof, I live in Amish country. I don't know what was going on but from about 6:30 Saturday morning and through out the day there just seemed to be buggy after buggy. The photo of Naomi with the dog on the arm of the couch looking out the window shows how much our dog hates buggies. Well I don't think it's the buggy she has a problem with it's the horses and the sound their hooves make going down the road. Our dog is 13 lbs. I don't know what she thinks she'd do to the horse if I let her loose!

He Can See Clearly Now

"When I go back to school tomorrow, I'll be a whole new man."

- Isaiah

My Neck of the Woods

Apparently a local farm was featured in a New York Times story about Haycations. I thought I'd post a link to the farms website because it tells a lot about our area. http://morganfarmstudios.com/
This week is the Ashland County Fair. In true fashion, it's humid, rainy and cool in the evenings.
It's just not fair week without some mud!
I asked Isaiah if he wanted to go to the fair one evening and he said "why? You won't let me ride the rides anyway."
No I won't. Every year there are stories about kids electrocuted on Ohio fair rides and such. So sorry but I'll pass on putting my kid on a ride put together with rubber bands and bubble gum.

More blimp!

I told you I see the blimp frequently! I spotted it again today while driving home from church! It was at a distance from me, not directly over head and it's so much like a whale in the sky, the front is slightly up, then the back. Then it levels out. It made me think that maybe it would make me a little nauseous to be riding in it.

A Little Verbal

Last night Naomi was fussing about who knows what. Bill stood up and headed towards her going to the stairs. When he got near her Naomi stuck her hand out as in "stop!". Then she said "No Dad!". Bill turned and looked at me and we both smiled then started laughing. She never puts words together like that. Also at this time her vocabulary is pretty much only no, yeah, Dad, Mom and she often squeals with happiness.
She, and the rest of us, has had a cold all week. Who knew so much green mucus could come out of one little nose!
Last night I commented that she has been so good humoured lately. She's just been a real joy. She smiled a lot and wants picked up to be near us. I think the dog would disagree. She almost hunts that dog down, just to pull her ears. This morning she walked in the kitchen, went straight to the dog kennel and reached in and just put her hand on the dog and made a sound like "awwww". She's so excited to see the dog every morning.
Speaking of the dog, I better go get the mail. The mailman left a box on the front step and it's worrying my dog!

Are You Smarter Than My 5th Grader?

Isaiah had his first Math test. This is what his study guide said.

Secure goals
*Draw arrays to model multiplication
*Know multiplication facts
*Identify even and odd numbers
*Find the factors of numbers

Developing/Secure goals
*Understand how square numbers and their square roots are related (I learned this in 9th grade)
*Identify prime and composite numbers
*Use a divisibility test to determine if a number is divisible by another number

Beginning/Developing Goals
* Rename numbers written in exponential notation (I had to Google this!)

Beginning Goals
* Find the prime factorizations of numbers (I had to Google this one too!)

A Trip to a rural store

Naomi and I dropped Isaiah off at school then made a quick trip to a bulk food store in a rural area outside of town. We first stopped at the hardware store and when I got to the door an old farmer was sitting there b.s'ing with the clerk. He jumped up to get the door for me but I beat him to it. After I got my 2 small bags of dog food and dog shampoo I put them by the register and the old guy jumped up, he was going to help me get my things to the car. I thanked him but was able to get it myself. It all fit in one little plastic bag :) So nice of him though. His politeness made my morning!




Then we went to the market. It' a place with bulk items and an enormous deli. By enormous I mean it! Like 7 types of bologna alone! The cheese! I know they have over 40 different types of cheese. Last week when we were there I bet there were 50 cars in the parking lot! They were swamped. I asked the girl who checked me out if they were always so busy and she told me that Monday mornings are slow until lunch time then they're busy the rest of the week. I ran into her today and told her she was right! Monday is the time to go! There was only one other car in the parking lot when I pulled in shortly before 9 a.m. They opened at 8. I took a few pictures on the way there.





An Amish "pickup"

The front is a buggy the back is a stainless steel bed, just like a pickup truck.

An Amish School

Photo taken from the parking lot of the market.

Notice the bikes propped against the backstop of the baseball field. There are 3 such baseball fields in about a 1/2 mile stretch of road!

Front view of the Amish school taken from the main road.

Just a view of the state route I take to get out here. Amish farm in the distance.

I hate taking pictures of Amish. I feel like such a tourist! Not to mention I know it's against their religion. Other's know too but persist. You wouldn't walk up to a Jewish man and yank a Yamikah off his head! The Amish kids are fine. They haven't joined the church yet so it's not such a big deal. But about that I feel, would you want strangers coming up and taking photos of your kids? Most English people (meaning us) would call the law. So if I want a cute photo of an Amish kid, I buy a postcard.

Mr. McSquinty

Last weekend or so, my mom mentioned that Isaiah seemed to be squinting a lot. So I watched him and didn't see it. I thought maybe he was doing it out of habit, but I tell you I did not see him squinting over his school work. I planned on making him an appointment with an Optician anyway but with all the calls out for Naomi's medicine and her therapy, plus starting even more therapy this past Thursday, I just never made the call.
So yesterday the phone rang and his school's number came up on caller I.D. My first thought was that they were sending him home because he's had a runny nose all week and a case of H1N1 was confirmed at his school and I thought maybe they were overreacting and sending anyone with the sniffles home. It ended up being his math teacher. He can't see the board and she's had to move him way up front and he is squinting. I told her I was aware and making him an appointment. She had told him to tell me but that hadn't happened. He doesn't want those "disk thingys that they put in your eyes". Contacts. I told him he'd probably get glasses if anything. He argued that he doesn't need glasses because he tried on his Grammie's glasses and couldn't see a thing. I had to explain that every one's glasses are specially made for them.
I'm wondering why no one ever picked up on this before or if it's something new. I'm hoping it will help him with his reading and writing also.
So today at 10 that's where we'll be. Getting a vision exam. Getting some answers.

One Flew Over the Cukoo Nest

This flew over my house on Saturday. By over my house I mean BARELY seemed to scrape by. It's amazing how low they seem to fly! I ran to get my camera. The neighbor lady was watching Naomi swing on the swing set and I moved as fast as I could. But as I got to the back yard the neighbor said it made a turn and headed west and was out of sight. I've seen the blimp a lot. But every time I get excited! I grew up near Rt. 30, the Old Lincoln Highway and it follows that route from Akron to where ever it's going and so I grew up seeing it float by. Still I love it!

What's in a name?????

You know when you name your child it's like they grow into it. You just can't imagine any other name for them.
Isaiah is just Isaiah, plain and simple. No other name would fit him. He's not a Mike, Joe, Phineas. He's an Isaiah!
Naomi is the same. We do call her Sissy a lot though. She even got mail from the dentist the other day that was addressed to "Sissy Keesee". I knew they took note of nicknames. I didn't know they used them for the mailing list.
The other day at Walmart there was a little girl who was all over the place. Loud. Running. Rude. All that and more. Her father told her to act like she had some sense and guess what this unruly child's name was.......... Serenity! I am not kidding! I swear that's what I heard them call her!
I wonder if they feel the same about her name?
Speaking of Walmart check out www.peopleofwalmart.com . A cousin sent me a link and I'll be darned if our local Walmart wasn't on page 13. The car with cats glued all over it is "Catman". He does live up to that name! His car is covered in cats, not stickers, all different forms. Ceramic and plastic all bolted or somehow glued to the body of the car. The horn of the car "meows". In the winter he wears a knit hat with a stuffed cat sewn on top.

When it's not so bad to have a Ketokid

It's not so bad to have a child on the ketogenic diet when...
you're in the drive thru at the bank and the teller sends out a bite size candy bar for the cute little girl

you go through a new coffee drive thru in town and they send out a sucker for each of your kids. Big brother loved that!!!

My favorite happened today... driving through Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte and they give you 2 good size samples of cranberry nut scones, and it's just you and the kid who can't eat a bite of it.

I must add, she's totally unaware of what she's missing. Were it Isaiah he'd unbuckle his seat belt, jump the seat and wrestle the scone out of my hand!

Happy Labor Day!

The Sound of Music

Last night The Sound of Music was on television. It's one of my favorites. I remember waiting for it to come on t.v. when I was little. It seemed like once a year it would be shown special. Now I own the movie, but rarely watch it. It's so long!
Well last night I guess I was feeling a bit cynical.
When I watched it all I could think is "that would never happen in real life".
Like when Maria goes in to talk to the reverend mother. The nun breaks into Climb Every Mountain. Can you imagine going in to talk to your boss and he breaks into song like that?!
There's also the scene out by the gazebo where Maria and Captain Von Trapp are professing their love and it's getting awful steamy! They're rubbing their cheeks against one another, kissing. Then she breaks into I Must of Done Something Good. UH, way to kill the moment Maria! I know she was going to be a nun, and may not be too worldly about men but my goodness! Why not just force him into a cold shower!?
The scene where Maria comes back home and the kids had been to try to see her but were turned away... They decide to sing A Few of My Favorite things. Then here she comes walking up the lane, swinging her suitcases. This is where I must confess! If in real life I was sitting with a group and someone broke out in that song I'd find it very hard not to sing along!

Weepy

Sunday morning I woke up really weepy and this Brad Paisley video was on and when it got to the part where the kids said what they wanted to be I started crying!
Then at church the preacher's wife read a letter from some soldiers the church sends packages to. She couldn't even get through the letter she started crying and thankfully someone else stepped in and finished reading it or I'd have been a puddle on the floor!
But if you have a few minutes check out the link. If you're in your 30's you'll get a kick out of the updates in technology mentioned.

A Happier Anniversary

Twelve years ago today, August 30, 1997, Bill and I were married in Sevierville, Tennessee right across the street from the court house and a statue of Dolly Parton. Time has flown by!

We look so young! Bill was malnourished, my how times have changed!

I was only 23! My cousin made the bouquet and I still have it.

GYM

Isaiah had gym class yesterday and he asked me "mom, how are you at push ups?"
That is so sadly hillarious I just can't tell you!
I told him "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha". I can't even do push up bras anymore. I'm beyond that!
He said he got out because "It's strike one, strike two, strike three, you're out". I guess they have to do push ups and that's what the gym teacher does when they can't complete one.
To that I answered "OOOHHHH hurt me!"
I mean seriously! What is the gym teacher thinking here? Isn't the kid that can't do it the one who needs to keep doing it?
Do you think if you told me to drop and give you 20, that when I tried 3 times and couldn't do it that it would at all make me feel bad that I had to quit. Not quite!
Hello! I am the kid who lost on purpose during high school badminton single elimination tournaments. Thankfully my best friend Julie was in my gym class and she was as much as a gym class underachiever as I was! I mean seriously! It's badminton! Do I want to keep playing or go sit on the bleachers with my best friend and chat for the next 5 weeks? HMMMMMM!
Looking back I was way too smart for my own good and was genius at getting out of doing things! Besides, who remembers who won that tournament anyhow?!

How we celebrated

This is how we celebrated Naomi's crappy anniversary.
First, I colored my hair. My roots were out of control and I've decided I'm done getting it colored. It just grows too fast and I don't have time to go get it colored constantly.
Then we went to where I get my hair cut because I thought I had a 10:30 appointment. I didn't. It's Friday
Then we came home and I made Naomi's 11:00 meal and she ate it up, no problem.
Then about 11:30 or so I put her down for a nap and I laid on the bed to read. I could hear her belly churning from 8 ft. away.
She woke up early, about 12:30 so we came downstairs and she wanted to sit in my lap. So I held her. She threw up on me.
I waited until 1:00 and called the pediatrician's office to make an appointment. I called them yesterday for an appointment. Called them back to move that appointment back an hour. Then called them this morning.
I was trying to get an appointment because I'm afraid Naomi's has a blocked bowel. She's not going poop at all like she should and last night a bit of a "plug" came out and she felt so great. So this morning when she felt better I just cancelled the appointment thinking everything was going to start moving as it should. Then she vomited and I was afraid that the plug was just the tip of the iceberg and so I called the pediatrician back. They probably think I'm nuts!
The doctor said it wouldn't hurt anything to do an x-ray so we went to the hospital for x-rays. This all sounds great but let me add. Our doctor appointment was for 2:30. It was just before 3 when she came in and so I had been in a small exam room trapped with a screaming child for about 15 minutes. A screaming child who was mad and was biting my shoulder and hands, and trying for my face. She just wanted out. Then she figured out how to open the door and when I closed it again, she took it up a notch. I was so happy to see the doctor.
The hospital got us checked in and we headed to x-ray where she was actually happy for a time to be in that waiting room. Then we went to do the x-ray and she had to stand in front of a board. Then lay on a table. Two x-rays were to be done. They checked them before we left and the standing one was missing half her side. So we sat her on the table and took it that way. Oh joy ,what fun that was.
Now it's 3:30 and she was supposed to eat at 3 so that's part of the tantrums. We got in the car and some idiot was pulling out of the hospital in front of me (probably a Dr.) and he throws his van in reverse! Hello!!! BEEP BEEP BEEP. I was laying on my horn. Where did he think I was going to go? There was a car behind me! I came home, thankfully it's maybe a mile away. When we got home outside waiting was Papaw and Daddy so of course she starts with "HEY HEY HEY" all happy to see them.
I told Bill to get her out of the car and I ran in the house and fixed a quick hot dog and fruit meal, the quickest thing I could think of. Isaiah asked me something about corn and didn't hear my reply three times so I sort of raised my voice the 3rd time I answered him and he cowered and I told him sorry but my nerves are SHOT! I can actually feel my arms quaking I'm so stressed. Now Naomi wants to be all lovey and get up and down off my lap and I just feel like a nice glass fence about 3 feet around me on all sides would be great for a while! Plus some sound proofing.]
I had the choice of either staying at the hospital and waiting for the x-ray results (No chance in hell that was happening). Or waiting for the radiologist to read them then he'd contact our Dr. and she'll call me later (Yes, please). So that's what I'm waiting on now. Actually as soon as I wrote that the Dr. called. There's no blockage but there is a lot of poop in there. It's below the colon so a suppository my be more effective. She also told me if I had to I could go up to a full 18 G dosage of Miralax if needed. That's an adult dosage. If that didn't work I don't know what would. If you've ever taken Miralax you know what I mean! Well I better get off here, I've got a suppository to give.