These word fluency strips are exactly what we need to help with grouping and recognizing sound/letter combos so that he can naturally do this on his own with unfamiliar words. This is a small sampling of the fluency lists available, for FREE!
Unilateral Clubfoot Bracing
I felt the need to compose this because there is so little information out there for parents to find when it comes to bracing options with clubfoot treatment. If you’ve followed our Clubbie Adventures you know that we made the choice early on, prior to our daughters birth really, that we would use a unilateral brace after casting. While this seemed like the most logical decision for us it was NOT the easiest option to find information about, procure, or gain clinical insight into. It took some major digging and months and months of research to get answers to our questions. If I had only been able to access the information that we have now our journey could’ve been less stressful. For anyone out there considering a unilateral bracing option for their child I hope this information helps you weigh the options and have some clarity. Continue reading “Unilateral Clubfoot Bracing”
The Life of Homeschooling
Well there’s a post I never thought I’d be writing. I tell everyone that homeschooling was never part of my life plan, so I thought. I loved the idea of it in theory but it was one of those “oh good for them, I could never do that” type of things. Until I really had no choice. Thus ensued one of the craziest, challenging, and rewarding experiences of my life that my family will always remember…
Aug 5 2020
Well here you have it folks, my homeschool or more formally known as the dining room. It’s a work in progress as this impromptu idea finally takes hold. Rearranging the entire house to accommodate the desk workspace in the back room was a fun time. As well as digging up anything I could repurpose for this absolutely insane adventure. I have many reasons for making the agonizing decision to do this, it is NOT the path I ever wanted and I’d be lying to say I wasn’t angry at what I feel forced to do here. However, I’m hoping this “mustard seed” blooms larger than life and I’m crossing my fingers to keep a shred of my sanity in tact over the next 10 months. I feel an immense amount of pressure to do this right for the sake of my children’s futures and my perfectionism allows no room for grace for myself. 4 kids. 4 grades. I think I can. I know I can. #operationhomeschoolisback#hangingonfordearlife#dinnerpartieswillhavetowait
The best way to tell the story is to start at the end because it sums up the entirety of this experience and most notably that we survived. The long and short of it is that we decided to pull our kids out of the public school system after the epic disaster that is “remote learning” and homeschool them for the school year of 2020-2021. Our intention was to take it one day at a time with the goal of them returning to the public school system after the chaos of Covid19 had died down. I will detail our year in various posts but the takeaway is the finish line. For anyone considering this, here’s a peek into the last day of our year.
Continue reading “The Life of Homeschooling”
Design Trends 2021
Have I mentioned my design obsession? Oh yes, yes I have. As such I’m perpetually decorating or re-decorating or helping others decorate or re-decorate. Here are my insights into the big trends we will start seeing the next couple of years.
For the past 5-6 years we’ve seen a major boom in the industrial farmhouse vibe. Thanks to shows like Fixer Upper that gave this rustic yet modern style a name and a face the world hopped on the bandwagon hard. It’s cozy and inviting but new and fresh, it’s casual enough for every day families to embrace with the potential to elevate for those with a more traditional and crisp design style. While the farmhouse vibe isn’t going anywhere anytime soon I think we will start to see that married to some other more progressive yet vintage design ideas. Is that a thing? Progressive/vintage? Well that’s what I’m calling it.
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
While my Dad was sick I would often find myself singing this, if I heard it on the radio I’d tear up. I still do. It was a fitting ballad I guess as he was we were fighting and still remains true now that he’s gone.
What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over cause you’re gone
I’m not sure it made me stronger. Maybe one day at the end of my journey on this earth I’ll look back and be able to answer that with more certainty. What it did do was change my entire perspective on life. Especially given the fact that I was young when he died, I was 27. Most 27 year olds were worrying about what bar they were going to that evening or which Tinder date they were going to meet up with. Others were stressing out about potty training or wedding planning. Continue reading “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger”
WGU Nursing Program- An Inside Look
Are you considering Western Governors University for your nursing degree? If so, here’s some of my insight into the inner workings of coursework at WGU. This is my insider advice on tackling each assessment area and how to navigate the road of their RN to BSN and BSN to MSN program/s which I completed myself. You can read more about my journey here. Course by course tips for the BSN are here and for the MSN are here.
Continue reading “WGU Nursing Program- An Inside Look”
Arbonne Detox Week 2
Off we go to week 2 of my journey through the 30 Days to Healthy Living bootcamp!
I’m still working on healthy dinners that are low to no carb. This isn’t necessarily a requirement of the bootcamp but I’ve found that it is a good area of improvement needed in our lives. After all, this experience is about making a lifestyle change that sticks beyond bootcamp.
So far we’ve found some great recipes and have made or modified a few of our own. The main issue I’ve seen here is that the kids are not as happy with our meals as they usually are. Continue reading “Arbonne Detox Week 2”
Choosing a Clubfoot Doctor
I offer the following insight into choosing the RIGHT DOCTOR for clubfoot treatment. This is CRUCIAL. I had no idea how important this seemingly simple decision would be much like other parents out there. Please research and do your homework, take my advice below to make the right decision for your little one!
After the initial shock of the clubfoot diagnosis subsided and once we got the amnio and microarray testing back confirming that our baby was perfectly fine with just a special foot we moved to the next phase, choosing a doctor for her treatment after birth. Continue reading “Choosing a Clubfoot Doctor”
Design Trends 2018 And Beyond
I always seem to be into design trends that no one knows are trends yet. This has proved quite challenging because I have to scour the earth to find things to suit my design ideas like digging up a needle in a haystack. And lo and behold about 1-3 years down the road these ideas are everywhere requiring no effort to acquire… yet I’m off to the next idea.
Prior to the whole “farm-y industrial” idea that is everywhere I was wracking my brain trying to describe to people what my design style was. I’d often say that it was like Restoration Hardware meets shabby chic, with a little more chic and a little less shabby. Urban farm was a fairly decent description. Well now it requires no explanation, this is the trend everywhere (and perfectly executed on my favorite Fixer Upper show by the way). The first episode I saw I looked at my husband and said OMG someone finally GETS IT. She is my spirit animal. Continue reading “Design Trends 2018 And Beyond”
Arbonne Detox Week 1
Alrighty, off we go! It’s week 1 of the Arbonne 30 Days to Healthy Living Bootcamp. Here’s my experience and narrative for the first week which had it’s share of ups and downs.
Day 1- I was added to my bootcamp a little bit late so I missed the whole idea of prepping meals and snacks the weekend prior but I wasn’t too worried about that because we enjoy cooking. For breakfast I grabbed the probiotic and added it to about 4 oz of water, handed one to my hubby, and took a swig. He immediately chokes, slams the rest of his drink and gasps “OMG it tastes like BURNT HAIR?!!” I started laughing and told him to shut up because I still had half of mine to drink and he was exactly right, that stuff tastes like burnt hair. Disgusting. I choked the rest of mine down nearly gagging.
Well this 30 days is going to go well! Face –> palm. Continue reading “Arbonne Detox Week 1”
Breaking Up With My Mirena
This post was written after I had my second child. We had two kids under 2 and wanted a form of birth control that I didn’t have to deal with, no pills to take on a regular basis. My OBGYN gave me the rundown on Mirena and how wonderful it was! 5 years of hassle free birth control. Sounded great. Popped that baby in and didn’t think anything of it. Until it became a major issue.
I’m finally breaking up with my Mirena. For 5 months I’ve been told to just hang in there, wait it out, deal with the beyond annoying side effects and I’m finally calling it QUITS! No one in their right mind should continue to put up with these kinds of things for this length of time, I don’t care what the “professionals” tell you. Continue reading “Breaking Up With My Mirena”
Momma Maven 