I hate laundry

I'm totally ignoring it. Is that legal? Are there Laundry Police somewhere that will come crashing into my house with Shout stain remover in squirt guns because I refuse to admit we have a problem? I cannot keep up with it. I need a separate room for it. I actually do have a separate room, but it's not big enough to fold the clean clothes. So the process goes something like this:

Big mess of clothes on the floor. In between getting three kids ready to drive Romania to the bus stop and fixing my face, I dump a load of wash into the machine. I may even decide to take the clean clothes out of the dryer and dump them on my bed.

Come home. Do school. Clean up Holland's experiments, computer cords, chicken coop project (ask my mom about that one), typewriter motor (still playing with this thing), eat lunch, do more school, let Holland loose around the house while I try to spend some one-on-one time with Egypt. Clean up more messes of Holland's. Try to remember we need to eat tonight and thaw some type of meat. Try to contain Holland and tell him we are not in fact done with school. Go pick up Romania. Sit down and ignore the fact that it's 5 and I still don't have dinner figured out.

Walk upstairs to see the giant laundry mess on the hall floor. Put the clean clothes into the dryer. Walk into our room and notice the sky-high pile of clean clothes on the ironing board. These never get put away. I find there are more important things to do than put away clean clothes. I'd rather read a book to my child, or bake some cookies, or look at something with our new loupes for science. I feel guilty and frustrated and tired looking at this pile of clothes. Last weekend, bless him, Super Hero says "My goal is to have all these clothes clean by the end of the weekend." Awww. What a nice, child-like thing to say about laundry. Do men actually think laundry ever gets "done". Like it will somehow end? Sure. If we all are nekkid, then laundry will be done. Of course, it doesn't help that I have three kids who at some point have accidents and I'm changing sheets.

So I will just have to let the Laundry Police storm my house and shame me into finishing the laundry. That's the only way it will get done. There are just too many other things to do. Last week, the school OT came over to do some testing on Holland for his 3 year IEP eval. I know she means well, she only works 2 days a week and her kid (notice it's not plural) is gone all day at school, but she asked if I thought about giving the kids more chores. I tried so hard not to laugh. It's probably a combination of several things: I homeschool, so the kids are actually HOME; I have children, one more than the other two, that has to be moving every second of the day, creating, building, planning, that it's impossible to stay on top of all the clutter from him; and I just don't have the energy to follow through with the chores I DO give them. I've done lists and charts and frankly, I've come to the conclusion that my energy cannot be spent on worrying if my house is perfect. That just means that I can't have much company right now! Life is a season and this season will be over and I will have missed it if I spend all my time cleaning!

Growing up, my mom had a fridge magnet that said "an immaculate house is the sign of a misspent life." Amen!

The Typewriter

I had to show you what we've been up to today. The ever-persistent project guy was at it again. Yesterday he found a book at the library "Building your own Robot". I said, "only you could find a book about that!" He immediately decided he wanted to build something. Of course. But I didn't have time to look through it and there are always too many materials that we don't have. But today after he was done with his schoolwork, he came to me again and asked to build something. I said we could look through the book and decide which project we wanted to do. I really doubted we had many of the supplies that would be required.

Right away we found a project he wanted to do and it seemed I had most of the stuff. I said we would need to get a dowel and some wooden wheels from the craft store, but everything else we had. The directions even said to find an old machine with a motor and take it apart to get the motor. Can you believe I actually had a machine for just that purpose? Months ago a friend from church gave me an old (30 pounder) electric typewriter. I let the kids play with it for awhile but didn't tell them they could take it apart. I'm glad we saved it. Today Holland and I spent over 2 hours taking apart this thing. The first thing we had to do was take the cover off. There were no screws and no visible way of removing the cover. Holland runs to the garage and comes back with a crowbar! We pried the cover off and went to work. We just looked for screws and bolts and started taking them off. Finally, we were able to get the motor off and Holland got all his electrical wires and doo-dads and went to work. Within minutes he had the thing running, spinning cardboard and cooling us off while we ate pancakes for dinner. (My pathetic attempt at dinner. I was busy with the typewriter and that's as good as it got tonight).

He was so excited that we got it off and of course tomorrow I have to produce some wheels and dowels to put the robot together. Here's some pictures of the gutted typewriter and Holland with his trophy motor.

The Key

To save my sanity, several locks have been purchased and installed in our house to prevent Holland from breaking and entering. Don't bother telling me I should just tell him to not go in. It didn't work and with his impulsiveness, it's not worth it to me to keep saying something over and over just to have it ignored. So there are keyed locks on the pantry, my bedroom and finally Romania's bedroom. I mentioned this several times to Super Hero because I was tired of having Holland go into his brother's room when he was at school. I was tired of wallets disappearing, Game Boys going missing and things rearranged. Romania was so excited when he was given his own key and able to lock it and know that his brother and sister couldn't get in without his permission.

It's come in real handy since we've acquired this new mutant frog and tiny fish. In the short span of time that Romania was home, unlocked his door and fed his frog some boxelder bugs, Holland had filled a metal container with water so the frog could bathe. This container is not leak-proof and even though there was a towel underneath it, it still leaked water all over the floor.

But you just can't put it past Holland to try to find some way around the system. Today after Egypt's eye appointment and running one errand, I was getting lunch ready and noticed the microwave was on. I hadn't put anything in and was smelling something. Apparently, the locksmith was making his own key. My guess it was to hack into his brother's room. He had taken clay from our low-fire clay bag and made an impression of a key into the clay and was baking it. I'm sure some day I'll find some humor in his creativeness, but at the time I was irritated that once again he was bucking the system and attempting to violate his brother's space.

I didn't want to encourage this type of behavior so I didn't ask what he was planning to use to actually make the key.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op

The Homeschool Buyer Co-op is a free homeschooling organization for both new and veteran homeschoolers. Co-op membership is free and confidential, and entitles homeschooling families to discounts from hundreds of educational suppliers. The Co-op also sponsors "Group Buys" for curriculum packages that can save homeschooling families lots of money. On the site you'll find lots of free information, such as databases of free curriculum, field trips, and educational contests and scholarships.

This site has been a great resource - I've purchased some deeply discounted curriculum, found out about field trips in our area, looked up information on homeschooling laws for my state. They also provide links to free websites and activities. It's been a great time-saver to have all this information in one place and know that people work so hard to find this for busy homeschool families.

Click here for more information.

Memoirs of a Crazy Mom

This is what my blog should be called. So says my sister. I was just chatting with her and telling her about the rat my 10 year-old just bought. While out on a pet store run with his dad and brother and sister. You wonder how this could be accomplished? Let me tell you - it's kind of complicated.

First, you tell your husband to take Romania to the pet store to pick out a frog and fish from an I.O.U from Christmas. He had a beta and a frog a couple years ago that didn't last very long, so I kept promising him another pair. So yesterday, Super Hero takes him to the local pet store to purchase said frog and fish. Now, this next part is my fault (Super Hero would probably argue that ALL of it is my fault, but whatever). He took all three chillun's with him. And Romania came home with a giant frog (giant as is 4" instead of a tiny water frog to keep the beta company). And he didn't get a beta. He got some fish that cost $4 and I don't even know what kind of fish it is. The frog is called a "Dumpy" frog. But Romania is calling it "Dur" because it was dirty when he saw it. I keep trying to convince him to change the name to Dumpy but he won't do it.

Normally when humans buy pets, they find out what kind of food they need to eat. But Super Hero did not do this. Which is why he needed a second trip to the pet store to find out what to feed the critters. My only involvement was calling the store to find out their hours. I didn't think I should have to get involved with this project. But apparently when dads are left to purchase pets and take kids places, they come home with mutant animals and stowaways. When they got home this afternoon, Egypt and Romania ratted on their brother. And that is such a good intended pun - Holland actually purchased a rat. I do not know where he got money. He actually owes me money for breaking some things. But while Super Hero was helping Romania figure out what type of food he needed, Holland was off buying a rat. When Super Hero figured out what happened, he couldn't get Holland back in the store to return it. So when he got home, naturally it was to become MY problem and I was told I needed to return the rat. I said "thanks, but no thanks". Holland said we couldn't return it because he ripped up the receipt.

And you think I'm buyin' this kid a dog? Think again.

Lewis and Clark and Seaman

This past week, we have been reading about Lewis and Clark and their westward journey. The reference book I have - TruthQuest History - has been a remarkable resource for books. Everything I've checked out from the library has been a hit. I have had to return some of them unread because there are just so many good books that we can't possibly read them all. All the books end up being read aloud due to Holland's reading level, but I've enjoyed everything and have learned a lot too!

The latest books have been about Lewis and Clark's trusty dog, a Newfoundland named Seaman. The first book we read was from the dog's perspective and Holland just loved hearing the tales of adventures from this lovable dog. His favorite was when Seaman jumped in the river to capture squirrels that were migrating the river. It was mighty funny to picture this huge 150 pound dog grabbing these tiny squirrels in his mouth and giving them to his master and then swimming back over and over.

Holland is so excited about the Newfoundland dog, that he had me researching them online. It gets very dangerous to listen to his begging - I even found a breeder in Oregon. But I assured him we were NOT getting a dog. I've been saying that for years. But he went ahead and called gramma and told her we were getting a dog.

I said "the dog would have to live outside. Look - it sheds really bad." Why am I even having this conversation with him? We are NOT getting a dog.

"Lewis paid $20 back in 1803 for this dog, Holland. Today they cost $1200." Again, why am I even saying this? It's not like we're getting a dog.

"They need to be brushed for 20 minutes every day. You don't even brush YOUR teeth everyday!" He assures me he will.

"They have webbed paws, great for swimming. We can take him to the lake!", he says. We are NOT getting a dog. "He'll be a good guard dog!"

We are NOT getting a dog.

Did You Know?

That if Dolley Madison hadn't taken the portrait of George Washington out of the White House before the British burned it in 1814, that we would have nothing from his presidency?

That there are 312 rooms in the White House, but tourists can only visit 7?

That the statue on top of the Capitol building is called "Freedom" and weighs 15,000 pounds?

That the expansion of the Capitol was carried out mainly by slaves?

That Abigail Adams hung her laundry in the unfinished East Room to dry?


I'm loving our TruthQuest History. I love not having to pour through the library catalog to find books that are meaningful and appropriate. And the kids are loving it too!

Now What?

Ever feel like you work so hard at something and that it's just too late? You spend all this time researching, planning, implementing and revising and still, nothing has worked.

Holland is now in the 5th grade. Physically, he's 5th grade. Academically, he's about 1st grade. Do you know how frustrating that is? To not be able to teach him so he can learn something? After feeling like I hit a brick wall when he was in 2nd grade and enrolling him in a special education class through our district, only to pull him out the following year, it feels like I'm on a moving walkway that is going nowhere. I have tried so many different reading programs with him. He's on an IEP that would seem to indicate he would get the help he needs to manage those deficits. It hasn't made one smack of difference. The only assistance he's received is speech and that's shoddy. We'd get better speech services if we paid for it ourselves. But that's not something we can afford right now. I had to cut out Occupational Therapy and his counseling he was receiving because of our reduced income.

His three year evaluation for his IEP is coming up and there are certain tests I want done to determine if he is dyslexic. Guess what? The school district does not test for dyslexia because they don't recognize it as a learning disability. The school district is only required to do testing to determine eligibility for IEP services. The method that I've found online that will help a dyslexic child is very expensive. Holland's struggles match almost exactly to the warning signs listed on the Bright Solutions for Dyslexia website. One of the things that scared me is the emphasis on early intervention. That children who struggle to read and write shouldn't be dismissed as "late bloomers" or that they will outgrow the struggle to decode. If a child doesn't have intervention by 3rd or 4th grade, it will be 4x's harder to overcome those delays.

The charter school we are involved with doesn't have a resource room available. They don't even have an on-site teacher to help with reading or writing issues. Then the school he would attend if we were doing public school says that it's the charter school's responsibility to provide accommodations. So I can't get the district to admit that he's (probably) dyslexic and I can't get the schools to provide any services. See? Brick wall.

Cooking Fool

For some reason today, and maybe it was because I finally finished watching "Julie/Julia" last night, I felt like doing some cooking today. I found a website dedicated to gluten free cooking and was inspired by the recipes. And with Super Hero's big snag the other day of 50 pounds of millet gluten free flour, I felt the need to dispose of some of this flour.

The pizza crust recipe called for 6 different types of flour. And in all craziness, I actually had all 6 kinds. No special trips to the store. Millet flour - check. White rice flour - check. Sweet rice flour - check. Tapioca starch - check. Tapioca flour - check. Almond meal - check. And I even had xanthum gum which any gluten free baker knows you absolutely cannot do without if you're baking something that has no gluten. Gluten is this great binder that is missing in all GF flours. So you need a binder. If you look on the list of ingredients for bread products, most likely there is either xanthum gum or guar gum. Thank goodness for Bob's Red Mill. This tiny bag of about 8 ounces cost me $12. But usually a recipe only calls for a teaspoon, so this bag will last me into the next millenium.

The pizza crust was a success. I even had a piece and it wasn't all bad. It's a taste you have to get used to. But the almond meal gave it a nice nutty flavor. I'm going to bag up a bunch of dry ingredients and have them at the ready whenever Holland feels like eating pizza.

I also ended up making dough for an M&M cookie. He got so excited when he saw the picture. The dough is in the fridge and should be ready tomorrow morning. I find nothing wrong with cookies at 10 a.m.

Super Hero's New Hobby

Since money's been tight, Super Hero has taken to stalking Craigslist. He makes it a point to check every few hours since people add new things all the time. We've come close to snagging several things but people seeking free things are mighty quick. Recently he came home with a piece of wallboard. We actually needed it to fix a hole in Romania's room where the door knob had smashed into the wall. He had to cut a big hole and patch it with a piece about 12" X 12" so it could be attached to studs.

Today before leaving work he checked the freebies section and someone was giving away gluten free flour. Now, if it was a person, I probably wouldn't have wanted this. But there is a new bakery in the Portland area dedicated entirely to gluten-free baking. I checked out their website and it looks delicious! Holland was so excited when he saw baguettes and cookies and pizza crust and pretzels! It's called new cascadia tradtional and they're located fairly close to OMSI. I can't wait to go there and try some of their baked goods.

Need Some New History

I've been scouring blogs and homeschooling sites to find a good history curriculum. No offense to Story of the World, but I'm tired of it. It's too much information scattered all over the place. Sure, it focuses on a specific time period and it seemed to be "creation-centered" in the first two volumes, but by the third installment of "Modern Times", Holland has lost interest. He is unable to read it for himself and I want something that focuses on American History.

I was looking around and found a blog that mentioned a curriculum called TruthQuest History. I went to the website and was reading parent's reviews of the curriculum and how they are using it. It is unlike any curriculum I've found so far. I almost didn't even bother checking it out at Exodus Books. But this one review had me laughing out loud because she was describing her boys and it sounded exactly like Holland! Here's an excerpt of what she had to say about it:
"I will try to give you a peek into our TruthQuest History adventure. I have BOYS that are ALL boy. They are not the kind who sit nicely at a desk and work away quietly at their copywork. No, no, no. These are the kind who crawl behind the furniture as if they were preparing for an ambush while I am reading aloud. They are the kind who can make anything out of paper. I do not jest. My 8-year-old made a working musket out of construction paper, with the ball, rammer, and a little hook place for the rammer. While we do have parameters, don't think that our children sit in 'Circle Time' and listen quietly while I read War and Peace!"

This really piqued my interest because I am constantly (as you know if you faithfully read my blog) intercepting inventions, creations and contraptions. This history curriculum is actually an extensive list of living books pertaining to a specific time period in a specific geographic area. There are no 'lessons', no 'workbook activities' and no 'tests' that are included in the book. The activities that are suggested are called "ThinkWrite" exercises and all you do is READ. What can be more simple than that? I'm so excited about this and really think that this is exactly what Holland needs. We are going to be reading rich, living literature that is God-centered and not elevating man above his right place. I can get on board with that!

Sneaky Cats

I'm going to catch those cats in the act. They've made a huge mess of the cat food. I used to have a huge container of cat food securely in this empty plastic litter box. But then I made laundry soap for my sister for Christmas (like that, huh?!) and I didn't have another container. I found a smaller plastic jug with a lid that had a pour spout. I put what I could in the container, put the container under the sink and the rest of the food in a drawer in the laundry room. There was no way this cat was gonna get this food.

She is not hard of smelling. She found the drawer with the bag of food and was scratching at it. She was able to open the cupboard under my sink and dump the container over and knock the lid off. Tonight I put it in another container with a snap lid. And guess what? She opened the cupboard again, knocked the box out and was scratching at it. I got video, but she never got it open. I was hoping only for viewing purposes that she would get it open so I'd have evidence of the craftiness of this cat. She is so not underfed. She must weigh 10 pounds. I gotta put her on my postage scale and see what she weighs.

Mr. Inventor

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's just the day after Christmas and it hasn't slowed down Holland. He was out inventing early this morning. My mom came by for breakfast (Egypt invited her) and snapped these pictures of him. I don't even know where he got that hand truck. Do we even own a hand truck? Mom said that she asked what the extension cord was for. He said it was his brake. He tied it to a tree.

Seriously. Discovery Channel hasn't found us yet? Forget balloon boy. Forget the White House crashers. Come find us. We're honest. We're hardworking. We don't try to fool the media. I need a budget for his experiments. He just came downstairs and showed me a boat he made for Egypt's little horses. I gave him a glue gun and some craft sticks for Christmas and he's built a bird house for gramma and now this boat.

Thank You Shriners

I took Egypt to her Shriners appointment last week. Super Hero had the day off (I really need to find another way to say that. He was home, unpaid....). So he stayed home with Holland while I drove up to OHSU. I've been up there so many times, you'd think it would be no big deal. Have you SEEN this place? It's huge. It should have its own zip code. I had directions for where to turn into the parking structure. They are actually not part of OHSU and if you park on their property, big trouble. I missed the parking garage the first time. It didn't even look like it was somewhere you could turn. The garage itself was something to behold. My van isn't long and obnoxious, but I could barely make the turns and there were cars parked alongside the ramp the way up.

But we were on time and filled out some more paperwork and waited with our beeper to be called. Everyone was so nice and after being seen by the pediatric rheumatologist, physical therapist and occupational therapist, they said anytime we need any services to just call! They didn't think she needed another injection at this point and to just watch for any stiffness or sore joints. The physical therapist gave us some pencil grips to help her hold her pencil correctly. And some ideas for exercises at home.

We're so thankful that God has given us access to these services for free until she's an adult.

Mmmm, Bread

If Holland hadn't stolen my camera, I could have taken a picture of the beautiful loaves of bread I've been slaving over for the past two days. Slaving, as in watching them rise, transferring to a clean bowl, putting in the refrigerator, letting rise again, kneading a bit, putting in two bread pans and baking. Whew. And they tasted pretty darn good to boot!

I bought this great book recommended by a friend. Her husband is a cooking fool (well, she is too, looking at all her Facebook status updates) and he's always making bread. I bought it on Amazon. It's called Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers. The title alone should have scared the socks off me. I'm not a serious bread baker. I'm not even a serious baker. But I'm a serious eater, so I figured that I qualified in some way to buy this book. I read through some of the techniques in the front of the book, just to familiarize myself with the vocabulary. I had experience with bread making before - and not just throwing flour and yeast and water in a bread machine and flipping a switch. I actually learned to hand knead. Doesn't seem a like a big deal, but when your Kitchen Aid mixer starts to levitate on your counter, you'd better know how to knead or you'll be buying a new machine. I think it actually growled at me.

The recipe calls for a starter. Not too hard. A little hand kneading and throw it in a bowl for 5 hours. Then I even got to refrigerate it and forget about it until today. I realized that I should have cooked the brown rice before taking the starter out of the fridge to come to room temp. Oh well. Make a mental note of that for next time. The recipe calls for two different types of starters. My friend recommended doubling the recipe and using all of the same starter. Good thing. I think one starter is enough for a novice. The only thing I wasn't completely familiar with was testing to make sure the dough was ready for the final rise. There's a technique called a "windowpane" test. To make sure that the dough is the right consistency. If you've over-kneaded the dough, there's no way to add water or flour to fix it. Luckily, I never reached the point of no return - which the author recommends you throwing it out if you've achieved this feat. It actually stretched the right way. I even gave a bit to the kids to play with. They were fascinated by it. Punching it, kneading it, rolling it and Holland even snuck a bite.

The house smelled wonderful. Romania thought I was cooking pizza. Nah. That was probably just the provolone chicken I was baking while they were playing racquetball with Super Hero. My, my. What's with all this cooking and baking? I'll analyze that after I eat some more of the homemade almond roca sitting in my kitchen. Talk about cooking skills. Try bringing butter and brown sugar to a hard crack without a candy thermometer. Now that's some skills. Thanks, gramma for all those lessons on Little Grandma's Christmas suckers or I'd have no idea what that even meant.

Something's Missin'

Somethin's missin' alright. How about my digital camera, half a dozen rechargeable batteries, two night light chargers, and the phone cord. I have no idea what he did with this stuff. The other day, Holland opened a brand new package of No. 2 pencils and used packing tape and some printer paper to make a sail boat for his bath. It's hard not to be irritated. Sure. To you it's probably "fun" and "inventive". To me, it's just annoying to find projects assembled all over the house that use items that I need or destroy things that are still working. My house has become a science lab. Where's Bill Nye the Science Guy when you need him? Why isn't the Discovery Channel knocking on my door to document this? Maybe someday we'll harness his power for the greater good of mankind.

I'm So Flexible

That title makes me want to laugh out loud. This is just life now: Be flexible or go crazy. Super Hero's hours have been cut at work. We are finally feeling the effects of the bad economy. Just when you hear that things are picking up, his company is taking a hit. He lost 3 days of work last week and two this week. So I'm flexible. I work around him. Which isn't all that easy when you're trying to homeschool, clean house, do laundry, cook dinner, drive and drop off kids, deal with doctor appointments. I was hoping he'd see how busy I am and give me some slack. He has helped, but sometimes (and moms everywhere know this), it's more work to have them home, even if you think you'll get some help. It's too much 'splainin' (in the words of Ricky Ricardo).

Yesterday Super Hero took Holland to his OT appointment. That was such a big help, because it gave me time to work on sewing projects for this bazaar I'm doing tomorrow at Romania's school. But when they got home, I had to pop him back in the car, get Egypt, get schoolwork together, drive to my sister's, drop off Egypt, pick up my nephews, drive to their charter school for fencing and Holland's speech class. Then work on school work in a noisy room with a bunch of teenagers playing guitar. Then take my nephews home, come back home with Egypt and Holland for lunch and more homeschooling. Which, I have to say, is pretty much a lost cause after all that. Talk about being flexible. I was getting ready to do more school with Holland when Super Hero, who had been perusing Craigslist found some free stuff. Of course Holland wanted to tag along. (That's actually what's fun about homeschooling - being able to do things at a moment's notice). They drove up to Kelso, WA in hopes of getting a table and 4 chairs, a snowboard, snowboots, a new bike, a new tv and some other things. Of course, it being free, I didn't get my hopes up. So when they came home around dinner and Holland bounds in the house "look what we got!" I was ready for some big ticket item. It was a digital TV antenna. "Just like grandma's!". Seriously. That's what thrilled him. Oh. And a big bag of potting soil. Yup. Not kidding. They drove to Kelso from Oregon City for a tv antenna and a bag of potting soil. But it got them out of the house, let me do more sewing and spend some time with Egypt before retrieving Romania from the bus stop.

So, while we're on the topic of flexibility, here we are on Wednesday and I feel like we've done no school at all this week. I know that's not true, but sometimes it feels like we move at the speed of a snail going backwards. Super Hero had a dentist appointment this morning. So he offered to take Romania to the bus (third time this week!!). I didn't even shower until 10.30. Woohoo! And Holland didn't get out of bed until 9.45. We had a leisurely morning of spelling games online, reading and mopping the floor. This idea is all Holland. He decided (my inner skeptic came up with this) that it would be a lovely idea to mop the floor for mom. How do you discourage a 10 year-old that wants to mop your kitchen floor? "Oh shoot, honey. Don't mop the floor, we need to do school". This is his way of getting out of work.

And now that it's 12.30, I'd better eat lunch and get him back to work. Mariel of Redwall is waiting.

Good Report from the Rheumatologist

I took Egypt to see the rheumatologist on Thursday. It had only been a month since her last appointment, but we thought she might need another injection after only three months. We've been going to the physical therapist once a month and it seems to have helped stave off the need for another injection. There is no change in her range of motion for her knee and the thumb and jaw look the same too. That's such good news. I wasn't looking forward to taking her in again.

Next week is a full schedule - including going back to the orthotist. I misplaced Egypt's insert for her shoe. The problem is we keep switching it depending on which shoes or boots she wears. It's probably somewhere lost in a basket of clean laundry. But instead of trying to find the proverbial needle, I'm just going to have another one made. Too bad that insurance views this as a cosmetic thing or I'd get 3 or 4 of them.

Now I'm off to madly sew for a few hours. Super Hero took all three kids to the health club. Every Sunday there is a free racquetball class that the boys have been taking and love it. Then Egypt will swim with daddy and I'll get some more work done for Thursday's bazaar at school. Yesterday I got 10 child aprons sewn and 1 adult.

Cooking School

Today Holland wanted to make homemade french fries. And of course, I was all for that. He got the bag of potatoes from the garage and asked if he could peel them. Of course - I assumed it would be his job. I told him to put them in cold water after peeling so they wouldn't turn brown. I left the kitchen to do something else and when I came back, this is what I found. Of course before I got mad at him, I took a picture. He peeled 20 potatoes! Hey -now we can put him to work on those Thanksgiving potatoes. It took several hours to actually cook them all. I'm crazy and cook them twice. They're nice and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Potato perfection.

Speech Therapy. Finally.

Yesterday I met with Holland's IEP team. A meeting was called when I told them I wanted to drop speech services. Too complicated, but basically it was scheduling conflict and too many activities (meaning doctor appointments!) for Holland. Last year we had the speech person come to our house and it worked out great. This year the speech person gave me times she was available, but they conflicted with our school schedule and the fact that I don't want to leave the house everyday.

After having a private speech therapist evaluate him, I decided 20 minutes a week was not worth the hassle and there were many other things I couldn't drop.

I was all ready for disagreements to this, so I came prepared with the report from the private speech therapist and also my monthly schedule for the last two months. The open times were again presented (nothing had changed from our last conversation. I still couldn't do it). I explained that I was caring for two children with heavy medical needs and could not be leaving the house any more or drag all three with me to some grade school just because she serviced other students there. Finally, the director of the school suggested dropping Fencing. I haven't wanted to do this. I want him to follow through with something. He really is not liking it, but if we stopped everything just because he was frustrated, he wouldn't learn anything. The speech lady had an open time during his class. Since he's not enjoying fencing, I'm pulling him out and he'll do speech for the first 20-25 minutes. Then I'll find something for us to do while we wait for my nephews to finish the fencing class.

So, it's a pretty good compromise. I won't have to drive anywhere else and he can get free services (although I don't know how much good they'll do).