WWII Remembrances

My Dad visited over Christmas break and Josh interviewed him for a History project. Here is the video. I learned all kinds of things about Dad that I didn't know. Some of it pretty funny; and some of it rather anti-PC!

Free photo slideshow created with Smilebox

My New Toy

Recently I've watched several documentaries on Netflix about the American food industry, the health benefits of organic foods, and how raw produce juices can boost the human immune system which in turn allows your body to heal itself of many chronic diseases. After watching these movies and doing more research, I became very convinced and convicted to make some changes in our family's diet to include more organics and less processed foods. So getting a juicer seemed like a great first step in a healthier direction for us. Some of the movies I've viewed lately: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead; Food Matters; and Food Inc. All very informative and reasonable. These are all on Netflix instant watch if you want to see them for yourself.

So, my lovely husband gifted me with the Breville Juice Fountain Plus that I requested for Christmas. And today, Caleb and I unpacked and played with my new toy. I am so jazzed to start using this great health booster for our family. After reading the easy directions and cleaning the parts Caleb and I made a yummy apple, carrot and pineapple juice. OMG, it was so super fast to make and it tasted delicious! 3 apples, 2 cups of mini carrots & 1/2 c fresh pineapple made about 2 C of fresh juice. All the kids really liked it. It only took about 1 minute to make and clean up truly was super easy. I'm planning a trip to the grocery store today to buy some more fresh produce. I'd like to start making fresh juice for everyone on school mornings. I think this will be a great health boost and immune builder for all of us as we enter the cold and flu season. I'm excited. And we will save the leftover pulp to mix in to pancake batter, muffins, bread, etc. to add flavor and fiber. I'll keep an update on the flavors that we really like!!

Christmas Recap

I feel like I've been in a haze for the past two weeks. Starting and completing several creative projects before Christmas, online shopping, wrapping gifts, making menu plans for the Christmas weekend that I would be away, making a trip to Green Bay, helping Mom recover from surgery, hosting my Dad here for several days, and celebrating a delayed Christmas with Matt & the kiddos. My head has been spinning but everything worked out just fine. I was glad to be able to support my mom and sister in Green Bay during Mom's December 23rd surgery. And Matt & the kiddos did just fine with me gone on Christmas Day. We also enjoyed a great visit with my Dad the 26th-this morning. Today I had nothing to do after dropping Dad off at the airport at 7:15am so I happily hunkered down with the kiddos and just played with them today.

Caleb was anxious to show me his new Skylanders game for the Wii. It's quite cute and funny with a fun RPG element to each character, background mythology to the storyline, and cute humor. I like it. It's quite a popular game right now for Wii and Matt thought Katie and Caleb would enjoy it. As is typical, Katie has mostly just been watching Caleb play so she gets a visual feel for how the game works. Once she "gets it" she'll jump in and play. But with most new video games, she likes to observe for a while. I think that helps her not get so frustrated when she actually plays the game herself because she's visually played it through Caleb several times before she actually takes a turn. She's smart and she really knows what works for her and what doesn't.

Caleb & I also listened to one of his new Hank the Cowdog books on CD. I laid on the futon cuddling the dog while listening; Caleb was busy building with his new Thames & Kosmos Physics Workshop kit. We love Hank the Cowdog--the books are hilarious, especially the audio ones that the author, John R. Erickson, reads aloud. We found the Hank books for Josh when he was a new reader and our whole family has loved them. Thames & Kosmos is a new "toy" discovery for us. I don't recall ever seeing this manufacturer when Josh was younger--he would have ATE IT UP!! But, Caleb is really enjoying the building AND learning about science aspects of these kits. If I were still homeschooling I'd invest all my science curriculum $ into buying a bunch of these kits--they are fantastic and fun.

Katie's favorite gift this year is the Bullseye the horse stuffed toy she received from Josh. She has been carrying it around with her since Tuesday.

My Goddaughter Helen came over this afternoon with her art box. So she and Katie sat at the dining table and drew pictures and colored for 2 hours while I read aloud from one of Katie's new books. We ended up starting and finishing her Kirsten Learns a Lesson chapter book. It is an American Girl Doll book and the main character, Kirsten Larsen, immigrates from Sweden to Minnesota in 1854. We started Katie on this book series last Christmas and she seemed to like it. Katie can read these books independently but they are challenging for her. So today I just felt like spending some time with the girls so I had fun reading aloud to them. We stopped occasionally to discuss new vocabulary words and to look intently at the illustrations. That was just as fun for me as for them.

Tonight I plan to watch a movie with Matt & Josh, then off to bed and sleeping in late tomorrow!! Yay!

Gussied Up

Tonight I attended an area Mary Kay Holiday Party. It's a dress up party with appetizers and desserts. Since I don't have any real dress up clothes I borrowed a lovely gold dress from my adopted Director & friend Becky. I'm in the gold dress, Becky is in the black dress. If I do say so myself, we both look smokin' hot. Not bad for a 48 year old stay at home mom--me. I think I clean up pretty good! The dress was actually very comfortable to wear and since Becky has recently lost 45 lbs. she said I should just keep it. What a fun time tonight.

The Christmas Spirit

This morning I had the pleasure of listening to Caleb sing with his Moreland Melodies choir group. They sang some nice Christmas carols in the school entryway. Very, very nice. Here's a sample. NOTE: You'll need to click the 1, 2, 3, 4 to advance the photos/videos.

Free photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Medical Day

Today was medical day. I took Caleb to two different doctor appointments and I had a dentist appointment.

My dentist gave me a sour face and guilt trip talk about my non-flossing habit. So I packed my bags and went on her guilt trip to the Target tooth health aisle. I ended up purchasing the WaterPik Water Flosser that she recommended. We'll see if I use it and if it works as advertised. Katie is not very consistent at brushing her teeth and she can't floss so I thought this would be good for her too. While in the tooth aisle I happened on a bunch of the Crest Whitener items and I loaded up on those too. With any luck, 3 weeks from now my gums will be healthier and I'll have a whiter smile. Yes, I saved the receipts just in case I need to activate the Crest 100% satisfaction guarantee. I'll let you know how that goes.

As for Caleb, as it is turning out he seems to have inherited my sensitive skin. Today he was in early to see our Pediatrician about a pimple turned bleeding nodule thingy on the back of his neck. Our Doc diagnosed it as Infectious Granuloma and he referred us to a dermatologist for removal. Caleb's second little skin issue is these recurring little bumps in his arm pit and under his chin. Doc said that was Molluscum Contagiosum and that it was a viral infection of the skin--on the order of a chicken pox like virus. It tends to come and go in some young children until they build up an immunity to it. Dermatologist could take care of that too.

Much to my relief the scheduler graciously squeezed Caleb in this afternoon. The dermatologist cut & cauterized the granuloma off Caleb's neck without much discomfort. He also put a blistering agent on the molluscum dots. Tonight they sure blistered up and Caleb was itchy and sore. I put him in an collidal oatmeal bath, gave him some ibuprofen, and salved up his dots with caladryl lotion. That seemed to calm down his itchiness and discomfort. Like chicken pox, these dots will scab over and fall off. Until then I plan to keep him home from school.

Although I hate having my kiddos get sick it is a good excuse to baby them a little bit. So prior to Caleb dermatologist appointment this afternoon I also purchased at Target ingredients to make homemade Mac & Cheese as well as a gift for Caleb. The kiddos loved the mac & cheese for dinner. Keeper recipe! After dinner Caleb and I watched the new movie I bought him called "Inkheart." It was very good, very suspenseful and based on a book. It's about characters coming to life out of books and the havoc that ensues. We loved it. Now I need to find a copy of the Inkheart book and read that. Caleb is an avid and advanced reader so maybe Inkheart will find its way on to his Christmas gift list!

While writing this post I was also surfing on WebMd. Some interesting connections are starting to form in my mind now. Caleb also has a bit of eczema on his eyelid that comes and goes. And eczema can sometimes be caused by food allergies. Hmmm. I wonder if Caleb has some kind of food allergy that we've never picked up on. Time to do some more research and start pulling some food from his diet and see what happens. He does seem to be prone to skin rashes and such. Maybe there is a connection to his food?

Food for Thought

I received this quote, below, in my email today from an acquaintance of mine. I can say from my own personal experience that this is very true. The fruit of my life is so totally different if I am filling my head with positive, uplifting messages throughout the day--scripture, worship music, positive books or movies, etc. When I focus on and fill my head (and fill my days) with current events, news, the stuff on TV or the internet I find myself feeling gloomy, depressed, and just pissed off! Yes, bad things happen every day, people do and say evil, governments can be corrupt--these things have always been true and will remain true until Christ's return. But while I am here on earth I would rather choose to focus on the positive things going on in my life and world and try to positively influence the things I can. Instead of just being negative, why not channel that frustrated energy in to figuring out HOW to change one negative situation for the better. Some things can be changed even a little and it can make a world of difference for someone.

Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't plan on harvesting Golden Delicious." ~Bill Meyer~

My friends, the reality is that our thoughts move us into action; and our actions are the primary spark plug for our results in life. I firmly believe that our thoughts are the springboard for what we manifest in life...good and not so good. If you spend most of your days thinking negative thoughts about your circumstances, the world and the people who are present in your life, you will see a certain type of limiting result perpetuating in your world. To the contrary, if you spend most of your days thinking positive, productive thoughts about your circumstances and the people who surround you...you will certainly see a more productive and rewarding type of result. The choice is yours. Think about it!