Photo Friday

Child #2 Drew a Bird on the Driveway

Its Just Like Riding A Bike

For my birthday this year, my husband agreed to watch the kids so I could go horse back riding.

It all started last fall when my eldest child had the chance to take group horse back riding lessons with some people in our local homeschool organization. We were committed to once-a-week lessons for six weeks at a very reasonable rate. Child #1 had a great time and I came away with some horse envy.

I was definitely a horse-lover in theory growing up. I had the chance to attend a two-week “horse camp” when I was in sixth grade or so. I LOVED the hands on experience with my horse, Dobbin. But that was the end of my one-on-ones with horses. My mother is not a fan of animals of any size and did not come for the final “parents day” when we showed off what we had learned.

A few weeks ago, we received a brochure from the people who gave the lessons to Child #1. One of the new opportunities they were offering was “Ladies Night Out.” After a brief consultation with my spouse and the calendar, I got on the list for an hour of horse back riding.

I was a bit apprehensive, especially when I was making friends with my assigned horse for the night, “Big Buddy.” I wondered how much I would remember and how we would get along with each other. Two of us were almost immediately pegged as “advanced” and required to be on different teams to make it “more fair.” We played games and although my team lost all three of them, I had a great time.

My best friend commented that riding horses is like riding a bike in that you never forget. I wouldn’t go that far. But I did have a great time. Big Buddy made me look like a pro.

Update: Vision Therapy #2

Child #1 completed her first visual perception / acuity testing session at the doctor’s office. I did not get to be present as I had to watch the other three children in their waiting room. The room Child #1 was in was more of a closet than a room. She described having to read, stand on one foot while crossing her arms, stand on one foot while crossing her arms with her eyes closed, drawing, matching, and other such activities. She pointed out that it was hard work and that they made her have a headache.

The doctor’s office indicated the testing would be “about an hour.” Child #1 took one hour and fifteen minutes. The extra time was explained by the fact that some of the tests are timed, but “some are not.” This was code word for “Your Child Took A Long Time To Do Them.” I understand. I’m her teacher, remember? Isn’t that one of the reasons we are here?

We have one more of these visual perception testing sessions and then a three week wait for our debrief meeting with the doctor to discuss a game plan for possible vision therapy.

I did get a chance to speak to a couple other parents in the waiting room about the process. There was a five-year old with intermittant (in his case, happens when he is tired) exotropia (eyes turn outward) who had just started his therapy. It was too early to see much difference, his mother said. Another mother came in with an eight year old who is 33-weeks into an estimated 36-week therapy. He is in the home stretch and she expressed much happiness with his progress.

Judgement Error

So, I made an error in parental judgement on Saturday morning and it cost me big “time.”

First thing Saturday morning, I brought up a new clothes washing detergent container from our storage area downstairs. We use liquid detergent and recently have been purchasing the 2x concentrated stuff with the little spigot device. Neither my spouse nor myself particularly care for this “concentrated” idea or the packaging, but it appears that all the manufacturers are going in this direction. So, until I start making my own detergent like some of my granola (“crunchy”) friends, that is what we have.

Then, I instructed my older two children to get dressed and get their chores done while I was in the shower. My very last reminder before I left the room was for them to be sure to keep an eye on the younger two kids.

. . . I was just starting to rinse my hair of shampoo when Child #1 yells from the door,

“EMERGENCY! COME QUICK, MOM!”

I ask what the matter is and the response is, “I can’t tell you. You just have to see it.”

The last time this type of answer was given, it was because of an overflowing toilet. So, I shut the water off, grabbed a towel, and RAN.

When I reached the living room, I saw the problem.

Two small children and a big (2′ x 3′) patch of blue liquid detergent – on my carpet. With little footprints leading out of it on two sides.

I grabbed both small children and the bottle of detergent, gave strict instructions not to get NEAR the pile, and turned back around to head to the bathroom. I dropped off the detergent, cleaned up Child #3, and gave Child #4 a bath. He was coated in the stuff from head to soles.

I sucked up as much of the stuff as I could “straight” and then borrowed a steam cleaner from a neighbor. Four hours of work later, the blueness is gone, the soapy patch is down to 1′ x 2′ and the rest of the area is pulling “clean.” I finally stopped working on it late Saturday night when I somehow managed to break the steam-spraying part of the cleaner. Oops.

One of the neighbors hosted a thank-you party in the afternoon for almost the whole block because (minus one family), we helped them shingle their house. It was a nice shin-dig.

How To Use Fresh Pears

Some friends of ours have a pear tree in their backyard. They always get to the point where they have used, eaten, and canned all the pears they can handle. So, they are happy when others come and pick some pears off their tree. We usually pick a few, but this year is the first we have taken home buckets full of them.

We made pear pie, pear bread, and pear cake, pear “coffee cake,” and plan to try Walnut & Pear Chicken (similar to a ’sweet & sour’ pineapple chicken recipe we have). We have fresh pears with our breakfast, pears in our lunches, and pears as dessert.

The Fresh Pear Cake was a definite hit. After the first one disappeared very quickly, I planned to make another. Child #1 said, “Mom, whenever you make something a second time, you always BURN it.” This has been all too true in the last year or two. I get cocky that I can make something spectacular and then I get distracted. With little ones in the house, this is an easy and frequent occurrence. It happened with my birthday cake last year. It happened with some delicious fudge I was making only a month ago. But it didn’t happen this time. Here’s our recipe.

Fresh Pear Cake

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups finely chopped or pureed peeled pears (about 3 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (mix in with pears)

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs on medium speed. Gradually add sugar & oil; beat thoroughly. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda; add alternately with pears to egg mixture and mix well.

Pour into a greased and floured 10-in tube pan. (I usually have enough for a 8″ pan and a decent sized 10″ pan as well. So, I get two cakes – one for the family & one smaller one to give away. If you do this, keep in mind that the smaller cake will be done baking in a shorter time. If you only use the one 10″ tube pan, it might take an extra 5-10 minutes to bake.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. (I usually double the inversion so the top is back on top. But that isn’t what the recipe says, so do whatever you think looks best.)

FROSTING:
In a small bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar with 2 T milk. Beat until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Cool completely.

General Update

School has been going fairly well. We are only a couple of days ahead of the written lesson plans in Language Arts now, and only a day behind in Science. I don’t know how the year-rounders do it, but we’ve moved Child #1 ahead several weeks in Math to where she will be learning new material instead of just reviewing what she already knows. We are right on track in History, Literature, and Religion.

Child #2 was explaining her knowledge of the planets to her dad and exclaimed, “Uranus is the widest!”

On a more sober note, my father is in the hospital today undergoing some tests for some abdominal pain he has been having. He described his pain as a 6 or 7 on a 1-10 (10 being the worst) scale. That translates to a 12 or 13 for us mere mortals. When Child #2 said her prayers on Thursday night, she prayed that “Papa gets better and doesn’t die. If he dies, please make Gran-Ma die, too so we don’t just have a bossy Gran-Ma with no Nice Papa.” Child #2 is never at a loss for stating her beliefs or wishes in her prayers – no matter how un-appropriate they are. If you are the praying type, please say an extra prayer that the diagnosis is correct, easy-to-treat, and not bad. Thank you.

A Baby Shower

My cousin (who is only one year younger than I) is expecting her first baby, so the extended family got together on Saturday to celebrate with her. Her mother-in-law won the traveled-the-farthest award as she flew several hours to get to the mid-central US where the baby shower was being held. On my mother’s side of the family, I have fourteen cousins. Nine of them are female and almost all of them were in attendance. Two of them were born within a year of me with all the rest being five to fifteen years older. I didn’t know most of them very well and to this day, I am not always sure what each of the older females are named or which one of my uncles spawned whom.

I bucked tradition and sat with some of those cousins that I didn’t know instead of seeking safety and shelter at the table with my immediate family. (In an unspoken tradition, we don’t usual mingle with the extended family at such get-togethers. Strange, but true.) I sat next to the other almost-my-age cousin who is a pop culture diva and unmarried. I was definitely the odd-ball of the group. There was much discussion of scrapbooking, popular TV shows like Jon & Kate + 8, popular teenager music, cell phone text messaging, and iPods. I don’t know anything about any of those things, so I was pretty quiet. Two of my cousins emphatically pointed out that they HATE math during a discussion about how much fun (or not) a job at a bank would be. I was the only one to speak up on behalf of how much fun math is.

I got more crazy looks when one of the cousins was explaining with some glee about a blog she reads (and says she hates?) where the woman needs to “get a life.” Why? Because the blog writer is building a new house and sometimes posts about how they got the windows in and even includes a photo of them. Everyone at the table (but me) expressed amazement at this and one mocked that she should start a blog and post with a picture of her emptying her dishwasher in her pjs. I said I would probably like such a blog because I’m interested in watching handyman project progress pictures. (Say that fast three times.) Yes, I’m a freak.

My aunt and mother are very vocal about not liking to play “games” at such events, so instead, there were “activities with prizes.” My pop culture diva cousin won the first where you had to match a list of famous moms with their children’s names. She got 14 right. I only got 4. She won the bag which had a “mannie,” lipstick case, mirror (compact)-type thing, and other such things. She said they were “Sassafrass!” I think it means, “cool” or “hip.” But I can’t be sure.

I redeemed myself on the second activity, which was a tray full of baby stuff. Each table got sixty seconds to look at the tray. Then it was covered up and removed from the area and you had to write down what you remembered. There were fifteen total items. Let’s see how many I can still remember:  bib, blanket, binky, (chewable) book, (2) baby (grandma “brag”) books, spoon, Chlorox hard-surface cleaner spray, baby lotion, teether toy, rattle, wipes, clothes hanger, . . . Well, I can’t remember them all. I only missed one item that day, though. Tied with one of my other cousins. So, we had a tie-breaker question. Who could guess the estimated due date? My guess was one day off and that was close enough to win me the bag of foot-care products including some super soft socks and bright red toe nail polish that I’ll be sure to keep out of the reach of Child #3. My mother whispered to me that I was supposed to give my prize to the pregnant cousin. But I didn’t. I don’t know such party etiquette. 

The gifts were all very nice, although there seemed to be some panicked looks and whispers every time she opened a Halo SleepSack or a Swaddle-Me Wrap. She got a LOT of those. Being a four-time mom myself, I got her something she probably didn’t even know she would need – a winter cover for the infant seat.

Update: Vision Therapy Evaluation Appointment

I wrote previously about my oldest who was diagnosed around the age of three with accomodative esotropia. After a horrid experience at a “pediatric ophthalmologist” in the big city, our local eye doctor has successfully treated her by changing her prescription to cosmetically make her eyes look aligned while the lenses do the work of focusing, allowing her eyes to relax. At a meeting about the progressive lenses, I brought up the question of whether vision therapy would help her. After listening to my concerns, he suggested we go to an expert who deals with pediatric patients and vision therapy and get evaluated.

We had to wait almost a month for the first of four possible evaluation appointments. The first appointment was an intense eye exam. All the usual tests were done – with and without Child #1 wearing glasses. Her eyes were dilated and more testing and looking was done with all sorts of interesting devices. Child #1 was quite the trooper. The only tough part was when the doctor put on a kind of “miner’s helmet” complete with bright light. It was too bright for her dilated eyes and she couldn’t get herself to keep her eyes open. (I’ll admit that we ended up all (Child #1, doctor, & me) praying that she would have the strength to look past the bright light for three solid seconds so the doctor could get what she needed and move on.) It was tough, but she did manage two seconds of not rolling her eye up her head and we were able to move on.

The doctor (specialist) indicated that the prescription is exactly right, but that she does not believe in progressive lenses for children. She would rather have seen Child #1 in a bifocal. She also admitted that it might be a moot point for what we are doing. She pointed out that Child #1 sees JUST FINE close up (which is what I thought), but that her eye turn is HUGE when doing so. Our local eye doctor is trying to lower the eye turn by using the lens to take some of the focusing/strain off the eyes. The specialist said the eye turn is so large that it really doesn’t matter either way.

Another thing I learned is that Child #1’s esotropia is “constant” – in that it is always there and . . . here I didn’t take notes, so you’ll have to forgive me if I get this wrong, “intermittent” (or was it “alternating”?). Basically, Child #1 uses one eye at a time – but alternates between which one she uses. Her eyes don’t work as a “team.” There’s a term for it, but I can’t remember what it is (monocular?). (My spouse’s eyes don’t work together, either. He doesn’t remember them ever doing so. He compensates just fine.) The specialist said that if we wanted to have her eyes learn to work together, now is not the time to try it because of the emotional maturity needed for the treatment.

However, she wanted us to continue with testing at two future appointments. We are, in effect, skipping a visual evaluation appointment (#2 of 4) and continuing with Visual Perception testing (#3 & #4 of 4). After those, we will have an hour or more consultation with the specialist on what she recommends going forward. The next two appointments are in the upcoming weeks. Our consultation won’t be until near the end of October due to my spouse’s work schedule and the specialist’s schedule. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Photo Friday

Sept 11th, 2001

Photo courtesy http://www.musarium.com/stories/america-attacked/berard/02.html

I remember.

I remember being heavily pregnant with my first child. Being on the recruiting trip for my employer. Being lost somewhere in Greensboro, N.C. while trying to find North Carolina A&T University. Hearing on the radio a report of an airplane colliding with one of the World Trade Center towers. Seeing the T.V. screen in the cafeteria near where the career fair was being held. Hearing the updates as people were getting them.

Realizing this meant more than the fact that I wouldn’t be able to fly home in a couple of days. Being in shock. Being amazed at the images on the T.V. screen back at the hotel that night. Soaked with sadness at the thought of families who lost loved ones.

Photo courtesy http://www.musarium.com/stories/america-attacked/davidholloway/01.html

Hearing that my brother had been scheduled to be at the Pentagon that day – but not until a couple hours after the plane flew into the building.

I remember.

Don’t forget.