Homecoming 2011

Emily attended Milford High School's Homecoming dance with her boyfriend Josh.  Just a few pictures that she liked that I took of them before the dance!  The sun was playing havoc with the shots and I was in a hurry to get back home so that Jay and I could get to our neice's wedding. 

Alive 4-H Club Halloween Dance

It's become a tradition and this year it was bigger and better than ever!  Our 4-H club hosted a halloween dance and we had a blast doing it.  We had a great time and lots of creative raffle baskets and items and some fun door prizes.  We hosted a costume contest and a pumpkin carving contest as well.  I think everyone who attended had a great time and we are already looking forward to next year!

Sara and Sopia

Luke--won the cutest costume--ssshhh! don't tell him, Tori really won, he came in second, but Tori didn't need a whole bucket full of candy!

William--the Devil--won the "scariest" costume

Cade, the tin man

Grant and Jacob

Werewolf Josh with Supergirl Emily

Harry Potter and Devil

Werewolf and Devil

2 werewolfs..is there a full moon?

Emily with Luke

D and Hannah

best overall costume

most creative costume--Wii Remote

fairy Tori minus her wings

The YMCA

3rd Annual ALIVE 4-H Club Family Halloween Dance
Friday October 21, 2011
7 PM to 10 PM
4-H Hall 1000 Locust St. Owensville, OH 45160

Join us for an evening of dancing, games, contests and prizes!

Admission: 1 canned good or $1 per person.  Canned goods will be donated to a local food pantry following the dance.  Drinks and light snacks included.

Costume contest:  Prizes awarded for the best overall costume, scariest costume, cutest costume and most original/creative costume! Contest will be voted on by the ALIVE 4-H Club members but open to EVERYONE!  FREE!

Pumpkin Carving Contest:  Bring your best carved pumpkin to enter in our pumpkin carving contest.  Voted on by everyone at the dance!  FREE!

Raffle Tickets:  $1 each or 6/$5 or 15/$10.  Lots of themed prize baskets!  This year’s themes include: Movie Time, Clean and Green (2), Get Schooled, Sports of All Sorts, Pampered Pets, Cooking, Christmas and others!  Additional items from local businesses also being raffled!

QUESTIONS?  Contact our dance coordinator, Grant (contact info removed)

Invention Convention: Solar Cookers and Marshmallow Launchers!

What absolutely PERFECT weather!  We gathered at the park and made our solar cookers out of pizza boxes, we had numerous different types of food that families tried to cook--hotdogs, mini pizza, burittos, and even marshmallows.  The food at least got WARM this year (much better than previous attempts) but I have to agree with Grant that I much prefer ELECTRICITY, GAS or PROPANE as a heat source for my cooking needs!  Maybe if I live in a region that was consistantly HOT and I had a permanent cooker not made out of a pizza box, I would feel differently, but I don't!

The kids had a great time assembling and playing with their marshmallow launchers.  What great fun for the cost of some pvs, fittings and a bag of marshmallows.  I even discovered that Walmart's brand of marshmallows are DYE FREE!  WOOHOO!

Here is the email I sent to the group prior to the event:

The weather is supposed to be GORGEOUS on Wednesday (October 5th) so I would LOVE to do something outdoors......here is the plan.....

SOLAR COOKERS and MARSHMALLOW LAUNCHERS!

When: Wednesday October 5 10 AM until people chose to leave

Where:  Alms Park

http://www..cincinnati-oh.gov/cityparks/pages/-4647-/ let's plan to meet at the playground just past the pavilion, there are about 3 or 4 picnic tables right next to the playground that we can use to build the items at.

Who:  Homeschoolers of all ages.  Children 12 and under will be expected to have a parent/responsible adult on premises with them during activities, Teens 13 and up may be dropped off.

What to bring:  items listed below in RED and lunch for your family if you plan to stay and play (we plan to!).  Please don’t count on the solar cooker food as LUNCH!

RSVP:  Laura 

The temperature is supposed to make it to 76 so I thought we could try solar cookers (see needed items below), let’s just plan on making one per family and seeing if we can get something to cook!  While the food it attempting to cook, the kids can make and play with the MARSHMALLOW LAUNCHERS!  I will bring the marshmallows, boxes (for solar cookers), black construction paper, straws, glue and scissors.

Items needed for marshmallow launcher (let me know if you need a picture of what the pieces look like!):

5 pieces of 1/2 inch diameter PVC pipe cut into 4” pieces (anywhere from 4-5” will be fine, it isn’t an exact science!)

2 “T” shaped pieces

1 connector piece (serves as the mouth piece)

2 caps

You can bring more pieces and more connectors of any type (t’s, crosses, 90 degree connectors) so your child can get creative, but all you really need are the items listed above to make a successful launcher  (you can actually even get by with only 3 pieces of pipe, 1 t, a connector and 1 cap if you really need to get by cheaply!).  Usually you can find someone at the hardware store that will cut the pipe for you if you don’t want to do it yourself!

I will get the boxes for the solar ovens (PLEASE RSVP so I know how many I need to find!!!)

For the solar ovens, each family needs to bring for themselves:

1)Aluminum foil

2)Clear plastic (heavy plastic laminate works best but kitchen plastic wrap is fine too)

3) tape

4)Whatever food you’ll be cooking (example - S’mores, hot dogs, English muffin pizzas, burittos, etc.)

5) If you want to add an optional feature (listed below) bring those items as well

How to Make Your Pizza Box Oven

The simplest pizza box solar oven design, as given below, can get up to two hundred degrees Fahrenheit on a warm sunny day. Several optional features will enable the oven to get even hotter, which may be desirable in cooler weather.

1)Assemble the pizza box, and open it up.

2)Glue aluminum foil to all inside surfaces of the sides except the top of the box, with the shiny surface facing in. This will create a "radiation trap" that will trap, by reflection, invisible

(low-frequency) radiation that is radiated by the food and air inside the box.

3)On the top flap of the pizza box draw a square with a marker with edges spaced 1" from the four sides of the box. Cut along three of the lines, on the sides and on the front edge of

the box, leaving the fourth line along the box's hinge uncut. Then fold open the flap, making a crease on the fourth line.

4) Glue aluminum foil to the inside surface of the top flap, with shiny side visible! This will form reflector, to reflect sunlight into the oven. Be careful to make as few wrinkles as possible, and smooth out whatever wrinkles occur.

5) Tape the black construction paper to the bottom of the box. This will help to absorb the incoming sunlight.

6) Carefully stretch the plastic wrap over the opening of the box, sealing the edges with tape to seal the air in.

7) Cover any air leaks around the box edges with tape, except while making sure that the box can still be opened, so you can place food inside the box and remove it later.

8) Go outside in the sunlight and place oven on a flat, level surface.

9) Place food on some foil and place inside the oven.

10) Prop open the flap of the box with a straw you have cut to fit until the aluminum reflects the maximum sunlight through the window into the oven interior.

11) Let food cook, and check reflector angle now and then to make sure sunlight is getting inside the oven.

12)  Eat your food!

Can you improve your oven? Optional Features

Add addition flaps to reflect sunlight into the oven. This can

substantially increase the gain of the oven. This will require some

extra cardboard (from some old boxes for example), and some extra

foil, glue, and string to adjust the flaps.

Crumple up some sheets of newspaper and stuff them around the inside

of the box, to provide extra insulation.

Add an additional layer of saran wrap across the box opening, but

attached to the inside surface of the top flap, such that an air space

is created between the layers of wrap (the plastic is bound to stick

together in some places: don't worry about this too much).

Place a thermometer inside the oven as well, to measure the temperature.

The principles demonstrated are:

Solar Gain - arranging for sunlight to enter a device as a source of

energy. In this case, the gain is accomplished both by reflection and

direct gain. This principle also includes using dark colored surfaces

to absorb the solar energy that enters a device.

Insulation - containing heat by trapping air inside and around a

device to contain heat, and reflecting thermal radiation back into a

device.

The third principle of passive solar design - thermal mass, can also

be experimented with the solar oven. If you are interested in this

option, see the project "Build a Passive Solar Design Laboratory"

http://www.nmsea.org/Curriculum/7_12/Passive_Design_Lab/passive_design_laboratory.htm

for ideas. Large amounts of food will provide some thermal mass,

causing the oven to heat up more slowly.

Some interesting Solar Oven information:

Cooking food takes a lot of energy! By using solar energy, we can save on fuel.

Solar ovens have been used for a long time. In the 1830s, the British

astronomer John Herschel used a solar collector box to cook food

during an expedition to Africa. Nowadays, one can buy commercial solar

ovens, ranging from small single dish units, to large units that can

feed many people at once and that have to be hauled around on a

trailer.

Without the reflector flap, the solar oven becomes what is called a

"flat plate collector". Flat plate collectors are used for many

applications, such a heating water (the reason for not using a

reflector is that it is not really needed for these applications- and

thus alignment difficulties associated with reflectors can be

avoided). One of the first known uses of solar hot boxes was by the

cooks of  the Roman Emperor Tiberius who wanted to eat cucumbers all

year round. The cooks satisfied his regal appetite by using a solar

hot box, a kind of flat plate collector,  to grow the cucumbers all

winter long! Nowadays, many people also use flat plate collectors to

heat water for their pools and houses

HALLOWEEN DANCE!!!!

What:  Family Halloween Dance
When: Friday, October 21, 2011 7 PM to 10 PM
Where:  Clermont County Fairgrounds 4-H Hall 1000 Locust St. Owensville, OH 45160
Who:  You, your family, your friends
Hosted by:  ALIVE 4H Club

Admission:  1 canned good (to be donated to a local food pantry following the dance) or $1 per person

Snacks:  Light snacks(chips, pretzels, popcorn) and beverages will be provided by ALIVE 4-H club.

Raffle Tickets:  $1 each or 6/$5 or 15/$10.  Raffle items include but are not limited to theme baskets (pets,sports, green cleaning (2), cooking, get "schooled", movie basket) and items from and gift certificate to local businesses . We will also be drawing door prizes throughout the night.

Attire: COSTUMES!

Pumpkin Carving Contest: Bring a carved pumpkin with you and you could be named “Pumpkin Carver Supreme” and win a prize! FREE!

Costume Contest: Open to EVERYONE! We will award prizes for the cutest, scariest, most creative and best costume overall! FREE! Please keep costumes tasteful!

GLO BRACELETS for sale the night of the dance!

Need more info?  Leave a comment here on the blog and we will get back to you!

It's PARTY time!

Can you believe that it has been a year already?  Join us to celebrate Tori’s first birthday!

What: Tori’s first birthday party

Where:  last minute location change to Tori's Grandma's house!

When: Sunday October 2nd 12 PM to 3 PM 

RSVP:  Laura

Join us for fun, food, friends, and games!  We will be serving chili (Texas style) and also hotdogs around 12:30 PM.  Cake to be served around 1:30 PM.  Join us for all or some of the fun.  Bring a dish to share (if you like) and don’t feel obligated to bring a gift!  This is a celebration of just how far we have come!

What a fun day and what great friends!  Even with the venue change at the last minute due to cool weather, we were so happy that so many of our friends could join us!  Like my typical distracted self, I completely FORGOT to take pictures of the other guests as they arrived, but I did get some family shots and lots of pictures of Tori devouring her "smash" cake!  Trying out a couple of Picasa's photo options, so pardon the photo overload!

What a difference a year makes!

Happy 1st Birthday Tori!

It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since "girlfriend" came into our lives! I was telling someone the other day that it seems like only yesterday that her survival was in question and the reality of bringing her home only a dream. At the same time that it seems like only yesterday, it also seems like she has always been part of our family and I can't remember a time that she wasn't here. Maybe that is because she was always "here" because she had always been in God's plan for our family so the sense of her, even without her being, was always part of us.

Girlfriend's stats at one year: 18 lb 9 oz, 27 1/2 inches tall! She is ON THE CHARTS, be it the 15th percentile, but she is on the growth chart! Way to GROW girlfriend!

There are many parts of the day that she was born that are etched permanently in my mind, parts that are still a blur, and parts that have thankfully been forgotten!

Tori's birth story (originally posted on the Ramblings of an Unschooling Family blog in September 2010):

Announcing the arrival of Victoria Zada Riesenberg

on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
at 30 weeks 4 days gestation
weighing in at 5 lb 4.5 oz
measuring 18 3/4 inches
and with a tiny peanut head 12 1/4 inches
at 5:09 PM
Apgars 8 (1 minute) and 9 (5 minutes)

On Monday, September 27th, things felt different. I had a nonstress test (NST) and an amniotic fluid check first thing that morning, but even though baby passed the tests, baby seemed to have gotten lazy overnight and wasn't moving the same way she had the days and weeks before. Monday evening I noticed a marked decrease in fetal movement and Tuesday morning movement hadn't picked up so I called my OB around 2 PM to see what they thought. They suggested that I drink something cold and sugary and lay down for an hour and see if the baby would move 6 times. My hyper baby, who usually moved 6 timed in 5 minutes couldn't manage to move even 4 times in an hour so I called the office back. They said that although they didn't think it was anything, but that I should come to the hospital and they would do an ultrasound and put the baby on the monitor just to reassure everyone. After running some tests they agreed something was off but they weren't sure exactly what it was. Since I hadn't reached the magic 32 week mark, they decided to transfer us to Good Sam Hospital, a bigger hospital that they are affiliated with because it had a better equipped special care nursery. I tried to argue with them that we would be fine staying at Bethesda North, but God's hand gently guided us to where we needed to be, He knew what we didn't, that this was a matter of life and death. As the Reds clinched their division, I was transported by ambulance to Good Sam. They monitored the baby overnight and did another u/s and some blood tests Wednesday morning. It was quickly decided that today would be BIRTHING DAY! The doctor came in and we had a long chat about my surgery since he knew it would be a more complicated delivery because of the placenta accreta, little did either of us know just how complicated things would get!




Placenta accreta is when the placenta attaches too deeply to the uterine muscle and can not separate after birth. In the worse cases, the placenta grows out of the uterus and into the surrounding organs like the bladder and bowel. Because we Riesenbergs don't like to do anything simply, it makes sense that the accreta presented in the worst possible presentation.

We went back to the OR at 4 PM and because of the placenta accreta and the placenta preiva they had to do some repair work first and had to basically open the uterus on the side to avoid the placenta they didn't open the uterus until after 5 PM. I gave birth to a beautiful baby GIRL weighing in at a meager 5 lb 4.5 oz, 18 3/4 inches, 12 1/4 inch head. I got to kiss her before they whisked her off to NICU, Jay followed here leaving me in the OR alone (my choice, I felt he needed to be with the baby). It took them another 4 hours to finish my surgery, they did a hysterectomy, had to do pretty extensive bladder repair, had to separate the placenta from the bowel, and I lost a whooping almost 4 liters of blood (we later learned that 4 liters is almost your entire blood volume!). OK—side note here-- I watched the whole surgery via a mirror above the incision, I asked for it to see them pull Tori out, and used it to see the 4 hours of surgery that followed!

In the OR are 4 doctors (Dr. Holbert, Dr. Namakel, Dr. Freeman, and Dr Basil -urologist), one medical student (Peter Toth), 4 people from anesthesia (Dr. Roth, Tom Meyer CRNA, Allen Dube CRNA, and Jean Venarable CRNA), 5 RNs (Candace, Danielle, Donna, Patty and Carrie) and 3 scrub techs (Jen, LaShanda, and Bridget) not to mention the pediatric team that came in to stabilize the baby.

I come out of surgery only to find out that they had to transfer Tori to Childrens Hospital because there is something wrong with her bowel. They suspect a mass because of the “double bubble” that showed on the x-ray they did right after delivery. Because of the mass, Tori couldn't fully inflate her lungs so they had to intubate her and put her on a low level of oxygen. They went back and looked at every u/s and MRI they did during this pregnancy and until the scan they did yesterday, the was no
indication that there was anything out of the ordinary.

At 9 PM I am in recovery. I have 2 panic attacks when I try to talk to people about the baby, I literally feel like I can't breath and am dying! Once I eat a few ice chips I seem to settle down!

At 11 PM I am moved back to the same room I was in prior to surgery because they want to keep me by the OR in case I have issues overnight. I call over to Children's and talk to the nurse that is working with the baby. She confirms that she is intubated and that they suspect a lower abdomen mass or looped intestine and that they are doing an u/s as I speak to her on the phone to see if they can determine just what it is. All of the baby's blood work is normal. She transfers me to the doctor who says she will have some results in about 2 hours and she will call me with them.

So Tori has arrived with great fanfare! Our difficult birth and early arrival are just the beginning of her story......