What time is it where my friends and family are?

 

Location	Time
Bedford, NH	Current local time in Bedford, United States
Bethel, AK	Current local time in Bethel, United States
London, England	Current local time in London, United Kingdom
Chennai, India	Current local time in Chennai, India
Hamburg, Germany	Current local time in Hamburg, Germany

End of School Year '20-'21

 This horrible, awful, no good, very bad year of school ends in...

Bye-Bye Mealyworm's Tonsils

Tonsils were out by 8:15am. After she woke up from surgery she looked at me a little surprised and said in hoarse whisper, "Mom, it hurts. Put my tonsils back in." Awwww, poor little cutie. But she's hanging in there. She loves orange Popsicles.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! From the Isaacs Family

A reason to cringe

Seriously, someone posted this on Facebook and it has actually been "shared" 5,500+ times...gag me with a spoon.
I can think of a thousand ways to finish this statement better than the one in the picture.
Here's the first 10 in no particular order:

If we don't teach our children to follow Christ....
#1 they can make the choice that is right for them when they are ready.
#2 they may choose to act kindly for no better reason than because it makes them feel good.
#3 our children may grow up to decide for themselves what fills them spiritually.
#4 they may choose to follow Buddha, or become Muslim, or practice Wicca, or "practice" no formal religion whatsoever and still lead healthy spiritual lives.
#5 when they lay down to sleep at night, instead of reciting a rote memory bible verse, they may actually reflect upon the day and share hopes for tomorrow.
#6 our children may thank us later.
#7 they might discover it themselves when they are actually interested.
#8 we open up their opportunities to discover new religions.
#9 we give them the respect to define their own path.
#10 we avoid feeding them a lot of bullshit.

The Orange Rhino

panda. sweet panda is learning how to react.  how to anticipate.  how to predict the outcome.  but she is often surprised by my response.  and her tears come and her strong little person voice comes out and says..."i didn't know that would make you mad".  "please don't yell mommy, i did not know that".  whether it is playing with my makeup in the bathroom, spilling water all over the floor in the kitchen and just walking away, throwing "the family owls" down the front steps and leaving them, etc.  her innocence is pure.  yes, she should know better in some of these cases but what strikes me most right now...is her honesty in sharing "i didn't know that would make you mad, mommy".  she is trying to figure it all out.  figure out how to "do the right thing" and every once and a while she totally nails it....but most of the time, she still experimenting with how her actions result in reactions from the people around her...her brother, sister, her mom, her dad, the cats, etc. 

for my part, i wish i didn't yell.  i hate the rush of anger that engulfs me and ruins me.  ruins the mom i wish i could be, ruins the reasonable me, the mom who uses each transgression as a lesson in life.  an explanation of how the choices we make result in consequences.  some to our liking, some to others liking.  but most of them to no one's liking. 

The Orange Rhino. can i do what this mom did?  can i commit to not yelling for 365 days?  what kind of person would i be on the other end of that?  would i find more peace within myself? or would i just spontaneously combust or implode?  can i be that strong, and strict with myself (o' little me with my weak discipline and loyalty)?

i'm going to do it.  when the red hot anger comes to envelope me and i want to blow my top like a mad hatter's tea pot.  i will resist.  i will be stronger than that.  why? because yelling sucks.  yelling hurts.  yelling fills my kids, my husband and me with shame and saddness.  they don't deserve that and it doesn't teach them what ultimately i'm wanting them to know.  to know that life is hard, bad things happen, but we can persevere with our dignity in tact, with kindness in our hearts and our actions truly can all come from a place of love.

So here begins DAY 1 of No Yelling.

Cuddly When Sick

Panda is pukey sick. Why are they so cute when they are sick?

Just keep swimming

Mealyworm is Not herself

August 23, 2013
Amelia is stumbling a lot and not very coordinated.  She has trouble writing her name and sentences.  I made an appointment to see a Pediatrician.  He did several "tests" in the office....stand on one foot and touch your nose, walk in a line, answer these questions "how is milk different from water?" and "what is the difference between a cat and a dog?".  Amelia had some trouble with those, not easily giving the answers as if it was a really tricky question.  So the Dr. said she has "ataxia" and we should wait and see if it gets worse. We have an another appt. for 2 wks from today.She and I attended the Welcome Back Students event at the College of Education, and Amelia fell down twice just walking on the sidewalk.  She is clearly not herself.  She is kind of spacey and not really focusing on what she's doing. For dinner, the whole family went to Denny's and just getting in and out of the car is a challenge.  I asked Matthew to help her walk and hold her hand so she didn't fall.  Then in the restaurant, Amelia ordered Spaghetti.  And watching her try to eat spaghetti with limited coordination was like a flashback to when she was 3 year old! 

August 24, 2013
So all day I have been watching Amelia and worried.  The Dr. said it will take some time to get over but he also said if it gets worse to call.  So I called the "on-call" pediatrician and they said, "Is it getting worse?"...well, that's hard to say.  She is definitely NOT getting better. How long do I watch my healthy, smart, coordinated 7-year-old deteriorate before I say, "ENOUGH!".  Eventually, the on-call doc recommended we go to Carle Hospital Emergency Care because they have an MRI and a neurologist on-call.  So headed off to the ER.

August 25, 2013
Whew, what a night. Amelia was a trooper when they installed the IV, now we are waiting for the MRI and a neurology consult. Very strange, she's been stumbling and slurring her words...and for the record, she hasn't been to any college parties.

August 26, 2013 from Todd -

Rough weekend with my 7 year old daughter in the hospital, suffering from ataxia (stumbling/falling when walking, slurred speech, fine motor skill difficulties, slow mental processing). CT and MRI scans were clear, but no real answers to her condition. Hoping Monday, a pediatric neuro consult, and more tests will bring some answers and a start down the road to recovery. I will say she has been a trooper, as has Sarah Isaacs, who has been with her every moment since being admitted Saturday evening (and who went a little medieval on the poor nurse and doctor when she felt they weren't providing info fast enough)!

 

August 26, 2013 10:13 am

Amelia is improving! The doctor and neurologist are saying it is a post-strep infection in her brain. We have had a scary few days but happy to see she is more alert and walking with less trouble. Maybe even going home this evening.

 

August 26, 2013 4:33pm

We are home. Amelia will continue to be out of school for awhile so she can get more steady on her feet. Her speech & cognition issues aren't improving much yet but they hopefully will soon.

Columbia House

I honestly don't remember how or why or when...but when I was in middle school, I started subscribing to Rolling Stone magazine. The REAL Rolling Stone magazine...you know, when it was big and awkward and floppy. I received an education from that subscription. I learned about music, the world and life in those pages. And I joined Columbia House. Of course we are talking about cassette tapes back then. I have such fond memories of received that first shipment of 15 cassettes. To my recollection I join and re-joined several times in order to received the "free 15" or whatever. Some of the cassettes on my very first order were:
Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
R.E.M.
New Order
Tori Amos -
Hothouse Flowers-
U2
Depeche Mode
Erasure
Neil Young
The Sundays
E.L.O.

The Annual Christmas Present Dilemma

The children have written their wish lists for Santa.  And of course, I am left with the debate...to buy or not to buy.  I want to encourage the belief that Santa is "alive and watching and listening to your requests" but the carefully kid-printed/misspelled items on the lists are usually too expensive, complete crap or simply not possible.

Bug's "Dear Santa" list- (please note all items include a hand-drawn representation)
Walkie-Talkie set that can talk up to 20 feet
Basketball Hoop that can hang on the wall
Big Angry Bird pillow (space pig) -
Air Hockey table
Spy net Video Glasses
Night sight goggles
A rock kit
Zipline for my backyard
(Also included: Are you real? circle one  YES or NO)

Mealyworm's "Dear Santa" list-
Camera
Barbie
MP3 Player
iPad

Early Bird's "Dear Santa" list-
rocking horse
baby play set
dog vet kit

Ultimately, it probably comes down to my failings as a mother.  I should probably be guiding the Santa lists more....steering the children to items I actually want to buy them.  But isn't it more fun to sit in front of the Black Friday ads and pick all the things you'd love to have?  I don't know, I try to be a conscientious-minded parent, teaching the "what's really important" lessons...but in my heart of hearts sometimes I like to provide my kids with experiences I always wish I had growing up.

My addictive personality

So I managed to watch 3 and half seasons of The Vampire Diaries in my non-existent spare time over the last couple of weeks.  I watched episode after episode on Netflix until the current season and then scoured the CW website and internet black market for the new stuff.  Its official, I'm totally obsessed.

This is why I can't keep White-out and those thick black permanent markers in the house. 

My Stick Family

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Time for a dog?

Thinking about a dog....wouldn't all the extra walking be great for my exercise routine!

Champaign County Humane Society

Unfuck Your Habitat

Unfuck Your Habitat

My new favorite kick ass organize your shit website.  Check it Ow-out.

Garden Update

My squash/pumpkins are growing!

The cats are doing a great job of keeping the rabbits from getting to close to the garden.

This is the spot where the Carrots and Radishes are growing.

Watering and weeding isn't such a bad thing to do on a nice summer evening.  The kids are really enjoying helping me with the garden and are eagerly awaiting "their pumpkins". HA!

My Garden

So I planted a garden this year! I am really excited about it. I bought seeds and "starter plants". It is doing really well. Here are some pics

This is the whole garden - small but mighty!  I've got tomatoes, carrots, radishes, peppers, zucchini, corn, strawberries, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and more!

This is my squash section...Row 1 Pumpkins, Row 2 Melons, Row 3 Cantaloupe, Row 4 Watermelon, Row 5 Summer Squash

Orlando is laying on Matthew's Strawberry Plant and near Amelia's Cucumber plant

Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life

Okay so I read this blog post...and became inspired. http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/2012/02/im-woman-with-plan-and-routine-and.html

An organizing eBook for someone like ME!

Click here to view more details

Click here to view more details

Warning:  This e-book is not for everyone.

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If you’ve ever wondered how someone could sleep at night knowing there were dirty dishes in the sink . . . . DON’T buy this e-book.
If, at the end of a long day, you mindlessly put your dirty clothes in the laundry hamper and hang your jacket neatly in the closet . . . DON’T buy this e-book.
If you’ve never experienced heart palpitations at the sound of an unexpected doorbell . . . DON’T buy this e-book.
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Author Dana White says....28 Days to Hope for Your Home is for people like me. People who dream of an orderly home, but truly don’t understand what happens in the three days between Party Ready and Disaster Status.
That was me.  I’m definitely still not perfect, but I’m no longer bewildered.
I know what it takes to maintain a livable home.Click here to view more details

My cats

My cats just waiting to come inside....aren't they adorable....and my cute $5 Valentines clearance wreath, oh and the leftover Christmas window clings....now, its not so cute.