My mother Linda Hynick, passed away suddenly on November 2nd. Please keep us in your prayers. Memorial will be in Peoria, AZ on the 16th of November at Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church. I'm still numb; we'll miss her so much. She was my best friend.

Here is a pic of my broody hen Savory, who is sitting on a nest of 8 Blue Orpington eggs. They are due to hatch tomorrow or the next day. I'll post more pics when they arrive!

Spring is here, and I'm getting the garden in. We've had some ups and downs recently. Noel's dad passed a couple of weeks ago. He had lung cancer. We had him on Hospice at the end. Noel went down and made all the final arrangements. His dad wished to be cremated, so that's what we had done. A good friend of his dad's, Gilbert, was there to help Noel out. They emptied the trailer and it will be sold, and brought back an ATV and all of his dad's tools that were in his shed. Eli and Madelaine don't really comprehend the loss, but Mckenna has cried a couple of times. Good news is that home values are up and we are no longer upside down on our loan and might even be able to sell our home and get a bigger place with more land. At the very least we will refinance with rates being so low. The chickens will appreciate more land and a bigger garden with room for fruit trees and berry bushes would be nice. I also took a defensive handgun class that I've been meaning to take. Learned lots of good stuff. We received a certificate at the end that we can use to get a concealed handgun permit if we want. I'll think about that. lol That's it for now......

Eli is potty trained! He's been accident-free for the last week and has even gone in the potty's at restaurants, too. We had him watch his sister go on his potty a week ago and I'd give her a chocolate chip each time, and then we brought his favorite bear in and had the bear go on the potty. He and the girls got to giggling and stayed in there for quite a while making potty sounds. And that seemed to be all he needed. He got a treat after each successful potty until there were no more treats left, and he was cool with it and has kept at it. He even wakes up in the middle of the night or early morning to go on the potty. I'm not sure we even need to keep the pullup on him at night! Anyway, just needed to document his success. The girls were harder and I really expected him to give me the most trouble, but he's been the easiest by far! :D

So, McKenna and Madelaine had a sleepover last night at Jasmines house. They had a good time. Mia, who lives two doors down, also spent the night. When I went over to pick the girls up she told me that her mom said she could have everyone for a sleepover at her house. I smiled, but didn't say anything - because, it ain't gonna happen! At least my kids won't be there. Mia's mother confessed to Inna (mother of Jasmine) that her husband had pushed her whilst they were arguing and she fell and broke her wrist. So no way am I letting my child spend the night at an abusers house. He's also been in jail and his father also, who likes to hang out over there all the time. I know McKenna will ask why she can't spend the night. I'm planning to tell her that I don't know Mia's parents well enough (I don't) but I know that won't satisfy her for long. After all, why can't I just go over and get to know them, right? And I'll tell McKenna that of course Mia can always come to our house for a sleepover. I'm wondering at what age I can feel safe to tell McKenna why she can't go over there. I'm expecting once she has the restraint not to blab to Mia about her dad being an abusive meanie (which I suspect Mia already knows). Inna says Mia comes over sometimes and sits looking shell-shocked for awhile before she starts playing with the others. So, I'll be the parent that says "because that's my decision" for awhile. Oh well, gotta keep them safe, right?

It's been awhile, so here's what's happening - McKenna is sprouting up and going through a growth spurt. She's very responsible and a vivacious charmer and social butterfly. We're having her teeth looked at. Did an x-ray at the orthodontist and she is missing her lateral incisors on the top, which means her canines will come down next to her two front teeth. The doc went over some options that we'll talk more about as she gets older. She is loving co-op, and is a great friend to her neighbors down the street. They get together all the time. Madelaine is also sprouting up and has lovely wavy hair. She's a very considerate and nuturing soul, as she's always bringing someone a blanket to help keep them warm, or offering them a pillow behind their back. Her smile lights up the room and she loves getting tickles from Daddy. I'm seeing a new maturity to her face and that future inner young woman sometimes peeks out at me at surprising moments. Eli, with his cherubs grin, will come and sit in your lap and give lots of hugs and snuggles. His little giggle is infectious and he can't help but brighten up your day if you're feeling a little down. Right now we are potty training him and he is doing fairly well. We've had a few accidents, but he's willing to sit on the potty to try and we're very proud of him. He loves playing with his sisters, but can be the instigator of fights. The rascal! Mommy is learning to de-stress using meditation during morning or evening "mom" time, and floats in the isolation tanks at Drop of Calm. She's also getting a bit more organized with her homeschooling as the girls are doing very well right now. She's been taking yoga classes and has also been going to bunco games every month. Getting out and meeting some new neighbors was also an accomplished goal this month. She's also working on coddling the youngest a little less as he's getting a tad spoiled. Yea, Mommy! Daddy has been busy at work and also working on his customers computers, but he always finds time to play, tickle and tease his kids every night after work. They pile on top of him like puppies and the squeals of delight will bring a grin to your face. He's a supportive husband and a loving father and is working on reining in that temper of his - and doing a marvelous job so far. The kids and wife like to snuggle with him at night sometimes in front of the TV. Daddy will be going on a float with his wife coming up in a couple of weeks. We'll be relaxing together..... Family life has it's ups and downs, and there are always personal goals that we are working on, but overall we are blessed. Cooperation and communication are two items that we are working on applying better to our lives right now. Our newly established family meetings once a month should help us support and appreciate each other on a whole new level, as well.

So I just got back from Drop of Calm in Nampa, which is a floatation center. They have isolation tanks with water mixed with about 800 lbs of Epsom salts. You float in the dark and quiet, in water which is exactly skin temperature. All outside worries are put aside while you float. You let go of stress and depression and aches and pains and just let the salt water support you. I received a gift certificate for a float from my hubby (thank you!) and went today. I went a little early and was greeted by a nice lady who offered the oxygen bar. I was hesitant at first, but decided to try it out. The oxygen came in different scents. I believe mine was peppermint. I didn't notice too much effect, except that it seemed to wake me up a bit. After about ten minutes of talking, I took off the oxygen and she took me back to the sensory deprivation tank. I chose the smaller one, which is less humid than the larger. The room was large enough for the tank and a small shower. Special shampoo was provided so that the tanks would stay clean. Ear plugs were also made available. I made use of them, as I hate getting water in my ears. So I stripped, showered, and opened up the lid to the chamber and looked in. It looked like something that wanted to bake me and I wondered why I was doing this. Then I remembered the incredible stress I've been going through and decided to take the plunge. I sat down inside the tank, then closed the door. Complete darkness. Whether my eyes were open or closed, I saw only pitch black. I settled onto my back and found that holding my hands up behind my head was the most comfortable. I bumped into the sides several times before finding a point where I wasn't touching the sides, then let myself relax. I started to concentrate on my breathing, which sounded incredibly loud after a few minutes. Then I became aware of a loud knocking and started to get upset that I could hear anything. It was supposed to be sound proof, this oven I was currently baking in! I had the ear plugs in too, so I tried to not hear the noise, and after a bit came to the realization that I was hearing my teeth touching together! I experimented and sure enough, when I bit down I heard this loud knocking sound. So, I kept my teeth apart and tried to settle again, and soon found that I felt as though I was slowly revolving around in a 180 degree circle. I knew I wasn't, as I wasn't touching the sides at all, but it felt so real. I started to enjoy the sensation and imagined myself going faster. I cannot testify to seeing any strange images, as some people have reported, and as I have never done a drug in my life and wasn't at this floatation center for that purpose, I cannot say that I was disappointed. I did experience a very calm, zen-like float, but unfortunately I had to interrupt the float twice by getting out and putting more Vaseline over a cut or scrape that started bothering me from the salt. I thought I had been careful to have everything healed up, but this wasn't the case. After the second time getting back into the tank, I was feeling better, and was just starting to get back into it, when some salt water dripped into my eye from all of the up and down that I had been doing. That finished the float for me. So, I got out and showered off – the Epsom salts are crazy about wanting to cling to your skin. I washed down twice to get it all off of me, and then dressed and looked at the time. I thought, what with the interruptions with my float, that I had been inside only 20 minutes or so, but the full hour had passed. Time definitely flew while I was in there. And I felt great! My time in the tank relaxed me in a very profound way. I felt like I was floating on air; I was calm, felt light, the stress was gone, my spirits felt buoyed. I sat and chatted with the lady who was helping me and another woman who floats there regularly. They told me of some of their experiences, and I said that I would absolutely be back. If anyone has any doubts about trying it, I would but them aside and go for it. If you're claustrophobic, even that's not a problem as you can prop the door open. I loved it and am looking forward to seeing what comes of the next session. :)