Look Who's on the Cover of HOAC Catalog!

Wow! I couldn't believe it when my friend emailed me and told me to check out Hands of a Child's new 2008 Catalog. She said someone I know would be on the front cover! WOW!

Well, needless to say I dropped everything I was doing at the moment and headed over to Hands of a Child and checked out the new catalog. Timmy is on the front cover holding the Extreme Weather Lapbook. And that isn't all, my children are on other pages throughout as well.

* Timmy is on page: 22 (Lions)
* Jessica is on page: 44 (Biltmore House)
* Jake is on page: 44 (Out Like a Lion & In like a Lamb)
* And a group photo (Jessica, Timmy, Holly, & friend) of a a class I did at my home on Extreme Weather is on page: 23

This catalog is wonderful! It is full of GREAT coupons, Question & Answers, wonderful articles, and more. I recently received the hard copy of this catalog. It is a wonderful to sit down with some coffee and read catalog! You can also download in ebook format for free at HOAC.

I always enjoy reading the HOAC catalog!

And I don't think I shared this other tidbit with you. Timmy is also on the HOAC blog logo. :o) What a photogenic child I have!

Timmy's Dr. Appointment Update

Well... Timmy's hand isn't turning like it did after the surgery. So we have to do exercises 10 times a day and he will start physical therapy 2 times a week after Christmas. The PT says she doesn't feel the blockage in his arm like before when she tried to turn it. Therefore her, and the Dr., feel it is just a little stiff and with working it, he will be ok.

Please keep him in your prayers that healing continues to improve and he is able to turn that hand palm upright in no time.

After Surgery Update on Timmy

Sorry this took a while to post. I just wasn't certain what I would say, how much to share, etc. Seems I got a little long winded anyways. *Ü*

We arrived at the hospital at 7am. Did a quick check in and then off to the surgery waiting area. The nurse Timmy had was wonderful! She made him feel very comfortable. And she made us feel comfortable too.

The anesthesiologist was a funny character. He was asking Timmy all kinds of math questions (converting pounds to kg) and Timmy just stared at the guy. I told him that Timmy couldn't even remember his name when asked a while ago, let alone be able to answer any questions like that. Then he told Timmy, "See you later Alligator." And then asked Timmy what he was suppose to say. Timmy just stared at him... again... The poor kid was overwhelmed. But all in all the anesthesiologist was a very nice guy and was just trying to make Timmy feel comfortable with him. He (the anesthesiologist) just struck me as a little odd. *Ü*

Surgery started at approximately 8:30am and was scheduled for 1 1/2 hours. Therefore he would be done and in recovery at, or around, 10 am. At 10:45 am I was wondering why we hadn't heard anything yet. At 11 am Greg went to the desk to find out the status of Timmy's surgery. They said all was well and the Dr. was taking his time and being very careful.

At 11:45 am we still hadn't heard anything. At 12pm Greg went to the front desk again to check on Timmy's status and he was told they just finished up, that Timmy was in recovery, and that the Dr. should be down anytime to let us know how things went. The total operation took 3 1/2 hours.

I can't begin to tell you the thoughts, worries, etc. I was going threw during those extra 2 hours of "unknown". I couldn't concentrate on anything. I brought my Christmas cards and filled out a lot of them during that time, but after about an hour I just couldn't sit any more. I was amazed that Greg could sit there and read his book. My mind was all over the place. There is no way I could concentrate on reading... I guess that is just another difference between us gals and guys.

My brother and sister-in-law arrived around noon to be with us and Timmy. I am so thankful they came. It really helped distract me from my woes. I really enjoy spending time with both of them and feel so blessed they traveled to come and spend the day with us.

What did the Dr. have to say you ask....? The Dr. said it took longer because there are so many nerves, etc and with how deep they had to go he just had to take his time to make sure not to damage any nerves, etc. He told us that at the end of the operation, he turned Timmy's hand and it went flat, palm up, no problem! Praise the Lord!!!

The Dr. did say he wanted Timmy to stay the night so he could have access to stronger medicine because of the operation. He also put a shunt in his arm as well and that had to be removed in the morning before he could go home. He also told us Timmy had a 4" incision in his leg and about the same size incision in his arm. OUCH!

Around 1pm we were able to head up to the hospital room and see our boy. Right way I started to get teary eyed. My baby looked so out of it. I felt so helpless... But I quickly sucked it up, thanked God for pulling him through this, put on a happy face. He didn't need to see me like that!

We all visited with Timmy a little while, he slept a lot that day. After some time, Greg, his brother and his wife left and went to our house. They picked up the other kids and took them out to dinner and then brought them to the hospital to see their brother. They are wonderful siblings!

Have you heard about pets visiting people in the hospitals Well it just so happens that on the day Timmy was there, a gal and her Great Dane were making their rounds. Boy that dog is BIG! Scooby Doo is a Great Dane. *Ü*

During the time Greg was away, my dear friend Lisa (Lisawa to some of you), and her DD stopped by for a visit. It was wonderful to see her. She was my rock that day. My mom was out of town and couldn't be there, therefore I called Lisa when I was feeling low/worrisome while Timmy was in surgery. Side Note: It also reminded me of a time several years back when Timmy was bit by my mom 's dog and had to go to the ER. Greg was out of town (in Japan), and Lisa and another friend Charlyn came to be with me and Timmy at the hospital. I thank God for the special friendships he has given me. *Ü*

While the kids were at the hospital, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a visit. Timmy was sure happy to see them too! *Ü* What a lucky boy to have so many folks stop by and wish him well.

After everyone left, I took the kids back home, picked up a couple things that I didn't tell Greg I needed for spending the night, and returned to the hospital. Greg then said goodnight to Timmy and headed home to be with the other kid-o's.

Timmy had a hard time shaking off the drugs that were in his system. He couldn't hold anything down that whole day. As I mentioned earlier, he slept a lot of the day away. At 1 am he wanted to go for a walk. So up we went, out into the hallway and walked around the floor (wing-area he was stying) of the hospital. I was amazed at his strength, determination, and his ability to bounce back so wonderfully!

I am pleased to say Timmy is doing WONDERFULLY! So much better than I expected. He moves around pretty good now and isn't in much pain. We see the Dr. on Thursday and I will let you all know how that appointment goes.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes! *Ü*

Dad and Son watching some TV:

At home recovering:

A gift arrived in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma:

Wordless Wednesday

To enjoy more WW pictures, please visit 5minutesformom .

Homeschooling Family Video

You just have to check out this neat (and short) homeschooling family video!

It is sure to bring a smile to your face. Enjoy!

Weekly Report: Week 12

12 Weeks Down, 24 More to Go!

What a busy-full week we had. Here are some highlights:

Jessica completed her Russia report and completed Elementary Report Writing class from Home2teach. She also received an Honors Certificate! It was 7 pages long, but only 2 pages were the actual report. The rest was the title page, outline, cover page, map, & reference. She did a wonderful job! Below is her report (the 2 pages only). To read her report, please click here: Mesmerizing Russia

I also started her on a geography curriculum: Runkles Geography. She is LOVING this book. She is only on lesson 2, but it is one she is even pulling out this week to do, even though we have no assigned schoolwork (Christmas Break). Here are a couple pictures of her doing the activities:

Centrifugal Force (Sun-pencil & Earth-eraser)

Lunar Eclipse (lamp-sun, tomato-moon, orange-earth)

Timmy was busy writing his own story this week as well. He re-wrote the Aesop's fable, "The Crow and the Pitcher". His story is titled, "The Cat and the Tall Glass of Milk". Here is his very own story:

The Cat and the Tall Glass

There once was a cat named Whiskers that was dying of thirst. She came across a tall glass of milk. But the glass was too tall and she could not reach the milk. Then a thought came to her to drop cat food in the tall glass. Twenty nine times she dropped cat food into the tall glass. She saw the milk mount up near enough for her to drink. Then she quenched her thirst and saved her life.

Moral: Little by little does the trick.

He currently working on "The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse". Timmy is really enjoying Writing Tales. His only complaint would be vocabulary. He doesn't like to look up words in the dictionary.

Jessica and Timmy also did a little more research on their Russia study. Among other things, they mapped where the Mammoths were found on their Russia Map.

Holly is hard at work with the 3 division table and I think she is getting it down better this time around. I can say math is not one of her favorite subjects.

Jake on the other hand LOVES his math homework and is always asking to do more. Which is fine by me.

All the kids are working on a Symbols Christmas Lapbook from In The Hands of a Child. Timmy and Jake are working "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from Live and Learn Press. We are also using notebooking pages from History Scribe called "History of Christmas".

We read the top section of the notebooking page, then they draw a picture of what they are learning about, and at the bottom they write in their own words what the notebooking page is about. It has been a lot of fun.

Another fun thing they are doing is an Advent Copybook that lady from the Well Trained Mind board created. It is nicely done for Timmy (cursive), Holly and Jake (manuscript). But for Jessica she is coping scripture about the birth of Jesus.

Enjoy some extra pictures from Jetihoja Academy!

Typical School Day:

Working on History Scribe Christmas Notebooking Pages:

Timmy Working on Lesson 3 Writing Tales Sentence Stripes:

Working on HOAC Christmas Symbols Lapbook:

Wordless Wednesday

To enjoy more WW pictures, please visit 5minutesformom .

Christmas Baking: Christmas Wreaths Cookies

We are visiting a friend today and my girlfriends husbands LOVES my Christmas Wreath cookies. I meant to make these during the day on Monday, but time just slipped by me... So at 9:30pm last night my darling helpful little girl came to my aid.

BTW, these are my favorite cookies too. My family has been making them every year since I was a little girl. Probably even before I was born. My mom doesn't care to make them any more, so now it up to me to make them and pass the tradition onto my family.

Here are some photo's of Jessica helping me. Following the photo's will be the recipe. Have fun making these YUMMY cookies with your children.

(Above) Stirring the melting marshmallows & butter. Just added the food coloring.

(Above) Added the cornflakes and STIRRING more. Boy it gets hard to stir.

(Above) Shaping the wreaths and adding the cinn. dots



Christmas Wreaths Cookies

30 marshmallows
3 1/2 c corn flakes
1/2 c butter or marg. (butter is better)
Green food coloring
Red Cinn Dots

Stir over med low heat until butter and mellows are melted. Add food coloring for desired color. Add corn flakes and stir until well coated. Shape into wreaths on wax paper and add 3 cinn dots to the top.

When wreaths dry, just cut the paper around the wreath. Leave the wax paper on the bottom of the wreath.

NOTE: When I make this, I always double it. Some times I substitute Mini M&M's for the red hots. And have a cup of cold water by you to help you shape the wreaths with ease.

I Got Elfed

Ok a friend posted this at her blog and with her encouragement I decided to try it out. Let me know if you try this out as well. I would love to check it out! ~Tina

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself.

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

Jessica's Birthday Party

This was LONG overdue, but it turned out wonderful!

Her birthday is in September, but we have been so busy with other events, and other things just come up that we finally got around to it on Nov. 3o-Dec. 1 (yes, a sleep over).

The party guests arrived around 6pm and we had an all you can eat/make your own pizza party!

The highlight of the night was High School Musical 1. I haven't seen this show yet and I just didn't understand all the hub-bub about it. Well I must say I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to see High School Musical 2. The girls enjoyed dancing to the musical performances & signing along with the cast. This is one special time in my daughters life I will always remember.

The big event for the party happened on Saturday. We took the ferry over to Seattle to go to the Seattle Aquarium. Once we arrived in Seattle we took the kids to McDonald's for lunch. By the time we were done eating, it was snowing in Seattle. The kids had so much fun walking the water front, towards the aquarium in the snow.

On our way to catch the ferry home, we stopped in the Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe on pier 54. This store is one of the neatest store on the waterfront. They have all sorts of neat things in the store. There have Mummies, a two head pig, shrunken heads, etc.

Below are some Highlights:

Kids Wall Art

Art projects were piling up on the TV tray stand and I just couldn't take it any more! I went to JoAnn's to look at frames, but they were way out of budget to purchase 4 at 1 time that very same day. So off to Wal-mart I went.

I found these lovely frames for around $16 each. They worked perfectly. I have placed all the other art the children have done behind the mat of the ones they chose to display.

I think it looks pretty good and the kids sure enjoy seeing their art work on the wall.

Weekly Report: Week 11

11 Down, 25 More to Go!

Once again, our week was very busy with outside activities. We got school done, but really nothing to exciting to report about. I think I feel this way because life is pretty busy around here right now & I just didn't get all I wanted to complete done. Oh well, there is always next week.

Jessica has been hard at work on her Russia report and it is almost completed. Next week it will be completed and we will share it with you here at Jetihoja Academy Blog!

Timmy is really enjoying his Writing Tales. He is hard at work creating his own version of The Crow and the Pitcher. We will share that with you next week as well.

I started Jake and Holly on a science workbook titled: Steck-Vaughn Science. They each have their own book for which grade they are in. I wanted to do more science with them, since they don't really do a lot of the book work for Zoology (& they take a Build a Body Class at Co-op). They just sit in on the fun stuff. It is good they do this, but I really thought they needed a little more on the study side of science. And this seems to be very well rounded and a wonderful fit for both of them. They both seem to enjoy doing this workbook.

The BIG event of the week was Jessica's Belated B-day party. I will post more about that HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and reading our weekly report. Until next time...