So my surgery went fine.  I had it on Tuesday morning….early.  By the afternoon, I was up walking around the halls.  Hubby was allowed to spend the night with me.  Wednesday morning, I had to swallow this nasty stuff for an upper gi to make sure that my opening was enough for things to pass through.  I was released Wednesday afternoon.  There was a delay because there was a mix-up with my paperwork.

I literally slept most of the day Thursday.  I walked around the house on my few waking moments, then back to sleep again.  I got so little sleep in the hospital.  They were waking me up for one thing or the other.  It’s been steady progress since then with only one breakdown because I just wanted some warm homey food!!

I had my one week follow-up appointment today and the surgeon said I’m right on schedule and making great progress.  I’m down over 20 pounds already.  Next week, I’ll start my puree diet.  I’ll be on that about 2 weeks.  My incisions are healing and I’m finally starting to sleep on my side a little bit.  Sleep is my biggest issue right now.  I just can’t seem to sleep through the night, no matter how tired I am.  And being on a liquid diet, I have have to get up and potty at least once a night.  However, the past 2 nights I’ve at least stayed in bed and not gone to the couch.

That’s about all that I have for now.  I just thought it was really time for an update for all my readers.  I know that you’ve all been following along and waiting to see how things turn out.  I’ll definitely be posting some updates and hopefully I can get the blog moving along again soon.

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I kept meaning to post for an update, but things have been crazy busy getting ready for this.  I’ve had something going on every day since last Thursday.  I even have an appointment to get the dogs shots tomorrow so that they’re taken care of.

So let me get you caught up.  My scale was perfectly correct!!  I have lost 10 lbs. on the liquid diet.  My sugar is down to 106-112 every single day and that means that I’m down to just one pill for the diabetes.  That’s already a huge improvement!!  However, I’d never stay on a liquid diet for those numbers.  I’m so hungry, but not as often as I was when I started it.  It’s just such bland and boring food.  It’s repeating the same things over and over.  Plus, there’s nothing warm and comforting on a liquid diet.  The only warm liquid is broth or bullion.  That’s alright though, my personal size blender with it’s 4 serving cups is out on the counter.  Just one week after surgery, I can start to try purees and that’s going to mean warm foods and flavor!!

I had my pre-op on Friday.  That was lots of blood drawing and such.  I actually had to spend 4 hours in that hospital.  I had to get a chest x-ray.  I couldn’t go to anesthesia because they were going to lunch, so I went down and pre-admitted myself for my surgery day.  Then it was more blood and back up to anesthesia.  The people I dealt with were so nice and caring though.  That section of the hospital truly cares about you and they like their job.  It really shows!!

I also found out from an LT or CPT that works in the nursing wing where I’ll spend the night that I should have no problems going home the next day.  He said that actually in many hospitals you go home the same day, but this one holds you overnight.  I’m ok with that because then I know I’m ready.  He said the only way you stay is if there’s complications.  I don’t plan on that happening!!  HAHA

Well, I think that’s about it.  I’m super excited and still a little nervous.  I won’t have any updates until I can sit at my desk with my legs hanging and not have to worry about blood clots.  For some reason, they’ve stressed that more with surgery than any other one I’ve had.  And I’m following doctors orders because I’m not letting that happen on my end of it!!

Oh, and I don’t get my surgery time until tomorrow after 1pm.  So I’m still waiting to see what time I go in and stuff.  I’m sure it’ll be somewhat early though.  I just hope it’s not 6:30am because I have to shower immediately before with some special soap that they gave me.  I’d have to be up WAY too early!!  HAHA

For those of you that pray, I’d appreciate prayers for the surgeon and the nurses that they are guided by God’s hand for this surgery and that they don’t forget that I’m NOT just a number.  Throw one if for me too, if you’re so inclined.

I shall return and be on the road to recovery and a new healthier me!!

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We started with a coloring page that I made for them.  It tells them what Epiphany is and the date.  Then they had a picture to color from dailycoloringpages.com and I added that to the sheet.  You can download the Epiphany sheet here.  The kids said they “loved” the picture, so I’m glad I picked that one.  I was torn between 3 of them and narrowed it to 2 and decided on this one because it just seemed like my kids in class.

Next, we did our craft.  I wanted something pretty basic since this is the first week after Christmas Break.  I didn’t know what kind of mood they’d be in or how much effort they’d put into it.  For the craft, I chose the wiseman silhouette from DLTK  and it couldn’t have worked out any better.  I chose to apply it to a light blue background so that they’d really stand out.  They did!!  Here is the one that I did…..

If you’re interested in doing this craft with your kids or class, please just click the image above and it will open to the craft page at DLTK.  Notice we did ours different than the sites instructions.  I made copies of the camel/wiseman and then we cut them out.  After that, we glued it onto the blue paper.  This is much easier for my age group.

We also did a maze, and I don’t remember where I got that from.  They didn’t like it as much as the other activities!!  Finally, I wasn’t sure how much time we’d have, so I printed off a letter writing sheet from First-School.  It’s a good thing that I did have the extra because only half my class showed up today.  With a smaller class, you go through activities much quicker.  You can find the Ww-wise men writing sheet here.

The last thing that I have for you we didn’t do in class tonight.  Back in 2008, I made a file folder game that’s perfect for Epiphany.  This is a fun game more than a lesson, but it still gets the point across.  You could also add your own cards to make the game part of a lesson or for review.  The game is called Follow the Star and can be found here.  There’s also a game from 2007 called The First Christmas that would be good for review of Christmas and Epiphany.  For this one, players must answer questions about the holiday if they land on a “gift” space, which is the gifts of the 3 Wisemen.  You can find this game here.  

That about covers it!!  I hope that you find something here that you can use with your kids or class for Epiphany.  Mine really seemed to enjoy this lesson and took a lot away from it.

The information that is posted on this blog is general information purposes. It is not intended to substitute for curriculum or for obtaining advice from your principal, church or DRE. It is for informational and educational purposes only. All activities, games, information, etc. on this blog are free. However they are ONLY to be used for classroom and personal use. They may NOT be published on any websites/blogs or other electronic media, distributed in any manner, uploaded to any file sharing service/storage, or sold for profit. If you know someone who would benefit from these materials, please refer them to this blog. Do NOT share the materials that you download with them. Copyright © 2008-2012. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

I finally had a salad tonight.  My paperwork says 1 salad a night for dinner if needed.  I needed it!!  It was small and it was good.  I had some Zesty Italian on it because I can’t have other salad dressings.  I probably shouldn’t even have had that, but oh well.  I’m following all the rules and if that breaks them so be it!!

I can’t believe I only have a week to go.  By this time next week, I’ll be laying in my hospital room alone waiting for morning so that I can go home.  It’s really gone by pretty fast.  Some days are better than others, but that’s to be expected. 

Did get some bad news today.  Hubby will only have the day of and the after my surgery off.  If I don’t go home on Wednesday, I’m up a creek.  I’ll have to wait until he gets off work to go home.  He’s used some of his vacation time for VA appointments and because they told him he had to be under a certain number of hours by November.  Well he did that, then they took time away from him for the company Christmas party, plus a new company has taken over….that left him with just a few days of vacation.  He can only take 2 of them now.  I feel so pressured to leave that hospital on Wednesday.  I wanted to anyhow and that’s when the doc told me I’d leave if all went well.  This just sucks to know that there’s that much of a time restraint. 

The rest of this week is crazy.  We have religion class tomorrow, which I didn’t think we did until New Year’s Day.  Usually, we have a meeting and then go back the following week.  But no, not this year.  So I’m frantically trying to find a lesson because I was all about getting next week’s ready for hubby.  I hate to say it, but tomorrow may just be a “let them run wild” night.  And as hungry as I am that time of night, I can’t focus.  That’s a huge problem for me.  I usually nod off for a nap around then since I started the liquid diet.  Anyway, then Thursday, kiddo and I get our hair cut.  I want easy managible hair for the hospital and mine is really out of shape right now.  Friday is my pre-op and that takes a couple hours.  The weekend, I’ll pack my overnight bag and just relax.  Monday I take the dogs to the vet and have to try to get them re-registered with the city.  The city used to be closed on Monday, so I’m hoping they’ve changed their schedule.  If not, I don’t know how I’ll get them re-registered on time.  Finally it’s Tuesday and the big day!!

I have the world’s worst scale, but according to it, I’ve lost 10 pounds.  I guess going through this, I really should get a new one.  I’m going to need it for accurate records.  I can believe it though.  Nothing but liquids for a week.  It’s possible!!  I’ll find out for sure during the pre-op because I was weighed on that scale in November when I had the scope done.  My sugar is doing great too!!

Alright, that’s my update for now and I’m off…..

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I’d like to take this time to wish my family, friends, readers, and followers a BLESSED NEW YEAR!!  I hope that you all have a very happy and prosperous 2012.  

I know that this year is going to bring some major changes for me.  With that will come many changes for my family.  I truly believe that it’s all for the best though and we’re all going to be better off for it.  We’ll all definitely be so much healthier!!

I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings and I’m ready for it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and All the Best for 2012!!

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I think that if I ever had to do this again, I’d wean myself off of food.  I had a good Christmas and didn’t even fully enjoy the leftovers when I had to start this on Wednesday.  So, knowing what I know now, I’d make my meals smaller and smaller and start to supplement food with liquid so the adjustment isn’t so hard.  I mean you don’t have to be an “eater” for this to be a rough change.  Liquid 24 hours a day and nothing but sucks!!

I can have yogurt, cottage cheese, 1 cup of milk, sugar-free drinks (like Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, and similar) , Jell-o, Popsicles, Fudgesicles, and things like that.  Oh yes, and lots of broth….any flavor!!  There’s also a notation that I can have one “small salad” for dinner each night.  That’s a small lettuce salad with maybe some shaved carrots and something like light Italian dressing.  I’d prefer ranch or Catalina or something like that, but I can deal with it. 

So that’s where things stand 2 days into this.  I forgot to weigh myself and kiddo is going to take a picture tomorrow.  I really want to track my progress, but I refuse to become obsessed about it.  I just will check often enough that I know where I’m at and approximately how much is to go.  I do hope that I can show that surgeon up and lose some weight before my actual surgery.  He doesn’t think that I can or will!!

I’ll keep you posted, as it won’t be long now!!

It’s time for Nativity A Day and the 18th posting of it!!  Yes, that means that there’s only 2 more to go and I’ve still missed 3 of them.  I think I did anyways.  I’ll have to go back and count again because one day I missed, but the next day I did a double.  If I only counted that as 1, then it should actually be 2 and I’ll have only missed 2.  Time to count!!  HAHA

On with the Nativity A Day for today though.  I have a pretty big variety of number strip puzzles.  Some are horizontal and some are vertical.  There’s one for counting 0-12 and one for 1-10.  There’s also 2 for skip counting by 5 and 10 and one each of skip counting by 2 and 3.  I love all the images that I used and I used a variety of fonts.  We all know about my font addiction!!  HAHA

Nativity Illustrations and Images © Internet Sources and believed to be public domain.

Here’s a thumbnail view of some of the strip puzzles…..

If you’re interested in downloading these strip puzzles, please just…..

If you use my FREE nativity printables, please leave a comment and let me know how you and the little ones like them….or don’t like them. I’d also appreciate it if you’d click the button below once a day to vote for my blog. I love feedback and create by the input that I receive….thanks!!

The information that is posted on this blog is general information purposes. It is not intended to substitute for curriculum or for obtaining advice from your principal, church or DRE. It is for informational and educational purposes only. All activities, games, information, etc. on this blog are free. However they are ONLY to be used for classroom and personal use. They may NOT be published on any websites/blogs or other electronic media, distributed in any manner, uploaded to any file sharing service/storage, or sold for profit. If you know someone who would benefit from these materials, please refer them to this blog. Do NOT share the materials that you download with them. Copyright © 2008-2011. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

Today is the 16th posting of Nativity A Day and after a couple busy days this weekend of not being able to post it, I’m back on track!!  I’m really proud of this one and so happy with how it turned out.

Today’s Nativity A Day is a mini-book called Nativity, What Do You See? and it’s based on the Brown Bear, Brown Bear concept.  I recommend printing the cover on card stock and the pages on paper.  The pages of can be printed front and back to save on paper, or printed off separately by the sheet.  The cover is slightly larger than the pages, so they should tuck in nicely and then be stapled close to the fold to hold them in.

NOTE:  I just printed the book out and I should have been more specific in the directions.  The back of each page should be printed upside down so that when it’s lifted to be read, it’s facing down and goes into the next page.  I know this doesn’t make much sense because I’m not good at describing, but take my word!!  So, if you print all the top pages, then flip them over upside down and print the backs.  Or, if your printer is like mine and does front/back printing, have it flip in the short edge instead of the long edge.  Hope this helps!!

Nativity graphics © DigiDoodleDoo with permission.

Here’s a thumbnail view of some of the mini-book pages…..

If you’re interested in downloading the mini-book, please just…..

UPDATE:  Being a mom of 1, I know that printing the other book is quite a bit of extra paper and ink.  So, I created another book, just for ONE!!  It’s identical to the other book, but just one book prints out per page, instead of two.  Be sure to read above about printing front and back so that when the pages are turned up, they can read without having flip the book over.  I have printed this out and it works great!!  You can find the new Nativity, What Do You See? mini-book for one here.

If you use my FREE nativity printables, please leave a comment and let me know how you and the little ones like them….or don’t like them. I’d also appreciate it if you’d click the button below once a day to vote for my blog. I love feedback and create by the input that I receive….thanks!!

The information that is posted on this blog is general information purposes. It is not intended to substitute for curriculum or for obtaining advice from your principal, church or DRE. It is for informational and educational purposes only. All activities, games, information, etc. on this blog are free. However they are ONLY to be used for classroom and personal use. They may NOT be published on any websites/blogs or other electronic media, distributed in any manner, uploaded to any file sharing service/storage, or sold for profit. If you know someone who would benefit from these materials, please refer them to this blog. Do NOT share the materials that you download with them. Copyright © 2008-2011. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

Today is the 15th post in Nativity A Day and it’s for little ones.

Today’s Nativity A Day is pre-writing practice sheets.  There’s 4 pages for different stages.  First off is strait lines and they get thinner with smaller dashes as you go down the page.  Next is some strait lines with a curve and square edge tracing.  The next page is different sizes of curves and the last page is different sizes of square edges.

Nativity graphics © JW Illustration with permission.

Here’s a thumbnail view of the pre-writing pages…..

If you’re interested in downloading the pre-writing sheets, please just…..

If you use my FREE nativity printables, please leave a comment and let me know how you and the little ones like them….or don’t like them. I’d also appreciate it if you’d click the button below once a day to vote for my blog. I love feedback and create by the input that I receive….thanks!!

The information that is posted on this blog is general information purposes. It is not intended to substitute for curriculum or for obtaining advice from your principal, church or DRE. It is for informational and educational purposes only. All activities, games, information, etc. on this blog are free. However they are ONLY to be used for classroom and personal use. They may NOT be published on any websites/blogs or other electronic media, distributed in any manner, uploaded to any file sharing service/storage, or sold for profit. If you know someone who would benefit from these materials, please refer them to this blog. Do NOT share the materials that you download with them. Copyright © 2008-2011. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.