I got a message from God today

In my One Year Bible, today's NT reading, in bold print (and I have absolutely no idea why some of the verses are in bold, except that I needed to make sure to see this one):

For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen.  For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. (NLT)

3) Thank you, God, for speaking to me!

Today's Busy Day

Looking at my calendar for the week, it seemed that today - Monday, of all days - would be my hump day!  We started out with Elizabeth's dance class in the morning and David's first night of Cub Scouts this evening.

Dad was working today, so David had to go with us to dance.  I was afraid of how that would turn out, so I asked Grandpa to come along for back-up.  Turns out we lost some of the little ballerinas from her class (and school back in session took out the siblings), so the waiting room wasn't as crowded as it was last week.  Plus having the novelty of Grandpa falling asleep & waking up every few minutes, David handled the hour pretty well.  It was lunch where he didn't handle himself so well.

Elizabeth enjoyed another day of class and I remembered to take a picture while they were doing their gymnastics, but didn't get any dance pictures this week.  There she is on the low balance beam with Miss Toya waiting at the bars.

She was scared to do the bars, though, even with Miss Toya's help.

While the girls napped back at home, we got a little school work done, including this interesting comparison of the sizes of the sun and Earth (the little blue dot!).

Cub Scouts turned out to be a flop.  He was just not able to handle the group setting, or peer interaction... at all.  We left early... both in tears.  From the book I quoted last time:

...having a child with ADHD places great stress on the parents, particularly mothers.

(and surely pregnancy hormones and missing my Momma doesn't help either.)  I've also started reading another book, on defiant behavior, while I'm still finishing the book on ADHD:

Your child acts this way because he doesn't know how else to handle his difficult thoughts and feelings.

And that's mostly a reminder to myself, but still no excuse for horrible behavior.  We're just trying to figure out what's wrong with him and how we can help him.  It's very hard for me to remain patient and keep my own self-control when he's attacking me.  We've made counseling appointments to get some help.

To be thankful...

I feel like I've been in a constant state of pity party this year.  I've always believed, as Momma taught me, that if you can't say something nice, it's better not to say anything at all.  That's one reason for fewer blog posts this year, compared to my archives.

Well a few days ago, I stumbled upon Holy Experience.  Her post, The Thousand Gifts, explains it.  To summarize - make a list of 1000 things God has blessed you with.

Begin giving thanks for the daily washing in His fountain of Gifts--just on a scrap piece of paper or in a journal. Notice and write down from the obvious to little. And begin to feel more joy, less stress, better health, more connected in your relationships, and more delight in your everyday life. Praise is what we are made for!

So I will begin. 

Friday, August 27, 2010 - Forget about everything that's gone wrong and be thankful for the gifts the Lord has given me.

1)  My family growing up.  I have been blessed - so much more than many - by my parents and my siblings as we grew up on the farm.  We got along most of the time, and we loved each other.  (even though I had a bruise on my arm in my jr high track picture from when my brother punched me because I wouldn't roll up the window in the car)

2) The memories I have of #1.  They are priceless.

Will have to be continued.  But I will continue.  I am not going to give a time limit to get it done, but I will keep chugging along at it.

Random Around the House

Yesterday Dad asked me if I saw the slide that Elizabeth drew on the chalk board.  I hadn't, so I went to take a look.  He had to point it out to me, and then I was amazed.  Can you see it?

It's looking down a tube slide, like at McDonald's.  See how it's dark at the bottom?  She doesn't like going down these.  She was also practicing her E.

Rebekah is just cute.  She was very happy about her bananas & yellow watermelon yesterday.

A few days ago I found a nest full of eggs in the Mexican Petunias in the back yard.  Today, I discovered that Julia has gone broody!  She's in a pretty good spot, so I think I'll let her stay & see what happens.

By the way, I absolutely hate the new way that Blogger is inserting photos.

And here's the free t-shirt I got from Graco and I Love My Baby Bump on Facebook:

Back to School!

Seems like most of our home school friends started back to school a few weeks ago or today.  We actually started out slowly a few weeks ago also.  David is a first grader!  We started off with just a morning block for school and as we're able to increase his attention span, we'll add the afternoon block of subjects.

So far, David has memorized one new Bible verse,completed  chapter one in our astronomy book and started the notebook, made a "What is history" pocket, and done lots of review/practice in his weakest point - handwriting.

Astronaut David is part of his astronomy notebook!  Below is David's definition of ancient in his history pocket.

I find that having him write things that are interesting to him holds his attention much better than having him just practice-write the same letter over & over.

The devotional book we're using, Leading Little Ones to God, has been right on target to answer some of the questions David has been curious about (like why we can't see God).  We've also make it through 2 chapter books (Charlotte's Web and Mr. Popper's Penguins) and 3 other smaller books, reading aloud together.  Lots of Lego work helps him maintain focus, and build his hand strength and creativity.

I think we're going to have to make a trip to the library soon and our first field trip to the Science & History Museum is in the works.  We're going to take in a show at the planetarium while we're there.

Elizabeth has been right along side, doing her "school work" that she loves so much.  Today, she also started her dance class at The Little Gym.  She absolutely loved it!

Here they are twirling:

Rebekah has to be contained during our school block.  She's been the biggest challenge so far!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Back to School time!

The Stigma

I haven't said much about it on the blog because I'm fully aware of the stigma.  Before it was my own child, I used to think, "Why can't those parents control their child better than that?"  I was judgemental.  Now it's me.

I have decided, in an effort to help family and friends understand what's going on, I should include this on my blog.  After all, that's why this blog was started almost 6 years ago.

David started out with some developmental delays.  He was late walking and late talking.  He banged his head a lot.  Lots of people suggested a certain disorder without coming right out & saying it.  We resisted.  He did not have the hallmark signs of that.  We did speech therapy and slowly he started talking and suddenly he started walking.

By the age of 5, I was beginning to realize that once again, there was something different.  David just didn't seem to function the same as other kids his age.  Although extremely smart, he did not do well in a group setting like Sunday school and our home school co-op classes.

We home schooled Kindergarten and again he proved very smart.  When I discovered he was left handed, we made some adjustments and fine motor skills improved.  We still didn't want to label him, so "off the books" we had my sister-in-law test him for ADHD, although she was skeptical.  But we had seen more, and the test showed a high likelihood that he had the disorder.

We changed our diet, avoiding artificial colors, artificial flavors, and certain preservatives.  We joined the Feingold Association and learned a lot about all natural & whole foods.  I need to re-read all of their information again and make sure I haven't let anything slip back into our diet, too.  We tried several homeopathic remedies to help with the ADHD.

In the spring of this year, things started getting worse again.  By summer, we finally decided it was time to talk to the pediatrician about it and consider using medication.  We did another test which showed an even stronger likelihood of ADHD and ODD.   The day we went to the doctor with our test results in hand, I was in tears.  It had gotten that bad.  It is not just a problem with attention-span and hyperactivity.  It's much more complex.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a developmental disorder of self-control.  It consists of problems with attention span, impulse control and activity level.  But, as you will discover here, it is much more.  These problems are reflected in impairment in a child's will, or capacity, to control his own behavior relative to the passage of time - to keep future goals and consequences in mind.  It is not, as other books will tell you, just a matter of being inattentive and overactive.  It is not just a temporary state that will be outgrown, a trying but normal phase of childhood.  It is not caused by parental failure to discipline or control the child, and is not a sign of some sort of inherent "badness" in the child.  ADHD is real - a real disorder, a real problem, and often a real obstacle.  It can be heartbreaking and nerve-wracking.

Quote from the book, Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents (Revised Edition) by Russell A. Barkley, PhD, also referenced below.

The first week, we started on a low dose of a stimulant medication in the morning and saw an improvement in David's behavior for 6 hours after taking it.  The next week, we added a low dose of a non-stimulant medication in the afternoon, which has now been increased twice.  He does better most of the day with random episodes of anger and defiance.  Sitting through an almost 2-hour church service today was a stretch of his capacity, though. (The same could be said of adults also, but at least we have the ability to control how we act about it!)


I am reading this book to help me understand ADHD and how to handle him because the "normal stuff" just doesn't work with him.  Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents (Revised Edition) has been a huge eye-opener and help to me in the last few weeks.  We have implemented a token system for rewards and consequences, which seems to be working with him better than other discipline we've tried.  We'll also be trying some other ideas from the book.

Here's something I read today that I wanted to share about the nature of ADHD.  I'm on the chapter about the possible causes.  Remember that I mentioned before that it's not just a problem with attention-span and hyperactivity.  A study in Denmark had the following findings:

...ADHD children had less blood flow to the frontal area (of the brain), particularly in the caudate nucleus - an important structure in the pathway between the most frontal portion of the brain and the structures in the middle of the brain known as the limbic system.  The caudate nucleus is made up of several bundles of nerve fibers, one region of which is known as the straitum.  This region is important in inhibiting behavior and sustaining attention.  The limbic system, to which it is connected is responsible for a variety of human activities, chief among which are controlling emotions, motivation, and memory.

Other studies have shown lower brain activity in the frontal area of the brain in cases of ADHD across the board - in children, adolescents, and adults.

I hope that by starting to share some of our journey here, more people will be able to understand what it's really like and not just have the judgemental attitude I held for so long.

Dancing again!

After the sonogram yesterday, we headed out in search of shoes!  Elizabeth is starting her little dance class on Monday and still needed some ballet shoes, and David has outgrown everything but his flip flops!  We made good use of the Payless BOGO sale!

Of course, when we got home, Elizabeth had to try on her ballet slippers again and try them out.  Prepare to be amazed by the cuteness....  : )

Shoes alone, would not have been appropriate - she had to put together an ensemble!  She's watching the Baby Ballet DVD that I got from Amazon using my Swagbucks!  : )

Hopefully these videos will work; I was having some problems uploading them...

Drumroll please.....

Something about this reminds me of Rebekah already!

In the last few weeks, I've boxed up some boy clothes that David has outgrown.  I wasn't sure if I needed to cart them up to the attic or to sell/Goodwill them.  Had the same dilemma with the clothes Rebekah is outgrowing.  Now we know.

The boy clothes will be needing a new home and the baby girl stuff is going back into the attic for a few more months.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Elizabeth & Aunt Jana at Chris & Kendall's Wedding

The Grass is Always Greener

Apparently the grass is greener on the other side of the tire, too!

Stupid Goat, as we really do call her, was totally and completely stuck. Her little horns would catch every time she tried to pull her head out. I flipped the tire up and tried to help her, although she was fighting against me the whole time. The spiritual parallels are great, aren't they? I am so thankful we have such a patient God!

August ONE

One of the blogs I enjoy reading has started taking pictures of her kids on the first day of the month. I like that idea. I don't know if I will remember every month, but I did today.

David had a rough day today. We hope to get this medication thing figured out... soon. He will be starting First Grade this month.

Elizabeth had a happy day today, as she does most days. She asked this evening if she could start school... right now!

Rebekah is officially walking, though she doesn't consider herself too good to crawl if she wants to get there really fast. She will be 16 months old this week and she reminded me of Grandma today with her straight hair and baby gap between her teeth.