Christmas and Other Randomness

So on Dec. 4 I last blogged and said I'd be back.  I had hoped long before this!  But the house is quiet (for the moment) so I'm going to try and blog a bit quickly.

• We had a nice Christmas.  Overall it went smoother than normal with minimal meltdowns (enough for me to feel like a failure, but when I look at it overall, I realize that we really are improving).
• I am almost done with the current book I am reading, "Istanbul".  I have renewed it twice already and am determined to get through it.  "Istanbul" is a fascinating look at that city and it's history, but it is very thick!
• My family got me an electric fireplace for Christmas.  In our old house, we had a lovely wood-burning fireplace in our living room which I have been missing.  This is certainly not the same, but I am enjoying this option in place of the real thing.
• Vacation.  Well, we had hoped to get together with some friends, but with head-colds and bellyaches (whether from diet or a virus is debatable) we are just staying home.
• Last night I watched "Amahl and the Night Visitors" on YouTube.  None of the kids joined me.  Well, Little One was with me for a bit.
• I'm hearing some bunk beds creaking so I believe some boys will soon be joining me.  I'm enjoying that they are finally sleeping in!
• Perhaps we will go to the library this week...but perhaps not.  It is rather cold and I prefer to stay where it is cozy.  :-)
• Our pellet stove heats the house much better than we expected it would!
• Time marches on...I really can't believe it's nearly 2018!

Have a lovely day!

~Karen

December already?!

I can't believe how this year has flown by!  I'm sitting in my living room.  The kids are tucked in bed.  The Christmas tree is glowing as most of the lights are off.  "The Voice" is providing me with background music.  I just checked and I need to blog 4 times to tie last year's amount.  Not sure how I got out of the habit of blogging regularly...perhaps it's just the press of life...and the ease of just checking facebook and getting lost there instead of in blog world?

Today I finished reading "The Women Who Flew for Hitler".  It was a very interesting book contrasting two amazing women.

The promised update:

My days are full:  homeschooling, laundry, meals/meal prep, driving to a appointments, squeezing in a bit of Young Living business, keeping the books for Randy's business and our personal finances.  Randy is busy driving his truck and providing for us and keeping up with the never-ending tasks around the house.

Josiah is working full time and biding his time until he is old enough to get his CDL.  Autumn is working hard at her schoolwork (homeschooling) and is an immense help to me at home.  Janae is in Jr. High.  She loves to read and listen to music, particularly along the lines of Toby Mac and Mandisa.  Zach and Mark are both homeschooling with me this year.  This makes their schedules much more flexible as we need to work in various regular appointments for both of them.  Micah is in 2nd grade and takes pride in choosing to like whatever sports team the rest of us are not cheering for.  :-)  Baby is a delight to our family...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Animals...we currently have a dog, 2 steers, and two flocks of laying hens...and older flock and a younger flock.

We have been working at eating healthier.  Unfortunately, while I have done lots of research and have great ideas, I'm not as far down that road as I could be simply because it takes time to sit down and menu plan, make grocery lists, and shop.  It's a continual struggle and a continual area that I'm working on.  I am also trying to make healthier choices for myself (as I sit here eating red & green m&ms).  Today I even drank 40 oz. of water!  Zach drank 64 oz.  In the taking care of me department, I'd also like to get back into walking on the treadmill.  I did well for about 4 days, and then stopped again...another thing to figure out how to fit in.

Homeschooling:  We are at a new Homeschool Co-op this year.  The fall session wraps up this Wednesday.  We have been enjoying it!  Winter session starts in January.  This Co-op has a Performance Night after each semester.  So that's this week as well.  Otherwise, the kids' schooling is going fine.  For the most part the curriculum choices are working out.  I probably should've gotten Zach a level more difficult in Math, but I'm hoping to finish this level and then start the next level.

Appointments:  We continue to have appointments with various therapists (occupational, speech, psychologists), chiropractors, dentist/orthodontist, doctors (mostly for physicals).  We also have the appointments associated with foster care.  At the end of the year I like to add up all of the mileage for all of these appointments and see how many miles I traveled!

Young Living:  I've "accidentally" ended up with a (very) small business.  So I'm trying to support others in their Young Living journey by offering some online classes.  Right now I'm doing about 1 class a week, but I will probably take a few weeks off over Christmas.  (If you want to learn more about these, you can find links on my business website or follow my Facebook page.

Well, this has gotten long enough!  I hope to be back and see if I can top the number of posts from last year!  :-)

~Karen

I'm Back and Checking in.

I've been meaning to blog for quite a bit...finally doing it!  But not sure how long as the kids that are home are around me and the other 2 will be home shortly.  I had no idea until a minute ago that it had been nearly 2 months!

Right now we have been busy with appointments, homeschooling, and daily family living.  I realized this week that I accidentally scheduled a week with a doctor or dentist appointment every day.  I don't know what I was thinking but at this point, I'm not going to try and reschedule anything.

I am also realizing that Christmas is fast approaching.  So I'm trying to take a few minutes now and again to work on Christmas lists and such.

Since September when I last blogged, we took a weekend and went camping in the Poconos in October.  Also in October, I attended a Rejuvenate Retreat--a retreat for foster and adoptive moms.  We are mostly settled into homeschooling, but with the coming of the holidays, I'm sure we'll be adjusting and have to do the work all over again in January.

Hmm...I feel like this is scattered and I should redo it in a more cohesive way...I'll try to come back soon and do another update!

This week...

Earlier this week we celebrated/grieved my Grandmother's life/death.  This song was played at the funeral.



It's been a full week for us.  Monday I had a dentist appointment and the viewing, Tuesday was the funeral service, Wednesday we started our new homeschool co-op and had a therapy appointment.  This afternoon Zach has a chiropractor appointment.  Tomorrow Baby has a visit.  In around that we are doing school and laundry and dishes and cooking.  As a person who likes time at home, I'm longing for two or three consecutive days with not appointments...maybe in a couple of weeks.



I requested  the latest Mitford novel (Jan Karon) at the library and picked it up on Tuesday.  Last night, when all the kids were in bed, I started it.  I valiantly restrained from reading the entire book and staying up really late.  :-)

Sunday Morning

It's a chilly Sunday here in the Northeast.  Because Mark is still sick, Baby and I stayed home from church with him.  Two of the other children were not interested in going to church, but we managed to persuade them.  There is a Fellowship Meal after church and the one kid say "Well, I'll go but only for the food!"  :-)

Zach is now done with his course of medicines.  We are watching closely to make sure the allergic reaction is truly gone.  We continue to work with his diet and plan to visit the chiropractor again this week.  Speaking of this week, it looks to be busy due to rescheduled appointments from the past 2 weeks.  We will see if we can get them taken care of or if they get pushed off again.

In place of church this morning we watched a preacher on TV for a bit and now I am listening to a live-streamed local church service on our local radio station.  I was a bit disappointed to miss church as a woman from our church was going to be sharing about her work and the needs of the school district she works at in a local city.

I've drank 2 cups of coffee and a cup of chai tea.  The baby took over my egg and toast so I should probably eat something.  :-)  Maybe a piece of leftover birthday cake--a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that my daughter made!

School work for this week is planned and schedules are printed.

The gluten-free chocolate cake with chocolate ganache that I made so that Mark could eat cake as well is delicious!  I'm all in favor of finding recipes that we can all enjoy.  I did over bake it a bit so need to tweak that a bit.  I'm really liking this newest recipe book that I got.  It's called "Amazingly Simple" and the recipes work well for Mark and Zach.

Baby is taking a nap.  I've been working at getting him to one afternoon nap, but today I could tell that he needed a morning nap today.  Mark is sleeping a lot as well.

This week we canned pears.  I have not canned pears in several years but agreed to try again this year.  I canned 9 quart on Wednesday and 9 quart on Thursday.  Then canned 25 quart yesterday.  And decided we will just eat the rest that are left.  :-)  So Autumn and I are having fun looking for recipes that incorporate pears.

Tomorrow is Labor Day.  We have no special plans...but to be fair, since we started getting sick, all plans are held rather loosely.  If I was homeschooling everyone, we'd probably just do school.  But since 2 of the kids are not homeschooling and they will be home, we will probably all take the holiday.  Do laundry and clean up the house I guess!  Other year's we have gone to the pool, but we can't do that if someone is sick...maybe we will just have a movie day?  But the kids do get buggy with to much TV.  Perhaps they will stay occupied with their Legos...I guess we'll see how things turn out!

Enjoy your weekend!

Wrapping up August

August has ended in an absolutely crazy manner!

Two weeks ago we enjoyed a lovely week long vacation at the beach.  Fun with friends, fun playing at the beach...and then I got sick.  Randy had been very sick the beginning of the month for about a week.  The day before we left for home, I came down with whatever virus or flu it was and was sick for about a week as well!  My daughter did an amazing job of keeping our household running while I was down and Randy was on the truck.

As I was starting to recover, school started (last Thursday)!  Two of my kids went off to our local private school.  Three of them officially started homeschooling.  Thankfully I had previously organized things so I could get them started as well!

Saturday morning, Zach woke up having an obvious allergic reaction.  It did not really respond well to the meds and he was even worse on Sunday.  So Sunday afternoon we took a quick trip to the Quick Care and he got a shot of something (a steroid?) and a prescription for Prednisone.  So this week he continues to take Benedryl and Pepcid and Prednisone.  He is finally looking better.

Sunday night was our annual picnic with my mom's side of the family.  While there, my daughter came up to me and told me she was sick.  So she has been down with this illness all of this week.  One of our other sons came down with it as well.  4 Down, 5 to go (but let's hope they stay healthy and don't get it!).  All of last week and this week appointments are moved to next week...previously empty but now stacked full!

Tomorrow the kids have a half day of school (and then off on Monday for Labor Day).  Baby has a visit with his family followed by a Doctor visit (rescheduled because I was sick).  Randy and Josiah both have dentist appointments.  Our pigs are going to the butcher.  It should be a crazy in-and-out, coming-and-going sort of day!

Back to Zach.  We have done the allergy thing before with both Randy and Mark.  This time I am going to try the Chiropractor route.  We had our first appointment this week.  They suggested he avoid a lot of foods and that his inflammation is through the roof.  I don't know how chiropractors work.  They seem a bit crazy.  But I've heard good things about this and after trying the medical route unsuccessfully with 2 members of our family, it's worth a shot.

I did call the allergist as well...because I do want to be a good mom.  :-)  They are scheduling in November, December and January and do not have those schedules yet.  They will call me when they can schedule me.  I've been through this before.  They will do skin prick testing.  If anything shows up, they will tell him to avoid it.  (For both Randy and Mark the results were inconclusive even though they were obviously reacting to something!)  And we will get a prescription for an Epi-Pen.

In the meantime, we will try the Chiropractor's suggestions...should be interesting getting a strong-willed 10-year-old boy to give up favorite foods!  It is interesting, though, that some of the "avoid" foods were ones he already was "picky" about.  Perhaps he knew that those foods didn't work for him, even if he couldn't explain it to us?!

While this looks to be a difficult challenge, I can truly say that God has prepared me.  I'm familiar with allergies because of Randy's challenges in that area (He no longer has these issues.)  I'm familiar with food issues and modified diets because of Mark's gastrointestinal issues (and friends' with similar challenges).  Because of that, in the past year I've bought several cookbooks and read a lot about the "Trim Healthy Mama" diet and similar diets that are supposedly good for kids with ADHD and/or Autism.  I even have many of these foods in my cupboards.  So I'm prepared.  I don't really like it and it seems overwhelming, but I can't say it's either terribly unexpected (I've always thought there were underlying systemic issues in this child, but didn't know where to start) or undo-able...

In the meantime...I'd welcome any prayers on behalf of all of us!

Enjoy your day!
~Karen

And it is August!

I really don't know where the time goes.  Really!

So.  August.  August is freezing and canning.  August is a trip to the beach to wrap up the summer.  August is school starting again.  I am not ready for school to start.  No, I love having my kids home.  I may not love all their crazy shenanigans though!  Now, to be fair, when school does start I will enjoy the quieter moments, but overall I enjoy our crazy family life.

Speaking of school, this year I have 5 students.  My oldest graduated so he is finished.  I plan to homeschool the 10th grader, 4th grader, and 3rd grader (age-wise.  Developmental delays and learning challenges put him on more of a 1st grade level though).  Our 2nd grader and 7th grader will continue attending our local Mennonite school.

For those of you who are homeschooling and curious about these things, this is roughly what we are doing in the curriculum department.  **always subject to change as the year goes along as needed.  **all subjects studied may not be listed (because I'm going off of memory, not actually looking!)  :-)

10th Grade

1. Teaching Textbooks Geometry
2. Progeny Press Literature & Writing + Grammar
3. Astronomy
4. Ancient World History, World Geography
5. Home Economics - Cooking - Traditional Mennonite Cooking (using books including Mennonite Girls Can Cook and The Mennonite Cookbook)
6. Photography
7. Switched-on-Schoolhouse Office Applications II
8. Music - Violin
9. Physical Education

4th Grade

1. Teaching Textbooks Level 4
2. Progeny Press Literature
3. BJU Spelling
4. Grammar
5. Daily Handwriting - Traditional Cursive
6. Science - Apologia Botany, Daily Science
7. Story of the World - Ancient History (Geography included)
8. Cooking - Cookies (at Homeschool Co-Op)
9. Other:  Physical Education, Music
10. Draw-Write-Now (Handwriting, Art, Social Studies)
11. Typingclub.com 

3rd Grade - Special Ed

1. Language Arts:  All About Reading, All About Spelling, Daily Handwriting (Printing)
2. Math - Math U See - Complete Alpha & begin Beta, complete if possible.
3. Science - Daily Science
4. History - Daily Geography, Social Studies - Famous People in a historical context
5. Time4Learning.com (Language Arts, Math, Science)
6. Draw-Write-Now (Art, Handwriting, Social Studies)
7. Other:  Physical Education, Music
8. Occupational and Speech Therapy
9. We may also do some work with the Five In A Row program which teaches lessons in social studies, science, language arts, math, and art through literature.

We may also do some special units based around holidays.  Each of the students will also be taking some of their classes through our local homeschool co-op (I'm trying a different one this year).

I hope to take a field trip to Hershey this year (Chocolate World, Hershey Story, possibly auto museum).  We may also do a field trip to the Ephrata Cloister and/or the Hans Herr House.  We'll see...

This is my fourth year homeschooling.  The first year I homeschooled 1 student and had 1 preschooler (age 4-5), The 2nd Year I homeschooled 1 student and had a kindergartner home part of the time.  Last year I thought I was homeschooling 2 students with no preschoolers, but a baby arrived in our home mid-September changing those plans a tad bit.  This will be the first time I'm homeschooling with with a toddler and (2) Elementary students.  Should be interesting!  I'm sure we'll get into the swing of things after a week or two!

Actually, all of the homeschooled kids have already started dabbling with this year's school work and I (think I) have everything ready for the first week.

Now that I've typed all of this I'm actually starting to get excited for the school year!  :-)

Enjoy your day!

~Karen

Food!

Apples - Making Applesauce

Peaches - Canning and making jelly

Beans - cleaning, prepping and freezing

Corn - Husking, Blanching, Cutting, Freezing

That's what's been consuming my life the past week or two!  Last year I took a break and did almost nothing in the canning/freezing department.  I used up all the extras from previous years (well, there are still pickles down there) and planned to start over this year.  The past few years have been stressful and challenging, but this year I have enough energy to try again.  I'm doing small amounts at a time (although this week's pushing the small amount thing) to keep it manageable for myself.  And whatever I get completed, is what I have.  No goals to have any specific amounts.  If I run out during the year, I run out.  I can reevaluate and adjust next year according to our schedule, our needs, and my energy levels.

Today I'm planning on doing the last of my beans (green & wax).  The bushes would've kept producing for awhile, but I'm ready to wrap this up.  So yesterday afternoon the girls and I pulled out the plants and stripped the beans off of them (my favorite way to pick beans by the way).  Today I will clean and blanch them for freezing.

Enjoy your day!

Road Trip - Days 6-10

Wednesday we continued to dry out the items that got soaked the night before.  Randy & Zach took a bike ride on the rail trail while I started packing up.

After lunch, we left the campground and headed for Elysburg, PA.  We camped at Knoebel's for the night.  I tried a new recipe for supper (Pork & White Vegetables in the cast iron pot...Autumn and Randy liked it.  The rest of us, not so much.)  After supper we went into the amusement park and enjoyed the rides for the evening.  We even saw some friends from church!

Unfortunately, I cannot locate photos on my computer for the rest of the trip!

Thursday morning we packed up and headed out promptly.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Eating out with a baby is always rather interesting, but he did pretty well.

We arrived at Spruce Lake Retreat later that day and spent the rest of our trip there with our church family for our annual camping weekend.  It was lovely to relax and reconnect with our friends.

Overall, we had a great trip.  There were some challenging moments (of course), but we did enjoy the experience!

Break Time Randomness

I am taking a break in those Road Trip posts for a random post.

• It is pouring down rain (again).
• I'm starting to have a twinge of sadness every morning when I get up.  It's not quite as light as it used to be and I know fall is coming.  Summer can be very challenging with everyone home, but I do love the relaxed schedule (although some of my kids do better with more structure), the warm weather (no coats or shoes!), and the time away (vacations!)
• our VBS started last night.  It rained.  We do VBS outside at a park under tents, but due to thunder/lightening we all crowded into a pavilion.  It was loud.
• Half of my kids are now to old for VBS.  (Or Backyard Kids Club as they call it these days.)
• Reading.  After reading through my Agatha Christie collection, Emilie Loring collection, and Louis L'Amour collection, I was at a bit of a loss to what to read next.  I'm now reading through L.M. Montgomery's works (other than the Emily and Anne books).
• It is 7:00 and no one is up yet (although since I typed this I'm sure they will be in a moment).  Josiah even got up and went to work without anyone stirring.
• I have a rare week with only 2 appointments (+VBS).  1 Speech Therapy appointment, 1 visit for Baby.  What will we do with all of this free time?!  :-)  (Cleaning might be a good place to start.)
• I've been reading other books as well...but right now I'm blanking out as to what.  Oh yes, I have recently read and highly recommend "When Parenting Isn't Perfect" by Jim Daly.

Enjoy your week!

~Karen

Road Trip - Day 5

We spent Tuesday exploring the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon (Leonard Harrison State Park) area, doing laundry in Wellsboro, and hanging out at the campground.

After breakfast, we headed north to the PA Grand Canyon with a stop at a place (that I can't spell) where Randy & his friends used to camp along the way.  Randy & the kids (except Micah & Baby) hiked the trail down into the gorge.  We decided we didn't want to lug Baby up and down a mile long, steep trail, so I hung out at the top.  Then we went into Wellsboro and found a laundromat.  We ate our lunch while the laundry was washing.  Randy and some of the kids went for a few groceries while we waited as well.  After doing the laundry, we dropped Randy off at the head of the Rail Trail and he biked back to the campground.  The kids and I drove back.  They were tired of driving.  It was a very hot day (again)!  The kids cooled off in the stream.

After supper, Randy & the kids (except Micah and Baby) went for a bike ride.  Shortly after they left, a bad storm came up and swamped the kids' tent.  A lovely day anyway.

Road Trip (Day 4)

Monday we headed east.  We left Erie and went to Kinzua State Park.  We walked on the Kinzua Skywalk.  The visitor's center is beautiful!

Then we continued east.  We tried to go to the Coudersport Ice Mine, but it was closed.  We traveled to Cedar Run and camped at Pettecote Junction Campground, owned by friends of ours.

Road Trip (Day 3)

We spent Sunday in Erie.  We went to Presque Isle State Park in the morning and again in the evening.  In the afternoon we went to the Erie Maritime Museum and hung out at the campground and did laundry.  We watched the sun set from the fishing area by the campground.

Photos in no particular order:

Road Trip - Day 2 (June 10)

Saturday morning we left Keystone State Park.  First stop, find an RV dealer to replace our converter.  2nd Stop - Pittsburgh - Duquesne Incline and Point State Park/Fort Pitt.  Unfortunately for us, Pittsburgh had something going on at Point and downtown...lots of roads closed.  So we drove around Pittsburgh a bit and then headed north for Erie and Lampe Marina & Campground.  I was glad I had gotten a new Adventures in Odyssey Series to listen too as we there was an accident and we sat in traffic for quite awhile.

We arrived at Lampe late afternoon, set up, made supper, and then explored a bit...Land Lighthouse, Shades Beach.  I think we went to Coldstone Creamery as well...but that may have been the next night.  I can't remember...

June Road Trip Day 1

June has been an absolutely crazy month...but our busyness wrapped up for the moment and I'm taking this week to catch up...only 2 appointments and a foster care visit.  Very exciting!

Earlier this month we took a Road Trip.  This year we did a loop in Pennsylvania.

We left on a Friday morning and headed to the Johnstown National Flood Memorial.  Very moving.

Unfortunately, all my photos are on my camera...and I haven't figured out how to put those photos on my computer.

We then traveled to Keystone State Park for the night.

Summer Time!

It's June...already!  2017 is just flying by for me.  Here's today's random facts!

• Yesterday we took a field trip!  We went to the Herr's Snack Factory Tour, Nottingham County Park, and Pine View Dairy.  My sister had invited me.  I enjoyed hanging out with my sisters and the kids enjoyed their cousins.
• Reading.  I'm almost finished reading through my Louis L'Amour collection.  I have 4 of his larger novels to read yet and the Sackett Series.  I took a bit of a break as I had gotten some books at the library when I took the kids last week...books on the Roosevelts, Eisenhower, and Revelations.
• Now that the kids are out of school, they have begun taking turns going with Randy.  I love that they can spend extra time with Daddy.  Janae was along the beginning of this week; Micah is with him currently.
• We have a pool membership again this year...but first it needs to warm up!  Today is a gorgeous day but we have had a lot of cool, damp weather this spring.
• Time4Learning.com has been a great investment.
• Friday was a crazy day.  In the morning I went along with Josiah to graduation practice.  After that Josiah, Autumn, Mark, and I met with our Evaluator to go over our portfolios.  The 2016-2017 School year is officially completed!  Then in the evening, Josiah graduated!  He worked hard, putting 4 years into 3.  And I still can't quite believe that I'm old enough to have a child graduated!
• Sunday we celebrated with a Graduation Party.  Fun!
• This week someone here started with a new therapist.  He seems like a good one (and came recommended)...but he is 45 minutes away so I'll need to block out 3-1/2 hours for each appointment.
• Mark will continue with Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy through the summer.
• I'm trying to prep next year's school stuff so that I can submit this year's evaluation and next year's objectives/affidavits to the school all at once.
• And this has gotten rather lengthy...so I'll be back another time!

Enjoy your day!

~Karen

May 11th!

Today marks 6 years that Micah has legally been our son.  I was looking at a photo taken with the judge at his adoption and all the children were so little!  The years have gone by in a blur...long days, short years!

Today was my "at home" day this week.  Priorities for today included working in the office paying bills (business and personal).  We also ran out for office supplies and a few groceries.

My daughter informed me last night that there are only 10 more days of school.  Oh my.  I am not prepared for everyone home every day yet!  But it's coming either way.  I am quite happy to stop packing lunches unless we choose to though.  :-)

Reading:  I continue to work my way through all the books by Louis L'Amour.

This Sunday is the Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy.  We typically enjoy that event either as spectators or as participants.

Essential Oils...

As I have mentioned before, I love Young Living products!  I try not to be obnoxious about sharing about them though.  Today I set up a website...so if you have any interest in the Young Living lifestyle, check out my site.

May!

And another month wrapped up yesterday.  May is now upon us.  This week is fairly open (which is wonderful!)...next week, not so much.  So, random thoughts about May:

• The last of our biweekly Adoptive/foster mom coffee & play dates.  We take the summer off.
• The end of school for kids at school and kids who are home-schooled.
• Our first high school graduate!
• a trip to the cabin
• 1 child to the eye doctor
• 5 children to the dentist/2 getting orthodontic checks as well...1 of those getting braces on the bottom teeth.
• Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy
• Baby's appointments
• 2 kids with field trips
• 2 kids with Well-Child/Yearly check-ups

And then it will be summer! I love the relaxed schedule of summer while at the same time am not so fond of the extra busyness (yard work, freezing, canning).  

Well, I need to do some quick clean-up and figure out what we're doing for supper before the kids get home.

Enjoy May!

Homeschooling 2016-2017

As I wrap up the school year (we'll be finished by Memorial Day), I was thinking about the homeschool year...and I'm not sure if I ever documented what we're doing this year.  Decided to document the main subjects so here...

Josiah - Senior Year.  Josiah only needed 1/2 credit of math and 2 credits of English to graduate.  So this year he is taking Business Math, English III, English IV, Physical Education, Government and Economics.  We used Abeka Business Math (Nice...but expensive).  We do our own curriculum for English III and IV including Daily Grammar and Progeny Press along with some other things. We used Notgrass for the Economics.  

Autumn - Freshman Year
History - Notgrass American History - I love this curriculum, but it is pretty challenging so my kids haven't been quite as thrilled.
English - The Notgrass incorporates American Literature into it's history so we get English as well.  She also took a class on "Research Paper" at Co-Op and I had her use Daily Grammer as well.
Math - Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1.  I love TT!  I love that it grades it and I don't have to.  And it teaches her as well.  :-)
Science - Environmental Science at our Homeschool Co-op/Online
Foreign Language - Spanish I.  We started with DuoLingo and then switched to Rosetta Stone.
Other:
Home Economics I - Cooking and Baking including cooking out of a cookbook that corresponded with our History/English.  It has a recipe from each state...some are definitely better than others!  :-)
Digital Photography & Design - Various design projects including a photo book she made of her trip to China and our family calendar for 2017.
Switched on Schoolhouse Office Applications I - I liked this...but software changes so often that a few times we ran into situations where what it wanted her to do was no longer an option in the software.
Physical Education
Music - Violin and Piano
She took a class at Co-op this spring called "quilting"...although it was actually piecing/sewing/knotting...I need to talk to our evaluator.  I'm not sure if this is art (quilt design) or home ec (sewing).

Mark
Mark was in Life Skills for his first two years of school, so we are still really working on basic education.  I'm so thankful that our evaluator is also taught special education!
Math - We worked through a workbook of "Developmental Math", then proceeded to Math-U-See Primer.  Once we completed that, we started "Math-U-See" Alpha.
Language Arts - We completed "All About Reading" Pre-Reading and began  "All About Reading" Level 1.  We worked on handwriting using "Daily Handwriting" and/or "Draw-Write-Now" and/or various other copy work.
Science - A co-op class in the fall (Insects) and spring (Our Body)
I supplemented Math, Language Arts, and Science with an online program...Time4Learning.
History - At this level we don't do a lot with history, but we did a unit on Pilgrims, Native Americans, and Regions of the United States using "Draw-Write-Now"
Art - Incorporated in "Draw-Write-Now" as well as "All About Reading, Pre-Reading"
We also worked on Social Skills, Physical Education, Safety Education, and Music.  His therapies (Occupational and Speech) work with him on his Language Arts, Math, and Art skills as well.

I'm currently starting to get their Portfolios together for our evaluator and am working on objectives for next year so that I can submit everything to our school district at the same time.

Wrapping Up

We are starting to wrap up our school year...My school kids get out the Wednesday before Memorial Day so that is our homeschool end date as well.  My homeschooled kids are starting to complete some of their subjects early.  We are into end of year events as well.  Yesterday Janae and her class went to Harrisburg.  Zach and Micah go in May.  I want to take Mark and Autumn on field trips as well.

Yesterday a friend and I went to a training at a local foster/adopt agency.  The speaker was Jonathan Baylin who co-wrote "Brain Based Parenting" with Daniel Hughes.  He has another book that came out last year.  I think it's called "The Neurobiology of Attachment" (or something like that).  I really enjoyed it, but like always, I end up with a headache from all the information.  I had read the book several years ago, and it was interesting to hear the author speak on it.  Good reminders of how our brains work and how we (or a child) can be triggered before something hits our conscious mind.  I appreciated his acknowledgement that parenting children with trauma backgrounds can be very hard.

It is raining here....

Our dishwasher is no longer cleaning properly so we are washing everything by hand until the new one can be installed.  On the plus side, we're keeping after so far and the kids are doing a good job of helping with the dishes.

Reading:  I'm currently reading "The Mislabeled Child" (referring to children labeled as lazy when they have a learning disability or something...not referring to giving children diagnoses).  I'm also reading through my collection of Louis L'Amour books ("Utah Blaine" at the moment) for some lighter reading.

I found a great deal on a collection of radio drama that I bought.  I'm so excited to have it to listen to in the van or to send on the truck when the boys go with Randy.

Have a wonderful weekend!

April

This April marks:

*20 years of marriage for us.

*10 years since we first got our foster parenting (oh, "resource" is the current term now I believe) license.  We received 3 children in 2 years and 9 months...they all stayed and we closed in 2011...I'm still a bit amazed that we once again are doing this resource parent thing...

*Baby's 1st Birthday!  So honored and blessed to have him in our lives...yet so sad that the need is there...babies belong with their mamas...But he is such a blessing and brings us such joy!

*******

This weekend marks Easter Break.  Today (Good Friday) we went out for breakfast.  Then 3 boys went with Daddy on the truck to deliver a load.  After some movie time, we painted eggs.  This year we tried a new technique (to us) that I read about in Family Circle...Speckled Eggs.  That was fun!  Randy cooked our soup over the fire.  Now he and most of the children are on a bike ride.  We plan to cap off the day by watching American Ninja Warrior Re-runs (not very Good Fridayish).

Not sure what tomorrow will bring...and the kids have off school on Monday.  Unstructured days are challenging for some of my children!

Sunday, of course, we will celebrate the resurrection of Christ with our church family and an Easter Program.

Have a blessed weekend!

Cloudy

It's another cloudy day.  We even had a thunderstorm this morning!  I am determined to blog more...one way or another!  :-)

So here's some randomness:

• I am continuing to read through the Emilie Loring novels.  
• Baby is adorable...and learning to walk.  So cute!
• Only 3 more weeks of home-school co-op...and 2 more months to wrap up our school year!
• Since CBD has their homeschool products on sale during the month of April, I've been thinking about next year as well.
• I like coffee....with cream and sugar.  But I drink my tea black.
• Randy and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary next month.
• My oldest child will graduate from high school the following month.
• I really can't believe it's nearly the end of March.
• Our bedtimes are finally less chaotic.  I am grateful!
• I'm also contemplating whether to stay with the same homeschool co-op next year, switch to one that is much closer, or go to both to cover more subjects...but then I'm running 2 days instead of just one....
• I am very much looking forward to spring....

Til the Storm Passes Over...

Yesterday was a good day.  But last night...well, a child and I had a rough half hour or so.

I was so sad.  (And so thankful for my support group that I could instantly send a message too.)  I went to bed with these verses on my mind...  "Three Times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."...For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12:8-9, 10b

I fell asleep asking God for his strength, because I knew that I was done.  I knew I was weak...but trusted that He was strong.  At the same time, I trusted that today would be a new day and, from past experience, knew that we could start again in the morning...that I'd have renewed energy and strength to keep going.

"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."
Lamentations 3:22 and 23

This morning I woke up, still tired.  But running through my head was an old gospel song..."Till the Storm Passes Over."  And although still feeling weak and tired, I am ready to start again.  (And thankful that my support group meets this morning!)




Now I'm up, dressed, and have lunches packed.  I used one of my favorite essential oils as a perfume today (Young Living Stress Away...a lovely combination of essential oils including lime and vanilla).  :-)  I'm blogging, drinking my coffee, and have a sweet child beside me listening to Celtic Thunder.  :-)  I'm feeling better already!

Time Marches on

So I posted once in January, twice in February, and this makes thrice in March...see if we can continue the upward trend.  :-)

I've been challenging myself a bit at looking at things that I've let slide in my life and evaluating how I feel about that change, and then what needs adjusted.  Last school year I did pretty good with walking on the treadmill regularly.  Then summer happened and that didn't.  While I planned to restart in the fall, things changed.  Baby joined us!  I recently thought about this again and, while thinking it was a good idea from a health standpoint, internally laughed at the thought of making it happen.  Last night, though, I did!  Instead of plopping down and watching TV with the kids, I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes...baby steps...but something!

Blogging is another thing that has really dwindled in the past few years for various reason...the growing up family is probably the primary reason...with facebook being a close secondary.  I'd like to get back to blogging as well...We will see.

I realized recently that Baby has now been with us for 6 months.  Foster Care is really a bummer.  I adore baby and are thrilled that he's part of our life while simultaneously feeling sad that his family doesn't get to experience all the fun all the time.  We continue to take him for regular visits with his family.  He is getting older and getting into everything.  It's fun....and so much fun to have an on-behind child.  I love watching the kids relate to him.  And it's so different having a little one without other toddlers as well.

Randy, Josiah, and Autumn are in Louisville, KY this year at the Mid Atlantic Truck Show.  Randy tries to go about every other year.  Often he takes a child or two along.

Josiah is wrapping up his Junior/Senior year of high school.  He worked hard his first two years of high school so that he could do 4 years in 3 and graduate early.  So I will have my first graduate this year!

Autumn is nearing the end of her Freshman year of High school.  She seems to be enjoying Homeschooling and says she plans to do so again next year.  She works a few hours a week at a local farmer's market.

Janae, Zachary, and Micah are entering the final quarter of their year at our local private school.  Hard to believe that it will soon be summer!

Mark continues to work with me here at home.  I have recently added a computer based component to his learning which frees me up a bit.  I do love that his homeschooling schedule allows us to do his therapies while the other children are at school.

Mark and Autumn are also enjoying their homeschool Co-Op (and I'm considering my options for next year).  Mark is taking a class on Bodies (Science) and Curious George (Long Vowel Sounds) this semester.  Autumn is continuing with her Environmental Science class and a Quilting Class (Art/Home Ec....not sure which this qualifies as!)

At the end of the year, we dropped the girls music lessons.  Next year I'm going to look at having Autumn continue lessons through the Co-op.  Not sure about Janae...she'd like to learn Guitar...so we'll see.

Randy and/or I have started going to a Support Group run by our former Family-Based Therapists.  It's held once a month.  I've gone once now and did appreciate it.  I'm signed up for a training later in April with Jonathan Baylin who co-wrote "Brain Based Parenting".  Last year I went to a training by Daniel Hughes, the other author of the book.

This photo is from last year...I'm looking forward to spring!

Cold Wind

A few moments ago I was sitting on the loveseat, snuggling my baby to sleep.  The wind is howling around our house.  Makes me think of the poem...The North Wind shall blow, and we shall have snow, and what shall poor robin do then...It is cold and windy.  And we have snow.  But it is March...so while the wind still sounds lonely, it's not the same as if this was January.

The kids had off school on Tuesday and delays today and tomorrow.  The one week that I had multiple days with no plans...well, those days just got a bit shorter with the shorter school day.

The plow just went by our house again...we've seen it a lot the last few days.  With the wind, our road blows shut.

And now, I'm off to bed.  I had a lovely post in my head while I was holding baby...but it's like the wind, and gone again...

Good night...

"March"ing along

I love seeing the signs of approaching spring...and after the warm spell we had, there are lots of plants shooting up through the ground.  The days are getting longer (which I love) and time changes this weekend (not so much love there).  The Bible quizzing season is wrapping up...2 tournaments and we're finished for another year.

This week is a bit on the busier side...2 caseworkers, speech therapy, homeschool co-op, foster/adoption play group, adoption support group (for one of us), and a visit for Baby.

February Randomness

We are enjoying some lovely spring-like weather here.  It's so nice to be outside without freezing for a respite from winter weather.  :-)

Life is busy...as it probably is for all of you...never boring this way I guess!

I'm currently re-reading Emilie Loring books when I make a few moments.  Emilie Loring (and after her death, a ghost writer) wrote novels from the 1920s to the 1960s or 70s.  I so enjoy reading them as they were "modern day" when written so I get a glimpse into (fictional) life in different decades.  I believe I am up to the 1940s.

We are contemplating taking a road trip again this summer...perhaps to the South...we'll see how things look after we file our taxes!

We are winding down the Bible Quizzing season.  Randy is coaching once again.  We have 2 more weeks of "regular season" followed by 2 weekends of tournaments.  The kids are doing well and having fun...no top of the league teams this year, more of the win-some-lose-some variety.

We are into the second half of school...projects galore for the "at school" kids.  Continuing to plug away at home for the "homeschool" ones.  Autumn is taking a quilting class at co-op this week.  She will be piecing a quilt but it will be knotted rather than quilted...I'm excited for her.  I don't think I have sewed since Junior High but she seems to enjoy it.  Speaking of Co-op, we are now into our final 10 week session.  So 8 weeks to go until that is complete.  Once again this year I am the parent supervisor in a Drawing class.  I enjoy watching the kids learn drawing techniques and improve their skills.

This week I managed to arrange all of our plans (Co-op, Therapy, Tax Appointment, Play group) on 2 days...giving me 3 full days at home.  I'm so excited!  :-)  Seems most weeks my days are broken up with appointments.

I continue to take baby to visit his parents weekly.  After 3+ months of thinking about it, I have finally started taking 1 kid a week with me (if they desire).  It's fun to have one-on-one time with them.  It's also fun to see where they pick to eat.  So far we've been to Subway (Janae), Arby's (Zach), and McDonald's (Micah).  This week is Mark's turn.  I'm not sure where I'll take him...he's a bit more challenging since he currently avoids gluten, high fructose corn syrup, and gluten.

Well, I need to wrap this up and get the kids out of bed for school...Have a lovely day!

February

It's February.

Yes, I'm still here.

No, I can't remember when I used to blog.

Yes, there are still 7 kids living in this household.

Maybe that's why....

Hope to blog again soon!  :-)

2017

Why yes, I am still around!  :-)

My "word" for this year is "Remember".  This is the 2nd year that I've joined this fad.  But this word was resonating with me for awhile and I decided to make it the word for 2017.

I would like to blog more as I did in the past...we will see...

We are all doing fairly well.  I'm in the mood to organize and/or trash everything in the house..."a place for everything and everything in it's place"...or else it may end up in the trash or Reuzit bag!

Baby is still with us.  He has been with us over 4 months now and we love him dearly...but foster care is always bittersweet...

We are starting to get back into the swing of things and I'm looking forward to a full week of kids at school.

It snowed Thursday night so everything is white.

I want to do a more detailed update on everyone's life...hopefully soon!

Happy New Year!