A Week, Briefly (10/12/20)

We're still getting used to extra babies in the house.

 

As well, Beowulf's ADHD and Lola's as-yet-undiagnosed ADHD kept them from accomplishing very much school work.

That said, we still learned and grew a whole lot this week.

On Monday we had a field trip with our neighbor who used to work for the State Forestry Department.  She prepared some handouts that she delivered and we went over in advance and then met us in front of our house on Monday morning for a tree-identification walk around the neighborhood.

 

We already knew walnut, maple, osage orange, and oak, but we learned about sycamore, cottonwood, tulip poplar, Ailanthus, wild cherry, and elm.  We were also introduced to several other trees that didn't stick well in our memories.

 

 

She showed us lateral and terminal buds as well as how to identify tree growth.

 

Lola found lots of treasures, but she was not happy to have me photograph her or them!

 

Ailanthus leaf stems make great antennae!

We got news that our ABA therapist couldn't come over, so we took advantage of the free time and gorgeous weather and the fact that we had only one baby, and we took off for a hike and water play at Unity Village.

 

There's a new unity mural on the walls under the train bridge.

The Munchkin rode on my back

This praying mantis was as long as Mister Man's hand!  And it was fierce!

Frog hunting

The water was very cold! Brother tried not to actually get wet for a long time . . . eventually he joined the others in the water.

Beowulf was dropping nuts and leaves from above;  Mister Man was retrieving them.

The Munchkin threw rocks into the water for well over an hour.

Throwing and watching stuff in the water

Whooooo!  That's cold water!

Eventually we completed the loop, ate a picnic lunch, and walked/ran/played through the labyrinth.  The Munchkin was stalled by the step of the curb, so Baymax "rescued" him, carrying him to me at the table.

Hike #37 of 52 Hikes:  Unity Village Nature Trail

75.08 miles + 3 = 78.08 miles

 

We tried having a regular school day on Tuesday, and we were reasonably successful.

I had to sit by Beowulf every second that he worked in order for him to succeed.  He's bright, but the ADHD is overwhelming.

Brother had a hard time getting back into the swing of things.  But he did eventually complete all of his assignments . . . with zero tantrums!

We're teaching The Munchkin how to have "table time" during school.  He's currently able to handle about 20 minutes, and he's not even 2!

Brother finished the first of 3 phonics workbooks!  He's already begun the next one.

 

Baby nap schedules, however, knocked out many of our afternoon school activities.

 

 

As well as the fact that our ABA BCBS came over twice for observation and meetings.  We love her, but we struggle to get things done when the kids want to talk to/show off/ask questions of her the whole time she's over.  She tries so hard to melt into the background, but the kids will have none of that!

Little Princess developed sewing skills as she mended a favorite pair of pants torn on a hike last week.

Wednesday was somewhat disastrous for Beowulf--he couldn't get chores done, couldn't eat, couldn't do school--and his struggles affected all of the kids.  

Except Mister Man.  He had an oddly focused and successful school day.

 

And Ladybug finished the writing book she began last school year!!!!  It has helped her to capitalize the first letter of a sentence, use correct end punctuation, and think about making a sentence a complete thought.

We were able to have a lovely mid-morning walk and pick up some trash along the way.  We are currently trying to work out moving our walk from first thing after Morning Meeting to last thing before Elevenses.  It's proving to be a challenge, but I think it will be a joy in the long run.

 

We did have Academy several days this week.  The Munchkin joined us for a few minutes.  He seemed very proud of himself for sitting in the circle with the "big" kids.

 

 

Brother likes to make up "Boshy Stories."  Here he is enjoying an audience as he tells about the adventures of a boy named Boshy.

 

Nature Angel built a fairy village.

 

I woke in the wee hours on Thursday with one of my nail-through-my-skull headaches.  I thought it was due to the change in the weather, so I took a pain med and tried to muscle through the day, but the effort was so draining that I gave up at 10:30, canceling ABA and the rest of school so that I could lie down for an hour.  

 

The hour turned into nearly 3 hours!

 

Nature Angel and Little Princess took perfect care of the 8 littler ones--playing outside, watching a movie, preparing lunch, changing diapers, and setting up alternate napping places for the babies (I was asleep in the room with the crib).  I emerged from my room pain-free and limp to find sleeping babies, kids settled in quiet time, and Nature Angel and Little Princess doing school work!

Nature Angel working on the kitchen floor, where she could keep an eye and/or an ear on kids in several different rooms.

 

Super Star passed her phlebotomy certification with flying colors, and her initial phone interview with Community Blood Donation Center has progressed to an in-person interview this week.  She also got to pick up the car that her grandparents helped her buy!  

We're extremely proud of her and happy for her, and we're delighted to watch her continue to grow into young adulthood.

On this same afternoon, I got a call from Pixie telling me that she'd scored the highest grade in her Modern choreography class on a recent composition.  Her teacher is an extremely difficult grader (both by admission and reputation), but Pixie expressed her message so clearly that the teacher told her she was stunned and impressed.  

I love, love, love watching my kids shine!

 

Because Monday was our Wild Day, we made an effort to have an academic day on Friday.  We got some book work done, but we had plans for another two field trips on Saturday, so I had to get my Saturday chores done on Friday, and Sir Walter Scott took the kids on a walk and to a park while I ran errands and prepped meals.

 

The babies do NOT stare at computer screens all day, but there's something about seeing Little Mister Frog participate with Little Princess' Portugues practice that makes me smile.

 

*Last week I called him Parvulus because I didn't have a working nickname for this little guy, but we finally got to hear him laugh this week, and he croaks like a little frog.  It is so cute, we can hardly stand it!  The kids came to me begging me to call him Little Mister Frog because of his croaky/gurgly/creaky laugh.  Thus shall he be called here. :)

 

Oh look!  Babies not staring at screens!

The Munchkin helped me make pumpkin bars. :)

 

On Saturday we met Grandma at her house and walked from there to the home of her 80-year-old neighbor who has been building scale model trains for longer than I've been alive.  His health no longer allows him to go into his basement where his tracks and running trains are located, but we got to see his two workshops and look at his displays and listen to his stories.

 

The extra face in the picture is Cousin E-- who came with us.

He and Brother really spoke the same language.  It was a powerful connection!

This awesome old man used to be a member of a biker gang and is Korean War Vet as well as a black belt in karate.  He's also a loving husband, father, grandfather, and an awesome human being.  

 

Brother wants to go back!

 

Then we drove out to the home of another of Grandma's friends and picked apples from their orchard.  They offered the apples freely to us, and we filled every container we brought with us.  

 

 

There were a lot of windfall apples, and we could see the compost area where other windfalls were dumped, so we tried to "pay" for our blessings by clearing the floor of the orchard.  

We were stopped before we could finish by our very kind host, but at least we cleared out about half of the orchard before we left.

Belle is not actually missing from our family, even if she is missing from all pictures!  She gets up, helps Lola through her chores, takes care of Theo (her dog), and does school on her own all day.  She also goes to work at Freddy's every Wednesday.  Even though she joins us for Morning Meeting and dinner and helps most nights with bedtime routines, I miss connecting with her through reading together.  I'm working on a plan for restructuring our evening reading to allow for some time with her before bedtime. 

 

She is improving her time management dramatically, and I'm beginning to wonder if she will be ready for college next year instead of the year after as we'd planned.

We have several bushels of apples in our basement, so I think our school week will begin on a practical note as we can applesauce . . . but we'll see.