Even more hard.  : (

Amazing, almost real photography

This artist takes a real photograph and then manipulates it in a fashion that creates an almost-possible impossibility.  He calls the series "fictions" Check it out (artist's name:  Philip duJardin).

http://www.filipdujardin.be/

http://www.goyovo.com/images/Fictions-By-Filip-Dujardin-03-290x290.jpg

Happy Birthday, William

8 years ago, a beautiful little son was born with crystal blue eyes.  Thanks for coming to earth, wonderful Will.  I wish I could give you everything you have wished for this year.

strep

All three boys were diagnosed with strep this morning, which is the 2nd outbreak at our house in 8 weeks.   I've had the boys from Tuesday  to this coming Tuesday because UEA break counts as a holiday, and this year it falls to me.  We've been trying to do something fun, but no one has felt up to anything.  At least we found out about the strep before school starts up again on Monday.

ready for the first inspection

Isn't the new bathroom lovely? The dog thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

One of my favorite books

The Old Testament.  Whether you view it as sacred scripture, myth, a loose collection of morality tales, or a combination of all three, it is one of my favorite books because of this: it is contains examples of every mistake and stupidity known to mankind.  I have instituted in my house, with the kids, what we refer to as 30 second family home evenings.  Being LDS, this is a long tradition that also comes, for those who believe in it, promises of certain protections.  Being the sort of people we are, and in the sort of situation we are at the moment, none of us has the inclination for long-winded "lessons".  Suffice it to say, nothing in our home or the way we do things looks anything like this:

So my 30 second sermon last week:  The bible: a how-to manual on how not to be a complete doofus.

I enjoy knowing I am not the only person on this planet who has made really bad mistakes.  I learn from the mistakes of others.  I read the stories to my kids translated into plain everyday english, so the stories sound familiar and present.  I don't skip over the ugly parts. William's favorite story (and mine, too) is the story of Balaam and the Talking Donkey.  Look it up, it is hilarious if you are not familiar with it.  What the boys and I like to laugh about is that instead of being flabbergasted that his donkey is talking to him, Balaam starts arguing with it.    How true is that in terms of human nature?
We just finished reading about Samson and his "ladies" last night.  William was quite astounded that this man could be so clueless.  But that also allows for discussion about how everyone (even prophets and other leaders) can make really bad mistakes, and that it is okay to keep trying to do better.

Aidan is home from school again unable to function due to anxiety. Luckily we got him on a federal school disability plan (504) so he is legally protected from district retribution for all the days he misses.

I am really bothered by professional therapists and people telling me how resilient kids are and how these things (i.e. what's been going on in my family) are common and everybody heals and moves on.  That's great when it happens.  But there are children out there who aren't resilient, due to a number of factors.  Some kids are affected so deeply by these kinds of life choices that they never fully come to grips with it or recover from it.  Why people won't acknowledge that in the professional world is beyond me.  I think therapists are trained to support you in whatever goals you have.  Want to fly to the moon on a broomstick?  Great, we'll support you in your efforts (and not tell you that it is impossible and unrealistic). What would really help is hearing (and adults in this situation need to hear it too) that sometimes pain doesn't just go away.  Sometimes your life gets so altered that you are never the same, and you have to reinvent your entire world view.  And that doesn't happen easily, especially for a deeply sensitive 11 year old.

vitamin D

This post is mostly for those on my side of the family who suffer from chronic pain and extreme fatigue.  After bothering doctors about this for the past 15 years, and always coming back with normal results, I finally decided to go see an endocrinologist.  Today he called me back, and though, again, all the usual suspects were normal (thyroid, hormones, etc.) he discovered that I have a severe, severe vitamin D deficiency.  The cause for this in my case of course isn't known yet, but one of the causes is gluten intolerance, another is liver problems (thanks mom!)  :)  One of the other weird symptoms I have is pitting edema in my legs, also caused by this.  So if any of you are feeling like this and no tests show conclusive results, have your D checked out!  My kids keep telling me they wish I could run around and play.  I wish for it, too.  I'm hoping in 8 weeks I'll be able to do just that!