The one about the start of summertime for the Knipps...

Wow, I think I can officially say, "summer is here." I don't even know the exact dates of summer, but traditionally summer begins with Memorial Day Weekend and that is next weekend, but for the Knipps, we've already shifted into our summer schedule. We are doing Math and History through the summer. Michael and Maddie are learning Bible Study Methods and so they will be working on those this summer also. Marcus and I are going through the Faith To Grow on Devotional for kids this summer. We are staying up a little later....which we tend to do anyway, and getting up a little later and enjoying the weather!

Michael got a job, pending a background check, so that is exciting news for him.

Mickey went to Diego but got home surpisingly early and we are thankful for that. Our Memorial Day trip to Ohio got cancelled, since I didn't want to leave as long as Mick was in town, but we will get there later this summer.

(Mickey being home is the reason why I haven't posted for awhile.)

OH! and the big news is that Mickey and I are now parents for TWO teenaged children. Maddie joined the ranks yesterday, May 18th, as she turned 13. She is growing up so fast!! Happy Birthday, Maddie!

The one about Mickey ....

Mickey, my husband, has traveled with his job for the last 16 years. We never know how long he will be gone when he leaves. Sometimes he is gone for 1 1/2 weeks but he has been gone up to 3 months at a time.

One thing I have always appreciated about the differences in our personalities is that he thinks about so many things I don't think about. I think about things he doesn't think about. We compliment each other, so when one of us is out the mix around here, things just happen.

For instance, this week, my computer crashed. It had been acting up for awhile and Mickey and Michael had been discussing it and they knew it was only a matter of time. However, if Mickey had been here, I know he would have been premptive in saving some things that got lost. (some WORD documents were lost, that will take me some time to build again)

Another thing that happened this week had to do with Mickey's car. Michael has been driving the car, and I had asked him to park it on the street. Well, he did. After driving the other day, he also left the windows down. He parked where I couldn't see the car. (I'm very visual, and so I didn't think about it-it was out of sight....Mickey would have however) Anyway, thank goodness our Pastor called the next morning to let me know the windows were down after a night of rain. Yes, seats and floor did get wet.

Mickey would have checked the windows or would have reminded Michael to check them. That is just the way he thinks. I might have remembered the windows if I could have seen the car from the house where it was parked. That is not a guarantee however.

Anyway, these things happen, and none of us like Mickey being gone, but for some reason this is where the Lord has us for this season in our lives. Maybe it's to help train me and grow me. I don't know. Whatever the reason, besides his fun personality, good insight, companionship, being the best husband in the world, Mickey is missed for the practical side of his being.

Tomorrow is his 41st birthday. I do so wish he would be here for us to celebrate his special day, but alas, he is stuck in Diego Garcia, the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory-arial view at left) island that is just a few degrees south of the equator. It is approximately 1,000 miles southwest of India.

Happy Birthday, Love Doctor, we miss you in so many different ways!

Love,

Lovie Bear (smile)

The one about learning from each other...

My son came home from his Wednesday youth meeting a couple of months ago. A new teacher had taken over their studies. I thought his comments were good and also taught him a valuable lesson. He had experienced two teachers (the one from the past and the new one) who didn't teach fluff but taught deeper things. This was something he appreciated in them both.

However their teaching styles are very different. Their illustrations are very different. Their personalities are very different. Yet he was able to appreciate them both and accept them for who they were.

I think this is a good lesson. We can learn a lot from each other on this pilgrimage of life, even though some folks are very different from ourselves. I know I have a lot of different friends who I glean and learn from. They are from different backgrounds and different family styles. Some are homeschoolers like myself who have devoted a lot of their time to being at home, while others are career women and and yet still mothers, wives, and sisters like myself. They are not carbon copies of each other or myself. I would miss out on some great blessings if I only stuck with "one type" of friend.
I was thankful that Michael is learning this lesson even at his young age. I hope he continues to stretch and learn and grow. I hope I keep stretching and learning and growing too.

The one about quote collecting...

I have never been one to collect quotes, but the more I read really good ones, the more I think I should have a notebook where I write them down and read over them periodically.
I think one of the reasons I at first bristled to collecting quotes was that sometimes, I find a good quote, but I know I totally disagree with the person in other areas, like worldview, polictical view, etc. However, I don't want to be one that throws the baby out with the bath water...so....I am going to start collecting quotes.
I came across a good quote about two weeks ago and thought I would share with you.

This is from John Piper. I don't know what many of you think of him. I honestly don't know a lot about him. I've never personally read any of his books However, two things I do know about him are:
#1. His church's website is where I got my Fighter Verses that I memorize
#2. He uses the ESV, one of my favorite Bible translations.

So, that being said, here's the quote:

“Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God. So don’t be anxious—the world has nothing eternal to offer, and your loving heavenly Father knows your needs now and forever.”~ John Piper

Isn't that good!

The one about being sorry...

Sorry the new posts are so long! Can you tell my husband is gone. (smile...tears...smile)

The one about reading aloud to my kids....

Ok, so a huge part of homeschooling is reading. We love to read great stories and my oldest son Michael was a early, fast, and voracious reader. So, I must admit I didn't read aloud to him hardly at all. But I did provide him with plenty of books and good stories.
Then came Maddie and Marcus. They are closer in age and there are so many good stories out there that I wanted them to hear and share with them. So I was committed to reading aloud more. Well, it's is a gift. There are some who are just such great readers. I procrastinated for awhile but then finally committed to learning the art of reading aloud. I still have a long way to go, but I am getting better, and the rewards are great.

My mom was one who read aloud to us and told us great stories. I loved listening to her read to us. She would read to us almost every night especially during the fall and winter months. (summer we played outside more) Our ears were trained for auditory listening by listening to the radio with my mom. I am one of seven children and we grew up in the days of polyester. (cheaper material than can make the stylish clothes of today) My mother made dresses and prom suits (the leisure suit) and all sorts of clothing items for us. She can sew anything and she would have the radio on while she sewed. Debbie and I would go up on her bed while she sewed (her machine was in her bedroom) and we'd lay on the bed and talk and just listen to the radio. We listened to Stories of Great Christians, and I especially remember listening to Kitty My Rib about Martin Luther's wife.

But I digress...

I wanted to have those kinds of memories of reading to the Littles (Maddie and Marcus), so I committed to working on reading aloud. It is something that needs to be practiced for those it doesn't come easy to. I got the Sonlight catalog and used their lists of read aloud selections as a resource for picking good stories. http://www.sonlight.com/featured.html
Another good resource is this book list of 1000 books for children to read, but some I read aloud to them: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html

So, I am plugging along and it is getting easier. You can get a feel for the author's rhythm after awhile and flow along with the language of the book. It has been enjoyable to read to them and her them giggle at the funny parts or stop to make comments about the characters and how they feel or react to the things happening in the story. There is just something about having a child on either side of me while we are reading together on the comfy couch and sharing time together and a wonderful story.

My kids are getting older but they still love a good story. I've read that you shouldn't stop reading to your kids just because they are getting a little older. It's a bonding time with them, and I am experiencing it now. I love it. There are even some cute picture books we are reading through, that we didn't read through when they were younger. I've told Maddie she will be able to find stories she will really like and be able to use them when she starts to babysit more as she gets older. She can read them to the kids she's sitting with and teach them to enjoy a good story too. She is almost 13 and Marcus is 10 but they still enjoy good literature.

Currently we are reading My Father's Dragon and Prince Caspian. We just finished reading Sign of the Beaver and Dr. Dolittle. I loved Sign of the Beaver and reading it fron an adult perspective I cried at the end when the family was reunited. Of course, the kids laugh when I cry. They know mom is emotional. (smile) However, I hope I'm creating memories like the ones I have that are dear to me.... of a mom who took time out of sewing and cleaning and caring for a family of seven to read to the little kids.

The one about blogging...

I love to blog. I'm not sure if it's because it helps me to organize my random thoughts and crazily-wired brain or what. I just love reading my blogging friend's posts too. They make me think about things I would never have been challenged to think about. It's a brain stretching activity sometimes.

I don't know that I even following all the blogging etiquette. I mean, I'm very random at times, and I don't always blog about one subject, I tend to probably "journal" more than blog, but it is very satisfying. I like to go back and read older posts and see the things that have happened.

I took the class "Experiencing God" back in like 1998. I really enjoyed the course, and we were challenged to "make memorials" like they did in the old testament about how the Lord grew us in a certain period in our lives or carried us through other times. I'm really not good at doing that kind of thing in hard copy form...in a journal, but the blog has sort of at times been that kind of a memorial for me.

Now, of course, I blog about funny and educational things, and about just "normal" times in our lives. But the "normal times" are still times when we are being carried through by the Lord, and the educational and funny times are blessings from Him too, so I guess all posts are memorials in their own way.

I love to read your comments. If you read the blog, please post. My friend Sue has been trying to post...(hang in there, girl)...but the comments are great feedback and they can make you think also. So keep commenting.

The one about God's Unseen Protection....

We know that the Lord keeps us safe in so many unseen circumstances, but on Friday we saw fruit of that fact. We had our furnace and air conditioner replaced on Friday. Randy Burton and Jerry Magill, two Christian HVAC guys we hired came in and put in a brand new furnace and heat pump. They look so nice, don't they?

After dis-assembling the old furnace unit Jerry called Mickey outside and showed him SEVEN cracks in the old furnace. We have carbon monoxide detectors in our basement, because we knew the furnace was old. They have never sounded their alarm. However, we know it's God's protection. That could have been a very dangerous situation. Thank you, Lord for watching over things we don't even see.

The one about allergy testing...

Well, today was Maddie's big day. She had her allergy test done. When I made the appointment, they had told me that Maddie could not have her normal allergy medicines for 72 hours prior. So, yesterday was one of the most gorgeous days of the year and we had our windows open and she played outside some, but by evening, between being a little anxious about the tests, and then not having allergy medicine for almost 3 days, we was dragging.
So today was the big day!
We got to Dr. Nair's office at Boys Town Pediatrics and the staff was very friendly. That always helps when you are anxious about things. The nurse named Shirley was very sweet and very informative. She explained the whole process to Maddie. We had heard how they used to do it, but the procedure she went through was different from what we had initially heard about. Shirley asked us questions about the symptoms Maddie has and then we waited on the doctor.
Dr. Nair was great. She talked to us some more about symptoms. (Mickey and I were both at the appointment with her...we helped answer questions) Maddie was quiet. She was very nervous about this appointment and all the possible needle sticks.
So this is how it all happened....
They cleaned the inside of her fore arms first, then put numbers up and down on the inside of her forearm. She got 30 pricks with 30 small needles concentrated with different allergen substances. We were left alone in the exam room to wait for 15 minutes while things developed. It was quite interesting to watch her these little spots appear on her arm. Some reacted very visibly and a few not at all. When the nurses came in they said, "WOW!" It was a good reaction as far as the test was working and providing the information they needed. They measured all the reactionary places on her arm and the ones that didn't react they called out negative. One nurse measured while the other wrote down all the information. Now, Maddie's arm was reacting during that 15 minutes from concentrated areas of things she is allergic to. Her arms were really itching, but she could do nothing about it. Poor girl. While we were waiting she said, "Am I going to get a treat for this?" Carmel coffee from Panera was then brought up in the conversation. (smile)
Well, next they have to retest the things that didn't react. This is where it got really interesting.
The nurse came back in and gave her some anti itch cream...not antihistamine cream because she still couldn't have that....more testing. But then she brought a tray in and there were real needles this time. I stood in front of Maddie holding her hand ...that upper arm got 12 more sticks with the needle under the skin. Maddie leaned into her Daddy and hid her face so she couldn't see. She was a trooper and didn't flinch, but held very still. (I'm so thankful that they didn't' do this when she was younger...it wouldn't have gone so smoothly) LOL Anyway, we did get some reaction out of those other marks.
I commented about wishing I had taken my camera to get pics of this. I could do a scrapbook page on this. Well, the nurse went a got a Polaroid camera and took one picture for me. (We took more when we got home)
So the result was that Dr. Nair came back into the office and Maddie is allergic to about everything that blooms. If it is a plant and grows she is allergic to these things. She recommended weekly shots. Mickey and I had already discussed this with Maddie and we knew this was the next step to try to give her some relief. Normally patients go with the shots for 3-5 years and their allergies go away. This also helps prevent allergy type asthma. So, we felt like we needed to go ahead. We called our insurance and everything is covered so the shots start next week.
Dr. Nair's office is on 88th and Center street, but she said she would mail Maddie's shots to her pediatrician's office in Bellevue so she could get her shots in town without the drive. She said Maddie just needs to see her about once a year.
In the consultation after the tests, Dr. Nair commented on the change in Maddie's personality after all the needle work was done. She said, "We would have made good friends over the years with you coming here getting your shots. You are smiling and happy now that all that needle stuff is over." She commented then about how quiet Maddie had been before the tests because of being nervous. She then told Maddie the shots are not as painful as the sticks she received today. The doctor said the needles were very small and not at all as uncomfortable as the testing. (Maddie loved hearing that!)
So this was a good experience. I'm so thankful for that. No one wants to see their children suffer and throughout it all Maddie was a trooper! Way to go, Mad!