Friday, May 17, 2013

Waiting to Hear

I haven't blogged in so long because there hasn't been any news...... : (
Still waiting to hear about the pre-certification for the cochlear implant.  It has been a much more trying time this go round than two years ago.  I'm trying to understand why except to say we will appreciate it all the more when it does happen.  More on that after the cochlear.  For those of you who have gone down this road of getting a cochlear and have been older what were your expectations?  Those expectations of your doctor?


I'm trying to deep clean the house in the midst of waiting.  I seem to remember my college professor quoting someone as saying "each possession you own takes a portion of your time", I want my time back so I'm getting rid of stuff we don't use.  I'm also bugging the surgery coordinator for updates mostly because I'm getting conflicting reports from both her and the insurance company.  Who is dropping the ball on
pre-certification?  I have no idea.  Doctor says they have sent all the paperwork, insurance company says they don't have all the paperwork.  Surgery coordinator says she has talked to the insurance company and they tell her they have everything but I hear the opposite.  I find it ironic that my husband would like to be able to hear to communicate better and we can't seem to communicate clearly ourselves.


In the mean time....we keep drinking coffee, taking walks, watching geese grow up.  I've been gardening in buckets!  Oh how I love bucket gardening.  So does Chris because that means I leave his yard alone.  My dad found $4.00 buckets at Walmart in green.  They are nothing short of awesome, thank you Dad.  I'm only growing tomatoes and beans this year so succotash everyone, my treat!

Every night when there is crying and whining before bed Chris tells me how he can't wait to understand that look of frustration on my face when they. won't. stop. talking.  Maybe we will understand each other's frustrations a little bit better as parents.  He is mostly patient but every other week or so I see him get a look on his face that say's "I'm through waiting."  I'm waiting for him to hear himself talk, take him to a concert maybe, let him hear the kids and our cat.  I'm sure we will still sign.  After all I have things to tell him about my day, our kids, and those parent only conversations that I have been saying in sign so long.  Like "Hurry up I want to eat the ice cream we've been hiding from the kids."  You just can't whisper that children have radar ears for words like 'ice cream.'

But I will be grateful for his deafness too because we have always been so acutely aware of our communication.  Especially when we don't.  For each of you who have been married I always say those little old women should have warned me instead of those notes like "Don't go to bed angry....forget that....if we try and communicate anymore the house will explode."  But I saw a pinterest quote that said "I don't want a perfect marriage, I want a worth it marriage."  Yeah he's worth it. Definitely.
One of my many moments on the phone between insurance company, doctors office, and getting someone some milk.
Off we go!
Don't forget to bring them treats! They are the celebrities of the lake!

Did I also mention we've been playing with the split-pic app?  Hours of hilarious entertainment I'm telling you.

More to come!
Kim and Family :)








Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Cowl Love

Anything that makes me look less than the exhausted mother I am is great in my book.  I have always been envious of my husband who can put on clothes and look ready for the day.  I instead must go through a daily beauty routine before I'm presentable.

So here comes my cowls, I ADORE them.  They make me look elegant and well but together, no matter if I'm wearing coat or T-shirt.  That's a big help for all women.  I've been happily making some infinity cowl because I love the way they curl over the top of a coat but are also tucked underneath~~~ hence NO drafts of cold air!

I especially love to make the trim on my cowls.  I try to make it a something a little different.
Thanks for stopping by and leave some feed back!

Kim & Family =)







Tuesday, November 27, 2012

DIY Gingerbread Houses

I admit I never eat the ACTUAL gingerbread house my children make.  I usually end up throwing it away..after my children have picked all the candy off of it.  It really looks kinda sad.  I also would like to save the expense, silly I know, but all of these dollars do add up when you are saving for a cochlear.

So I found a great tutorial about DIY Gingerbread Houses from Bella Dia: Cereal Box Houses.  So thank you to her and her great idea.

Think of all the possibilities! Stickers, glitter, buttons (maybe not if you have small children), water bottle caps!  So if you are saving for something like my family (and who isn't saving for something?!) Then try this with your boxes, save money, and the planet.

Thank you and more to come!
Kim and Family =)



Thursday, October 4, 2012

We love Taylor Swift!

This little one will make sure daddy has lots of practice with music =)  And Taylor Swift is so much fun to listen too!

More to come and thank you!
Kim and Family =)

Friday, September 28, 2012

Favorite colors for Fall

Deaf for the Day:
Our children know sign language, however when I am around they speak all the time.  I wonder which language the children pick in an English/Spanish speaking home?

New Scarves for the Fall!!!  What??!! It's fall again already??? Yep.  And it's so pretty =)








Thank you and more to come!
Kim and Family =)

Thursday, September 20, 2012

What's in a Name?

Random deaf knowledge for the day:
When Chris and I found out we were going to be parents he asked that we pick a name that was fairly easy for him to say.  Being deaf means his words are not as clear as a person who can hear.  (You need to be able to hear yourself in order to have clear speech.)  So all of our kids names are (perfect) and easy for him to say.  Which just means they are not long or phonetically hard.  His voice is his voice for me.  Not sure how much it will change after the cochlear but that's not very important to us, his family and friends.

You know what Chris has that's great??  He has the best laugh.  It's deep and loud and his face looks even better when he's laughing.  If we are giving him a hug and we laugh he can feel us laughing too!  

Crochet for the Catholic Mom:
I read somewhere (no use trying to remember where now) that when we pray the rosary to Mary (Jesus' mom if you were uncertain   who I was referring too).  It's like your own children saying your name "Mommy, mommy."  Not in the nagging sense but when you hear that tone and you know they really need something important, or they really want you to know they love you. (And not in that order always!)

Praying the rosary is something I have done pretty much throughout  my adult life.  However praying a long -er, -er prayer with children doesn't often happen.  SO!!  I came up with the {Mom Rosary}

Which only REALLY means.....I need to be able to save my place!!
It looks kinda like those pocket rosaries I used to have but it's crochet.  Of course because it's one of my favorite artistic methods!

It also became a toy to toss back and forth today, so it's good that it's soft.

It has 10 crochet puff stitches which are the Hail Mary's and 5 loops for the 5 decades.  I haven't figured out how to put a crucifix and the 3 rosaries at the beginning but usually if I get interrupted at that point it means I'm starting over from the beginning. 

So if I'm on the 3rd Hail Mary of the 2nd decade then I will place the 2nd loop over the 3rd puff stitch.  Then I will put it somewhere out of reach until I have a few more minutes.

Directions: (I have not had these directions tested so if you find something not right please let me know.)
I'm using US crochet terms. 
Stitches used: chain, single crochet, double crochet, puff stitch.
(youtube has wonderful videos if you are unsure of any of these.)


1.  chain (ch) 20, then slip stitch (sl stch) into 1st ch to make big loop
2.  ch 2
3.  20 double crochet (DC) in ch loop.  Do not join to first DC when finished.  Turn.
4.  sl stch to 2nd DC 
5.  begin first puff stitch in 2nd DC. (I've seen different directions for the puff stitch but I always end my puff stitch in the same hole I started it.)
6.  slip stitch 2 times.  (This means you skip a DC in between each puff stitch)
7.  Begin 2nd puff stitch in 4th DC.  *slip stitch 2 times, puff stitch* repeat 8 more times.  10 total puff stitches when finished.

Now the Hail Mary 'beads' are finished lets make the 5 loops.

8.  ch 45
9.  single crochet (sc) in the 10th ch.  
10.  *ch 5, skip 5 ch, sc in next ch*  repeat 4 more times.  You should now have 5 loops and a little extra chain for moving the loops around.  

Let me know what you think!
More to come, and thank you.
Kim and family =)

PS:  I wouldn't mind at all if you made these for all your family and friends but these directions are my own and protected so please don't cut and paste but rather link back to this blog.  Also these directions are posted for your own personal use I do not give permission to sell these directions or items made from them.  I feel  prayer is for anyone and everyone who wants to pray.  Thank you for respecting this right.

****Update*****
I forgot to mention that as I pray each of the 5 decades I put that loop around my finger so that I know which 'set' I'm on.  And when someone gets a boo-boo or needs a drink I simply take it off my finger and place it around the Hail Mary 'bead' I was praying until I can pick it up again.  Here's a picture to clarify.  Thanks for reading!



Friday, June 1, 2012

New Scarves

Ok I was trying to get ahead of the fall weather.  So I spent many wonderful hours looking at scarves, colors, designs.  Blah blah blah...here's the good stuff that I have been making. =)  Click on pictures for more details about scarves.