Happy New Year

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
(Emphasis mine)

September always feels like a new year is starting to me. Perhaps, it's because it's so close to my birthday. Or maybe because it's the beginning of the new school year. The Hebrew New Year will also begin soon. And now, after an encouraging word from the Lord this past Sunday, it feels that way even more so.

And I'll take it. A fresh start. Forgetting what's behind and pressing forward. Maintaining determination in pursuit of the Lord. Being steadfast and resolute, that I can stand in this world and declare that the Lord our God is good!

Have You Seen These Things Yet?

Maybe I'm so out of it these days that these things are old news, but I thought they were so cool! It's a t-shirt band that fits around your waist and hips to maintain skin coverage. Or as they call it - rear view exposure. You can find them at http://www.myhip-t.com/.

In this day of ultra low rise pants and shorter shirts, I thought it was a fantastic idea for keeping modest. And protecting the world from that which they truly do not want to see. :) It's one of those things that also leaves me wishing I had made it up.

I wonder if I could make my own out of a tight t-shirt.

Frugal Friday - Water Tips

Okay, so my sister, Jaclyn, and I were talking today and our conversation has pushed me into the realm of my next blog step. Participating in my first ___________ ... I don't know, what is this called anyway?

Side Note: I was not kidding when I admitted my techno unsavviness and my desire to remain there to some degree. The whole blog button, carnival, and various other terms I cannot even remember right now from bloggy world overwhelm my already overloaded brain. Who knew such a vast and confusing land existed in cyber world? :) Now I can at least say I tried it once. And by the way, do we think we could start any more of these?! There's only like 500 for each day. Ah, I digress...

Anyway, here's a couple tips for conserving water, saving on your water bill, and things that might help in a time of drought:

1. When you need to get warm or hot water from your faucet, catch the cold water in a container as you wait for it to heat up and use it to water plants. In further thinking, I guess you could always use it to "flush" the toilet, fill up a humidifier, or anything like that.

2. Save the water that you have used to boil pasta, veggies, etc. in and let it sit. Once it is cool, use this to water plants. This is important where Jaclyn lives because the city charges her for the water that goes down her drain. An added bonus if its "veggie" water, it could add nutrients to your soil.

These may not make a huge difference, but every little bit helps, right?

A Sigh of Relief

Quickest photo I could find of Caleb already on the computer

We had our first day of our homeshcool co-op today. Caleb absolutely loved it! And I am releasing a HUGE sigh of relief.

It was so funny this morning because I had butterflies in my stomach like it was the first day of school, only with less fear and anxiety. :) He is safe. And since he's so opinionated, I had concerns. Especially if he got bored. But like a lot of things in life, much ado about nothing.

Every Friday morning from now to December (the schedule changes for Jan.-April), he has Art, P.E., Presidential Election, and World Geography. He already soaked so much up just from today's classes and was upset that he didn't have anything to take notes on. You see, he doesn't want to forget what he's learning.

I woke up this morning and realized I never asked anyone what he should bring on his first day...oops! Easy enough to remedy. Then he can write away during class. Of course, knowing him, he'll be asking the teacher to stop so he can have enough time to write. Maybe I should buy him a tape recorder so he can transcript lessons at home. :) You laugh, but he probably would.

I hope all my kids have such a desire to learn. Samuel certainly wanted to stay. He wanted to play so bad. He also did not like leaving Caleb there. He kept yelling,"Fawher". That's his way of saying brother and its the only thing he calls Caleb. Brother and Baby, I wonder if that's what he'll call his siblings for the rest of his life.

I was just so glad our first day of co-op went well. No one escorting Caleb to me after classes. No phone calls from teachers. I'm ridiculous, I know. Can you tell I'm ultra-hyper-sensitive about it? ;) I hope it stays this smooth all year. And fun!

I'll do a post soon about what we're doing at home this year.

The Story Behind the Wig

Man, tough crowd. Between comments left and conversations on the phone and in person, the need for my repentance is clear. In order to restore everyone's sense of peace, let me give the background on the previous post.

She's auditioning for a prequel to Annie.

Okay, so now I know that I'm the only one who thinks I am funny. Perhaps it's sleep deprivation.

Anyway, I was watching the daughters of a friend and they had brought their new Build-a-Bear buddies to show me. One of them had made an elephant and it was the proud owner of the lovely red tresses.

Please rest assured that the lovely Miss Abigail only had to endure the wig for as long as it took to snap the picture (notice the poor quality). She was a very good sport about the whole thing.

If I had to pick my favorite answer, it would be B) A desperate attempt to quiet Richie's constant comparison of his haircut with Abigail's. I do not find that funny. Comparing a sweet baby girl's head to that of a father who's losing his hair. Talk about cruelty! ;)

And now that my sister, Jessica, has made a connection to George Costanza's mother (see her comment in the previous post), I find no ounce of humor in the photo.at.all. I guess I won't be posting the picture I took yesterday of her in a blonde wig... :)

Multiple Choice

Which answer best describes this picture?

This is:

A) The newest version of Baby Laugh-n-Grow

B) A desperate attempt to quiet Richie's constant comparison of his haircut with Abigail's

C) A strange outlet for Jo Ann's love of red hair

D) A homeschool science experiment gone terribly wrong

E) None of the above

Vaccination Alteration - Part 2

I wanted to follow up and share our plan where vaccines are concerned. We have decided to go with an alternative schedule for Abigail. It's not the exact schedule that Dr. Sears recommends in his book, but pretty close. Like I said in my earlier post, I'm still not thrilled with vaccines, but I'm much more comfortable with this choice. Here are just a few highlights from my thoughts:

My precious baby girl

One of the main reasons I opted to use an alternative schedule was to stagger the shots she'd be receiving that contained aluminum. Since I was a sophomore in college (yikes-11 years ago), I have been against most things aluminum. I've been slack lately, drinks from soda cans, not looking for a deodorant that doesn't contain it, etc., but this was really important to me and her little body.

The biggest hindrance we face, which is extremely important to me, is getting the MMR broken into individual doses. I need to contact our local health dept. and see if they offer each single vaccine because our doctor's office cannot.

I personally did not feel comfortable with going unvaccinated. So, this offered a sensible option to me. I feel like her body will be able to process the "nasties" that are in vaccines better and it won't overwhelm her. All while still being protected against some pretty offensive illnesses.

I was surprised at how easily Abigail's pediatrician was in agreeing to an alternative schedule. He even commented that the alternative schedule in The Vaccine Book was one of the best he had seen. He and I tweaked it a bit to fit my family's needs and it was pretty simple.

I will have more co-pays and need to keep track of it, but her health is worth it. She will have shots every month for a while. I fell bad about that, but I think it's better than overloading her body in one sitting.

I do believe we might travel overseas as a family at some point, so better to space them out now than whammy her all at once, if the opportunity does present itself.

There is so much more controversy going on right now than I thought. I read an interesting post by Stephanie at Keeper of the Home and was surprised to learn that some public service announcements will be released soon concerning vaccinations.

I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that the whole public health thing has me concerned to some extent. I don't know what the right answer is though. I guess that's another reason why I like the alternative schedule so much.

When trying to make our decision about vaccinations, I read several different viewpoints from other moms on the subject at Prayer of Hanna. I really appreciated reading what they all shared a while back and their blog is great to get different perspectives on a lot of topics.

I wish the vaccines contained different ingredients and I wish there was no risk of illness. But that's not the real world. Become informed and educated, pray, and make the right decision for your family.

Hairy Situation

I started my day with hair problems and ended it with hair problems. Not mine, but that which belongs to the head of my firstborn.

Caleb has always had an obstinate cowlick. It's as relentless as he is in many ways. We have spent years trying to tame it. We've shaved it. We've grown it out. And yet, there it remains bringing back many fond memories of Alfalfa from Little Rascals.


He has currently been growing his hair out and we are beginning to see some progress in getting the stubborn thing under control, but with it has brought new issues. Issues that, in all my *ahem* parental wisdom, didn't think we'd face until Abigail got older.

He went through a phase at 5 where he wanted a Mohawk. So, we obliged with a faux-hawk every once in a while and he was appeased. Now, he wants a small ponytail like Annakin from Star Wars.

In the midst of trying to reach some sort of compromise and trying to not let it get too shaggy, I cut it the other day. He hated it. He disliked it so much that he fought tears as he stomped upstairs to his room to console himself. When I finally saw him 1 and 1/2 hours later, he let me style it and it actually looked pretty good and in style.

I offered to buy him some styling gel to help hold it in place and I thought life was good. So much once again for my so-called parental wisdom. I have created a monster! He is constantly checking his hair and gets upset if anyone touches it. Repeatedly asking me if it still looks okay. Today, he kept asking me to put more in so it wouldn't move and got upset when I wouldn't.

In case you're not understanding the severity of the problem...he practices running around the house to estimate how fast he will be able to go when he's playing with his friends without his hair being disturbed!

And I'm left disturbed. How can an 8 year old boy be so worried about his hair? I am trying to be the good mom and pick my battles, but I am seriously ready to get the razor out and use it on his well-coiffed head. You see, he's added something else to his bedtime routine at night...fixing his hair.