Silent Sunday

Spelling and Reading

I don't know if I have ever mentioned it on here, but Rhayn has had a difficult time learning to read. She doesn't always hear words correctly. (An example is the word "because". It has taken years of us saying "BEcause" so she won't say "ecause" she just didn't hear the "B".) She loves making lists though (a girl after my own heart!) And these pictures are of two that I found recently. The above is hanging on the mirror in her bathroom, the other was in my bathroom on the counter. I think the below list was made for Gwennie, or possibly it was the first one she made.

At school she is in a special reading class. They are taken out of their regular class twice a week and given more time to practice reading. She loves her reading instructor. I mean LOVES her. Ms. S is the only teacher that Rhayn gave a Christmas gift to.

Will and I are both fascinated by the process of her learning to read. She is showing us things that we never think about. A few days ago Will was reading with her and they came across the word "daughter" and he was explaining to her that "gh" makes a hard "H" sound. But when you say the word "daughter" its like the word "water" and there isn't an "H" sound in it. (Also the word "eight" is lacking that "H" sound.) Rhayn pointed that out.

On the paper below she has the word "ghresed" this should be the word "dressed" but said out loud and one doesn't always say a hard "D" sound at the beginning, its more of a soft "J" sound.


We have had to learn to speak more clearly in order to help her spell. A few words that I have had to really think about before I say are "interesting*", "February" and "library". There are so many words that do not at all sound like they are spelled.

She also has a real issue with "d" and "b" which causes her grief. In the top list she had "Go beun staers" with means "go down stairs". I need to draw a picture of Mr. db and put it up somewhere that she will see it often. This seems to be the best way for her to memorize things. We have a list of words that she looks at while she eats breakfast (berefsc). Gwennie also had a paper she looks at (It says "GWEN" on it.)

Reading came so easily to me, that its difficult to understand how hard it really is for her. But I am trying and I am trying to be patient with her. But this lack of patience is why Will is working with her on her reading skills.

*Interesting has become a pet peeve word of mine, along with ignorant and associates. I hate when people say "inchersting" and "ignert" and "ah soh sh its" (its "ah soh see ats" people.) There are others, but those are the three that are on my personal hate list at the moment.

Toxins and Autism

The below article is a must read for all, I think. I jumped on the "I dislike plastic" bandwagon a few years ago and have been slowly removing it from our home. Will thought it was crazy talk, so its been a slow process. It is hard to never use plastic, its just so darn convenient. But of course its up to all of us to for our own opinions and chose what is right and best for our own families.

Do Toxins Cause Autism?
By Nicholas D. Kristof

Quick Thoughts

It seems to me that every night is filled with baby dreams, dreams of twins, mostly baby boys. The other night I dreamed that I was giving birth and out popped a husky's head. The doctor kept saying "Well at least its a boy, you wanted a boy, right?"

In the past these sorts of dreams only haunted me whilst actually pregnant. So why are they here now? I am 10 days into a new cycle, set to ovulate some time this weekend or early next week. Perfect timing as my parents are taking the girls for the weekend to see the snow in Show Low, AZ. (I would love to go there, too.)

For this weekend we are planning an earlyish morning hike on Saturday or Sunday with our pooches. I am hoping we'll go see a movie and out to eat at least once. You see we need to get out of our house or we spend the time looking at the back of one or the other's head (while they are on the computer.) All I know is that I am looking forward to some quality time with Will.

Seven

Seven Years, baby.

Yesterday Will and I celebrated our seventh anniversary. For our anniversary I wanted two things- an enameled dutch oven and flowers. Will took the day off and we went out for the morning. We walked around Target, then Fry's Electronics and Costco finishing our morning with In-N-Out hamburgers.

Red rose.

For dinner Will grilled ribeyes and we ate leftover mashed potatoes and salad. It was really good. We rarely eat steak, saving it for special occasions. Marking our marriage is one of those special occasions.

Our dinner and my flowers.

Enameled cast iron dutch oven, Lodge brand, in Caribbean Blue.

Today I am excited to use my new dutch oven to make lentil soup. The big ice block is frozen chicken broth I made a few months ago. This is one of those multiuse pots. Check out The Pioneer Woman Cooks for countless recipes using an enameled dutch oven. (I know hers is Le Creuset, but seriously it costs double what the Lodge brand one does. I don't even know ifs I would use one of these enough to warrant that price. Plus these were well reviewed.)

Celebrating 7 Years

In lieu of pictures of Will and I (of which there are few) here are some beautiful blooms from our Desert Botanical Garden trip yesterday.

Enjoy your day, you know that we are enjoying ours!

Our day in pictures.

Sitting at my computer reading the news.

JVA giving Gwennie a quick climbing lesson at the Rock Gym. She refused to get the gear so she could actually climb. I think she was fearful.

Rhayn on her way down. She had once again made it to the top. She is like a climbing machine.

Will on one of the harder parts, he had to make fists in the cracks to climb this section, but he made it.

Hmmm... a few minutes ago I opened this to write about something but the dog barking totally ruined my concentration. (Penny was barking because Mean Kitty had escaped through the popped out screen in our living room window.)

Today I took the truck to get an emissions test as well as an oil change. When the guy at the emissions test place took my payment and was telling me that the truck passed and was handing me the paper that we need for the MVD, he said "Congratulations." Really? Like it was an accomplishment. I just thought that was weird.

Well crap since I have no idea why I sat here to write I think I will sit back and drink my chai on the couch instead of staring at the computer.

Corners, The front yard.

For the most part, I hate our front yard. We rarely spend time there, only when we are cleaning it up. But today the girls and I planted flower seeds as well as a rose bush (it is a red rose bush, with a tea hybrid so the blooms will be smaller but will smell amazing.) I want a swing or maybe some chairs in the front yard so we can see our neighbors. Until then, I think I will attempt to go out there are water the flowers every day or so.

csxn?

What is wrong with people? How hard is it to write out a whole word? Is it because it takes too much effort to spell the word?

I just read something in which a person used this "word" csxn. (Any clue on its meaning?) I only know because of context clues. It was used as a short version of cesarean section or c-section. Would that have taken too long to write? She wrote out all the other words in the post, just not that one.

We are not doing our children a favor by this. By allowing ourselves and our children to use these shortened words, they aren't learning to spell properly.

Just another pet peeve. I'll get off my soap box now.

On the Rio Salado

Will had the day off so we went for a hike. Since we didn't get to do anything else all weekend (what with the great water heater replace of 2010.) Rhayn asked to go to the place with the green slime that Gwennie had been to. We took the dogs.

The weather was perfect for a short hike. The sun was shining and a slight breeze was blowing. We took our time, letting the girls (and dogs) explore the smells and sights. Lily actually stepped in the river, on purpose. She was fine with it all, until she stepped in a little deeper than she felt comfortable with. She turned and hopped out.


Lily was being so well behaved that for a short time Gwennie walked her. (I was next to or near her at all times, in case Lily saw some people or forgot her manners.)


Rhayn never holds still or looks at the camera long enough for me to get good pictures of her. Most of the pictures of her that I have taken lately are of the back of her head. She was gathering rocks and rinsing them off in the river.

Week in Review

Gwennie became "Charlotte" when we visited this play structure.

This week started off normally. Monday and Tuesday were typical days. But on Wednesday I decided that it would be fun for Gwennie and I to go to the zoo. We hadn't been in a while. After dropping Rhayn off at school, Gwennie and I headed to the zoo. It was a chilly day, only reaching about 61 for a high. It was cloudy and rained a little. It was a nice trip and we both enjoyed ourselves.

Gwennie loves horses. This guy's name is Smokey and he lives at Harmony Farms at the zoo.

On Thursday I usually watch a little girl, but her mom had called and told me that she had a fever and would be staying home. This left me free to go on Rhayn's first field trip, ever. The class was heading downtown to see a bit of Sleeping Beauty (the ballet.) I was excited to go, but at the same time, I was in a not very nice mood. I may have neglected to eat breakfast, and my blood sugar lever was low. (It was also mid PMS time.) I got lost and was not nice to a good friend of mine who was helping me find my way. The ballet was lovely, although Gwennie was so thirsty that she complained through much of it.

Friday morning I helped out at the school for Open Enrollment. The school is a charter school and this is how they take applications. Each possible student's application gets a number and then, in a lottery drawing, the new students are picked. I clearly remember the day that we received our call stating that Rhayn got in and asking if we were still interested. It was a very happy day for me.

After helping out at the school Gwennie and I visited a friend of hers who was home with the chicken pox. Gwennie had received the varicella vaccination and so was safe. (I am sure that even if she hadn't been we would have headed over for a chicken pox party.)

On Saturday Rhayn had asked Will if he would take them to play tennis. I chose not to go, instead I went to the grocery store. When I got home, Will showed me that the water heater was leaking. That would have to be replaced. I sat at the computer and researched water heaters. I wanted to get a tankless one, but we don't have a gas line and the electric tankless water heaters are not very reliable. Instead we replaced it with a comparable 50 gallon Whirlpool water heater.

As soon as Will had it disconnected and was draining the tank, he noticed that the pedestal that the water heater sat on was mildewed and wet. It would be at least the next morning before we could put the new one in. (I was mad I hadn't taken a shower that morning, because I knew it would be another day before I was able to get one.) We went inside and left the pedestal with a fan on it all night.

Our vehicles, the girls were pretending that they were driving while Will worked on the water heater.

Sunday morning came. Will told me that he had to put some more spackle on the pedestal and that would have to dry before the water heater could be installed. Rhayn was going to go sit backstage with her friend while he performed in Sleeping Beauty (the ballet). His parents planned to take him to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians- The Lightning Thief and invited us along. I watched the preview and read a little about it to see if it would be too much for Gwennie. We decided that I would take Rhayn to the movie and Gwennie would stay home with Daddy.

After the movie I stopped in at Lowe's and picked up a drain pan to put under the water heater. Then Will and I put the water heater on its pedestal. He hooked it up. And finally we had hot water again.

Its been a long week, and I am exhausted. Luckily we have two more days of weekend. Tomorrow is President's Day, and then Rhayn also has Tuesday off. This whole week is half days due to Parent/Teacher conferences. This week will be much better than last week for sure.

On to the next one... (Cycles= TMI, Steve)

Yes, this means that after like 5 days of spotting my period finally started.

Happy Valentine's Day, Leaner, you get to bleed! Whoot.

Cycle 1

What is going on with my "lady parts" seriously? On Tuesday I started spotting, just a little bit and it was brown, then Wednesday it was reddish. Thursday I was sure that moon time was approaching, I felt some cramping and was definitely not a nice person. But nothing more than spotting all day. (I had put in my diva cup, thinking aunt flo was on her way.)

This morning, nothing... nothing. What the heck. Usually I get two days of spotting, then maybe a day off or not, before my period comes in full force in the morning. So it should be here. I want it to come. I want this month's cycle to be over. I have been in a funk all week, as Will can attest to, and I KNOW that as soon as I fully start the flow, I will feel 100% better.

Argh.
(And yes, I have taken pregnancy tests, multiple cheapie ones, that were all negative. With Gwennie I had a positive about now and I am almost positive that I am not pregnant.)

1996

I have been thinking back on my 18th summer a lot lately. In fact I have written out a basic short story on what happened when I chose to go live in a van on the "mean streets" (ha ha ha) of Salt Lake City with my then boyfriend, Worm. I plan on posting it on here next week, after I have reread it, and possibly edited it as well. I know you are all interested in what kind of whack job kid I was, I mean I chose to live in a van in the Mormon capital of the USA. I chose to have no money, no food, no shower for almost 2 months. I can't even imagine what I put my mom through, oh wait, I can, it was preparation for living in denial that she later perfected whilst my brother, Ender, was in Iraq.

In the story there are things that I rarely confess, things you may not know about me such as I used to smoke cigarettes, sometimes 2 packs a day. I drank so much coffee that my pee smelled just like coffee. I have done drugs*, and I didn't like them. I chose a path that wasn't frequently traveled because I wanted to. I had no good reason, I had a loving family, I had good friends, I am mentally stable and aside from a few weeks of depression here and there during my life, I have always been mentally stable.

Just a few years after I came home, the movie SLC Punk! came out. I was still in my total punk rock frame of mind, but was never a political punk. I think that if my friends had been pot smoking hippies, I would have totally followed that philosophy because it was more what I personally was about (not the pot smoking I don't like that). I am not an angry person, nor am I violent. I don't like mosh pits, and I avoided them at all cost at punk shows. I was always the "Sober Sister" at desert parties because I didn't like to drink, cigarettes and coffee being my drugs of choice. At the end of the movie, Stevo "sells out" and grows up. I knew, even then, that some day I would do the same. I knew that most of us grow up and become something that our teenage self would have despised, it is part of life.

*I routinely thank God that I didn't die because of or become addicted to the drugs I did. It wasn't much, I was always fearful of addiction. I NEVER tried heroin, thankyouverymuch. I don't think that any of that made me a better person, but I felt that I needed experiences to fill me up, when many of my peers were filling up on faith and education.

Cycles, TMI? Probably.

As everyone knows, we are attempting to increase our family. It looks like month number one was a wash. It was fun trying though! *wink wink* I have all the signs of a lovely moon time arriving in the next few days.

As you also know, I track my cycles with MyMonthlyCycles.com. I looked back over the last year and noticed that I have an average cycle length of 29 days. This is because my cycles range from 27 to 32 days. Nearly every other month is the 27 day cycle. This month falls into that category so I should expect Aunt Flo to rear her ugly head on Thursday. She knocked on the door this morning with some spotting. I get that nearly every month, 2 days prior to the heavier part.

When I was younger I could feel ovulation pain on my right side every other month, most likely due to cysts on that ovary. I haven't felt that in a while. This month I didn't really have any of my usual ovulation signs (ie- being very "erotically charged".) I am hopeful for next month (or this month, as we would actually be getting pregnant towards the end of the month.

At least I know I won't be riding the red wave on our anniversary. Now we just have to find a sitter so we can go out that weekend.

Not the Monster anymore.

To help Gwennie sleep, Rhayn came up with the story of "the Monster". I know I wrote about it but I can't find that post (it happens when you have over a thousand posts.) I think that Rhayn got tired of talking about "the monster" so last night she made this note. She also crocheted a necklace and a puppet for Gwennie. She should have been sleeping, I know that. I thought she was.

I wonder if she knows the tooth fairy and Santa aren't real, since she made this up all on her own. It makes me a little bit sad that she is getting old enough to lose the magic of the world. It makes me sad when I think about kids never having that magic in their lives.

Will and I have discussed how he feels like we are lying to the kids when we talk about Santa. To me, especially since I subscribe to much of the Waldorf philosophy, I feel that fairy tales and the belief in magic are good for a child's development.

When Rhayn was young we watched television constantly, and there was no spirituality in our lives. When she began attending the school she goes to, I watched the joy the children had, how easily they played whatever suited them at the moment and how imaginative their play was. It was easy, especially in kindergarten, to pick out which children watched television at home by their play. The story lines of the play concentrated around movies they had seen. Rhayn was in that category.

Gwennie doesn't watch nearly the amount the television that Rhayn did, and I love her imaginative play. Even Rhayn's imagination has blossomed since we stopped watching the television as much (and being more conscious of what they watch.) And it shows in places like this:

Dear Rhaynnon Gwen
I am not a monster as you think.
I am a fairy. My name is Anna.
And I look like this-->
Love the Fairy Anna

I am in no way saying the television is bad. It isn't we enjoy PBS and have a very active Netflix account. I am only saying that Rhayn watched way too much television when she was in her early formative years.

Clean it up.

I was at Rhayn's school yesterday, watching as she helped muck out the animal yard. The parents were told to supervise, but not to help. (Sweet!) I ended up taking pictures of the animals, because that is what I do.

Towards the end of the time I went over to the restroom so Gwennie could wash her hands and have a snack. The 8th grade class was in the restrooms washing their hands after their pottery class. They left the restroom a disaster. I was appalled by the mess. Seriously there was clay on every surface including the door handle.

It made me wonder if the school or parents are teaching the children any respect for the property. We spend a lot of our time teaching our children to respect the earth, use less, conserve, compost. Yet every day I walk out on the school yard there is trash on it. There are granola bar wrappers and hats left out.

Rhayn has been taught a little about littering, we went hiking not too long ago and she and her cousin were picking up trash along the way. We are trying to teach her to respect the earth in that manner. Whenever we see the trash on the play yard we pick it up. Its courteous. They also need to learn to clean up after themselves, I shouldn't judge, but I doubt any of the 8th graders in the restroom ever have to pick up their own messes at home. I know that when I was that age, I did NOT leave a huge mud mess in a bathroom, I would have at least wiped the door handle and faucet handle off.

At the muck out there were kids complaining about how much they didn't want to be there, and how they don't like cleaning up poop, but they all enjoy the goats, sheep and Jonic the pig.

I am just thankful that my children are able to go to a school that has animals and gardens. I love that they are surrounded by nature.

Gwennie is terrified of the white goose, she was helping feed them one morning and the white lady kept trying to get the food from Gwennie faster than Gwennie could drop it. She cried and screamed about her for hours.

I like to look at the sheep.

This is a nice goat, and look at his face! How sweet is he?

Semi-wordless Wednesday

My aloe, it lived in the backyard until a month ago, I moved it there because it was lost in the clutter of the "great patio redo of 2009-2010". I am so excited because it is blooming. The aloe in our backyard is blooming as well, but it has a yellow flower and isn't nearly as pretty as the red of this one.

This dust is from Iraq. It was carried home in a rug that Will had there.

OCD in the fertility department.

Now you all know that Will and I decided to make a baby, but you may not know that this involves me obsessing 80 to 90 percent of the time about when it will happen, what that baby will be like, how long I have to wait to take a pregnancy test, etc.

I am on day 18 of my normally 28-32 day cycle. I keep staring at mymonthlycycles.com for whatever reason. This month I should have ovulated on Sunday. I didn't. I know without a doubt that I didn't ovulate then. I am almost positive that I ovulated on the 11th day of my cycle, which would have been last Tuesday. (I know last month I ovulated on January 1st.)

This cycle is not feeling like a winner to me, in fact I am already feeling disappointed, and ready to move on to next month. Only I still have about ten days before my period comes. There is a part of my that is determined that I am pregnant every month, a part that I long to kick to the curb. She is irritating, because she has been wrong every darn month since he has been home. (She had to shut up while he was gone, because I didn't think I was going to immaculately conceive a child.)

Conceiving the first month trying would be an awesome miracle, though Will and I have proven our extreme fertility in the past (we've been pregnant 4 times, I have had 2 miscarriages.) With Gwennie we weren't preventing for a month or so before, but the first month we really tried was the month she was conceived.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about the personalities of our kids. She is pagan or Wiccan (I can't remember) and believes that what surrounded the conception of a child predicts their behaviors. Example, her youngest was conceived during a wild time in their life, the were at a party (most likely drinking) and it was rather chaotic. Her child acts chaotic, she is wild. Their older child was made in a more calm manner and is a calmer child. Rhayn was made during a crazy time in our life, we were engaged, but fighting a lot. While Gwennie (our little love bug) was planned and made out of love. I love thinking about this, it just adds another level to thinking about the conception of our future child.

Along the Rio Salado

I'm not sure I'm in Phoenix anymore!

On Friday afternoon Gwennie and I had a little bit of time to waste and I had recently read a blog post about the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area which is located just south of downtown Phoenix.

I had seen the signs for the Phoenix Audubon society many times, thinking "I really should check that out." When Gwennie and I went, we were impressed. We were only able to see a small portion of it, parking just off of Central Ave and taking a short hike. However the trails along the river extend about five miles.

There was a much to see, including some slimy algae that Gwennie did not want to touch. I had to coerce her into it and then she wanted to go back and touch it again.


One of the things I dislike about living in the city is not being surrounded by nature. However finding places like this and the one in Gilbert (via another blog that I love) has revived my outdoors spirit. Sure, its just the beginning of February and the weather is perfect here, but these places rejuvenate my love of Arizona.