This is a snippet of what goes on at my house all day long during a full day indoors!

Steal dogs toys

Pester dog with popper

stand in front of the furnace duct when it cuts on (see her hair flying?)

Start all over again!

Climbing the walls

Not quite the walls, but everything else!

Update on Beautiful Ohio

The snow is done!!! Yeah! Compare this photo to the last one in the next post! This is my son going back towards the neighbors to play in the big pile of snow left by the plows. He was out there for 3 hours! The area he's walking in is actually lower than the rest of the yard because Bill had taken the snowblower through there after our last snowfall and made a path to our neighbor Georgia's. (he's her surrogate husband)

Isaiah's carrying a plastic school bus, don't ask me why but he always takes it outside to play in the snow! He is 4 ft 9 inches if that gives you any idea how deep the snow is.

Beautiful Ohio? I think that song is about the river not the weather!

Our crappy garage that needs painted again. The roof was clear yesterday, see the path I made to to the garage at 9 a.m.

This is my mailman. Sorry if I don't run out and get the mail. He's already headed to the neighbors.

Here's the mailman, now across the street delivering the mail to Arby's. See the cars in the drive thru! REALLY? You need a roast beef sandwich that bad!

This photo is out of sequence, still just the mailman walking to the neighbors. Wouldn't you be mad if you had his job and the only mail today was fliers and junk mail!

This is our driveway at about 8 a.m. You can see the tracks from where Bill went to work at 4:30. what you can't see is how deep the snow really is! That slope at the bottom is pretty deep. The snow plow was the 3rd in a row to go through and you can't even tell anything was plowed!
That's a parking lot with snow covered cars across the street to the left.

See the snow storm on the news that's sweeping across the nation?
It's at my house, has been at my house, since last night. It's not supposed to stop snowing until around 7 p.m. tonight. That's 8 more hours of snow! Our driveway was clear yesterday and this morning at 9 a.m. when I made my way out to the garage to get the shovel the snow was up over the tops of my boots. At least it's not bitterly cold outside. It's been a long time since I've seen so much snow so fast!

Our county is under a Level 2 snow emergency. I think that means the roads are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow and if you are stupid enough to go out in it be careful.

My mom is at work. She said people in shopping, buying groceries, paper towels. People are nuts! We had warning this was going to be bad they could have went out yesterday or wait until tomorrow.

More of the white stuff!

We're under another winter storm warning!
From 4pm Tuesday to 4 p.m. Wednesday!
We have got a lot of snow this winter! There's still a foot on the ground. Most reports call for 4-8 inches tonight and about the same tomorrow. One weather man said some places could see 18 inches.
I turned the channel!
I'm never watching him again!
I love being home, but I hate being snowed in and CAN'T go anywhere!
The kids are out of calamity days so if they have a snow day they'll have to make it up.

Dinner Conversation

Isaiah's a bit naive. If he knows the rules he follows them. He definitely knows the difference between right and wrong so when he asks us questions like the following it at first stuns you, then his reaction makes you want to crack up. Well, at the dinner table last night, Isaiah said what do they mean when they say "ain't nothin but a bunch of bitches and ho's"? Our mouths dropped open! He heard it on a Youtube clip of Batman. He's been watching cartoon clips on Youtube and apparently some are more kid friendly than others!
We told him those were bad, not nice words and he covered his mouth with both hands and acted like he'd just committed the worlds biggest sin. This is a kid who when reading a school book said "I'm not saying that word, it's not appropriate". I asked what it was and he said the "S" word. Bill looked at me with his eyebrows raised and I mouthed "stupid" to him.
Isaiah asked "why do they even have bad words?" I told him it's not the words it's the meaning behind them. His dad added that originally bitch meant a female dog but people started using it as a bad term towards women. I then said "Bill would you like to further explain ho?". Isaiah said "Well, it's not like the one out in the garage right? I can still say that? Hoe?" Yes we said. Then Bill told him, it's just another bad word they call women.
Ohhhhh parenting! What a joy!

Shirking

I'm shirking my responsibilities this morning, but I've stayed warm.
Naomi woke at 5 this morning, ate, took her medicine then fell back asleep shortly after 6.
She fell asleep curled up in a ball laying with her head on my lap. Isaiah sat down and was her surrogate lap while I got his breakfast ready, he couldn't reach the box of cereal.
When I went to relieve him I lifted her and laid on the couch and she continued to sleep laying on me. Isaiah took a bath then packed his own lunch. He did a great job too! No mess!
The kids I take to school came about 7:40 and so she was sort of forced to wake up. I took her upstairs to try to get her to fall back asleep but she wouldn't have it. She wanted to be with the fun downstairs.
Those kids eat breakfast at school so they have to be there earlier than Isaiah so I usually run them over then come back and take him over 10-15 minutes later. Today I announced they'd all have to walk over together.
They didn't seem to care but I feel a little bad for sending them out. It's 8 degrees outside. I didn't send them out naked or anything, they had winter coats, hats and gloves on. I guess I just feel bad because I wouldn't want to walk in that! The sidewalks have been covered with tons of snow but we had a "warm" spell this weekend and most of it is melted.
I guess they'll have a story to tell their kids. "We walked 2 blocks in frigid temperatures to get to school". Yeah it's not far, I can walk it in less than 5 minutes, maybe I'm spoiling them slightly, driving them over.
Isaiah has tutoring after school so I may not have to step outside my door all day! Bill will be home in time to pick him up. I love being a shirker! Maybe I'll spend the day thinking up all the other things I can pass off to others so I don't have to do them. Maybe with the help of a ladder, Naomi can learn to unload the dishwasher!

News from the Clinic

Naomi had her 3 month check up. Our appointment with the dietitian was 1:45, she showed up about 2:10.
The place was busy. I even counted how many pediatric neurologist they had on staff, 12.
The Dietitian was happy with what she saw. Thought Naomi was very active and may need to add back her calories. She was expecting to see a little butterball, which she was until earlier this week. She had a growth spurt! Six weeks ago she was 36 1/4 inches tall now she's 36 3/4. She had some increased seizure activity last Friday, I wonder if growth spurts set off seizures??? She's teething too, but Isaiah had pain in his legs for a while and it ended up being growing pains, so why not toddlers.
Back to the clinic.... Our appointment with Dr. Tuxhorn was scheduled for 2:20, but it ended up being late, which was fine since we were still with the dietitian. Dr. Tuxhorn thinks it'll be fine to knock back Naomi's Keppra dosage. We're going down 100 mg. So she'll get 500 mg twice a day. Bill's nervous because there's been times when Naomi's spit some of her Keppra out at night and in the morning her seizures may be worse. But going down slowly on dosage is different than missing a dose. There may be a rough day, but we've got to start going down sometime! Dr. Tuxhorn was very happy with the progress and since her BHB is still only at 5.1, in ketosis but not high, she thinks more improvement may come. We see her again in April.
We had a 3:20 appointment with Dr. Parikh, he's the "why" Dr and he said the words I wanted to hear! NO SPINAL TAP NEEDED!!! That was music to my ears! He said looking at her development he sees no sign of metabolic problems and we don't need to put her through a spinal tap! But if her seizures worsen or she starts back tracking in her development, we've got his number. Otherwise, no need to see him for 9 months or even a year!
So I was very pleased with our visit. The bubbles in the fish tank entertained Naomi, she was jumping in front of them. Then she'd turn and grab her shirt by her belly like she was going to rip it off and act mad and throw her shoulders back. It was funny, she'd act all mad then break out in a grin like "just kidding". Sure were a lot of kids in there today! At least the weather was good. 40 degrees! First day above freezing since I don't know when. Arctic air coming in tomorrow! High of 18!!!!!!!!

US & THEM

I often see other children at therapy and think how lucky we are. I realize that my child has seizures and it has slowed down her cognitive abilities and her speech, but she's never... well on second thought let's not get into the things that haven't happened. I'm not superstitious but it's my kid!
To look at her she looks like a normal kid. Whenever we're out there's always someone who says "Hi what's your name?" or something like that and I have to answer for her.
What those people just said to her doesn't compute in her head yet. There are times someone says hello to her and she replies "NO". At least I don't have to answer for her then!
When she was a baby, well before the seizures ,when people would come up and talk to her she'd scrunch up her face and blow razzberries at them! That was funny!
Last time we were in the hospital I had her out walking in the hall. Her head was all wrapped up with gauze, the leads to the EEG hanging like a pony tail and me trying to hold the box that they plug into. A woman passed us in the hall and smiled sadly at Naomi and I saw it in her face. WE were the family that she was glad she wasn't! I wanted to chase her down the hall and explain how this wasn't what it looked like, this wasn't that bad. Then I realized... this ISN'T that bad.
Had Naomi had these problems in certain other states, other countries she wouldn't have received the care she has. The great neurologist, the wonderful therapist, all those great nurses who've cared for her.
I never knew it, but the man we buy cars from, (Dave Z, Spurgeon Chevrolet, Wooster Ohio!) has a daughter who has seizures. I found this out when I was over getting an oil change last year and we started talking. Naomi was with me and he asked how she'd been and I explained she had started having seizures. He asked what med she was on then went on to tell me his daughter has had seizures for over 20 years. At 18 months she was bit by a mosquito and got a fever and encephalitis and has never been the same "a little mosquito caused all these problems" he said. But he sincerely looked at me and said "It'll be fine". His daughter still just drops to the floor several times a day. It was so nice to talk to someone who's been where we are. Someone who knows the stress of all this and the worries of what happens next.
I just hope one day, 20 years from now our story can be a comfort to someone who's going through this. Actually! Strike that! I hope 20 years from now there will be a definitive cure for seizures!

I'm so sleepy!

About 2 am Naomi started to show signs she may be waking up. By 4 a.m. she was in full giggle mode! You'd think the bed was filled with tickle bugs! Who can be so happy at 4 a.m.!??? At first it was so cute! Then as I saw this was not ending anytime soon, not so cute after all!

By 5 a.m. I had her giggly self in my arms while I unhappily stomped down the steps. I ended up feeding her breakfast at 5:20. She usually eats at 6. Also gave her medicine at 5:30 so I could hopefully get her to sleep. Thankfully she nodded off in her own bed about 6. Only to wake again at 6:40, about the time Isaiah was getting up for school. I came back downstairs to get Isaiah's breakfast ready and then went up and put her in my bed hoping for more sleep. Which thankfully came but she fell asleep on my arm. When Isaiah came up to get in the shower I told him I'd call Grammy to see if she'd come take him to school. Well, him and the other 3 kids I take. So back to bed I went. She ended up waking about 7:45. I went and told the kids (4 unsupervised in my living room) to be sure they were ready by 7:55 because Grammy had to get back to work and I had to get in the shower. Today was therapy day (OF COURSE) and Naomi had to be at therapy, which is 20 minutes away, at 8:30. Here we were about 8 a.m. still in our pajamas. The kids were not ready when my mom got here, by the way!

I got us bathed and clothed and out the door and then managed to hit every traffic light between us and therapy. Also got behind a school bus! I called to tell them we were coming, just running late. We ended up being about 10 minutes late for her 1st appointment, but all went well.

She actually had a good therapy day! She made eye contact, walked on the balance beam, played music, looked at books all without a melt down.

Meanwhile I was puddling in the corner! We laid down for a nap just after noon and she took about an hour nap. I could not get to sleep (maybe the Starbucks?). I had ,and still have, a twitch in my right thigh that is driving me nuts! I am hoping for a better nights sleep tonight! Tomorrow we go back to the neurologist office, I'm pretty sure I'll remember to ask about her sleep! I'm so sleep deprived I probably need to make a list.

Unity

A very cute moment of toddler unity happened yesterday. As we left therapy and I was putting Naomi's coat on I noted a set of what must have been twins. A little black boy, maybe 3 years old, playing with the automatic doors, and his sweet sister, her hair in pig tails, being read to by her mother (who was oblivious to the antics of the boy) .
I got Naomi's coat on her and the boy stopped in front of her and Naomi said "NO" and he said "WHY?". His sister saw what was going on ran over and hugged Naomi. Naomi just beamed, that hug made her very happy. The little girl ran back to her mother but immediately came back and held Naomi's face in her hands. It was precious! Then came in for another hug. Naomi's laughing lightly the whole time.
As we turned to go out the door I heard the little boy banging on the door that goes back to the therapy rooms yelling "HEY! LET ME IN!!!"
That poor mother had her hands FULL!
*** found out today at therapy they're not twins! They're a year apart and ARE a handfull!

Watching History

Naomi had therapy today and then we had to run to Kroger to buy cream and diapers, our 2 main staples! Then I flew home to eat lunch and turn on the t.v. to watch the inauguration. I usually don't pay any attention to the inauguration but this year is different. This is not only a once in a life time event, which I keep hearing. It's a once EVER event. I meant you can only elect the FIRST of anything one time. All else will be the 2nd. Anyhow, I'm completely teary eyed! He's so calm!!!!
God help him, he's got a tough road ahead of him!

It's Martin Luther King Day

Each year in school they study Martin Luther King.
And every year Isaiah messes up some pivotal fact about MLK.
Last year he told me Mr. King was killed by JFK and no matter what I said he would say "that's what they told us in school". I even showed him James Earl Ray on the Internet and still "that's not what they told us in school". I emailed his teacher and asked why she was teaching my son that MLK was killed by JFK and she called me laughing and said she did NOT teach that. Between the two of us we got him straightened out. Apparently he just heard snippets of that lesson!
This year he asked me "mom wouldn't it have been scary then? People bombing kids in their houses and at church!"
Once he and I were talking about MLK, he thinks MLK made a law saying that blacks and white can be friends, or something like that. He said he sure was glad that MLK made that law or he and Austin couldn't be friends.
I was trying to explain what it was like once, when blacks weren't allowed to drink from the same fountain, eat at the same restaurants etc... and Isaiah said "Mom, that's just silly" and he's right! That's a hard thing to explain to your kids. Trying to tell him about prejudice once I told him there were people who were afraid of black people simply because they're black and he said "Mooooomm, Mooooom! You're just kidding aren't you!? Why would anyone be afraid of Austin or James?"
For a long time Isaiah didn't even know that when someone said a person was black that they were talking about their skin. He thought they were talking about their shirts! Once we were at a McDonald's and Austin's Dad, who is a 6ft black man, was coming to get pick him up. Well Austin was the only one who saw his Dad pull in and he just up and jumped out of his seat and ran out the door. Isaiah got up and followed him to the door but then came back and when Austin's mom asked where Austin was Isaiah said "In the parking lot with some tall white guy" She jumped out of her chair to go see who in the heck had her son when Austin and his dad (wearing a white t-shirt) walked in the door. We all started laughing.
I've never used the word "race" to describe any one different than us. I myself was over 20 before I realised people considered Hispanic people to be a different race! I just considered them from different heritage I guess or ethnic back ground, which to me is more about their traditions and such than anything. I still don't get why Jewish people are considered different, that's a religion, we all had Jewish ancestors. Jesus was Jewish.
I must add that I've tried to tell Isaiah this presidential inauguration is historic, and he knows Barack Obama will be the first black president, but I don't think he understands why that is such a big deal. I want him to know history and know how hard it's been for blacks but I'm also glad that in his mind it's no big deal. He doesn't see why a person can do anything they want to and not be limited by the color of their skin.
Anyway, I hope to raise my kids to be open minded and accepting. To know just because we don't understand something or something isn't like us doesn't make it wrong. I want to do my part to make MLK's dream come true.

At The Movies

Well not AT the movies. These days the movies have to come to me.
I LOVE Hugh Grant movies. I rented Music and Lyrics from the library. Somehow I'd never gotten around to watching it. I liked it.
My favorite movie of his is Love Actually, of course there are so many good actors in that you can hardly call it "his" movie. I love when he dances in that movie so Music and Lyrics was great also because it's full of him dancing.
I also liked About a Boy, Notting Hill and Nine Months and many more I'm sure. I don't like the Bridget Jones Diary movies simply because Renee Zellweger's constant squinting distracts me. It's unfortunate because Collin Firth, whom I'll always think of as Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice (be still my beating heart!), is also in those movies and I adore him also!
I love Sense and Sensibility, but I love just about ever movie made based on an Austen book.
I will say this though about Hugh Grant, all the characters he plays are basically the same person. But I still love his movies.

Calling All Shoppers!

Today I went back among society! I went to Walmart to get some groceries! How exciting!
After I got home I started thinking about the things I've seen at Walmart. I'll start with something my mom saw though.
My mom works at Walmart and late one night she saw a man ride through the store on a bicycle. Rode right past a front end manager. Mom said the manager should have felt a breeze the guy rode so close behind him but the manager was completely oblivious. No one even tried to stop the guy! Mom asked the manager if the guy had paid for the bike and he didn't know. Mom said "well he didn't ride in on it!". She had just walked out of her office when the guy rode by so there wasn't much she could do about it.
I saw....
a woman in The Simpson's pajama pants
a guy with his underwear sticking up over the back of his pants and they were
disgustingly discolored. Looked like he washed them in mud
a man with his hand, no make that his arm, from the elbow down shoved in the front
of his pants. I don't know what he was doing
a family where the males all had their heads shaved except for a little patch at the back of
their head which they let grow down the middle of their back.
a group of High School boys walking around in sun glasses and ear pieces, wearing blazers
looked like they were trying to look like secret service agents or something
three Asian boys from the university buying condoms and looking like they were
so embarrassed!
a "redneck" couple (no other way to describe them) not 10 ft. inside the front door,
pressed up against one another french kissing. It was gross! and inappropriate
another Asian University student, this one a girl, buying a card, wearing those shearling
boots and mini shorts (barely covered her tiny bottom) and it was below freezing!
a mother putting her infant in the back seat of her car while her toddler climbed from
the basket side of the cart into the infant carrier part! That just about gave me
a heart attack
Then I saw the same mother put the toddler in the front seat of the car, no car
seat and it was a car new enough to have air bags (I called the police from my
cell)
Naomi sitting in a cart smiling at me, then opened her mouth to laugh and had a Walmart
smiley face sticker stuck to her tongue perfectly positioned!
A child screaming bloody murder while their mother tried to pull a smile face sticker off
their tongue and not get bitten by the toddler's razor sharp teeth.

Cabin Fever

I have Cabin Fever! Actually if I was in one of the cabin's we used to vacation in I may be a little less bored. I am tired of the snow and cold! Mostly the cold. I could run out to Walmart for a little "excitement" but I don't want to go out in the cold! It's only 5:20 p.m. and it's already starting to look like it's getting dark. I just looked at the thermometer and it has warmed up to 0 degree Fahrenheit!
I grabbed Bill's face in my hands and said "I need adult interaction!". He told me all about work. Half of which I blocked out all I caught was Fish Hook (a guy), South (another guy) and blah blah blah. But it was nice to hear the sound of his voice and not Elmo's!
Naomi hollers "MO" now and at first I thought it was more, but I'm pretty sure it's just short for Elmo.
My dad stopped and got Isaiah, his "best pal" they were going for haircuts and then Isaiah's staying with my mom and dad until Monday. They're 10 miles away and he took a suitcase full of clothes, a bag full of his PlayStation 2 and other toys and a container of Legos (Like thousands of little Legos).
Well I'm going to eat more of the potato soup I made and maybe some left over brisket and wait for the day to pass!
At least Bill will be home all weekend!

He's becoming a man!

Today I heard Isaiah tell his Dad
"I wouldn't go in there for a year, maybe two" as they passed in the hall.
Isaiah had just come out of the bathroom.
Ahhhh what a proud moment!
Just to be clear he got that from his father!
Isaiah's mad at me because village was one of his spelling words this week and I used it in the following sentence "Papaw is the village idiot"

On a side note.... Jeopardy is on here, I've thought maybe I should put the answer to final Jeopardy on a side bar every night so anyone in other time zones could impress their family by knowing the answer!

Frustration

This is what frustration looks like. She got herself stuck in this box twice. The first time I got her out right away. The second time I made her figure it out.
These are photos from the second time.

Just About There

In case you're one of the few I haven't emailed this to, we are just about to this point! Quite a bit of snow on the ground already and it's been snowing since about 11 a.m. Some schools have even already called off for Thursday and Friday. UGGGGHHHH!

Diary of a Snow Shoveler
Author unknown
December 8: 6:00 PM.
It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

December 9:
We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the Whole World? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.

December 12:
The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry, we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice man I'm glad he's our neighbor.

December 14:
Snow lovely snow! 8" last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn't huff and puff so.

December 15:
20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.

December 16:
Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

December 17:
Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. God I hate it when she's right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20:
Electricity's back on, but had another 14" of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Goddamn snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he's lying.

December 22:
Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white shit fell today, and it's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again. I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he's too busy. I think the asshole is lying.

December 23:
Only 2" of snow today. And it warmed up to 0o. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she nuts!!! Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she's lying.

December 24:
6". Snow packed so hard by snowplow, l broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snowplow, I'll drag him through the snow by his balls. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas Carols with her and open our presents, but I was busy watching for the goddamn snowplow.

December 25:
Merry Christmas. 20 more inches of the !=3D@x@!x!x1 slop tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. God I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's an idiot. If I have to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm going to kill her.

December 26:
Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.

December 27:
Temperature dropped to -30o and the pipes froze.

December 28:
Warmed up to above -50. Still snowed in. THE BITCH is driving me crazy!!!!!

December 29:
10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30:
Roof caved in. The snow plow driver is suing me for a million dollars. The wife went home to her mother. 9" predicted.

December 31:
Set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.

January 8:
I feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?

Don't Want None!

She didn't say anything but this is the face I got while feeding Naomi the other day. I think her face and hands say it all!

I ran to the grocery BY MYSELF!

First time in a long time that's been possible. It went so quick!

As I left I couldn't keep from feeling like I'd forgotten something. I kept looking at the empty cart and realized I'm just used to having Naomi sitting there. I got everything, beef brisket, pork chops, chuck roast and a ham. We're eating good this week!

Our Sled dog

Just so you know, if your dog needs a sweater to be outside in the cold.... she probably won't make a good sled dog. She tried. Gave it her all. Pulled the sled empty but when the big 9 year old climbed in the sled that was it. A 13 pound dog can not pull a big boy. She was out less than 5 minutes and was sitting by the back door, even though the gate was open, waiting for me to go inside. Today I went upstairs to take a nap with Naomi and heard her bark. OOOPS! Had to holler to Isaiah to go let her in the house! She's so small she's easy to loose track of!

An Alberta clipper came in today and dumped a little snow. The big change comes tonight. Wind chill warning. The cold isn't so bad, but the wind is brutal!

Isaiah loves being outside. I asked him at one point if he was ready to come in and warm up and he said "No I'm having to much fun out here".

I can see how pushing an old yellow plastic school bus through the snow would be a blast (?!)

He can't really sled ride because our hill goes straight down to the street. He stayed out over 2 hours. You just don't know how thankful I am that he can get himself dressed in his snow pants, boots, gloves etc....

I'm a bad, wife, mom and owner!

So that Fawn feels better about herself and her recent post about being a bad mother I'll post some of my "issues".
First the dog! She's a little dog, doesn't eat much and I so seldom have to fill her dish I often find it empty and wonder how long it's been like that! (I think Bill takes care of it most of the time). I often let her out to potty and completely forget about her! Summer, not so bad Winter BAD BAD BAD! She eventually starts to bark or whine.
The kids
1. I once got so aggravated with Isaiah I said "are you stupid!"
2. Naomi has been watching way too much T.V., but we're up at 5a.m to bed at 9pm with a nap,
that's a lot of time to fill!!!!!
3. I'm happy when weather gets so bad school is cancelled and even happier if that happens to
fall on a Tues or Thurs. because then I don't' have to take Naomi to therapy either.
4. Isaiah spends way too much time in his room.
5. I hate my kids homework as much as he does and have no patience helping him some days.
6. I totally use Santa as a tool. Year round! Kid being difficult? Under my breath, just loud
enough for the kid to hear, I may say "I hope Santa is writing this down.".
7. I let Naomi tear up the living room, put toys where ever she wants and may go days without
bothering to put them away.
8. Naomi wet through 2 different pair of pants yesterday because someone didn't change her
diaper often enough.
9. If we don't have to go anywhere, myself and the kids may spend whole days in pajamas.
10. I haven't had Naomi's portrait taken since her 1st birthday!

Now for Bill!
1. He washes his own work clothes
2. He's ran out, in bad weather, to get me something to eat
3. I make fun of his speech impediment ( he can't say quarrel!)
4. He's been sleeping in Isaiah's room because of Naomi, and I don't want him back on a
permanent basis! My dream home would have 2 master bedrooms! I long to just stretch
out in a bed by myself.
5. He does way more than I do around here.
6. Since starting Naomi's diet he's often had to scavenger for supper. He doesn't' complain
even though he has eaten way more bologna that any human should!

Now for the house...
1. my laundry tends to pile up!
2. I go way to long before washing our sheets!
3. I vacuum way less than needed
4. I have a dishwasher, but now hate putting dishes away!
5. stuff piles up every where, if there's a flat surface, it's full. Until I go through end up with a
whole garbage bag full of junk!
6. I tried to recycle! Used to do good. The last couple weeks.... not so much.
7. I rarely dust, it makes me sneeze like crazy.
8. I can't imagine having a one level home, upstairs can get embarrassingly messy
9. I could care less if the beds get made (the whole upstairs thing)
10. my car sometimes looks like a homeless family has taken up residency there!
11. I sometimes have to position the kids for photos so you can't see the toys and junk behind
them!
OHHHH... that feels better. Of course my house sounds like a pig sty!

So Little Amuses Us!

The other night Bill came downstairs and said he found something upstairs that would make my year. So we both went upstairs. Our bathroom mirror is an ugly old medicine cabinet with a split mirror front. It's big too! Bill found if you stand centered in on the crack it makes you look really skinny! I had found this out too a while ago, guess I just didn't share it with Bill. So we're upstairs cracking up at ourselves in the mirror. For some reason I had never thought to stand sideways but it totally got rid of my butt and boobs! Standing straight on looking at it does mess your face up but hey you've got to sacrifice! I don't think I look too bad with just one eye!

The diet and calories

I think I've mentioned that Naomi has gained weight on the diet. Since October 27, 2008 she has went from 12.9 KG to 14.5 KG. She gained .3 KG just last week! (2.2 lbs = 1kg). So in all 1.5 KG has been gained (3.3 lbs!!!!!). This means, OBVIOUSLY, that her body is not burning the fat for energy but instead is storing it. I have weekly emailed the dietitian and at one point Naomi leveled off for 3 weekly weigh ins at 14.2 KG. But still! Plus the fact that her ketones have been low I've been thinking her calories needed lowered. I actually mentioned lowering her calories at the 6 week visit but we were changing her ratio and the dietitian seemed to think it best not to change too many things at once. I called 2 other times, once went unanswered and the other I talked to the dietitian who USED to do the diet because our dietitian was on vacation. But Friday the more I thought about it the more peeved I got! So I called and whoever answered said the dietitian was out of the office until Monday. So I left a message and was not very nice about it. I wasn't rude but I made it clear I wanted some direction! There must have been a mix up because our dietitian called me back in about 30 minutes and made the calorie change. SO now Naomi gets 950 calories in 4 meals. I fed her a lower calorie meal last night and this morning already her ketones were a little higher. So that's promising.
NOTE: OPPPS I just realized that I had written Oct 27, 2007! I was a year behind! I've been doing so well writing 2009 on everything!

Snow Day

We are under a winter storm watch since last night and it goes until 7 p.m. tonight. So I'm a bit bored!!! There were some really large flakes that looked like they were a good 2 inches in diameter. It seemed to have stopped for now, but there's a couple inches of snow out there.
So here's some things that happened last week that I haven't mentioned...

1. Isaiah had a Social Studies test and it was about Ohio native Americans and one of the
questions was "what would be your Indian name and why?" and Isaiah wrote Fox stuck in a
hole because I'm fast but clumsy.

2. Naomi had an evaluation for the special needs preschool, which I don't intend to send her to, but it also is an eval to see if she qualifies for any other services, which she will. We should be able to get extra therapy for her, specifically Speech and Occupational is what I'm pushing for. She already goes 2 days a week (not there), but this wouldn't go through our insurance. Any extra therapy is a plus! Also they'd send a teacher to our home once a week to work with her here.

3. At the evaluation right before we left, I was in the hall filling out paper work and she was in the classroom, she tripped and hit her head on the corner of a table. Got a huge goose egg, but these things happen. She's fine, it looks much better now.

4. The city schools were on a 2 hour delay two days this week due to snow or ice and I took 4 extra kids to school (I make 2 trips to the school, I don't squish them all into the car!). The worse part of that is my poor floors! 4 kids coming in from out side, with snow boots on! In 2 different doors! There were chunks of rock salt floating in the little puddles they left behind.

5. Isaiah has begged to watch The Dark Knight. I thought it may be a little scary. I finally conceded, after he gave a list of the kids in his class who's parents had let them watch it. I told him he had to wait until Saturday morning to watch it, so it would be day, and not right before he went to bed. We stopped by the video store and got it and Tropic Thunder after school on Friday. The woman who worked at the store said it wasn't scary and her son hadn't even liked it, Isaiah should be fine. After Naomi and I went to bed at 7:30 on Friday Bill put the movie in for he and Isaiah to watch. Just a little into the movie, Isaiah starts piling pillows in front of his face. Bill turned it off and told him they weren't watching it if it scared him. Apparently he'd already been warned about some parts and was just preparing for the worst. When I asked him this morning how his movie was he just shrugged. His dad told him I would be mad because he begged to watch it. I told him now maybe he'd realize Momma's always right!

6. At the movie rental place Isaiah went by the door and was reading a brochure like he was all interested in it. When I got close to him he showed me what it was, a brochure for the Marine Corps. He said he was just looking at it because Papaw was a Marine. I told him "yeah and all he got from it was bad hearing". He said he knew that. My dad did 2 tours of duty in Vietnam.

7. Isaiah had homework where he had to write a summary of the story they'd read in Reading. So I sat with him said "start at the beginning of the story and tell the highlights of the story, what it's about" I wrote down what he said. Then he got a piece of paper and rewrote what he'd just said. Otherwise we're there all night long, him trying to remember what he'd said and what he wants to write, seriously it could take over an hour, long over an hour! Friday, when the teacher sees his paragraph she told him he needed to indent the paragraph and Isaiah said "my mom wrote it I just copied it" and the teacher said "I like your mom's work". I didn't even look at his summary after he was done because he needs to start remembering all the rules or get counted off for it! Capital letter to start a sentence, use punctuation and indent a paragraph! So now his teacher must think I do his homework for him! I emailed her to explain, but still!

8. Bill got notice at work that they will be working 10 hour days until further notice! AWESOME! After 2 months of 4 day weeks and a whole week off! This is great news! Plus at 10 hours a day he'll still get 2 days off a week (we think) Not like when they were really busy and working 7 days a week, although that's great too because Sunday's are double pay!

9. I actually cooked! I haven't done so much of that since Naomi started the diet. I even made a coconut cake (from a box). Isaiah said "what's the special occasion" and I said "I went to the grocery store with the munchies!".

10. Naomi got her bangs cut when I got my hair cut and the hairdresser, Maria, hadn't seen her since October, before the diet and when she was still on Topamax. She couldn't believe the change and said "she's got such a little personality now!" Naomi didn't cry when she cut her hair just squealed! Big improvement. Then she sat there and cracked up laughing while I got my hair cut! When we left Maria said "bye, can you good bye?" and Naomi turned from here and said "NO!" Alrighty then!

Time Warp

I was caught in a bit of a time warp this week!

I was driving home and Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard was on the radio. I was singing along. Still knew most the words. I got home, came in the house and turned on the T.V. it was on channel 34 which is American Movie Classics channel and you will not believe what was on! Pretty in Pink with Molly Ringwald!!!! I almost permed my hair and tight rolled my jeans! Thank goodness the kids were here to keep me grounded! I don't think my bangs are long enough anymore to stick straight up on my head, and I know I don't have any hair mousse!
I'm not at all thrilled that AMC is showing the movies that were popular when I was a teenager!! They need to stick to John Wayne movies, old Clint Eastwood flicks! Maybe some more Audrey Hepburn! Even the Incredible Mr. Limpet! But surely movies from the 1980's are not yet ready to retire to the AMC listings!

Good morning sunshine!

Naomi would wake up at 5:30 a.m. and I'd think "OOOOO it'd be so nice to sleep until 7!"
Then she started waking at 4:30 a.m. and I longed for 5:30.
Now for the last two nights she woke at 2 a.m and stayed up until 4 a.m. then falls back asleep. She needs her medicine by 7 a.m, Isaiah has to be to school by 8:15, so we have to get up. Today we have an appointment at 8:30. It's really throwing everything off schedule.
During the 2 hours she's up she's happy, mostly sits still in the bed with me, shakes her Snoopy bobble head, gives me her forceful kisses where she grabs me by the ear to pull me to her. Then just eventually drifts off to sleep. Yesterday she slept until 7 when I had to get her medicine in her. Today she woke up at 6. I'm wondering if her teeth aren't bothering her. She had a small and low intensity cluster when she woke up and then has had one her and a there and two more tiny clusters before she was up for an hour. They're all tiny though, don't bother her at all. That's good! I did give her some Tylenol because it just seems like something is bothering her and she does have a molar that's pushing through (for like a month now!!!!) At least now you can see it when she yells!
I'm tired, I hope this all makes sense!

Penalty Box

Where he come up with this stuff I don't know! But while I was checking some email Isaiah was supposed to be doing homework at the dining room table and Naomi was happily wandering around with various toys. The door to the room I'm in is closed but the kids are just on the other side. I kept hearing..

"Sissy, Sissy, back to your penalty box"

little girl giggle

"Sissy, Sissy, BREACH BREACH!"

more little girl giggle.

"Get back into position soldier! Soldier's don't stand!"

Naomi cracking up!

So I go out to see what is going on! I haven't been away long, but you see what happened! Isaiah pulled every big toy, toy box and even the coupe over to block Naomi into the corner in her bean bag chair. Poor little girl, she's oddly content!
OH GOD I got to go he's put her in the coupe and blocked her in. She's not STUPID she knows she can climb out the door! He's yelling "Sissy that could be dangerous! Sissy Sissy!!!!!!!" And she's out and laughing in his face!!

Keto Nightmares

My husband told me yesterday that he had a dream where he was changing Naomi's diaper and she started to pee all over him and I was yelling "save that pee I have to check her ketones!!!" and he was trying like crazy to catch her urine in the diaper.
Last night I had my own dream about the Ketogenic diet. Naomi was in her highchair and someone gave her food and I was yelling "we didn't weigh it, we didn't weigh it! EVERYTHING has to be weighed!!!!"
Notice in both dreams I was yelling? I don't think I yell that much! More of a raised voice, I really don't need to yell, just raising my voice makes Isaiah quake in his boots. Naomi's could care less she'll ignore you and go on her way no matter what.

Happy New Year! 2009 is here?

The New Year is here isn't it?!!!
I UMMMMM... went to bed at 8:30 on New Years Eve! Missed the ball drop in Times Square but I did see footage of it at 5 a.m. on the morning news. I had heard the Jonas Brothers were "ringing in the New Year" and thought .. I'm getting old! The Jonas Brothers? REALLY America!!!! That's all we've got!???







Here's my New Years babies! Naomi has yet to see a hairbrush! Plus her hair was in a pony tail so it looks EXTRA messy. Plus her new favorite spot in the house is in front of the heating vent. So her hair is so full of static.



Here's by bigger baby, Elton, I mean Isaiah. He wore this outfit out to eat but then acted embarrassed about it and didn't want to put it back on to have his photo taken. So that's why he's not smiling. Of course any more his smiles are soooo fake and crazy looking. As much as he stands in the bathroom mirror making faces and such he should have perfected his photo face by now!




Both kids spent New Years day in their pajamas. It's cold out and I really didn't have to take them anywhere today. So why not save the laundry!

I told Isaiah happy New Year this morning and he said "why are you saying that?". I don't know what he was thinking! He's so crazy sometimes!