Weekly Wrap Up

This week we finally receive the curriculum we ordered...GeoMatters Paths of Exploration! We are loving it. I had/have plans of using Ambleside Online next year but if POE works out for us, we may end up using AO for our loop read aloud selections.

Our dog Smokey likes to get in my chair the minute I get up--He was trying to convince my oldest son that he's the teacher now.

My daughter has been having some letter formation problems, so we are stepping back and using play dough, a tray of rice, and finger paints to 'draw' the letters. We'll get back to handwriting soon. We have plenty of time; she's only in Kindergarten.

We live in the city, so finding a place to have our weekly (seems like daily, now!) nature walks is a bit of a challenge so that it doesn't get too repetitive for the children. Today we took a walk down a path near our house and went the opposite way we normally go. The kids had a great time walking, running, noticing sounds, digging...just doing what kids love to do.

After our nature walks I have the children draw a picture and write something describing it. He even looked up "how to write the tree in Chinese" and wrote the symbols. 

His journal entry was entertaining today...

My oldest son got braces! He's 8.5; this seems so young for braces. I knew it was coming. He was born with a cleft lip and palate, which caused him to have very crooked front teeth. He will have perfect teeth by the end! This first phase is 18 months; this includes braces and an expander (he gets this placed in 3 weeks.)

The kids love to use my iPad to take pictures. We were messing around with PhotoBooth one day and these beauties were created. I could NOT stop laughing! My youngest son looks like some sort of alien mastermind with his crew ready to rule the world!

And last but not least our library book haul for today.

The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes | The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher | The Tale of The Pie and The Patty-Pan | The Tale of Peter Rabbit | The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck | How Lincoln Learned to Read | The Dumbest Idea Ever | Spooksville | Countries of the the World: Spain | The Grasshopper & the Ants | The Tortoise & The Hare | Hollywood Dogs | W is for Webster | Ada Byron Lovalace and the Thinking Machine

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Top 5 Reasons A Public Homeschool Charter School Works For Us

When we decided on a whole new vision for what our daily lives would look like, I had put together a curriculum plan that was full of free resources from around the internet.

As with anything, plans can change.

We have decided to join a public school charter school.

Yes, there is still testing involved.

No, we don't mind the testing.

It doesn't have any weight on the children and we don't use it as a measure of intelligence.

Picture made with Pablo

1. It's essentially the same as homeschooling on our own. We have the freedom to teach what we want, when we want, and how we want. We are lucky enough that we have an education specialist that goes along with what we do and records our work according to what the state requires.

2. We have access to activities. If it weren't for the government funding, we would not be able to enroll our children in enrichment classes...such as ballet, gymnastics, woodworking, horseback riding, piano...you get the idea. It's wonderful to be able to place our children in activities that they wouldn't be able to do otherwise because of the financial strain it would put on our family. Also, I believe in not over scheduling a child. If they were in public school I wouldn't put them in an outside activity because of all the homework that is required these days. Children need to be able to play, explore, and do the things that interest them...without being exhausted.

3. Accountability. Having a person, "educational specialist", that we meet with every 15-20 days helps keep *me* on track.  It prevents too many fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants days...I understand this works for some people, but not for our family. She knows our educational philosophy, she knows my teaching style, and she knows my kids' learning styles. This allows her to make suggestions when I ask her what she would recommend.

4. We choose our own curriculum. Unfortunately, we can't buy Christian/sectarian materials with the funds, but other than that we can choose whatever works best for us. The scope of what we are able to buy is huge. We are currently waiting on a shipment of a full history curriculum that uses the Charlotte Mason method, an ant farm, a butterfly garden, paint, paint brushes, a large box of art supplies, logic games...etc.

5. We get  A LOT of money to spend. Each year the charter school families get government education funds. It varies a tiny bit each year depending on that year's educational budget with the district. This year each family was allotted $2200 per enrolled child! We signed up during the 2nd semester so we got a little less than half of that amount. It was fun shopping for classes and items!

While a public school charter school isn't for every family, it works for ours. 

What works for your family?

Linking up here

Great News!

We received great news! G-man's excisional biopsy showed no cancer or lymphoma!  We are beyond excited to hear this news! I can't begin to explain the weight that was lifted when I received that e-mail!

We are still waiting on cultures to get back. A general culture came back and after 72 hours showed no bacteria growth.

*sigh* Now I feel like we are back at square one with trying to figure out what is causing all of the swollen lymph nodes all over his body. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited that it's not cancer; I've just got more questions! I can't wait to meet with his ENT to re-group and keep moving forward to find the cause.

Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts!

G-man's Excisional Biopsy

G-man had surgery yesterday. (read here for back story: When Our Children Are Sick.) We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 am. We didn't find out later that his surgery wasn't until 9:50  am. I was worried at this point. I had a hungry baby that was asking to nurse every once in a while...which was heart breaking. Aside from this, he did surprisingly well waiting! There was a cute little play room that we were able to wait in. Instead of the boring, sardine packed adult surgery waiting room.

We were soon called back to the pre-op area (where they gave him a bear!)


We were met with very friendly nurses and doctors. We were then visited by his ENT doctor who was very reassuring that the surgery is a simple one. I feel comfortable with him as we have an established relationship as he is also our older son's cleft lip/palate surgeon.

The second doctor who saw us was the anesthesiologist. He was very friendly and great with G-man. He did look familiar though; I knew I had seen him somewhere before but I just couldn't pin point it so i didn't say anything. Andy did speak up though and asked him if he got told that he looked like Mike Rowe! It immediately clicked in my brain that it was the show Dirty Jobs I had recognized him from. He laughed and said that he got comments all of the time. After chatting for a bit he ordered some relaxation medicine for G-man so that the would easily go with him to the OR. It was heart wrenching watching the anesthesiologist walk with him to the OR.

From the time he left my arms, to the time we were by his side again was a little over an hour. The wait really wasn't that bad. My husband had a prescription filled at this facility (one we don't normally visit); so that took the first 20 minutes or so. We then headed to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. By the time i was finished with my sandwich the ENT doctor was calling me. I ended up missing the call because my phone wouldn't recognize that I was swiping to answer! He left a very nice voicemail that everything went well and that he did has "a lot of swollen lymph nodes and they took a few to send to pathology." He couldn't stick around as he had to head back to his regular facility. He took time out of his normal clinic day to come do Grayson's surgery on a day that he normally doesn't do surgeries! So, after listening to the voicemail, my husband and I quickly head back to the waiting room to be reunited with out sweet baby.

Our oldest son was born with a cleft lip and palate. In his 8.5 years he has had 7 surgeries. I thought I was used to the whole surgery process. I've gone through it all before. (with my oldest son and my husband) The one thing I forgot was how babies look when they are still in the deep dream state of anesthesia after surgery.

Our little mister doesn't normally just lay on his back like this:




I admit there was a moment that had to catch my breath because he looked so lifeless. That was a little irrational as the doctor had just spoken to me about how well he did. I pray that I never have to see Grayson like that again.


I am so thankful that he has bounced back to his normal self quickly! The pain of this minor surgery will quickly fade from his memory; unfortunately the worry that comes with awaiting test results will remain with me for 1-2 more weeks.

A Family Trip

This past weekend we went on a last minute trip with my husband. He had a job interview in a small town about 3-4 hours away.

The drive was beautiful...and adventurous with three kiddos! We stopped several times and slowed down on the windy roads because the kids were getting carsick; the baby actually did get sick. We were also not expecting to see snow! So we stopped a few times to rest the little tummies.❄️

Things really got interesting when we stopped for lunch. Everyone was off for a potty break and I was tending to G-man who was sitting in the passenger seat while I stood outside of the truck. Then someone in a HUGE truck just had to park next to us, even though there were a billion spaces available. So I shut my door and went to the sidewalk...so that they wouldn't hit me or the door! In the two seconds it took for me to get back to the door, G-man had locked himself in! My husband didn't tell me he left the keys in the ignition after he turned the truck off!! Andy went inside the store and used their phone (both of ours was locked in the truck) to get AAA to help us. Fifteen minutes later G-man finally figured out how to push the unlock button. He was having a blast teasing us!

We weren't expecting snow! So we all got hats and gloves. The kids had a blast in the snow and exploring this tiny town of 17,000 (including the inmates, so more like 11,000 residence.) It would be quite a change for us...going from a city of over 500,000 people will likely be a welcomed culture shock!

 

Once we got settled in on Sunday, we had dinner and relaxed in the hotel room. We were all too tired from the drive to do much of anything else. Monday morning we got ready for the day and went and explored our potential new home. One really great park we came across was Susanville Ranch Park. The older kids and I had a blast while Daddy and G-man stayed in the warm truck. There was an old brick building that had stairs to nowhere...E-man loved this part! Bugging me to explore more, I finally agreed. We ended up walking through tall reeds, finding a stream, a bridge, and a picnic bench where E-man promptly said "We can do our school work here!".

C-girl and I explored Uptown (which is just the hill part of their one main street, ha!). We found a few antique shops, book stores, and our favorite...a little shop filled with Christmas decorations!!  The shop owner and I started chatting and I was glad to find out that there is a huge homeschooling community there.

Later that day we were able to meet with some sweet friends that we haven't seen in a few years. They have a beautiful home on 60 acres! We had some spaghetti, wine, coffee, and great conversation.

We are praying and hoping that he gets this job...the kids would love to roam and explore nature...instead of the concrete jungle.

Update: Unfortunately, he did not get the job. Onward with the search...

A Whole New Vision

I have struggled with confidence in my ability to homeschool. My oldest son is in 3rd grade at a public school.  During his K, 1st, and 2nd school years, he was homeschooled and in public school. I would start out homeschooling and then freak out that I wasn't doing a good enough job, or I had a hard day and just gave up.  This year I decided to just put them (my son and daughter in K) in public school, they keep begging to homeschool.

I've done a lot of thinking over the last few months and I realized what the issue was. I was trying to force a style of homeschooling that doesn't work for us. I was trying to mimic the public school classroom...it wasn't working. Our life needs to reflect education. I need to immerse them in a life style of continuous education. There shouldn't be a line between home life and education. Education should be a part of life, not separate.

I'm not sure that I could choose just one style of homeschooling for us. We will be learning through living books, not textbooks. We follow more of a Charlotte Mason/Classical style of homeschooling but we will also add in a technological spin. We are techie nerds and technology is a huge part of this world we now live in.

I've learned that homeschooling is what we make it. It isn't about learning exactly what someone else is learning, at the exact same age they are learning it. It's about teaching the children to have the know how to get the information they need. A person who knows how to educate themselves, instead of relying on other people to feed them information, will have a deeper understanding of the world around them. We've decided that for our family, it will be through home education.

The kids are very excited for their last day of public school on December 14th. They are excited to be able to pursue their interests without having to figure out how many hours of homework they have that night. They are excited to be able to participate in activities around the city during the day. We are all excited for this shift in out lives.

If only I had more time

Image created at Pablo

I tend to find myself day dreaming while doing my household duties. While doing the dishes or folding clothes or putting toys back for the millionth time I start thinking about the things I could do if only I had more time.

If only I had more time, I could...

-make fancy homemade soap
-crochet
-get better at knitting
-read more

If only I had more time to do the things I wanted to do.

"You're the best, mommy!"

Wait, where did that come from? After thinking through the day I can't think of a single reason why my kids would randomly say that.

So far I've...

-reminded them to put their toys away at least 10 times
-scolded them for hitting each other.
-put them in time out for talking back.

At this point I've been getting increasingly irritated. While angrily cleaning up the toys, I'm reminded of the sweet moments we spent together sharing tea and crumpets, playing "waiter and eater", chasing each other pretending we are super heroes, reading Sandra Boynton books, getting the baby out of the dishwasher.

I am reminded that my time is not mine.

I am in a season of motherhood where my time is theirs. There will come a time when I'll look for toys to pick up...and there won't be any. There will come a time where I'll be cooking for two again.

There will come a time that time is mine again. When that time comes, I'll enjoy my time soap making, crocheting, knitting and reading.

Until that time I will remind myself that my time is theirs...for now.

Being a mommy...it's not the only reason I'm tired 24/7

After becoming a mom everyone and their mother told me I would be tired forever.

For.EVER.

ugh.

That didn't sound fun but I dealt with it because I loved my baby...fast forward to 8.5 years later and 2 more kids later and I'm more tired than ever!

I always chalked it up to the sleepless nights. People would tell me I need a sleep study for sleep apnea. (Which I did but the test was inconclusive and I didn't want to do it again!)

Finally, I contacted my doctor for some blood work to figure out what is wrong with me.

My youngest is now 14mo old and I'm getting a little more sleep; although, by 11am I am falling asleep while playing with my kids. This is not right. I should not be this tired.

There were times I napped while the little was napping that the older kids would wake me from a nap to ask me a question...I started falling asleep in the middle of my sentences.

I could NOT stay awake. I did this several times to my son, even when just relaxing in my recliner. I was so tired I physically could not keep my eyes open.

I kept thinking "Stay awake! Open your eyes! Why can't I form a coherent sentence? Why does it sound like my speech is slurred? I know I haven't had any wine yet!"

I'm still working with my doctor to figure out a bigger picture, but in the mean time she is treating me for iron-deficiency. Which causes chronic fatigue. It's hard to explain what this type of tired is to people who are just tired from a late night. It's hard to explain it to people who are not suffering from iron-deficiency/chronic fatigue.

When I say "I'm tired." I'm not saying..."Gosh I had a late night, I'd really like to take a power nap and be good for the rest of the day."

It's me saying: "I literally can't keep my eyes open anymore. I am going to endanger myself or someone else if I don't sit down or go lay down right now because I might fall asleep and fall over."

I have to FIGHT these sleepy spells. I splash water in my face, do jumping jacks, sing at the top of my lungs while clapping. Anything to try and get my blood pumping and catch that second wind.

Sometimes most times I lose. :/ It's hard when I know my children need me or want me to read them a book or sing them a song and I physically can't.

I'm learning to take pro-active steps everyday. Most days I forget, but some days I'm really good at taking my iron supplements/vitamins/walking. Reminding myself that I feel better, even for a little bit, after doing my daily morning routine helps to motivate me to continue with it.

Hopefully this phase of my life will pass soon. In the mean time, I will continue to just keep swimming.

Little Mister broke his arm. :(

Friday morning around 8:30am I told the kids to play in their newly cleaned room. Three minutes later I hear screaming...from my son.

(I thought that he landed on a toy and scratched his back.) I laid him on his back and tried to calm him down to find out what happened. 

That is when I noticed this.... 

*WARNING TO SQUIMISH* 

this is a picture of his crooked arm.

   

I quickly covered the rest of him in a blanket just in case he got cold. I grabbed my phone to call 911. Andy had the van and I didn't have a way to get Eli to the hospital. I then call my friend up the street and ask her if she could take Charlie for me. Then I call Andy and tell him what was going on. 

 The fire truck arrived before the ambulance. They used one of my cardboard boxes and splint his arm. One of the medics kind of irritated me because he was like "oh he'll need surgery and we need to get him to UCDavis." Even though I explained that we are Kasier patients and need to be taken there. He insisted on UCDavis, I didn't feel like arguing and just wanted my son to be taken to the hospital. (Insurance will cover it, but I don't know if we'll have to pay OOP and then get reimbursed). 

At the same time they are taking Eli out to the ambulance, Andy gets home. So I leave with Eli and Andy stays behind a few minutes to make sure my friend has everything she needs for Charlie. 

 The ride started out like this:

 

and ended like this:

  

 We then got to the hospital, he was given a room right away and seen by some doctors right away. They were all very nice and informative. 

 

 He got some pain meds... 

 

We then went and got an xray done of his arm. The lame tech asked him if he could flatten his arm. umm NO, and move your hands because you aren't going to try and do it for him! his right arm on the table thumb up, like a karate chop.

  

 Then we waited around

 

 

 When one of the nurses walked out he said "She sounds like a man." LOL :embarrassed: I'm SO glad she didn't hear him. 

Then it was time for them to get ready to set it. They gave him heavy sedation so that he would go to sleep and wake up and not remember then setting his arm.

 

 

Andy and I walked out of the room for a bit. Neither of us wanted to stay. Well I originally wanted to, but then Andy suggested that I not stay. We came back to a freshly casted sleeping prince. 

 

 When he woke up he told me that he had a dream that he went to outerspace. He didn't see any martians, but he did bring me back a moon rock. He would wake up for about a minute and then conk out. He woke up saying different things and singing different tunes. He woke up one time and sang "God is bigger than the boogie man." and then went back to sleep. lol 

 After spending 9 hours in the ER, he was ready to go home!

   

 Asleep for the night...hopefully.

 

Surgery #5

On August 30th, Eli had another surgery on his cleft lip/palate. 

They took away some of the thickness in his nostril and re-opened his nasal cavity. The surgery last time left him with a tiny opening to breathe through. That was 2 years ago. I had NO idea that he had a hard time breathing through his nose. He would always wake in the middle of the night complaining about his nose, mostly when he had a runny nose, and I would get frustrated because...

"IF HE WOULD ONLY LEARN HOW TO BLOW HIS NOSE!!! "

I said this several times.

(go ahead and pass me the mother of the year award)

They also revised the scar on his lip and the space between his nose and lip. They also took a piece of cartilage out of his left ear and placed it at the base of his nostril so that it wouldn't collapse. Therefore, he has an incision behind his left ear to get skin to cover the part they took in the front of the ear. Poor baby.

Without further ado...pictures in the hospital.

His nurse, Kathy...which he refused to say...said her favorite color was green as well!

Here, she is explaining the O2 monitor. She said that it was like a little hug. I pointed at him and said "E.T., phone home." He looked at me like I was crazy.

We had a little surprise for him...we bought him a Leapster Explorer. He was beyond excited! We also bought him the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien game....which was a HUGE hit.

Here are some after he got his "happy juice" to make him calmer. When they took him back the anesthesiologist was awesome. Eli started to cry, but the anesthesiologist raised his bed and asked Eli to hold on to the invisible steering wheel. Then he asked him to step on the gas pedal. When Eli did that, the bed started to move so he got to drive himself into the OR.

Here he is when we first saw him after surgery. My poor little guy.

I can't believe how much he has grown. This was his first surgery at 2.5 months!

Warning:

Bellow this text are some pictures of his incisions.

Here he is after we got home. He felt awful, but he was back to his normal self the next day.

I can't believe how GROWN UP he looks in this next picture. he looks WAY older than 4yrs 4mo!

He is my brave little man.