Alive

Just a note for my family: We are all still alive (if not flourishing) in some form or another. Last weekend all three boys were sick (this was during campmeeting) and so we struggled along. Daniel still has a runny nose but this has been going on for about a month so my guess is that he has allergies of some type. Hopefully it wont turn into something serious. Allan has been doing fine this week. We started him on the kid's version of Boost to help him gain some much needed weight. When we take him for his 5 year booster shots in several weeks it would be nice if he were several pounds heavier. Stephen went to the Dr. on Monday and started on antibiotics. He was doing really well but had a setback today. Philip started with sinus problems and poison ivy this week. This sinus pain was pretty intense so he made a trip to urgent care yesterday and was placed on an antibiotic. Last evening what I thought was the same thing hit me and the sinus pressure and pain was pretty bad so I ended up at urgent care today. But the diagnosis was allergies since I also have a double eye infection (again!). Well, technically my eyes aren't infected because there's no puss or draining that's why the Dr. thought it was allergies. So I'm on Zyrtec D, eye drops and ibuprofen for the sinus pain. Philip is feeling some better today although the antibiotic isn't working as fast for him as I had hoped. I will not even write here what he did for his own remedy for poison ivy but it seems to have worked and he's not itching anymore (okay....think sandpaper!) So if I have not called this weekend or returned your calls this is why! Mom and Dad Brown came and picked up Allan and Daniel this morning (and brought a pot of chicken soup) so that I could get some rest! That was a blessing. May all of you have a wonderful Memorial Day! We'll be resting, drinking plenty of fluids, using nasal spray, and trying to remember who takes what medicine when!Love you all.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to every mother who visits this blog. Particularly those whose children are not yet old enough to "rise up and call you blessed." :o) We took a quick picture before going to church with the boys in the new outfits Grandma Slagenweit gave them!

We had a lovely week here! The rain and sun mixture has produced wonderful green and some spectacular flowers. Tomorrow it will be two weeks since we planted our garden and everything is up several inches. I believe every corn seed sprouted....I'm going to have a lot of thinning to do. The boys have enjoyed watching the changes from day to day and Allan's all excited about the little broccoli head that are coming on. We hope to plant our tomatoes, peppers, and what ever else I decide I want to put in plus come pumpkin plants our backyard neighbor brought over.

We had a mother's day banquet at our church on Friday evening so I made two coconut cream pies for that....and for once the meringue turned out nice! This time I used the boiling sugar, cornstarch and water method as I beat the egg whites.

Thursday I donated some blood for a research study being done at Children's hospital. I have gave 5 TBS. of blood, they gave me $40. Not a bad deal! The boys loved it and just thought the needle and tubes were great. They even got free Band-Aids out of the deal. BTW: for those of you who want to make some extra money in Cincinnati this is sometimes a good option. They do have studies that will pay up to $850 but ones that pay that much can last a year with checkups every three months and bloodwork. They had one some time ago that paid $1,500 for a typhoid study. You got an 11 day, all expenses paid (plus the above) vacation at the hospital. I opted not to do this one....people can die from typhoid.

Saturday the boys and I finished shopping for school supplies. Allan starts K5 tomorrow! (No, we do not homeschool year round but he finished early and wanted to keep going) Saturday afternoon I got a two hour date with my husband and we had a great time at Panera Bread. Allan and Daniel went with Pop-pop and gramme to ride on some rides that were set up in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart. They had a high old time....I'm not so sure Pop-pop and gramme's stomachs have fully recovered.

Happy May!

Spring has sprung and it is beautiful! We've had several wonderful weeks of fabulous weather and here is some of what has been happening:
- our shade garden has resurrected and currently the astibile, hostas, bleeding hearts, and lily-of-the-valley are up and blooming. Yesterday I saw one fern frond making it's way to the daylight.
- part of the garden was planted on Monday. Corn, Green beans, lima beans and lettuce joined the already planted broccoli and cauliflower. Just in time too...we had wonderful rains Tuesday - Friday.
- enjoyed hearing about Michael (former student) and Brenda Guilliams plans to begin ministry in Uganda during supper last week.
- the boys have discovered the joys of painting with liquid paint (not just the dried ones where you dip your brush in water....for little guys it soon turns into painting everything a muddy black!)
- Allan's K5 curriculum arrived this week and he's ready to go. I'm going to wait until the 11th of this month to start since there is some preliminary work that I'd like to get done before we start.
- am in the process of putting away long sleeved shirts and jackets and getting out the short-sleeved summer items.
- Stephen is rolling everywhere and rocking back and forth on all fours. Still not sitting yet though! I have a feeling he'll crawl before he sits which will be different.
- Monday they started to replace the floor of our porch and found that it needed to be totally torn down and replaced. See the picture. They're going to put aluminum railings up this time which are taller than the previous wooden ones making it more child-friendly (though not yet Daniel Proof).
- spent a beautiful evening at my in-laws yesterday enjoying the lush green scenery and mom's beautiful irises.
- One of Daniel's funny expressions: No way, Nozay! (No way Jose!)
- Allan: His daddy mentioned last night about meeting someone "in person" he said he'd rather meet them "in a house."
- worked on the character trait of wisdom (thinking God's way) last week and truthfulness (telling what I know without adding or subtracting from the facts)this week.
- filed samples of Allan's K4 work and realized how far he's progressed in this past year.
- Planted the large planters on the front porch today. (Spike plant, begonia, impantiens, dusty miller, sweet potato vine) What I wouldn't do to have access to the Mennonite Greenhouses in Curryville, PA. Wal-Mart has no imagination when it comes to plant varieties.
- planted a holly bush by the front steps

It's just been a very relaxing week. I've not had any responsibilities outside of our house and it's given me some time to get caught up and even forge ahead in some of the housekeeping areas. There are three days left before final exams then four days of finals before campmeeting starts.

Spring is here! And we're enjoying every moment!

Resources

1. For those who are training small children: (found by Lizzy Stetler) The lectures done by Ted Tripp based on his book Shepherding a Child's Heart can be found here. This is for those who have or have not read his book. The book is somewhat difficult to read but the lectures are outstanding. This has been a wonderful reminder of the importance of dealing with the issues of the heart that are the source of behavior. My husband also posted this on his blog in an easier format to access.

2. (also taken from Lizzy Stetler's blog)Also for those who are working so hard to train your children this is a must read!

I'm working on a list that I can post of other resources that we have found helpful in the training of our children for those who have asked (and keep asking!). This will be a list that I can keep adding to as we grow with our children. And if you find that we've missed a helpful resource let us know.