Is there an end in sight?

OMG life has been crazy.  I still don't have a laptop, so I have to use the kids' dinosaur computer.  This thing is beyond slow!

We are almost done with our 4th week of school.  This kids love their teachers.  The girlies are 3rd grade and love that they are getting more into science this year.  Right now they are studying the moon and its different phases.  Also how the moon affects things here on earth.  So each night we're having to go outside to see the moon, where its at at what time, and what phase its in. 

The Boy is in 7th grade this year.  He loves his teachers.  His math class and science class is with 8th graders.  He was a little worried about that because this is a trial run for the school.  He wasn't sure how the 8th graders would be towards a 7th grader in their class.  If he does great this year, then next year as an 8th grader he'll take those 2 classes at the high school.

The Princess is doing great.  We went for a check up and pacer check this week.  Also we got the results for the holter monitor last week.  The pacemaker is working which is great news.  Its able to record when her heart drops, dates, and times, so we can kind of figure out what's going on with that.  Her last echo showed that the valve is still leaking, so she still needs another heart cath.  Hopefully that shows good news and she won't need surgery right now.

The Tomboy is doing great.  She has another round of tests with the audiologist and she's doing great overall.  The speech test she's pretty much where she was last time, but this is good because it means she can get extra help and our insurance will cover it now.  Before because she was getting speech therapy through school the insurance company refused to pay.

The Boy is the same.  We FINALLY got him an appointment with another specialist.  I've talked to a few people who've taken their kid to this doctor and they told me she's really good.  I hope so because I'm so sick of doctors not taking this seriously.  I'm scared he's going to end up having to have surgery to remove the blockage, all because none of the doctors up until now have done anything for him.

One of these days everything is going to be calm again.  Then maybe I can sit down and relax.

First week done

We are done with our first week of school.  The Boy seems to love his teachers.  The girls like their teacher.  They were a little worried about her at first, but they seem to be warming up to her.

The girls have had homework all week this week.  They have to keep a moon journal.  They have to look up online and record what time the moon rises and sets.  Then they have to record what phase the moon is and draw a picture of it.

They are really into this.  They haven't been able to see the moon every night, which made them a little upset.  Stupid marine layer!

The Boy's language arts class already has a writing assignment.  They can write about anything they want, but it has to be at least 2 pages long.  His teacher took a class over the summer to learn ways to help kids learn to improve their writing.  So she's using them as guinea pigs.  They will have many writing assignments over the year, and then at the end of the year the kids will be given the choice if they want to submit this assignment and their last assigment to be put into her detailed report on what she did and how/if it helped the kids.

The boy is excited about this.  He loves writing and if he isn't drawing then he's writing in his journal.  He has started 3 different outlines of stories he wants to write.  He's now trying to decide which one he wants to do first.

This year has started out 10 times better than last year did.  Lets hope it stays that way.

Blah

My laptop broke last week.  Its gonna cost more than a new one to fix, so I'm without it for the time being.  Let me say I'm going insane without it!

I"m not sure how long I will be without it, but I'm trying to get a new one as soon as possible.  Thankfully I still have my phone otherwise I'd feel completely disconnected from the rest of the world.

How sad is that?

Week 1 - Starting now

I decided to start fresh. Put all the frustrations caused by the prednisone behind me.

So I'm starting today. Monday.

My goals for Week 1:

Walk at least .5 miles a day.
Drink at least 64 ounces of water.
Get in at least 20 minutes a day on the elliptical.
Keep a food journal


I'm starting out slow with the walking until my body adjusts to it. No matter which way we walk around the house we end up having to walk up a somewhat steep hill at some point. This will be great in a few weeks, but right now my body is screaming at me because of it.

I drink a lot of water now, but I haven't been keeping track of it. Same with the food.

With my appetite out of control, I switched to eating salads when the hunger pains strike (this is a side effect of my medicine and the scleroderma). I figure if I have to give in and eat something, I'd eat something I wouldn't pay for later.

I'm also looking for some different games for the Wii. I have the Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, but I'm looking for other games to keep things interesting. There's where you all come in. I want recommendations. What you like, didn't like, or what you'd like to try.

Low sodium diet

Having a child that is on a sodium restricted diet is rough.  She's supposed to have under 2 grams (2000 mg a day but doctor would like for her to stay under 1500mg) so finding things she's able to eat without a problem is hard.  Everything prepackaged has way to much sodium, so I've had to start doing a lot more cooking from scratch.  I enjoy it but I don't have a lot of time so it makes it a little more stressful at times.

This has been an on go learning experience.  The Princess has gotten really good at reading the nutrition labels and comparing them.  We've also learned that even though things say low sodium doesn't mean they are low enough for her.

I've checked out several different cookbooks at the library and found 3 that I loved enough to buy them.

* The Complete Idiot's Guide to Low Sodium Meals
* 500 Low Sodium Recipes: Lose the salt, not the flavor in meals the whole family will love
* American Heart Association Low-Salt Cookbook, 3rd Edition: A Complete Guide to Reducing Sodium and Fat in Your Diet

These books have not only given us a variety of foods we can eat, but they've also given us other alternatives to flavoring different foods.

One of our favorite finds is Apple Cider Muffins.  These are definitely one of our new favs.

3 c Apple Cider
3/4 c Shortening
1 3/4 c Sugar
1/2 c Egg Substitute
2 c Flour
1/8 t Ground Cloves
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Sodium Free Baking Soda

In a large saucepan boil the cider until it is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups and let it cool. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together the shortening and the sugar until the mixture is fluffy and beat in the eggs. Into the bowl sift together the flour, the cloves, the cinnamon and the baking soda, stir in the reduced cider, and combine the mixture well. Divide the batter among 18 paper-lined muffin tins and bake in the middle of a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.