Accidents

I haven't been in a car accident since the fall of 2003. I was driving to my very first RE appointment (in Allentown, PA). I never like being in a car accident, but the thought of being in one now is definitely scarier since I usually have three little ones in the van with me. I am very grateful that neither of us have been in a car accident over the past 6+ years that we've been parents. Paul was the last one to have a car accident, but his wasn't reported to the car insurance because he only hit a mailbox (as he drove into someone's lawn) when he passed out due to low blood pressure from laughing about something funny on the radio as he drove home from work. On Thursday evening I was praying fervently for protection on the roads because it started snowing during the kids' ice skating lesson. The ice rink is 30 minutes from our house (in good weather). The drive took much longer on Thursday because everyone was driving very slowly since the roads were snow covered. I felt the tires slip a little a few times when I had to make a turn. I usually drop Nadia off at her basketball practice on the way home from ice skating, and Paul picks her up at the end of her practice (7:00). We were very close to the church when the van got stuck near the top of a hill. I guess I wasn't driving fast enough, but Paul said it was a good thing I wasn't because the way down that hill is very steep, and there's a stop sign at the bottom of the hill. In hind sight, I should have taken a different route to the church that didn't involve any big hills. I haven't driven in snow for more than two years, and the next time I have to, I will be more careful about avoiding big hills! With my four way flashers on I was able to slowly slide about half way down the hill to a side street where I was able to turn the vehicle around and go down the rest of the hill properly. It was very challenging to stop at the bottom as the light turned red. We skipped the basketball practice and came straight home. We're looking forward to cheering for her team today!

Oliver hasn't had any accidents in bed! I am thrilled with how well he is doing with night time training, His respiratory bug has helped as before I give him a breathing treatment (somewhere between 2-4am), I take him to the bathroom. Between being up with Oliver from 2:20-4:40am, Paul getting up for work at 5:30, and Ian joining me in bed at 6:30am, I got almost no sleep between 2:20-7:00am yesterday morning. Dr. Kinsey yesterday told me that he is still thinking Oliver might have reflux. I am hesitant to add a fourth medication (Prilosec) to his daily routine, so the doctor is willing to wait a few more days to see if things start to improve. Last night he got up once (at 12:40), but he didn't need a breathing treatment until 5:55. YAY!

Unfortunately I can't say that he hasn't had any accidents during the day. He hasn't had a #1 accident in two weeks, but he has pooped in his underwear a few times over the past eight days, and then to make matters MUCH worse proceeded to take off his pants and underwear and get poop ALL over the toilet, his legs, bathroom rug, etc. At least the last three times it happened he was in the bathroom so we didn't have to deal with poop in the carpet. Yesterday morning when I was cleaning up one such disaster, I accidentally flushed his underwear down the toilet. OOPS! So far it seems it passed through the pipes without causing a blockage. Praying that is really what happened!

Foto Friday

Thankful Thursday

1. No one was injured during the ice skating lesson last Thursday, and Ian didn't cry at all!

2. Ian also didn't cry at the start of gym class last Friday, which was a first. They enjoyed their 90 minute class on volleyball. I thoroughly enjoy the chance to chat with other homeschooling moms during the class. What a treat!

3. Paul was offered a one year extension on his contract! In 2013 we didn't find out until July where he would be teaching in August. In 2014 we found out in early May, and this time around we found out in January. Hopefully these three years of experience will lead to a permanent job that will start in 2016. I am also praying that I will find a part-time job and/or that Paul will be given a research stipend to help make ends meet financially.

4. The kids had fun playing in the snow on Saturday. It snowed again on Monday and they played in the snow the past three days. I didn't let Oliver go out the last two days because of his cold, but he really wanted to go out with them!

5. We have had at least one child in diapers for 6 years (plus seven months), but that is no longer true as Oliver is now sleeping in his underwear! Way to go, Oliver! I am also thrilled that *so far* I haven't had to wash his sheets from an accident. I am sure that will happen at some point, but he's doing very well so far. I am planning on donating our unused diapers to the church on Sunday.

6. As usual we have been enjoying books and videos from the library. Hug Machine was a picture book we really enjoyed recently, and Nadia and I read Carolina's Courage together, which was a great chapter book. The kids enjoyed watching a DVD about Helen Keller.

7. I had bought a voucher for a large canvas (20x16) from Picaboo for 75% off a couple of months ago, and I finally got around to redeeming it. It arrived in the mail on Monday. I love it! I think over time I will switch from pictures in frames to canvases, if I can find good deals.

8. We had dinner at Friendly's last night because Ian finally earned his fifth sticker on Monday. He had to go a whole day without fussing, whining, or crying to earn one sticker. We all enjoyed our dinner, and we used a gift card Yvonne gave us at Christmas, which made for a very inexpensive night out for us. We hadn't been out to eat for a few weeks. I've even been making homemade pizza; so this made our night out even more special.

9. Oliver has been waking up at least once during the night (sometimes more than that). For example, he woke up at 4am yesterday morning. I take him to the bathroom (in case that's the reason he woke up), and then I take him back to bed. I was VERY grateful that yesterday he then slept until 7am, much later than he's been sleeping lately. I fell back asleep after Paul left (around 5:30) and was able to sleep until Ian came in our room at 6:50. I am hoping that Oliver will start sleeping through the night again in the near future.

10. Oliver started to come down with a cold on Tuesday. I felt panicked and called the pulmonologist and another nurse. Yesterday I felt much calmer because although his cough was worse, it seems to me he *just* has a cold not RSV. I am still praying for his health, but I am feeling less nervous about another hospitalization. I needed to give him a treatment at 4:30 this morning because he was coughing so badly.

Cancellations

Due to yesterday's snow, the women's ministry party I was signed up to attend last night was cancelled, and because the local school districts had a two hour delay this morning, the ladies Bible study that was supposed to start today was postponed until next week. We are doing a study on the Sabbath. Today the gymnastics director emailed and said he is cancelling the homeschool gymnastics class because it's not working for his two young children (missing a nap, etc.). He is going to try to find another coach to teach the class when the next session starts the first week of March. I am just going to sign Nadia up to return to the Level 2 class from 4:00-5:50 on Mondays. The downside is this means Ian won't be taking gymnastics (for now, I might enroll him in a class in the fall). The upside is that he didn't charge us anything for the two classes they had so far. Nadia is currently taking ice skating lessons, on a basketball team, and also attending a 90 minute gym class on Fridays, and Ian is doing two of those things. I think it's okay if they don't take gymnastics in February.

Snow Day

All of the school districts and private schools in our area had a snow day today. That wasn't true of the colleges though. Some colleges had a 2 hour delay, but most of them (Bucknell included) had a regular day. I don't even think Paul checked the status before he headed out the door at 5:30am. When I shoveled the driveway around 10;30am. We had about 3 inches of snow. It has been snowing non-stop since then. Nadia and I did a little school work together, but we didn't do all the subjects we usually do. The only way the snow has impacted our schedule is the women's ministry party was cancelled at church this evening. I was planning to attend it. They usually have their functions on Monday nights, and I wasn't able to go to any last semester because Paul taught on Monday nights, but his last class ends at 4pm on Mondays this semester.

I put Oliver to bed wearing underwear for the first time last night. He had been waking up dry every single day for quite a few days in a row. I put the mattress cover on, washed his sheets (probably not the smartest move), and put him to bed in his underwear hoping I wouldn't be washing his sheets again today. His underwear was damp, but his jammies and sheets were dry when he woke up this morning. If he wakes up too early and I am going to try to get him to go back to sleep (he woke up at 5:30 yesterday), I am going to have him go potty first before putting him back down. I put him down for his nap in his underwear today, and he stayed dry. Yay! Unfortunately his string of seven days in a row without accidents was broken on Friday evening when he pooped in his underwear. To make matters worse he took of his underwear and pants after that happened and this meant poop was on whatever his bare bottom touched. Paul was with the boys and was unaware of what was happening. We were not happy when I came up and discovered the disaster. He started to do the same thing today, but thankfully I found him before a mess was made. It's one thing to poop in one's underwear, but it's much worse that he now likes to take them off right away. UGH! Hopefully tomorrow we can start a new record of number of days without an accident. This boy has definitely been my most challenging to potty train!

Number of the Day

The number of the day around here has been SIX. Last night Nadia lost her sixth tooth. She pulled it out right as she was climbing into bed. She's lost four teeth over the past two months, but she doesn't have any wiggly teeth at the moment. I think the tooth fairy will be getting a little break at our house. Last night the permanent tooth wasn't visible, but by the time I snapped a picture this morning, it could be seen. She never has a gap for very long!

Oliver got up at 6:00 this morning. There have been a few days when he's slept closer to 7:00, but usually he's still waking up a little too early. I am grateful though that he's not been getting up earlier than 6:00.

Last night we got about five inches of snow, and we got more this morning so we got about six inches altogether. It warmed up to about 40 degrees later in the day so we don't have six inches any more, but the kids had fun playing it in this morning until it was time to head to Nadia's basketball game.

They cancelled the first two games (8:30 and 9:30), but the games from 10;30 onward went on as scheduled. Her game was at 11:30. There are six kids on their team, and their team's name is "Lightning" (last year she was on the "Leopards"). Three kids play at a time, which means that each child plays a total of eighteen minutes a game. They play for six minutes, sit on the bench for six minutes, etc. There is a half-time break after the first three periods. Nadia is one of two girls on the team. The other girl scored some  baskets. Nadia is definitely the weakest link on the team, but she is doing better at dribbling than last year, and she did attempt to make one basket today, which she never did last year.

This evening Nadia and Oliver went with me to CVS, and while we were checking out a man gave them each a brand new $2 bill and also gave me one to give Ian. He did this once before at the grocery store. What a generous gentleman - giving us $6 at a time! He was very impressed that Nadia knew it was Jefferson on the bill, and he asked if she was homeschooled, which surprised me. Yes!

Last night I submitted the form signing up for a six week homeschooling co-op taking place in March and April this spring. I volunteered to teach a sign language class. I am hoping that they will offer art and Spanish for the younger kids. I'll find out next month what everyone is offering. I haven't taught sign language in a while. I think teaching this class will get me going with also teaching my kids some sign language! Oliver will be in the nursery all three hours, but the other two will take three  classes every Thursday.

The gym class our church has been offering on Fridays for homeschoolers has been outstanding (this past Friday they did volleyball). I sent an email to the pastor thanking him for offering this class, and asking if it could be continued (Yes!) and also suggested some other things they might be able to offer in the future such as science labs for high schoolers (they have a Christian school through 12th grade there), drama, music, art, or Spanish for elementary grades, etc. The pastor appreciated the ideas and said they'd be talking about them. Yay!

A WHOLE week plus another year

Once before Oliver went six days in a row without an accident, but today marked the first time he went a full week without an accident, as his last accident was last Friday morning at church (during the kids' gym class). A few times over the past week he has had a small wet spot on his underwear, but I don't count that as an accident when he stops himself and gets on the potty in time to finish peeing. He also has been waking up dry almost every time (naps and overnight) so I am going to start putting him to bed in his underwear. I will just start with naps and then if that goes well I will also do the same at night. I had recently ordered a mattress protector for his bed from Walmart (very important) as well as a set of Thomas the Train sheets (which don't go with his bedding but that's what he wanted so who cares, right?). I didn't want to start bed time training without either of these because he's currently using Ian's spare set of sheets. It is such a relief to be over the biggest hurdles of potty training. Most of the time he now tells me when he needs to go, and he has learned how to take off his pants and underwear and get on the potty himself. I still have to wipe him after he poops, and I still have to put his clothes back on after he goes potty, but he's making a lot of progress! He remembers to flush more often than Nadia does.


Today will be his last nebulizer treatment until the next time he has a cold or cough. The pulmonologist said to keep him on the Pulmicort twice a day until he had been on the Singulair for ten days. Oliver LOVES the Singulair. He thinks it's candy and wishes he could have it more than once a day, ha ha! Here's to praying this keeps him out of the hospital the rest of this year!

Yesterday Paul was offered a one year extension on his contract at Bucknell. We weren't sure if his teaching evaluations were good enough to warrant that, but it turns out that typically multiple students come and complain to the department chair about the VAP (visiting professor), and the department was very impressed that not one single student complained about Paul last semester. That was encouraging! Now there was a coach mad at him this semester because he allows students to start their exams at 7:45 to give them a little extra time, but that's another story. They gave him two weeks to make a decision, and if he didn't accept within that time frame they were going to post the job and start an official search. He could apply for the opening at that point, but he'd be competing against whomever else applied. He was supposed to have two phone interviews today, and he had one last week, but there was no way any of those searches would be completed within two weeks. This will be the last extension because they will be converting this position into a tenure track one, and they are looking for someone in a different area of chemistry so he won't be eligible.

Paul quoted the proverb of a bird in hand being worth two in the bush. It is hard to say no to a definite offer in favor of indefinite ones. He has never taught the same course twice, and by accepting the offer he'll be teaching the same two classes next year that he taught/is teaching this year. Hopefully this will enable him to spend more time doing research. A downside is this means I will be submitting applications for him four years in a row, but since we are finding out much earlier than the past two years, I will get about seven months off before I resume submitting applications for him. I was hoping we'd be moving somewhere this summer and feel like we were really going to put down some roots, but it's a good reminder that our true home is in Heaven and we're just passing through here on earth. I never would have guessed when we bought this house in 2008 that we'd live here for eight years! I am 99% certain we will be trying to sell this house in the spring of 2016 because we can't afford to live here any longer than that. This house is too expensive for his salary. I am going to try to find a way to make some money. It doesn't seem prudent to start giving piano or flute lessons if we are hoping to move within 18 months, but maybe I can do some tutoring or teach part-time for a university. It is nice for the suspense to be over. I can start making decisions such as which co-op to have the kids join next fall. Hopefully two years teaching at Bucknell will look good on his resume and make it easier for him to get a job offer for a permanent job that will start in August 2016.

Thankful Thursday

1. We had a very rough start on Friday at homeschool gym class, but Ian *finally* decided to stop crying and had a blast playing various games with a basketball. Hoping and praying that tomorrow he'll do well right from the start. I have no idea why he has decided he should cry and go through separation issues with this class considering he never does anything like that when I take him to Soul Patrol (kid's choir), AWANA, or Sunday School. Being a parent definitely helps keep you humble!

2. Paul has TWO more phone interviews scheduled for tomorrow -one with Indiana University Southeast and a second one with the University of Tampa (to teach different classes than the one he interviewed for last week). It is very encouraging that he is starting to receive these invitations. Now we are praying that at least one of them will translate to an invitation to interview on campus!

3. On Saturday we went shopping as a family. First we went to Toys 'R Us so that Nadia could exchange one of her Christmas gifts. Between a 20% off coupon, the money from the return, and her tooth fairy money, she was able to buy a set of Frozen walkie talkies. Between a $5 off coupon and the $5 Ian received for his birthday, Ian was able to buy a small Lego set. At Sears Paul used some of his Sears gift card he received for his birthday to buy himself a new pair of sweatpants and a new pair of jeans. His only pair of jeans developed a big hole in the knee while we were in the Poconos.

4. I have found a Sunday School class I really, really like. I honestly can't recall the last time I liked a Sunday School class this much. It's been more than 10 years. Bruce Rehm is an excellent teacher. He teaches history at the Christian school. Right now we are studying Colossians. The pastor is going through the book of Galatians, and each Sunday a member of the congregation (who is a veterinarian) is reciting a chapter from memory right before the sermon. She did an outstanding job of reciting 1:1-2:10 in a very expressive manner. This Sunday School class is during the second service so we have switched to attending the first service. It doesn't effect Oliver as he's in "The Circus" for both services either way, but now Paul is bringing the kids at 8:45 (I am there at 8:25). Nadia, Ian, and I go to Sunday School during the second service, and Paul goes home after the first service. This plan works better because when I attended Sunday School during the first service it meant that the kids had to sit unattended in the Sanctuary from 8:25-8:40ish while the choir was warming up and rehearsing.

5. Ian celebrated his first spiritual birthday on Tuesday! I am so grateful that Nadia and Ian are Christians. It is SO comforting to know I will spend eternity with them. Praying for their continued spiritual growth! We celebrated by singing to him (the spiritual birthday version of the song that my family sang when I was growing up), giving him one gift (the boat and figures of Jesus and the 12 disciples as seen above), and making him a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (his request).

6. Yvonne celebrated her 40th birthday yesterday. I am glad that I have a sibling also in her 40's now. Misery loves company. Just kidding. Other than having more trouble reading, I have no complaints about being in my 40's. Her birthday makes it very easy to remember Ian's spiritual birthday (unlike Nadia's spiritual birthday, which I can never remember).

7. We had a great time at the Children's Museum on Tuesday for their monthly $2 Tuesday! The special activities this time focused on lights and shadows. Next month it will be about Dr. Seuss.

8. I am wearing contacts again for the first time in a year and can read while wearing them for the first time in two years. YAY! I can't read evertthing, but what is too small for me to read with contacts on I just pass to Nadia and ask her to tell me what it says. It helps to have a child who can read! This happened yesterday with something that came in the mail that I couldn't read.

9. The kids *really* enjoyed eating their pirate and princess shaped pasta this week (Christmas gift from Aunt Millie). Ian thought it was the tastiest pasta *ever*, and this is quiet a statement coming from a kid who not that long ago didn't like ANY pasta. Ian and Oliver prefer theirs with spaghetti sauce on it, and Nadia prefers hers with cheese on it.

10. The kids are healing from their ice skating injuries. Nadia's black eye has totally gone away. Hopefully no one will be injured in class today!

11. The kids had fun playing in the snow yesterday! All the schools in our area had early dismissals yesterday. The gymnastics class wasn't cancelled, but everything at church was cancelled last night. I am very grateful that Paul's long night is on Wednesday nights this semester because being solely responsible for the kids for 15 hours straight is exhausting (Paul was gone from 5:30 am to 8:30pm). Normally the kids and I are at church on Wednesday night for at least two hours.

12. Last month's water bill was almost double what it usually is (it was almost $100!). I was VERY relieved that this month it was back to normal. Paul replaced some parts in one of the toilets as he thought it might be the culprit for our crazy water bill. I am grateful he knows how to do things like that because I sure don't! The sewer bill I got today was also our highest ever, but hopefully that was also from the same problem, and hopefully next month the sewer bill will also be back to normal.

Contacts again!

For twenty years I wore contact lenses almost all the time, but that hasn't been the case for the last 2.5 years. The switch started during my long hospitalizations in 2012, and then it became the norm because I found I could read with glasses on but not with contacts. I brought this up last January when I saw the eye doctor, but the solution she suggested actually made things worse. Over the last year I also lost the ability to read with my glasses on. I was frequently putting them on top of my head. I decided to try a new eye doctor, and I saw him at 7:30 this morning. Either my eyes got better or the last eye doctor goofed up, but he said my prescription was much too strong. Sure enough, I could read close up and at a distance with the new lenses! It felt great to be wearing contacts again today. I really prefer them over glasses. He said I will probably need reading glasses in about a year, but for now I can read fine without them. I was hoping to just get new contacts, but the doctor said I really needed to also get new glasses because the prescription is so different. Yikes have we spent a LOT of money on medical bills over the past 3 weeks! The vision insurance we have now is not nearly as good as what we had the past 11 years. In the fall we are going to take Nadia and Ian to the eye doctor. Hopefully they don't need glasses yet! Paul's prescription changed, but he didn't pick out his frames today because he wanted my input. I picked mine out very quickly so I could get home in time for Paul to leave and get there in time for his 9:15 appointment.

 For some unknown reason Oliver woke up at 1am, 2am, and 3am this morning. I thought I had a newborn baby again! I put him back to bed at 1 and 3, and Paul put him back at 2. Hopefully that won't happen again any time soon! I told Ian tonight that if he gets up before 7:00, then he has to take an afternoon nap. We shall see if that incentive helps him make use of his Batman clock and catch a few extra winks in the morning. This picture (at right) was the neatest kaleidoscope I have ever seen, and Ian loved the friction ramp (two new things at the Children's Museum).

He told me he was calling Grandma's house.

Habits

One good thing about habits is that although it always takes some effort to maintain a good habit, it definitely takes far less effort once it becomes part of your daily or weekly routine. Unfortunately in many cases it takes a LOT of effort to extinguish a bad habit. Case in point would be all the efforts I've put into trying to get Nadia to stop sucking her thumb (she only does it at night now) and to get Ian stop playing with his belly button (he's actually gotten much worse with that). Oliver grinds his teeth, and we're trying to get him to stop that before it becomes an ingrained habit. But these are not the habits I am thinking of today.

Lately I've been trying to help Ian stop fussing/whining/crying over every little thing. For example, I am doing school work with Nadia, and Oliver is stuck on his puzzle. I might ask Ian to go do a couple of pieces of Oliver's puzzle so that Oliver will be able to finish the puzzle himself. Ian moans and groans like doing two pieces of a simple 25 piece puzzle is the end of the world. Several days ago I said that he could earn a trip to Friendly's for the family (we got a gift card for Christmas). I said he needed to earn five stickers, and he would earn one sticker if he went an entire day without crying and fussing (in a complaining way, I don't mean if he got injured or something like that). He hasn't earned a single sticker yet, but he hasn't complained yet today, so maybe today he'll earn the first sticker. I will say that although he hasn't earned a sticker yet, the amount of crying and fussing has already gone down drastically. Now such antics have only been used for the things which really drive him crazy like me serving beef stew for dinner last night. At least we're going in the right direction, even if our trip to Friendly's seems like it won't be happening in the near future.

I also have been trying to get Ian and Oliver to sleep longer in the morning. Ian got a Batman clock for Christmas, and it's a digital clock, which means he can definitely tell whether it is 7:00 or not. I have had to send him back a few times (or have had to go in and turn his light off when he's been up in his room too early), but many mornings he's waited until at least 6:56 or something like that to come in our bedroom. The child falls asleep at the drop of the hat throughout the day (yesterday he fell asleep sitting on the couch around 2pm), and he frequently yawns and complains of being tired. Ten hours of sleep is not enough for this boy, and on Wednesday nights it's more like nine hours of sleep (if he gets up at 6:00) because they go to bed later that night due to AWANA. I am trying to help him get at least 11 hours of sleep. I think he needs that much. 

The situation with Oliver is a lot more complicated since he doesn't know his numbers yet, is still adjusting to being in a twin size bed, and he's partially potty trained. Getting him down for naps and at night is generally pretty simple (after going through a period of time where I had to keep putting him back in bed umpteen times). There are still times when he claims the reason he got up is because he has to go potty (although every time I put him on the toilet he hasn't really gone so I think it's just an excuse to try to stay up but I always err on the side of taking him to the potty one time if he asks). Similarly to leave him in his room in the morning when he is awake is to risk having him take off his pjs and diaper and pee on the floor (which he did this morning after staying dry all night in his diaper). Every time I just take him into our bed, he never goes back to sleep, unlike Ian who often will fall back asleep in our bed (the photo above was taken on Saturday afternoon when he and Daddy took a nap in our bed). Lately if Oliver woke up between 5:00-5:45am, I crawled into bed with him, and usually he would eventually fall back asleep. One morning I discovered why Oliver always wakes up right after Ian (if he isn't up first). Ian has his hand on the hallway wall right by Oliver's head! I discovered this when this sound woke both Oliver and I up when I was sleeping in Oliver's bed one morning. I said something to Ian, and hopefully he won't do that again. Oliver had been waking up around 6:15 most mornings, but the last several days the latest he got up was 5:45, and he's been up as early as 5:00 on more than one occasion. That is just WAY too early for a boy who goes to bed at 8:00. Hopefully I will figure out a way to teach him to sleep in later that doesn't involve pee on his carpet or so much crying and banging on his bedroom door that he wakes up his siblings. People tell me that some day I'll be struggling to get them up in the morning rather than struggling to get them to sleep, but I have a hard time imagining that scenario. I never went through that phase myself. My college roommates thought I was a bit nuts regarding what time I got up on Saturday mornings, for example.

One activity that feels like a habit to me is submitting job applications. The first 40 years of my life I'd estimate that I submitted about 20 job applications altogether (from 1989-2012 I had seven different employers).  Over the past 2+ years I've submitted 154 applications for Paul (so far) and last spring I also submitted about 15 for myself. On Thursday a neighbor called and asked me if I'd be interested in babysitting their two-year-old 9 -17 hours a week for about 4 1/2 months. I was planning to say yes until I found out they had been paying the babysitter they've had the past four years $4/hr. I remember being paid $5/hr by one family I babysat 25 years ago. The last few years we've been paying babysitters somewhere between $7-10/hr, and in talking to other moms, I know many pay their babysitters $10-15/hr. One even told me she pays $20/hr. I had never given any thought to my babysitting rate since I haven't done any babysitting for money in more than 20 years, but I decided on Thursday that the least I would accept was $8/hr, and I assumed they would be looking elsewhere given that's twice as much as they have been paying. The recent review of our budget had caused us to realize that we need to either spend less money or make more money. I would be happy to do some tutoring or give some piano or flute lessons, but it doesn't seem wise to start up such endeavors right now considering we might be moving to another state this summer. So I decided to try applying for part-time jobs teaching online. I submitted three of those applications this weekend. Nothing may come of it, but I am attempting to find a way to earn some extra money so we can afford things like ballroom dancing lessons. Paul has another phone interview this Friday (with Indiana University Southeast). It would be VERY helpful if he got a permanent job this time around so we could move into a house that matched his salary.

2 Urgent Care clinics and 1 ER

Nadia and Ian had their second ice skating lesson yesterday. The first 40 minutes of the lesson went really well. They are both making a lot of progress. Nadia is the fastest skater in the class! They learned how to do bunny hops. Ian thought those were REALLY funny. He was laughing his head off. I had the kids wear snow pants (didn't think of that last week), which really helped since they are falling down a lot. Nadia hasn't learned how to stop, and so she was slamming into the wall almost every time she went across the width of the rink. The last time across, she whacked her face. I heard the impact as did some other parents who were watching, and several others made a comment (not knowing she was my daughter). The teacher was unaware so I made my way to the rink and asked the teacher to go check on the girl with the bright pink jacket. When she made her way over (in tears) I saw that her cheekbone had already turned purple. I took her to the benches and asked for an ice pack, and as they were getting the ice pack, another mom came and said my other child was injured.

I walked toward the rink as they brought a crying Ian toward me, and I immediately asked for bandages because there was blood on his jacket, etc. from a split chin. They said that he needed to go to an urgent care clinic or ER. Not being from that area (the rink is 30 minutes from our house), I asked for a recommendation, and they told me where the nearest express urgent care clinic was located. I got the kids there and we went inside only to find out Bucknell had cancelled their contract with the clinic last June. I then was trying to decide whether to take him to Evan's ER or the urgent care center in Danville. I opted for the latter because our copay is $50 for urgent care and $100 for an ER.

I took the kids into the clinic in Danville. Nadia was prone to tears, but I kept reminding her that crying would make her head hurt more. The resident looked at him and thought he probably needed sedation and stitches. She took him back for the attending to see him, and she also thought that we needed to take him to the ER. We arrived at the ER at 6:55, and the ice skating lesson had ended at 5:15. While we were in the second urgent care clinic, I called Paul and asked him to come and help me out. Oliver kept begging for milk. None of us had anything to drink since 3:35pm. Paul arrived at the ER at 7:00, and I asked him to stay with Ian. I took Nadia and Oliver home so I could feed them, give Oliver his Pulmicort and Singulair, give Nadia a fresh ice pack and some Ibuprofen, and put them to bed. We got home at 7:30. Nadia obviously missed her 6:00 basketball team practice.

The last time I took Ian to the ER for a similar injury, we were in the ER for more than 3 hours. When I saw how packed the waiting room was in the ER, I was thinking the same would happen tonight, but thankfully it only took 90 minutes this time. Paul and Ian were home at 9pm. They ended up glueing his wound? This is confusing since the other doctor said that wasn't possible. Go figure. Paul only had to pay $30 there. We shall see if we get another bill. I hope we aren't charged $100 for glueing as they could have glued in the urgent care for $50. Hopefully Nadia will learn a safer way to stop herself on the ice, and hopefully both kids will remember to use their hands to protect their heads when falling or crashing into a wall! I am confident Nadia will want to continue the lessons. Hopefully this won't scare Ian because prior to his injury he was having a great time. I've spent far more time than usual at hospitals and such over the past 3 weeks. I am hoping we can have a break from that!

This morning I asked him more about how his chin smacked the ice, and I found out the reason was because he only had one glove on. Both kids left their gloves in the van. While they were sitting on the bench (after I put their skates on), I ran out to the van to retrieve their gloves. I came back with one black one, two pink ones, and two purple ones. Nadia put the pink ones on. I suggested Ian wear the two purple ones. He started fussing, and I said how about one purple and one black. He said he only wanted to wear one black and nothing on his other hand. Had I known this would translate to an almost four hour medical adventure and a ER copay, I would have insisted he wear a purple glove! Oi vey. He won't be allowed on the ice without two gloves again that is for sure.

Last night I received an electronic report of Oliver's allergy testing. He came up negative to most things. He was "very low" for mites and cats and "low" for dogs. Since we don't have any cats or dogs, I really don't think allergies are the cause of his asthma, although to be honest given my experiences with Ian, I don't put much stock in allergy testing (they said Ian wasn't allergic to cats when he definitely was, for example).

Thankful Thursday

1. Ian and Nadia started their homeschooling gymnastics class last Wednesday. Ian did MUCH better than he did a year ago. I enjoyed talking with the other mom who has a child in the class.

2. Nadia and Ian started their ice skating lessons last Thursday. I can tell already that they are going to make a lot of progress!

3. We sang the beautiful anthem "Timeless One" on Sunday. There was one point in the anthem where I kept thinking, if my mom were here, she would have goosebumps right now. That's a good thing! Also, the music pastor and another man sang a beautiful duet of the song "Your grace still amazes me."

4. I really enjoyed visiting with other homeschooling moms during Nadia and Ian's basketball class on Friday morning. What a treat!

5. It was SOOOOOO nice to have 47 hours with my hubby without the kids! It was also nice to be able to sleep in until 7:30 two days in a row and not to need to do any cooking for 2 days! I am so glad the kids had such a great time with their grandparents.

6. Paul's classes began yesterday. It was SO nice seeing more of him the past almost four weeks. I'm also thankful he could help out with the kids yesterday in light of Oliver's doctor appointment.

7. We are all healthy!

8. My brother and sister made it back safely to Brazil and Turkey.

9. I recently restarted giving Nadia piano lessons. It's going MUCH better than when she was five years old. We have gotten in the habit of including practicing the piano as part of her "school work" that she accomplishes before eating lunch every day.

10. I'm so glad that Nadia has a CD player in her bedroom. Sometimes we get the "pleasure" of listening to her Frozen CD downstairs, but most of the time she plays it in her room, which is great because I tire of it far more quickly than she does.

11. A ministry my dad was involved with for more than 30 years sold their property on Tuesday, which was a BIG answer to a long standing prayer request. Now they can pay off all their debts. PTL!

12. I'm thankful for a new plan of action regarding Oliver's asthma (technically called RAD due to his age).

13. Paul has a phone interview with the University of Tampa on Friday for a tenure track position in physical chemistry! Things have been very slow going this time around in terms of interview invitations, so this was very encouraging. Given the high temperatures have been less than 30 degrees lately (sometimes less than 20), Florida sounds really good right about now! Also, his department chair told him that if his teaching evaluations are satisfactory, he could stay at Bucknell one more year if he so desired. We shall see what happens!

14. Last week Oliver had six consecutive days without any accidents! He broke that string by having a #2 accident at Paul's parents' house on Saturday and a #1 accident on our couch on Sunday. I found it rather ironic that we started potty training four months ago and this was the first time he peed on the couch. Go figure. He didn't have any accidents on Monday or Tuesday, but he had a poop accident yesterday. Hopefully today we can start a string that lasts at least one week. Potty training Oliver has definitely been harder than it was with the other two, but we are going in the right direction.

Saw the pulmonologist

Last Thursday as we were driving to the ice skating rink a receptionist at the Pediatrician's office called to tell me that they had scheduled an appointment for Oliver to see a pediatric pulmonologist on the 14th. On Friday I called to try and change the time  because it interfered with Nadia and Ian's gymnastics class, but they said the next available appointment was in February. Normally the kids won't see Paul on Wednesdays this semester because he has class starting at 8am and his recitation is supposed to end at 7:52pm, but he said other professors don't conduct recitation the first week of classes so he decided to go that route this semester, which meant he would be able to get Nadia and Ian from their class and take them home while I was at the hospital with Oliver. Then the gym director called this morning and cancelled today's class. Paul graciously offered to still come home early to watch Nadia and Ian so I would only have Oliver at the hospital. The kids have seen quite a few specialists over the past 5 years - ENT, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, allergist, opthomologist, psychologist, urologist, etc. Today we added one more to the list - pulmonologist.

We were at the hospital for two hours, and then on the way home we stopped at CVS to pick up his new prescription for Singulair. The doctor discussed the various potential causes of an asthma attack. I think that respiratory illnesses have been the culprit for Oliver every time. He did blood work today to make sure allergies aren't part of the problem, and if the Singulair doesn't help, he will also have him tested to make sure he doesn't have reflux. He'll be chewing one Singulair every night for the next few months, and it might become something he takes once a day all year long. When he has a runny nose or cough, we will immediately start the Pulmicort and Albuterol by nebulizer again. He's staying on the Pulmicort twice a day until he's been on the Singulair for ten days. Oliver was certainly a trooper as he didn't even cry when they gave him a flu shot, and he cried for only a couple of seconds when they drew blood from his arm. The doctor gave him an airplane and a matchbox car, and he also received a mylar balloon from a coupon I hadn't redeemed during his PICU stay. On the way out I popped into the RE's office to say hi for a minute. I am hoping and praying the Singulair will prevent another hospitalization in the near future.

Puzzles and Notes

Oliver has recently been trying to do bigger puzzles (meaning more than 12 pieces). He has been doing them with assistance, but this morning while I was doing schoolwork with Nadia, he did a 25 piece puzzle completely independently! He was proud of himself, and I was proud of him too. Way to go, Oliver! Nadia did a 200 piece puzzle with a little bit of assistance from Paul yesterday. She has done a 150 piece puzzle independently, and it's a tricky puzzle as the pieces are in some very odd shapes.

Nadia has started writing notes. First she left a note on Paul's desk asking him to show her Africa on the computer (meaning Google maps). Then she slipped him another reminder later. She wrote Ian a note once asking him to play their "Daddy daughter game." She has written me a variety of notes. This morning I was doing science with her and then had to go help Oliver with something. She came over to me with a note reminding me that we weren't done with science yet. HA HA!

Sometimes when she writes a
question on the note (ex. will you play a game with me) and I give her an answer verbally, she then runs off and writes her response on the paper (such as OK). I have no objections to this new fascination of hers because it's giving her practice with writing and spelling. For example she closed the textbook to see how to spell the word "science." Speaking of notes, Nadia and Ian have been working on their thank you notes for their Christmas presents. This is one of the perks of homeschooling. The things we do for "school" can be very practical!