May need NEW braces!?!

Well today we seen the surgeon. We discussed Superstar's limping late last week. We also learned that he has techinically outgrown his braces! UGH! (Growing boys!)

1) The limping: I mention last week after running and playing Superstar started to limp. We have learned that the limping was most likely the result of him overworking and stress the muscles while he played. Seeing he's pretty much fine today and has really no pain, I was told not to stress over it. If it happens again, to give him Mortin and some rest over the next few days like we did. Of course if it get worst, or if there is swelling, or other things outside of what we experince then we are to give the surgeon a call.

2) He has outgrown his braces already! These things are not cheap, they are about $900-$1,000 PER brace! He wears 2 of them, so each set is $1,800-2,000.

See how his big toes stick out? Well they are NOT suppose to be like that. So we may have to get new braces soon. The surgeon on one hand doesn't want to order up a new prescription for braces, because as of today he's thinking we MAY be done with them come THIS October.  On the other hand, we don't want Superstar to be in something that doesn't "fit" properly.

His toes sticking out over the end of the braces does not effect the function of the brace. The brace is STILL functional and is STILL doing it's job! So we decided as long as Superstar is not bothered or getting 'sores' from the braces as they are we'll leave them. If it becomes a discomfort then we'll get a script for a new braces. If he develops pressure sores again then we'll get a new braces instead of another adjustment, like we did last week.  Generally braces can last about 12 months, but that's not the case if you are a growing boy! (He's only have had his braces for 6 months).  

The cool thing about it is the doctor said that we don't have to go in for the brace if it comes to that . All we have to do is call and he'll fax the script to the orthist that makes Superstar's braces.  So we do not have to see the surgeon again until the end of October.  At the end of October we MAY be giving life with no braces a try.

Web-Princess Skiing

We have a local competition water skiing team. This team offers "learn how to ski clinic" several times over the summer. The clinics are "cheap". The only cost is the $7 per child for their insurance charge. Web-princess had two goes at it today. The first time she got a little scared. She didn't even get to hold on the the rope, because she was a little freaked out.

We let the other kids go and 2 hours later she was given a second shot at it. She didn't make it up, but at least she let the boat pull her. They were going to give her a few more tries on that go, but she was done. I'm proud of her and glad to see her even give it go! Superstar did NOT get to go today, because of his foot giving him issues this week. However there will be another learn how to ski clinic at the end of July so we are hoping he can go then.

For your enjoyment the video of Web-princess second go!

Web-Princess practicing her form on the "stage".

Here are some still of her in the water:

3D Fireworks Glasses

Today the kids and I went to our local children's (science) museum. We have a family membership pass. This pass allows us daily general admission to the museum for one low yearly fee. For the summer they have special events to do on Fridays/Saturdays and Mondays that are included in the general admission. So we have been going because we have our membership.

Todays activities had to do with lights: experiment with black light, capture a rainbow, construct a color viewer and more. The highlight of todays activities had to do with 3D Fireworks Glasses. Each kids was allowed to bring home a pair to keep. The kids are looking forward to viewing the 4th of July Fireworks with these glasses on!  So what's so special about these glasses? Well when you look through them this is what you see.

3D Fireworks Glasses (Lazer Viewers)- specially treated holographic lenses break light into the spectrum. Lazer Viewers (3D Fireworks Glasses) are an exciting addition to fireworks displays, laser light shows and holiday celebrations everywhere, according to the manufactures website.

The kids through out the day have been viewing the world and lights via the glasses. Imagine that the fireworks on the 4th of July will be pretty spectacular when seen through the glasses. Perhaps I'll even be able to get video of what it looks like through the glasses.

The picture above is what is "really" seen through the glasses. I just turned off the flash on the camera and held the glasses up to the camera lens and took a snap shot!

Walking with a limp.

I know at first you might be thinking this is about me and my recent fall. However it's NOT me, it's Superstar. We have been blessed that over all his recovery has been going good. Really he hasn't had issue with his walking post-surgery. Sure at first, but that was just the initial recovery from surgery. Once he started to walk post-surgery things have been good. I know we had to deal with pressure sores this week, but they didn't caused him to walk with a limp.

As I've mention before we have been given permission for Superstar to have up to 4 hours a day WITHOUT his AFO. He was even allowed to play soccer WITHOUT his AFO.  Yesterday evening we went down to the river to watch a local professional ski competition group preform/practice. Superstar, Web-princess and their friends were not interested in watching the skiers...mainly because it was rainy here yesterday and as a result none of the music was playing and there was no announcer.  They weren't even sure they would go on with the performance/practice until 5 minutes before start time. So instead of watching they played on the playground and tag hide-n-seek among the trees.

Superstar was NOT wearing his braces, because of the time of day. He had shoes on, but some how he end up hurting the bottom of his left heal. It hurts for him to put pressure on his heal. Not sure what happen. I've contact the surgeon. We are already schedule to see him Tuesday as it is, so he told us rest, Motrin, and hopefully it doesn't get worst between now and then.

I'm worried....seeing we are still recovering, etc. I know we got the okay for sports and I know his running around last night was not abnormal play. I just don't understand why he's having pain like that.

AFO Adjustments

Today we went for another AFO adjustment. Superstar like most children his age has been "growing" so the AFO needed to be adjusted. They were starting to give him pressure sores again. (He's grown a few inches since April).

While there the first thing the Orthotist said to us was "He clearly wears them". Actually he said that a few times to us. At the end of our visit I inquired and asked "how common is it for the kids not to wear them?". According to the Orthotist it's very common. To actually see a child Superstar's age wear the AFO/Braces like they are suppose is a rarity.

This actually shocked me! The AFOs are NOT cheap and for the amount of money that goes into them, I would expect the parent to make the child wear them like they are suppose too. I was very surprise to hear that parents don't make their kid wear them like they should.

Next week we see the surgeon again for another post-surgery appointment.

MOMMY!!

So on Sunday we did our grocery shopping. My intent was to do it Saturday, but the ER visit put a stop to all my plans.  We opted to do it Sunday that way I could get help from everyone including my husband.  Over all I'm fine, but walking for long periods of time is proving to be painful on the knee. It's not really the knee itself but the pull I'm feeling on the abrasion.

Anyway so we were in the store and Web-princess said I have to go potty. We sent her to the bathroom by herself. Mind you we were just several feet way and we could see the bathroom. So we were standing there waiting for Web-princess and Superstar. We, my husband and I, were standing at an end of a asile and had sent Superstar up the aisle for sugar and sent Web-princess the other way to the bathroom.

As we were standing there we heard this blood curling cry: MOMMY!!!!!

It turn out to be web-princess in the bathroom. DH ran to the bathroom then I followed. A lady that was shopping got there slightly before us. I just got there and hugged her. DH since I was there, went back to  the cart and Superstar.

Why for this blood curling scream?? Well it turns out none of the bathroom stalls would shut, close properly, so Web-princess was try to leave the bathroom itself. However she kept locking the door (pushing in the button) thus couldn't get it open.  Because every time she pushed in the button it locked the door. She would turn the handle and it would unlock, but she wasn't turning it enough to actually "open" the door. She was basically screaming because she thought she was locked in.

That reminded us of a few years ago when she thought she was locked in the car. That time she had enough wit about her to honk the car horn so we would hear her.  Looking back on it we can laughed and explain to her how she really can't be lock in when the lock in on her side. LOL

DH later Saturday night shared.  I wish at time she was more independent, but after today I realized she just needs us right now. She really is dependent on us, and right now there is nothing wrong with that.

Tolls, Abrasions, ER room

Who knew that a toll would cause me to fall? The fall would give me some nasty abrasions that landed me in the ER via an ambulance ride? On the way to the hospital they check my blood sugar for diabetes, took my pulse, and blood pressure. Everything check out fine, but they determined that I would need a tetanus shot and sent me home after a few hours. My right leg is raw and my stomach still feels yucky, but I AM OKAY!

So what does this have to do with a toll? Well you see I was at a local high school for my niece's dance recital. It was a beautiful recital and she did an awesome job. I had left the building, walked passed the drop off drive, up the small flight of stairs, across the side walk, and 1/2 through the parking lot to my car. When I realized I didn't have change for the toll.

I decided that I was going to the store on my way home and the easiest and quickest way to the store was the tollway.   I realized that I needed 60 cents for the toll ramp that I was going to get off on. I only had $3.00 all of it bills. So I decided to turn around and go back into the building to see if my mom, sister, brother in law, grandma or any of my brother in laws family had change for my dollar so I could take the toll.

I walked across the parking lot, across the sidewalk, and started my way down the stairs, when I lost my footing and totally took face forward dive down the stairs. I slid across bit of side walk across the bottom of the stairs. My hand landed just pass the curb of the drive between the stairs and the building.

Some bystanders, that seen my fall, helped me gather my things including the dollar I was holding. They were helping across the drive when I looked up and seen my mom. I looked at her and said "Mom I need help!".

She decided to try to get me to her van, because it was closer then my car. We made it pass the drive again and started back up the stairs. At that moment, I started to feel sick to my stomach and dizzy. I felt like I was going to pass out. I never did pass out but I was pretty near it. It was at that point that they, the people with me, decided I needed an ambulance.

You already know the outcome of that ER visit. So who knew that a toll and some abrasions would land someone in the ER via ambulance? Of course this is not one bill I'll look forward too.

It might seem like the ambulance was over kill and unnesesary but truthfuly I was out of it. They needed to test me for diabetes because of my weight. I'm over weight by a a hundred or so pounds. It's not unusual for overweight people to have diabetes. It was scary, my knee and leg still burn, nearly 9 hours later. They do not look pretty. Again I'm fine. :) I'm not totally sure why they felt I needed a Tetanus shot. I fell on some cement, gravel, and blacktop.

Oh that was funny. The hosipal nurse asked me if I had a tetanus shot within the last 10 years when I was there. I thought about it and told her 'I don't believe so'. She then looked at me and said "Did you graudate High School?" Confused on what this had to do with Tentus, said "Yes???". She then said well you would have had a Tentus shot your freshmen-softmore year.  Very confused, at this point because umm...I'm 30 (almost 31) I graduated high school 13 years ago, and what does this have to do with tetanus??

Before I could say anything more to the nurse she looked on my chart and exclaimed "Oh you didn't look that old!" "I mean you look much younger then your age, you'll need to get a tetanus shot."  Not exactly sure how old she thought I but at least I understood why she asked me if I graduated high school. LOL

Freaky Fun: Summer Reading

Today was "Freaky Fun" day at our local library. We are participating in our library's summer reading program and on Thursdays they are having special activities to do in conjunction with the summer reading program. Todays activities were sponsor by our local children's museum.

The kids got to make slim, make a pig's lung inflate and deflate. They got to make rattle snake eggs, witness  some optical illusions, play with bugs, and watch a chemical reaction between ammonia and PH paper.  It was a good hour at the library. In addition to the fun, seeing that it is Dairy Month, a local 4-H group was there raffling off a cooler of dairy items. To enter I just had to write my name on a piece of paper and be at the library at the time of the raffle.

The kids and I were in the back room making slim. We just finished up and decided to go see who won the raffle. As we were leaving the back room, Maryanne our children's librarian, said. "Nikki, Nikki _________."  To which I replied "Yes?". (It's a good thing I have a good relationship with the children's librarian).  Maryanne "You won the cooler of dairy!, I'll let them know you are still in the building!"

Maryanne was a few steps in front of us, but got there to tell them I was still in the building. They then presented me with the cooler and took our pictures for the local newspaper. They took Superstar's and Web-princess's name as well seeing they were in the picture with me.

So we won the dairy cooler which contained:

1. 6- 6oz of Yoplait Yogurt
2. 6- 3oz of Danimal Smoothies (Strawberry-Kiwi)
3. 8oz of strawberry cream cheese (Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
4. 1 lb container of Sour Cream
5. 1 lb container of  Cottage Cheese
6. 8oz container of land-o-lakes light butter spread
7. 7oz package of Kraft shredded "Mexican" cheese
8. 7oz package of Kraft shredded mozzarella cheese

The kids were thrilled to have won! They especially love the danimal smoothies. We don't get them often, but the kids do enjoy it when I'm able to "treat" them with some danimal smoothies. Web-princess was over the moon with being able to win some cottage cheese! Cottage Cheese is her favorite food and it's already gone! The kids (and I) ate it up for snack when we got home.

I have to run to the store either tonight or tomorrow. I can use the sour cream and Mexican cheese for tacos. If I get some bagels we can use up the cream cheese. (Not much else I can do with  strawberry cream cheese). Not exactly sure what to do with the shredded mozzarella cheese? Do you have any suggestions?

Morning Brain Storm

The following riddles were on the box of cereal this morning. I'm sharing because I thought they were one of the more "clever" ones. I'll share the answer later.

1) What belongs to you but others use it more then you do?
     hint: Everyone has one including pets.

2)When one does not know what it is, then it's something; but when one knows what it is, then it's nothing. What am I?

I hope you enjoy these little brain teases. Feel free to comment with your answers or guesses.  I'll confirm correct answers later when I post the answers.

Good Afternoon!

This is just a test! I'm testing the possibility of using a "writer" for this blog. The writer I've chosen is "scribefire" it's a add on for Firefox and is the only on that I could find that was compatible with my operating system: Ubuntu.

Well I shouldn't really say that it's the only one, there were others, but this seems to be the only one that worked properly on my test blog. Now I need to test it here to see how it will work. Once it works I'll need to figure out if it can used "offline" as well :) Thanks for putting up with this test today! :)

Friday Stats

I've decided that on Fridays I'll share some stats. Currently....

The Top 5 Referring Sites Are:

1. Adventures of a Somewhat Crunchy Mama
2. Divine Life
3. thankevann.com
4. Mary Grace Holmes
5. Jones Ohana

The Top 5 Most Visited Posting/Pages Are:

1. Homeschooling Help
2. Abortion in Rockford, IL. A New Low!
3. Science: Burning Paper with a Magnifying Glass
4. Followers Blogroll
5. Lesson Plans: Workboxes

current stats provided by statcounter.

Museum of Science and Industry

Yesterday we went back to the Museum of Science and Industry. We visited them back in January. Yesterday was another FREE DAY for the Museum of Science and Industry. (Free days are good things).

Yesterday's day was spent mostly at Museum of Science and Industry new exhibit: Science Storms. They had so much to do and see in this 2 story exhibit alone that it took most of our day. We did happen to go through the coal mine again and made it to Fast Forward. However, as I said most of our day was spent in the Science Storm Area.

In the Science Strom exhibit we participated in two free live science experiences/classes. The first was Atom Party. We learned how atoms combine to form new things. With some picture cards of the different elements the teachers made hydrochloric acid. They then asked where could we find hydrochloric acid? There was a school/camp group of about 8 children 7-10 age range in the room with 2 adults, myself, my friend, and our combine 5 children ranging in ages from 13-2. The only one in the room that raised their hand was Superstar. He replied with stomach. (The correct answer).

After this demonstration they took us out to the main exhibit area and showed us this very cool interactive exhibit. You place what look to be hockey pucks on specific elements in the periodic table.

The puck then became that specific element then you could slide it over to the empty area of the table. You could "combine" elements (hockey pucks) on the table and then the table would show you what you made. For example if you place 2 hydrogen atoms together with one oxygen atom. The table would show you that you made H20 and show you a picture of water.

Later in the day, on the way home we, my friend and I, discussed our visit. One of the things that came up was how Superstar knew the answer regarding hydrochloric acid. I shared with her how I was personally SHOCKED that he new the answer and was wondering where did he learned that. With that she laughed and said good, because here I was thinking. Oh great we never covered anything like that and here it is your child knows the answer and my 13 year-old doesn't. It's funny how something as innocent as answering a question can make you question your "schooling".

I didn't have my camera yesterday, but I was able to take a handful of select pictures with my phone. For the second FREE class in the Science Storm Exhibit Area we participated in a demonstration on liquid nitrogen. Superstar was chosen to help in that demonstration.

The museum staff, prior to the demonstration had frozen several balloons in liquid nitrogen. Superstar's task was to remove the balloons from the liquid nitrogen. As you can see he is wearing protective gear on his hands and is using a tongs to remove the balloons from the liquid nitrogen.

When he first removed them they were all flat but as they warmed up they began to expanded. It was pretty cool to watch.  In this free lab-live science experience class we also made ice cream to EAT with the liquid nitrogen.

For those of you that wonder if that's safe? Well I can tell you if you have ever eaten dippin dots then you have eaten liquid nitrogen.  We also learned that liquid nitrogen itself is cheap to buy and purchase it's the special containers that hold the liquid nitrogen that is expensive.

We also were able to dissect a cows eye yesterday. Again this was one of the FREE classes included in general admission. (A FREE day is general admission).

It was  a real cows eye! Superstar had his own eye and Web-princess and I shared an eye. At first Superstar was a little squeamish, but after a few moments that pass. They also showed us a pigs brain that still had the eyes attached via the optic nerve. I was able to get a picture of the kids with this pigs brain.

The Staff member is holding the brain and those ball like things hanging below it are the pigs eyes and the long strings connecting the brain to the eyes are the optic nerves. Again these were taken with my phone so the picture is not the best picture. So that was our day yesterday!

FOR ILLINOIS HOMESCHOOLERS: We also learned yesterday that individual homeschool families from IL with less then 15 students can receive free general admission to the museum Monday through Friday except during holiday periods. You just have to tell the desk your homeschoolers and fill out the paper work. This means that homeschoolers do NOT have to wait for those FREE days! Any day Mon-Friday can be a FREE day for you (if you are an Illinois homeschooler!!) Groups or families with more then 15 children have to call ahead and make reservations. See museums policy for more details.

My friend and I discussed perhaps going at least once a month to the museum and the possibility of building a science curriculum around the museum exhibits. For example spend the month discussing storms, atoms, elements, etc. Then spending the day in the Science Storms Exhibit Area.  Even if we don't go as far as building a curriculum around the museum exhibits it still we be cool to go once a month, seeing we can pretty much make up our own free days. We have the feeling the museum would be less crowded if we got in free on a non-schedule-free day, thus we would be able to spend more time doing things like the interactive element table without fear of prohibiting someone else from participating.

FREE DVD FROM NASA: Journey to the Stars

Journey to the Stars began as a planetarium show produced by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and supported by NASA's Heliophysics Division. It surveys the mind-boggling variety of stars that dot the cosmos—exploding stars, giant stars, dwarf stars, neutron stars, even our own star! 

NASA will send you a DVD, for free! (Including Activity Sheets that meet national standards for Science and Technology instruction in grades 3 through 12) To request a DVD and Activity Sheets please see NASA's Site: Journey to the Stars.

Kids Say....

So yesterday it was raining here. The kids were playing outside in between showers with Daddy. Web-princess got her clothing wet on the trampoline due to the water. She was complaining that she was wet.

At that moment Superstar turned to DH and said "Girls and their fashion issues!"

Hmmmm...............

Timeline In Toolbar

I am sure many of you have noticed the toolbar at the bottom of the blog page. This toolbar is powered by wibiya.com.

I have added a new feature to the toolbar today. The time-line:

The time-line just like the Recent Post link in the toolbar shows ABOUT the last 2 months of posting. However it's different in that it shows the postings in a time-line grid.

If a blog post looks interesting to you then you can click on it. Unlike the recent post link it won't take you to the post. It will first show you a preview of the post.

If you like the preview or want to read more, just click on "more". After clicking more it will take you to that post!

145 out of 200 Top Catholic Blogs

I was very surprise to see my blog Catholic Christian Homeschooling listed as one of the Top 200 Catholic Blogs. The list is based on google reader subscriptions (which is a very public number).

Although I should point out if you go check it out you'll actually see the blog name as "My Adventures into Christian Homeschooling 2". This was THIS blog name in the very, very, very beginning! LOL I changed it very early on to Catholic Christian Homeschooling to match the URL of the blog! :)  The only reason it had a 2 in the very, very, very beginning is because this is my SECOND homeschooling blog.

My first blog became fried due to my tinkering. I didn't know (and still don't know) HTML coding. I totally screwed up the blog by messing with the HTML so I had no choice but delete it and start completely over!!!! I off course became HTML smarter! Backing up the blog before making changes, reading and learning what the changes can do. However I'll be honest and say I still don't know much! :)

Caution: Playground Slides Can Cause Burns!

When I was a child almost every slide was "metal". We all know how crazy hot those metal slides got, well did you know that same thing can happen to the PLASTIC slides on the playground?? This story shows how a little girl received 2nd degree burns from going down a PLASTIC slide.

This reminded me how I needed to be reminded to check the temperature of the slide before allowing the kids to slide on down. Of course if your kids are older like mine you can teach them to check themselves before going down.