Allergic Reactions

Friday was a FUN day around here!  Well, let's just say it was very eventful.  Benjamin was outside playing around 1:30 pm and got stung on the finger by something.  (hornet, bee, wasp?)  I gave him some Benadryl and put some on it to take away the sting.  That was all normal.  Well, then I realized that it was a bit more swollen than I would have thought, but I just figured I would watch it.  (Now, it was about 20 minutes after the sting that he began itching his ears.  However, he does this fairly regularly because he gets water in his ears and it really bothers him.  I thought nothing of this!)  About another 20 minutes went by, and I needed to head out to the barn to check on Grace who was riding horses.  I looked at Ben's hand and it was really getting swollen, but again I really just thought "Wow, that was quite a sting."  So, I walked out to the barn for about another 20 minutes.  When I came back inside, Ben was laying on the couch eating chocolate chips.  (That last part is important for dramatic purposes of my story!)  Anyway, I walked over to look at his hand, and the poor baby had hives all over his face.  So of course, I handled it like a great mother and began screaming for him to get up!  (That's what good moms do, right?!)  When he stood up, he had chocolate ALL OVER his neck!  I began trying to look to see how bad the hives were (and they were everywhere and really bad), but was getting chocolate everywhere!  So, I gave him another Benadry and called Micah in a panic.  (Oh, and I threw him in the shower because we needed to get the chocolate off of him!  Poor baby!)  Micah comes in and I am freaking out, to say the least.  Micah looked at me and said, "You're gonna need to leave the room!"  Yep, I was not calm.  So, I let Micah look him over and then went back into the living room.  It was affirmative, off to the doctor we would go!  At this point, I really wasn't sure if I was heading to the ER or the doctor, but I knew we were going down the mountain!  Remember that our mountain takes 25 minutes just to get down our 6 mile road, then it's another 45 minutes to the doctor.  So, I drove with my hand on Ben's chest and kept making him talk to me the whole time.  About 30 minutes down the mountain, I could tell that the Benadryl was kicking in and that the hives were getting better.  I knew that we were not in a life threatening situation at that point, so I relaxed a bit!

We now know that Ben is allergic to some sort of stinging insect and it is SERIOUS!!!!!  No more playing around!  

In all my time of being around children (and that's a lot of time), and children with severe allergies, I have never actually witnessed the reaction itself.  SCARY!  So glad he was okay!

On a completely different note, here is an amazing picture from the top of our mountain.  This picture was taken by one of our staff here and I told her I was going to steal it!

If you look really close, that power line that is in the right, actually looks like a cross.  Cool, right?!

Fall is here!

We did not get to experience the coming of Fall on the mountain last year, because we did not get here until October.  Let me tell you...it is BEAUTIFUL!  The weather is crisp and dry, the leaves are falling and changing colors, the turkeys and deer are EVERYWHERE.  I mean the first day of Fall is actually Saturday, right? (I am trying to remember if it is the 20th or 21st.)  Anyway, I am just so excited that when I tell the kids it is Fall, it will actually feel like Fall.  Love it!

We were going down to dinner tonight, and the air was so cool.  Then after dinner we played a little baseball (well, actually hit some balls and ran around), and I did not sweat!  You know I LOVE that!

Anyway, if you need a little Fall getaway, come see us!  It's beautiful!  (Oh and we have apple trees down the way that we are going to go and pick in just a few weeks!  I'll be sure to take pictures!)

Nothing much...

School is running along pretty smoothly these days.  We have learned how to get from class to class on Thursdays when we go down the mountain, and Grace is LOVING her classes.  I am so thankful that she has the opportunity to get out of the house and be with others this year.  Here's hoping it just gets better and better!

Oh, other than that, nothing much happening around here...except that I saw a MOUNTAIN LION this morning!!!!!!!  Yep, NOTHIN' MUCH!  What?!  That is MUCH for this girl!  It was crazy how fast the thing was running, and how big it was.  I don't want to do much hiking on the mountain now!  (Well, I mean I didn't really do that much hiking anyway, so I guess this won't change things too much.)  But, seriously, I saw a mountain lion and it was not in a cage!  Crazy!

So, here's hoping NOTHIN' MUCH is happening for you too!

First Day of School Anxiety...for MOM!

Well, we had our first day of classes at "real" school yesterday.  I thought that we were good to go.  We had been to Meet the Teacher, and had visited all of the classrooms, so I was feeling confident.  (That's never a good thing.  You know, when you get too confident!)

Let me take a step back for just a moment and explain how this "school" thing works for us again.  We home school 4 days a week, then one day a week we head down the mountain to enjoy classes with other children.  So...Grace takes 5 different classes, with 5 different teachers, and 5 different sets of kids.  Oh, and the classes are in 5 different rooms.  And...Ben takes 5 different classes, with 5 different teachers, and 5 different sets of kids, in 5 DIFFERENT classrooms.  (Anyone feeling the anxiety yet?!)  I had thought about this and how it could cause a few issues, but we were told that when we arrived on our first day, the children would be given lanyards with their lovely little schedules laminated so that they could follow them all day.  (Or at least keep up with the schedule so that someone in the hallway could direct them to the right place.)

Mmmm, hmmm...yep...you guessed it!!!!!  The program that prints those lovely little schedules for the lovely little lanyards seemed to have had a glitch.  So, when we arrived, Grace and Ben were greeted by the nicest smiling faces and handed a small paper schedule which was not in sequential order, nor were room numbers on this lovely thing.  (Take a deep breath!  The story does actually turn out well!) It was at this point that I began to sweat.  I look over at Grace to see what class she is supposed to go to first and realize at this point the schedule is not in order and that both kids will actually need to know how to read a schedule to accomplish this day.  Grace has tears in her eyes as she says, "Mom, I don't know how to read this thing."  I assure her she will be fine and rush through a schedule reading mini-lesson.  I end this mini-lesson with this statement, "At the end of each class, get your schedule and walk up to the nearest adult and say, 'Where do I go next?'"  Survival people!  That's what you have to teach sometimes.  So, Grace felt better and I dropped her off in her first classroom, and she was smiling!

My thoughts now turn to Ben, and here is where the sweat begins to drip from my forehead.  Not only is my sweet boy supposed to keep up with this piece of paper (that means nothing to him, by the way), but he is also supposed to remember to grab his backpack after each class and take it with him, and figure out where he is to go next!  (I'm going to stop for some oxygen now!  Okay, I'm back.)  I honestly did not even know where to start since I do not know ANYONE in this school.  They do not know me, and they certainly don't know Ben.  So, what did I do?  Well, I walked up to the teacher and said, "I'm FREAKING OUT!"  That's what all good mothers do, right?!  Luckily, the teacher was a lovely lady, and could sense my anxiety.  (Maybe because of what I had just said.)  She assured me that all would be well.  I think I kissed Ben's forehead about 20 times and said have a great day about 15.  He kept looking at me like I was crazy!  Then I walked out into the hallway, and there she was!!!!!  Our angel!  (God has given us one every year.  Sometimes two or three or 50!)  Mrs. Coffey.  She went and took a picture of Ben's schedule with her phone, in case he lost it somewhere along the way, she would have it.  She walked him from class to class all day!  Sweet, precious lady!!!!!!

So, the kids made it through the day, thought it was great, and definitely want to go back next Thursday!  Yay!  Oh, and the office has the lanyards made now, so we will be getting those next week too.  Wow!  What a day!

To end this, I just want to say that I am so thankful that I have been a part of an amazing school district all these years, where I knew people on every campus and they KNEW my kids.  In fact, I think there were days where I texted teachers to turn my child's shorts around because as he got out of the car I realized they were on backwards.  Yep, pretty sure I did that, and they loved me through it!  I miss my HISD home, and all of my friends and family there.  I know I am going to come to love our new school family too (I mean, I already love Mrs. Coffey), but it's okay to miss the old.  Right?!

How deep the Father's love!

I have been really working on getting up each morning and exercising.  Now, for those of you who REALLY know me...I DO NOT like to exercise.  I am not one of those people who get invigorated from the profuse sweating, burning of muscles, feeling like you will die with the next breath!  I really wish that I loved, or even liked, to exercise.  I just don't.  With that being said, I DO know how good exercise is for me, so I am pushing through the profound hate that I have for it.  (Yes, everyone should cheer at this point.)

Anyway, my exercise time has also become a time of listening to worship music and really just trying to start my day thinking about my Savior.  I used to try listening to fast workout music, (Pandora has an amazing 80's workout station!) but I found that I was counting seconds until I could be finished.  I wasn't singing along and having a great time, by any means.  So, I decided to search for another station, and since I really enjoy Matt Redman, I simply typed his name into Pandora and got myself a "Matt Redman radio station."  This simply means that I quite enjoy the praise and worship that comes on.  This morning, How Deep the Father's Love came on and the words just really stood out to me.  I love how that happens.  You can hear a song like it's for the first time!  I  REALLY LOVE that!  Don't you?!

So, I realize that I posted this link on Facebook and many of you have already seen it, but I just wanted to post it here too.  Love this song and the words and what they mean to me as a Child of the King!  So thankful that I am HIS!