Sad

Missing church two weeks in a row makes my heart sad... :-(

On a Positive Note...

The good thing about being forced to stay home... I completed my first whole week of our Genesis 2 class! Starting off on the right foot!

Interesting Night

Melia came into our room last night a little before 1 am. She was on the verge of breaking down, but she said "Daddy, I needed to tell you that I just can't sleep because something is hurting me inside my ear.... sobbbbbb" She was obviously in a LOT of pain, writhing and sobbing. She didn't have a fever, but we gave her some Tylenol right off. I put some oil around her ear and tried to get her to settle down, but it just wasn't happening. We had one ear candle left, having used the second of the pair on my own ear just the night prior. I was glad we hadn't used both!

It helped immediately. By the time it was done, she was in zero pain! Thank you LORD! What a change, from crying and writhing in pain to able to go straight to sleep~ amazing. I took her in this morning, and sure enough, her ear drum is bulging. I'm calling Gabe to have him pick up more candles on his way home from work! (yes, she did get some antibiotics as well)

If you want to know what I'm talking about... check these. You stick them in your ear, light it on fire, and hopefully it'll suck out any nasties. For Melia and I, it not only pulled out the wax, but also relieved the pressure somehow. We love them.

I SO Appreciate My Husband..

I was reading today about a really good deal on boneless, skinless chicken at $1.59/lb. You have to purchase a 40 lb box, and you have to pick it up at one of the drop places. Unfortunately, the closest drop points are in Ellensburg and Moses Lake. I seriously considering it, but thought I should absolutely ask Gabe first.


I explained it to him, and he responded with "Well, what you'll save on the meat you'll spend on gas getting there..." I totally hadn't calculated that in! And when I did, I would have spent more on gas traveling than I had saved!


If any of you who are close to a drop point, this would be a GREAT deal. You can read more about it here, and a review of it here.

BTW, if you want it soon, today is the last day, and while the review says $1.48/lb, it's now $1.59/lb. :-)

Another laugh

Last night I was rubbing oils on the girls and tried a new one called Palo Santo. It smells like black licorice, only better! I told Melia this as I began rubbing it on. She breathed deeply and said,
"Hmmmm, I just want to eat myself...."

Kiera looked up at her with wide eyes...
"That's not good!"

I think I actually found it...

For those of you who know how much I love the Created to be His Helpmeet book, you also know how I've desired to see one written for men. Because marriage is a journey of growing together and we always both have issues that God wants to fine tune with us. Plus, in raising children, I always want to have in mind that I am training little wives, husbands, mommies and daddies. Boy, is that a daunting thought!

Anyway, I think I found it. All along, I've expect Mike Pearl to write one, but it still hasn't come out, and I haven't read anything more about their plans for it. (He had a heart attack, so that certainly is a good reason for slowing up production!) If it does get finished, I will of course read it, but for now I'm pleased with this resource.

I heard Voddie Baucham Jr. on Family Life Today's radio program along with his daughter. The show was about how he and his wife are very involved in their daughter's consideration of potential husbands. And how she deeply desires this! I thought, now that's what I'd like to accomplish- working together as a team to produce the best possible result! They inspired me as to what a father/daughter relationship should look like. And, like most FMT shows, the guests had a book I could order. So I did.

It's called What He Must Be... if He wants to Marry my Daughter.

In one word: Fabulous. Inspiring. Encouraging. Daunting. Overwhelming. Terrifying.

Does that make you want to read it? I understand if not! But trust me- I've been reading this book for about 2-3 weeks, and several times Gabe's heard me say "I think everyone should have this book!!!" It's a guide for what we should train our daughters to look for in a potential suitor. It's a guide for men on what the Bible says about husbands and fathers. It's a guide for parents raising those young suitors. Plus, it's also a guide for men who are blessed with the opportunity to mentor young men.

I loved it. It's definitely one I'm encouraging Gabe to read, and one I will have my girls read when they are at an appropriate age. And I'm encouraging you to read it too!

Uhhh....Gross.

See? This is how you get me to blog. You lock me at home with three actively sick children who do a great job of providing entertainment, and you get to read about my day.

For dinner, I made some fish sticks I had in the freezer. For some reason, this company (yellow box...) doesn't wrap the fish inside the box to keep it fresh.... it was probably freezer burned. I cooked it up anyway (since you can't tell how bad it is when it's frozen!) and the girls did not like it. I tried it, thought it was edible, but not very good. So, I broke up a piece to give to Esther and the rest went to Ziva. In between all this, I got Isaac up. He saw that fish on the plate that Esther was enjoying... and yes, he grabbed up two pieces and stuffed them in his mouth.

Apparently, he doesn't mind freezer burn.

Another Amazing Kiera Moment...

I know! Two in one day! Not long after the math moment, I was writing words on the white board for Melia to read. I tried to stump her by writing "Kerzon, Esther, Ziva, Isaac." I had to help with Kerzon and Esther, but pushed her to sound out Ziva. KIERA piped up and said "Ziva!"

I thought "OK, she got that one by guessing, but she'll never get Isaac."

Guess what she did... I know- long shot, but yes...

she said Isaac.

Wow.

So, I erased all of them and just wrote Ziva on the board. I showed it to her and asked her to read it. She guessed Leo, (I'm assuming because he's another pet) and then wouldn't give it another shot. I told her it said Ziva and she says "I thought that was it, but..." So she is really paying attention to more than I thought...

Just to test me I'm sure, not long after that episode, her work was to trace the alphabet and write each letter one time. We had TEARS people! Because, in her words, "she's just a little four year old who can't write her letters yet!" HA!

(And yes, she did get around to writing those very letters because the only way she was going to get to paint was if she finished her schoolwork!)

A Real Laugh Out Loud Moment

Today, while doing school:

Me: Melia, you got one wrong.

Melia: What!?! Which one? (she's not often wrong with math :-)

Me: 23+4 is not 26

Kiera: It's 27, I think.


I couldn't believe she knew that. Although, I have noticed that she is definitely picking up what we are teaching Melia, but math? That suprised me!

Home Days

We're home today. We planned on going to Bellevue for a meeting, but all three kids got sick yesterday. Not bad, probably the RSV thing that's going around, but just an unpleasant cough and some fevers. So, Gabe headed out this morning, and we're missing out on our fun family day :-( I hate it when this happens. Right when we planned something fun.

The good part is that I was home to see a Seattle groupon on FB for the Children's Museum, so we can now plan another fun day... hopefully, nobody will get sick!

Now, to get started on something productive while the kids are still in good spirits!