Tag Archives: health

April 18, 2014 · 1:04 pm

Weekly Wrap-Up . . . Education for MOM! :-)

So, I have been exploring this thing called Zentangle for a little while now. When I first discovered it online, and read all the stories of people it was really helping in areas of relaxation, anxiety, even physical issues like shaky hands due to Parkinsons and other things, I knew I had to try it. Besides, it’s really, really beautiful, and you don’t even have to be an artist or have an art background to do it! I had been trying to learn what I could, from books and the internet. One favorite site is Tanglepatterns, which has an index of many, many patterns, complete with step-outs to show how to draw them.

This past weekend, I went to my very first Zentangle class with two Certified Zentangle Teachers. It was AWESOME! We learned ten different tangle patterns, and used them to make two zentangle tiles.

Here’s my first one, using patterns crescent moon, hollibaugh, printemps, static, and tipple.
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During the second half of the class, we learned five more patterns, and made a tile using florz, hibred, ‘nzeppel, pokeroot and pokeleaf. Here is mine . . .
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In both sessions, we also learned about aura-ing on some patterns, and how to shade to give our tiles dimension.

One of our teachers, Dennie York, has posted all of the tiles the class made on her blog dentangles. Go give it a look, and check out the rest of her blog too, it’s just become one of my favorites! 🙂

This post is being linked up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. If you’d like to join the fun, write your weekly wrap-up and click the graphic below for the guidelines!

As always, I’d love it if you joined me on all of “My Journeys Through Life”. Just go and enter your email into the “sign me up” button at the top of the blog, and never miss an update again! Also, if you do enjoy “My Journeys”, please go to out Facebook page and “like it”. I’d sure appreciate it if you did! 🙂

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February 22, 2014 · 7:47 pm

Weekly Wrap-up . . . A Week Late!

I didn’t manage a weekly wrap-up last week. I’ve been ill off and on for the past couple of weeks, and then last week, I broke my glasses!!! All is well on that front though, this week I got a replacement pair, though I’m still waiting on my prescription sunglasses (a needful thing in a state with at least 300 sunny days per year).

Anyway, back on February 7, we had another co-op day with our church homeschool group. This time, it was all about nutrition, manners, and physical activity.

My friend Aimee, one of our fabulous homeschool moms, was in charge of putting this one together, and she really made it fun! Here, she is teaching the kids what would NOT be good table manners, LOL!
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Aimee discussed with the kids the importance of good nutrition, and of drinking enough water every day, especially living here in the desert.
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The kids learned about the importance of good posture, and in this video, you can see some of them attempting to practice USING good posture!

After all of this, we moved to another room, where we worked on stretching . . .
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Exercises . . .
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And a game to work on good sportsmanship!
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This is one of MY favorite photos of the day, two of our toddler friends! 🙂
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So, this was a good homeschool day, in the midst of my not feeling well off and on. My kids really enjoy our co-op!

This post is being linked up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. To get the guidelines for the weekly wrap up link-up, click the graphic below:

As always, I’d love it if you joined me on all of “My Journeys Through Life”. Just go and enter your email into the “sign me up” button at the top of the blog, and never miss an update! And, if you enjoy “My Journeys”, please, go to our Facebook Page and “like” it. I’d sure appreciate it if you did! 🙂

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October 18, 2013 · 7:49 am

We’re FINALLY Back to Park Days Again!

Since I had surgery on BOTH of my feet in May of this year, the boys and I have not been able to attend the weekly home-school park days all summer. 😦 First, I couldn’t walk, or drive, then, I could walk only using a walker, then eventually a cane.

In the meanwhile, there had been a change in where the weekly park day would be held, so we’re at a new to us park. We like this park, and it’s a little easier and quicker for us to get to! 🙂

Happily, two weeks ago, the boys and I were finally able to go again, which we did for the very first time since before I had surgery back on May 15. I took my camera with me. And then, I forgot to take it out and actually USE it!

Last week, we didn’t attend. As you know, last Thursday we had company, friends who came in from Oklahoma to go to the International Balloon Fiesta.

So, yesterday, we were able to go to our home-school park day again, after another week off. It turns out though, that last Thursday, with the wind and rain in the area of the park, it pretty much didn’t happen anyway. THIS week, I remembered that I had my camera!

Here is the “The Batman”, waiting for a ball to be sent his way . . .

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“The Puzzler”, on his way to join the game (and unfortunately, it’s the only shot I got of him, which is why it’s somewhat blurry) . . .

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“Mr. Loquacious” was walking around, looking for “things to build stuff with” . . .

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And “The Artist” was just walking back to where we were to get some water and a snack . . .

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Meanwhile, *I* was sitting with a bunch of other moms . . .

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. . . truly enjoying the time I get each week to interact with other homeschooling moms, while my kids spend time with other home-school kids, and the added bonus that they are out in the fresh air, playing, running around. We do not have a good yard to play in, or a park right by our house, so they don’t get this all that often, unless we can get to a park day.

It’s also great for me to be with other moms on a regular basis who “get it” when it comes to my special needs kids, who have varying disabilities, including developmental delays and mental retardation. 🙂

If you are achomeschooling family, I strongly encourage you to become involved in a local park day group. This group is a pretty good bunch, and my boys and I are quite happy to be part of it!

As always, I would love it if you join me on all of “My Journeys Through Life”! Just enter your email information at the “sign me up” button at the top of the page, and never miss an update again!

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Filed under 2013, ABQparkday.com, Albuquerque, education, exercise, family, health, home education, Home-school Group, Homeschool Park Day, homeschooling, Kids, moving, special needs education, Transitions, Ultimate Blog Challenge 2013

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August 26, 2013 · 10:49 am

Changes . . . and a benefit to help a Sheriff’s Deputy!

Recently, I needed to put together a two page scrapbook layout as a sample of one of our new Close To My Heart paper packets and Workshops on the go Scrapbooking Kits, which made me really realize just how far I have come from the beginning of my bariatric journey. I chose to use the Workshops on the Go Sarita Scrapbooking Kit, because I really like both the papers and the theme. I felt the theme, although shown in the idea book as a romantic layout, also perfectly fit the changes I have gone through over the past two and a half years, and since I’ve done very little scrapbooking about myself (because I so hated pictures of me), it would be fitting to use this layout to showcase what I have done, for me and for my health.

The left side of the two page layout shows pictures of me from January, 2011, the day before my bariatric surgery.

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And this one, which is the right side of the two page layout, shows pictures of me from Christmas 2011, and May of 2012, which is when I was honored at the Centurian Awards Ceremony held at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit MI, and received my Centurian pin, given to those who have lost at least 100 pounds and/or reached a healthy BMI. I had done both! 🙂

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If you click on the pictures, you can see them bigger than they are on the blog post.

I am so pleased with the difference this has made in my health, and in my physical abilities. With four special needs children, I NEEDED to get healthier, and I have. I am no longer taking two different versions of insulin, whereas before surgery I was on a short acting insulin shot before every meal and a long acting insulin shot before bed each night. I no longer take blood pressure medication or cholesterol medication. I am no longer restricted to shopping in plus size clothing stores, having gone from a size women’s 28 down to a Misses size 12 – 14, depending upon the style and manufacturer. I have lost 157 pounds, and I intend to never, ever go back to what I was when I weighed in at 320 pounds!

Now, after years of avoiding putting pictures of myself into the scrapbooks I love to make, I want to make one documenting my own journey from before weight loss to now. Close To My Heart is going to help me do that, with the beautiful, quality products available, which are extremely easy to use for anyone. Trust me, if *I* can stamp and not mess it up, so can you, and the CTMH scrapbooking and card making products are so beautiful, I know you’ll love using them as much as I do!

While you can, of course, use the Workshops On The Go Kits exactly as they are pictured in the idea book, as you can see by what I did, they are certainly adaptable to whatever theme you want to make them into.

I would love it if you would consider me for your paper-crafting wants needs. You can go directly to my CTMH website and shop to your heart’s content! There will often be a gathering listed on the site. If you click on the link by “join one of Lori’s gatherings”, you can join that gathering to shop. Even if there is no current gathering, you can still shop directly from the site and your products will be shipped directly to you!

There is currently a gathering listed as “New Idea Book Open House”, which will be closing as of this Friday, August 30, 2013. If you’re interested in purchasing from Close To My Heart, this would be the perfect gathering for you to join, because not only will you receive the yummy August Stamp of the Month Set “A Chocolate Affair” absolutely free with your $50.00 order, this gathering is actually a benefit for Deputy Shannon Key, a Deputy with the Bernalillo County NM Sheriff’s Department, who is a deacon in our church. You can read more about his ongoing battle with brain cancer here, in a series of articles and news stories.

If you order from the current gathering (New Idea Book Open House” on my Close To My Heart Site and get your order in by this Friday afternoon (August 30, 2013), then you will also be eligible for my prize drawing. With every $25.00 (pre-shipping/tax) on your order, you will have one entry in a drawing for your choice of a set of hand-crafted by me note cards (value $25.00), a retired paper packet (value $19.95) or a retired stamp set (value varies). The winner will be drawn by one of Deputy Key’s children, and will be able to choose which prize they prefer. If you book your own online gathering with me, and date it within the next month, I will give you an additional entry and set you up with E-Zinvite, so that you can invite all of your guests via email, and you can also make it an even on your Facebook page. Your party will have its own link on my site, your guests will receive their product shipped directly to them, and you’ll receive generous hostess rewards. What a win/win for you!

I hope to hear from you very soon, and I hope many of you will want to help Deputy Key by making an order on the current gathering “New Idea Book Open House”. All of my commission from this gathering is being donated to the Deputy Shannon Key Fund to help with the many costs associated with the treatment he must undergo, and to help his family during this time. Please consider this a worthy cause, and help out by ordering from this gathering. You’ll be helping someone who is very humble and deserving of your aid, and also making yourself more able to beautifully document the “changes” in your OWN life! 🙂

As always, I would love to have you join me on all of my “journeys through life” by following my blog. To receive a notice each time there is a new post, just go to the “sign me up” button at the top right of this page, click on it and enter your email. Hope to have you join me on “my journeys”!

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August 19, 2013 · 2:54 pm

Understanding Child Brain Development: Family Hope Center . . . A T.O.S. Review

As the parent of multiple children with special needs, I was interested in reviewing the DVD “Understanding Child Brain Development” from Family Hope Center by Matthew and Carol Newell, for the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

This DVD runs about two hours, and is a LOT to go through in one sitting, but you can watch it in sections by using the chapter menu, thereby managing to take breaks without needing to leave your DVD player on pause for any length of time.

This DVD is a recording of a live presentation given by Matthew and Carol Newell. I had some issues with the sound quality ( I needed to turn the sound up quite a bit on the TV in order to hear it clearly ), and was unable to read the visual aids they used, but with the DVD you’ll receive a link for an e-book with all of the slides in it for use while following along.

The Family Hope Center’s purpose (and their belief in the possibility) is to help special needs children and their parents to overcome and “correct” brain dysfunctions and disabilities. Both Matthew and Carol Newell are certified in Craniosacral and Myofascial Release Therapy. They have been trained to work with special needs children, and they also used these theories with their own daughter.

The first part of the program gives a TON of really good information about child brain development, and how different things affect it. Things like getting more time to crawl around, instead of being put mostly into walkers, bouncers, car seats, and cribs. They also talked about how much better it is for the development of the brain for babies to be put to sleep on their stomachs, which surprised me, as I’ve been hearing the phrase “BACK to sleep” for years now, referring to the need to put babies on their backs when putting them to bed. We are told on the DVD that sleeping on their stomachs helps the baby’s digestion, and also aids the baby in learning to creep and crawl, which, as I mentioned above, is important in aiding the brain development.

While I found all of the information on child brain development to be fascinating, and am in complete agreement with the idea of limiting TV, electronic games, etc . . ., and that children should spend much more time playing, eating more nutritious foods and drinking a whole lot more water than they generally do (the water thing is a constant battle with our kids!), I did have issues with some of the things recommended to help and treat children with developmental disabilities.

I felt that this was yet one more time of being criticized if, as parents, we have chosen to allow our children to be put on medications. I do believe that for many children, medications are definitely called for, and that their disabilities cannot simply be treated and cured with alternative methods. There were things that I have heard before, such as not using microwave ovens, not allowing the use of cell phones, etc . . . that I, personally, have never seen any real proof of their scientific value. Admittedly, I have a bias when it comes to cell phones, as our income comes from my husband’s job with a major cell phone company, but truly, I don’t believe the theories that cell phone use causes medical problems to have been even close to proven. Nonetheless, our children don’t have them. Not because we believe these theories, but because we don’t believe children need to HAVE cell phones! 🙂

I will say that my oldest child, who has fetal alcohol syndrome, was the main reason I was interested in reviewing this DVD. He was adopted at age two, and is developmentally delayed. He also has some mental retardation and is on the autism spectrum. I got the impression from the Family Hope Center that developmental disabilities can be “cured” with their treatments, and I simply don’t believe it to be true. I do believe that they give a lot of good information that parents can do on their own to help their child, in fact, a lot of the ideas were things we did way back when “The Batman” was much younger. I agree whole-heartedly that we should be working with our children to help them be all that they can be, and to progress as far as they can, however, at the same time, I know that even as my son has progressed much further than the “experts” told us he would when we adopted him, he is very unlikely to progress past a certain point, which is why we have been given legal guardianship over him that will never expire now that he is over the age of 18.

Even though I do have more trust in medical science than I do in alternative medical advice, I know many people who absolutely swear by alternative healthcare, even some who will ONLY use alternative methods. If you fall into that category, then I think this DVD may be something you will want, if you have a child with special needs. In fact, if you don’t have a child with special needs, and even if, like me, you don’t believe quite so firmly in alternative methods of healthcare, I think you’ll find all of the information on child brain development to be very informative and interesting.

If you would like to view the DVD “Understanding Child Brain Development”, you may order it by calling (610)397-1737, or you can order directly from the Institute for Excellence in Writing, for the cost of $19.00

Other Schoolhouse Review Crew Members also watched and reviewed this DVD. To read what they thought, please click the graphic below

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August 7, 2013 · 8:01 am

Transitions Part 4: A 1700 Mile Adventure

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Well, I should have mentioned this yesterday, but I didn’t even realize it until I was going to bed last night! Yesterday, August 6, 2013, my kids and I had officially been here in NM for a whole year! Honestly, it doesn’t seem like it’s been a whole year since we arrived! It’s been a year full of change, and has had its ups and downs. My husband and I have, between us, gone through three surgeries, we found a wonderful church family, my kids and I got booted out of the first home-school group we joined (which turned out to be a good thing, but I digress!). Our first winter here was the best winter I’ve ever been through, as you can guess, having come from Michigan. We really do like being here! So now, let’s get on with our journey from Michigan to New Mexico, with our day in St. Louis, MO!

We had a very nice sleep Thursday night, in our beautiful room that my cousin Anne had gotten for us, and woke ready to have a great day in St. Louis! After everyone was showered and dressed, we went to the very good breakfast that came with our room. I think the hotel lost money on the breakfast that my boys had that day, lol! Then, while waiting for Anne to arrive, we went ahead and got packed back up and put our belongings back into the minivan.

When Anne arrived, we piled into the minivan and headed to the St. Louis Arch . . .

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Which is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and is a National Park.

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We parked on what I *think* I was told is a levee, right at the river, where we saw this riverboat cruise boat.

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Stretched across the area where we parked were many of these very heavy chains. You can see in the picture of the riverboat that they are used for mooring. The boys found them interesting, and were pretending to try to lift them (they were, of course, way too heavy!)

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So, we walked along the river front to a point where we could get to the Arch, which is really quite beautiful, as you can see in the picture higher up in this post. There are a TON of steps to climb to get to the Arch!

Here is “The Artist” stopping on the way up . . .

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and here am I, with “Mr. Loquacious”

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I’m going to stop right here and tell you, I was really nervous about this excursion! My improved health from my weight loss was still relatively new, and I worried over whether I would really be able to handle all of the steps, etc. Well, as you can see, I did! I was also able to get through all of the little turnstiles inside, as well as fit into the tiny little carriers that we went to the top in. Here are pictures of each of us inside the one they have set up for photos . . .

First, “The Artist” . . .

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“Mr. Loquacious” . . .

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“The Batman” . . .

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“The Puzzler” . . .

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And me!

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Now, you can see how small those things are, right? Now imagine all six of us, crammed into one for the ride to the top. A year previously, I would never have managed, not at 320 pounds. I also would have been quite miserable upon moving to Albuquerque, where we are almost a mile higher in elevation than we were in Pt. Huron. The weight loss journey is one I am so glad to have taken, for many reasons!

Anne went and got our tickets to go to the top of the Arch, and then we had a little over an hour before our scheduled ride, so we used that time to walk through as much of the museum as we could. We really enjoyed it!

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All of the boys in front of one of the exhibits . . .

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all the boys with Anne . . .

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Anne and me . . .

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one of the views through the windows at the top of the Arch . . .

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After we had finished at the Arch, we drove back over to the hotel to pick up Anne’s car, and then went to eat an early supper at a restaurant nearby, for BBQ. It was very good, I’d never had BBQ done the way they do it! I don’t recall the name of the restaurant, but it was right across the parking lot from the hotel, and we loved it!

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After our dinner, we said our good-byes. Anne headed off to her home, and we headed on to Republic, MO, where we spent the night at a motel and then the next morning, Saturday, we spent the morning visiting with another cousin, Anne’s brother Ed and his family. Unfortunately, I forgot to have my camera with me during that visit, so I have no pictures. 😦

From Republic, we headed toward Oklahoma, where we would be spending the night at the home of a long time dear friend of mine, which I will tell you about tomorrow, if you come back! 🙂

As always, I’d love it if you would follow my blog by email! Never miss an update by just going to the top right of the blog and clicking on the “sign me up” button. Just follow the directions and you’ll be notified of new posts by email!

Meanwhile, please, hop on over to the main crew post to see what the other Summer Blog Hop participants are up to!

Summer Blog Hop

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June 20, 2013 · 3:36 pm

Relaxed Homeschooling . . .

So today was a good example of one of those “relaxed homeschooling” days . . . as you know, I am currently recovering from surgery on both of my feet, five toes total, three on the right foot, 2 on the left, and am coming to truly realize just how much your toes are involved in supporting the weight of your body. Yes, they still hurt.

Lately, we’ve been working on a unit study from Moving Beyond the Page which I am reviewing. this is actually fitting into our “relaxed” homeschooling we’ve been doing, especially during my recovery, because as is usual with many professional curriculum, I am adapting to fit my special needs kids. So, we do a bit of this each day, and the kids are enjoying it, so far.

This morning, after breakfast, the boys watched a couple of educational shows on pbs (Super Why and Dinosaur Train), then we did a read aloud from another book I’m reviewing for the review crew (review will be posted within the next few days!). Then, they got to watch Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (which I didn’t at first realize was a spin off of Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood), and then Sid The Science Kid.

After Sid, we had a simple lunch, followed by watching four more episodes of “Watch Mr. Wizard”, a DVD I am reviewing. I asked for that one because of my childhood memories of a Mr. Wizard science book from the library, in which there was an experiment using charcoal, bluing, food coloring and I don’t recall what else, to make a crystal garden in a goldfish bowl. 🙂 And now, my kids are being introduced to Mr. Wizard, which is fun for me. They are really enjoying it, too, so tomorrow we’ll finish watching the second DVD I received.

We then did more of the read aloud from the morning, while the boys colored pictures and did a word search based upon the book.

They are now watching Word Girl, and after I post this, I intend to get a couple of things downloaded, and then go get these poor sore feet back up on their pillows for a little while!

So, that’s what a “relaxed Homeschooling” day looks like around here . . . how about at YOUR house? 🙂

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June 19, 2013 · 11:03 am

Feeling better . . .

Well, feeling somewhat better, anyway! Two days ago I had another post-op appointment with my surgeon, during which he removed the pins from my toes. It hurt a LOT, when they were coming out, and bled quite a bit, too! I was surprised to see how long they were, a good 3 1/2 inches long, but I shouldn’t have been so surprised, because the pain they were causing went way down past the toes and into my feet. I’m awfully glad they are finally out. Of course, now I have a different kind of pain that I’m trying to get past, when I’m trying to walk. I am now out of the “frankenboots”, but wearing smaller post-op shoes. Last night my husband had the OK from the surgeon to remove the bandaging that had been put on the toes which had the pins in, and the holes were scabbed over, so it was finally OK to try a real shower. It felt so good to get really clean, but it sure took a lot out of me, it was the longest I had stood up without the walker since surgery. I am hoping to be doing well enough to attend church this coming Sunday night. My husband says it totally depends on how I’m doing, because he’s not letting me push beyond what I should do anymore. He’s got a point, I did do that when I went to the homeschool picnic, and it seemed to set me back a bit, so we don’t want that, right?

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May 28, 2013 · 9:13 am

Catching Up . . .

It’ll be two weeks tomorrow since I had surgery on my feet, but it seems like it’s been forever that I’ve had to be sitting or lying down with them elevated above my heart. You’d think it would be enjoyable to be forced to just lie around not doing much, but for me, as a wife and mother, it’s getting somewhat old, and I am feeling guilty that my husband is having to fit in as much of my work as he can around his own work schedule. Our kids are doing their best to pick up some of it, but there are still things they aren’t able to do correctly (wash clothes, cook) because of their different disabilities. They ARE able to do everything laundry after it’s been sorted and begun washing, for example, one of them moves the wet clothes to the dryer, another brings they dry clothes to the living room, and a third one folds, but none of them can get a load begun washing yet. My stepson is getting fairly good at helping to cook, and did, one day last week, manage to heat up the dinner someone from church had brought over, but he’s not ready to go start to finish just yet. 🙂

My next post-op appointment with the surgeon is on June 3, but I know I have to go at least 4 weeks from surgery before I can get the pins out of my toes. I’m hoping the second two weeks go faster than the first two have gone!

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May 8, 2013 · 10:34 am

Preparing for Surgery and hosting an online benefit . . .

I’ve been working a bit each day at getting things in order around here, because one week from today I will be having surgery on both of my feet, and would really prefer not to have to worry about keeping up with tons of work after that. My theory is that if we can get things in order now, it will be easier for my kids to keep up with it until I’m “back on my feet”, lol!

I have extremely bad hammertoes, three on one foot, two on the other, and they will all be dealt with in one surgery, so as to avoid going under anesthesia twice, or having two surgical and two hospital co-pays.

I’m also working ahead on making cards. I have a little ministry in which I make a card every week for some ladies at church who need encouragement for one reason or another. So far, I have five ladies. I do a card for them each week, and I pray for them every day. We also have three kids at church graduating this weekend, so last night I got one of their cards done, and today I’ll work on the other two. We have one other graduation coming up, but that isn’t until the beginning of June, which is good, because I have to go buy more grad themed paper for her card. 🙂

Another thing I’m working on: for those of you who don’t know, I am a consultant for Close To My Heart (http://lorimoffit.ctmh.com), a company that produces BEAUTIFUL, high quality, easy to use products for scrapbooking and card making. I am currently hosting an online party as a benefit for Bernalillo County, NM Sheriff’s Deputy Shannon Key. He is a deacon in our church (http://www.mesabaptist.org), and is going through his second battle with brain cancer. Because it is so bad this time, it is inoperable, so the only treatment available is mostly experimental, done at Cedars-Sinei Medical Center in Los Angeles, and not covered by insurance. You can read more about Deputy Key at http://www.krqe.com/dpp/features/nm-deputy-faces-another-cancer-battle .

To help build the Shannon Key fund, I am, as I said, hosting an online Close To My Heart party. 100% of my commission from this party will go to the Key family. Some incentives for you: if your order reaches $50.00, you are eligible to purchase the May Stamp of the Month set for only $5.00. This will also make you eligible for the exclusive, only available this month, special paper pack called Dream Pop, which was created especially for National Scrapbooking Month. But wait, there’s even more! Every order that is at least $25.00 will be entered into a drawing for a set of notecards handmade by me. For every $25.00 you order, you will get one entry. If, in addition to your order, you book a party of your own, I will give you an extra entry. When the party closes, I will ask one of Deputy Key’s children to draw the winner. At that time I’ll consult the winner for their favorite colors before making their cards. 🙂 If you’d like to participate in this very worthy cause, you may order anytime between now and May 26, 2013, when the party will close. When you order from my website http://lorimoffit.ctmh.com your order will ship directly to you, and you don’t have to wait until the party closes to receive your order. I hope many of you will choose to help. Even if you aren’t a scrapbooker or card maker, I bet you know someone who is, who would LOVE to receive a gift of products to use in their hobby. Close To My Heart products are top quality, beautiful, and very easy to use. Even *I* can’t mess up when using them, lol!

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