Be Diligent

It seems like lately I have to keep reminding myself of that. It would be so easy to say, we have___ going on so it's okay if I skip out on___. Some of that is okay of course, but using that continually sets a bad example for me and for the kids. I have been trying to figure out our fall schedule and and what to put in/take out/reschedule, etc.. It gives me almost a panic attack when I try and think of having eight weekly appointments- five at the house and three elsewhere, seriously schooling four and getting enough time to work with Elizabeth on her language and that's not adding anything like piano (Mr. Z and Mr. J have been taking for two years already) or gymnastics (something I think could really help Mr. M). I would love to do homeschooling co-op classes, but that would mean fitting school into four days a week, and all appointments would have to be on non-class days because I remember them tiring me out when we did them a couple years ago. Hmmm. Maybe being diligent at this point just means not adding anything more than we have to, even though I may want to. Decisions, decisions some are easy and others not so much.

In 7 days is.... nothing!

After a couple months or so of "talk" of Mr. Incredible taking a business trip to China and Indonesia. He got an email saying that meetings were set up for later this month in those places!!! There was a flurry of activity for about four days and then another email saying, oh wait we need to postpone! (for which I am extremely grateful) So the whole be ready in 11 days thing, never mind! This has relieved a lot of stress off me in that area, but other areas are mounting- kind of like the growing mountain of laundry to fold. Oh well, God never said life would be easy :), but He gives us the strength to carry on.

The Results Are In- A Follow Up

I don't really know how to begin, because... it is going to sound like I lack faith either in God's healing power or the medical community... and I don't want to sound critical.
I was dumbfounded when the audiologist who conducted the ABR said she has normal hearing, see here. The main reason was not a lack of faith that God could heal, but being around and working with Elizabeth EVERY day. There are some sounds that she doesn't hear. Period.
So now the battle with the medical community begins and the school system. Fortunately, I have God and an awesome AI teacher who also sees that Elizabeth doesn't hear the "f", "p" or "th" sounds. I know that there are probably other sounds, but these are obvious. Her "up" is just the u and she is confusing me saying "push" and "fish". Some might argue that it is her development that is causing the problem.
I am going to try to not bore you with specific details about the testing, but give the overall view. Her audiogram in January showed a hearing loss, but it is a subjective test. The ABR is an objective test, but only leads me to inconclusive answers. There is a testing tolerance, but the machine is not recalibrated before each test. Could the testing tolerance actually change? There is a range for normal hearing. The test shows her brain can "hear" at the top of that range, but not at the bottom. And the upper limit of the range is at a higher decibal than what you need to hear certain letter sounds!!!! So she can't hear at the lower end and if your calibration was off by even 1 decibal it would show that she can't hear at the upper range either, but let's go ahead and say she has, "essentially normal hearing"!!!!
I am praying that my mother's intuition is really God prompting me to push hard for what is best for Elizabeth instead of some paranoid overreaction to the apathy that Mr. M drew from the medical/school community for several years. If I had paid more attention to my mother's intuition then, I would have pushed harder for him. But, hindsight is always 20/20. I just don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Tonight's Savings

Out of pocket I spent $20.88 in cash, 0.22 from a gift card, 13 RR (I believe), 18.46 ECB and GOT 21 RR and 31.99 ECB to spend another day! My total savings was $211.96. Broken down it's a savings of $115.07 at walgreens with a total of seven transactions at two stores to find all the products that I wanted and a savings of $96.89 at CVS in two transactions. I got coupon match-ups at southernsavers.com. Ahhhhh, an evening away once we ate and said prayers and I think it was productive too!!! I basically got my coffee and paper towels for free as well as other stuff that I can use or bless others with!!! Gotta love that!
And Mr. Incredible vacuumed while I was gone!!!!! Oh my goodness, I might faint from excitement!

A Breakdown of what I got:
4 soft scrub cleaners
4 Folgers coffee
3 infusium hair treatment
1 infusium shampoo and 1 conditioner
4 Schick Hydro 5 razors
3 EOC shave cream
2 Bourdeaux Butt Paste
several bags of $0.39 candy
2 Kotex U products
1 six pack of paper towels
4 Crest pro health toothpaste
4 Carefree panty liners
4 Covergirl Outlast

And I can turn in my receipts for $100 worth of coupons from Proctor and Gamble! Bonus!!!

Happy Mother's Day- Belated

This weekend we had the pleasure of my parents coming to visit. They wanted to see Mr. Z in his role of Tom Sawyer. Well, they got to see a little more than that... Apparently the "allergies" that several of us had been suffering from was actually a cold or something. My dad who doesn't "do" puking kids was vomited on by Mr. T when his coughing fit caused him to lose his lunch. My dad and Mr. T survived although there was talk of an ER visit Friday night, but fortunately the medication and nebulizer worked their magic on Mr. T. All told on Friday Mr. T was "sick" three times and Elizabeth decided to follow his example and joined in too (fortunately only once :)). I awoke Saturday and felt like my head had been run over by an 18 wheeler... Sunday I was better, but it still wasn't a picturesce Hallmark day- my parents left and the nasal congestion hit Elizabeth BIG time. Today my only symptoms are having a deeper voice than Mr. Incredible's and sinus pressure. I think we are all on the mend, finally.
It is at times of sickness that you treasure the times of being well. And, hopefully at some point in the next 11 days I can get all the laundry done. What's so important about 11 days?!? I'll save that for my next post!
I could be disappointed that my Mother's Day wasn't filled with breakfast in bed and lunch out at a restaurant, but I wouldn't give up Mr. Incredible's blackberry pancakes and eggs at noon or piddling around the yard with my parents and kid's near for any Hallmark moment...unless it was on a deserted tropical beach and it was truly for just a moment. Because, time truly does fly by and they are only small for just a little while.

National Day of Prayer

Some of my prayer points:

- Our nation (may we repent and turn from immorality)

- Our national, state and local leaders (that they be led and directed by God even if they don't know him)

- the Christian church (may it stand firm against influences and practices that are unscriptural)

- the family (may men and women stay true to their commitment to each other and their children)

- the elderly and the children who have been forgotten or neglected by society

And Finally, Happy Birthday, Mr. Z!!!

We love you so much and think you are AWESOME!!!!!

Well, I think you are all caught up now. God is stretching me and I feel that I've been in a taffy machine for the last few weeks and there's not any elasticity in me left and I'm at a breaking point. But, He is more than enough in our weakness and His grace IS sufficient! I am looking forward to seeing what fruit these trials bring forth...upward and onward!!!!!

Mr. M lost his first tooth!

He clunked his two upper teeth against the table when he was little, little they turned gray, got loose (one has even stayed a little loose and that was five years ago!), so I figured one of them would be the first to go. Nope. Screaming from around the corner, "M--- has a loose tooth!!!!!". I intercept the screamer and Mr. M to see for myself and sure enough it was. The next day Mr. Incredible pulled it! Yeah!!! His grown up tooth was already 1/2 way up some ways behind it. I am sensing orthodonics may be in his future. The picture hardly shows the hole left behind, but at least it records the moment. :/ If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does this one say..."I'm scared!", "I'm a crazy monster!", "OOO, I'm gonna getcha!"... I don't think I really want to know.

A Punky Brewster Outfit

Remember that '80's TV show? I don't really, but there was something about her style that we seemed to express the other day in trying to make a too short dress into a long shirt with leggings. I meant to take a picture early in the day while the pig tales were still "fresh". As you can see since it's late in the day, they are a bit sad. This afternoon she also refused to wear her glasses and wanted to wear the protective eye goggles!!! Who knows why kids do somethings?!

Mr. Z as Tom Sawyer

The picket fence scene.