Good news! Izzy has taken to sleeping in the bedroom with Emelia rather than in my bedroom!  Do you know what this means??? It means I get to read in bed WITH the lamp on!  Woohoo!  She has been sleeping in there several nights and is sleeping well.   I looked in on the girls last night on my way to bed and caught this shot.  (I was so happy the flash didn’t wake them up.)  When I showed the pic to Emelia today she said, “no wonder I woke up with a neck ache .” 

I got a new comforter set that I love!!! Don’t you love a great sale?  I had my eye on it at JCPenney.  It is American Living brand and was pretty expensive ($500).  After several coupons and savings offers and 70% off it was only $100.00!  It is beautiful.  I ran in yesterday to return something and saw the throw pillows that coordinate.  They were regularly priced $50 and I got both for $14.  Here’s some pics…

I saw on the website the King sheets are marked down from $150 to $36!  They are sold out online so I am hoping to check out the store tomorrow.  I have two more coupons so it would only be about $25.00. 

Well, Emelia got all A’s for the fall semester.  Amanda got all A’s too, even in her college concurrent classes (College Algebra & English Comp I).  Bailey didn’t quite do his BEST… but he is working harder this semester and we have set up some guidelines.  We just want them to do their very best.  That’s all.

They sent Izzy’s report card home yesterday.  This letter from her teacher and vision therapist, Melanie, was attached.

Kindergarten Progress Report

January 8, 2009

Izzy is demonstrating improvement on a regular basis in several areas since our last progress report.

Izzy is using her eye gaze on a more consistent basis to choose activities and when making her preference known from a choice of two things.  She is becoming more vocal both with her likes and dislikes!

In the general education classroom she sits very attentively during group time on the carpet and has started responding vocally when the other students are interacting with her.

Izzy’s new chair is allowing her to be more on the same physical level as her peers in the classroom.  The students love to sit beside her or stand by her chair and help her with her work.  Izzy shows she enjoys this as well by looking at them and trying to do what is asked.

In Physical Therapy Izzy is showing major improvements.  She always pushes with her legs when asked to stand and seems to be developing more head control.

My goal for Izzy is that we continue to provide her with many opportunities to communicate her wants and needs to friends and teachers and give her many opportunities to communicate what she is learning.  We will continue to try to make school fun, interesting, challenging and a place where she can make many good friends.

Izzy is precious and a delight to work with!

Melanie

1.  I ♥ Melanie.  She always expects a lot from Isabelle and I give God the glory for each and every improvement, but expecting things from Isabelle is wonderful because she meets those expectations.

After school yesterday Melanie mentioned she had a good day with Camilla.  When we got home Camilla had emailed this:

Annie:

Sorry I had to leave today before I got to talk to you.  Izzy did a fantastic

job in P.T. today.  Her standing looked incredible - feet flat on the floor (she

had her braces on), working really hard to keep her knees straight, keeping her

head up.  I was really encouraged today and I am so excited for that Kidwalk to

come in. Izzy seemed pleased, as well, and smiled several times. It was a great

day.  I told her she brought joy to my heart!!! Hope you all have a great

weekend.

Camilla

2.  I ♥ Camilla!  She has always pushed Isabelle with love!

3.  I ♥ Michelle, Izzy’s paraprofessional.  She is a mom away from mom and is always cheering Izzy on!

4.  I ♥ Margaret, Izzy’s speech therapist.  She is one of the biggest backers of izzy’s understanding!

5.  I ♥ You!  For always keeping her in your prayers.

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others.The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

 6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.

Matthew 7:1-6

Check out the online daily bible reading link if you haven’t already! 

 I mentioned I challenged my teen girls to read their bibles daily following a “read the entire bible in one year” schedule.  I printed one week on thick paper and cut out bookmarks for them.  I was showing the site to matt and realized I could simply click on the day and it would display all the reading for that day.  Then I saw there was a mobile version.  I entered the url on my blackberry and voila!  I had the entire text for the day right on my phone.  I’m pretty excited about this.  Bailey was happy to see he could also follow along on his ipod touch.   

I finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  It was such a good book.  A big thanks to Camilla for the recommendation.  If you know Karen (praying Karen) who used to blog … now I catch up with her on FB.  She was born and raised in Guernsey.  Pretty neat!  Next on my nightstand is a book Gail recommended “Uncharted.”  I am going to start it tonight.  Next will be a book my friend Laura got me for Christmas by Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou.

 Whew… I was typing this post and my IE just died.  Out of nowhere.  Not like I had typed a ton but it’s still frustrating.  Luckily it was saved. 

Did you watch Patrick Swazye?  Sad. 

Izzy’s day at school went well today.  She is having more “episodes” this week.  We always tell her that it is her brain making connections… and tell her teachers and therapists not to be upset or worried.  She is truly God’s little girl and I know that she will be fine.  She is taking her toys from Christmas to school.  One a day.  Yesterday she took her Poingo reading system from Nini.  Today she took the wooden magnetic “paper dolls” from Gram.  The therapists all are using her toys in her therapy.  She went to the library today and checked a new book out.  We were supposed to get the kid walk today but the equipment co. made a mistake and ordered the wrong size… we’ve only been waiting since June 08.  I guess a week or two more won’t hurt.  They have ordered the correct size with expedited shipping.  Things always work out for a reason and I have to believe that it will work out well. 

I’m so excited that Judi (doodlebug designs) is starting to work on my blog again!  I heart her.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like!  You should check her out.  She does such good work and is a sweetheart too.

I’ve been putting this off for a while… like since may 06.  I had an exam and then ultrasound that revealed some ovarian cysts… I was supposed to schedule a follow-up ultrasound to determine if they were changing.  I forgot.  Anyway I finally made the appointment and saw the dr.  She said it was a “normal examination.”  She did schedule another ultrasound next week to make sure but said she didn’t feel any problems.  I’m healed. Yay.  It occured to me sitting in that office, watching the pregnant women come and go, that it’s a lot more fun when you are going to hear your baby’s heartbeat or see their little face on the ultrasound machine rather than just see your silly parts.  Ugh.  Not that I’m wanting another baby.  Nope. 

Today was Izzy’s first extended school day.  She will now go from 11:30 until 3:30.  Four whole hours!  It makes a big difference and I think it will be great for her to have more time with her teachers and therapists everyday.  She had a great day today and is about ready to go to bed now.

Matt was supposed to return to work tomorrow.  We’ve both been sick for several days.  The days off he had already used were from last year, so he had about 160 hours for this new year.  He has decided to use three more days and go back Monday.  He’s been working so much overtime lately I know he needs the break.  That’s all I’m sayin’ about that…

I made pizzas again tonight.  That sauce recipe I posted was the bomb!  It made the pizzas ten times better.  Seriously!  You should give it a try.  Matt suggested I open a pizzaria.  LOL  … I did good to get four made.  There are two left. 

My sweet brother Mike brought me a carryout order from my favorite (Victoria’s Pasta Shop).  I was very surprised when he arrived with it this afternoon.  I had planned to begin my starvation diet tomorrow, but I guess it will begin after my Victoria’s lasagna roll breakfast. 

Speaking of food (like usual)…. mom and I went to Cheesecake Factory yesterday.  It was better than ever!  We stopped at the mall and checked out some stuff…. got a new calendar etc.  It was a fun outing. 

With a full tummy I’m going to close and watch the biggest loser.  Wow!  These people have a lot of weight to lose.  Should be interesting to watch.  Inspiring too. 

We’ve been having lots of soups the past several days.  Matt heard of then bought a book about volumetrics which is basically eating the same amount of food but redistributing the ratio of vegetables to other food.  We had homemade pizza two nights also. The first night I bought a refridgerated crust just to save time (so I thought) and then yesterday I was making several pizzas for the whole fam so I made homemade crusts I saw on orgjunkie.com.  This is the crust recipe and a sauce recipe too…

Pizza Crust:
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degress F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so). Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Add some pizza sauce and your toppings. Bake at 450 degress F for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned. Dough can also be frozen as well.

Pizza Sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine or water
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1-2 tablespoon parmesan cheese

I covered matt’s pizza (2 of them) with tons of veggies… onions, green peppers, olives, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes and a little canandian bacon aka lean peppered ham.  I liked being able to make one for everyone to enjoy.  Matt said they were better than carryout pizza.  I think we’ll be having pizza often for a while. 

Last night I knew I wanted to have something made for after church and had planned to make a soup using chicken.  We made beef/veggie stew Thursday and had been eating it for a few days… it was finally gone.  It was really good and especially tasty since I have been fighting a cold/sore throat.  I put a big container (48 oz) chicken stock in the slow cooker and then a big can of petite diced tomatoes, a can of rotel, a palm full of chili powder and cumin, some salt and pepper, a jar of green chilis, can of mushrooms, can of mexican corn, small can of peas, big can of rinsed and drained black beans and a package of frozen chicken tenders.  I diced an onion and sauteed it in a little butter with pressed garlic and added it in when it was translucent.  I put it on low and left it for the night.  I shredded some cheddar cheese, had tortilla strips (chips) and some advocados.  It was a healthy version of tortilla soup and it was delicious!  Another new favorite! 

We’ll have the soup again tomorrow because there is a ton, plus a lot of pizza leftover…

Tuesday we’ll have turkey burgers (a recipe from the volumetrics book using bulgar which I’ve never used…)

Wednesday I’m going to make a pot of beans and cornbread.

Thursday frito chili pie with turkey.

Friday more pizzas!

It’s freezing cold today and I think me & Izzy are going to bed to read for a while…

What’s on your menu for the week?  Making any healthy changes?  I need to add walking back in to our schedule this week!

I made bookmarks for my teen girl’s class showing the scriptures to read so that they can read the bible in one year.  If they bring it back each week with each day checked off they will be rewarded…  I hope they stick with it.  I gave them the 15-20 minutes in class today to start to show them how they can actually get it done and it’s not that hard.  Since daily bible reading is at the top of my goals for 2009 it helps to have company! 

I don’t know about you, but I love crown molding!!! 

Crown molding is the most popular type of cornice moldings. I love the way crown molding changes the look of a room. I always think it looks like the room is more polished, more finished when you put up crown molding. Crown generally refers to the types of single-piece moldings that are installed on the angle to their adjoining surface. Crown moldings have a profile that projects out on the ceiling and down on the wall and gives a rich appearance to a room.

Crown molding serves as an ornamental capping to walls, cabinets, and built-in furniture. Crown molding also used as a decorative support for horizontal architectural elements like decorative ledges and shelves. Adding crown molding to the relatively simple room provides a certain character that the room would not have otherwise. Many complex looking crown molding profiles consist of the series of simple moldings installed together to achieve a finished appearance. Crown moldings are also used in combination with other moldings to add details to the fireplace mantels and shelves. Click in following link to learn about crown molding installation

If you are looking for elegant and clean designed wood corbels, inviting home has many beautiful corbel to choose from. These corbels are very easy to incorporate in many different kitchen styles. Corbels carry a uniquely American expression of the Arts-and-Crafts movement and are perfect for Arts-and-crafts kitchen style. Wood corbels show simplicity and functionality of design, and honesty of craftsmanship. Craftsman-corbels and Mission-corbels are superb examples of the American Arts-and-Crafts style.

Do you have a home security system?  If not, now is the time to consider the benefits of having a security system.  ADT is the #1 home security company in America.  They have home security systems in over five million homes!  These systems protect loved ones, and personal belongings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  ADT is so confident about their systems that they guarantee them.  There is a ADT money-back guarantee, an ADT Theft protection guarantee, and an ADT mover’s security guarantee.   They have been around for over 100 years and are the most respected name in security businesses. 

 What is the most important truth/lesson you feel God taught you in 2008? How will that truth change your life in 2009?

Wow… just one? There have been so many life lessons over the past year.  I think the biggest lesson is that God is part of the big and small things that happen in life and to always be aware of the whispers and the shouts that are coming my way… and not only “be aware…,” but take those bits of information and use them.  The devil tries to steal those nuggets of wisdom before they become an active part of life, my goal is to hold on tight to God’s wisdom and keep the enemy under foot! 

 

 

 Old Christmas Cards…

I’m a little under the weather today… a cold/sore throat has caught up with me and I’m staying snuggled in!  I have Izzy and Princess to keep me company and warm… Here are five other favorite things keeping me busy!

1.  Hot stew!  Matt helped me make a huge pot of stew yesterday and I don’t think anything could have tasted better today for lunch! 

2.  A good book!  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (recommended by Camilla).  I’m really enjoying this one!

3.  My tried and true cup full of sonic ice and coke! 

4.  Food Network.  I’m enjoying watching all the cooking and thinking about awesome things to cook!

5.  The laptop… a window to the world. 

What’s your fave 5 today?? Visit Susanne to play along!