First, Tatum is singing today at church in the Chapel! Kasey and Connie will join us. So fun! I wish my mom could have come
Jamie gave the message, and I loved the part about having the faith of a mustard seed. Just wow! Look at the size of this tree from a tiny seed. I need to hear this today since my faith is so rocked by this illness (whatever it is). I did not know how I would make it to church.
BUT GOD….Yes. By him..from him… for him.
So, Tatum made mom a sweet picture. I LOVE her artwork.
Rio, Ollie and a cute duckie in the middle.
She also made her a video of Happy Birthday.
We had a WEE bit of cherry pie.
And chatted a lot with my dear cousin.
And just enjoyed the family. HI TOT!
My mom is growing old gracefully. I’m so glad we all could be together today.
I gave her a prompt and told her to use 5 of her stem words.
What do you think?
Freddy’s Great Escape
Freddy the frog had been living in the first-grade classroom for weeks. He spent his days hopping around his little tank, watching the kids scribble letters and giggle at silly videos. But Freddy had a dream—to be free, to leap through real grass instead of the shredded paper at the bottom of his enclosure.
One rainy afternoon, as the students listened to a symphony of raindrops against the windows, Freddy saw his chance. His enclosure was sitting too close to the edge of the counter, right beneath the window. And the lid? Loosely placed, not snapped shut. When the teacher turned to excise a torn page from a book, Freddy made his move. He leaped—once, twice—until his tiny green body smacked against the plastic lid. It shifted. One more jump, and—YES! He was out!
But freedom wasn’t so easy. The kids gasped, and one shouted, “Freddy’s escaping!” Chaos erupted. Chairs screeched, little feet stomped, and hands reached to capture him. Freddy dodged left, then right, his omnivorous instincts kicking in—he had to find food, safety, and most importantly, a way out.
Then, salvation: the classroom door stood open, just a crack. Freddy sprinted, his webbed feet slapping against the tile. Just as a student lunged, Freddy made one final, desperate leap—through the door and into the hallway!
Somewhere behind him, the teacher’s voice rang out. “We have a pending frog transfer! Someone catch him before he gets outside!”
But it was too late. Freddy hopped through an open doorway and into the cool, wet grass. Rain splashed against his back, and for the first time in weeks, he felt truly alive.
The first graders never saw Freddy again—but every time it rained, they imagined him out there, singing in the symphony of the storm.
A million pounds I feel upon my shoulders daily. However, on the flip side, I love all that I do! Performing my responsibilities is part of the joy of being a wife, mother, and worker. Something about accomplishment is in my DNA.
But with this compromised health situation, all I feel is guilt for not doing enough or at least doing it well.
I’m haunted by….WHAT are my my root issues… (with my health)
When Tot was born 2012, I had barely been to doctors. Now, yes, I have been dealing with gut issues for a few years past, but not to the point of non-functioning. I used to be able to swim a mile 2x/week, workout daily, walk a ton, and experience life! (including travel). Oh, I’ll include writing often, drawing, and SERVING /ministry.
Now, somedays, I wake up and wonder HOW WILL I EVEN get through my day?
I just wish I had a diagnosis so I could focus on the CURE to getting better. Feel like I’m just throwing darts seeing what moves the needle. The Dupixent has helped my gut. I wake up DAILY NOT rested. My legs are so weak and my fatigue is beyond functioning.
My wonders:
I have EOE (eosinophils were 845 on my last blood test (vs 15 which is high/normal)). Dupixent is working. I am regurgitating only like 2-3 times a day vs like 30. Nausea is way down but not gone.
My Autoimmune markers are positive. Further testing is being done to rule out any type of specific autoimmune. Seeing a Rheumatologist to guide me
Also T3 is low. (Multivitamin?: SELENIUM)
My RBC is low showing potential anemia.(MULTIVITAMIN and the HBOT?))
My heart numbers are quite high…(Cholesterol, ApoB) (Trying Coq10 + Red Yeast Rice)
Saffron for sleep?
Peptides?
Did the HBOT help? Shall I try infrared?
I want to be ALL IN with Tatum’s homeschooling. It’s my dream and passion. I want to have dates with my husband. I want to see my family more (mom, Connie, Kas…) I’d like to have an occasional coffee with a friend. (or walk). I MISS my CHURCH and serving.
Are these selfish thoughts? These wants line up with scripture? They line up with having a full life. All is this is part of my story. I TRUST he has a plan for me.
In the meantime, I SHOW UP forTatum every day for school. We will get through this. I pray for answers and cures to come SOON. Please Jesus…just tell me what is next for me?
After homeschool yesterday, Tatum wanted to do some “Beautifying.” Now for me, this would have taken a whole day, some wizardry, a ton of Holy Spirit, and some miraculous ingredients.
For my beautiful 12 year old? A few odds and ends from our frig.
What do you get when you mix oats (made into flour via Cuisinart), greek yogurt, and honey?
FACE FOOD!
And 15 minutes later,
“Mommy, feel my face? It’s like baby soft.
Wow, I wish it was that easy! The beauty industry would be BANKRUPT.
This is how we ROLL!
Not sure if this was the best choice since Cooper kept wanting her mask to fall. Hmmmm
So, we move onto something more doable. Stay tuned for our beauty tips.
I had her write a story using FIVE of the stems…into words): I LOVE HER USE oF PARTICIPIAL PHRASE
I gave her a prompt about a monkey in a zoo. She turned it into this:
My great escape (again)
I never liked the zoo. Too many bars, too many rules. So one night, when the keeper forgot to lock my enclosure properly, I made my move.
Slipping through the gap, I scurried past sleeping lions and dozing flamingos, climbed the tallest fence, and leapt into the unknown. The city was loud—honking cars, flashing lights, and strange smells. But I didn’t stop. I swung from trees, scrambled over rooftops, and eventually found myself in a quiet neighborhood.
That’s when I saw him—a small human sitting by an aquatic pond, staring at the fish swimming in neat, concentric circles. He looked lonely. So, being the generous monkey that I am, I decided to introduce myself.
He didn’t scream. Instead, he held out a banana. A banana. I liked him immediately.
As I reached for it, a centipede scurried across his hand. The boy yelped, tossing the rest of the banana into the grass. I clapped—I always love a good surprise.
Then, his parents came outside. The big one squinted at me. “Well, he doesn’t seem dangerous.”
The other one nodded. “And he has great auditory skills.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I did know that their garden trellis was perfect for climbing. So I scrambled up, wrapped my tail around it, and chattered happily.
The boy laughed. His parents sighed. And just like that, I had a new home. No cages, no bars—just a family, a backyard, and as many bananas as I could eat.
SO GOOD!
HARD AT WORK WHILE THE MUSIC PLAYS
Then, her academic paragraph. I gave her a topic sentence. We are reading FEVER by Laurie Halse Anderson. She did! Schaffer style with TS, CD, CM, CM, CD, CM CM, CS (2 chunks)
FEVER paragraph:
Mattie is unsure of what the future holds. For example, when her mother gets yellow fever, she starts questioning everything. “But she’s so pale, can’t the medison wait a day or two?” (Anderson,72) Her mother got yellow fever, and everything caved in for poor Mattie, her and her grandfather go on a ride to another village to get away from yellow fever and her grandfather gets sick, but not with yellow fever, no he got sick from all the heat. Well, the wagon driver throws them off and rides off with everything they had in the wagon, food, water, and even clothes. Well on that same day mattie faints from yellow fever bc she got it. And a few days later she wakes up in a hospital which her grandpa had risked his life to bring her to. Well, her grandpa is fine now. Soon she starts hallucinating and thinks she hears and sees dead people getting buried and carried off. Another example is, when they get back to their house. “The front room was a jumble. Tables and chairs lay Helter-skelter. The clock was missing from the mantle.” (Anderson,122) When they get home the first floor is a total junk yard, half the stuff is gone, food is gone, tons of stuff is broken, the parrot is gone. And the money pot is still there. The second floor has not been touched. When mattie goes upstairs the mother who has yellow fever is not there. The room stenches of sickness. And grandfather is cherry red, and he goes to his bed to rest. Matilda’s life is a twisting turning road.
I love it! She is getting so much better. Love being her teacher.
