A Rough end of the Week

So it turns out that Jed had to miss his last day of speech therapy!  Thankfully I thought ahead and we made up a large chocolate chip cookie that Jedidiah decorated with colored frosting.  We also printed out a thank you card for him to color and give to Miss Bonnie.  We did drive over to give her those things, and he was bumming to have to miss out on a game she had planned to play with him.  In the picture below he looks totally fine, but that is only due to the Motrin running through him.  I was starting to get a bit concerned due to the painful headache he kept having the moment the medicine wore off.  I tried a few homeopathic remedies, but they were not working...until...For some reason as I was reading through my materia medica no one remedy seemed to fit the bill, so I mixed up a concoction.  I didn't want to put too many in one bottle so I made up two remedies, each with 7 different substances in them.  I used the first on for a few hours to see if there was any effect.  I didn't notice any.  During this time Moira said she wasn't feeling well.  Oy.  I gave her the remedy as well.  Same deal, no improvement.  So I started giving them the second remedy.  Jed had gone to bed and Moira was heading to bed when I decided to give her the remedy one more time.  For some reason the remedy "Pulsatilla" kept coming to my mind.  I wasn't sure why, especially since I had put it in the second bottle.  Just as I gave Moira the remedy it hit me....I also put Lycopodium in the bottle as well, and it is known to antidote Pulsatilla.  Hmmmm.  So I quickly made up a single remedy made of just Pulsatilla.  By morning Moira was fine.  I meant to give her another dose before I headed out to the barn to milk the goats, but I forgot.  When I came in she told me her tummy was just starting to hurt again.  She told me that she woke up pain free (the result of the Pulsatilla I was guessing), but now her tummy was starting to hurt again.  I gave her another dose and her pain was gone very soon after, not to have returned.  I figured I would give the remedy to Jed as well.  He would be feverish once the Motrin or Tylenol would wear off, not to mention the *very* painful headache.  Well, whether he was going to get better that day or the Pulsatilla was working, I'm not sure.  I just know that he has been fever and headache free since!  Phew! Now my only problem is that Flannery is now getting sick. For some reason I have a very hard time trying to find the correct remedies for her.  She may be exhibiting the same symptoms as her siblings but the chosen remedy doesn't do anything for her.  She always needs a different one.  So it will be back to the drawing board.  Especially since tomorrow is the first day of Runners Camp.

The girls are very excited to be attending their second year of Runners Camp (RC).  The program is for ages 6 to 12.  So this year Isabella is a volunteer helper.  Since she was the first to sign up, she got one of the most covetous spots as a water game helper.  :-)  Moira, Flannery and Saoirse will be runners this year.  Moira was happy to know that one of her friends is signed up for this week as well.  RC has two sessions, one in June and one in July.  We did the July one last year.  Not good.  Note to self...it is HOT here in July!!!  Poor Flannery got heat exhaustion one day last year.  Thankfully the temps here are only going to be in the 80's, which is much better than the 90's we have been having for the past few weeks. 

Once camp is done I plan on starting our 'summer program'.  I was able to get away for an hour last night to do some planning.  I need longer than an hour, but it was a start.  We need to do some schooling through the summer, but just in a couple of subjects.  Plus, things have gotten a wee bit out of hand in a few areas around here.  For one, the girls have been really bad about getting to sleep at a decent hour.  We put them to bed around 9 or 9:30, but they have been staying up late reading, talking or what not.  This is becoming a problem in multiple ways.  The goats really need to be milked before 8 AM to keep close to milking 12 hours apart.  Then on top of it, I have had this policy that I will not make breakfast if the kitchen is a mess.  I hate messes.  And it really gets to me if I have to try to make breakfast with NO clean dishes or bowls and NO space on the counters.  And I don't do this myself, so it wasn't getting done until late in the morning and we have been eating breakfast at 10 or 11 AM.  So our summer program will focus on fixed wake up and retire times, plus fixed meal times.  Woe to those who miss the time slots :-)  I never finished my decluttering and spring cleaning I had wanted to during that last week in May.  Yesterday was a great work day and we got a lot done.  I was finally able to get most of the laundry room done.  It had been turned into a chicken hospital.  Anyone who has chickens knows what this means.  It's not pretty in more ways than one!  Lets just say that the shelving we put back there to put the folded laundry on has sat empty these past few weeks.  I could not use them.  Nothing like a chicken who decides to roost on your clean laundry.  Which of course is no longer clean by morning.  I got it all cleaned up.  Yeah!  Now all that is left is to clear the top of the washer and dryer.  I hate how all of our horizontal surfaces seem to attract clutter.  I need to find a way to de-magnetize all my horizontal surfaces :-)  Our summer program will also have lots of training time.  We are going to go back over the basics of how to do all the various chores.  Plus we will be training the boys to start doing some chores.  Then we will practice various activities like getting in and out of the van, putting our shoes away when we come inside, putting our dishes in the sink when we are done with them, etc. 

Along with our summer program I am hoping to start the GAPS Intro diet around July 20th.  That gives us time in the beginning of July to gather a few more needed things like probiotics and soup bones.  Plus I can try to bulk cook some things and start making some sauerkraut to be one step ahead.  I have written out some details but will need to do some further research.  I found some herbs and homeopathic solutions that I want to try to help with yeast and possible parasites.  Along with diet, the older two girls and I will be starting an exercising program.  We will start with walking and the short T-Tapp video.

I think the biggest area that I am most excited about is to truly concentrate on our spiritual lives.  I was very blessed by some things I have read from another family on GAPS and how God is working in their lives.  It was very motivating.  I am very blessed to have at times deep fellowship with the Lord.  Those have been very wonderful times in my life.  For some reason I start to think I can handle things on my own, and then my whole life starts to fall down a slippery slope :-(  I can't promise that this will be any different, but I do know that I am most excited to "walk with God in the cool of the garden".  And I am very excited to bring my children with me :-)  We all have some very, very (*VERY*) bad heart attitudes.  Each and every one of us.  Not pretty.  We have plans to also work more together as a family on things than each going on their own way.  I am sure things will become more clear as we pray more, so for now I only have a bit of a sketch of how I am going to go about this all.  My problem thus far is that because I haven't had a specific plan or that I didnt' have the perfect conditions I have put this off.  I know, I know, very silly.  My sister was saying, "What?  What are you waiting for?  Just do it, don't wait for this or that to be perfect before you start!"  Good idea. 

I am sure there is more.  But for now I will leave you with a picture of Jedidiah and his speech therapist on his last day.  I will hopefully be able to share more details as they fall into place!