Migraines.....Can anyone spell relief....

Ahhhh it is quiet and peaceful in my house right now...finally!
All I hear is the fan and the fish tank. Everyone (the kids) is sleeping. Thank goodness. I have had a terrible headache today and my knee well its in so much pain that Tylenol has not helped! The PT says its all part of the strengthen and healing process...I am beginning to wonder though. I know I did way to much today! To many flights of stair climbing getting ready for our big party tonight!
Sean got called in to work tonight and tomorrow night. I know he was
looking forward to the extra time off this week but we are grateful
too that God is supplying for our needs! Honey if you are reading this tonight or tomorrow, I just want to publicly say once again
"I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU for working so hard for us!"
Today is Halloween. It is a tough day for most Christian parents. Do you let your children trick or treat or not. If you grew up following the traditions of dressing up and going out for candy this night brings back happy childhood memories for many. I know it does for me. But as a Christian and as a Mom I find it hard to allow my children to go through the neighborhood asking for handouts. Since we know for sure there are some drug dealers and addicts in our neighborhood we have no problem saying NO! But even still if our neighborhood was the safest in the world I am not sure I would let them go out.
There are so many myths out there about Halloween. In fact if you write me I can send you info on the truth of Halloween via the research my husband has. Some people call this night satan's night. Honestly NO night is his because he did not create day and night. The Bible clearly states God created day and night! No, satan owns nothing and as far as I am concerned Halloween is just another night to celebrate my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
So tonight instead of going door to door we held an alternative party at the church. "Light Night - Jesus is the light of the World" party. The kids that came had a grand time playing a variety of games. We watched "The Roach Approach ~ The Mane Event!" Lesson on standing up for what you believe in. We have a TON of candy! We have enough candy in our house now to fill 4 shopping bags! Then we went on a hay ride through town, out in the country and past an old abandoned log cabin. The kids loved it!
Eli was the most excited! He thought it was fantastic to be sitting on the hay looking up at the stars. It was chilly but oh so much fun! It's been a long time since I have been on a hay ride. The first time for the kids! We are considering doing it again at Christmas time if the weather permits and go caroling.
So now it is quiet, my head is still pounding but not nearly as bad. I did take pictures of my kids all dressed up(but my camera stinks and they turned out all fuzzy)....We had King Eli (dressed in his tux from my sisters wedding), Queen Sara (in her flower girl dress), MnM Boy-Kris was dressed as a bag of MM's and had a yellow MnM as a mask, and GB-Jaron has Godly Boy. He created his own costume. They had a blast, ate way too much candy and are now crashed out in their beds.
So tonight we celebrated Jesus and the freedom we have in Him.

How to Eat Fried Worms

If you ever read the book in school you have to

get the movie! It is one of the best kid/family

friendly movies. We all love watching it!

There are not too many kid movies that I like

to watch over and over again, but this is one

that qualifies as one of my favorites.
My kids love digging for worms.

Something they were never able to

really do in Florida but here in IL we have

a plethora of night crawlers. These things

are huge! Well they kids love this movie.

Naturally they do not want to eat the worms

but if theycan keep them as pets it makes

them even happier! You want a great family

movie, go to your localmovie rental

place and rent it! It's great!

Oh and don't forget the popcorn!

The Astroid that Got to close to Earth by Kristofer age 5 1/2

Ok, the kids got out of school yesterday at 11:30 and did not have school today either. Teachers training days or something like that. needless to say it has rained here all week and has been dull, cold (high of 60 was the highest all week), and rainy. Does not produce a great time for the kids to be home. Specially Kristofer cause it means I have to get really creative on how to keep him from coming unglued.
But today has been a relatively quiet day today. Tonight we carved out a pumpkin and added cross ears. The kids love the smells, I always add Cinnamon inside the pumpkin and on the lid, it smells like pumpkin pie in our house right now. Kris has been quiet and calm most of the day and then at at 10 pm (Friday night is the only night they get to stay up late) he became a wild talking man! He did not stop talking for 1/2 an hour! Honestly I didn't think I would ever get him to stop talking! It was actually very funny!
Needless to say during all the talking he was drawing pictures as well. That is when he began telling Jaron and I his story! Hope you love it as much as we did! It's the first time he has talked so much, so clear and had a purpose in the talking. He wasn't rambling just retelling us the story over and over again!

The Asteroid that Got to Close to Earth

by Kristofer age 5 1/2

One day two spacemen went into space. They saw the sun, all the beautiful planets, the starts and the big dipper. They saw 100 thousand asteroids, they were going around the planets. Then the spacemen traveled around the planets. There was a huge asteroid and it was heading to earth to crush it. They used the magnets and pulled it to the sun. They saved the earth. They were the biggest heroes in the universe. Then their spaceship ran out of power and they were heading to Pluto. They landed on Pluto and fixed their spaceship. Then they hurried back to home on earth. They were happy to be home and to be super heroes. They were given $10,000 million dollars so they could buy a bunny.

The bunny talked to them and they screamed, "ah ah ah!" and the bunny said to stop screaming and then he went to outer space.

The END!

PT...Physical Torture....

Just an example of some of the exercises!

PT is killing me! Ok, honestly this is what I know...I have prayed that God would help me lose weight and would help me be committed to exercising. SO what does He do, He lets me experience pain (gall bladder) that I have never in this world, had ever experienced before and never want to again! Wakes me up...I change my eating habits! Then what does He do? He allows me to not only find a mole trail a few weeks earlier but also a stupid gumball nut!

I am thankful that He did not let me injure myself more than I did but He allows this to happen. With the full intent to use it to "help" me get committed to exercising!

Now if I don't do the exercises 2xs a day I have a really high probability of having knee surgery. I DO NOT WANT SURGERY AGAIN! So, I am committed to exercising twice a day and have included workouts for my arms. I don't have to add anything for my stomach yet. At least 3 of the movements already include my stomach muscles. The PT has added 3 new exercises for me to add to the first 9. Plus I go to the "gym" and work out with my PT's help. Not only do I do the "now" 12 exercises but also have started riding a stationary bike. Right now it’s to just loosen up my knee 7-10 mins. But in 2 weeks I will be riding to gain more strength. Plus there are a few other exercises that we do at PT that I have been told not to do at home just yet. Which means when she does instruct me to do them at home I will have almost 15 and she says there are at least a total of 20 that I will be doing in total. She told me today that we will be adding weights to these exercises possibly next week...yea!

Here is what I also know...it is working! Each week she has to measure the strength and the joint movement/flexibility in my knee. Last week when we started I was in the negatives for the movement. Now I am in the 100's. Not sure what that means completely but from her reaction and smiles I know it is good. She said it was really good so what does she do...she increases my sets to 2 sets of 10 and for a few of the exercise moves increases them to 3 sets of 10. Gotta love it! I am seeing a difference in the stability and the time I am able to stand. Before last week I could only stand maybe 5 to a max of 10 minutes at a time. Now its at least 10 to 20 mins. Makes being a mom a lot easier! That's for sure.

I am still extremely sore and even more so on the days of PT. But there is purpose behind the pain and I have committed to continuing these exercises until I get to a healthy weight. If my knees benefit fantastic! Thank you God for using the measures, You see fit, to get my attention and "help" me like I asked!

House Cleaning

I think we all as mother's sturggle with the idea of a clean house and time to play with the kids. This article from Hearts at Home I think states the best advice ever!
~ Melissa

*********************************************************
I have to admit, when I saw the topic that I was assigned to write about for this newsletter- homemaking-I chuckled more than a bit. Homemaking-or cleaning as I was thinking about it- is the part of the stay-at-home-mom job where I am at my worst! I excel at the nursing duties, homework help, and snack making, but cleaning is just not my thing. It just seems like the one task that falls to the bottom of my priority list in our busy household.However, one day, a little girl freed me to be at peace with my clutter. She had come over for dinner and an evening of play. During dinner, I told her not to worry about spilling. Thankfully, our house has all brown carpet...at least I think it was that color when we bought it!Then, she and my son went off to play, and I told her not to worry about messing anything up. After all, if most things in the house are already out of place, who would notice one thing more?At the end of the evening, I took her home. I have to admit, when I saw her mom in their spotless living room, I felt a bit inadequate. I tried not to feel insecure when the little girl recounted her evening with glee, and told her mom about my housekeeping standards. Then with a serious face, she asked her mom, "Why can't we live in a house like that?"I'm sure she really didn't mean that. After all, I'm sure she really doesn't want to have to spend six weeks looking for a lost library book. (true story) But, it reassured me that the things I did do that night, like joining in a game of hide-and-seek, were important, too. While homemaking might include washing jelly hand-prints off the walls, making a house a home also includes the things we do for our families while they are inside those walls. I still aspire to having a house that looks like it came out of magazine, and I do continue to work toward that goal. However, I also realize that I can call myself a good homemaker, even if housekeeping isn't one of my top priorities.

Keeping hearts at home,
Patti Welander
Wife to Jim
Mom to James, Sam, Sarah, and Sarina
Hearts at Home Online Newsletter Editor

PT....OUCH!

Just an update for those of you that I did not write. I saw the doctor thisweek for my knee. I have dislocated the knee cap and it is now traveling. In other words it does not track right and is not in its correct position. So I am going to PT (physical therapy) or maybe it should be called PT (physical torture). Now don't get me wrong the exercises I have to do are easy BUT due to the lack of strength and the kind of injury I have they are extremely painful.
I am suppose to excerise twice a day and on the days I go to therapy the PT pushes me for more reps and will eventually add more exercises and weights. Right now it takes everything I got to do 12 reps of each movement and by Tuesday I have to be up to 15 because the PT wants me to do 20 with her. I have 9 different movements that I had to do and she told me she plans to add one new one every appointment. In total I will eventually have 15 different exercises to do with my knee and since my other is not in the best of shape either I am doing the same exercises with that leg.
Anyway just say a prayer that all of this works so that I do not end up having surgery and having to start all of this again!

Grades continued...

Well we found out that Kristofer does not get a report card this grading period. Apparently here in IL the kinder gardeners only get two report cards during the year. We did how ever get his reports from his speech therapist and OT. He is doing well. Progressing in some areas and in other still struggling. He'll get there we know he will. Behaviorally he is doing great in class!
Which is a real encouragement since we have the problems at home. His OT is great! Jen really helps and listens and offers suggestions on how to help with the transitions from school to home. She gave us a very long list of activities for him to "get the fix" he needs sensory wise and another long list of calm activities that should help him transition into doing homework, eating dinner ect... Thank you Ms Jen!

Grades

Just want to brag on Jaron tonight. He is such a great creative kiddo! He is a great big brother though at times he still says he wishes he was an only child. A few weeks ago we got his mid term grades. All A's except penmanship which was a failing grade. He just didn't want to take the time to write slowly...
too many pressing things to do outside you see. Well we took his bike away from him and told him he had to start taking the time to do his work neatly. Well he got his grades today and I am pleased to announce he got straight A's and turned that failing grade into a B! I told him he did fantastic! He was pretty hard on himself wanted it to be an A. We reassured him that we are very proud of him and next time he can strive for that A.
Honestly I want him to succeed in school and if he does his best and only gets a C that is fine with us as long as he has done his best! Jaron is a great kid, brother, son and student. So YEA JARON! WAY TO GO BUDDY!

We haven't gotten Kristofer's yet will let you know how he did for his first grading period of kindergarden!