Isaiah's Social Studies flag

Isaiah was supposed to make a flag representing the northwest territories in his Social Studies class. I guess it's Ohio Social Studies because that's all they've studied so far. They're at the end of the 1700's now in Ohio history and Ohio is one of the 5 states to come from the northwest territories. What's so funny is the paragraph Isaiah wrote along with the flag and the response from the teacher. Isaiah wrote....

The buckeye (which is not a meatball) stands for Ohio. The stars stands for the five states the green stand for the farm lands. The read stands for the blood they shed in battle.

(he's an excellent speller I can't believe he wrote "read" instead of red.)

His teacher wrote

90% A-

Isaiah

-nice job!

-Good paragraph but should be 5 sentences!

-That's funny about the meatball!

His teachers have to get a kick out of him. He always tries to write something to make them laugh. In the 3rd grade they had to write spelling sentences every week. After the first comment written by his teacher on his sentences page, he was hooked! He tried to make her laugh and write a comment every week after that! At one point I had to tell him "they can be funny but they HAVE to make sense also!".

Snot-knots

What's happening at my house? Snot-a lot! HA! I've been watching too much Al Roker and his bad puns.

Naomi woke AGAIN with a nose full of green boogers. So instead of fighting it I just put her hair up in snot knots for the umpteenth time.

When will spring be here?!!!!

I did find my digital camera charger. Well actually Bill found it. It was hiding behind a picture frame.

Don't ask why there's a potty in my kitchen! Just know it's clean and hasn't been used in forever!

Snugglie Pelosi?

I wish I could find a better picture of it....... But am I the ONLY one who thought it looked like Pelosi was wearing a snugglie last night? And the color! Not exactly the color of Hope! More like prison camp.

I thought Michele Obama looked fantastic. No snugglie for her.

The Papaw Poem

Isaiah brought this home from school yesterday. I can't remember what they call this type of poem, but he chose to write about his Papaw (who else!?) They are tight! Best Pal is what they call each other. Here's how his poem goes.
Papaw
Loving, peaceful
Fishing, joking, caring
I love my Papaw
Grandpa

He drew a picture of Papaw in his house, see the recliner off to the left. He even drew in the lever that puts your legs up!

Making Change

David's $2 bill give away made me think of something that happened the summer of 2007. That was the year we vacationed in Charlottesville, VA. We stopped at the visitor's center and bought passes for James Monroe's home Ash Lawn Highland, The Michie Tavern and Monticello. At Monticello you park in one spot and buy tickets then board a bus and are taken up to the house and grounds. We already had adult tickets but had to buy a child ticket for Isaiah. It cost $8. I paid with a $20 bill. The girl behind the counter had a heck of a time making change for me. They give everyone a crisp new $2 bill as part of their change since Thomas Jefferson is on the bill. I was standing there thinking how embarrassed Thomas Jefferson would be that this girl can't even make change! A $2 bill and a $10 bill ran through my head over and over. Trying to send my thoughts to the girl. But it didn't work. She had to get out a calculator!
Now... if you are ever lucky enough to visit that part of Virginia I would definitely recommend Ash-Lawn Highland. It doesn't seem to be as popular as Monticello but I actually liked it better. It's much more of a home. There are 3 slave cabin on the premises but it doesn't seem like such an estate, it's much more of a home.
The Michie Tavern was fun too. Isaiah and I took the tour while Bill sat in the car with a sleeping Naomi. Don't tell anyone but Isaiah danced the Virginia Rail as part of the tour. We had lunch at the tavern also. It's buffet style. I can't say I'd recommend that, especially if you have kids. It's over priced and I hope you like black eyed peas and greens. I don't. The gift shop below Michie Tavern was very nice. It's an old mill and the water wheel is still going.
At Monticello we took the tour that is tailored to families with young children. It was great! A woman who had been a school teacher in the area was our guide. Every child was given something, Isaiah had a small piece of hide from a buffalo. Then as we went through the house she'd ask if any of the kids saw something in the room that was like what they were holding. Isaiah's was right in the entry way. Jefferson had a lot of items brought back by Lewis and Clark.
In the garden they had some resurrection fern which Isaiah thought was so neat. When you touch the leaves of the plant it has a natural defense, it plays dead. It is funny. You touch it, then it starts to wither and curl up. You wait a while and it comes back to life.
The only thing that wasn't so good about that trip was the weather! Heat wave! It was over 100 every day we were in Virginia. Even after we left Charlottesville and went to Virginia Beach it was 106 at the beach! We stayed 1 night and headed back to Ohio!

The Holy Lands of Maryland

My son stayed with my parents this weekend. Sunday morning my mom called and told Bill they were watching television and something came on that mentioned Baltimore and Isaiah had a "light bulb" moment and said - "Baltimore? That's where Jesus was born"
Baltimore/Bethlehem, it is MARYland.
At least he's off his Adam and his wife Eve kick. He searched for them in the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. I thought he was just looking for other family tombstones. After we left he said "I don't understand. If they were the first humans who worked at the hospitals when they had kids?!"
It's funny the way he gets things turned around!

Not in charge!

One thing I hate about the modern world is chargers!
Cell phones, camcorder, digital camera.... or not. I can not find my digital camera charger!
I'm missing out! I wanted to take a photo of Naomi in her "snot knots". That's what I call the hair-do I give her when she's got a runny nose. Boys are much easier to deal with when sick!
Her hair swings around, gets plastered with snot and sticks to her face. Once she even got it in her bangs and they were sticking stright up like in the movie Something About Mary.
I wanted to also take photos of our Valentine's Day presents. Of course now they're empty candy wrappers and dead roses (which are still on top of the entertainer center! I'll get to it). The kids stuff is still fine. Isaiah and Naomi both got $50 from my parents. Isaiah added that to the money he already saved and bought a Legos set. Naomi banked her money, but she also got a bag of books, which she LOVES!
The worst thing is I do not feel good and I do not feel like hunting down the charger! So this week, or more, in our life will either go unchronicled or I will get out the old 35mm, which has NEVER let me down, and take photos old school style!
My husband's off for the whole week. Yet another plant shut down, scary. Maybe I'll grab a piece of paper and start a "Honey Do" list. Finding my charger can be #1. Well actually #2. His other wife already called this morning and her kitchen sink is plugged and he's promised to fix it today. My mom and I call our neighbor lady Bill's other wife. Mom always says it's good "the other woman" and I get along so well. Her kids refer to Bill as her surrogate husband. Her grand kids haven't starting calling him Papaw yet!

Time Flies

Naomi will be 3 in two weeks!
This also means that she's been having daily seizures for over half her life now.
She started having seizures at 17 months, if you'd have told me then she'd still be seizing daily I'd have wondered how we were gonna make it. But we have made it. One day at a time. The days just roll on.
Developmentally her speech is pretty much still where it was back them. Her large motor skills have improved. Her fine motor skills aren't used as much. She doesn't use crayons much because of her constant mouthing of items.
It would be nice to take back the time we lost to Depakote and Topamax. Both caused some cognitive delays, some of which she's coming out of slowly.
She is sick AGAIN. The bonus is she sleeps better when she is sick! She slept from 8 -6 am this morning! YIPEEEE! Of course she did roll out of the bed at midnight and cry for a tiny amount of time. But fell back to sleep totally unscathed. She didn't have one mark on her from falling and she fell between the bed and the wall. There must have been just enough room for her! She was wrapped up in a plush blanket and it must have padded the fall also.
Waiting on another snow to pass by! We had grass for a while but it snowed again on Thursday and covered everything back up.
I AM SO SICK OF WINTER!

Logan Sky Angel Cowboy

Am I the last person on Earth to see this?

Still Thinking

I'm still thinking about Freedom Writers. I had some time to think, Naomi slept until 4 and of course I woke up much earlier waiting for her to wake up!
When I watched this movie, about kids in gangs in Long Beach CA, I thought it had no relevance to my safely lived life. It also made me think though that it is kind of like Bill's childhood. Groups of kids hanging out on street corners. Listening to his mom get beat up, hiding under his bed hoping he's not next. Worrying she won't be alive when he had to leave his room in the morning. Going to bed hungry every night and not having a full belly until he visited his Grandparents.
He picked up work as a child, he said he worked from at least age 9, walking all over town, dragging his lawn mower, mowing grass for anyone. For all his work he'd hand over his money and his mom would buy him a soda and a candy bar. He had all the chores at home. He was the oldest boy of 7 kids. He'd help anyone do anything just trying to learn a new skill. He laid cinder blocks under trailers, worked in a coal mine, like a crawl on your belly or scrape your back mine. He still has a scar from where a roof bolt hit his shoulder. For some reason after him they decided they'd been too hard on him and took it easy on the next 4 kids. Which just made his load heavier. Instead of chores being shared by 4 boys it was only him. I think his mom was probably overwhelmed with 7 kids and didn't know any better, truly. His step dad was about 19 when he inherited 4 step kids and then had 3 of his own and he had a bad temper and drank too much.
There was a show on ABC the other night called Children of the Mountains. Bill said he didn't have to watch it he lived it. But I am curious about the show. Bill and my Dad are both from West Virginia, different counties though. Both have some terrible childhood stories.
Bill was raised not far from the Eastern Kentucky counties in this show. I see on the website lots of people are sending in money for funds for these kids. All I've go to say, without watching the individual families is this. These are people who generally have never had any money to manage. If they're given say $10,000 that's going to seem like enough to last a lifetime. They'll probably spend it in no time too. The kids do deserve a hand out of their situation. But do they want to leave? Even Bill used to go home every weekend for years after he left. There's some kind of draw back to the mountains. My Dad too! My Dad was in Vietnam for 2 tours of duty. He said before he left other Marines warned him of the living conditions over there. He got there and thought "this isn't so bad" it was actually better than what he had at home! (SIDE NOTE: My grandparents had an outhouse built over a stream. 14 kids used that. I pity who ever lived down stream! YUK!)
To really help these kids the change needs to start from the inside. They need to be taken out of their situations and shown there is a better way. Just like in Freedom Writers. If you think kids are hungry and poor everywhere, living the same as you, how would you even know to want different. If you come from a community as tiny as that how are they going to adapt to college campus life?
My Dad's family settled in Fayette County WV (Virginia then) prior to 1850. They used to be a self supporting people. Farmed, kept a garden, sold their goods, canned and put up food. Really had a hard life. But they worked were proud and took care of their own. Some where along the line there was a big change. Too many people still live out in the mountains where there aren't many jobs. No real way to support a family. Instead of driving to work they simply file for welfare. This is a bit of a generalization. I do have cousins that drive an hour or more for work and also some who've gone to college to get an education so they can earn a living in the area they are living. But I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say they're the minority.
These poor children of the mountains are poor. They don't have enough food. They've probably never seen a dentist, rarely see a doctor. But there is a mind set their parents have. They don't even KNOW to want for more. Not that they have to wish for riches. But to have the basics! To ensure your child has a better chance than you did. To go out and do for themselves and not just wait until someone gives them something. The really poor do get food stamps so why are the kids so hungry. When I hear them complain about their kids being hungry while a cigarette hangs out of their mouth that really drives me bonkers! I've seen too many of these families come home from the grocery with too little milk and too much soda. Soda like you wouldn't believe!
I have no answers for these people. I'm glad there are churches helping, but that's the same thing. The kids who really need supplies from the church won't get them because their parents can't even sober up and leave to go get something for free.
On ABC's website about the kids it says toothlessness, depression, prescription drug use etc.. is a major problem in the area. They're leaving out domestic and sexual abuse. Both are way too common in that area and probably contribute to the depression and drug abuse. I wonder if they mentioned teen pregnancy? Or the drop out rate? Illiteracy?
UGHHHH this all drives me nuts!

.

I finally watched something besides cartoons!

I finally got to watch something I wanted to watch! No it wasn't Indiana Jones, yet again. We did have to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark last night as our "dinner movie".
I rented several movies from the library. Today I watched Freedom Writer's. I loved it! Even though it took me from 4 until 7:30 to watch the whole thing! I have to stop and start over and over. I have to stop to answer a question for Isaiah. I have to stop to change a diaper, or measure a meal and feed Naomi. I never get through anything without interruption!
It was a very moving film! I love true stories!
It was set in Long Beach, California. I went to school with a boy who moved to Ohio from Long Beach when we were in the 6th grade. I remember thinking Long Beach! Wow! Imagining palm trees etc... From the way his life was before he came to our school, I'm guessing he'd have lived in a less than desirable neighborhood and I thought how different his life could have been!
One other reason I had so much trouble being interrupted.. my husband was in lock down at work. Someone found a "bag of white powder in a container from China" and no one knew what it was. Hazmat came, they called the FBI, threatened to arrest anyone who tried to leave. The guy who found it tore it open and dipped his finger in it and tasted it.(what a genius!) Apparently it was oyster shell calcium. It's put in the container to absorb moisture. Like the little packets they put in shoes and purses. Usually it's in a fabric, sort of like a bean bag. This time it was in sealed plastic. My husband was kept at work 4 extra hours!

Disgusting!

I know i JUST put up a post but then Dr. Phil came on, which I usually don't watch. (he's gotten a little on the "shock" factor side of talk shows)
This show was about Bill's worst nightmare! The girls dressing sexy. Like 12 or 14 year old girls. It's disgusting. I see these girls want to dress sexy but they're not old enough to have jobs so who buys the shorty shorts and skirts? I mean seriously!
My neighbor worked as a nurse in an ER for years and she told me once you'd be sickened by the things they see come in. Young girls, under 10 in thong underwear! I mean seriously! What is the need of that? Pantylines? Are 7 year olds worried about pantie lines! I don't think so! Girls do not worry about what their underwear looks like until there's someone else seeing them!
I saw a 12 year old once in those mini shorts. Someone said "my goodness she has long legs" and someone else said "of course they look long, she has no pants on!" The thing about those shorts was they were from Hollister, and they don't make kids clothes, so they expected an adult woman to fit into those!
I just don't get this giving in to buying them stuff because they constantly ask for it. That would just make me madder and I'd end up taking something away instead of giving it.
I don't know if I was a total anomaly but when I was young I was never "boy crazy". I just always thought, I don't want tied to a male right now. I always knew that one day I'd be married forever and it wouldn't be to anyone in my school so why bother with them!
Before I had Naomi ,Bill said about having a girl "what if she has my blond hair and your big boobs!? You may as well just shoot me when she turns 14!"
He'll have an ulcer before she turns 16! He still refers to my friends 16 year old as a "baby girl"!
KIDS!

Another Sleepless Night

Thank you to Lisa's mother in law Susan for leaving a comment of how she can relate to my sleepless nights. After I read her comment I looked at her site and a photo of her then had to go back and read to see if she'd written sister in law or mother in law! She looked very young to me!
Anyways, it was another of those 1 a.m mornings. Naomi was content to stay in bed with me going between laying her head down on my belly, and sitting up on her knees jumping in the bed. She was just so happy! Clapping her hands, flapping her arms in her excited way and just giggling like crazy. I have to pick her up a couple times and just hug her because it's just so cute! But not at 1 a.m.! I may have to stick some suction cups to her hands and feet tomorrow and stick her to the front door!
For some reason when she wakes in the middle of the night like that she doesn't have any seizures! Not a one! After she falls back asleep, and every time she wakes from a nap she has a cluster. At night though she just wakes happy and stays happy! I think another 2 year molar is coming in! That will make 2, the one that I first noticed Dec 7 still isn't all the way up! I'm going to talk to my dentist on Thursday and see if he feels I should take her to a pediatric dentist or he may even take a look at her. He'll need one of those hands on a stick like they use at the dog shelter to test the temperament of the animals! She can BITE!
On a totally unrelated note: I'm dying to know if Lisa got her daughter new sparkly red shoes for Valentines!

My Invention

Remember these Garfield's?
I started thinking about these because I was Googling sleep problems in kids. They said light therapy can help but it's too cold outside to be out for long so I thought... HEY! If I could put suction cups on Naomi's hands and feet and stick her to the window like Garfield I'd be all set!
Anything for a good nights sleep!

Friday a.m. a.m.

Friday morning, morning is how early Naomi woke today! She fell asleep right before 8 p.m. on Thursday. Friday at 1 a.m. she woke up. She seemed thirsty, gulped down an 8 oz cup. Then another cup full at about 2 a.m. I figured she'd be up about 2 hours then fall back asleep. She was up until 6:15! I was so tired! Bill was tired too. He got up with us about 3, he heard her screaming. We finally gave in and took her downstairs. She played and didn't seem to be getting sleepy at all until she crawled in Bill's lap and 6:15 and just zonked out. He tried to put her in her bed but she just screamed. So I got in my bed with her. I heard Isaiah get up and I told him he'd have to walk to school today. Bill set out the cereal and a bowl and Isaiah made his own breakfast too.
Isaiah came into my room and said the neighbor boy was walking to school too. I said that was fine. Then I heard the 3 kids that come here in the morning before school come in and very distinctly heard "PAR-TAY". I was wondering what state my home would be in when I went downstairs! Isaiah came to ask when they should leave. I told him at 7:50 they should start getting his stuff together. I heard them all leave and was thankful 5 unsupervised kids were now out of my house! They did a very nice job of being quiet while in the house and must have made it to school just fine.
Unless they're all sitting at the bar down the street!

Ebony and Ivory

Last trip to the neurologist I asked the Dr. about the way Naomi gets so red and flushed. Looks like she's got a bad rash on her cheeks, then it's gone. The Dr. said "well she's pretty fair complected". She is. But then the Dr. added that both me and my husband are both fairly light, him more so than me.

PEOPLE! Is that the understatement of the century or what! HA!

He's got blue eyes, that's about he only thing that keeps him from being albino!

This photo is over 10 years old. I believe it was taken right before (like the day before) we got married. 1997. I look a lot different now. Duh! I think I was 23. I'm 34 now. This was when I was young enough not to care about the effects of a tanning bed on my skin. I also lived in North Carolina. Not that I got to enjoy the sun. I worked 2nd shift most of the time. 2PM-10PM. In a textile mill. Very Norma Jean. When I first walked in the place I told the supervisor that it was just like Norma Jean! I don't think he'd ever seen the movie!

My dad looks a lot older, he's pretty much gray now and no beard (I don't think, I'm so used to seeing him I don't even pay attention!). He has managed to keep his hair unlike his brothers (all 7 of them!).

Bill is the most changed! He has gained at least 50 pounds. I'd say in this photo he probably was about 145-150 pounds and he's 6 ft. tall. He goes between 200-215 now. I know those jean shorts he had on were a 28 inch waist. He would look at this and say that was when he had a six pack. I know the truth, they were his ribs! He had no rear end! If it wasn't for a wallet in one pocket and a pack of gum in the other, he'd of had no bottom! Back at this time it was nothing for him to work 60+ hours a week. The place we worked at would put us on 8 hour days working 13 days then one day off then 13 again for long periods of time (they have since closed their doors in this economy). Bill would often pick up extra, I worked overtime too but kept it to 12 hour shifts. He'd pull double shifts many times a week. He at one time worked 2 full time jobs but it made more sense to just get overtime at one job. His metabolism was so crazy he could hold his hands over me and you could feel the heat generating off him. He was in constant motion. He just never was one to be idle. Somehow, he seems to look somewhat younger to me now than he did then.

That's our apartment building behind us. We had a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath townhouse and paid $325/month, water and trash included! Man I long for those days! It was a nice place too. I missed it for a long time!

Everyday Math, Everyday Smath!

If your child's school ever decides to introduce the Everyday Math curriculum.... PROTEST!
Seriously it is the craziest thing I've ever seen! If your child is great at math, they may enjoy it. I mean what could be better than 90 minutes of math to a K-6 grader!
My son is in the 4th grade. They switch classes and he has one teacher for Math and Science. He is in her class 90 minutes. She HAS to teach Math 90 minutes. So when does Science get taught? It doesn't. He is 1/2 way through the 4th grade and has had 3 graded papers in Science. The 2nd 9 weeks he had absolutely NO Science. He bought home his grade card and I noticed there wasn't a Science grade so I emailed his teacher. She called me back and told me she wasn't happy about it, but 4th grader's are not state tested on Science but they are on Math so she had to make a choice and she had to let Science slide the last 9 weeks. Again she HAS to teach 90 minutes of math. The thing is the kids are in math 90 minutes and STILL don't understand! This is not a teaching problem it's a curriculum problem. The teachers voted AGAINST this curriculum but the administration or who ever, made the decision to get the curriculum in our schools. (WHY EVEN ASK THE TEACHER'S OPINION?)
Can you imagine the poor Kindergarten or 1st grade teachers trying to keep those little kids attention on math for 90 minutes a day!
Here's an example of why I HATE this curriculum.
Monday they may teach subtraction this way
356 First subtract the 100's
-173Then Subtract the 10's you can't subtract 5 from 7, Oh yes you can just write it as a minus
____Then subtract the ones and since it is doable you write it as +
+ 200
- 20
+ 3
_____
183

But today is a new day! It's Tuesday now do the same problem but use the old cross out and borrow way to do subtraction!

Wait, another day is gone, now it's Wednesday, I went to their website and copied this because I can not even explain it!

Closest to the traditional standard is a method that Everyday Mathematics calls "trade first". It is the Everyday Math focus algorithm for subtraction. It is a two stage process, first working right to left to do all the borrowing (recording the intermediate results above the top number) and then a second pass, in any order, doing the subtractions. The intermediate results are two-digit numbers, so one needs to use wide columns, and it is recommended to separate the columns with clear vertical lines. In the example at right, 325 - 58, we first recognize that the ones column needs borrowing, so we replace 2*10+5 by 1*10+15. Then we recognize that the tens column also needs borrowing, so we replace 3*100+1*10 by 2*100+11*10. Then we do the subtraction in each column.
211
115
3 2 5
- 5 8
------
2 6 7

I can't even keep the methods straight!
And that's not even all!!
There's also the same change
so
356 363
-173 -180
____ Make the bottom number end in 0 so add 7 to top and bottom_______

Not only are they shown these methods. I can see showing them the methods and letting them choose what is easier for them. No, they have to master ALL the methods! Also, they are all taught in the same week!
You've seriously got to check out the lattice method of multiplication! There are also 4 methods of multiplication taught too!
What's wrong with the old fashioned way of just practice, practice, practice!
Another thing is the younger grades get lots of homework like "find things in your home that show"_____ whatever. Busy work. I hate stuff like that, clipping out of magazines and all! YUK!
I'm posting (complaining) about this today because I've talked to the Principal and he's not happy with the curriculum either. I told him if Isaiah fails the 4th grade math state testing this year he is NOT going to summer school because it's the curriculum that has failed him. He's not spending 90 minutes a day plus 6 weeks of his summer in math because someone chose a crappy curriculum. They send them to summer school and they re-test on the subject that way if they pass the school system looks better. Well no way! The school system is going to look exactly as it should, failing!

I work with him all summer and had him doing multiplication the old fashioned way then they show him 3 other ways and mess him all up. Nope sorry! I'll keep working with him. Eventually he'll age out of this crappy curriculum!

The Dreaded Rash

Well, yesterday I put more ointment on Naomi and in a few minutes her skin turned beet red, like a sunburn, and it was warm to the touch. I called the Dr. I also washed her skin, which almost immediately took care of the redness. She had an appointment for today and it's dry skin. Plain old winter itch, run of the mill, dry skin. The Dr. said just to put 1% cortisone on it. She has had lots of dry skin since starting the Ketogenic Diet, though her Neuro. doesn't seem to think the diet has anything to do with it. She also gave me a prescription for her green goopy nose. I'm not sure if I'm going to fill it or not. I mean, if she didn't have seizures I'd just let it run it's course and it hasn't went into her chest yet. I forgot to take a list of antibiotics Naomi CAN take on the diet. The only one I could remember was Ceftin, so that's what the Dr. prescribed. I ran across this list of carbohydrate content of medications a while ago and meant to print it out to put it in Naomi's chart at the pediatricians office. I'm not even sure she has a "chart" anymore! Everything is computerized now!
So it's not ring worm, scabies, psoriasis, eczema, black widow spider bite or any other exciting ailment:) Just your run of the mill dry skin!
OH!!! I posted this then remembered I wanted to add this.... Naomi's pediatrician hasn't seen her for a while and noticed how much more interactive and happy she was during the visit! Thanks to NO Topamax and starting the Ketogenic Diet!

My sick kids

Isaiah says his cough is much better. He announced it when he came down this morning for breakfast. He hasn't quite got that he could complain about the cough and I may let him stay home from school. I think he's only missed 1 day of school so far this year and that's because he threw up in the middle of the night and I told him to stay home. He got up and was going to get ready for school anyhow. He's like his Dad in that way. Bill has not missed a day of work since he started his current job, 11 years ago.
Naomi woke up coughing like the mucus had fell to her throat and of course after having a wonderful day yesterday, had a long 20 minute cluster this morning, they were really light though. Several times she thought they were over and was trying to go get a book, then another would hit her. They didn't bother her at all and were just like a really strong hiccup, so pretty good for being so sick.
What ever that rash was has been taken care of with Blue Star ointment. My friend used that on her kids when they'd get ringworm. That's what Naomi's rash looked like so I tried it and in 2 applications it was pretty much gone. The redness is all gone.
She's sleeping really well at night. She wouldn't go to sleep last night until 10 though! She jumped and jumped in her bed until she tired out! She slept in until 6:30 which is a nice break from the 4:45 a.m. mornings I've been having! So I can hold off on that Dr's visit now.

Internet and sick kids

When Naomi was diagnosed with Myoclonic-Astatic seizures I Googled it and made myself sick. Every time it would bring up Doose Syndrome or Lennox Gastaut, neither of which is her. But it's not just the BIG illnesses that can drive you crazy.
Naomi has a rash on her shoulder. I've Googled it. Which is nuts! I've come across ringworm (which is what I think it may be), scabies (NO), bed bugs (NO), shingles (NO), black widow spider bite (UH-UH). It may just be dry skin. Why not just take her to the Dr.? Don't mind if I do! I think I'll call in the morning, make the trip "across town" (it's all of 2 stop lights away!) and just put my mind and my keyboard to rest.
It is reassuring to know that ringworm is not actually a worm, although Bill said one of his brothers had to have one cut out. Maybe it was roundworm or something, who knows. His mother was.... less than diligent about getting her children to the Dr. (his baby brother had a peanut stuck up his nose until it was rancid and everyone called him "Peanut" for ever because of the stink it caused!) My grandmother gave my dad turpentine to drink to get rid of worms when he was little!
Looking at the photos of people afflicted with all the skin problems Naomi doesn't have makes me wonder about their common sense! One little boy had a huge swollen ear and half his face was a total mess, how do you let something like that go! Maybe his mother got too tied up in Googling what was wrong with him!
If you take your child to the Dr. and they take a photo to post online.... maybe you've let it go a little long!

What was he thinking!

My dad gave Isaiah, who'll be 10 in May, an old camcorder.
Thankfully the battery won't hold charge so it has to be plugged in to work. Otherwise going to the bathroom in this house of old doors with no locks, would be scary!
I rewound the tape to see what riveting footage he'd shot.
There's my dad eating supper, while Isaiah makes the sound effects.
There's my mom in her nightie and house coat in her living room. He says "and there's my Grammy" and mom puts one hand on her hip and the other behind her head (bedhead) and says "Sexy, isn't she?" To which Isaiah replies "AAAAAAAA No she is NOT"
There's the kids I take to school in the morning, well mostly their eyeballs. Close ups of their eyes and tonsils.
There's also tons of footage of Isaiah's Legos. You see.... he's been watching Youtube and apparently grown men take Legos and make up dialogue with scenes and video tape the whole thing. At least he's only 9! Not like he's, single,30, living in our basement, working at a fry cook spending all his spare money at Toys R Us and Best Buy. I'm banning him from Youtube though due to the language some of these men use. Why do they think it's so funny to make a Lego Batman say "testicles"?