Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas Card video with captioning:

Without Captioning:

Dictation

So, I started a new curriculum that teaches the kids to write what I read.  The dictation sentences are only 1 or 2 sentences.  Sam actually enjoys it, but her sentences are shorter.  Zach could not get it.  I will admit the sentence he had to remember was long and cumbersome with old English vocabulary.  He just couldn't get it after 40 minutes of trying to repeat what I said.  I finally asked him why he could recite Bible verse, but not this.  He said to me "I could read those!  If I can see it I can remember it."  Now, the point of the lesson was for him NOT to read it, but to write what he hears.  However, I was curious about something and decided to showed him the sentence.  He read through it once and wrote the whole thing without a single hiccup!  To be honest, I'm not sure what to do about this.  Maybe, I will have to start him off on the same sentences that Sam is on.  I do think this is a skill that they both need to master.  I guess I will find out tomorrow how he does with Sam's curriculum.

Zach's baptism

Of all the responsibilities I have as a parent, their spiritual development is the most important.  Deut. 11:19 - "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
So getting to see the pay off of my child accepting Christ and then pledging his life to Jesus through the outward expression of Baptism, is the highlight of my life!  It's like an addiction, I can't wait to do it again with Samantha!  Watching, teaching, listening as we discover the Lord together was, at times, a struggle.  But now, Zach is the one instigating Bible study.  He hungers for the Word and reminds me to be more diligent.  I couldn't be prouder.

Zachariah Daniel Baierl Baptized: August 22, 2010

Kids at camp.

We dropped off both kids this year at Sky Lodge Christian Camp.  Whao, that was a little scary.  Zach was excited to show off his knowledge to Sam as soon as we got there.  It was hard keeping them by us while we checked in!  I can't believe how fast they are growing up.  There were no tears as we left.  Just a quick hug and some words of wisdom.  Then, they were off playing with friends again.
When we came to pick them up a week later, they were talking over each other to tell us all about their adventures.  I love this place and thankfully to do the kids.  I was told several kids came to Christ while at camp, woot!  Sam told me she swam almost everyday.  I guess she missed one day.  No shock there for my little fish.  Unfortunately, the kids didn't get any pictures while they were there.  The Canteen that normally sells them was sold out I guess.  But they absolutely loved it and we are already starting to save for next year which will be Zach's last year to be able to go.

12 year Aniversary & Matt's birthday

After we dropped the kids off at Sky Lodge Christian Camp, Matt and I had a whole week to ourselves.  We spent the first part of the week doing, well, not much of anything.  I got ready for the new school year, whoo hoo.  But we did take time out for us.  We went to Chicago and spent a lazy, pamper ourselves time at the Amalfi Hotel.  It was so relaxing.  Here is our view from our hotel window.

The room was average size.  Nothing really that special.  But here it is anyway.

I think our favorite place in the hotel was the fitness room.  I miss it already.  We only spent one night at this place. so there wasn't much we could do in our limited time.  But the hotel had free evening cocktails, so we tried that.  The lounge area was kinda small for the number of people that were in there so we left after one drink and went across the street to Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse.

Which we also could see from our room window.  It was pricey, but good.  Then again everything, in my opinion, was a little pricey.  But price aside, we enjoyed ourselves and that was the whole point of the vacation.  Of course the next day we checked out and the then tooled around down town Chicago, but after awhile we got frustrated with the traffic and headed home.  Turns out President Obama was in town and Transformers 3 was being filmed so there were several streets that were blocked off and that made traffic a nightmare.
Matt loved the busy city and handled the traffic brilliantly, I just felt claustrophobic.  Thankfully the good Lord gave me this man as my husband who, is a calm get through busy streets while taxi's pass you in the parking lane, kind of driver.  Which makes me, a normally stressed out driver, able to sit back, enjoy the view, and make the occasional comment about crazy taxi drivers.

plantar fasciitis - Heel pain

Been struggling with this for longer than I should have.  Finally went to the podiatrist, Dr Finnell, who is a great guy.  Told me all the steps we will be taking to heal my left foot and prevent this from happening in the future.  Mostly, I'm writing all this so if I find myself in the same predicament I can reference all the info here.  Cause we all know how info gets retained in this Swiss cheese brain of mine.
Anyway, first things first, what is plantar fasciitis.
That would be this:

 Sucky right?!  For me this has been caused by a lot of standing/walking/running etc. on bad arches.  By the time I got arch supports the damage was already done and every time I would stand/exercise I would re-injure it.  The fibrous bands could get inflamed and the vicious cycle would start all over again.  So what did I do about it?  For the longest time, NOTHING.  That is right I stopped walking my dog, I didn't exercise, I didn't go for walks with my kids.  Result: I gained weight and it got worse.
Hopefully, I'm on the road to recovery.  Here is the plan and if all goes right, my pain will subside and I will loss the weight to boot.
First, doc taped up my foot and I have to keep it that way for a few days.  Then I can take it off and start some specific feet exercises which I'm going to list here so I can reference them for future use.

 There we go folks.  I gotta do these several times a day now.
PS:  Bare-foot treading is bad, very bad!

Cashier compliment

The kids and I went on an errand run the other day to Walmart.  I was there for necessities, the kids had their own money they wanted to spend.  Zach had been collecting coins from on the street for months.  He said the fair was like a gold mined!  Yeah I know, I'm a terrible mother who lets her child pick up coins from the ground.  But this kid picked up $7.10!  How can I deny him his resourcefulness?! 
Anyway, at the check out-line Sam decides to get a treat for her best-friend Lily because she has enough money.  however, she forgot about tax.  Zach had already finished his purchase and when he heard that Sam was short.  He, without hesitation, got out money for her even though I was ready to pay the difference.  He tells me, no that he will get it.  So I let it go, and then it's my turn.  The cashier asks, "by chance, do you homeschool?"  I said, "Yes, why? Cause they are handling money?"  She said, "No.  It's the way they treat each other with such love and respect.  I just notice that homeschooled kids are more like that."  Wow, what a pleasant compliment! 
I am pretty blessed to have two kids that really get along together so well, being of opposite gender and 2+ age gap.  Zach just last week got really hurt when Sam told him she would rather clean her room with Lily than play a game with him.  He asked if Lily could go home so he and Sam could have some time together.  We have a rule now that Lily can't come over on Sundays anymore because that is family day.  Thanks Zach for reminding us the importance of quality time.