Benno's Bear by N. F. Zucker

It is my goal this summer to read more, both with the kids and on my own. One of the main purposes of my own reading it to find more chapter books that I think would be good for my kids. Since I am a very ordered person I couldn't just start grabbing random books and have decided to choose one book going in reverse alphabet order, because I'm a rebel like that.

The first one I have chosen in the Junior Fiction category is Benno's Bear. I really liked this book. It's about an 11 year old boy and his father who have been caught stealing. The father is sent to jail and Benno ends up staying with a police officer as his care giver. I will definitely be reading this to my kids, probably not for a couple years. I think it would be a good one for an eight or nine year old or older. I am not a crier in movies, but books get to me, and this one did it. Maybe that's only because I stayed up to late and had a migraine when reading it, but there it is.

Outdoor Adventures!

May 30th- June 5th

Family Read-aloud Books- Little House in the Big Woods

- The Misadventures of Maude Marche

(Please! If you know of any other outdoor adventure books that you or your kids love, let me know! I am always on the lookout for more great books.)

Sport of the Week- Frisbee Golf

- Bike riding

-Capture the Flag

Sunday- Family Home Evening

Lesson- The Creation http://lds.about.com/library/bl/fhe/blcreation.htm

Song- Heavenly Father Loves Me

Song- kids choice

Treat- Pumpkin Cake Roll

Monday- Field Trip- Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point Tarzan and Jane Story time and craft 5-7 pm

Tuesday- Library

Craft- Decorate a Summer Box of Memories

Wednesday- Kids Cooking- Foil Dinners, Cup of Dirt

Movie- Wilderness Family, Swiss Family Robinson, Wild America

Thursday- Swimming- Spanish Oaks Reservoir

Friday- Piano Lessons

Hike- Bridal Veil Canyon

Saturday- Breakfast & Family Day Hike at Kiwanis Park (it's Free!) 200 S. 1700 E. Pleasant Grove 8:30-9:30am

Camping and Free Fishing Day!

Kids Camp Cooking- Pigs in Blankets (biscuits- 2-3 c flour, 1-2 Tbl baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2-3 Tbl butter, 2/3 c water, mix with hands, wrap around hot dot and roast over fire)

Kids Camp Craft- Nature Picture Frames

Scavenger Hunt- (have a bag for each child)

- a blade of grass longer then your middle finger

- an acorn cap

- a leaf from the ground

- a pine cone

- a few pine needles

- a twig longer then your thumb

- signs of a spider

- an ant hill

- signs of a bird

- your favorite small rock

- signs of other animals

Night Games- Sardines, No Bears Out Tonight

And so it goes

So I have been getting rid of the food in my house with potential migraine triggers. It's seriously like 70% of the food I have in my house. I have sent three boxes full of stuff with Jared to work, and packed up three more boxes full to keep in case of an emergency, and that's just the stuff out of my pantry! I still have my fridge, freezer, and food storage to go through.

In the mean time, the table has been my dump spot and everyone has been munching on that stuff for the last time before it gets packed off, including myself. I have had the biggest headache these last few days! You would think I would learn and stop eating it. A lot of the stuff I think, I doubt that gives me headaches, but with the headache I have had I am starting to believe the book.

I am taking most of the freezer and fridge stuff to my mom's house, but if anyone needs some food, let me know, because I certainly can't keep it.

Here we go again

I tend to go through cycles of being so sick of getting headaches all the time, I finally decide to try something to get rid of them. Then I get sick of gaining weight from whatever meds the doctor give me that don't do a darn for my headache so I go back to doing nothing until I can't deal with life and start the cycle over.

If you have seen my house lately you would know what I mean about not being able to deal with life. I always have a headache and bending over to pick things up and the smell of cleanser always makes them worse so everything has just stopped and I can't deal with my house any more, or with myself. Always before, I didn't let my headaches absolve me of my responsibilities, but since having a baby (yes that was a year ago), I've used headaches and being tired and a baby as my excuse for dropping everything. And it really shows, in my house, my relationship with my husband and kids, my friendships, my church callings, and even my hobbies, which I have stopped doing and being interested in. I just sit, or sleep, and watch the days flying by while I am miserable, and I'm sick of it. I don't want to loose another summer, another year. I have goals, for my family and myself, and I don't want to put them off any longer.

It's become abundantly clear to me that I can't rely on doctors for relief from my depression or headaches. They just prescribe meds that I always have horrible side effects to and that don't help at all. Did you know that 40% of people don't respond to depression medications? Doctors deny it though, claiming you just have to find the right one. Well I have been on 9 different ones and all they have done is make me gain weight and get more headaches (I won't even mention sexual side effects), and be the meanest person in the world going off of them. I'm not willing to go on the other meds they are practically forcing me to try for headaches. ("If you won't go on ___ then there isn't anything I can do to help you." "If you insist on nursing, or want to have another baby, then there isn't anything we can do for you. Come back when your done with those.") So that means it's just me.

A while back Jared found the book called Heal Your Headache. I half tried it back then but still thought some medication would work and didn't want to invest the time and effort into doing what the book said. I'm willing now. Today I am going through all the food in my house and getting rid of everything the book says is a possible trigger. It's probably better this way anyhow because my two older girls have started complaining of mild to moderate headaches lately and a lifestyle change will be a change for my whole family (except maybe Jared, he'll just end up taking all the food to his work).

Funny Kids

Grace- "I hope Jesus doesn't come during my daddy-daughter date because that would ruin the end of the play." Afterward we talked about how most likely it will be "inconvenient" for a lot of people and started listing other things she hopes she isn't doing when he comes again, like going to that bathroom. She said that would be so embarrassing.

Abi- We were listening to Moon Shadow and Abi said, "If you didn't have any eyes you couldn't blink, and blinking is the most awesome thing on your face! Because, uh, Princesses. (Duh)"

Abi- "This is not even broccoli."
Scout- "Yeah it's cauliflower."
Abi- "Yeah, I call it flower, too."
Grace- "GET IT!?! I call it flower! Cauliflower! That was a funny joke!"
Abi- "Yeah it's funny because I call it flower." I don't think she got it.