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Let’s Play Doctor

March 4, 2011 By 11 Comments

Yesterday I took all the boys out for haircuts.  The little boys’ hair had gotten especially shaggy and Gabe kept asking me to get it out of his eyes.  So on a rare day of freedom (Bob didn’t need to take our truck to work) I took the boys for lunch and haircuts.

When she was done, the nice lady who did Gabe’s haircut pointed out an unusual lump behind his ear.  She said, “you probably already know, but he has a pretty big lump on his ear.”

She pointed it out and HOLY COW!  He had this adult thumbnail sized lump behind his ear.  It makes his left ear stick out kinda funny and now with his hair newly cut, it’s so obvious.

How did I not see this??

I suck.

To redeem my neglectfulness, I came home and made a pediatrician appointment to have it checked out ASAP.

Today, we saw his doctor.  I kind of cringed when he asked me how long it had been there (since I have no idea).  He informed me that he does not believe it to be a lymph node, but it’s in a peculiar place.  He then referred us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.

I called and made an ENT appointment and we have to wait SEVEN WEEKS.

Ugh.  That seems like forever.

Here is another picture, a little less in focus but shows the size better:

So, to pass the time, I thought we could play doctor.  Everyone loves to play Dr. Google.  So, what do you think it is?

Filed Under: Randomness, Twins Tagged With:
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Who Do You Think You Are?

March 2, 2011 By 17 Comments

Have you seen this show on NBC called Who Do You Think You Are?  It takes select famous people and traces back their family trees.  It is FABULOUS.  I just think it’s so interesting to look into the past, at the way life was 50 or 100 years ago.  To think about what our ancestors went through to get us where we are, it’s just fascinating to me.

It has got me thinking a lot about my own ancestry and I set up an account on ancestry.com to see what I could piece together.

What I thought I knew was this:  My fathers grand parents came over from Italy through Ellis Island.  They had three children and eventually my great grandfather was deported back to Italy for petty Mafia crimes (bootlegging!).

I never really knew much from my mom’s side.  I know my grandpa was born in a tent and his ancestry is Native American.  I also know that a very distant relative on my grandmas side was Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steam engine.  I think it would be cool to be able to trace the genealogy back and find where he comes into the picture.

But that was really the extent of my knowledge of my family.

Using the clues and records on ancestry.com has been really cool.  I have been able to travel back to my great-great-grandparents.  I’ve learned that my great-grandmother was actually born in California and that it was her parents, Pietro and Jovina that came through Ellis Island.  Then it seems, my great-grandpa (the Mafia guy) did come from Italy when he was 14, but arrived in Boston with perhaps two sisters.

Going back through passenger lists and census records has been really interesting.  All these records are hand written and online you can find the scanned documents.  I just imagine someone writing down passenger names as they disembarked from their ship.  I haven’t found the passenger lists for my great-great-grandparents yet**, but we have in our possession a certificate showing that their names are on an Ellis Island memorial.  So they have to be there somewhere, I just need to keep searching.  But, I did find out some information about my great-grandpa Amelio’s voyage to America.

SS Canopic

Amelio arrived into Boston from Naples, Italy on February 1, 1921.  I was so excited to find a picture of the actual ship SS Canopic (which incidentally was part of the White Star Line of Titanic fame) !  My grandpa was 14 years old and is listed with two other young females with the same last name.  Perhaps some aunts?  Giovanna and Giuseppa.  I know from Boston he traveled to San Fransisco where he eventually met and married Felicia (or Phyllis depending on who you ask…it wasn’t uncommon for immigrants to “Americanize” their names).  I haven’t found when he was sent back to Italy, but my mom seems to remember the family having some contact with him until the 1980′s when it is assumed that he must have died.

Amelio is the one I’m fascinated with.  He had ties to the Italian Mafia and was an active bootlegger.  I know I shouldn’t glamorize a criminal, but I just think that’s really cool.  I’m sure he was probably a big macho ass, but he is much more romantic in my mind.

And now that I know it was Felicia’s parents that arrived through Ellis Island, I have a new focus.  I don’t think I can find out much more about Amelio without traveling to Italy (someday!), so I want to know about Pietro and Jovina.

I signed up for the free 2 week trial at ancestry.com, but I have a feeling I’m going to end up paying for another month.  I’m just having so much fun looking through records, imagining life and thinking about my heritage.  Thinking about my children’s heritage.  I suppose we will have to go back and find my husbands family tree, too.

Have you ever complied your family tree?  Do you know your ancestry?  I’m just having a lot of fun exploring my piece of history.

SS Indiana (1905-1918)

**ETA:  After writing this, I was able to find my great-great grandfather Pietro on a New York Passenger list!  He indeed arrived through Ellis Island April 12,1906 on the SS Indiana.  I can not find record of my great-great grandmother Jovina being on that ship with him…interesting…All this searching just brings up more questions!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Family Life Tagged With: , ,
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Once upon a time a little boy decided it would be a good idea to pour a cup of mud down the bathroom drain.  The little boys grandpa worked very hard for many days trying to unclog the mud.  Exasperated, he finally had to cut the pipes out because the mud just would not budge.

We were surprised to find more than just mud stuck in the drain…

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It Snowed At MY House!

February 27, 2011 By 10 Comments

I know for some of you out there, snow is old hat.  It’s an annoying pain in the ass for most of the country.  But one of the luxury’s afforded to us in Southern California is the year-round beautiful, warm, snow-free weather.  And, don’t think we don’t pay (out the nose) for this luxury!  Well that wasn’t the case for us this weekend and today we get to see a beautiful winter wonderland right outside our door!

I live in the town of Ramona.  It’s in San Diego County, about 45 minutes from Downtown.  Our elevation is at about 1400 feet.  During the winter, it only takes us about 20 minutes to drive “up the hill” to Julian, CA.  To the snow.  It is awesome to be so close to the snow, without actually being IN the snow.  In 2008, our yard was covered with very small hail/snow/sleet mix that was still fun to play in, but it wasn’t really snow.  I’m not sure the actual stats on it, but my friend from school says she remembers it snowing in Ramona when we were in Jr. High.  So 25 or so years.  Now, Mother Nature will occasionally leave a dusting of snow on the outskirts of town, a bit higher up, but never in town, which is where I am.

The snow started falling about 9:30pm last night.  The boys and I had been anxiously waiting for it to start and they were disappointed to go to bed with no snow.  So when I noticed it falling (I had my curtains open so I could watch) I went into their room to see if anyone was awake.  I hadn’t really decided whether or not to actually wake them up…but as luck would have it (and because they were being shits last night) all three were still awake.  YAY!

We threw our sweatshirts and uggs on over our pajamas and out the door we went!  I even knocked on my mom and dads door so they could see.  It was beautiful!

We played for about 30 minutes before their hands were frozen and being up past their bedtime started to take its toll.  We reluctantly came inside and went back to bed.

This morning everything was still white and beautiful, although it was all just frozen.

Grapefruit trees!  So tropical.

The view right outside my front door, just before sunrise.

So there is our exciting snow.  So pretty to look at.  So glad it’s already melting.

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Finally Finding Our Groove

February 24, 2011 By 11 Comments

Well, it seems I’m finally getting into a groove for this homeschool stuff.  It only took, what?  Five months?  But, really, who’s counting?

I ended up sending the K12 curriculum back.  It followed a very structured curriculum and it just stressed me out trying to keep up.  When your kid is ADHD and he is all over the place, the last thing you need is a computer program telling you what to do and when to do it  (I have a husband for that).  It was structured, seemed to cover all the bases and I had a teacher contact offering a lot of support.  So you might like it if that’s what you need.

We needed something that would keep him interested and keep me from freaking the freak out (Victorious, much?).

I was recommended to try out Time for Learning and so far, we both really like it!

The program is not free (K12 is), we pay a subscription fee of $19.99 a month.  But the lessons are really engaging and keep Anthony’s attention pretty well.  T4L even has parent forums (that I have not used) for support.  You go at your own pace and can jump around to what is interesting at the moment.  It marks off the lessons when they are complete so you don’t get confused as to where you are and the parent can print out reports periodically to keep as hard records.

Unfortunately, we had about 3 months that we didn’t pay our subscription.  The holidays came along and we were just poor.  I thought I could do the schooling thing on my own.  But that just paved the way for mommy to be LAZY.  We worked on a few projects, went to the Library, practiced some reading.  But that was really it.  Then I told myself I was “unschooling.”  HA.  It was just momma being being a bad teacher.

Homeschooling truly is a learning process, for both of us.  I am trying to figure out where the resources are and trying to keep myself on task (perhaps I have a little bit of ADHD myself?).  I really hope we can get our second car running so that we can get out into the world to explore things like Museums and parks and homeschool playgroups.  That would go a long way in helping mommy keep her sanity.

Just yesterday it really dawned on me that the little boys will be old enough for Kindergarten this Fall.  That will be a whole new can of worms!  Can I do this X3?  Eek!

PS:  I was not asked to talk about Time for Learning, but if you decided to try it out and sign up, tell them that Rhea Tabler sent you!  I’ll get a free month.  Woohoo!

Filed Under: ADHD, Family Life Tagged With: , , , ,
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