Mayo Clinic Day 3 & A Lesson Learned

By now it has really sunk in, we are at Mayo Clinic! The child kept saying this over and over "I can't believe we are here! At Mayo Clinic."  I think I was still numb from it all and still wondering if I should really be here or not. Since I don't have cancer and I'm not 'dying of anything.' It has just been such a whirlwind of testing, meetings with the doctor etc. Today was the physical exam and let me tell you I've never been examined like that in my life before. I think that the doctor went over ever INCH of me! lol. He had me bending, stretching, moving and all sorts of stuff in addition to the exam.

Now for the fun stuff hahaha. I was suppose to get undressed for this exam and put a gown on. lol. Well the day before when I had the Holter Monitor put on me, I had a sports bra on (I know TMI for you guys! lol) so there was no way I could get my bra off, it was just hanging off my EKG leads...lol during the exam, which was very entertaining to see it flying all over the place when the doctor had me jumping around, bending and stretching all over the exam.

Then the doctor is still in the room typing away at the computer and he tells me to get dressed...lol. So I getting dressed with the doctor still in the room...weird! I could not for the life of me get my bra untangled from the leads...lol. Finally just had to unhook them, get dressed and rehook them up. Thinking back, I hope that the machine turned back on after we rehooked it up  :O(

The unsocialized homeschooler had fun playing piano several times while we were at Mayo Clinc, here he is playing at the Siebens Building, he also played in the Gonda Building. He drew a pretty good crowd. There were some really good piano players that we got to listen to over the week we were at Mayo.

I had more blood work and the most exciting part (NOT!) was I got a bottle of steroid pills to take, had to take 1 every 6 hours for 3 days. By the time I took the evening dose I was feeling pretty well, muscles no longer aching and we were up goofing around. We spent the evening at the library, which is connected by the Subway to our hotel and Mayo Clinic. I worked on a homeschool review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazines Review Crew and the child looked at the Star Wars book section. The library is GREAT! If we have to go back we plan to spend some more time there. We could have gotten a $10 library card while we were there since I was a patient at Mayo, but I was too cheap, we just stayed and looked at book for free  :O)  Spent more time swimming and relaxing. Sleep was not on the agenda due to the steroids. But WOW was I sure feeling good. Wish I could live on steroids, nothing feels so good.

One lesson learned. NEVER text people at 2 AM, just because you can't sleep does not mean that others are in the same boat! lol.  I sent a funny text to some friends and my sister-in-law at 2am. I said "If I was there I would drag you out to Bill's. I'm flying high on steroids...lol." Guess what? there are a lot of people that leave their cell phones on 24/7 and they got that message at 2 AM! But thankfully it got a laugh out of them all. My sister-in-law just grinned and rolled over and went back to sleep. Bill's is a restaurant that is a little 24 hour hole in the wall, with GREAT food (best fried cheddar cheese curds and grilled cheese sandwiches in the WORLD!) and lots of fond memories for my friends and I. Right Valerie, Lane, JT & David? Yes you can laugh now.

So we are half way through the week, still no answers, but we are making some wonderful memories. I am truly blessed to have an awesome almost teenage son to travel with, a wonderful husband who I can call at anytime when the steroids were making me crazy and  I was living on an hour or two of sleep and the world was crashing in on me. As well as my friends & church family that were up holding me in prayer. AMEN! God is good even in our sufferings.
2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” What does not kill us makes us stronger.
Moe

FREEBIE For Homeschooling Guide Your Homeschooler Toward Passionate Learning

FREE Delight Directed Learning Homeschooler ebook Guide Your Homeschooler Toward Passionate Learning by Lee Binz.
This looks pretty good, I just downloaded it and plan to relax with a hot cup of tea this evening and read this Ebook.

From Amazon.com site "Delight Directed Learning" - Homeschoolers understand that a solid high school education involves more than just the standard high school courses. Yes, it is true that mastering science, math, and literature is important for homeschoolers - and vitally important if college lies ahead. But equally important are those subjects that the student is passionate about, subjects that they will study for hours on end, "just for the fun of it."

This delight directed learning is the true "secret sauce" of a great homeschool education. It will help your student stand out in a crowd of college applicants. It can launch a career in business, or industry, or the Arts. It can lead to life-changing internships and real world work experience. It can open doors not just to college, but to life!"

Enjoy!
Moe

The Glory of Sanctification In the Homeschool Experience!

http://www.iche.org/blog/3714/04-21-2013/glory-sanctification-homeschool-experience#comment-746
This article was wonderful and such an encouragement. Check it out.
Moe

Mayo Clinic Day 2

After swimming in the pool with a bunch of kids for the evening, (I know, I know, unsocialized homeschoolers, you know how we are... LOL) the child fell into bed and slept like a rock. I sat and planned my Mayo Clinic Day 2. I had appointments all days long, seemed like a full time job going from here to there and everywhere. Started out with AM blood work, then an EKG (found out it's only called an EKG here in the US, the rest of the world calls it an ECG), more walking, did I say that we did lots of walking in the Subway? I then went and got a Holter Monitor is a portable device for continuously monitoring various electrical activity of the cardiovascular system for 24 hours, then I had to go to another area to get a 24 hour blood pressure machine. This machine took my blood pressure every 20 minutes from 10pm-7am and then every 10 minutes from 7am-10pm. I ended up with a very bruised arm from this machine and it was SOOO not comfortable to wear. I was instructed to stop moving completely and not talk when the cuff starts inflating. This is really hard...when the machine goes off every 10 minutes! lol. Needless to say I skipped the tours of Mayo Clinic and some sightseeing because I would not have been able to keep up with the group due to my stopping every 10 minutes for my machine. I saw a number of people wearing them too, so it felt good not to be alone :O) After that I had to run back to the hotel, because I had to use the restroom, oh, yeah forgot to say I was doing a 24 hour urine collection so that means going back and forth to the hotel day and night...LOL.

Funny thing happened, well, not funny hahaha at the time, because I was crying. But I was filling my 24 hour urine container when my blood pressure cuff went off and ya know, I was told to stand still and not move when that happens. So I hurried to set my urine container down on the side of the bathtub, and guess what? Whoever designed that bathtub made slanted sides, because my jug slipped into the tub and spilled all over. I cried and cried. All that work for nothing! My wonderful Doctor told me not to worry about it, he said "That just goes to show you are human my friend and you will be staying another day." So we had to stay an extra day to do another collection, thankfully it worked out that it was the collection BEFORE I started taking the steroids or that would have really goofed things up. We had some lunch at the hotel, the child had a $13.00 lunch (not sure if I have ever had a lunch that expensive!) Salmon with fruit chutney, mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus and fruit cup. I had leftover pork roast, rice noodles and green beans.

On to the next appointment, I had to go take a class on how to use a Pulse Oximetry is a non-invasive method allowing the monitoring of the saturation of a patients hemoglobin. And I was suppose to sleep with that on for 4-8 hours, yes, oddly enough they expected me to sleep with all that stuff on me and that PINCHING blood pressure cuff that bruised me going off every 20 minutes while I slept. LOL! I did sleep on and off but it was not the greatest of sleep. I think that they should have done that test another night.

Back for more blood work at 4pm and in between all these running back and forth to the hotel room to the bathroom for my 24 hour collection...lol.

Relaxed around the pool talking with a dear homeschooling friend on the phone all the while the unsocialized homeschooler sat in the hot tub chatting with some military guys that were staying at our hotel while they worked on some medical training over at Mayo Clinic. Then he spent some time in the pool playing with some other kids. Then back to the hotel to flip through tons of channels that had nothing on them hahaha, we did find I think at least 4 channels that were in Arabic, which we found sort of cool to watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen since it runs backwards as Arabic is read right to left instead of left to right like English. Then off to bed.
Moe

My Mayo Clinic visit...

Wow, it's really been a whirl wind of activities since I had my colon resection in January 2013.
After having some odd ball symptoms that I have had for many years, my AWESOME surgeon decided that I needed an Endocrinology work up. After that 2 of my doctors told me that I needed to go to Mayo Clinic to get some things checked out since what they think I have is rare. I'm thinking to myself, "Mayo Clinic? It's not like I am dying or have cancer, what on earth am I going there for? Is this really that big of a deal?" The thought is that I have something called Cushing's Syndrome. After contacting Mayo Clinic they wanted to see me in 6 days! I hear that is super fast, normally there is a much longer waiting time.

 

  The drive up was pretty nice, our rental car was not the greatest for comfort and the back drivers side tire was leaking air. We decided to take a side trip on the way there. We stopped at Great River Bluffs State Park where we got to see 9 deer up close as we drove through the park, along with some very pretty bluffs.

As we drove through Madison WI, we waved to our favorite NPR Doc, Zorba Paster from the radio show "On Your Health".

Day 1: spent close to 2 hours with the doctor, taking history as well as him doing his dictation in front of me and asking if I had anything to add or change. Pretty impressive. He was a very nice man and very detailed. I was then given a list of places to go and people to see over the next few days.

We went back to the hotel to relax, the boy swam and we spent the evening flipping through tons of TV channels that had nothing on...lol. Exhibit A of why we don't pay for TV at home :O) We did arise early on a few days to watch 19 Kids & Counting as it was on from 5am-6am. Yes you have to be die hard fans to get up that early to watch a TV show.

Thanks to another homeschooling mom who is a thrifty traveller, we were able to get a great deal on a hotel right across from Mayo Clinic. We started out with an Economy Double Bed room, but after a few nights we decided it was just not working out, so we upgraded to a larger room and spent the rest of our stay in some much needed comfort. I had found some decent rates at an Extended Stay America that was 10 miles from Mayo Clinic. We lived for a month at an Extended Stay America during our adoption process, no frills, no pool, no breakfast, no soap, no shampoo and only clean towels/sheets/maid service every 3 days. So for LESS $$ we got a pool, walking distance to Mayo Clinic, shops, places to eat, computer room, free shuttle to grocery stores and mall, Barnes & Noble, on site public library (this was a hit with the child!). All these places were connected by an underground Subway, so not once did we have to go out into the cold to go anywhere.

We stayed at The Kahler Hotel in the Economy One Double Bed Room according to the hotel website is

"Quaint and functional, these rooms offer guests a cozy environment mixed with a nice assortment of features including a 27-inch TV, a mini-refrigerator, and complimentary high-… View Morespeed internet wi-fi with speeds up to 50Mbps complete." We rented a microwave for $5.00 per day, which was worth it for heating up leftovers. This room was a bit too quaint, about the size of a child's bedroom, very clean and neat, but very small and not enough room on the floor for a cot or sleeping bag. One of us slept either in the office chair or in the bed. This would be great room for a husband/wife to stay in.

We saved on meals by packing a small crockpot, hotplate, egg cooker, a pot and a skillet, along with groceries and dishes. It was wonderful to come back to the hotel in the late afternoon to a crockpot full of delicious food.

We were rubbing elbows with the Mayo Clinic medical students at the hotel, who are the cream of the crop as only 250 are accepted at a time to Mayo's Medical School. They even have their own Mayo Medical School Lounge in the hotel. It was very nice with a full kitchen and living room. We saw many foreign students going in and out of there and the YUMMY smells coming from the kitchen were of an ethnic delight each night.

We met a number of foreign people who were coming to Mayo for treatment as well as we ran into 2 ladies from our home area that were coming for treatment. What a small world we live in!

Our unsocialized homeschooler meet a bunch of kids to swim with at the pool and had a lot of fun with them.

Tomorrow I will share my exciting day of testing.

Stop by my blog

http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Progeny Press Review of The Hobbit & Treasure Island Interactive PDF Study Guides.

As members of The Old Schoolhouse Magazines Review Crew we have been privileged to receive The Hobbit Interactive Study Guide instant download for grades 8th-12th as well as the Treasure Island Study Guide grades 7th-10th from Progeny Press.

 Prices: $21.99 Printed Booklet, $18.99 CD, $18.99 Instant Download The book The Hobbit can be purchased from Progeny Press for just $8.99 for paperback. There are a few extras that are needed to do a complete study, but they are items that most of us already have on hand on our bookshelves such as: a good dictionary, Bible, topical Bible, concordance, encyclopedias, Internet access and a thesaurus.

The Hobbit Interactive Study Guide is for 8th-12th grade students, our 7th grade student was able to use this product from Progeny Press with no problems.

I will be the first to admit that I have always been under the impression that The Hobbit was not a book for Christians to read, well grab a snack & drink and come join me in finding out just how wrong this assumption was on my part.

 

"Looking for more than activity sheets or a who-did-what series of questions? Want to dig into the essence of the novel? This study guide provides easy-to-use, reproducible lessons on literary terms, comprehension and analysis, critical thinking, related scriptural principles, vocabulary, and activities, plus a complete answer key." From the Progeny Press Website.

 

What the student liked about the The Hobbit Interactive PDF Study Guide.

 

1) I liked how the study guide gave background information about the author, I always like to know more about who wrote the book.

2) It made literature and language fun.

3) I was able to save my answers in the PDF files.

4) I can't wait to go over this study guide with some friends who have also read The Hobbit.

5) I did not have to hand write my answers. YEAH for me!

 

What the student did not like about the The Hobbit Interactive PDF Study Guide.

 

1) I wish that I had more time to complete the review, we had a short amount of time to use this product and I can't wait to complete the projects that are included in the study guide.

 

 What this homeschool Momma liked about the The Hobbit Interactive PDF Study Guide.

1) I loved how it used the Bible to explain things.

2) The Note to Instructor section was great! Extra teaching helps are always appreciated.
3) By using the Progeny Press Interactive Study Guides you can award 1/4 credit hour on your students high school transcripts. I really like knowing this because it can sometimes be hard to figure out just how much a course is worth.
3) This study guide it full of thought provoking questions.
4) WONDERFUL answer key! Sometimes having a GREAT answer key can make the world of difference in teaching. It helps me to explain concepts better as well as takes the guessing game out of, "Do they really understand this material?"
5) The Interactive PDF was great, I did not have to hear any complaining about having to write...lol. What homeschool Momma of a 7th grade boy loves to NOT have to hear that? lol
6) I liked the features like Parallelism, Dig Deeper Activities and Character Sketches.
7) It incorporates music too.
8) Teaches riddles and proverbs for critical thinking.
9) This was not an overwhelming study, we did a section per week.

What this homeschool Momma did not like about the The Hobbit Interactive PDF Study Guide.

1) NOTHING! Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner, we have another great product here!


 We were also give a copy of the Progeny Press Treasure Island Study Guide which retails for  Price: $18.99 Printed Booklet, $16.99 CD, $16.99 Instant Download. Again we were given the instant download version. The Treasure Island paperback book can be purchased from Progeny Press for $8.00. This is for grade 7th-10th. There are a few extras that are needed to do a complete study, but they are items that most of us already have on hand on our bookshelves such as: a good dictionary, Bible, topical Bible, concordance, encyclopedias, Internet access and a thesaurus.  

What the student liked about the Progeny Press Treasure Island Study Guide

 

1) FUN FUN FUN!! I liked how the PDF study guide brought the book to life.

2) The pre-reading activities were fun too, I liked researching the different types of ships.

3) I learned some new words that I did not know before and I really liked how I could place my mouse over a word & right click, then click on "look up" to find the meaning of words.

 

What the student did not like about the Progeny Press Treasure Island Study Guide

 

1) Nothing!

   

 

What this homeschool Momma liked about the Progeny Press Treasure Island Study Guide

1) Pretty much the same as above for The Hobbit study guide.

2) I really like how the questions made the student use thinking skills and did not just have yes and no answers. It made the learning experience richer.

3) Opened up dialog that I did not have to lead.

4) This engaged my husband as he loves literature, so it opened up some chatter between father and son.

 

What this homeschool Momma did not like about the Progeny Press Treasure Island Study Guide

 

1) Again nothing! I had read this book as a child and never did I get this much thought provoking information from that time.

 

I highly recommend the Interactive PDF Study Guides from Progeny Press.

 

Knowledge Quest Homeschool Review

We were given a copy of the Knowledge Quest Maps Sacagawea ebook via email from Knowledgequestmaps.com. Sacagawea "Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know." Sacagawea was read by our 7th grade son. This ebook retails for $4.97. The ebook is interactive and has a VERY cool appeal to it for the student. Throughout the ebook your student will find hyperlinks to click on to gather more information from really neat websites.  

"Sacagawea is an interactive historical novel that challenges readers to dig deeper into the true lives of extraordinary individuals AND stretches the idea of how stories themselves are told. Sacagawea is a riveting account and intimate look into the life of one of America's most beloved women." Quoted from the  website Knowledge Quest Maps.

   

    What this 7th grade student liked about the  Sacagawea "Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know" ebook.   1) I started out not really thinking that the story would be interesting, but in time I found it very interesting.  2) It took me to a lot of cool websites. 3) I had fun learning and exploring more about 4) I learned more about Lewis and Clark Expedition 5) It's a good read! 6) Did I tell you I really liked the links?    What this 7th grade student did not like about  the  Sacagawea "Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know" ebook.   1)  SPOILER ALERT: I was saddened how the story ended. 2) The story touched on several key historical events, but also contained many items that maybe would be better gone over with a Mom or Dad. Nothing really bad, by today's standards, but some concepts that may need explained in more detail. But please don't let that take away from reading the ebook to your student, because as I said above it's a good read.     What this homeschool Momma liked about the Sacagawea "Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know" ebook.   1) I loved how the book was very educational but also held the students interest. 2) LOVED how the websites were SAFE and I felt comfortable allowing my student to surf the web using the provided links. (though the student can go elsewhere on the net through the safe links provided by Knowledge Quest, so please always monitor your students Internet activities.  3) I thought that the age for the ebook was appropriate: 10 and over. 4) Great for learning history. 5) This ebook made for EASY learning! Especially as I have had a major surgery with complications, Sacagawea made for some QUIET & EASY school time that I needed during my recovery.   Things that this homeschool Momma did not like about the Sacagawea "Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know" ebook.   1) For younger kids it might be a little deep (such as when Sacagawea is in slavery) 2) You may want to read this with your younger more sensitive readers. 3) This is really a great ebook to take on the go with your Kindle, but you MUST have Wi-FI to get the links to work, you CAN still read the book without Wi-Fi though.   All in all I would say a good read and a fun way to learn.   Moe  

             

FREE HomeSchool Legal Defense membership offer

HSLDA
Welcome to HSLDA’s FREE membership
for parents of preschoolers. We look
forward to serving your family as
you explore the exciting world of
homeschooling!

J. Michael Smith, President

copied from the HSLDA website.

 

HSLDA has awesome benefits and I know many real world friends that have been helped by HSLDA. The website is full of some great helps, listing of laws by state and much much more. The membership is so worth it.

 

Moe

Need I say more?

Computer Science for Kids Review

 

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review crew we were honored to be picked to review Computer Science For Kids computer programming software. We decided to try out Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic. It's on sale until July 4th, so it's the perfect time to order now and be able to look through the E-book before your 2014-2015 school year starts in the fall.

Single User License

Digital E-Book Download Only

Item #104-DL $59.95

Sale Price!

$34.95
 

First off let me say that this homeschool Momma, is totally clueless when it comes to computers, I can type and send an email, but that is about it. Even when I was in college we did not have computers, I had an old Brother Typo Graph Typewriter for my college term papers...lol.

When we found our name attached to this review my son was jumping up and down and wanting to call his friends and invite them over to play with his Bible games that he was going to be making.

The software is designed for Middle School students, which I think was right on target for self directed learning, I believe that younger children would do well with parent directed learning while using Computer Science For Kids.

 

Before I give you our thoughts on Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic, lets first talk about customer service. In this day and age, we hear so much about CUSTOMER NO SERVICE! As Clark Howard would say.  But in the case of Computer Science For Kids, the customer service was outstanding and I really do not think it had anything to do with us being on the TOS Review Crew. Philip Conrod (the author) was AMAZING and did not make me feel like a totally dork when I was clueless about how to get this set up on my computer. I had a major computer issue when I downloaded the software and everything seemed to go crazy on my computer. Philip emailed me a couple of times and then called me on the phone. He spent about 20+ minutes with me, walking me through a few things on my computer to see what the problem was. Well in the end the problem was with my computer, I did not have WinZip downloaded on my computer. So Philip stayed on the phone with me and walked me step by step on how to do that and he chatted easily with me while it was downloading. I think that he must have checked out my blog, because he chatted with me about adoption and how the Lord blessed them through adoption when they had not even considered adoption before. Their daughter brought up the subject and things fell into place and they added a little girl to their family through International adoption. Once WinZip got added to my computer the Computer Science For Kids software worked perfectly! We were blessed to have this really cool computer program to play with and I was blessed as an adoptive mom to hear the story of another adoptive family coming together.

So here is our review...
What the student liked...
1) It was fun!
2) It was easy!
3) I liked how you could do the programs & all the different variations.
4) I love the games!

What the student did not like...
1) Mom would not let me spend more time each day playing with this! lol. Ya know, I had other school work to complete.

What the homeschool Momma liked...
1) Easy to install (once I got the WinZip on board).
2) Simple for our son to understand and use.
3) AWESOME for me as a post-op homeschool Momma who spent her days during this review in a recliner recovering from having my Sigmoid Colon removed, an anastomotic leak and subsequent infection and 13 day hospital stay. This was a wonderful tool to get school moving along, so that my son could 'play' on the computer...hahaha...actually LEARN on the computer with  Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic but it sure did not feel like learning, it was a fun time that he looked forward to each day.
4) This opened up a whole new world my son, this was all totally new to him.

Here is a sampling of what you get with the Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic

1. Noah’s Ark
2. Daniel and the Lions’ Den
3. Elijah and the Ravens
4. The Good Shepherd
5. The Prodigal Son
6. The Lost Coin
7. Bible Scramble

"The "learning programs" include a unit conversion program, savings calculator, a sub-sandwich builder, a cardwars game, a number guessing game, a state capitals game, a times table program, a stop watch, a simple drawing program, fun logic games and a fun video game. Finished programs can even be published on-line to share programs with others. " Quoted from the Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic website.

Yes we would buy this and use it again, and guess what? It's on sale!! What homeschool Momma can pass up a sale on curriculum? Normally $59.99 it's on sale for $34.95. That is a savings of over $25.00!!! Hurry over and order now for the coming school year! A minimum of Windows XP is needed to run this and we used it on our Vista system. It takes about 10 weeks to complete, but if your child understands the material well, they can move through it at a faster pace. This product is for ages 10+.

   

We got to meet the Duggar family!

We had the opportunity to meet the Duggar family from TLC's show 19 Kids & Counting. It was pretty cool! Michelle & Jim Bob spoke and the children play music and sang for us. It was such a blessing. This family is exactly the same as they are on TV. Michelle was so sweet to talk with. Our son had a fun time meeting his favorite Duggar, Josiah. They looked very similar at younger ages.
We were very blessed with this experience and I came away refreshed as a Christian, wife and mother of an only child.

There were only 2 Duggars missing, Josh and John David (the one with the tow truck business?).

 

Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar, our son & I.

More Duggar children signing our book.

 

Our son with his favorite Duggar, Josiah.

Stop by my blog

http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Yeah!!

I am so excited ooh-la-la Sasson. I am so excited to be able to say that I can fit in to my jeans again! YIPPE!! My stomach was so swelled up after my surgery/leak/infection that I could not wear anything but sweat pants, my wonderful sister-in-law went to the store to buy me some since my own sweats would not fit.

So a mere 72 days after surgery I am back in my old jeans, well 1 pair, the other ones still don't fit. But hey, I will take these out on the town! Still exhausted, but moving along. Again the surgeon said that this was to be expected and I would not be up and running for some time to come.

 Stop by my blog

http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/