- Math 2-3 days per week. Math games 2 days per week.
- Reading for Little Man daily
- Writing for Princess and Little Man in Nature Journals and fun stories using Stories with a View
- Art using Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art and other things as we find them at least 3x/week
- Handwriting ... a little bit daily
- Religion: Mass and Adoration + this series (scroll down to see more) + Catholic Mosaic
April 30, 2013
April 09, 2013
Gargle with Salt Water
Sage advice. Whenever I had a sore throat my mom would tell me, "Gargle with salt water." She probably wouldn't remember that now. She doesn't remember much. Earlier this year, my mother had brain surgery to remove a tumor in the lining of her brain. She was on the mend for two weeks and then, disaster struck.
Mom went to another hospital because she couldn't take in enough air. Her resting heart rate was 120. The doctors thought maybe that she had COPD, chronic, obstructive pulmonary disease. But this progressive disease is common among cigarette smokers of which group my mother is not part. In giving medicine to treat COPD, the doctors have given her one that might have been toxic for her.
Between that and the fact that my mother lives with 200+ birds in the house, the doctors now have hope that, having finished the medicine and having quite recently been removed from the birds (they are now suspicious that she has bird fancier's lung), there will be some improvement. Mom and Dad moved out of their house and into my sister's house, for now. Dad is selling off some of the birds. But the question remains: will they ever get their own house clean enough for Mom to live there again? Or if she sets foot in the place, will the bird dander, droppings, and seed dust still be filtering around in the air, causing more damage to her lungs, her brain?
Another question I must ask is will my mother's memory ever return? She can't find her bedroom, nor can she follow a recipe right now. This woman made her family meals for fifty-seven years and she doesn't know how to operate a stove. It's so sad. Did so many brain cells die from lack of oxygen that she won't ever be able to retrieve her memory? She's having cognitive therapy, but so far, progress is slow to plateau.
If anyone is reading this, please pray for her. Pray for my dad. Also pray for my sisters who live only a few miles away and who have to handle the whole mess.
April 01, 2013
What if ...
My seventeen-year-old daugter was involved in an auto accident. She was traveling straight across an intersection. A construction truck hit her at a speed of 60 mph. He didn't have time to slam on the brakes. "I just looked up," said the driver, "and there she was." What if that side of the car was pushed in a full three feet, instead of 'just' 31 inches?
What if a passenger, my son, had been sitting in the front seat at the time of the crash?
What if my daughter's guardian angel wasn't holding her close? There was one place that was not affected in that crash: the driver's seat.
Easter day, my family took a hike to Waterfall Canyon. A boulder loosened from a ledge over the path.
What if that boulder, larger than me, came down on me? What if I hadn't jumped out of the way? What if something, or someone, hadn't warned and protected me? What if I was holding one of the little kids? There's my water bottle, pinned under the rock in the only hole where I managed to shrink as much as possible so as to save my bones from breakage.
I believe in angels. I believe in mercy. I believe that God has big plans for this family.
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