Oh, My Aching Foot!

It has been eight days since I fell and hurt my foot (no I still don't know what I did to the darn thing). Anyways, this is what it looked like about an hour ago. Not all of the bruising comes through (just to let you know).It is so swollen and hurts like the dickens whenever I try to move it side to side. Or if I put to much pressure on it (I'm still not supposed to put pressure on it, but...). Yesterday, was the worst though. I had a doctors appointment, so I had to wear the hard splint that they gave me at the hospital, as my foot is too swollen to fit into my shoe. Every time that I moved my foot the splint dug into my ankle, causing untold amounts of torture. I wish that I could have gotten a picture of it last night (the bruising was much worse), or maybe it just seemed that way to me.

I can't wait for my little gremlin to get here, yes I said gremlin, what else would you call something that growls at you all of the time? He is due in 13 short days, and knowing how stubborn Bennett's are, he will take every last day, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Foster told us last Tuesday (and again yesterday) that if he is not here by the 9th of December, he will induce on the 10th of December. So, one way or another he will be here in 13 to 14 days. I'm so excited. Beware my posts may not come as often once he gets here, but I do answer my phone and my emails (no spam please).

I also want to pass on congratulations to someone that I hope I can eventually call a friend, her name is Sarabeth and she is going to have a baby in August of 2008. I'm so happy for her, I wish her and her hubby all the best of luck and hope that she doesn't have the problem that I have had with this baby, a leg that forever keeps going numb.

Sierra-Lynn Update:

Home schooling is going smoothly, she can read somewhere in the ballpark of 40-50 words (some easier than others). She just learned how to do graphs today, her eyes lit up. She doesn't really care for phonics, but right now it's all we got to teach her how to read. Bribery makes it easier, for every word that she reads correctly (without my help) she gets a small treat. Today it was raisins, a couple of weeks ago, M&M's. I told her that if she got at least 20 of the 30 phonics words right (aka 20 or more raisins) she could have a cookie. She got 26 raisins and 1 cowboy cookie. (Don't worry Aunt Dee Dee, they are healthy, lots of oatmeal and a few pecans and chocolate chips.) She can also count to 16 now (yes I know that Hannah can count to 20 already), and can identify numbers to 19 then 21 to 24 (don't ask). She thinks that 20 is twenty-teen, but we are working on it. We do numbers and phonics words everyday as well as reading (if its Scooby she loves it, well that and Berenstein Bears).

Mark and I have recently found out why Sierra-Lynn acts the way that she does and how to deal with it in a way that we don't have to yell or punish nearly as often.

I have been doing a lot of reading since deciding to home school my little p-jink and thanks to my husband's genius was able to get my hands on this most wonderful book. It's called "The Ultimate Guide To Homeschooling". Upon reading Chapter 9 Determining Your Child's Learning Style; I came to the conclusion that she falls into the learning style of Actual-Spontaneous or ASL. According to Dr. Golay, an ASL is fiercely independent and spontaneous. They live in the "here and now" and derives self worth from their ability to act swiftly with precision.

The indicator's hit Sierra-Lynn right on the head. Here they are: impulsive, autonomous, distractable, flexible, short attention span, risk taker, constant motion, thrives on variety and adventure, competitive, quick, inventive, outgoing, and defiant when boundaries are imposed. Some strong dislikes of an ASL are structure, routine, sitting still (anyone who knows Sierra-Lynn knows that it is almost impossible to get her to do this), reading or seatwork, convention, and delayed gratification. Weaknesses of an ASL are study skills, long range planning, and planning and organization.

Not only does this book help you to identify your child's learning/temperment style, it gives you pages of ways to deal with them. The next book on my reading list; "The Strong Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson, luckily I already have it. I found it about 2 years ago at a yard sale and thought that it reminded me of my little girl. Little did I know how right I was. ;)

Well, until next time....