Project Fair

As a part of our homeschool co-op, Grace participated in a year-end Project Fair. Her project was on the Silk Road. It was really fun to research, learn about, and work on this project with her! I think she especially enjoyed collecting examples of the goods that were traded on the Silk Road (thanks, Grandma!) It was hard to get a good picture of the whole display, but here it is in pieces:

Grace in her authentic (but too-small) Chinese silk shirt,
in front of her display.

Grace had to be ready to answer any questions people
might ask as they perused the displays. (Do you see the cheat sheet in her pocket?)
She did a great job of interacting with the kids and adults
and was very knowledgeable about her subject!

Some of the other projects.

Here's a close-up of the main map with information
about some of the major cities and stops on the Silk Road.
One of her favorites was the Taklamakan Desert, which means in a local dialect,
"If you go in, you won't come out."

On one side she had information about Marco Polo,
who traveled along the Silk Road to get to Kublai Khan's court in China.

On the other side, she had information about silk,
which was obviously the most valuable and abundant resource carried along the Silk Road.
She got really into this subject, learning all about silkworms, (not really a worm, but a caterpillar!) how silk is made, and the Chinese legend of the origin of silk.

Then on the table she had examples of some of the most common goods traded on the Silk Road. Included are silk, raisins, spices, gunpowder and fireworks, porcelain, bamboo...

...copper and paper...

...and of course, tea!

Here's the whole thing!

Great job, Grace!
I'm proud of all the hard work you did to make this wonderful project!!

And here's Grace's report on the Silk Road (that golden yellow paper on her display):

The Silk Road wasn’t Really a Road at all.

It did not have blacktop or signs. It was actually an ancient caravan trail that crossed dangerous mountains and hot deserts. It connected China in the east to Europe and Byzantium in the west. The Silk Road was over 5,000 miles long!

Long caravans of two-humped Bactrian camels carried silk, rugs, spices, tea, bamboo and gunpowder from China to the west. These camels were the only animals that could survive the difficult journey across the desert.

The traders traveled from oasis to oasis (a place in the desert where water could be found). Many of these stops grew to be big cities because of the Silk Road. Some, like Kashgar, still have a famous market every week!

The Silk Road carried more than just goods. It carried people, ideas, inventions, art, beliefs and religions, like Buddhism and Christianity. People on both ends of the Silk Road learned about things they had never known before. This changed their ideas about the world.

I am thankful for the Silk Road because it brought Christianity to different places! ☺
Grace Mailly, 4th grade 4/09

Obviously there was a lot of work that went into this project, but after the fair was over, what do you do with the huge thing?? Stick it in a closet somewhere? Dismantle it and put the papers in a folder to be filed away? I'll post our solution soon...!

Grace's 10th Birthday Party

Every year since Grace has been about 4 years old, we've gone to the MN Horse Expo for her birthday. It's usually the week after her birthday, and she loves it. She's a girl, and it's horses. Enough said. So the last 2 years we've taken a group of her friends with, and they love it, too. They're girls, and it's horses, after all! Here's some pictures from this year:

I didn't get any pictures of the girls riding the horses,
but here's Moses petting a sweet little pony.

And trying to feed a sheep some sawdust bedding.

Moses enjoyed the pony ride.

Unfortunately he got put on the oldest, mangiest pony there.
Two hooves in the glue factory.

All by himself! What a big boy!

When we got back from the expo, the girls tried their swings on the pinata.

This is how it ended. Handfuls of candy!

Judah enjoyed the fun.

Moses gets his party face on!

Now he's wondering why he's not getting to open any presents!

A new sewing box for Grace

Just what I always wanted!

It was a fun day, the weather was beautiful, and Grace felt loved on her special day.

Judah Budah

Some recent, and not so recent, pictures of my baby boy:

Talking on the phone, April 21st

In the Tub, April 7th

Do ya like my new top teeth?!

Some pics by Sissy, April 2nd

At my brother and sister-in-law's wedding rehearsal, March 28th

(Just for comparison, Grace with Moses, May 2007)

The boys hanging out at the rehearsal.

Watching the rain, March 21st

Funny boy

The Observer, as always.

I love this boy!! He's so sweet and such a delight.

Grace's Birthday Montage

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Grace is Ten!!

Happy Birthday, dear sweet daughter Grace!
I can't believe it's been 10 years since you came into my life,
a blessing to me forever.
I love you!

Ten Years Ago

This is me, 8 months pregnant with Grace, 10 years ago! I cannot believe it's been a decade since that darling girl was born. I remember how energetic and fit I felt while pregnant with her, something that I don't quite feel so much this time around...

Sweet Baby, Sweet Girl

This sweet little baby is turning ten years old on Friday!

Meet #5

Due to join the
Mailly Family
mid-October, 2009.

Easter

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end."

~John 13:1

Update on Judah

This is a tardy update, but wanted to post it:

We took Judah to the ENT after his stay in the hospital, and lets just say it wasn't an extremely helpful visit.

First of all, I hate having to pack up 3 kids and go downtown for appointments. It means:

• leaving really early to get there on time in rush hour traffic
  
• bringing snacks
• and extra clothes (you never no when your almost 3-year-old will decide to have one of his very rare accidents)
• and water bottles
• and books and toys
• and the checkbook to pay for parking
• and everything else you can think of
• then parking in a ramp, which I also hate
• and finding where you have to go in this huge professional building
• and keeping your kids from running and screaming
• and waiting for your appointment while trying to keep your kids from playing with the germ-infested waiting room toys
• or knocking on the fish tank and yelling "HI FISH"
• then waiting in the exam room for the doctor while trying to keep your kids from pressing all the buttons and switches on the cool machines and eating spilled Cheerios off the floor
• then trying to talk to the doctor and ask him all your questions while corralling all your kids and trying to sweep up all the spilled snacks on the floor
• then gathering all the stuff you brought, plus a now crabby little one and exiting the building
• and finding your car in the ramp, which I can never do.

I guess I should have gotten a babysitter for the older ones.

Anyway, the ENT found that Judah had ANOTHER ear infection - double, actually. He also was a bit huffy when I told him we hadn't filled the $90 prescription for Zantac that he had prescribed for Judah in the hospital. I told him Judah has NO signs of reflux, and Zantac seemed like a pretty heavy-duty drug for a little one, and it was really expensive, and we wanted to talk to him about it before giving it to Judah, but he seemed offended that we wouldn't just follow directions like good patients.

Also, he said Judah needs (as we expected) to be put under for a bronchioscope to check his upper airways and find out why his croup has been so bad and not responding to meds. But he also said that at the same time we should also put in ear tubes, since Judah has had 3 ear infections. Basically, he said, Judah will already be "under" so it would be the perfect time to do both procedures. This was a shock to me, even though I was cancerned about all Judah's ear infections. Neither of our other kids have ever had a single ear infection, so why Judah is struggling with them has been perplexing. But to say he needs ear tubes, at 13 months old, seemed drastic and scary.

I left feeling confused, concerned, and overwhelmed at all this. I felt very sad for little Judah, that he may need to be on this reflux drug for several years, have these two procedures done, be put under anesthesia, be on more antibiotics for the new ear infection, etc. etc. And I also was worried about how we would pay for $5000+ in new hospital bills for these procudures. And I was just stressed with the whole trip to the doctor in the first place. Plus we had to stop at the pharmacy to fill Judah's antibiotic, and Judah had missed his morning nap, and the kids were hungry for lunch by that time. So when we finally got home and I called Richard, I cried.

Richard, in his very calm, helpful way, said, Melissa, it's going to be fine. The fact that Judah is sick isn't your fault, and we'll find a way to pay for whatever he needs, and it's going to be alright. I sniffed and wiped my eyes and said, okay.

Then I called my mom, and she also helped me by saying we didn't have to just jump into the ear tubes. She said ear tubes are an ENT's bread and butter, and of course he's going to suggest them, but that doesn't mean we have to get them. She advised me to do some research before scheduling the surgery. I was like, of course! Do some research on alternatives to ear tubes! That's exactly what I need to do!

What I found was fascinating. I think it calls for a separate post to share it all, but suffice it to say that 1) chronic ear infections can be casued underlying issues that can be eliminated, 2) there are other treatments that are more effective and less invasive than ear tubes, 3) often antibiotics are not neccessary and can be counter-productive, and 4) ear tubes can be a good thing for some kids but aren't beneficial for many and are over-prescribed.

The bottom line is that we are trying other courses of action with Judah first, and will only schedule these two procedures if more natural treatments don't work. And I feel SO much better about the knowledge we've gained and the direction we're taking with him! And although in one sence what we're doing involves more "work" and lifestyle changes than just getting ear tubes would, I feel it's a MUCH better approach for us.



It's a good thing he's sooo happy!