Work....

The children have been very busy lately. Even though school takes up much of their time, we always have to make time for work, especially yard work!

Jordan using the new weed eater.

Daniel getting the hedge trimmer ready for use.

Daniel picking up the hedge clippings.




This is how the city expects us to bag leaves now. We ended up with 15 30 gallon bags full of leaves and grass.

....And Play

After a long week of school (and yard work for the Whitman kids), the young people of the Church got together for a day at the park. Softball, football, and of course, food!!!

The guys enjoying lunch after a game of baseball.

Savannah enjoying her lunch!


Timothy eating a GARGANTUAN sandwich.

All the little youngin's!

Brandon taking a much needed rest.

Brandon holding a captive audience.

Amanda and Hunter holding hands...how sweet!

The Top 20 Reasons to Homeschool

Some of you may have seen this before, but I thought it was worth posting on this blog. Of course, these aren't my primary reasons for home education, but they're honorable mentions!!

The Top 20 Reasons to Home School

20. Your kids never tell you that you're a lot dumber than their teacher.

19. If you can't find matching socks for your child first thing in the morning, who cares?

18. Cleaning out the refrigerator can double as chemistry lab.

17. Your kids never have a reason to think they'll get beat up by a gang at school.

16. If the principal gives the teacher a bad evaluation, she can stick her icy feet against his legs at night.

15. You can post the Ten Commandments on your school room wall, and you won't get sued.

14. You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.

13. Your child will never go to their 20th high school reunion, meet an old flame, and recklessly abandon their marriage.

12. You get to change more than diapers, you get to change their minds.

11. If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting.

10. It's better to be slightly concerned about socialisation than very concerned about socialism.

9. Your child will never suffer the embarrassment of group showers after PE.

8. The only debate about the school lunch program is whose turn it is to cook.

7. You never have to face the dilemma of whether to take your child's side or the teacher's side in a dispute at school.

6. If your child gets drugs at school it's probably Tylenol.

5. The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no one gossips.

4. Your kids recognize that this list is numerically in reverse order.

3. Your honour student can actually read the bumper sticker that you have put on your car.

2. If your child claims that the dog ate his homework you can ask the dog.

1. Some day your children will consider you to be a miracle working expert and will turn to you for advice.

Tsk Tsk Tsk...

How long has it been now??

I can see from my stat counter that some of you wonderful readers have been checking in every day to see a new post, only to be sorely disappointed. I'm truly sorry. Shame on me...but really, I have been insanely busy.

My dear husband has been very sick. He has been out of work for a couple of days. He seems to have a nasty upper respiratory infection; those things take forever to get over. And antibiotics don't really help. Over the past couple of days, he's been inhaling alot of chicken noodle soup and resting as much as possible. Poor thing...he's worn out! He preaches with every fiber of his being, and doing so on top of this crud he's nursing is making it difficult to get well.

I'm feeling some better since my surgery. But...I went to my Uro on Friday, and it seems I have very few options for treating my IC. The surgery wasn't an overwhelming success, so we have now moved on to a new treatment, pretty close to being the last option. Since I can't take Elmiron orally, I am now having to do self cath injections. I won't go into detail, but if you want to ask questions, fire away.

On top of starting "new" treatments, I have been having a lot of pain in my right side. The Uro found the presence of protein in my last urinalysis, which probably means kidney stones. Lovely, I say. I had a CT scan today, so maybe I will know something by Thursday. This sounds terrible, but I hope it's a kidney stone. If not, protein in the urine could mean Lupus related nephritis. ****shudder****

The thyroid issue still isn't resolved, but at least I know it isn't cancer. Thank You, Lord! I will get a second opinion from an ENT and maybe even have my esophagus scoped again, just to make sure there is no other issue causing the problem. If I can possibly live with these symptoms just to keep my thyroid, I will.

Spring!! It's here and it's beautiful! I plan on planting this year since I completely missed out on it last year. Dreaded foot surgery....I've missed alot over these two feet of mine!

If we can ever have a dry spell for a few days, the boys are going to cut and bag the lawn, bag leaves, and clean the gutters. Some of the leaves have already been bagged, but I recently found out that the city will no longer pick up leaves in plastic bags. They aren't biodegradable. We now have to put them in paper bags. (This explains the reason I had a 'lone bag' for so long-please refer to post titled 'The Lone Bag.')

Oh yes! I have some new patterns for Savannah. I found a super easy pattern for a nice Sunday dress. I haven't settled on a fabric yet, but I think I might go for the black w/tiny white polka dots fabric at Hancock's. I'm trying to let my dear daughter make the choice herself, but her main interest is comfort. As long as it's not too frilly and lacey, she will be pleased.

I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN the "Seasons" series. I have four more chapters to post, but honestly, it is such an emotional thing to write about, it drains me. I will have "A Time to War" by Sunday.

TTFN...hopefully it won't be as long until my next post!

Some News...

My endocrinologist called with good news today. The biopsy showed no malignancy, Thank the Lord! However, I still need bloodwork to determine whether or not I have Hashimoto's disease. The only problem is, the question of why I feel like I am choking has not been answered.

The endo suggested that I see an ENT before I opt for a thyroidectomy. She felt like we needed complete reassurance that there is absolutely nothing else wrong. I suppose I will be seeing an ENT within the next few weeks. Dr. Harris doesn't think they will find anything any different.

It seems that all other doctors are figuring that my problems are coming from my thyroid, yet the endo thinks my thyroid isn't swollen enough to cause such problems. She did tell me that I could possibly be the "atypical" patient that shows greater symptoms even without huge enlargement.

Wouldn't that be just like me? Atypical?

Appt. with Endocrinologist

Well, I'm back from my first appointment with the endo. I am pleased with the doctor. At first I was a little put out because I didn't feel like she was listening to me. But after some time talking with her, I was much more at ease.

Unexpectedly, she did the FNA Biopsy today. YIKES! All I had heard was how painful this was. She offered to send me to the hospital, but I would have had to wait until Tuesday of next week. So, I decided to bite the bullet, endure whatever pain I must, and have it done today.

The biopsy wasn't too terribly bad. The lidocaine to numb my neck was like a bee sting, a bad one! She had the pass the needle through my neck 4 times to get adequate sampling, which was pretty good. They often have to do it 5-6 times to get enough cells to send to the lab. The third pass through was the most painful, but I managed to stay calm. I should have the results by next Wednesday.

Basically, Dr. Harris says my thyroid is functioning normally and that the low TSH was because of the contrast in my system from my previous CT. She feels there is a possibility of Hashimoto's, which will be confirmed by this biopsy. Of course, she is looking for malignancy.

If the biopsy comes back with no malignancy and no Hashi's, then I would have to decide whether or not I want to have my thyroid removed in order to alleviate the symptoms of neck pain, choking, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing. She isn't very impressed with the size of my goiter, so she said there is a possibility that my thyroid isn't causing the problems I'm having. ????????? We have checked for everything else. I just can't imagine what else it could be. We know it's not reflux, allergies, or asthma. There are also no other growths in my neck that would be pushing against my esophagus. It's a mystery, and to be honest, I hope to get an answer. It's no fun going to the doctor, hoping that you will get an answer, only to face more uncertainty.

But for now, that's all we have...uncertainty. Hopefully on Tuesday, I will have an answer that will at least rule out cancer.

Labs and Appointments

I spoke with my internist earlier and my lab results are back. My TSH is indicating hyperthyroid; however, all of my symptoms are hypothyroid. I haven't been tested yet, but I strongly suspect Hashimoto's disease. It causes fluctuation between hyper and hypo. It's an auto immune disease, which would make sense. I'm compromised already, as far as immunity goes. All else on the blood work was "normal."

After talking to my internist, I called the Endocrinologist's office to see if they had received all pertinent labs and test results in order to evaluate my condition. By doing so, they can determine how quickly to move me up the waiting list. After being on hold for a few minutes, they told me to come in Thursday morning at 9:00.

I'm thrilled to get an earlier appointment. I only regret that my uptake scan can't be done for another 3 weeks. Just wishing there was some way to move that up some!

I have talked to one of my husband's employees. She recently had her thyroid removed because of thyroid cancer. She saw the same Doctor I will be seeing Thursday. She greatly praised Dr. Harris, and that made me feel much better. She did give me a word of warning: if I have to have a FNA biopsy, ask for pain medication. She said it was extremely painful and that it was worse than the surgery to remove her thyroid.

I've definitely made a note of that.

Hopefully, I will have some news or direction as of Thursday. All of my readers who know the Lord and pray, please do so for me. I deeply covet your prayers.