This week has been full of school, school and more school.  We have had some very long days this week. 

We have had a few successes- Morgan finished his Family History book.  He is writing better, and somedays, he whines a little less. 

Makenzie is passing off her multiplication facts, and she is becoming more confident at math.  Her math lessons take quite a long time, but she is able to do the difficult problems that our curriculum presents.  She is having lots of fun studying science with her dad.  She can play a G chord on the guitar, and accompanies us when we sing "This Land is Your Land."

Michael has had fun with his science lessons.  He got to do a fun lab this week with boiling water, and air pressure.  He is getting better and better at language arts, and he is finally starting to figure out what he needs to do to get his work done on schedule.

Allen has figured out how to get his work done is the fastest, most effecient way possible.  He does a great job of keeping track of all the stuff he needs to do.  He has an image design class, and he is working on his first project for it this week.  He wrote a poem for us this Monday when he was supposed to be getting his jobs done.  He called it "It takes an hour to do my jobs".

It takes 10 minutes for mom to explain,
And then 5 minutes for me to complain.
20 minutes spent trying to stall.
15 minutes to get started at all.
19 minutes playing around with the broom.
And then just 1 minute for cleaning my room.

Reminds me of the Mary Poppins quote, "Well begun is half done." 


Larry is now walking more than he is crawling.  He seems to learn new words every day, and communicates well through sign language and his speech.  My two new favorite words this week are chicken and bubbles.  Unfortunately, he can now ask for all kinds of things he can't have.

I had the chance to help out with a project at church, and I got go practice my photoshopping skills.  It was fun, and I learned quite a lot.  I've also started running with a friend in the neighborhood.  I don't think I am running enough to loose much weight, but hopefully, I will be able to maintain the weight I have lost, and someday, I will figure out a way to jump start my weight loss again.

We have learned many things this week.  We have learned that we need to wake up on time, and get started on time if we want things to run smoothly.  I have also learned that I need to have a camera handy and ready if I am going to capture any of the fun things we get done each day.  We have not learned how to get jobs and schoolwork done on the same day.  This week was still incredibly stressful, but it did go more smoothly than the week before.  Hopefully, we can learn even more this week.  I don't think this will ever be easy, but it is fun and fulfilling. (and challenging and exhausting).

Larry's Latest Accomplishments

I've never uploaded a video before, so we'll see if this works.  If it does, you will see how desperately we need to redecorate.  Maybe someday.  Here is a video of Larry walking across our living room.  He loves seeing the video camera, but seriously, what kid doesn't.

Here is a video of Larry reciting some of our phonograms.  His cute little voice is one of my favorite things in the world!!  He ran out of patience at the end.

First Week of School

I thought I would jump on and give a quick update.  I feel like my life is now devoted to school, and if anyone happens to call, I usually get down to business, and get off the phone as quickly as possible to finish up all that I have to do right now.  No chit chat.

This first week has been very overwhelming.  Right now, my two oldest are attending a virtual academy that follows the K12 program.  They are required to do 5 1/2 hours of school a day.  One of the biggest issues we have had, is getting enough hours of school in each day.  When we first looked at the amount of school required, it looked like we would be doing less school.  So not true!  We log every minute that we work on each class.  When the kids are attending school, there is some time spent goofing off, or wasting time, and with this program, there is none of that.  The lessons require the the kids to do the work in order to understand the concept, and then they are graded on the quiz that shows their comprehension, not on the actual assignment.  We are still trying to work out the balance.  Hopefully we will get it soon.  Allen is also taking seminary at our local high school a few times a week.  He has several friends from school who go to class the same time as he does.  He said it made it hard to homeschool, and he really wanted to go to high school.  He is also starting speech services in a couple of weeks.  He will attend once a week.  His sessions are 20 minutes away from our house, and they are during our schooling time.  That is going to be another tricky scheduling problem to work out.

I have really enjoyed teaching Makenzie and Morgan, but it has also been overwhelming.  Some of the programs that I am using are programs that I LOVE, and some are just things that I am doing because I am not sure what else to do right now.  Morgan HATES to write, and he also will not do anything unless I am sitting right by his side guiding him along every step of the way.  I have some definite goals with him.  He is most likely going to be my most time consuming student this year, but hopefully by the end of the year, we will see some real progress with him and he will be set up to be much more successful in the long run.  In spite of how overwhelming this first week has been, I am loving it.  It still definitely feels like the right decision, and although it is definitely not going to be the easiest thing I've ever done, we are having fun, and learning a lot.

We also canned peaches this week.  We got our first peaches off our own tree, and my mom gave us some from her tree.  It was a horrible week to try to can peaches, but we made it through and we now have 76 quarts of peaches.  I still have to get my kitchen cleaned up, and get my house back in working order, but it feels so good to get done with the canning.  Now I am glad I have a 3 day weekend to catch up with things before we get back to school.

We worked very hard this summer to get my kids to help out with the house jobs.  By the end of the summer, they were helping out so much.  It was great to have a clean house, and it was great to see them take pride in their work.  We have not figured out how to do schoolwork and house jobs both in the same day, but hopefully as we get better at scheduling, that will come.  I'm also hoping that this next week will seem super easy since we won't be dealing with canning peaches and homeschooling.

 

Guess who learned to open the flour container?

Larry has been pretty uncooperative this week.  He spends his day spreading school supplies from one end of the house to the other.  He always wants to be working with the exact supplies we need at the moment.  He has becoming very good at repeating the phonograms, and he is adorable repeating everything in his little one year old voice.  He is 15 1/2 months now, and he finally began walking this last week.  He is very uncoordinated, but determined.  He can say quite a few words, and he signs like a champ.  He is pretty good at getting his needs taken care of.  He will even ask to take a nap when he gets tired!  Sometimes.  He loves bananas and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we can no longer use the word cookie in our house.

Finally, some big news.  Allen got his learner's permit this last week.  He had his first driving experience yesterday in a local church parking lot.  Hubby said that he did really well.  It is kind of scary, but kind of exciting to have an almost driver.  He has grown up so much, and is such a great kid.  I'm so glad I get to be his mom!

Overall, we are doing well.  But we won't be planning ANYTHING but school for a while.  Hopefully, I will get a chance to update again next week.

Wow! I can't even think of a title for this entry. It has been such a long time since I have even tried to keep up with my blog. I don't have a lot of time, so this will most likely be an odd, random post.

We have decided to begin homeschooling again this next year, and I am very excited. Allen and Michael (Grades 10 and 7) are going to be doing the k12 program. They are both very excited to do their schooling on the computer. Makenzie and Morgan will be doing many of the same programs we did last time we homeschooled. Larry will be running interference. I'm excited and a little nervous. It definitely feels like the right decision for us.

Larry is 15 months old today.  Yesterday, we went and got him his first haircut.  I had a tough time deciding to do it.  I knew he wouldn't look like a baby anymore, and I will never have a baby again.  I'm stressing way too much, but oh well.

Before

After

  My sister does an amazing job.  It is so very nice to have someone who has the skills to cut hair, and is willing to work with my kids.  Before we moved close to family, I would dread getting my kids hair cut.  I had many stylists threaten me and my kids.  With their sensory issues, it is next to impossible for them to sit still.  Thanks sis!

We have had a productive, busy summer.  My kids can all ride bikes now (Larry rides on his bike seat on my bike  :)  We spent an entire month going to the pool every day, and my kids can swim reasonably well.  We did tutorials on all the different house jobs that I wanted my kids to help out with, and my house is much cleaner now.  I stole some ideas from my sister about how to organize our job charts, and things are going well.  Now, if only I could find a way to motivate them to do their jobs quickly and not dawdle so much.

Remembering

I saw this picture today as I was browsing through facebook. It has been 4 years since I lost my little girl, and it is amazing how often I still think about her. I know if she had lived, my life would have been different. I'm very happy with how my life has turned out, but I still miss her often.

5k

Today, my family ran it's first 5k. My husband and one son went on a camping trip, so I got to be a single mom today. I got up at 6:30 in order to get everything ready. The kids were up and ready to go in just a couple of minutes. I checked the thermometer when I woke up. It was 1 degree above freezing!

We ate a quick breakfast, and I fed the baby and got him dressed, and we headed out. We had gotten mixed information about the start of the race. We heard both 8:00 and 8:30. We got to the school at about 8:10, and after getting the stroller all packed up and getting into the school, it was after 8:15. We got our numbers, and bags of goodies, pined on our numbers as fast as we could, and then headed to the car to drop off our loot, which was right next to the starting line, luckily. It had warmed up quite a bit, and the weather was just perfect. It was sunny, but still pretty cool. About a minute after we got to the starting line, they started us off. I lost track of all my kids right from the start. I started in the back, and after about 1/8th of a mile, most of the people in front of me started walking. I moved out to the road to get in front of all the walkers. We ran along a busy street, and then a dirt road next to a canal. I was a little nervous about my kids.

There were 2 races on the same course, one for a mile, and then the 5k. Just past the point where the 1 milers turned around to head back, I found my 7 year old, walking along. He grabbed onto the side of the stroller, and hung on for the rest of the race. We ran and talked the entire race. My baby loved the dirt road. He sang for most of the time as he bumped along. It made us laugh. There were several people who would run, and then walk, and we took turns passing each other. When we had about a 1/2 a mile left, my 7 year old really started complaining, and letting me know he just couldn't go on anymore. I kept pointing out how close we were, and he hung in there, and ran pretty much the whole time.

I hadn't seen my older 2 runners anywhere along the route. When we crossed the finish line, my 15 year old was sitting on the curb on the side of the road. When I asked him how he did, he held up his 1st place ribbon (for his age division). I whooped and hollered like a mad woman. I am so proud of him. When I found my daughter she showed me her 2nd place ribbon (for her age division). I found out that they actually ran the last part of the race together. We walked around, and visited some booths at the health fair and ate some breakfast. My son told us to go check how we placed. He took us to a table where we were supposed to check in when we finished the race. They gave my 7 year old a second place ribbon. As we were leaving I noticed a massive clock sitting in the back of a truck right next to the finish line. I was so excited about finishing the race, that I didn't even notice my time.

It ws a fun first race. I think the kids each saw how much their training helped them out, and I definitely saw how it helped me. I am planning to run a 5k on July 4th without the kids, and I'm excited to see what I can do when I can just concentrate on myself.

Update

This week was a pretty tough one for us.  On Tuesday, Larry had his two week appointment.  When we weighed him, it showed that he weighed 9 lbs, 2 oz.  He had been such a fussy baby, and he hadn't had many wet/poopy diapers the last few days before his appointment.  When the doctor came in to see me, she let me know that Larry had lost 16% of his body weight.  She also let me know that she had never seen a baby loose that much weight after birth before.

I was so frustrated.  Larry was fussy, and tired all the time.  He wanted to nurse constantly, but he was also really fighting breastfeeding.  Even though I felt like I spent most of my time feeding him, he was still not progressing.  I felt like a horrible mom!

The doctor had me start him on formula, and she wanted me to bottle feed him.  She said that breastfeeding uses more calories than bottle feeding.  She had me mix the formula so it was more concentrated, and had higher calories than normal.  I needed to feed him every two hours, and then I also needed to pump to get my milk supply up.  She also wanted me to eat 5 small meals a day and drink tons of water.  It took over my entire day, and it was very overwhelming, but it all paid off.  I went back the next day, and Larry had gained 3 oz.  I was able to start feeding  him every 3 hours, and I got to breastfeed him every 3rd feeding, and then supplement with the higher calorie formula.

She had me come in again on Friday, and he had gained another 3 oz.  He is still over a pound under his birth weight, but I am back to breastfeeding exclusively, and only supplementing when he still seems hungry after eating.  I think things are finally starting to click.  When I first started breastfeeding exclusively, he never seemed satisfied, but he is finally back to being my happy boy.

My mom came and helped me out this week, and the kids are finally out of school, and they are able to help me out more.  They are such great helpers.  Today, Allen was holding Larry, and Larry filled his diaper and then some.  Allen was so grossed out, he just about dropped him trying to pass him off to Hubby.  Now that we have the helping out taken care of, maybe we should start working on diaper changing.