Summer 2012

While it may seem tempting as a homeschool mom schedule nothing during the summer, I can't seem to let it all go.  Call me crazy, but letting the kids choose their own activities twelve-plus hours a day has not worked in our favor!  They, and I, need some structure.

Last summer we did something fun by diving into the Little House on the Prairie Series.  Besides reading, we had friends over to create pioneer crafts.  We still have the bonnets we made in our dress-up box.  This summer the girls have been asking to do something similar, so we may read through the Anne of Green Gables books.  And just to help us do some of the things we really want to do, we're trying a fun new schedule.  It looks like this (along with our plans for this week):


MAKE IT MONDAY

Create wearable shoes from specific amounts of cardboard, fabric, and duct tape.  Here's the link to our inspiration.

TIME TO READ TUESDAY

Obvious one here . . . visit the library!

WORK IT WEDNESDAY

Organize the school room - clean out those desks.  :)

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY

Take treats to Daddy's work and gifts to M.  (Our little friend who broke her leg last week.)

FRIEND FRIDAY

Invited the W. family over to play!

Happy Summer!

Soccer

This post was supposed to have been written a week ago, but by the end of the story you'll see why I'm kind of glad I waited.  Last Wednesday our three oldest kiddos got to participate in a soccer program at our new church.  It's fantastic.  They learn the skills and get to play in teams for an hour, then they come in and have a time of worship and learning.  So, here they are:

Spunky in action!

Giggles taking a much-needed break.

And then we have Bubba.

Bubba absolutely fell apart last week at soccer.  At the beginning of the session I went out with the whole group of kids to do warm-ups with him.  Did he stay in one place to do jumping jacks?  No, he ran from child to child, kicking everyone's personal soccer balls and generally upsetting the other kids.  When they split into smaller groups he didn't want to go with the other five-year-olds.  When I walked over to the group another boy groaned and (using his real name, of course), moaned, "Do we have to have Bubba on our team?"  That, of course, made me want to go home and cry!  He gradually got more and more stressed out until he burst into tears and begged to go look at the railroad tracks.  (There are some railroad tracks just a short ways from the church.)  So this was a picture of him hanging out with Daddy, looking at the tracks.

Discouraged doesn't even come close to describing how Ethan and I felt on the way home that night.  We probably wouldn't have brought him back without the kind encouragement of a mom with an older autistic child. But we thought we'd give it a try.

Week two, last night, was a whole different story.  We started Bubba off with a buddy, a teen girl who must have an infinite amount of patience.  I was in a Bible study when Ethan texted a photo to me with the words, "You may not be able to see, but he's kicking the ball into the goal here!"  I thought I was going to jump out of my chair with joy!

By the end of the night, he was doing all the drills with the help of his new friend.  I get emotional even writing about it; it's such a big accomplishment.  This verse from Lamentations has been in my mind all day.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning,
great is Your faithfulness.


His mercies are new every morning!

Sister, Sister

Having never grown up with a sister, it was a huge delight when I discovered our second child was also a girl.  I dreamed of tea parties and secrets between the two little ones.  Friendship that would grow at the kitchen table and in the backyard . . . and last for a lifetime.  So it makes me especially happy when I see things like this:

It may be hard to read, but this was part of a beautifully decorated invitation from Spunky to Giggles.  An invitation to a slumber party, specifically.  It's been just over three months since they've shared a room but they were missing each other.  The invite included a list of things to bring, including a sleeping bag.  However, Giggles was a little put out that her big sister expected her to sleep on the floor!  So, the slumber party was short-lived.  :)

Someday I hope my girls will see what a privilege it is to have each other!

I So Scary.

It all started with a shriek and a cry coming from the staircase tonight.  I ran to see what what happening with Calico, who was supposed to be going upstairs with Giggles for a bath.  Big sis could only say, "I don't know what happened, she just seemed afraid and wouldn't go up there."

Calico reached for me, saying, "I want Mommy."  I asked my sweet, tear-stained baby to tell me all about it.  "I  so scary," she confided.

She seemed to do just fine during her bath, but when Daddy came in to say hi she whispered, "I so scary with the Cookie Monster."

What?!

This kiddo has never even seen an episode of Sesame Street, as far as I know.  When Daddy took her down the hall to get pajamas on she pointed fearfully to the attic access and mumbled about the Cookie Monster.  Then her sister opened her bedroom door as she was walking past and she screamed.  Poor girl.

Before being completely ready for bed Calico talked with me about dinosaurs and ghosts.  She pointed to the ceiling again with the dinosaurs.  I've never had a child this young so verbal about her fears.  She just barely turned two!

I tucked her in tonight between her two best stuffed friends, "Flop" the penguin and "Puppy" the dog.  We prayed together and asked God to give her peace.  I pray my little girl will have sweet dreams tonight.

Easter Egg-Stravaganza!

When I told Ethan we were invited to an egg hunt for children with autism and their families, he replied, "That is going to be the worst egg hunt ever!"  After laughing and agreeing, I did wonder what it would look like.  It was pretty fun, though.  The organizers had some great ideas.  For one, they included sensory bins with eggs in them.  For children who may not understand the idea of a hunt, they could sit at a table and rifle through Easter grass.  Bubba tried it out and found probably every chocolate in the bin in like seven seconds.  They also had a couple of bunnies the kids could pet and a whole bunch of people blowing bubbles for the kids to play in. 

The most heart-warming part of the event for me was watching the brothers and sisters helping their autistic siblings.  For our kids it has burden but a much greater blessing to help Bubba.  His big sisters remind him to put his clothes on, flush the toilet, clear the table, shut the door, etc, etc, etc.  They cheer him on when he finishes a puzzle or colors a picture.   And someday his baby sister will probably do the same for him. 

Something I hadn't counted on; while watching the kids playing on the slides I talked with another mom for a bit.  We were pointing out our kids and as I motioned to Bubba, who was squealing and  wearing this doll beanie he occasionally likes to shove on his head, I felt as if I was seeing my son for the first time as an autistic child.  Not as my baby boy, but as a child with autism.  It was almost like an out-of-body experience.  I think that probably happens to all parents of special needs kids at some point.  I just stared at him for a minute and saw how joyful he was.  He didn't look anything like a "typical" kiddo, but he was clearly having the time of his life!

So Saturday did NOT end up being "the worst egg hunt ever".  It was, instead, enlightening.

I Am Extremely Magical

Or at least my kids think so.  Want to know why?  You may want to sit down.  I moved the outdoor slide into the living room!

Oh my.  You would have thought we'd announced we were going to Disneyland.  I'm talking about at least two hours of giggling and joyful shouts.  It was great.

Grandma also got points this week for finding a fun and unusual toy for them:  PigJax.  Yes, a game of jacks with little pigs.  Weird, but fun.  Giggles has enjoyed them so much I suggested maybe we re-decorate her room in pigs, just to tease her.  She was not in support.

It's the little things in life.

April Fools

After being inspired by Pinterest I set out to make an April Fools dinner my kids wouldn't forget.  We started with cupcakes.  They were SO excited!  Giggles stared at them for a minute and said, "That's not frosting, is it?"  I just let her try it.  She and Spunky figured out pretty quickly that it was really meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Little Calico dug right in with no comment, so I guess two years old is too young to know what food is supposed to look like.  Bubba had the best reaction of all.  He had the biggest smile on his face until he took his first bite.  Poor kid.  It took him forever to get around to eating it, but once he did he seemed to like it pretty well.  I've always made pizza-flavored meatloaf because my kids prefer it.

After eating cupcakes it was time for our dessert: grilled cheese sandwiches!  The kids were on to me by this point.  They loved the toasted pound cake with yellow frosting.  It really looked convincing. 

We've never had any April Fool's Day traditions before this, but I think this one is going to stick.  It's just too much fun!