What's a mom to do??

All I ever ask of my children is to do their best. That's it. I don't expect more than that. So when I received a letter last night from my oldest apologizing to me for being lazy and a failure (in regards to school). I was heart broken. I felt as though I have failed as a mom. 

I did the only thing I could do at 11:30 at night. I took action. 

*I found out earlier in April that my son had been being bullied all year and it had finally reached a physical point. After meeting with the teacher things seemed to get better almost immediately at home. But my once all A's student is now barely a C- student. It's not that he isn't doing the work either. I watch and check over all his homework. He just doesn't turn anything in. The only thing that saves him are the tests. 

Clearly, something is wrong. I'm in constant contact with his teacher too. Emails, phone calls for missed work, and notes home. He used to love school. Now he cries every night because he has to go back. As a young child I went through the same thing but it was because of a teacher. So I know the feeling and I do not wish that for my child!*

Back to the action. I started looking up at home public schools. I found that there are a multitude of options for our area. An expo is coming up on Saturday that I am going to go to so I can collect more information and weigh my options. 

Also, next year He is supposed to be going into Middle School. This could either be an amazing change for him, or a horrendous disaster! Today when he came home from school Daddy and I sat down and showed him the option that we think would fit him best. Gave him the ground rules as to what would be expected of him, it's not just do your work and then play video games! He has to enroll in a club and a sport/activity outside of the house for socialization. 

He has a while to think about it. Neither of us are pushing the choice on him. But we both are in agreement that there is very little downside to the at home public school option. The school we chose is also highly recommended with very few negative reviews (via third party sites).

Also, I've already set him up with a counseling center. I love them and know they do great work because I work with them! I refuse to let my child slip through the cracks. If that means homeschooling then..... homeschooling it is.

We've also, since getting my computer back, went back to using Kid Pointz a site I highly recommend if you have kids ages 3-14(at the very least). They have some wonderful tools, articles, charts, you name it! 

Aside from all that... I don't know what else to do to help him succeed. I've had a few helpful suggestions today that I am going to try out. If anyone else has any suggestions or any programs that worked for them, I'd love to check them out! Email me (ddastyle@gmail.com) or leave me a comment below! I would appreciate any advice you have!

Brightest Blessings!!
            )O(

The sick mom

'Why can't you just play with me!?'

It's a question I hear, especially when it's nice out, very often. I've been sick my kids' entire life. The baby is too young to know that he is being affected by it yet. However, the eldest one, he wants to play soccer with me, Frisbee, and bike rides. I just can't. 

It is heartbreaking half the time to know that it is not possible for me to do everything that normal moms do. Or even things that I used to be able to do. I can say that I do everything that I am capable of. Puddle jumping and dancing in the rain is very common since I am supposed to avoid sunlight as much as possible. 

It's difficult to have a mom with a chronic illness. It's more difficult to have children and have a chronic illness. They don't understand that some days I'm fine. Other days, I feel as though I am being smashed to pieces with a hammer from the inside!

Lupus Awareness

Spiritually, it took a toll for the first few years. And yes, I mean years. I hated the Gods for cursing me with this disease (SLE Lupus). I felt as if everything I loved was stolen from me. Hiking, swimming, beaches, kayaking, camping, all-day concerts, parks, basically anything outdoors! Different foods, fish! Alcohol! I loved my whiskey! 

I was so angry I refused to change anything. I lived my life the way I always had. By the Gods did I pay for it! I went through so much pain for those few very stubborn years. Days were spent in agony, laid out in bed unable to move at all without gut wrenching pain.

Well, after I got over my few year long pout I began to look at my life differently. I adjusted my habits, diet, and way I looked at my life. Yes, I have Lupus. No, I was not going to let it control me. I still have my bad days. My kids learn at a very young age that mommy doesn't feel good a lot and needs to be left alone, i.e. not touched at all. However, they also learn a great compassion for those who are hurting, ill, or injured.

Me...well today was a horrible day. My hands were so swollen that my wedding ring was cutting off the circulation to my finger! But I still got up, did dishes, cleaned house, swept, mopped, and vacuumed. Why? Because according to my friend, I'm a Viking! Lol. By that she means that I am a warrior. I refuse to give in, even when it'd be understandable for me to curl up on the couch and not move all day.

I want that to be the example my kids take away from my being sick. Just because things don't work out the way they are "supposed too" doesn't mean you can't find a way to work! The Gods gave me a test to see how much I could handle. I thought I was failing. I surprised even myself when I found a strength inside of me that I didn't realize I had!

Keep fighting, even when you think it's impossible!

Brightest Blessings dear readers!
            )O( 

More than your average blog post

Usually I talk about something family or spiritually related on here. Today, however, I'd like to discuss something that is slightly more out of my family's realm and more current events based. It's a subject that is very important to me none the less.

Idaho's Fish and Game plan to start poisoning thousands of Ravens in order to save the Sage-Grouse.

As if that statement alone is not disgusting enough, here are a few quotes from a multitude of articles I have recently researched on the subject.

"The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, armed only with anecdotal evidence, plan to poison 4,000 ravens starting this spring. The reason? Well, ravens sometimes eat sage grouse eggs and the hope — and we do mean hope — is that offing a bunch of the ominous black creatures will boost slumping sage grouse numbers.

Fish and Game scientists aren’t confident this plan makes sense.

“We can’t directly say that (sage grouse population decline) is from ravens, because we don’t have that information,” said biologist Ann Moser." 

"It should come as no surprise the dictate to envenom the woods comes from the state Legislature have no evidence linking ravens directly to the sage grouse decline in Arco, Washington County and at the Curlew National Grasslands? That doesn’t matter.

There’s more than a few logical holes in this waste of taxpayer dollars, including the fact that once one breeding pair is killed a new couple is likely to occupy the vacated area.

“We’re pretty sure that once you remove a territorial pair of ravens, somebody else is going to move right in,” Moser said."

"The vast majority of research concluded that sage grouse populations are in decline because of the expanding human footprint, not because of non-human predation. Overgrazing, over-hunting and suburbs expanding onto former grasslands are the reason the sage grouse isn’t thriving, science says. But, like the wolf, this issue makes state lawmakers angry. And, when state lawmakers get angry, they kill stuff. It’s the default policy. This, of course, doesn’t make a ton of sense to some scientists, who see the raven problem as a signal that sage grouse nesting habitat is in short supply."

The previous quotes all come from Our View: Quoth the Raven, 'Just Kill It'.

Another article to check out is http://magicvalley.com/news/local/poisoning-ravens-to-help-sage-grouse/article_4cd847e4-bbae-11e3-82ee-001a4bcf887a.html

How many times are lawmakers going to avoid the bigger issues and simply blame the wildlife that can NOT speak up for itself?! It is our job as human beings to care for this planet and these animals and to be honest, we are failing them! We've already had 905 -- NINE HUNDRED FIVE species have gone EXTINCT in the last 100 years! 

We call ourselves civilized as a people, yet our atrocities towards those that are defenseless are outright disgusting. We poison a bird of prey because it does what is in it's nature to do... eat! Yet it is OK for humans to simple crush and demolish habitats simply because Bobby Joe and Sally Sue need a 5 car garage and bathrooms they will never step foot in. 

WAKE UP! Realize what is going on and what our purpose is. We are here to protect innocent lives of all species. Not condone them to slaughter because they do not fit into "The Plan". We can live harmoniously with nature if we just TRY. The material is not important. What IS important is the lives in the world around us. If something doesn't change soon, we will cause our own species extinction. The saddest part is that ALL of this IS preventable.

Ravens are very dear to me, they are a bird that touches my soul in a profound way. All I ask is 45 seconds of your time to sign this petition and help save thousands of innocent lives.

Save the Ravens!

Blessings to all