Friday, June 27, 2008

She's Swimming!

As I have mentioned in other posts, Maddie is an absolute fish when it comes to water....she floats on her back (for fun), dives face first in to the water, and the second her toes touch the water she is a kickin. Yesterday afternoon I thought I would take her life jacket off and see what she could do. I took her out into water where she couldn't touch well (about 3 1/2 ft) and this is what happened...




Can you believe it??? She was swimming by herself! She dove her head under the water and just started kicking! She was able to swim for about 5 ft without coming up for air. She kept asking to do it again and again....then she wanted to jump in and swim to me...which she did...quite well! What can I say! I think she is part fish!



The other kids were also doing quite well! Noah gets stronger and stronger every time we swim. It is amazing to watch! He is brave enough now to go off the slide in the deep end and off the diving board all by himself. Better yet...I know he is a strong enough swimmer that I don't have to be at the bottom of that slide or diving board praying he doesn't land on me waiting for him.


Katharine on the other hand, seems to have "digressed" a little this year. Last year she was going off the diving board with confidence. This year I have had issue getting her to go where she can't touch. She immediately "freaks out" and takes her eyes off of her goal. Being as part of her issues are "keeping focus" this should not come as a surprise. If it doesn't come easily...its usually not worth doing (according to her). But alas...mama wont let her give up quite so easily. 1st thing we did at the pool was the four of us plus Aunt Terri headed over to where it was 4 ft. I made them take turns swimming to me (Maddie still had her life jacket on at this point). After making her swim a few times she seems to get more and more confidant. By the end of the day she was going off the slide in the deep end with me there ready to drown catch her.








Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I've Lost my baby..............



As of Yesterday, my Sweet little baby turned 4. She had a blast on her birthday. She wanted to go swimming (so of course I have pics!)

Maddie taking a rest






Maddie "getting a tan"






Noah pouncing off the diving board!






Noah swimming alone






Darling Katharine




The cake for "the princess"




Kyle looking thrilled in his "birthday girl" hat


Maddie ready to blow out her candles


Blow Maddie Blow!


Maddie...ever so proud of her "lollie lockets"



Isn't she just beautiful????? I can't believe it..my "baby" is 4....She is 4 but will always be my baby....we love you girl! We have seen you turn from this tiny frail little baby (were you ever really frail??) into this bubbling, vivacious little firecracker. You are such a blessing to us and we couldn't be happier that God chose US to be your mom and dad!





Monday, June 23, 2008

check it out!

105

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Friday, June 20, 2008

I'll have an order of Parkinsons with a side of cancer please....

I have really been trying to kick the soda habit (I usually say "coke" instead of soda but I am afraid you would get the wrong idea if I just said "coke"!). I normally only order a coke every now and then when we go to a restraunt. Most of the time I order tea (unsweet) or just plain ol water. I have thought I would like to get rid of the "coke" habit for good...and I think this article just did it! .....back to making 'bucha.....



Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health
Expert links additive to cell damage


By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Sunday, 27 May 2007


Related Articles
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E211 Revealed: Evidence highlights new fear over drinks additive
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A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.


The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.


The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.


Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.


Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.


Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.


He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.


"The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing."


The Food Standards Agency (FSA) backs the use of sodium benzoate in the UK and it has been approved by the European Union but last night, MPs called for it to investigate urgently.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat chair of Parliament's all-party environment group said: "Many additives are relatively new and their long-term impact cannot be certain. This preservative clearly needs to be investigated further by the FSA."


A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded that it was safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety was "limited".
Professor Piper, whose work has been funded by a government research council, said tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration were out of date.


"The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are complete safe," he said. "By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."


He advised parents to think carefully about buying drinks with preservatives until the quantities in products were proved safe by new tests. "My concern is for children who are drinking large amounts," he said.


Coca-Cola and Britvic's Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi all contain sodium benzoate. Their makers and the British Soft Drinks Association said they entrusted the safety of additives to the Government. -- !

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A little Obama Linkage...

Head over to Junkmale and Harmony's to see a very interesting post on "Obama-mania" (I couldn't have put it better myself!)



We are so excited!



Look at what Katharine can do! Her hair is in a PONYTAIL! That is probably not a big deal for many out there...but in her case it is a HUGE deal! Her head was shaved because of scabies in March of 2003 while still in Haiti...she has NEVER EVER HAD HER HAIR CUT SINCE! It has taken 5 LONG years to get her hair this long. The best thing we ever did for her to help her growth was to put it in locs. Her hair is twice as long as it was before we put the locs in! This has been a goal she has been waiting for.... now she is waiting for her hair to touch her back!







This is creepy....



My poor dear boy Noah...whenever he is absolutely exhausted he tends to sleep with his eyes open...this week has been a little crazy with extra ball games, extra ball practices and then add in VBS on top of it...the boy is just tuckered....So here it is...that one pic you have to post every so often that will make them want to hide it when they are around 16 lol



Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hair? What Hair?



Kids get older. That's just a fact. But why does it make us as parents wiggle and squirm at the things they go through? At the age of 8 1/2 my daughter is already experiencing some of those "changes"....she was so excited to be able to say she entered the world of the "shaving woman." Not her legs though...just her pits (this was after discovering they were long enough to braid...no joke...and lets not ask just HOW we found that out....)
So there we were....showing my "little one" wither her new blue razor how to shave off her excess hair so she doesn't look like she had "cousin it" in a headlock.........fun times!


Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Fathers Day!

Today we started off with the kids giving their gifts to their daddy....They each made a cute picture frame in their Wednesday night bible study class.



Katharine Madelynn


Noah




They each also gave Kyle a card. Maddie wrote "her own" card....of course we had to have a translation sent with it :). The helper in their class wrote everything on a piece of paper that Maddie had "written" on her card to her daddy...it reads like this:



I hope you have a good day, a good valentines day watching me do the recital and thank you giving me stuff and coming to my birthday and I hope you like my stars. I hope you have a good sleep and have a good day. I want you to give me a hug and I want you to be happy with me everyday. I want you to be happy everyday you give me hugs everyday you come home. Thank you for giving mom money. I hope you love mom and I love you and I give you kisses!

Love, Maddie

P.S. I hope you want me to be happy and do everything you want me to do. I will change diapers every night.




What?!?! I think she is trying to kyle he is old...she will change his diapers every night LOL

Friday, June 13, 2008

Once, a girl scout went to camp (went to camp)......



So here it is.....Katharine's 1st time at girl scout camp. She went yesterday just for day camp but is staying the night for the "overnight camp tonight. She has been sooooooooo excited and yes I did a very good job of acting excited for her as I dropped my baby off this morning...don't get me wrong...I am excited for her....a whole new "era" of life has opened up for her....a time when she can spend the night with trusted other away from home...but *sigh* I have to admit I didn't fight off the tears as well as I had hoped to as I pulled out of camp this morning. ....not to mention it didn't help to have several people reminding me what happened at the Boy Scout camp this week....add on top we are supposed to have some severe storms tonight *sigh*......

A day of "fun" :)

Katharine headed off to girl scout day camp yesterday and so I thought I would load up the other two and take them to the pool. It turned out to be a PERFECT day! We arrived just after 11 and the water was already 80 degrees! We ended up staying at the pool for 5 hours! yes you read that right! 5 hours! Both kiddos swam like they were fish! Noah spent the majority of the day going through both the regular slide and the slide in the slide in the deep end (with no life jacket!) while Maddie enjoyed her day floating and swimming wildly. She has a life jacket that she LOVES as it gives her LOTS of freedom in the water....I called her "Bob" all day long as she was just "bobbin" up and down in the water LOL. Both Noah and Katharine were FREAKED OUT by pools at her age so it is all new territory having one that I have to "chase" through the deep end! We had to leave just after 4 to go pick up Katharine at her day camp....Maddie was asleep by the time we got to the main road and her eyes were STILL red this morning! They are all SOOO excited about vacation as we plan on spending lots of time at the pool (indoor, heated)...they are all little fish who could live in the water from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed!

Maddie floating ion her back
Noah coming down the slide
Noah swimming like a fish
Doin some more swimmin'
Maddie and Noah Palin' around



Indiana Flooding

For those of you who have been keeping tabs on the situation in Indiana...here are a few pics for you. We were stuck in the flooding last Saturday on our way home from Indianapolis. Here are some pics that were taken from he interstate (southbound was eventually opened while Northbound was still closed).


Trucks lined up for several miles on the interstate just waiting to be able to finish there journey headed northbound.

Miles and miles of trucks waited to actually get onto the interstate


Here are some pics of water rescues in Columbus. The men in the picture are up to their chest in water.




See the tiny red dot in the middle of the pond? Well that pond is a corn field and that red dot is the top of a tractor.


Sheds in Columbus after the water had receded about 3 feet.


See the silver tubes? Those are gas tanks from a local co-op.....the co-op was 1 mile away from where this picture was taken.


The road we drove through to get to a main road


The National Guard in Columbus