Time for another catch-up post.
Physical Therapy
Greg started going to physical therapy this fall for his back pain. We are hoping that the exercises they are giving him will help. So far, there does seem to be some progress, even if it is slow. One thing we discovered as a result from an MRI and CT Scan is that Greg has an extra kidney. Here are his words of the discovery:
So it turns out I have an extra kidney…Warning: weird body stuff ahead!So, as I was saying, my left kidney apparently has a big stupid siamese twin with its own separate tube going down to my bladder. Which I’ve had since birth. The thing is non-functional and just takes up space, and has never caused symptoms as far as I can tell. My two regular kidneys work fine.The doctor actually noticed it by accident while doing an MRI to make sure my back didn’t have blown disks (which it doesn’t). They said that nowadays they would have detected it in utero and would surgically remove it during early childhood, but since it doesn’t seem to have caused any problems for 38 years, surgery is purely optional. Not sure what I’ll do, but leaning toward leaving it alone.As this was all being explained to me, I nearly passed out! I had to lay down for the rest of it. So there’s your weird news for the day.
Butterfly Pavilion – Homeschool Field Trip
On November 14th, our Pneuma homeschool support group had a field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion. It included a “Buggy Basics” class where the kids were taught about invertebrate animals and got to see several insects up close, including a large hissing cockroach.
Unfortunately, Bree couldn’t sit still for more than 10 minutes of the class, so she and I had to leave early to hang out in the play place while the older kids finished up the class.
Adrianna bravely held Rosie the Tarantula again.
Bree enjoyed pointing at all the butterflies.
Adrianna was thrilled when a butterfly landed on her dress. She had chosen to wear this brightly colored red dress on purpose, with that very hope in mind.
Wayin Work Retreat
Greg’s company had a work retreat up in Vail the weekend of November 16th. The girls and I drove up there on Saturday to hang out with Greg and meet some of his coworkers and their families. Also took a picture of my belly at 32 weeks.
Van Gogh – Art Museum Homeschool Field Trip
On November 21st, our homeschool co-op took a field trip to see the special Van Gogh exhibit at the Art Museum. I don’t have any pictures, sadly, since cameras weren’t allowed. But it was neat seeing so many famous works of art, even if “Starry Night” wasn’t among them. Unfortunately, my babysitting plans for Bree didn’t pan out so she had to go with us. She was bored and on her screamiest, worst behavior, so we ended up leaving earlier than I would have liked.
Pompeii – Museum Homeschool Field Trip
On November 29th, our homeschool co-op took a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science to see the special Pompeii exhibit. Adrianna and I had been looking forward to this exhibit for months. We studied Pompeii in history last year and it was something that had really caught her attention. Adrianna re-read one of our Pompeii books the day before our trip in anticipation.
It was fascinating seeing all the artifacts that were preserved from Pompeii and also the molds of the bodies of people that had perished in the ash from the volcano. They were also hard to look at, knowing the terrible fate that had met them.
Bree went to Nette’s house for the day, so Adrianna and I were able to spend many hours at the museum visiting some exhibits we hadn’t seen before. Adrianna enjoyed the body exhibit where you could perform different body tests to see how healthy you were, etc.
Many of our homeschool friends were in attendance as well, so we had a wonderful day exploring the museum.
Aubriana’s birthday – Focus on the Family
Adrianna’s friend, Aubriana, invited us to her birthday party on November 30th which was held at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. The girls had never been there before and it has been many years since I was there last, so it was fun playing in their free play area.
In fact, in checking my old photos, it looked like the last time I had been to Focus on the Family was December 1, 2002, so almost 10 years to the day (just one day off) from my last visit. 🙂