Wishful Thinking

I took Jacob to the dentist the other night. I had remembered at the last moment that I forgot to mention that he was going through treatment and was nervous about having to shake my head no when they asked "Is he going to be okay?"

As we waited we sat across the table from each other. Jacob asked if we could go get "the train wreck" at Denny's. I asked, "You mean the Grand Slam at Perkins?" He smiled and nodded his head yes. 

Then I woke up.

The dream didn't really make any sense. But I was with Jacob, for just a moment, and it felt like a little visit from him. 

I'm often reminded of a short-lived television show called Awake. I only saw one episode of it and was fascinated with the premise. Michael lives in two separate realities after a car accident. In one reality, his wife  survives the accident; in the other reality, his son  survives. Michael does not know which reality is "real". 

Sometimes I wish for two different realities. The days of suffering would be so much easier to handle if every night I lived a life where Jacob was still with us.
 

Naturally

I'm a big believer in trying natural products before going to pharmaceuticals. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for picking up medicine at the pharmacy counter and I am glad that we have that option. But I also believe that God created natural plants that can often do the same, with less side effects, and I try to scope those out first.

I'm not a doctor though and do not suggest going off a medicine or trying a new supplement without talking to your doctor and doing your research first.

This is just what works for our family.

We always have a jar (or two) of Elderberry Syrup on hand. This really boosts your immune system and is especially helpful during the flu season.

My mother calls Activated Charcoal magic. I don't know how many times I've turned to this for stomach upsets, nausea, and more. There have been times that I have been *this* close to throwing up, I take one or two tablets, and within 15 minutes I can literally feel it absorbing the acid in my stomach.

On an added note. If you break open a tablet, pour it on a toothbrush, and brush your teeth with it you will notice a much whiter smile within a week (after rinsing out your black mouth!). 

Carditone has been a life saver for my husband. This summer his blood pressure was through the roof. Before going to the doctor and going on blood pressure pills for life we decided to try some supplements. He takes Carditone every other day and garlic, magnesium, and CQ10 every day. His counts have come down almost 50 points into the normal range and are staying that way!

These are just a few of the products that we use and have in the medicine cabinet. I'll highlight others throughout the next few months.
 

Our Curriculum

This is my calendar page for the month. I find it so funny. But oh so untrue. Having kids at home 24/7 means more of a mess, not less of one. If only...

This weeks begins week 4 of school and it's going well. For those who asked, we don't use one set of curriculum but rather a mash of different text books and workbooks and I'm finding that I think we've finally hit the mark this year. Everything we are using I'm liking a lot! Some things we do use are:

Handwriting Without Tears for both print and cursive. Did you know a lot of schools are doing away with teaching cursive? That makes me so sad...how is someone supposed to read their Grandmother's writing or work in an office if they CAN'T read a style of writing?!

MCP Mathematics is what we use for both children. With added work sheets for additional memorization and help.

Rod and Staff for grammar and spelling.

Catholic Heritage Curricula for Joe's science.

Thinking Kids Complete Year workbooks help to review important information each week with your child. This is a good resource even for those who don't homeschool, it give you a chance to do some fun activities and review with your child during the week.

The rest of our books are a lot of workbooks, school textbooks, supplemental books from the library, and so on. 
 

Light Your Path

 
You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose carefully. Do they light your path or darken it?


As iron sharpens iron,    so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

 

No Quilt Left Behind

Several years ago, after falling in love with quilts, I sort of made a silent commitment of "leaving no quilt behind" when I saw one for a good price at garage sales or thrift stores.

Not just any quilt, mind you, but handmade ones. The time, talent, and love that someone bestowed upon the quilt, as well as the recipient, does not go unnoticed by me. It often befuddles me that these sweet little cotton comforts even end up in the thrift store. Who donates their Grandma's quilt, their mother's handiwork? (I guess I should thank them or else I wouldn't have such a stash myself!) 

Last week these two beauties came home with me.  

There have been times, unfortunately, where I have had to leave one behind. They were just too far gone for me to save, were much more like cutter quilts (only useful for cutting up to make smaller projects from) and I'm not at that level of expertise to bring them back to life yet. I know that someone is though, as they are always gone the next time I visit that store. The vintage fabrics call to me but the stains, holes, missing edging, etc. make me set the pathetic things back in place. I'll get there someday - where I can rescue them all and give them a loving home. ;)

For now they are on shelves waiting for a cold winter's day, plopped on the couch giving cuddles during movie time, in the car ready for a picnic. Well loved and used often.  

This & That

** spoiler alert ** I thought this was a chick-lit book, happy and carefree. Boy was I wrong! As a mother I can relate to being pulled in a million directions and finally asking yourself, "What's the important things in life?" 

 I was confused, and annoyed, with the business plan in this book. Too much lingo and jargon made some pages hard to follow along. But the actual business proposal was somewhat amusing so I'll look past that.

 But more so, I related to the health issue of a parent in this book. Because it happens...we will all probably have to say goodbye to our parents in our lifetime. Reading about Alice's father brought back memories of my own father. I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish this book and bawled through the last 1/4 of it. I think Egan wrote these feelings/emotions/issues out perfectly and made it all so believable. Because the father in this story had no voice (due to a cancer operation) I think it made it easy for me to imprint my own father into the story. Any book that can make me cry is a good book. 

 “When you're a kid, you think you're going to have this deep well of time with your parents when you grow up and you're all on equal footing. When I had kids of my own, I thought that time would come when my kids grew up and I had a little more freedom. I imagined myself as a fifty-year-old woman, strolling around the duck pond with my eighty-year-old dad. I might have looped my arm through his.
Now I knew, this was not to be.”
A Window Opens  by Elisabeth Egan

*Remember all the rainbow profile pictures in support of gay marriage on Facebook? Well, September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and I would love to see people "go gold" in support of that. And please read this article to learn more about Childhood Cancer. We need more awareness, more funding, more support!!

*I've heard people say "Why bring a child into this horrid world?"
I think, "What if that child changes the world?" 
I loved this picture on Humans of New York. This boy brightens the world around him, like so many others do in their corner of the world.

* This article makes me feel sick to my stomach, and quite confused as I don't really see the authors point. She's glad she has her daughter now but wishes she had had the chance to abort her? She didn't sign up for a child with health challenges and doesn't think other parents should have to parent a child with varying health ailments? 
Becoming a parent to ANY child means the possibility of parenting a child with issues...autism, cancer, child falls down the steps and gets brain damaged, teen gets in a car accident and is paralyzed. What would we think of a parent who walked into a hospital room after that and said "I didn't sign up for this!" and walked out forever.
 That's what parents do - love their children no matter what, take care of them no matter what. This women, holding her child in her arms, feels angry that she didn't know beforehand when she could have done something about it. This is so, so sad. What happened to our society to make some people "less than"?

*On a happier note, some blogs of family and friends that I enjoy:

~A DIY blog with fun projects Laura Ann's Home 

~A book blog for bookworms Pursuing the White Whale

~My mom and her co-author's blog Mary & Me 

~Another stay-at-home mama blog The Space Between This and That
 

Allure Beauty Box September 2015

I wanted to try the Allure Beauty Box again as I am slowly getting tired of IPSY and may be canceling that out soon as I was highly impressed with this Allure box. It is $15 a month and includes five ore more deluxe sized samples put together by the editors at Allure Magazine. A tiny little magazine is included with each box which highlights the products and gives the editors reviews on it. 

The September box included:

*Tangle Teezer ($15) This is a fun size to throw in your purse but I think it will be a staple in our bathroom. All of us girls here have hair very prone to tangles and this actually works to get them out without pain. Amy sat on the bed and let me brush her hair for several minutes, something she never lets me do!

*Soap and Glory Pillow Plump XXL Lip Gloss in Pinkwell ($14). A bit sticky, but it does tingle which I think means it's working and it smells like chocolate! What's not to love?

*Jane Iredale Smooth Affair Facial Primer & Brightener ($48 for 1.7 oz. and this sample is .24 oz). I've fallen in love with primers. They just make your makeup look so much better. This one smells like a fresh orange and has a light-pink tint to it.

*Alterna Replenishing Moisture Milk ($30 for 5.1 oz and sample is 0.85 oz.). This is a leave-in deep conditioning spray made without parabens, sulfates, or phthalates.

*Pixi by Petra Glow Tonic ($15 for 3.4 oz. sample is 0.5 oz.) This alcohol-free toner is supposed to exfoliate and brighten skin.

*Kaplan MD Cellular Rejuvenating Concentrate ($170 for 1 oz. sample is .10 oz.). Goodness...this stuff better be good at that price! An anti-aging serum that fights wrinkles and increases collagen. With a yummy faint apple scent! Looking forward to looking younger, maybe?!

*Erno Laszlo Firmarine Bar Soap ($45 for full size, sample is 17g). Wow, quite expensive soap! This made the whole box smell divine. Can't wait to try it on my face!

This box had a very high value with all new to me brands (except for Pixi which I have used before and love). I shall pretend I'm at a spa whilst using my fancy products. :)