A Week, Briefly (4/16/18)
"Mama, I got flowers for you," said Baymax, and he held his hands over mine to depost one dandelion head and three tiny dog violets . . . mostly squished.
I cried.
It has been such a hard week.
Do I ever type anything different?
How boring.
I am far more blessed than I realize, and sometimes I receive the blessing of having my eyes opened for a moment or two.
Before I realize it is time to feed everyone again or someone has a tantrum.
And the 4 mostly squished flowerheads in Baymax's pudgy, dirty, beautiful little hands are the best way of having my eyes opened that I can imagine.
10 minutes earlier, Little Princess brought me a similar minature bouquet; hers was lovely--stems intact, wrapped in lavender embroidery floss, and tied with a note that said, "I love you."
Baymax saw it and immediately said, "I want one, too!"
So did Lola and Beowulf.
Odds are both Lola and Beowulf have been distracted and no more bouquets will find their way to my hands today, but the very fact that they wanted to fills my heart.
I am so very blessed!
Today Sir Walter Scott is home, working on the chicken coop. The chicks are 2 1/2 weeks old, feathering out and entering that ungainly "teenage" stage. I had to put new chicken wire around the pool they're living in because they'd begun to escape, but I managed the fix in time, and they are all thriving.
Tonight Pixie is going to Mormon prom. She's got a darling date, and she's organized a group of half a dozen couples to take pictures (near the temple) and go out to eat (at a silly pizza buffet) and then dance the night away. Sir Walter Scott is going to be chauffeur in our big fan for these delightful youth.
He'll sit in a quiet corner of the church with his laptop and work on this week's paper (distance medicine, anyone?) for his Medical Information Technology class.
Super Star is going to a party organized for the youth who aren't quite old enough to go to prom, but who are old enough to feel left out.
Belle is staying home with me and the littles. We're looking for a good movie to share.
**************
*Post Edit: Belle was invited to go with Super Star, and that party was delightful! The kids went hiking to a waterfall and then came back to the host home and roasted s'mores over a backyard campfire.
The prom was simply fabulous!
There aren't words or pictures enough . . . though here are a few snapshots:
The youth all ended up back at our house by 10:30, and some stayed to visit, while some headed home (one young man had nearly an hour drive home!). Slowly our house emptied out, and it was well past midnight before we'd talked ourselves out about the various joys of the evening.
***************
Rose Red . . . she has some difficult plans that will probably not come to fruition. She continues to be a student of life who refuses to learn by any way but the hard way, and some of the consequences of her choices are beginning to appear. On the flip side, she's done some good work toward graduation this week. The essay she wrote for Movies as Literature was delightful. She has an ear for words, and she has interesting opinions. She's been home more this week than she has in past weeks, and that has given me a chance to remember just how fun she is and how much I hope for her to find her way to joy.
All of the teens wrote essays, and Belle is such a gifted writer. Her first draft read like poetry. All I could ask her to do was fix a few punctuation and grammar errors and call it finished. Pixie and Super Star have had to work on several revisions, but they are good students who grow with each effort.
Belle got to work her first 3 hour volunteer shift at the farm. She mulched a potato field . . . and she glowed with happiness when I picked her up. She's so ready to go back!
Nature Angel has continued to process her disappointment at not being selected as a finalist for Doodle for Google, and along the way, she has worked on her Oak Meadow English/History assignments. They are heavy on art, and she has sculpted, designed, drawn, and written joyfully. This is her work for next year's school, but she's so happy to do it, and this month's head start will allow her to move more slowly next year and have time to do some of the enrichment activities (more art!).
The Academy crew have added my name and phone number to their list of memorized important information. Baymax knows them perfectly, and we have to resist the temptation to treat him like a circus performer because he's so stinkin' cute!! Beowulf almost has the preamble to the Constitution down, and he's going to rival Baymax when he's ready to show off. :)
We're really winding down.
In Academy we finished Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Many of us cried. It was a great book to share together because of the brevity of the chapters and the simplicity with which Sadako's death is addressed.
Brother's ability to do simple verbal narrations disappeared last week, but it is slowly coming back this week. It is distressing when skills disappear! He'll scratch his head and look at me like I'm speaking a foreign language when I ask him what he remembers. And when he does remember, it is incredibly jumbled (i.e. thinking a horse is a human or a villain is a protagonist). We worked on bringing it back by having him listen to a sibling narrate (a single sentence) and then having him repeat what the sibling said. I think we have a long way to go--what happened to his ability to hear and remember?
Another simple change for Brother was to put away the readers we were using. He needs time for his brain to rest. He was so happy to learn to blend sounds and do some simple reading, but he's at a plateau, and he cannot handle climbing right now. I pulled out a copy of Teach Your Child to Read Using the Book of Mormon that I had the privilege to buy some years ago when it was in testing phase. The first several week's lessons start with me telling Brother a story, so he can have school time with me, but the pressure to read is off. I draw little stick figure illustrations, and he answers simple questions, and because it is intensely repetitive, he has the chance to succeed.
I've declared our official final day to be May 17th. But as we approach that date, we're finishing up what we're working on now, and we won't start new activities . . . at least not around-the-table-school. I'm more and more often not calling the kids indoors for one-on-one school; the focus of their educations is shifting to physical development (bike riding, jump-roping, balancing, climbing, running), problem-solving (choosing leaders for games, fixing unstrung bike chains, working out sibling conflicts), building (tree houses, sand pit creations, mud play, helping Dad), and unstructured nature exploration.
We're watching and waiting for the weather to be warm enough to start this year's round of Breakfast at the Park, but overnight lows are still in the 30s--keeping us in the house and in sweaters until the afternoon. I've begun to pull out some of my encouraging nature study books, to help me get out of the kitchen and into the field with the kids. And I'm beginning a summer bucket list--the first item is a Jane Austen movie fest with my teens . . . and perhaps a few of their friends.
I've forgotten for some time to record that we listened to The Hobbit via Audible in the car on our way to and from co-op and dance. We tried an amazing audio-drama of Treasure Island, but it got too gruesome for my crew (the pirate murder scenes were so, so, so grisly!), so we turned to The Secret Garden. It is a far better listening experience for us!
We've adopted two mantras that we're practicing while we're calm to help us stay calm when we're under stress. The first one is, "I'm okay. I can obey." This is for when we're overwhelmed with direction and want to fly off the handle in protest. The other is, "I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm collected." This one takes 3 breaths to complete and gets us all to calm down when someone is bothering us. It's working for kids and grownups, and even the teens have had to admit that they've tried it with success. I'm so grateful for the friend who led me to this idea because I've had more control over my voice this week than I ever have before, and Beowulf and Brother have avoided at least 3 time-out sessions (each) because of it.
Truly though, I must give credit to my expanded personal devotional time as well. I think I've doubled my study/prayer time in the past month, and I believe that has given me more strength than the mantras have!
Ladybug continues to struggle with impulse control (and other issues). She's still got to be within parental sight every waking moment, but she's certainly trying. We've received some recommendations for trust-worthy therapeutic resources, and I have a friend who has offered to lead child-yoga and mediation (Christ-centered) classes for our collective kids. Sir Walter Scott and I are pondering our options and praying over what is wisdom for our family.
I'm having to accept my personal limits, and I have not been able to keep up with the formal GAPS diet for my family. It is expensive, time-demanding, and not a healthy diet for the whole family. We are still following several of its precepts, but over the past 2 months, I've slowly added potatoes and organic soaked oats and brown rice. We need these inexpensive starches to stretch our meals and fill small but ever-growing tummies in a satisfying way. I have seen a return of some of our physical symptoms (bloated tummies, drooling, and mild eczema) and behavioral problems (tantrums, animal-like whining [it's hard to explain], and anxiety), but we are trying to find a balance that can sustain the family in general, and I simply cannot make separate meals for each person's individual needs--nor can I cope with half a dozen different cooks in the kitchen. :)
I think Ladybug might have an eye for art. I've been giving the kids simple drawing lessons using some Usborne books I picked up at the homeschool convention. She tries hard to draw what I show her, and she seems to internalize what she's shown, so that it comes out in later drawings. She's still working on earning back the privilege of drawing in her free time (she writes and carves on every surface she can if I'm not watching her every move--she even carved her name into a kitchen chair when she was on a [supposedly] supervised time out!), but I will work with her to do that, because it could be a real gift of expression and success.
We have only 6 history lessons left for this year's Symposium, and recently we learned both the imperative and present progressive conjugations in Spanish. The teens' Spanish compositions are developing in complexity and variety.
I'm beginning to realize how our many tiny steps this year have helped us along a wonderful learning journey!
(linking here)
I cried.
It has been such a hard week.
Do I ever type anything different?
How boring.
I am far more blessed than I realize, and sometimes I receive the blessing of having my eyes opened for a moment or two.
Before I realize it is time to feed everyone again or someone has a tantrum.
And the 4 mostly squished flowerheads in Baymax's pudgy, dirty, beautiful little hands are the best way of having my eyes opened that I can imagine.
10 minutes earlier, Little Princess brought me a similar minature bouquet; hers was lovely--stems intact, wrapped in lavender embroidery floss, and tied with a note that said, "I love you."
Baymax saw it and immediately said, "I want one, too!"
So did Lola and Beowulf.
Odds are both Lola and Beowulf have been distracted and no more bouquets will find their way to my hands today, but the very fact that they wanted to fills my heart.
I am so very blessed!
Today Sir Walter Scott is home, working on the chicken coop. The chicks are 2 1/2 weeks old, feathering out and entering that ungainly "teenage" stage. I had to put new chicken wire around the pool they're living in because they'd begun to escape, but I managed the fix in time, and they are all thriving.
Tonight Pixie is going to Mormon prom. She's got a darling date, and she's organized a group of half a dozen couples to take pictures (near the temple) and go out to eat (at a silly pizza buffet) and then dance the night away. Sir Walter Scott is going to be chauffeur in our big fan for these delightful youth.
He'll sit in a quiet corner of the church with his laptop and work on this week's paper (distance medicine, anyone?) for his Medical Information Technology class.
Super Star is going to a party organized for the youth who aren't quite old enough to go to prom, but who are old enough to feel left out.
Belle is staying home with me and the littles. We're looking for a good movie to share.
**************
*Post Edit: Belle was invited to go with Super Star, and that party was delightful! The kids went hiking to a waterfall and then came back to the host home and roasted s'mores over a backyard campfire.
The prom was simply fabulous!
There aren't words or pictures enough . . . though here are a few snapshots:
 |
| Here's most of the group being silly and simultaneously coping with the strong wind . . . one couple opted out of the photographer's fee . . . but that means they missed out on the parent snapshots, too. :( |
 |
 |
| It was cold and windy, but the girls had ALL forgotten their coats! Fortunately, the young men were true gentlemen. |
 |
| Here's Pixie with her cousin. He had his own group of friends who had dinner and traveled together to the dance, but there was time for the cousins to visit. |
 |
| This was the coach that took the youth (in groups of 6) on a delightful ride around the temple! Pixie says it was absolutely magical! |
***************
Rose Red . . . she has some difficult plans that will probably not come to fruition. She continues to be a student of life who refuses to learn by any way but the hard way, and some of the consequences of her choices are beginning to appear. On the flip side, she's done some good work toward graduation this week. The essay she wrote for Movies as Literature was delightful. She has an ear for words, and she has interesting opinions. She's been home more this week than she has in past weeks, and that has given me a chance to remember just how fun she is and how much I hope for her to find her way to joy.
All of the teens wrote essays, and Belle is such a gifted writer. Her first draft read like poetry. All I could ask her to do was fix a few punctuation and grammar errors and call it finished. Pixie and Super Star have had to work on several revisions, but they are good students who grow with each effort.
Belle got to work her first 3 hour volunteer shift at the farm. She mulched a potato field . . . and she glowed with happiness when I picked her up. She's so ready to go back!
Nature Angel has continued to process her disappointment at not being selected as a finalist for Doodle for Google, and along the way, she has worked on her Oak Meadow English/History assignments. They are heavy on art, and she has sculpted, designed, drawn, and written joyfully. This is her work for next year's school, but she's so happy to do it, and this month's head start will allow her to move more slowly next year and have time to do some of the enrichment activities (more art!).
The Academy crew have added my name and phone number to their list of memorized important information. Baymax knows them perfectly, and we have to resist the temptation to treat him like a circus performer because he's so stinkin' cute!! Beowulf almost has the preamble to the Constitution down, and he's going to rival Baymax when he's ready to show off. :)
 |
| Beowulf is done with one-on-one workbook time for the year. He's finished this Kumon set, and all that is left is for him to have a great spring and summer out-of-doors before settling in for readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic. |
We're really winding down.
In Academy we finished Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Many of us cried. It was a great book to share together because of the brevity of the chapters and the simplicity with which Sadako's death is addressed.
 |
| I almost forgot! After co-op, I stopped at the nature center on the way home, so the kids and I could enjoy an hour of sunshine together. Here's Beowulf trying to figure out how the water moves. |
 |
| And we tried to watch some birds at the feeders, but certain children are too wiggly, so we walked over to the limestone rocks to climb and play. |
Brother's ability to do simple verbal narrations disappeared last week, but it is slowly coming back this week. It is distressing when skills disappear! He'll scratch his head and look at me like I'm speaking a foreign language when I ask him what he remembers. And when he does remember, it is incredibly jumbled (i.e. thinking a horse is a human or a villain is a protagonist). We worked on bringing it back by having him listen to a sibling narrate (a single sentence) and then having him repeat what the sibling said. I think we have a long way to go--what happened to his ability to hear and remember?
Another simple change for Brother was to put away the readers we were using. He needs time for his brain to rest. He was so happy to learn to blend sounds and do some simple reading, but he's at a plateau, and he cannot handle climbing right now. I pulled out a copy of Teach Your Child to Read Using the Book of Mormon that I had the privilege to buy some years ago when it was in testing phase. The first several week's lessons start with me telling Brother a story, so he can have school time with me, but the pressure to read is off. I draw little stick figure illustrations, and he answers simple questions, and because it is intensely repetitive, he has the chance to succeed.
I've declared our official final day to be May 17th. But as we approach that date, we're finishing up what we're working on now, and we won't start new activities . . . at least not around-the-table-school. I'm more and more often not calling the kids indoors for one-on-one school; the focus of their educations is shifting to physical development (bike riding, jump-roping, balancing, climbing, running), problem-solving (choosing leaders for games, fixing unstrung bike chains, working out sibling conflicts), building (tree houses, sand pit creations, mud play, helping Dad), and unstructured nature exploration.
We're watching and waiting for the weather to be warm enough to start this year's round of Breakfast at the Park, but overnight lows are still in the 30s--keeping us in the house and in sweaters until the afternoon. I've begun to pull out some of my encouraging nature study books, to help me get out of the kitchen and into the field with the kids. And I'm beginning a summer bucket list--the first item is a Jane Austen movie fest with my teens . . . and perhaps a few of their friends.
 |
| Done with Greek for the year! We've ordered next year's book set, and she's so looking forward to continuing her studies. |
I've forgotten for some time to record that we listened to The Hobbit via Audible in the car on our way to and from co-op and dance. We tried an amazing audio-drama of Treasure Island, but it got too gruesome for my crew (the pirate murder scenes were so, so, so grisly!), so we turned to The Secret Garden. It is a far better listening experience for us!
We've adopted two mantras that we're practicing while we're calm to help us stay calm when we're under stress. The first one is, "I'm okay. I can obey." This is for when we're overwhelmed with direction and want to fly off the handle in protest. The other is, "I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm collected." This one takes 3 breaths to complete and gets us all to calm down when someone is bothering us. It's working for kids and grownups, and even the teens have had to admit that they've tried it with success. I'm so grateful for the friend who led me to this idea because I've had more control over my voice this week than I ever have before, and Beowulf and Brother have avoided at least 3 time-out sessions (each) because of it.
Truly though, I must give credit to my expanded personal devotional time as well. I think I've doubled my study/prayer time in the past month, and I believe that has given me more strength than the mantras have!
Ladybug continues to struggle with impulse control (and other issues). She's still got to be within parental sight every waking moment, but she's certainly trying. We've received some recommendations for trust-worthy therapeutic resources, and I have a friend who has offered to lead child-yoga and mediation (Christ-centered) classes for our collective kids. Sir Walter Scott and I are pondering our options and praying over what is wisdom for our family.
I'm having to accept my personal limits, and I have not been able to keep up with the formal GAPS diet for my family. It is expensive, time-demanding, and not a healthy diet for the whole family. We are still following several of its precepts, but over the past 2 months, I've slowly added potatoes and organic soaked oats and brown rice. We need these inexpensive starches to stretch our meals and fill small but ever-growing tummies in a satisfying way. I have seen a return of some of our physical symptoms (bloated tummies, drooling, and mild eczema) and behavioral problems (tantrums, animal-like whining [it's hard to explain], and anxiety), but we are trying to find a balance that can sustain the family in general, and I simply cannot make separate meals for each person's individual needs--nor can I cope with half a dozen different cooks in the kitchen. :)
 |
| Whew! She did it! Now there's no excuse for putting off math, though! |
I think Ladybug might have an eye for art. I've been giving the kids simple drawing lessons using some Usborne books I picked up at the homeschool convention. She tries hard to draw what I show her, and she seems to internalize what she's shown, so that it comes out in later drawings. She's still working on earning back the privilege of drawing in her free time (she writes and carves on every surface she can if I'm not watching her every move--she even carved her name into a kitchen chair when she was on a [supposedly] supervised time out!), but I will work with her to do that, because it could be a real gift of expression and success.
We have only 6 history lessons left for this year's Symposium, and recently we learned both the imperative and present progressive conjugations in Spanish. The teens' Spanish compositions are developing in complexity and variety.
I'm beginning to realize how our many tiny steps this year have helped us along a wonderful learning journey!
(linking here)
So much richness in your post. Brother's loss of narration may be part of a growth spurt in some other developmental area. I have noticed large regressions in my special needs kids when they were developing skills in other areas. GAPS is impossible to keep up long term...don't feel bad about it. The prom looks lovely. Hurray for a winding down school year and more time outside.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Dawn
I'm very familiar with GAPs but have not done it although I've done whole30 and soak grains, etc. I can imagine trying to do it for 1-2 family members if I thought health required it, but I cannot begin to imagine the cost and time commitment for your large family. Best of luck trying to figure out what works best for you. Personally, after many years on brown rice, we've switched back to white with better effects. I find that me and the kids need some grains unless we are going to gorge on expensive foods! It is so hard to know what is a good compromise!!! Money and time are valid considerations.
ReplyDeleteThe prom pictures are lovely! Such a fun evening.
ReplyDeleteWinding down to the spring/summer is a wonderful thing. I still need to check books and see when kids will finish up things like math.
They may all be hard weeks. But I think you are one of the most blessing-conscious, bright-side-looking people I know. And don’t the girls at the prom all look lovely?? What a fun event. We are trying to find time for a Jane Austen movie marathon here, too!
ReplyDeleteI just watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice today. I love Jane Austin. Pixie looks lovely on her fun date. How wonderful to complete programs. Congrats to all the finishers. I’m also very happy Rose Red is spending some time home. Love you.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this website for Rose Red:
ReplyDeletewww.uncollege.org
I would do one of their year programs, but I’m about 16 years too late (maximum age is 23)
I just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog and am inspired by you and your family! I credit you for some fabulous things we've incorporated into our homeschool (we are currently reading the children's Bible you so highly recommended and we love it!). I only have six kids, so I am constantly blown away by the many enriching and purposeful things you are doing with EACH child every day, and with such consistency. I don't seem to accomplish even a half of what you manage to do, and you have teenagers and adopted children with special needs and diets thrown into the mix! I believe God has blessed you with extraordinary gifts in order for you to mother and teach your children so beautifully. I can't imagine how hard your days must be, but I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that with everything on your plate, you go the extra step to take the time to share your busy life with others and offer them ideas and inspiration. Thank you!! May you and your family enjoy a week full of tender mercies and blessings. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy all of the comments and encouragement I get from "virtual friends," but yours made me cry to day--good tears! I think (in fact I'm quite sure) that you do more than you give yourself credit for! Thanks for your kind words.
Delete(And thanks to all of the other commenters for kind words!)
I cried when I read Sadako!
ReplyDeleteProm pictures look nice! I still need to post those. Ours was Saturday. Eli was Prom Prince! : o
I love the time of year when books are getting completed and the pressure is OFF mom to get to every single subject every single day. Whew! Summer is coming! And being outside has been lovely lately.
My son, Marcus, went through a carving phase (also a cutting with scissors phase) where he would carve his name into every surface he could. We still find his name carved into our banister, piano bench, etc. Fortunately, he outgrew it, but not before getting his name on several pieces of furniture. I loved reading The Hobbit and The Secret Garden with my kids. I never used to do audio books (the kids loved my read-aloud voices too much) but Marcus and I now listen to an audio book on our way to and from Seminary and that's fun for both of us. Love the prom pics and breakfast in the park sounds fun. I don't blame you for wanting to simplify the cooking. You've been amazing to accommodate so many needs for so long! Honestly, I think you're an awesome mama and your honesty just makes you more endearing to your readers. :)
ReplyDeleteI SO agree with Stephanie in her expression of gratitude for your taking the time to share despite the many hard things on your plate... Like her, I pray for days of tender mercies and blessings on you...
ReplyDelete