Maverick Update

I posted a few months ago about Maverick Thomas... he was only 12 hours old when his bassinet burst into flames at the Hospital here in MN. He suffered burns on 17-18% of his little newborn body.

I just wanted to update you...
I got an email from his parents today thanking me for posting about Maverick. They included Maverick's 3 month photo. I won't post the photo here because I don't have permission, but let me tell you he looks amazing! He looks so healthy and happy. Such a beautiful smile. I am so glad that he is recovering and doing well. Way to go, Maverick!

Just checkin' in

Hey you guys! Sorry I haven't been posting over here much. I have been busy planning for our schooling next year. I have decided to go with Charlotte Mason inspired homeschooling instead of the virtual schooling we have done the last two years. We've been doing lots of Nature Study to get us in the swing of things.

Lots of new posts over at my other blog, if you want to see what we've been up to!

New homeschool post

There is a new post over on my homeschooling blog. Check it out!

Homeschooling my 2

Just popping in!

Hey! Just thought I would pop in and say hi to my bloggy readers!

Guess what. Its snowing. In April. I the Spring. Snow. *sigh*

Nonetheless, we got a lot accomplished today. I had been thinking of trading my Conversion Van for something smaller... an SUV or minivan. My only "beef" with this van is the parking. We live in the City and it won't fit in many of the parking garages here. So I usually have to park far away and walk. But, after thinking on it, I decided to keep it. We really want to do some traveling and camping this Summer and the big van will be comfy for that. And it really is in good shape. And we have put quite a bit of money into it, so its running great. So anyways, I decided to fix a few little things that we had been letting slide.

1) Someone stole the stereo out of it a few months ago. :( So we picked up a new one and Dave installed it for me. Its pretty cool. It even plays MP3s. I am thinking it will be fun to put some of the music we are studying in school on there to listen to in the van. Or maybe even audio books. Hmmm...

2) I bought me a card reader so that I can put MP3s on my SD Card for my stereo.

3) Dave was able to fix my cigarette lighter while he was in there. Now we can charge Nintendo DSs and cell phones! Yay!

4) New batteries for my alarm remote. To protect my new radio!

Next I need to go get my oil changed, do a tune-up... oh and Dave needs to go through the wiring and see why my dome lights don't work. Other than that a sticking a few screws in trim here and there we're good to go! I think we will be happy with the van. Especially the next time we decide to drive out to PA to visit my family! 1000 miles. One way.

So that's about it for me today.
There are a few posts over on my homeschool blog you could read if you're bored... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolingmy2
There will be another one within a day or two... we're going for a nature walk on Wednesday with my nature study group. So watch for that.

Seeya!

My new blog

I have started a new blog. No, I'm not moving again! This blog will be for our homeschooling and nature study things. I will continue to post here... I will guess it will be less often, as most of our life is school related, but we'll see how it goes. If you're interested in nature or homeschooling... or if you just want to see what we're up to when I'm not posting here you can visit us over there. I posted about our nature walk yesterday, by the way. :)

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolingmy2

Check this out!

Dave and I took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo the other day and this Lynx was in a playful mood.




The kids were running from one end of the glass to the other and the Lynx would chase them and pounce on the glass. It was so fun to watch! And so cool for the kids to be that close to a wild animal. Here's a photo I took of Tyler and the Lynx eying each other.

Silly Dress-Up Baby

Here's little Miss Emily sporting Mommy's socks and Brother's hat. Isn't she gorgeous? :)

Sorry I haven't been posting much. Lots going on around here to keep us busy! I'll try to get back into the swing of things quick.

Oh! I started a Nature Study group. If you live in Minnesota and use nature in your homeschooling check it out! CM Nature Study in MN

Homeschoolers: Wanna win some Rosetta Stone!?!

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

Just a couple of things...

Hey! Quick couple of things...

Have you seen this place?? Paper Back Swap. Its so fun! You can swap books (they don't have to be paperback) with people. I am drooling over here! Wanna drool with me? Click that link above to join. When you list 10 books for trade they will give you 2 free credits to get you started... then when your books get chosen by someone you'll get credits for each of them as well. And I'll even get a free book credit out of the deal! Win-win! :)

ALSO

I want to hear from all of you homeschoolers out there. We are doing a virtual school this year and I am not happy with some aspects of it. I am researching other methods for next year. I would love to hear your thoughts! I am sort of intrigued by the Charlotte Mason method. Comment here or email me at mommy2tyler @ comcast (dot) net. Thanks!!

Nice little surprise...

The kids and I took a ride down to one of our favorite fishing spots here in The Cities and we saw this when we got there...

I'm still kickin'!

Did you think I fell off the face of the Earth? Well I didn't! I'm right here. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I guess I just got caught up in life. I'll try not to let it happen again... no promises though!

So here's a list of sorts to get you up to date...

• ~Emily is walking. Look out!
• ~Emily now has a vocabulary... it consists of "Hi", "Ow" (Spoken as I comb her hair. Learned from her big brother.), "Mooooooo", and "Bow wow wow" (Translates to "Bow Chica Wow Wow" from The Chipmunks. Pretty durn cute if ya ask me. :) ).
• ~Tyler has 3 loose teeth!
• ~Tyler has learned the secret about Santa... which led to the secret about the Easter Bunny... which led to the secret about the Tooth Fairy... which led, well you can see where this is going. My little guy is growing up. *sigh*
  
• ~School is going good and is so much fun. I love being there with Tyler as he learns... and learning right along with him most of the time!
  
• ~The kids and I are going to see Disney on Ice tomorrow.
  
• ~We are in the process of starting a business making custom fishing rods. Wish us luck!

I think that's about it for us. I'll leave you with a photo of the kids and I at Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America yesterday...

Make me merry Monday

Its that time of week again! Make me merry Monday! Help me spread merriment throughout Blogland, won't you? All you have to do is blog about something that makes you happy. That's it! Easy as pie! Then head back to this post and leave a link in my Mister Linky so that we can all visit you and see what makes you merry.

Oh, and here's the code to add my nifty little badge to your post...

<a href="http://mycollectivelife.blogspot.com/" title="Make me merry Monday"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2079/1696849312_a051cb8dfb_m.jpg" alt="Make me merry Monday badge" height="200" width="150" /></a>

Now... what makes ME merry? Well, this week my income tax refund is making me merry. I am enjoying having a little extra to play with. Some "fun money", if you will. This is something we don't usually have. And this is something we won't have for long. So we are enjoying it.

My income tax refund makes me merry. How about you?

Make me laugh Monday

Its make me laugh Monday over at Absolutely Bananas. This little clip has been making me laugh...

Kick his ask.

Ma & Pa Kettle - Math Whizzes

Bloggy Giveaways Carnival Winners

Thanks to a random number generator we have winners!

Here are your random numbers:

31 17

Timestamp: 2008-02-04 20:02:38 UTC

That means our winners are...

susan1215

AND

Linda

Congrats! I will email you girls in a sec! I need to know what colors you would like your leashes to be and where to send them when I finish them.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

For those of you who did not win... all is not lost. I have decided to take orders for my custom Nintendo DS Stylus Leashes! If you are interested email me. They will be very reasonably priced and made to your specifications. You will not be disappointed!

EDITED TO ADD:
I have emailed Linda.
Susan1215, you did not leave me an email address in your comment and there is not one on your Blogger profile. If you read this please email me! If you know Susan, please have her email me! If I don't hear from her by tomorrow I will be forced to choose another winner... I specified in my contest post to be sure you leave me an email to get in touch with you if you win. Thanks!

Bloggy Giveaways Carnival

Shannon over at Bloggy Giveaways is hosting a Bloggy Giveaways Carnival. There are 792 giveaways to sign up for as of right now, people! Amazing.

So, what am I giving away you ask? Well, my giveaway was born out of necessity. We all have Nintendo DSs here... and my 7 year old is constantly losing the "pen" to his. We tried many things to tie it onto his DS, but nothing was durable enough. SO I came up with these Nintendo DS Stylus Leashes. They are handmade by me from hemp and have glass beads. I thought I would draw a couple of random names and make them a custom leash. These will work for both Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite systems.

All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post! Easy as pie! I will draw 2 random names on Monday, Feb.3rd. You don't have to have a blog to enter, just be sure that you leave me an email in your comment so that I can contact you. Oh and this is open to US residents only.... sorry.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you will come back!

Edited to add:
For those of you who don't win the contest... if you are interested in these leashes, ya all might be able to gang up on me and sweet talk me into taking orders for them. :)

Winter Fun

With the high of 38° F today we decided we would get out and enjoy the day before it gets cold again (like tomorrow's high of 10° F). So we gathered up Tyler's best friend, Jacob, and his Daddy and went sledding. Everyone had a good time. Even the Daddy's got to go down the hill a couple of times. I had Emily bundled up in her carrier and she really liked watching the boys go up and down the hill. A couple of photos of the boys...

We even had the chance to get a family photo taken (Thanks, Manny!). I am pretty sure this is the only photo we have of all 4 of us...

I was playing with the video feature on my camera too. I hadn't messed with it before. I put a couple on YouTube just to see how it worked. Here's one of the boys going down the hill together...

Maverick Thomas

Keep this little baby boy and his family in your thoughts and prayers, won't you? Shortly after he was born, he was lying in the hospital in a bassinet under a warmer, with an "oxygen hood" to supply extra oxygen when his bassinet started on fire.

From the Star Tribune...

"The baby boy was only 12 hours old when fire burst out in his bassinet at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Tuesday.

And he was only 14 hours old when he was rushed to the Hennepin County Medical Center burn unit, the youngest patient ever treated there.

By Wednesday, the boy named Maverick was in stable but critical condition with burns on 17 to 18 percent of his body, as hospital and fire department officials scrambled to find out how an accident like this could happen."

More info here.

Government on Display Exposition at the Mall of America

Just a quick note to let anyone in the Twin Cities area know about a fun expo going on this weekend at the Mall of America. We attended it last year and it is chuck full of educational opportunities and fun! Lots of government agencies are set up educating and giving out freebies. There is going to be a display from the National Weather Service too with all sorts of fun things to learn about. Maybe we'll see ya there!! :)
Here's the blurb from the Mall's site... info and updates can also be found here: Government on Display Exposition

Saturday, January 26 - Sunday, January 27

The 9th annual Government on Display Exposition at Mall of America® is the largest government event ever staged inside an American mall. United States citizens will have an unprecedented opportunity to meet and talk with elected officials and public servants in a public forum.

More than 20 federal and state agencies, including Minnesota's U.S. Congressional delegation, will be represented at the Expo. A naturalization ceremony, in which 30 immigrants will become U.S. citizens, kicks off the Expo on Saturday, January 26 at 9 a.m. in the Rotunda.

Saturday, January 26 - Sunday, January 27
Mall Hours
All Courts

Edited to add:
In case anyone is interested, Kristi Yamaguchi will be the Mall of America tomorrow afternoon signing autographs. More info here.

PSA: Inflammatory breast cancer

Did you know that you do NOT need to have a lump in your breast to have breast cancer? I was surprised to learn this. There is so much hype about monthly breast self-exams but, while I know they work, I have never once heard mention that you do not need to have a lump to have cancer. Not once. Until today. I was doing my normal blog reading this morning, and when I got to Mommy Needs a Cocktail she was telling the story of Susan. Susan has inflammatory breast cancer. Susan is in surgery right now, right this second, having a double mastectomy. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she fights this horrible thing we call cancer. If you Twitter you can follow Susan... she was updating up until she was wheeled into the OR just a few minutes ago. She posted back in July about this cancer and I wanted to share it with you all here, because I feel it is important to get the word out...

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

The purple text above is from Susan's blog and is her own words. You can read the original post here. Look around her blog. She has alot of posts about this cancer, and they are very insightful. She also posts about her beautiful family.

Like I said, lets all keep her in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers today as she goes through surgery to fight this thing.

UPDATE: This just came through on Twitter...

whymommy in postop. i'm alive! 8 minutes ago from web

Randomness

Hey! I know. I know. I did it again. I went awol on y'all. I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Ok? Thanks! You're the best. :)

So... what's new...

Do any of you suffer from depression this time of year? I am having a really hard time lately. I'm broke. I have no friends. My family is 1000 miles away. I've been sick with a cold for weeks. Someone stole the stereo out of my van last week. I could go on and on... and being cooped up due to sub-zero temps does not help matters. My kids are just as bored as I am. And it shows. We're going crazy over here! I only hope warmer weather comes soon... and my tax refund would be nice too. Then we can get out of this house and do something. Yay!

On to the randomness...

I re-discovered Twitter. Its kinda fun. I added it to my side bar over there <-- You can even "follow me". Fun times, people!

I also re-discovered Sk*rt. Great way to see what's going on in Blogland and beyond.

I discovered Paperback Swap... thanks to Kim over at Life in a Shoe. Great way to recycle your used books and get some new ones in the process! You list your books and, when someone requests one, you mail it to them... then you get a credit to use to request a book of your own from someone! I added a link in my side bar over there --> If you click it and join I will get a free book credit when you post 10 books. Thank you very much. :) Oh they are giving new members 2 free credits when they list their first 10 books.

I have been having a ton of fun with YouTube too. I discovered vlogs. Who knew! You can even view YouTube videos from your phone!
Funny, I even have Emily loving YouTube and Google. She likes to search for babies and puppies to watch. hehe

Have you heard this little girl sing? She was on the news here last week. Pretty talented!

I redecorated my little ole blog the other day. I used digital scrapbooking elements from the girls over at Digital Scrap Garden. Oh, and check out my little signature at the end of each of my posts. Pretty cool, huh? You can make one of your very own here. Thanks for that link, Kyra!

What else have we been up to... Hmmm...

Tyler is into U.B Funkeys. They're fun little guys. He has a little collection going that he bought with Christmas and birthday money. I'm actually impressed with the originallness (Is that a word? Maybe I should have said originality. Oh well.) of them. We tried the Rescue Pets E-Pets route and it got boring for him. After a few days. Not good. These funky little Funkeys hold promise though.

Dave and Tyler are rocking on their new hobby. Woodworking! Dave has slowly built up a few power tools for them and Tyler really likes spending time out there building things with Daddy. He even has his own work bench. Too cute! Dave came across his old Hand Andy Tool Kit the other day... he was so excited to hand it down to Tyler. They have built a birdhouse, a bird feeder, and a squirrel feeder so far.

What else....

OH! Oh my gosh! Its Make Me Merry Monday! I almost forgot again. Bad me. What makes me merry... this is a hard week for this. Well, this may seen superficial to some, but right now my Nintendo DS is making me merry alot of the time. I got the new Zelda game for Christmas, which is a cool game... and Dave and I have been playing True Swing Golf together in the evenings. Kinda fun. Helps pass the time.

So... My Nintendo DS makes me merry!

I know its late, but if you want to participate in Make Me Merry Monday the code to add my button to your post is in the post below this one (Because its been a week since I last posted. Nice.) I will add a Mister Linky here on this post so you can add your blog's link... then we can all come visit you and see what makes you merry! See how nicely that works? Ok... go on then. Blog and be merry!!

Make me merry Monday

Hello, Blogland! I know. I know. I have been slacking on this. Its just been a busy time of year what with the holidays and 2 birthdays within weeks of each other. Forgive me, will you?

So today is Make me merry Monday! This is the day each week when we all share what makes us happy. It might be a material thing, or a place you like to go, or a person in your life, a time of day, anything that makes you merry. So share, please. All you have to do is blog about what makes you happy and then pop back over here and leave your link in my Mister Linky at the bottom of this post so that we can all come and visit you and see what makes you happy.

Here is the code to add my cute little badge to your post (like above).
<a href="http://mycollectivelife.blogspot.com/" title="Make me merry Monday"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2079/1696849312_a051cb8dfb_m.jpg" alt="Make me merry Monday badge" height="200" width="150" /></a>

Help me spread merriment throughout Blogland, won't you? :)

So, what makes me merry you ask? Well, over these past few weeks, I have had the privilege of being a part of two very special celebrations. My baby girl, Emily, turned 1 year old on December 21st... and my son, Tyler, turned 7 years old on January 13th (yesterday). Watching them enjoy their special days made me very happy and proud to be their Mom. We didn't do anything fancy, just lots of friends and family and fun. But the glow on their faces told me I did a good thing.

So, being a Mom makes me merry.
How about you?

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Today is my big guy's 7th Birthday. He had a full weekend of playing and fun!. His best friend, Jacob, came over yesterday and I took the two boys to Chuck E. Cheese's for the afternoon. Jacob spent the night and we had cake and ice cream this afternoon. He got some good presents too... toys and woodworking tools and even cash! I think he had a good Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!