Thankfulness

I've seen a "thankfulness challenge" spreading through social media lately and while I'm glad to see friends and family finding reasons to be thankful, I don't need to be "challenged" to find reasons to be thankful. I look purposefully for reasons to be thankful on a daily basis.

Here are a few reasons why I'm thankful today...

1) I helped friends and family in need today. Three to be exact.
2) I made a healthy dinner for my family. Homemade fajitas with homemade tortillas. I'm thankful for the food and the knowledge to create meals for my family.
3) I am thankful for the air conditioning in my car, it was around 90° here today.

I am thankful for far too many reasons to mention in one blog post.

What are you Thankful for today?

Today is the Day

My son has been seizure free since Christmas 2013, that's 6 months!

When he was first diagnosed with epilepsy October 31, 2013, he was told by his neurologist that he cannot do ANYTHING until he had been seizure free for six months.  Then we were given a 2 page list of activities that are "not allowed" including bathing, swimming, camping, hiking, sports, bike riding, climbing.

He was told the only thing he was allowed to do during that 6 months is school work (but no P.E.) and learn piano.  He wasn't to participate in physical activities at all.  This greatly upset him, and us.  We're talking about an 11 (now 12) year old boy who is highly active.  He goes camping with boy scouts, he climbs trees, rides his bike, swims, plays soccer.  We kept him as calm as possible until January when he got the invitation to play soccer.  We discussed it with the nurse at his neurology office and although the Doctor said not to allow physical activity, the nurse said that as long as he is taking his medicine faithfully and remains seizure free, he can do some things (like play soccer) under supervision.  We signed him up for soccer, we allowed him to go to the local indoor pool, as long as he stayed with his dad and myself.  We allowed him to go camping, his scout master, and patrol leader are both paramedic's.  He was in good hands.  He's been allowed to ride his bike while taking the trash out or checking the mail.

Finally, he hasn't had a seizure in 6 months.  We're having a party for him on Saturday.  We've invited everyone who has prayed for him, done anything for him, supported us during this journey.  We're having a barbecue, and cupcakes.  The first major accomplishment for someone with epilepsy deserves a party.

Do you know someone with epilepsy?  What kind of things do you do to support them?

Reading Rescue 1-2-3

I am so excited, I found my READING RESCUE 1-2-3 book this morning.  This is amazing since I have 3 children in my home who could use a little boost in their reading skills.  We are homeschoolers, and I have used this book to help my son in the past.  The book got misplaced, and I haven't seen it in a couple of years actually.  We are babysitting my niece this summer, and she desperately needs summer school help with reading and spelling.  So I was looking through some of my homeschool resources this morning, and found the Reading Rescue 1-2-3 manual.

My son is 12, going into 6th grade.  My 5 year old granddaughter lives with us and she's going to be in Kindergarten this year.  In the Reading Rescue 1-2-3 book, I've learned that Level 1 readers need to learn the alphabet and sounds.  Sounds perfect for teaching a kindergartener to me!  My niece is 8, going into 3rd grade, and needs a lot of help with reading and spelling before school starts again.  She goes to public school, so I need to work my magic before school starts in August.

Stay tuned for updates on how the kids are doing using this program throughout the summer.  Have you ever been so excited to find a book?  Leave me a comment talking about your great find!

20 Years

I was 15 years old when one of my best friends from high school was shot and killed in cold blood by another classmate.  That was 20 years ago.  I can't believe it's been 20 years already, sometimes it still feels like yesterday.  May 25 is a very hard day for me every year, it has been a hard day for 20 years.

Yesterday, was his 20 year memorial.  His sister and brother, some other family members, and of course his closest friends were there.  We met at his graveside to visit, remember him, and release balloons to send messages to him in Heaven. His cousin read a beautiful Poem, his sister read a letter she wrote to him.  We laughed, we cried, we took pictures, we remembered.  From there we went to the city park, where his sister had put together a barbecue in remembrance.  I saw friends who I haven't seen in 16 years.  I keep in touch with them via Facebook, but it just isn't the same thing as actually getting to hug them, see their faces, hear their voices and know that they're laughing and crying just the same as I am.  We passed a book around and wrote memories of our friend in it.  That was hard.  I avoided that book for as long as I could while I tried to think up a memory or two that wouldn't bring tears.  There are so many memories, I mean, we grew up together.  There was hardly a time we were apart, or on the phone with each other.  There was a group of us, always together.  Of course, we continued to laugh, and cry and remember our dear friend.  We took pictures, horsed around just like we used to.  Our kids played together too, and we made a different memory, a better memory for this day.  There was still a void, but we saw Nathan in everyone who was there.  He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

Hair Obsessed

I have been told on multiple occasions that I am obsessed with my hair.  I have been growing my hair, cutting and donating it to Locks of Love since I was a teenager.  Until the past 2 years.  Two years ago, I went in to get it cut, only to find out that it wasn't long enough to donate.  I had it cut anyway.  Last year at the same time, the same thing happened, so I only got it trimmed.  Here we are another year later, and my hair is just barely long enough to donate, and that's if I cut it super short.

As an It Works Global distributor, I'm always eager to try out our products.  After all, how can I tell people about it if I don't know about it?  So imagine how excited I was when Hair Skin and Nails was introduced to our line!  I finally got around to ordering a bottle, and I have been taking it since Thursday.  I haven't noticed new length in my hair in the first few days like some of my teammates did, but what I did notice is that my hair didn't fall out by the handful in the shower this morning.  I'm talking about HUGE wads of hair that I stick to the shower wall until I get out so it doesn't clog the drain.  Today, I might have lost 5 whole strands.  It's amazing.  So, I'm convinced that HSN is making my hair healthier, and will work on the length as I continue to take it.  Are you obsessed with your hair? Leave me a comment telling about your hair routine.

He's Home!

He's finally home!! Little Mister has been out camping since Friday evening.  This is the second camp out he's been on since he moved up from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  I miss him like crazy when he's gone.  There's no contact with him at all from the time I leave him with the group on Friday evening, until I get the text from the leader that he's almost home.  I don't worry about him too much, I know he's in good hands.  About the only thing I do worry about is rather someone will forget to give him his medicine while he's out.  It's difficult here at the house, for his alarm to be silent when 10:00 rolls around.

He's a good boy, and I want him to learn all he can about how to survive, cook, and live in the outdoors.  I believe that someday it may come to that.  He learns a lot at these camp outs.  More than just how to pitch a tent.  When the boy scouts go camping, the boys have to get together and plan a menu, and one boy is assigned to do the shopping and purchase the food.  They are responsible for their own cooking, clean up, building a fire and watching it.

Glad to have my little man back in the house!  Do your kids go on outings without you?

Spell Check

My son has always had trouble spelling, he has a dictionary sitting on the desk right next to the computer he does his school work on. My opinion, he has to learn how to spell. My husbands opinion "These are the days of spell check, he doesn't need to know how to spell. The computer will help him." I continue to reset assignments for him to correct spelling errors.  What do you think about kids learning to spell?