Great Deal on Usborne Books for Friends, Family, and Fellow Homeschoolers! May 11, 2013

 

Happy Saturday to you all!

 

I am incredibly excited to announce that I finally get to be an Usborne Books Consultant. Now, before you all run for the hills and start avoiding my calls, I am not doing this with intentions of turning you all into customers or a down line. If you want that, I’d be happy to facilitate your needs. However, I have fallen in love with the Usborne Books products over the past 6 years as a mommy, and have most recently gotten to delve into their non-fiction books. Since we decided to take Hadley out of school in January and homeschool him, at least while we figure out how to best facilitate his educational needs, I have been searching for literature that best meets our needs.

 

Through one local toy store/educational store and the library, I have been experimenting with a number of publishers that offer books that encourage a love of learning and exploration. There are several different lines of books and products that I have come to love, but Usborne has stood out to me repeatedly, and since I have the potential for another TWELVE years of home education, I decided that it made the most sense to get a discount. Amiright?

 

I have not found any local Usborne consultants to meet my needs, which led to my decision to not only take advantage of this discount myself, but to also offer a little love to my fellow homeschoolers, my friends, and family. I will NOT be posting regularly on this blog or on my Facebook page about this project, but if you are interested in knowing more, you can email me at annacumbow@gmail.com.

 

I will be offering a continual discount to homeschooling families of 15% off of the retail price, and will offer a special deal to close friends and family (get in touch if you are int his category and would like more info…you ought to know who you are). These deals CANNOT be offered if you purchase directly through my website, so you must place your order through me. In order that I not go bananas making orders in this way, I will make one order a quarter for friends and family and will send out an email to those who have informed me of interest to let you know it is coming.  I will probably start a separate Facebook page for this, so you can also find info there.

 

Homeschooling families can contact me at any time for an order, and you are welcome to make a direct order at the normal retail price through the website at your convenience.

 

The website will eventually be named UsborneofShenandoahValley.com or UsborneBooksOfWinchester.com when I decide what to call it. For now…just go here to check out the books and products if you are interested:

 

http://w3268.myubam.com/

 

 

SQUIRREL!!! ~… May 5, 2013

SQUIRREL!!!

~ Doug

Too many of us die without knowing transcendent joy, in part because we pursue one form or another of materialism. We seek meaning in possessions, in pursuit of cosmic justice for earthly grievances, in the acquisition of power over others. but one day Death reveals that life is wasted in these cold passions, because zealotry of any kind precludes love except of the thing that is idolized.

On the other hand, dogs eat with gusto, play with exuberance, work happily when given the opportunity,  surrender themselves to the wonder and the mystery of their world, and love extravagantly.  Envy infects the human heart; if we envy, next we covet, and what we covet becomes the object of our all-consuming avarice. If we live without envy, with the humility and the joyful gratitude of dogs – nachos! ball! cuddle time! – we will be ready even for Death when he comes for us, content that we have made good use of the gift of life.

~ Dean Koontz
a big little life (a memoir of his Golden Retriever – very sweet and happy reading)

To shave or not to shave, that is the question… April 9, 2013

What is a parent to do when their 6 year old son wants to cut his own hair? Well…

Basically, I figure it is better to learn that lesson earlier than later in life. My 7th grade self-cut bang job was less than fantastic (thanks for letting me blame it on you, Mom. I still appreciate that…though I guess the cat’s out of the bag now! )

…and if I can cure them of wanting to cut their own hair before they will really regret having done it, I feel that I have done my job. We’ll see how that pans out in the long run, I suppose.

So, yesterday Hadley got to cut his own hair.

The plan was that I would let him use the trimmer on a really long setting so that I could work around it when he was done. Well, that didn’t work out.

He insisted on using the trimmer upside down, and buzzed a big hole right in the middle of the front of his head.

What is a parent to do when their son shaves a big whole in his forehead, you ask?

Make the best of it.  Shave a swirly snake on his head to include all (or most…) of the bald spots…

And then, just for fun…

Dress him up like a pirate and color in the snake shape on his head, so everyone knows what it is, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This may, however, lead to an hour or so of crayola tattoo parlor fun on everyone involved…

She did most of this…but I helped turn it into a butterfly…

Sorry for the panty shot…I just couldn’t resist the cuteness of this!

I got some pretty good “Awesome Mommy” points for all of this, for the record.

After that fun has worn off, and everyone is as dirty as humanly possible, shy of mud wrestling or falling into a sewer…

(This took a day and a half to accomplish, and even then it took some smooth talkin’.)

Shave him and Daddy to match and put them in line for the tub.

As you can see, her face no longer has a butterfly on it. She had two baths yesterday, and still managed to get this dirty before he brother needed his FIRST bath since the hair cut. She is busy and creative. This is what that “looks” like.

We clean up pretty decently, I suppose.

                         Here we are with out mini-me’s…         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never a dull moment. Never a dull moment…

I suppose, my bottom line is that I want them both to know that being who they are and looking how they feel like they want to look is my main objective. Be who you are and be comfortable with that. If you feel like “you” is a half shaved head with a snake tattoo, and a pirate costume – I’ll love you just the way you are…Stinky Face.

As my mother always said:

Whatever you are, be a good one.

(I hear Abraham Lincoln said it first, but ya know…whatever.)

The self-cleaning properties of soap… April 7, 2013

I’ll start out by acknowledging that I not only realize that admitting that FRIENDS is one of my all time favorite shows a) illustrates my personal stance on morals in media, and b) dates me significantly. Last year I made a FRIENDS reference while talking to a teenage friend of our family’s, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He hadn’t even ever heard of the show. If anything has ever made me feel old, that was it. lol.

 

Ok, now that we have that behind us, I give you this week’s Sentimental Sundays Quote – from my favorite TV show, pretty much of all time. If you would like a good bit of insight into my kind of humor, this is it. Unfortunately, the very funniest part – in my opinion – is the very last comment regarding soap and its self-cleaning properties. In light of this, and since I have been unable to find a clip that includes it, I am posting a link to the clip so you can get a better feel for the hilarity of it all, and then the actual lines so you can catch my favorite quote.

 

I, quite literally, think of this just about every day in the shower or while washing my hands. Enjoy!

Can open, worms everywhere…

 

Chandler: (About Joey finishing his cereal, licking his spoon, and putting it back in the silverware drawer) The spoon. You licked and, and you put. You licked and you put!
Joey: Yeah, so.
Chandler: Well don’t you see how gross that is? I mean that’s like you using my toothbrush. (Joey looks sheepish) You used my toothbrush?
Joey: Well, that was only because I used the red one to unclog the drain.
Chandler: Mine is the red one! Oh God. Can open, worms everywhere.
Joey: Hey, why can’t we use the same toothbrush, but we can use the same soap?
Chandler: Because soap is soap. It’s self-cleaning.
Joey: All right, well next time you take a shower, think about the last thing I wash and the first thing you wash…

(Read more tv spoilers at: http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/shows/friends/season-2/page-6.html#ixzz2PpH4RaZQ)

 

Any thoughts on this? Do YOU think soap is self-cleaning? What about toothpaste? Do feel free to share…

April 3, 2013

The Song You’ll Be Singing For The Rest Of The Day.

For no apparent reason, the theme song for The Muppet Show has been in my head ALL. DAY. LONG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9THwnQg-vEw

And now it’s in yours. You’re welcome.

Tall Tale Tuesdays: My kids have been possessed by aliens. April 2, 2013

It’s just about the only possible explanation.

 

Yesterday, I had this conversation with my son (quite possibly the sweetest thing he has ever said!) :

 

Hadley: Eww. Princesses. (looking at his sister’s headphones that I suggested he use)

Me: Come on. Your sister LOVES princesses. And you love your sister, right?

H: Well, YEAH. But I love her because of the things that she IS, not because of the things that she HAS.

M: That was a good one. Can you just use the headphones anyway? I don’t want you to wake her up. She feels bad (ly).

 

 

And then, tonight, my daughter said these words, as she hopped out of my lap: 

 

“I’m going to bed.” …and then she DID.

 

Is it too soon to call in MIB? I mean, I know there’s not much evidence…but these can’t be my children. Ok…it might be Hadley…but I’m pretty sure Afton has been sold on the intergalactic black market.

 

Or maybe I’ve just seen one too many Ben 10 episodes with Hadley lately…hard to say.

 

 

On another note..there are signs of life – and spring – in our little corner of the earth!

 

 

 

New Series…yup – another one! Malady Mondays April 1, 2013

Don’t worry – I won’t be whiny…at least I will do my best! Basically, I know that there are people out there who happen to be interested in how I am doing, and this is an easy way for me to keep everyone up to date, more or less. It also keeps my personal health drama reigned in to just one post a week.

Since we have so many balls in the air, I have relegated each ball to one day per week, and filled the gaps with allotted posts for the silly, the random, and/or the (hopefully) inspiring.

I will let you know if anything worth sharing happens during the week, and mention any new diagnoses we have thrown our way.

To quickly catch you up to date:

I was diagnosed with Hypermobility Syndrome when I was about 13 (20-ish years ago)

Then came all of the itis-es –  inflammation of the: (I’ll group things in category rather than chronologically)

• tendinitis (tendons/wrists)
• possible arthritis (fingers/hands)
• Gastritis (lining of stomach)
• interstitial cystitis (lining of bladder)
• costochondritis  (junctions where the upper ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to the breastbone, or sternum)
• plantar fasciitis (bottom of heel)
• encephalitis (brain)
• meningitis (tissue covering brain and lining spinal cord)

Joint Problems

• bunions 
• pronated ankles
• hip pain
• knee pain
• shoulder blade pain (left side)

Postural Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome (POTS)

• heart rate jumps up when I stand up
• blood pressure goes down
• long list of other things…don’t feel like listing at this point…

Random other stuff we aren’t sure how to categorize yet:

• dishydrotic exzema
• IBS
• Lactose Intolerance
• difficulty breathing
• compulsive cough
• fibromyalgia
• insomnia
• difficulty sleeping/waking rested

Can you imagine why most people with EDS or POTS get called hypochondriacs?

All of this led us to suspect and research Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I am on a waiting list to be seen by the genetics department at Johns-Hopkins. It has also led to me visiting a cardiologist, pulmonologist, geneticist, and probably several other “ists” before all is said and done.

Aaaaaaaand it led to THIS:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding. It’s just a sleep test. This is what I did Saturday night. Woohoo!

The room was lovely. Serene, calm, totally inviting for a restful night…

Until they start hooking things up to you!

I had what seemed like a million sensors of various types all over me. My legs, head, chest (bc I still had to wear my heart monitor), neck, face, NOSE – and  a giant elastic band around my stomach and chest, then an oxygen monitor on my finger.  Oh – and a camera videoing your sleep all night.

Ok! Now, just go right to sleep, dear.

lol. I felt like ET.

So far, all I know from this experience is that I don’t have sleep apnea bladly enough to need a CPAP. (YAY!!! Something I DON’T HAVE!!!)

Ok, well, no April Fools jokes to hand out today – just a photo of a fool to make you chuckle! I know we all did.

Maybe next Monday I will have a bigger list of things that I DON’T have that I can share with you. Just waiting on the results!