I missed posting yesterday. So much for NaBloPoMo. I tried. I really did. It's just that my mother is very sick.
She's not been well for quite a while, but she's getting worse and she's failing fast.
She's 84 years old, has been on oxygen for the better part of 5 years, she has chronic heart failure and copd (emphysema). In her younger years she was 5'6" and always maintained a healthy weight. Last week she was down to 88lbs, and she's most likely a bit less than that today, as she's not been eating*. She's been diagnosed with a lung infection (that's been suspected for a while, but just got officially diagnosed last week) and has been put on three different antibiotics, as if she were being treated for TB (which we've been reassured she DOES NOT have, but now we wonder...). The antibiotics, or something, are kicking her a$$. She's been on them a week as of today and was told to give them 2 weeks for her body to adjust. She is tired, tired, tired. She is more than weak. She is breathing heavier than ever and she's moaning after each breath. She is a stubborn old thing. She will not let us (any of us: Dad, me, any of my 7 siblings) call the doctor because he said to give it time. She insisted she'll call the doctor tomorrow and I told her if she doesn't I will do it for her. Whether she likes it or not. It may or may not be coincidental that she began failing at the same time she started her antibiotics, or maybe they just exacerbated her condition?
It's sad and I'm scared. She's not been well for years, but she bounces back. Honestly, I don't see her bouncing this time. I will pray and pray and pray for her recovery. And I will pray that "Thy will be done." She's a smart lady and has always done what she wants. Maybe this is what she wants.
Please, if you're the praying kind, think of her when you say yours the next time. Thank you.
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*Last week, before her health got really bad, I made some of my grandma's stollen (without fruit!) for my parents. I had mentioned something a while back about making some 'some day' and she kept reminding me over the past few months that I promised to make it for her. I finally got it made, and I'm so glad I did. It's literally all she's been eating for the past 4-5 days. If it'll keep her going, I will continue making it weekly, regardless of how time consuming and stressful it may be. She's so worth it.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Cockroaches?
I took Kat in for her allergy testing today. She is allergic to everything. Well, pretty much everything. All but two (out of 20+) things they tested for came up positive. Only 'minor trees' and 'grass' have been spared. On a scale of 1-4, about 1/3 of the tests came up 4s, cats being the worst of them, which is cool, 'cuz we happen to have two of them. (Really, that's not cool at all.)
Oh, and she's allergic to cockroaches*. Also cool, since we have none in our home. See, the cats keep them away. So, if we get rid of the cats, then we have roaches. If we keep the cats, no roaches. We <3 our cats. Roaches, not so much. So, the cats will stay. (haha -- we would have no roaches in either case, but this logic totally justifies keeping our kitties.) I will post more on this at a later date. Good things, about how the elderly doctor told Kat she was his most cooperative and patient patient EVER, while we all simultaneously listened to a couple other kids screaming in adjoining examining rooms. A more proud Mama I couldn't have been! :)
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*Apparently everyone is tested for cockroaches (or so they said). Why not armadillos, hedgehogs, or ants? Peculiar to me.
Oh, and she's allergic to cockroaches*. Also cool, since we have none in our home. See, the cats keep them away. So, if we get rid of the cats, then we have roaches. If we keep the cats, no roaches. We <3 our cats. Roaches, not so much. So, the cats will stay. (haha -- we would have no roaches in either case, but this logic totally justifies keeping our kitties.) I will post more on this at a later date. Good things, about how the elderly doctor told Kat she was his most cooperative and patient patient EVER, while we all simultaneously listened to a couple other kids screaming in adjoining examining rooms. A more proud Mama I couldn't have been! :)
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*Apparently everyone is tested for cockroaches (or so they said). Why not armadillos, hedgehogs, or ants? Peculiar to me.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Eye-fi
I was going to upload some recent pictures for this post, but my Eye-Fi card is currently being a turd. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon. I've got lots of cute pics of my girly girls to get on here, but since I can't get my pics up tonight, I will save my post for a later date.
On another note, if you are on Facebook and would like to be my friend, let me know in your comment and I'll add you. I've got more pictures on there than I'll ever put up here.
On another note, if you are on Facebook and would like to be my friend, let me know in your comment and I'll add you. I've got more pictures on there than I'll ever put up here.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
N'yet
Yesterday we were talking about Russia and what the girls remember of their lives there. Alley was saying that she'd like to go back and visit.* She remembers all the toys they had and would like to play with them again. (Yeah, 'cuz apparently they have NO TOYS HERE.)
When we asked Kat about it, she said she also would like to go back one day, "but 'nyet.'" I asked her what she meant by that and she said she'd like to go back but not yet. I must have still looked puzzled because she then said, "You know, Mom, like 'cannot' is 'can't' and 'do not' is 'don't,' well, 'nyet' means 'not yet. I'm not ready to go back yet."
Never underestimate the power of contractions!
*We're planning on going back at some point. Seriously, we are. Most likely when A & K are 12 & 14, maybe 11 & 13. Whoa -- that means in 2 to 3 years!
When we asked Kat about it, she said she also would like to go back one day, "but 'nyet.'" I asked her what she meant by that and she said she'd like to go back but not yet. I must have still looked puzzled because she then said, "You know, Mom, like 'cannot' is 'can't' and 'do not' is 'don't,' well, 'nyet' means 'not yet. I'm not ready to go back yet."
Never underestimate the power of contractions!
*We're planning on going back at some point. Seriously, we are. Most likely when A & K are 12 & 14, maybe 11 & 13. Whoa -- that means in 2 to 3 years!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Kat and her tics, continued
We're still concerned about Kat's tics. (See here & here.) They come & go, which is better than staying, but we're still concerned. I finally made an allergy appointment for her on Friday. I don't believe allergies are the complete cause of her tics, but it may be more than a coincidence that her tics increase dramatically when she is experiencing allergy symptoms. There are a few other things we're looking into, but this is a start and we'll see what the results are. Hoping for some answers.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Math, every day
Everyday Math (EM) is the math cirriculum used at Alley & Kat's school. Alley started it last year in 2nd grade, as it had been a pilot program for a handful of classes and then the district decided to fully implement it in every class, even if it was out of sequence for some. Kat's class began with it in kindergarten and she should have it all through her grade school career.
Many parents were 'up in arms' and did not like that it was just thrown in there randomly, after their kids already had another program for a few years. They thought it should start in kindergarten and carry through for those kids and the other classes should continue on with what they were already being taught. I was indifferent. Alley gets extra help for math and honestly, to me, the program for her didn't much matter. She was slow catching on to the basics initially, so the extra help was great and so was the simple classroom instruction. LDP did not understand the entire EM philosophy, so he wasn't too keen on it in the beginning either.
Basically, EM introduces a skill and stresses repetition while teaching various methods of solving mathmatical problems. Some methods work for some kids and other methods work for others. So kids are taught new ways and old (our) ways to solve problems. Parents have issues with their kids being taught different ways than what they were taught back in the day. But know what? It works. At least for my two polar opposite children. Alley does tons better doing things 'old school' while Kat rocks the new ways more efficiently.
Kat was taught in two lessons last week how to tell time to the half hour. This weekend she mastered telling time, pretty much on her own, to the minute. It was 1:14 this afternoon. She looked at her watch and told me that she knew it was the 1:00 hour because the hour hand was just past the 1 and not quite to the 2. And she knew it was :14 because she looked at the :15 and counted one back. So that's how she knew it was 1:14. This, my friends, is a higher 2nd / early 3rd grade skill. So, when she gets to that point in a year and a half, she will already have it majorly mastered.
Alley can tell time to the minute, too, but not quite as quickly. She has a different method and it just takes her a few seconds longer. Had she had the EM math program in 1st grade two years ago and been introduced to it then, would she be as quick as her little sister? I guess it's hard to say. But I will continue to wonder if her math skills would be better if she had been given the opportunity to learn different methods and to figure out what worked for her. I've talked to her math resource teacher and we're going to work out some time to backtrack and have her learn the various EM methods for kindergarten and 1st grade math. She's really beginning to pick up the 3rd grade math and is keeping up within the classroom (YAY, GO ALLEY!), but we still feel she'd benefit from the earlier lessons.
This will mean more work for me, but I'm more than willing to help my little lady out. After all, she wants to be a scientist when she grows up, so she's going to need some pretty intense math skillz!
Many parents were 'up in arms' and did not like that it was just thrown in there randomly, after their kids already had another program for a few years. They thought it should start in kindergarten and carry through for those kids and the other classes should continue on with what they were already being taught. I was indifferent. Alley gets extra help for math and honestly, to me, the program for her didn't much matter. She was slow catching on to the basics initially, so the extra help was great and so was the simple classroom instruction. LDP did not understand the entire EM philosophy, so he wasn't too keen on it in the beginning either.
Basically, EM introduces a skill and stresses repetition while teaching various methods of solving mathmatical problems. Some methods work for some kids and other methods work for others. So kids are taught new ways and old (our) ways to solve problems. Parents have issues with their kids being taught different ways than what they were taught back in the day. But know what? It works. At least for my two polar opposite children. Alley does tons better doing things 'old school' while Kat rocks the new ways more efficiently.
Kat was taught in two lessons last week how to tell time to the half hour. This weekend she mastered telling time, pretty much on her own, to the minute. It was 1:14 this afternoon. She looked at her watch and told me that she knew it was the 1:00 hour because the hour hand was just past the 1 and not quite to the 2. And she knew it was :14 because she looked at the :15 and counted one back. So that's how she knew it was 1:14. This, my friends, is a higher 2nd / early 3rd grade skill. So, when she gets to that point in a year and a half, she will already have it majorly mastered.
Alley can tell time to the minute, too, but not quite as quickly. She has a different method and it just takes her a few seconds longer. Had she had the EM math program in 1st grade two years ago and been introduced to it then, would she be as quick as her little sister? I guess it's hard to say. But I will continue to wonder if her math skills would be better if she had been given the opportunity to learn different methods and to figure out what worked for her. I've talked to her math resource teacher and we're going to work out some time to backtrack and have her learn the various EM methods for kindergarten and 1st grade math. She's really beginning to pick up the 3rd grade math and is keeping up within the classroom (YAY, GO ALLEY!), but we still feel she'd benefit from the earlier lessons.
This will mean more work for me, but I'm more than willing to help my little lady out. After all, she wants to be a scientist when she grows up, so she's going to need some pretty intense math skillz!
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