Two Weeks in October (10/11/21-10/22/21)

photo credit:  Nature Angel

 

 Last Sunday Sir Walter Scott looked at me as I was getting ready for church and said, "Why don't you stay home and take a nap?"

I considered arguing.

I reconsidered.

I crawled into bed at 10:00 am when the rest of the family left for church.

I woke up at 5:00 pm.

Then I went back to bed to doze and read.

It was an incredible blessing . . . and I wish I could have the same privilege for a week. :)

Maybe then I could take the edge off the tiredness.

We were a week late, but we honored Fire Safety week by reading Curious George and the Firefighters, reviewing our fire safety plan, and passing out party favor type firefighter hats for lots of noisy imaginative play.

Little Princess has completely taken over our family night treats on Sundays.  Last week she baked a

few dozen gf/df cupcakes from scratch, and then turned them into a flower garden.

We wrapped up our geography study of Argentina when we finished Who Was Che Guevara? and read our last two library books on the subject.

I have not ordered any books for another country yet . . . perhaps Brazil?  I'm thinking about it.

We also finished Squanto: Friend to the Pilgrims, read several chapters in our American history book, made a timeline to represent the facts and events we've studied so far, started memorizing the first 13 British colonies, and read The Matchlock Gun together.

For ancient history we finished Gilgamesh the Hero and started Shepherd, Potter, Spy, and the Star Namer.

Since finishing the second book in our Masterbooks dinosaur course, I have not helped the kids study dinosaurs, but they've used our library books to study independently or participate in Mister Man-led sessions.

He read until he was hoarse, and the kids sat there voluntarily, soaking up every word.

These books had to go back because we reached our maximum renewal allowance.  The kids are mourning their absence.

 

 

 

 

 

Little Princess read and reread these books until she had many of the facts memorized.  She'll probably check them back out again in a week or two . . . except Women in Art.  She really does love her scientists and the stars. :)

In addition to reading about the stars, she can often be found out on our deck using star-gazing apps to map the night sky, identify stars, and locate constellations.

Nature Angel is, as always, diligent in her studies.  Last Saturday, though, she reveled in having some free time to make a lovely page in her bullet journal.  Her heart so needs beauty!

We're still getting at least one walk in each day.  We've crossed the 90 mile mark.

Our walkers one morning this week.  I picked up the triple stroller for cheap on Facebook marketplace.  It is such a blessing!

The weather was so, so lovely all week long that I dumped the plans I had for reading about pumpkins and doing pumpkin activities in favor of extra outdoor play for all of the young ones.  

But we did cut a pumpkin open one morning and explore its insides.

We planned to clean and roast the seeds, but they got put into a plastic bag, and I didn't see them in time . . . !

We have more pumpkins.  We can try again.

 

Another blessing of extra outdoor time has been that Lola has learned how to ride a bike!!!  She's proficient enough that Sir Walter Scott took the younger half dozen on a bike ride on Friday afternoon.  

 

All of our kids can ride bikes now.

 

It's bittersweet.

We've begun adding more school subjects to some of the kids' schedules so that they each have 2 independent subject to do each day.

Ladybug has added spelling

Mister Man, Brother, Beowulf, Lola, and Baymax have all added penmanship.

We've entered the costume sorting season of dance.  I've got bins of base costumes stacked up in my bedroom, and I've made the kids crazy with trying things on and taking things off.  I have $100 worth of new costume pieces arriving tomorrow to be added to what we have, and I still need to find a few pairs of shoes onto which I can glue buck taps for my ever-growing cloggers.

I don't know how many places will allow us in to perform, but I know we have at least one venue that is committed to having us come dance.

Mister Man has been terribly accident prone lately.  He's got bleeding toes and bruises all over his face from tripping and crashing into things (the piano!), and one of the crashes resulted in a trip to urgent care.  

 

(He's ok.)

 

I've considered having him tested for diabetes, but because he doesn't have any of the other signs of developing Type I diabetes, I'm really sure he's just growing so fast that he can't control his body.

It's a good thing he likes reading!

Baymax is almost finished with part 1 of his math program.  This art project based on parallel lines took a long time one day!

Toby and Lola grow ever more devoted as the days go by.  Even if she starts in bed, she ends up sleeping with him on the floor.

We finished memorizing The Restoration Proclamation!!  We're going to sing the whole thing (we found some songs to help us) one time each week for the next month or so to help cement it, but we've learned it all.  That's one of our 4 Children and Youth Program goals met!

Beowulf is doing okay on his medication regimen.  He's not being treated for ADHD, but his anxiety is in enough more control to allow him to have some days without incidents.

Brother is just barely stable--hovering on the edge of unstable--on his regimen.  The half hour or so before each of his 4 med doses each day is a tricky time, and even though we haven't had a full-blown disaster for over a month, he gets angry enough that a disaster might happen.

 

*The other day Baymax curled up in fetal position on the couch after Brother hit Lola and wouldn't come out of it for half an hour.  

*I've moved Beowulf out of the same church primary class as Brother, so that Beowulf can feel safer for half an hour each Sunday.  I'm seeing a dramatic difference in only 2 Sundays.

*Mister Man sleeps under his bed instead of on it most of the time.  I asked him about it, and he said he just feels more comfortable there.  I can't help but wonder if he feels safer hidden away.

We've had no further help with residential care or in-home services.

Lola started an ADHD med!  Best guess, I'd say it's evened out her behaviors about 30%.  One meal I turned to tell her to come out from under the table, and I realized it was the first time I'd had to say it even though the meal was almost over!  She's still vague and distractible during school lessons, but she's less vague and distractible.  One day another child interrupted her lesson, and Lola stayed in her seat waiting for her turn to read aloud to me again.  

 

This is huge stuff!!!!

 

We're celebrating Halloween on Wednesday evening this week at our church Trunk-or-Treat.  

 

I've still got 5 Halloween costumes to get ready before then!!!