Sunday, February 28, 2010

Does Your Neurologist Do This??

Today is my daughters 16 birthday and she got a surprise call from her friendly neurologist! Unfortunatly she was not home, but he was calling to wish her a happy birthday and to tell her the EEG came back normal. Her brain is fine!!! :o) I thought it was so nice to him to take time from his young family, to call her to give her the news and to wish her a happy b-day.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Birthday Parte'

Today is my daughters 16Th birthday party. Woot! Woot!! She is not 16 till tomorrow, but tomorrow is Sunday and that didn't work for the party. Soon the house will be invaded by 13 or so teenagers, mostly "dudes" as my daughter calls them. Yes, like her mother (which would be me) most of her friends are of the male species. Its okay with me though, I was the same way at that age. I found it so much easier to be friends with guys, because they were less emotional and not so back bittey (I'm not sure if "bittey" is even a word). Now that I am all growned up and a married women, the majority of my friends are female. Though I must admit to few guy friends.

Well, I need to scoot to get ready for the party. Hopefully I will have pictures to share later on. :o) Have a great day and thanks for visiting. :o)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Simple Women's Day Book 2-24-10

Outside my window.... the snow is coming down, but not too hard.

I'm thankful that..... Shannon is doing better. It may be slow, but at least there is improvement.

From the kitchen.... hubby is making something and it smells yummy!! :o)

I'm wearing... a teal long sleeved shirt, jeans, and boots. Why boots? I was outside feeding the animals and haven't taken them off yet.

I'm creating.... not much. I should start working on the photo album again. I seem to go in spurts, but when I do it I really love it.

I'm reading.... Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. I love Sarah!!!

I'm hoping.... that Shannon will keep improving and be better soon.

I'm hearing...the dog growl, in a friendly way, at my son who is playing with him.

Around the house... hubby is upstairs cooking, Shannon is reading, Emily is here with me, and the boy is outside.

One of my favorite things.... worship!!! I love worship!! :o)

A few plans for the rest of the week.....
Thursday: Clean the house for Shannon's 16th birthday party
Friday: Shannon has an EEG exam in the morning, we have practice for a women's ministry skit, and then we are attending a benefit concert.
Saturday: Shannon's birthday party!! There will be about 15 teenagers here for movies, games, and pizza. ;o)
Sunday: church and then a movie and lunch

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Yesterday the girl went to the neurologist for a follow up appointment and it was good. The first time she saw this doctor was in the emergency room almost two months ago. At that time she had no reflexes what so ever. I remember watching him use that little hammer thing on her knees over and over again, with no response. He also checked her ankles, with no response. I can't remember for sure if he checked her elbows, I think he did and there was no response. It was so weird watching it. We all knew that she should be doing something, but it was like dead air filled the room. That was the second time I got really scared, the first was when she had the emergency MRI.

Back to yesterday.....

The doctor did the little hammer thing and there the slightest movement with her leg!!! It was not huge, and someone not really paying attention would miss it, but I saw it and it warmed my heart!! Then he checked her ankles and once again, there was a very slight response. He went back through his notes to make sure her reflexes were unresponsive before, and they were. That means that she is improving!!!!! :o)

I was so incredibly happy and relieved, I felt like dancing right there in his office. :o) Don't worry, I spared him and refrained. ;o)

So.... we still don't have a diagnosis and she is still having many of the same issues but today I'm lighter then I have been in a long time. :o)

Friday, February 19, 2010

School Day

Today I started school early with the boy, and it worked out great!! :o) Technically I have 3 'students', but he is the only one that still requires my full attention. I happened to get up around 6ish and went upstairs to make coffee while the computer booted up. Much to my amazement the boy was up and asked me if we could start school early. Did you get that? He asked me to start school and not just start school, but start early. What homeschooling mom could refuse such a request? Oh ya, me. I was still sleepy, hadn't had coffee, and the computer was booting up after all. I told him that if he got ready for the day that we could start school once he was done. This kid, the one that takes for-ev-er getting ready and even longer when I ask him to do something, actually did what he was asked!! Wow!! I was impressed.

After he got ready is was around 7ish and we were sitting at the table doing starting our Bible time. This is a sweet time that I try very hard not to miss. Right now we are reading the book of John at the pace of about a chapter every couple of days. He reads it outloud and then we discuss it. I have a great book of Bible maps that I pull out and to show him where things happened. Then we start the day with prayer. Did I say it is a sweet time?

We then moved on to Language Arts using: Daily Grams 7th Grade; Easy Grammar 7th/8th grade; Spelling (I use my own list); Wordly Wise 7th grade (vocabulary) This takes a long time, but the results have been great. :o)

Next was math. He is currently using Saxon Math 7/8 along with Horizons Math. I find that using both of these gives him a solid Math curriculum. He surprised me today because he finally grasped the concept of division and it didn't take him forever to finish.

Then we took a little break. The girls were up and getting ready for their day. I could tell they were amazed that we were already doing school.

History was next on the list. We are using Abecka American History as the main textbook, but also supplementing with A History of US and other 'living books'. I never was a fan of history, till I started homeschooling. Many times schools stick to basic boring factual textbooks, instead of reading all the wonderful books out there. Textbooks remind me of basic white bread, devoid of all nutrients. Living books remind me of whole grain bread, which you can really sink your teeth into.

That was it for actual "book learning", he then worked on making a game with the computer and is now making lunch. :o)

I hope that we can stick to this type of schedule, it seems to work much better then dragging out school for the whole day.

How was your school day? Did you learn anything new today? Did you try a new technique? Please feel free to share in the comments below or send me an email.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Quick Update

Life has been running at an accelerated speed, but I figured an update is in order. I have received a few emails asking about my daughter, and for that I am very thankful. It is nice to know that this thing called motherhood connects so many from various parts of the globe. Shannon still is having headaches, though now she is on heavy duty migraine meds. The headaches have lessened, but unfortunately even with the meds they still rear their ugly head. The doctor seems to be at a loss as to what she has, the test for Miller Fisher Syndrome came back negative. As a matter of fact, all the tests that she has had have all come back normal. That is a praise, don't get me wrong, but at the same time it leaves many scratching their heads in wonder. I know that none of this takes God by surprise, but since I'm not Him it surprised and worries me. There is nothing that I can do about it. I can't make her better. I can't diagnose the illness. I can't even honestly tell her that it will be okay. I just don't know. That is the most frustrating part of this whole thing. One thing for certain is I know someone who knows all the answers and so does she!! :o) That One thing gives me great hope, comfort, and peace during this storm. Please keep us in your prayers and I'll update again soon. :o)