Always check on suspicious noises!

You'd think that someone who is pregnant with #4 would have learned a few things... like when you hear a suspicious noise, always check it out.  Even when the other kids say there's nothing going on.

I heard the ting of a spoon on a glass bowl.  I was told Rebekah wasn't doing anything.  I assumed it was a chicken on the back porch.  Yes, as strange as that sounds, I thought that's what I heard.  That's what I get for reading email instead of looking for myself...

 Caught red... er... brown handed!

Notice the coy, "I'm so cute" grin.

Then she started to realize 

maybe this wasn't a good thing...

 But Mom was still taking pictures,

so she decided it was ok after all

and started to ham it up...

 Notice the bystander in the background?

She told me Rebekah wasn't doing anything.

And that...

was a bowl of homemade

chocolate milk powder

which had been on the kitchen counter.

She's getting too tall too fast.

And I will

always

check on suspicious noises

by the time #4 

is tall enough to reach the kitchen counters...

surely...

The Joys of Homeschooling

We had another week of messed up scheduling thanks to appointments, errands and Dad being away from home most of the week for a hazmat class.  In spite of everything, we still got school done.  And that is one of the joys of homeschooling.

Another is sharing the excitement of learning.  Sure, any parent could have gone out to witness the Super Harvest Moon and Jupiter this week with their kids.  But it's something else to know that in a few months we'll be studying Jupiter and I can say, "Remember that night when we stayed up late and saw the moons of Jupiter? or when we saw it right under the big full moon?"

We're currently on Mercury.  It's an interesting planet.  We've gone outside before sunrise several times in the last week to try to spot it, but there have been too many low clouds on the horizon.  Still, it's bonding to be on a quest together.

David's favorite new word of the week is ziggurat, which we've been learning about in Ancient Civilizations.

While we've been schooling since August, we just started our math curriculum.  Those manipulatives are almost as fun as Legos!  And I have to admit that I was amazed (and grateful!) that the explanation of place value in Math-U-See was so easy for the kids to grasp.  I read it straight out of the teacher's manual & drew it on the board.  Later in the day, Elizabeth walked by the board and asked, "Mama, why is there only one hundred in the castle?"  I didn't even realize she was listening while I was doing math with David!

(Looking back at this photo makes me realize how right-handed our world is and how challenging it must be to be left-handed.)

I've already been able to incorporate some of the tips I got out of The Homeschooler's Guide to Attentional Difficulties.  I love how practical this booklet is.  And I love that I can at least try - do my best - to keep David interested in learning by altering the presentation, the subject matter, the environment, and even the time of day we have school.

And all this is where I found joy in homeschooling this week.

Super Harvest Moon Photos

So facebook is good for something... some times!  Texas Parks & Wildlife posted a link to an article about tonight's Super Harvest Moon, so I was on guard to watch!  David & I went outside and enjoyed the eerie twilight light with the full moon light on the opposite horizon and in the 9 o'clock hour, we enjoyed the magnificent view of the full moon high in the sky with Jupiter just below.  Here are my best shots with my simple, old, point & shoot camera, night setting, flash off.  Enjoy!

Our first glimpse after the clouds thinned 

with Jupiter not really visible in the photo.

Now Jupiter shows up as a little speck.

Boy, it was hard to hold that camera still for the long exposure!

Then I backed off.  This is with no zoom.

Then I zoomed in as far as I could 

with both objects still in the frame.

Jupiter looks faint, but you can tell it's a sphere!

This is one of the reasons I love homeschooling so much!  Now when we get to our Jupiter chapter in Astronomy, I'll be able to say, "And remember when we looked at Jupiter a few months ago?"  Last night, we viewed it though our cheap-o telescope and saw 2 of it's moons.

Speaking of homeschool, today David slept until 10am.  And I let him - because his body is still recovering from the insomnia that was caused by his first medication.  Then we had to go to the pharmacy to pick up a refill on the other medication, to the health food store to get more melatonin to help him fall asleep, to the hardware store for nails, and to the grocery store for milk.  We had school today after dark.  And that is perfectly OK when you're doing it at home.  (There were also less distractions!)

1000 Gifts: Relief, Books, Prayer

(Counting my way to 1000 Gifts from God.)  I haven't gotten many pictures of David smiling lately.  Sunday we had the best day that we've had in weeks.  A new doctor (psychiatrist) thought David was reacting to the stimulant medication and pulled him off of it, effective on Friday.  She replaced it with a mood stabilizer and left him on the non-stimulant ADHD medication.  I am beginning to see my child back.

 

5)  Aaahhhh... relief.  

 

So far we've been two days without any major blow-ups, angry fits, or physical attacks from him.  More of the attention-span problems and hyperactivity are back, but I'd rather have ADHD than anger.  And I am thankful that all that anger was medicine-induced. 

 

He's also been sleeping for the last 2 nights, so the insomnia was also induced by the same medication, as was the loss in appetite.  We will continue working on the authority issues, social skills, and the separation anxiety with the counselor. 

 

 

I read recently, ironically, that when you have a child with ADHD you should continually be reading and learning more.  Two of my latest reads have been a wonderful addition to my ADHD library and I highly suggest them to any other parent going through this.

 

6)  Books:

 

- The Power of God with an AD/HD Child by Krista Hain

- The Homeschooler's Guide to Attentional Difficulties: Practical Tips for Daily Success by Jill J. Dixon

 

Both of these have provided encouragement and practical help beyond my expectations, leaving me in tears that these women understand and are sharing their help with me!  I found both at ChristianBook.com.  If you want more information on either book, I would be happy to share more about them!

 

7)  Prayer

 

David's great-grandmother said to me the other day, "I don't know what else I can do but pray."  What an understatement.  I am so thankful for the people who have been keeping us in their prayers and there have been so many people who have told me they've been praying for us.  I am blessed!

Late Summer Blooms

Over 7" of rain brought in by Hurricane whatever a couple of weeks ago sent the late summer blooms into exhibition mode!

Belly Shot:: 25 Weeks

Today was my 25 week check-up.  Heart sounded good.  My posture could use some help, though!

I go back in 3 weeks for the next check-up and the lovely gestational diabetes test.  bleck.  He says they have "fruit punch" flavor now.  Joy.

Haha... joy... Sarah Joy!  Wow, I need to clean the bathroom mirror before taking pictures.

First Grade: The Sun

We're using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy this year for science.  Instead of using their journal, we've been doing our own lapbook-type activities.  We have to work in small spurts because of everything that's going on with David, but we finally made it through Chapter 2: The Sun.

First we made a size comparison by tracing a dinner plate and using a hole punch.  The hole punch is actually a little bit too large for complete accuracy.

David practiced cutting and handwriting in this activity.  And it's just cool to see how tiny we are.

A million Earths could fit in the sun!  Wow!

Next we learned how far the sun is from us.  Nice effect of the sun coming in through the window, isn't it?

This gave us some much needed number writing practice.  Wow again... almost 93 million miles!

Next, we discussed the importance of never looking at the sun!  I seem to have missed a picture of that, but you can see it in the over view photo below.  David drew a pair of eyes with a red slash over them and practiced writing with, "Never stare at the sun!"

To explain rotating & revolving, we did that fun activity where one person stands in the middle as the sun, another walks around the sun while spinning as the Earth and another person walks around the Earth as the moon.  I was the moon.  I couldn't keep up with David (the Earth).  Elizabeth (the sun) thought it was fun, too!

Again, this spinner thing gave more cutting & handwriting practice.

One of the activities was to illustrate the sun, so David made a sun for the cover of his folder.

He added some solar flares and one really big sunspot also.

We had really interesting discussions about the color of light.  Legos proved invaluable - a tangible way for David, in particular, to grasp what it means for something to absorb the colored light.

Note to self: Get a new silver marker.  Oh, look, there's the "No Eyes" thing I mentioned earlier.

And so we conclude our study of the sun:

Next stop:  Mercury!

I am thankful for the gift of...

4) Sleep, in whatever amount I can get.

I went to bed at 9pm last night.  I am thankful that David finally fell asleep at 12:30am and that I slept, without interruption, from 12:30-6am.  When I woke up, I couldn't move.  David was packed as tight as possible to my back and asleep on my hair.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, 

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  

Psalm 90:13-15

Why I'm thinking about stockings...

For four years now I have wanted to make some new stockings for Christmas.  We had 3 plush stockings that matched that I loved, then I couldn't find any more that I loved.  They weren't the right plush, they looked cheap, or they were not the right color.

That meant when Elizabeth came along, we were one short.  Her first Christmas was in my parents house, so we used their stockings.  Since then, we have used the cat's stocking for a kids stocking, and last year I just gave the 3 stockings to the 3 kids and Mom & Dad went without.

For the last 2 years, I have had the stocking pages from a Pottery Barn catalog hanging up above my sewing machine to inspire me.  Finally, I realize that now I have to make 6 - SIX - yes 6! stockings to be all caught up!  So... I'd better get started...

Last Christmas, I left one of the stockings out by my sewing machine as another inspiration for me to get them made.  So I traced the stocking onto newsprint to make a pattern.  I love these plush stockings because they're so roomy.  Plenty of room for an orange down in the toe.

Then I took some fabric and let the kids pick soft red minky or sparkly red.  David & Rebekah preferred the minky and of course, Elizabeth gasped with excitement when she saw the shimmery fabric.  (Side note: The shimmery fabric is actually an old shirt of Great's!)

I knew I wanted to do some ribbon on them, kinda like what I'd seen in the Pottery Barn catalog, so I got David to help pick out his ribbons from my ribbon stash.  I wanted to do one set of 3 ribbons either running down the side or across the toe, but he insisted on both.

I could deal with that and it made him happy.  And yes, that is camouflage ribbon!  Manly, huh?

They'll all have a white chenille cuff on top and coordinating ribbon loops for hanging.  Of course David's will be a camo loop.  I'll post pictures as I work on them between now & Christmas.

Now that I've gone public, I'll have to get them finished for Christmas this year!

September ONE

I knew I was gonna forget to do this on the first.  Oh, well.  I'm gonna post date it so that it looks like I did it on the first.  (shhh...don't tell)

I've had a hard time getting any pictures of David lately.

Elizabeth asks to do school work all the time!

And she's been doing a really good job for a 3-year old!

Yes, I am biased.

Apparently we have another child genius in the making...

Rebekah also loves books!