So I've found that now that I'm bullet journalling it's easier to remember what to blog about. I have all of my events and appointments in one place, and each month has a page specifically for me to write what I want to blog about from that month.
Early in February we got to watch the 2 episodes of Family Feud that our friend, Heidi, was on. We enjoyed getting to see it and hearing about how hot her husband is (ha ha).
Caleb went to a gun show with his uncle and cousin. He bought himself a hunting journal and a set of throwing knives. He is so excited to be old enough to start hunting this fall. Where has the time gone?
I bought a kitchen table for $10 that I'm going to refinish this spring. I'm really excited about this project.
We brought my drafting desk in to the house and it sits right in front of our big living room window. I love having something of mine in here.
Things got pretty rough for Caleb for a while. His anxiety and depression reared their ugly heads. We stayed right on top of it. His psychiatrist put him on an antidepressant, we met with the teachers at the school about it and he will start counselling next month as well. We can already see the medication making a big difference for him and are so glad we dealt with things immediately. We are also blessed with him having such a wonderful pediatric psychiatrist.
We had a nasty cold go through our house this month. It started with Brettley having croup and ending up in the ER one night. I joked that it's not winter until one of our kids goes to the ER with severe croup. It spread to his chest and from there we all took turns being sick. I'm still fighting mine off.
Ty sang the US and Canadian national anthems at the Hurricanes game with the school choir this month. They did very well, and he loved it.
John and I managed to find time to have a lunch date at Tony Roma's this month. We also played my original D&D campaign for the first time in years. I loved it.
For the first time since last May, I dyed my hair. It is a really fun shade of red and I am loving it. I really needed a pick-me-up, and it helped a lot.
Ty and Brettley started basketball camp on Saturdays at the school. They aren't terribly coordinated, but they had fun. I also registered Brettley for soccer starting in late April. He is super excited about it.
This evening we got to go to the grade 1 project-based learning showcase at the school. Brettley showed us a bunch of stuff about animals he did. He was so proud of himself.
Also, I am currently going through a change with my meds. While we got my anxiety mostly under control, my depression was/is still extremely bad. So the psychiatrist lowered my Seroquel from 75 mg back down to 50 mg, because I'm tired all of the time. I have now started taking Cipralex (an antidepressant) in addition to that. Hopefully we will figure out what will work best for me. For now, I'm just taking things 1 day at a time, sometimes 1 hour at a time. My bullet journal gives me something to focus on that helps me find a bit of happiness, so I'm really grateful that I took a chance and tried it out.
The goings on of our geeky little family and the musings and soapbox moments of the lone female in the group.
Showing posts with label Caleb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caleb. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Thursday, February 1, 2018
January 2018
January began with the passing of the prophet, President Thomas S Monson. I loved hearing him talk and tell stories in his comforting grandfather voice. He was a shining example of humble service. He will be greatly missed. My boys were very sad. Caleb was only a toddler when President Hinckley passed away, so this is the first time he has gone through this, really. It was so comforting to know that the Lord already had a plan in place for who would next lead the church, under His direction. I could see in the past couple of years how President Nelson was being prepared to take up the task, and grew in my love for him and his devotion to doing the work of the Lord.
I started reading again this past month, which was a big deal. I had stopped reading when I got really sick last year, so it's nice to be enjoying something that has been a lifelong hobby for me. Brettley also hit a reading milestone and is officially reading grade 2 level books now. I suspect he'll get to grade 3 books before the end of the year. Caleb is now reading high school level books, and apparently asking college level questions in science class. Ty has grown to love reading so much this year, which is such a joy to see.
I began my calling in nursery and was surprised by how quickly I fell in love with it. I had been in nursery when we left Edmonton and it had never been a happy place for me there, but here I instantly felt connected to these young ones and love their sweet little spirits. They are truly a joy to be around.
I discovered bullet journaling this month. It's a system that was made for me, I'm sure. I love lists, calendars, being organized, office supplies, and this combines them all. I've been loving it!
I finally got around to making a large wall calendar project that I'd been wanting to make for the past several years. John was a big help with it.
I got to see C, L's mom, when we were out shopping one day, which was a wonderful experience.
I have started walking more, outside and doing steps inside when it's too cold or icy. I found this really cool thing where it tells you the distances between locations from Middle Earth (Tolkien's world), so I'm using that to set goals for myself.
Last weekend I attended our Stake Relief Society Conference, which was amazing. I attended 2 classes. The first was 'The Courage to be Imperfect' which referenced Elder Holland's October 2017 talk quite a bit. The second class I went to was 'Don't Look Around, Look Up' where we talked a lot about the need to look to the Lord instead of comparing ourselves to others. We all got to listen to Dr Wayne Burton talk as well as play and sing for us. There was a wonderful luncheon afterward. I'm so glad I got to have that uplifting experience.
Yesterday was Bell Let's Talk, which I actively participated in to help fundraise, but also to bring awareness about the need that still exists for more education for the general public, more research and better access to supports. Obviously, this is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Caleb had a psychiatrist appointment yesterday and he gets to come off of his last medication. It was a very happy victory to see him have come this far from where we were even 2 years ago. He is such a brave little fighter.
I started reading again this past month, which was a big deal. I had stopped reading when I got really sick last year, so it's nice to be enjoying something that has been a lifelong hobby for me. Brettley also hit a reading milestone and is officially reading grade 2 level books now. I suspect he'll get to grade 3 books before the end of the year. Caleb is now reading high school level books, and apparently asking college level questions in science class. Ty has grown to love reading so much this year, which is such a joy to see.
I began my calling in nursery and was surprised by how quickly I fell in love with it. I had been in nursery when we left Edmonton and it had never been a happy place for me there, but here I instantly felt connected to these young ones and love their sweet little spirits. They are truly a joy to be around.
I discovered bullet journaling this month. It's a system that was made for me, I'm sure. I love lists, calendars, being organized, office supplies, and this combines them all. I've been loving it!
I finally got around to making a large wall calendar project that I'd been wanting to make for the past several years. John was a big help with it.
I got to see C, L's mom, when we were out shopping one day, which was a wonderful experience.
I have started walking more, outside and doing steps inside when it's too cold or icy. I found this really cool thing where it tells you the distances between locations from Middle Earth (Tolkien's world), so I'm using that to set goals for myself.
Last weekend I attended our Stake Relief Society Conference, which was amazing. I attended 2 classes. The first was 'The Courage to be Imperfect' which referenced Elder Holland's October 2017 talk quite a bit. The second class I went to was 'Don't Look Around, Look Up' where we talked a lot about the need to look to the Lord instead of comparing ourselves to others. We all got to listen to Dr Wayne Burton talk as well as play and sing for us. There was a wonderful luncheon afterward. I'm so glad I got to have that uplifting experience.
Yesterday was Bell Let's Talk, which I actively participated in to help fundraise, but also to bring awareness about the need that still exists for more education for the general public, more research and better access to supports. Obviously, this is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Caleb had a psychiatrist appointment yesterday and he gets to come off of his last medication. It was a very happy victory to see him have come this far from where we were even 2 years ago. He is such a brave little fighter.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
October 2017
The first few days of October our region had a massive snow storm. The boys even got to experience their first official snow day. Snow seems to make many people in my life sad, angry and other negative emotions. I'm generally indifferent to it. It looks super pretty sometimes, but mostly it's just part of living in Alberta and that's how I see it. This time, the snow felt like home. I live in the desert of Alberta now. It's hot, it's dry and it's crazy windy in this Chinook region. Snow gave me a sense of familiarity.
John and the boys stayed home on our snow day. I baked super amazing massive chewy chocolate chip cookies as well as some diabetic friendly peanut butter cookies for John. I also baked a Saskatoon Berry Pie that week. That's my favourite kind of pie in the whole world, but it was the first time I've ever made one. I also had my birthday that week, which I mentioned in my previous post. The highlight of that day was a surprise visit from my brother. Love that guy!
John and the boys stayed home on our snow day. I baked super amazing massive chewy chocolate chip cookies as well as some diabetic friendly peanut butter cookies for John. I also baked a Saskatoon Berry Pie that week. That's my favourite kind of pie in the whole world, but it was the first time I've ever made one. I also had my birthday that week, which I mentioned in my previous post. The highlight of that day was a surprise visit from my brother. Love that guy!
John and I actually were able to find Rod's grove. It's a bench surrounded by trees and flowers that was made by John's dad's friends after he passed away. I kept asking family here where it was and they'd always say something like "oh, it's by so-and-so's house". Um... I don't know where people live here. But anyway, we finally found it and we love it!
We had our municipal election. Holy doodle, I've never heard people in Canada get that nasty about an election in Canada ever before. It was not fun and I was glad when it was over. There was some humour though when someone grabbed some of the election signs from a neighbouring town (that we apparently have a bit of a rivalry with) and put them up here in town.
We had a heartwarming experience in the pharmacy mid-month. John and I were in the pharmacy to get my prescription for my meds filled. The store was having some system issues with their debit machine while they were ringing through the lady ahead of us. The cashier let us know what the total was for my pills in case we had the cash to cover it. We both realized we had no cash and kind of figured John would have to go to the bank to take out money for it. Then, the kind lady in front of us put down the cash on the counter to cover the cost of my meds and told the cashier she was paying for them. Neither of us knew her, but she was willing to pay for my meds for me, no questions asked. It was a bright ray of light in what has been a very dark time for me.
John and I have been going on Saturday date in to Lethbridge in conjunction with our weekly grocery shopping. 2 weekends ago I got some jeans that fit (I had none) and then we went for brunch at Firestone. I had half of a club sandwich and cheddar broccoli soup. So delicious! We LOVE Firestone. It was my belated birthday meal since I wasn't doing well around my actual birthday.
The boys did their annual Primary Presentation. It was Caleb's last one. They all did great. Brettley even complimented Ty loudly after he said his part. It made us chuckle.
Ty turned 9 and I did a post saying 9 things about him on Facebook. Here they are:
1) He is, hands down, the winner for recipient of 'most lines I never thought I'd have to use as a parent'.
2) His favourite colour is blue.
3) He loves Disney Princess movies.
4) He is doing choir in school this year. He also likes to serenade the shower-head regularly.
5) He is my only boy who has hazel eyes or who is a south paw. Both are traits he shares with his dad.
6) Ty loves math, it is by far his favourite school subject.
7) He loves to talk randomly about cotton candy and/or pigs. He also randomly likes to rotate.
8) Well, really, he's just incredibly random in general.
9) Ty is an extremely happy person. I'm sure Heavenly Father gave him to me as my own personal ray of sunshine.
I had quite a few comments from people after my last blog post. It made me grateful that I chose to break my public silence about my struggles. Things seem a lot more positive having that added support. THANKS, GUYS!
Today we're enjoying Halloween, so here is our annual picture. Caleb is a military pilot, Ty is Harry Potter and Brettley is Boba Fett.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
September 2017
I decided to do September's post today since I have the time. This weekend is General Conference so I'll be busy with that and don't want to end up forgetting. The boys started their school year at the local elementary school. They love it so far and are blessed to all have wonderful teachers.
We opted to have Brettley repeat grade 1 to give him a chance to learn to understand school structure with the other kids.
I started taking 2 classes on Coursera to give me something to do during the day now that my kids are all in school full time. I'm taking Introduction to Psychology and Social Context of Mental Health and Illness. I would love to get my BA in Psychology some day.
The Kenow Wildfire hit close to here in Waterton and area. We found out that as long as we have a 72 Hour Kit and everyone knows their job if we had to 'bug out' none of us really stressed about the possibility.
Webster, the cat that sort of lives with us, has started spending some nights in the house. The boys love having him here and so do I.
We had parent teacher interviews last week and I was complimented on how well I taught Brettley to read last year. It was so nice to hear. We also are getting Ty started on speech therapy because he still can't pronounce his Rs. His first appointment is this Friday.
I did 2 shifts at the book fair last week at the school and volunteered for future ones. I also signed up to be the room rep for Brettley and Caleb's classes. I think I'm trying to compensate for my lack of a calling. I also joined School Council and was given the position of Division 2 rep (it normally would be a vote but Amy nominated me and I got it by acclamation).
Caleb's birthday was on Monday. He turned 11! My boy is growing up so fast. I posted the following on Facebook that day:
Without going in to details, I have been struggling a lot lately and could really use any extra prayers that people are willing to send my way. Thanks!
We opted to have Brettley repeat grade 1 to give him a chance to learn to understand school structure with the other kids.
I started taking 2 classes on Coursera to give me something to do during the day now that my kids are all in school full time. I'm taking Introduction to Psychology and Social Context of Mental Health and Illness. I would love to get my BA in Psychology some day.
The Kenow Wildfire hit close to here in Waterton and area. We found out that as long as we have a 72 Hour Kit and everyone knows their job if we had to 'bug out' none of us really stressed about the possibility.
Webster, the cat that sort of lives with us, has started spending some nights in the house. The boys love having him here and so do I.
We had parent teacher interviews last week and I was complimented on how well I taught Brettley to read last year. It was so nice to hear. We also are getting Ty started on speech therapy because he still can't pronounce his Rs. His first appointment is this Friday.
I did 2 shifts at the book fair last week at the school and volunteered for future ones. I also signed up to be the room rep for Brettley and Caleb's classes. I think I'm trying to compensate for my lack of a calling. I also joined School Council and was given the position of Division 2 rep (it normally would be a vote but Amy nominated me and I got it by acclamation).
Caleb's birthday was on Monday. He turned 11! My boy is growing up so fast. I posted the following on Facebook that day:
11 Facts About Caleb to Celebrate his 11th Birthday:
1) His favourite colour is green.
2) He wants to become an astrophysicist.
3) He had his tonsils and adenoids removed less than a month after he turned 5. His adenoids were 3 times as large as they should have been.
4) He is red-green colour deficient. Red looks green to him.
5) He earned so many Cubs badges that we had to start a fourth row on his sleeve. He loved the old program.
6) He has started to learn how to play the alto saxophone, taking after both his mum and dad.
7) He isn't a fan of cake frosting, so for his cake this year we're putting real whipped cream on top and sprinkling it with coconut.
8 ) He loves all things Harry Potter and is almost done reading the series.
9) He is a natural giver and serves people without being asked.
10) He is one of the most compassionate people I've ever met in my life.
11) He has blessed my life in more ways than I could count. I am beyond grateful to be his mum.
2) He wants to become an astrophysicist.
3) He had his tonsils and adenoids removed less than a month after he turned 5. His adenoids were 3 times as large as they should have been.
4) He is red-green colour deficient. Red looks green to him.
5) He earned so many Cubs badges that we had to start a fourth row on his sleeve. He loved the old program.
6) He has started to learn how to play the alto saxophone, taking after both his mum and dad.
7) He isn't a fan of cake frosting, so for his cake this year we're putting real whipped cream on top and sprinkling it with coconut.
8 ) He loves all things Harry Potter and is almost done reading the series.
9) He is a natural giver and serves people without being asked.
10) He is one of the most compassionate people I've ever met in my life.
11) He has blessed my life in more ways than I could count. I am beyond grateful to be his mum.
Without going in to details, I have been struggling a lot lately and could really use any extra prayers that people are willing to send my way. Thanks!
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
August 2017 Pt 1
We got a tiny bit of rain the first night in August. We'd been praying and praying for rain, so it was very welcome.
The older boys finished up their swimming lessons. Caleb passed level 4 and Ty passed level 2. Brettley wasn't able to do more than 2 classes since his croup was so bad. Caleb has asked to do 2 levels of swimming next year, which I'm totally fine with.
I finished up the last bit of school supply shopping I had to do for the kids. We also bought 2 huge Moses Lake watermelons, which were delicious.
John's mom left for her 10 days in the MTC before she heads to her mission at the end of this week. I got to be her companion for her last evening here after she was set apart.
We started harvesting the garden. I ended up with 16 pints of green beans. I snapped them all and my brother-in-law canned them for me. We are starting on the corn tomorrow.
My niece and I took the boys to the corn maze last week. We had fun and got to see and pet some animals. Ty especially loved the pigs. Brettley really loved the very tall slide that they had there.
We got the best news ever last week. John was approved to work remotely for his company from the Lethbridge office. He got here late on Friday night. It was a very happy day in our house. We are so happy to have him here with us and to be a complete family again. I have learned to not take the little things for granted. The things I ended up missing the most were getting to grocery shop together, getting to have a hug in the evening after a tough day and having John joke around and tease us. We feel very blessed to all be together again.
The older boys finished up their swimming lessons. Caleb passed level 4 and Ty passed level 2. Brettley wasn't able to do more than 2 classes since his croup was so bad. Caleb has asked to do 2 levels of swimming next year, which I'm totally fine with.
I finished up the last bit of school supply shopping I had to do for the kids. We also bought 2 huge Moses Lake watermelons, which were delicious.
John's mom left for her 10 days in the MTC before she heads to her mission at the end of this week. I got to be her companion for her last evening here after she was set apart.
We started harvesting the garden. I ended up with 16 pints of green beans. I snapped them all and my brother-in-law canned them for me. We are starting on the corn tomorrow.
My niece and I took the boys to the corn maze last week. We had fun and got to see and pet some animals. Ty especially loved the pigs. Brettley really loved the very tall slide that they had there.
We got the best news ever last week. John was approved to work remotely for his company from the Lethbridge office. He got here late on Friday night. It was a very happy day in our house. We are so happy to have him here with us and to be a complete family again. I have learned to not take the little things for granted. The things I ended up missing the most were getting to grocery shop together, getting to have a hug in the evening after a tough day and having John joke around and tease us. We feel very blessed to all be together again.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
June Part 2: We've Officially Moved
I decided to get this done today since I have gardening and cleaning to do tomorrow and John will be here on Friday.
We got here on the evening of Fri 16 June. The next day a few men from the ward came to help us unload the moving van. I was meant to be helping direct where things were going, but Ty injured his knee pretty badly right as people showed up so I was busy calming him down and trying my best to clean his knee up for most of that time. We've been through a few minor injuries down here already, ha ha.
On Sunday we met with our new bishop, which was probably the most relaxed meeting I have ever had with a bishop/branch president. It was really good. He sounded so excited to have a new "young" family in the ward and was so happy when I said I was ready to accept a calling as soon as one came for me. The very next day I was asked if I would be willing to substitute in Primary for the summer until I have an official calling. I felt needed right away and it was a great feeling.
We got the address on our licenses changed, got Caleb's prescription from the pharmacy, got our Shaw hooked up, I met with the principal, registered the boys with the school for the fall and bought a family pool pass for the summer.
John went back to Edmonton and did the final walk through to hand back our townhouse. We officially have no home up there anymore. He bought me a bike last weekend. I'm excited to get it tomorrow!
I have loved being able to send Caleb to the store if I need something and he's really enjoyed picking the mail up for me from the post office each day. I got to substitute teach the Valiant 11 class this past weekend. There are 4 girls in the class, so it was very similar to teaching Beehives. They were a lot of fun.
The boys all camped out in a tent on Sunday night and on Monday it was just Caleb and his cousin, which they really enjoyed. We've started helping in the garden. We spend about an hour out there each morning. I have so many more opportunities to be active down here, which it great. The only downside has been that mine and Caleb's allergies have been way worse down here. Hopefully we'll eventually adapt.
This afternoon I got a surprise visit from one of my nieces. It was a great afternoon and we got some yummy ice cream Slurpee's together. She is going to help watch my kids for most of the summer, so it will be great to have her here so much.
Caleb went to the pool by himself this afternoon and made a friend while he was there. It was such a HUGE step for my boy who struggles so much with anxiety. It was definitely testament to how beneficial this move has been for him. He is thriving! We all are!
We got here on the evening of Fri 16 June. The next day a few men from the ward came to help us unload the moving van. I was meant to be helping direct where things were going, but Ty injured his knee pretty badly right as people showed up so I was busy calming him down and trying my best to clean his knee up for most of that time. We've been through a few minor injuries down here already, ha ha.
On Sunday we met with our new bishop, which was probably the most relaxed meeting I have ever had with a bishop/branch president. It was really good. He sounded so excited to have a new "young" family in the ward and was so happy when I said I was ready to accept a calling as soon as one came for me. The very next day I was asked if I would be willing to substitute in Primary for the summer until I have an official calling. I felt needed right away and it was a great feeling.
We got the address on our licenses changed, got Caleb's prescription from the pharmacy, got our Shaw hooked up, I met with the principal, registered the boys with the school for the fall and bought a family pool pass for the summer.
John went back to Edmonton and did the final walk through to hand back our townhouse. We officially have no home up there anymore. He bought me a bike last weekend. I'm excited to get it tomorrow!
I have loved being able to send Caleb to the store if I need something and he's really enjoyed picking the mail up for me from the post office each day. I got to substitute teach the Valiant 11 class this past weekend. There are 4 girls in the class, so it was very similar to teaching Beehives. They were a lot of fun.
The boys all camped out in a tent on Sunday night and on Monday it was just Caleb and his cousin, which they really enjoyed. We've started helping in the garden. We spend about an hour out there each morning. I have so many more opportunities to be active down here, which it great. The only downside has been that mine and Caleb's allergies have been way worse down here. Hopefully we'll eventually adapt.
This afternoon I got a surprise visit from one of my nieces. It was a great afternoon and we got some yummy ice cream Slurpee's together. She is going to help watch my kids for most of the summer, so it will be great to have her here so much.
Caleb went to the pool by himself this afternoon and made a friend while he was there. It was such a HUGE step for my boy who struggles so much with anxiety. It was definitely testament to how beneficial this move has been for him. He is thriving! We all are!
Monday, May 15, 2017
May Part 1
I feel like I've been giving a way most of what we own. It's not really true, there's just a lot of big stuff we're getting rid of so that we don't have to store it for the next few years. The one sad part is that Rogue is one of the things we've had to find a new home for. She goes there on Wednesday. We'll sure miss her!
We got Moana and the boys love it! I also finally fixed Caleb's bike tires and bought him a new helmet, so he's a happy guy.
After raising a lot of money for the Canadian Cancer Society through a fun fundraising idea, I held up my end of the bargain and currently am rocking teal hair. Luckily, my 3 weeks with it will be up at the end of this month and I can dye it back before the move, ha ha.
Sadly, the Oilers were done in the playoffs after round 2. It's a sore topic up here in Oil Country because of 'certain people and events' involved in a couple of the games, but I'm looking forward to them having another good run next year.
We went to visit my mum for Mother's Day. I woke up in a lot of pain and it continued throughout the day. *sigh* back spasms. I did get treated to a wonderful breakfast of bacon, hashbrowns and eggs, though. The boys gave me a few fun and cute items. I also decided that next year I'll end my annual boycott of Mother's Day and actually go to church that Sunday. (side note - Mother's Day is always my hard day of the year as a birth mother)
John and I went to IKEA for a supper date this evening. Today is 12 years since we first met at church. I still feel like the luckiest person in the world for getting to be his wife!
We got Moana and the boys love it! I also finally fixed Caleb's bike tires and bought him a new helmet, so he's a happy guy.
After raising a lot of money for the Canadian Cancer Society through a fun fundraising idea, I held up my end of the bargain and currently am rocking teal hair. Luckily, my 3 weeks with it will be up at the end of this month and I can dye it back before the move, ha ha.
Sadly, the Oilers were done in the playoffs after round 2. It's a sore topic up here in Oil Country because of 'certain people and events' involved in a couple of the games, but I'm looking forward to them having another good run next year.
We went to visit my mum for Mother's Day. I woke up in a lot of pain and it continued throughout the day. *sigh* back spasms. I did get treated to a wonderful breakfast of bacon, hashbrowns and eggs, though. The boys gave me a few fun and cute items. I also decided that next year I'll end my annual boycott of Mother's Day and actually go to church that Sunday. (side note - Mother's Day is always my hard day of the year as a birth mother)
John and I went to IKEA for a supper date this evening. Today is 12 years since we first met at church. I still feel like the luckiest person in the world for getting to be his wife!
Sunday, January 29, 2017
January 2017
I started my month with an allergic reaction. I jokingly attributed it to the carbon tax because the timing was just too good. Our best guess is that I actually have a slight allergy to cats. Who knew?
Caleb spent several days at my mum and step-dad's house. He got to go sledding a few times and caught a brook trout while ice fishing. He also learned to sew and helped to make himself a blanket that folds up into a pillow. He was so proud of himself.
We switched over from Telus to Shaw after a long time of being frustrated with the service we were getting from Telus. We're pretty happy with the switch.
Ty has started wanting to help cook suppers. He actually does a great job and I love his enthusiasm. He made Egg Roll Bowl almost entirely by himself and it was delicious.
The boys each got some penpals this month. Most of the penpals are other kids who do home school, but we have a couple of Utah penpals now too. We love that family in Utah!
True to my goal, I've been playing some games with the kids. Ty beat me in Lord of the Rings Monopoly. I was very shocked, I don't lose at that game very often. All of our practice is helping Caleb become better at handling disappointment, which is wonderful.
Brettley had his third strabismus surgery on the 23rd. He had a great attitude at the hospital right until he was given anesthetic. He woke up very miserable, though. After a while he had a "magic" Popsicle, which helped turned things around a bit. He is healing slowly but surely and hopefully his eye won't be red soon enough.
We received an amazing gift from my sister and her boyfriend. The bought our family a year's membership to the Telus World of Science. We couldn't go yesterday or this next Saturday, so we're going to go on Brettley's birthday the weekend after. Our plan is to go once per month. I feel so blessed and cried when we got that gift.
I was very active online for #BellLetsTalk day this year. I ripped open a lot of wounds to be very honest and raise awareness and help pave the way for others to be willing to talk about their mental health. It wasn't an easy day with dredging it all up, but I had many people tell me that it meant a lot to them, and that made it 100% worth it.
Caleb finished his grade 5 science work and asked for a grade 6 workbook, so we're waiting for that to come in the mail. Brettley finished up his social studies, science and math, so we're focusing solely on language arts now with him for core subjects. Ty finished his language arts, which he was thrilled about. He'll finish up science this week. It's amazing how fast they finish things when they don't have all of that busy work. It will give us more time to focus on strengthening the areas where they struggle.
That's basically been our month. I figure if I do this at least once a month then I will have the basics on here even if I don't get much else.
Caleb spent several days at my mum and step-dad's house. He got to go sledding a few times and caught a brook trout while ice fishing. He also learned to sew and helped to make himself a blanket that folds up into a pillow. He was so proud of himself.
We switched over from Telus to Shaw after a long time of being frustrated with the service we were getting from Telus. We're pretty happy with the switch.
Ty has started wanting to help cook suppers. He actually does a great job and I love his enthusiasm. He made Egg Roll Bowl almost entirely by himself and it was delicious.
The boys each got some penpals this month. Most of the penpals are other kids who do home school, but we have a couple of Utah penpals now too. We love that family in Utah!
True to my goal, I've been playing some games with the kids. Ty beat me in Lord of the Rings Monopoly. I was very shocked, I don't lose at that game very often. All of our practice is helping Caleb become better at handling disappointment, which is wonderful.
Brettley had his third strabismus surgery on the 23rd. He had a great attitude at the hospital right until he was given anesthetic. He woke up very miserable, though. After a while he had a "magic" Popsicle, which helped turned things around a bit. He is healing slowly but surely and hopefully his eye won't be red soon enough.
We received an amazing gift from my sister and her boyfriend. The bought our family a year's membership to the Telus World of Science. We couldn't go yesterday or this next Saturday, so we're going to go on Brettley's birthday the weekend after. Our plan is to go once per month. I feel so blessed and cried when we got that gift.
I was very active online for #BellLetsTalk day this year. I ripped open a lot of wounds to be very honest and raise awareness and help pave the way for others to be willing to talk about their mental health. It wasn't an easy day with dredging it all up, but I had many people tell me that it meant a lot to them, and that made it 100% worth it.
Caleb finished his grade 5 science work and asked for a grade 6 workbook, so we're waiting for that to come in the mail. Brettley finished up his social studies, science and math, so we're focusing solely on language arts now with him for core subjects. Ty finished his language arts, which he was thrilled about. He'll finish up science this week. It's amazing how fast they finish things when they don't have all of that busy work. It will give us more time to focus on strengthening the areas where they struggle.
That's basically been our month. I figure if I do this at least once a month then I will have the basics on here even if I don't get much else.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Q&A about 2016
C did this on her blog and I really liked it, so I'm stealing it :)
1) What did you do in 2016 that you'd never done before?
I started home schooling my kids, I taught one of my kids how to read, I buzzed all of my hair off (twice, actually) and I made an impromptu trip with just John.
2) Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I didn't keep mine, I'm horrible for that. This year, I have a goal to play more games with my kids and to work toward being healthier (exercise and food).
3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not super close, no.
4) Did anyone close to you die?
No, I've had a few years off from that, thankfully.
5) What countries did you visit?
None, we stayed here in Canada. We didn't even leave our province, ha ha.
6) What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
A healthier lifestyle.
7) What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 25th. That was the day I woke up with pink eye, found out the government had cancelled the accreditation for the boys' home education administration and also found out that John was being moved to 4 day work weeks the next month.
Also, Ty's baptism on November 12th.
8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Home educating my kids and prioritizing my health above my wants and commitments.
9) What was your biggest failure?
I don't know that I'd call anything a failure, they were all learning experiences.
10) Did you or someone close suffer illness or injury?
John was diagnosed with diabetes and I had a really tough year mental health-wise.
11) What was the best thing you bought?
My Star Wars laptop. It was the only laptop I could find that had all of the (3) things I wanted out of a laptop. It's been a huge help with home schooling.
12) Where did most of your money go?
Rent and groceries, same as always. Recreation money, most of it went toward stuff for Dungeons and Dragons, which John and I play with our groups about twice per month.
13) What song will always remind you of 2016?
It actually wasn't a stand out year for me with music, so I don't have one.
14) Compared the this time last year are you more happy or more sad?
So much more happy. This time last year was when everything hit a boiling point with Caleb, so I was pretty much a wreck and terrified that we wouldn't find a better solution for him. A year later and he's doing amazing!
15) What do you wish you'd done more of?
More time just playing with my kids and teaching them more life skills, which are a few of the things I'm trying to focus on this year. I also wish I'd blogged more, since it's basically our family journal.
16) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Less eating as a coping mechanism and less time spent on social media.
17) How did you spend Christmas?
We were at home for the morning, went to Church and then had my dad over for supper.
18) What was your favourite TV program?
I enjoyed Psych and Switched at Birth a lot in 2016.
19) What were your favourite books of the year?
2016 was probably my worst year ever for reading since I started reading at the age of 4. Nothing at all is standing out to me.
20) What were your favourite treats/food in 2016?
Miss Vickie's Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar Chips, Egg Roll Bowl and Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet
21) What were your favourite movies of the year?
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Hands down!
22) What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 32. We took a break from school that day. Caleb and I binge watched Gilmore Girls together, which was exactly how I'd wanted to spend the day.
23) What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?
Not struggling with severe anxiety for the majority of the year.
24) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
If it fits and it's comfy then we're good, ha ha.
25) What kept you sane?
Those chips, John, Caleb and home schooling.
26) What was a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016?
It's okay to prioritize your mental health above what you want and things that you've said you would do.
I also learned that if something is the right choice for you and/or your family, Heavenly Father will help you do things you never thought you could do. I am one of the most impatient people I've ever met and thought I'd never be able to home school my kids because of it, but Heavenly Father always gives me what I need to make it work for us.
1) What did you do in 2016 that you'd never done before?
I started home schooling my kids, I taught one of my kids how to read, I buzzed all of my hair off (twice, actually) and I made an impromptu trip with just John.
2) Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I didn't keep mine, I'm horrible for that. This year, I have a goal to play more games with my kids and to work toward being healthier (exercise and food).
3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not super close, no.
4) Did anyone close to you die?
No, I've had a few years off from that, thankfully.
5) What countries did you visit?
None, we stayed here in Canada. We didn't even leave our province, ha ha.
6) What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
A healthier lifestyle.
7) What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 25th. That was the day I woke up with pink eye, found out the government had cancelled the accreditation for the boys' home education administration and also found out that John was being moved to 4 day work weeks the next month.
Also, Ty's baptism on November 12th.
8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Home educating my kids and prioritizing my health above my wants and commitments.
9) What was your biggest failure?
I don't know that I'd call anything a failure, they were all learning experiences.
10) Did you or someone close suffer illness or injury?
John was diagnosed with diabetes and I had a really tough year mental health-wise.
11) What was the best thing you bought?
My Star Wars laptop. It was the only laptop I could find that had all of the (3) things I wanted out of a laptop. It's been a huge help with home schooling.
12) Where did most of your money go?
Rent and groceries, same as always. Recreation money, most of it went toward stuff for Dungeons and Dragons, which John and I play with our groups about twice per month.
13) What song will always remind you of 2016?
It actually wasn't a stand out year for me with music, so I don't have one.
14) Compared the this time last year are you more happy or more sad?
So much more happy. This time last year was when everything hit a boiling point with Caleb, so I was pretty much a wreck and terrified that we wouldn't find a better solution for him. A year later and he's doing amazing!
15) What do you wish you'd done more of?
More time just playing with my kids and teaching them more life skills, which are a few of the things I'm trying to focus on this year. I also wish I'd blogged more, since it's basically our family journal.
16) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Less eating as a coping mechanism and less time spent on social media.
17) How did you spend Christmas?
We were at home for the morning, went to Church and then had my dad over for supper.
18) What was your favourite TV program?
I enjoyed Psych and Switched at Birth a lot in 2016.
19) What were your favourite books of the year?
2016 was probably my worst year ever for reading since I started reading at the age of 4. Nothing at all is standing out to me.
20) What were your favourite treats/food in 2016?
Miss Vickie's Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar Chips, Egg Roll Bowl and Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet
21) What were your favourite movies of the year?
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Hands down!
22) What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 32. We took a break from school that day. Caleb and I binge watched Gilmore Girls together, which was exactly how I'd wanted to spend the day.
23) What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?
Not struggling with severe anxiety for the majority of the year.
24) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
If it fits and it's comfy then we're good, ha ha.
25) What kept you sane?
Those chips, John, Caleb and home schooling.
26) What was a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016?
It's okay to prioritize your mental health above what you want and things that you've said you would do.
I also learned that if something is the right choice for you and/or your family, Heavenly Father will help you do things you never thought you could do. I am one of the most impatient people I've ever met and thought I'd never be able to home school my kids because of it, but Heavenly Father always gives me what I need to make it work for us.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
2016 Recap
I'm pretty sure I'm only blogging for myself now, since journaling is not my strong point, ha ha. 2016 was a pretty life-changing year for us. Everything with Caleb came to a boiling point early in January. He was coming home from school more than half of the time either crying or raging. We prayed to know if home schooling was a better option for him and got the strongest revelation we've ever received during our marriage. In early February, he started home schooling. I had to quit doing lunch supervision at the school a month later to help make his days easier, it was 100% worth it. When Caleb met with a psychiatrist later in the year, the psychiatrist told us that switching him to home schooling was probably the best thing we could have done for him. I felt pretty good when I heard that.
Brettley turned 5 and lost his first 2 teeth that day. He lost another a few days before Christmas and has another wiggly one at the moment.
I spent a large portion of the year with a buzz cut. What started as a way of getting really fried hair dealt with ended up being a really big convenience. I'm slowly starting to grow it out a bit now. We also found out that I don't have sleep apnea, after having to do a sleep test.
Caleb ended up with full time glasses. He's still learning to wear them full time but I understand the struggle, I'm still adjusting to wearing mine full time as well.
I did something totally out of character for me. John and I made an impromptu overnight visit to the Calgary area in March. We got to go to a wonderful gaming store, have a delicious dinner and then spend the evening with some family/friends. I'm a planner and don't do well with spontaneity at all, so this was kind of a big deal.
The kids had a lot of dental work done. Ty managed his first filling fine, but then got too stressed out about the extractions, so the extractions and crowns ended up being done under anesthesia. I sincerely pray that we never have to see him like that again. Caleb managed to tough out all of his fillings and his crown with our regular dentist. He was a total rock star!
We decided in March, after more prayer, that Ty and Brettley would home school starting in the fall. We set up a great space for them in the living room, but found pretty quickly that the dining room works a lot better for us, at least while they're this young. Ty was very happy that he could start home schooling since he'd been asking for it since Kindergarten.
Grandpa D built the boys a garden box, and we grew peas, beans, lettuce, spinach and dill. It was great! We're looking forward to planting it again this year. The boys loved snacking out of it.
John taught Caleb, Tyrell and I how to play chess. One of my goals for 2017 is to play more games with the kids.
Brettley started school at home. He grasps things so easily. He is great at math and is learning to read so well. The only two struggles with him are that he hates beating a dead horse (he likes to move on as soon as he's mastered a concept) and that he's still learning to understand structure (that one will come with time). Ty's strongest subject is math. He's improving in Language Arts, but still really struggles with his spelling. Caleb does very well with Social Studies, but is working on improving his Language Arts. We will start our summer vacation early this year, so we're taking that time to focus on strengthening their weaker areas.
I made a goal to participate in the 2017 Relay for Life in Wainwright. My mum and sister are going to participate as well. I'm looking forward to doing this in memory of my amazing father-in-law.
John turned 40. We celebrated by having a gaming session with our Dungeons and Dragons group. It was the perfect way for him to spend the day.
A bit of a sad note about our 2016 is that we tried for another baby and after many months of nothing I had to call it off to focus on my mental health again. On a more positive note, though, I feel more peace about being done having kids than I've ever had before. Maybe that's what I needed to get from the experience.
I was concerned about what to do for school photos, so my mum came and took pictures of the boys. Brettley, grade 1, said he wants to become a firefighter. Tyrell, grade 3, wants to become a scientist. Caleb, grade 5, wants to be an astrophysicist.
Part of school this year was learning how to take care of a home. The boys each have 4 chores to do daily. In the fall we're looking forward to adding cooking lessons in to our school year.
I started watching a friend's son every Thursday. The boys love him, even though I have to keep reminding them that he isn't a toy.
At the end of September, John was diagnosed with diabetes. He's been losing weight again and is currently the lightest that he's been in about 19 years. I'm still learning to eat better, but I'm slowly getting there. I was off of my meds for several months (checking in regularly with my doctor), so food was sort of my way of dealing with anxiety and depression then.
Tyrell turned 8 and started Cubs, which he loves. He was baptized on November 12th and we were blessed to have the man he was named after there to give one of the talks and be one of the witnesses.
We had the whole school fiasco that I blogged about a couple of posts ago. It ended up being a positive thing for us. We really like our new home education administration and the options we have with them, but it was one of the most stressful things we've been through.
The boys did swimming lessons in the fall. Tyrell and Caleb both passed their courses, but Brettley didn't quite get there. They are starting another round of lessons at the end of February.
We were told in November that Caleb doesn't have ADHD. The most likely culprit is severe anxiety that he has a difficult time learning how to process. He's continuing to do amazing on his meds and he hardly ever has rage attacks anymore. He is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was this time last year.
We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home, but we're really looking forward to spending the next one with my family. We haven't gone there for Christmas since Tyrell's first Christmas.
John and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve. I am so blessed to be married to him.
Now on to 2017 :)
Brettley turned 5 and lost his first 2 teeth that day. He lost another a few days before Christmas and has another wiggly one at the moment.
I spent a large portion of the year with a buzz cut. What started as a way of getting really fried hair dealt with ended up being a really big convenience. I'm slowly starting to grow it out a bit now. We also found out that I don't have sleep apnea, after having to do a sleep test.
Caleb ended up with full time glasses. He's still learning to wear them full time but I understand the struggle, I'm still adjusting to wearing mine full time as well.
I did something totally out of character for me. John and I made an impromptu overnight visit to the Calgary area in March. We got to go to a wonderful gaming store, have a delicious dinner and then spend the evening with some family/friends. I'm a planner and don't do well with spontaneity at all, so this was kind of a big deal.
The kids had a lot of dental work done. Ty managed his first filling fine, but then got too stressed out about the extractions, so the extractions and crowns ended up being done under anesthesia. I sincerely pray that we never have to see him like that again. Caleb managed to tough out all of his fillings and his crown with our regular dentist. He was a total rock star!
We decided in March, after more prayer, that Ty and Brettley would home school starting in the fall. We set up a great space for them in the living room, but found pretty quickly that the dining room works a lot better for us, at least while they're this young. Ty was very happy that he could start home schooling since he'd been asking for it since Kindergarten.
Grandpa D built the boys a garden box, and we grew peas, beans, lettuce, spinach and dill. It was great! We're looking forward to planting it again this year. The boys loved snacking out of it.
John taught Caleb, Tyrell and I how to play chess. One of my goals for 2017 is to play more games with the kids.
Brettley started school at home. He grasps things so easily. He is great at math and is learning to read so well. The only two struggles with him are that he hates beating a dead horse (he likes to move on as soon as he's mastered a concept) and that he's still learning to understand structure (that one will come with time). Ty's strongest subject is math. He's improving in Language Arts, but still really struggles with his spelling. Caleb does very well with Social Studies, but is working on improving his Language Arts. We will start our summer vacation early this year, so we're taking that time to focus on strengthening their weaker areas.
I made a goal to participate in the 2017 Relay for Life in Wainwright. My mum and sister are going to participate as well. I'm looking forward to doing this in memory of my amazing father-in-law.
John turned 40. We celebrated by having a gaming session with our Dungeons and Dragons group. It was the perfect way for him to spend the day.
A bit of a sad note about our 2016 is that we tried for another baby and after many months of nothing I had to call it off to focus on my mental health again. On a more positive note, though, I feel more peace about being done having kids than I've ever had before. Maybe that's what I needed to get from the experience.
I was concerned about what to do for school photos, so my mum came and took pictures of the boys. Brettley, grade 1, said he wants to become a firefighter. Tyrell, grade 3, wants to become a scientist. Caleb, grade 5, wants to be an astrophysicist.
Part of school this year was learning how to take care of a home. The boys each have 4 chores to do daily. In the fall we're looking forward to adding cooking lessons in to our school year.
I started watching a friend's son every Thursday. The boys love him, even though I have to keep reminding them that he isn't a toy.
At the end of September, John was diagnosed with diabetes. He's been losing weight again and is currently the lightest that he's been in about 19 years. I'm still learning to eat better, but I'm slowly getting there. I was off of my meds for several months (checking in regularly with my doctor), so food was sort of my way of dealing with anxiety and depression then.
Tyrell turned 8 and started Cubs, which he loves. He was baptized on November 12th and we were blessed to have the man he was named after there to give one of the talks and be one of the witnesses.
We had the whole school fiasco that I blogged about a couple of posts ago. It ended up being a positive thing for us. We really like our new home education administration and the options we have with them, but it was one of the most stressful things we've been through.
The boys did swimming lessons in the fall. Tyrell and Caleb both passed their courses, but Brettley didn't quite get there. They are starting another round of lessons at the end of February.
We were told in November that Caleb doesn't have ADHD. The most likely culprit is severe anxiety that he has a difficult time learning how to process. He's continuing to do amazing on his meds and he hardly ever has rage attacks anymore. He is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was this time last year.
We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home, but we're really looking forward to spending the next one with my family. We haven't gone there for Christmas since Tyrell's first Christmas.
John and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve. I am so blessed to be married to him.
Now on to 2017 :)
Saturday, November 26, 2016
A More Positive Update
It's been way too long since my last post, and it wasn't a very happy one. Things got sorted out for us with the school stuff. The boys are now with Vermilion Home Schooling, and we are very happy to be there. Our facilitator is great and very happy to help me know exactly what we need to do to keep the boys parent-directed but still have them receive an Alberta Education High School Diploma.
John started his 4 day work weeks. We are very blessed and he has enough vacation and banked time saved up that we are covered for it until mid-June, at least. We were pretty worried that John would have to get a second job, and now he might not have to get one at all.
Last Sunday was our ward's Primary Presentation. Caleb pleasantly surprised us all and decided to take part in it, despite his anxiety about it. He and Ty did wonderful. Brettley was...very wiggly, ha ha. He moved around a lot, but apparently peoplewho aren't his parents found it entertaining, so it's all good.
Not too much else going on here, just excited to start our daily activities that we have planned for December. My mum bought the boys an elf for this year. I tried to fight it for a few years, but I've found him to be a really easy way of getting the boys to do their chores and listen to what they've been told to do, so I'm loving that side of it.
I hope that everyone is doing well! Is anyone still here?
John started his 4 day work weeks. We are very blessed and he has enough vacation and banked time saved up that we are covered for it until mid-June, at least. We were pretty worried that John would have to get a second job, and now he might not have to get one at all.
Last Sunday was our ward's Primary Presentation. Caleb pleasantly surprised us all and decided to take part in it, despite his anxiety about it. He and Ty did wonderful. Brettley was...very wiggly, ha ha. He moved around a lot, but apparently people
Not too much else going on here, just excited to start our daily activities that we have planned for December. My mum bought the boys an elf for this year. I tried to fight it for a few years, but I've found him to be a really easy way of getting the boys to do their chores and listen to what they've been told to do, so I'm loving that side of it.
I hope that everyone is doing well! Is anyone still here?
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Next Year's Plan
Two weeks ago we (all 5 of us) finally got to meet our home school facilitator in person. We felt that he's a very good fit for our family. Our visit made me very glad that we decided to stick with the traditional (parent-directed) style. It would have been hard to give up that kind of freedom. All 3 of our boys were officially accepted for the 2016-2017 school year. Brettley will be doing mostly Kindergarten level work, but is officially registered for grade 1, just because of when his birthday is and for funding reasons. I ended up changing a bunch of curriculum plans last minute after John and I sat down and talked some things out. So here is what we are doing for next year.
All of our boys will start the day with prayer together and a little reading from the Primary 7 manual (New Testament). Then we will do reading. Caleb and Tyrell can choose what they will read from and read for 15-20 minutes each day. Brettley and I will continue using all of his Bob Books to teach him to read. Eventually during the year he will move on to other phonics sets that we have, but Bob Books are his starting point. After reading is done the boys will do Math. Caleb will be using Switched-On Schoolhouse, which is a computer based curriculum from a Christian publisher. Caleb's best mark is Math, but he doesn't enjoy it, so we decided that if it was computer based he may find it more exciting. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete MathSmart, since he says he loves worksheets the best. Brettley will use workbooks from the dollar store and Walmart in addition to Brain Quest (and their Star Wars line) as well as using lots of different manipulatives.
The boys will then get to do their first 2 chores of the day and have a snack.
After the break they will do English Language Arts. Caleb is going to be using LIFEPAC from the same publisher as his math program and will read Underground to Canada for his novel. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete EnglishSmart as well as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for his novel. Brettley will use dollar store, Walmart, Brain Quest and Star Wars workbooks.
Next is Social Studies, which has been a big pain, in my opinion. There's no good Canadian curriculum sets similar to other programs. So Caleb will be using the Courage and Conquest Living History Bundle, Discovering Canada's Government and Canadian Geography & Mapping Skills. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Pioneers in Canada. Brettley will be using Brain Quest and online resources. We will be taking a field trip to Fort Edmonton Park.
Caleb and Tyrell will both be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete ScienceSmart for their Science. Brettley will be using iPad apps, online resources and Netflix learning shows for science. We will also be taking 2 trips to the Telus World of Science and a trip to the Valley Zoo. Tyrell will be doing a trip to the John Janzen Nature Center, as well.
Then they will have a break to do their other 2 chores and have another snack.
Caleb and Tyrell will then do their spelling work from the Evan-Moor books. I haven't fully decided what Brettley will be doing during this time yet. Probably work on a Handwriting Without Tears book. After spelling is the Health/Computers block. Depending on the day, they will either do health activities, laptop games, a typing lesson or iPad games. We are using Canadian Health Activities and Canadian Character Education for health. Caleb will also do a unit study about Inside Out. I am still decided on our typing program, but I have it narrowed down to Dance Mat Typing or typing.com
Our last block of the day is Creative Time, where they are free to choose what they want to do, as long as it's something creative related. It could be a craft, drawing, colouring, dancing or something like that.
We should be done by lunch each day, as a few of these blocks will actually only take about 10-15 minutes. I am flexible about how things will work out each day, but this is our general plan, since Caleb and I are both people who require a routine. So that's our plan for next year. Caleb chose to give up French, and I wasn't going to push it. While we will be active regularly and will be doing swimming lessons in the year, we won't have a formal gym class. We aren't taking off nearly as many days as Edmonton Public Schools are, so we should be done the year around mid to late April. The kids were very clear that they'd rather have a longer summer break than lots of breaks during the school year. We are so excited to start!
So the schedule looks like:
Block 1 - Religion
Block 2 - Free Reading
Block 3 - Math
BREAK AND CHORES
Block 4 - ELA
Block 5 - Social
Block 6 - Science
BREAK AND CHORES
Block 7 - Spelling
Block 8 - Health/Computers
Block 9 - Creative Time
LUNCH AND END OF SCHOOL DAY
All of our boys will start the day with prayer together and a little reading from the Primary 7 manual (New Testament). Then we will do reading. Caleb and Tyrell can choose what they will read from and read for 15-20 minutes each day. Brettley and I will continue using all of his Bob Books to teach him to read. Eventually during the year he will move on to other phonics sets that we have, but Bob Books are his starting point. After reading is done the boys will do Math. Caleb will be using Switched-On Schoolhouse, which is a computer based curriculum from a Christian publisher. Caleb's best mark is Math, but he doesn't enjoy it, so we decided that if it was computer based he may find it more exciting. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete MathSmart, since he says he loves worksheets the best. Brettley will use workbooks from the dollar store and Walmart in addition to Brain Quest (and their Star Wars line) as well as using lots of different manipulatives.
The boys will then get to do their first 2 chores of the day and have a snack.
After the break they will do English Language Arts. Caleb is going to be using LIFEPAC from the same publisher as his math program and will read Underground to Canada for his novel. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete EnglishSmart as well as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for his novel. Brettley will use dollar store, Walmart, Brain Quest and Star Wars workbooks.
Next is Social Studies, which has been a big pain, in my opinion. There's no good Canadian curriculum sets similar to other programs. So Caleb will be using the Courage and Conquest Living History Bundle, Discovering Canada's Government and Canadian Geography & Mapping Skills. Tyrell will be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Pioneers in Canada. Brettley will be using Brain Quest and online resources. We will be taking a field trip to Fort Edmonton Park.
Caleb and Tyrell will both be using Complete Canadian Curriculum and Complete ScienceSmart for their Science. Brettley will be using iPad apps, online resources and Netflix learning shows for science. We will also be taking 2 trips to the Telus World of Science and a trip to the Valley Zoo. Tyrell will be doing a trip to the John Janzen Nature Center, as well.
Then they will have a break to do their other 2 chores and have another snack.
Caleb and Tyrell will then do their spelling work from the Evan-Moor books. I haven't fully decided what Brettley will be doing during this time yet. Probably work on a Handwriting Without Tears book. After spelling is the Health/Computers block. Depending on the day, they will either do health activities, laptop games, a typing lesson or iPad games. We are using Canadian Health Activities and Canadian Character Education for health. Caleb will also do a unit study about Inside Out. I am still decided on our typing program, but I have it narrowed down to Dance Mat Typing or typing.com
Our last block of the day is Creative Time, where they are free to choose what they want to do, as long as it's something creative related. It could be a craft, drawing, colouring, dancing or something like that.
We should be done by lunch each day, as a few of these blocks will actually only take about 10-15 minutes. I am flexible about how things will work out each day, but this is our general plan, since Caleb and I are both people who require a routine. So that's our plan for next year. Caleb chose to give up French, and I wasn't going to push it. While we will be active regularly and will be doing swimming lessons in the year, we won't have a formal gym class. We aren't taking off nearly as many days as Edmonton Public Schools are, so we should be done the year around mid to late April. The kids were very clear that they'd rather have a longer summer break than lots of breaks during the school year. We are so excited to start!
So the schedule looks like:
Block 1 - Religion
Block 2 - Free Reading
Block 3 - Math
BREAK AND CHORES
Block 4 - ELA
Block 5 - Social
Block 6 - Science
BREAK AND CHORES
Block 7 - Spelling
Block 8 - Health/Computers
Block 9 - Creative Time
LUNCH AND END OF SCHOOL DAY
Friday, March 25, 2016
My Latest Project is in Progress
A lot of people who know me well know that Tyrell has been asking me to homeschool him since Kindergarten. That was a rough year for us. His teacher (for 8 of the 10 months) was NOT someone I respected and we had a few situations that made me extremely angry with her. We nearly pulled him halfway through the year after one particular incident. Ty loved doing school in the afternoons at home for a while. He never forgot how much he loved it and would regularly bring up wanting to do 'Mommy School' instead of going to school. Since Caleb has started schooling at home, Ty has become more insistent (understandably, since Caleb ended up getting something that Ty has been asking for the past couple of years). He has ended up in tears about it a few times. So John and I went back to praying. Clearly, I am capable of planning a comprehensive curriculum and following through on it. When life happens and we get off track, we get right back on track and don't end up behind. We weren't sure if I could do this, but we trusted the answer that we got about Caleb, and it turned out to be incredibly accurate. Caleb is thriving! His emotions have become significantly more stable. I am becoming more patient with each day, which is something I've struggled with my whole life.
Well, we got another answer. Come fall, all 3 of our boys will be home educated. We are fortunate that Brettley's birthday is just within the cutoff date, and we are able to register him for grade 1 to receive funding for him, which is awesome! So I have been busy planning curriculum for Tyrell and Brettley, as well as our plans to keep learning over the summer. It was obvious that schooling in my room in the fall wouldn't be an option anymore, which we had been doing for the past couple of weeks. So we made a trip to IKEA, Staples and Walmart and began my latest project, which is making a dedicated learning space in half of our living room. We still need to grab another desk tomorrow, but so far we have 2 desks, white boards for each of them above their desk (I write their daily plans on them), organizers for workbooks and an open storage bin system for their different learning items (such as geometry set pieces, math manipulatives, Boogie Boards, stickers, etc).
It's not quite ready yet, but when it's done, I will post pictures of the space on here. It also includes their bookshelf, which was already there and 2 other 'shelf' units, which are for media as well as school storage. We are very much looking forward to this next adventure in our lives. The staff at the school, while expressing how much they miss Caleb and will miss Tyrell, have been incredibly supportive and respectful of our decisions, which I am very grateful for. We are truly being blessed so much as we seek for Heavenly Father's guidance in the lives of our children and follow the answers that we have been given.
Well, we got another answer. Come fall, all 3 of our boys will be home educated. We are fortunate that Brettley's birthday is just within the cutoff date, and we are able to register him for grade 1 to receive funding for him, which is awesome! So I have been busy planning curriculum for Tyrell and Brettley, as well as our plans to keep learning over the summer. It was obvious that schooling in my room in the fall wouldn't be an option anymore, which we had been doing for the past couple of weeks. So we made a trip to IKEA, Staples and Walmart and began my latest project, which is making a dedicated learning space in half of our living room. We still need to grab another desk tomorrow, but so far we have 2 desks, white boards for each of them above their desk (I write their daily plans on them), organizers for workbooks and an open storage bin system for their different learning items (such as geometry set pieces, math manipulatives, Boogie Boards, stickers, etc).
It's not quite ready yet, but when it's done, I will post pictures of the space on here. It also includes their bookshelf, which was already there and 2 other 'shelf' units, which are for media as well as school storage. We are very much looking forward to this next adventure in our lives. The staff at the school, while expressing how much they miss Caleb and will miss Tyrell, have been incredibly supportive and respectful of our decisions, which I am very grateful for. We are truly being blessed so much as we seek for Heavenly Father's guidance in the lives of our children and follow the answers that we have been given.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Mostly a School Update
The past several weeks of doing home schooling with Caleb have been awesome. We get closer to finding our groove with each day. His behaviour has improved so much, it's awesome. Today we got his grade 4 and grade 5 novels in the mail, along with his grade 4 French book to do over the summer. He is reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for grade 4 and Underground to Canada for grade 5. Of course, the planner in me has his novels picked out all the way through to grade 12, ha ha.
Over the past couple of weeks, I finalized his lesson plan schedule for grade 5 and got his Education Program Plan ready, so when his facilitator comes soon, we can get his registration for next year done quickly. I had originally planned to go with a different board in the fall and register him as aligned to the Alberta Programs of Study, but changed my mind for a couple of reasons. The first is that our current board was willing to bail me out mid-year when we needed a fast solution, and I am extremely grateful for that. Also, I enjoy being able to use whatever curriculum I want to meet our goals for the year, and don't want to have to potentially give that up by switching to aligned (it's dependent on the facilitator how much flexibility we would have). Our biggest expense for grade 5 will be his karate class, so we don't require more than what traditional gets for funding. We will be able to do quite a bit with our $835, and have included 4 field trips in that plan. Almost everything he will be doing will actually meet the Programs of Study, but we decided to focus on different units in science instead. In grade 6 I am hoping to water down the Book of Mormon seminary program to his level, and add that into our day. We are also planning to get him doing a typing program so that he is comfortable typing by the time he gets to grade 7.
We picked up a new laptop with our tax return, as our old one was several years old and I'd rather buy one when I have a few extra dollars than have it crash 6 months from now and not have money to replace it without using the credit card. Funny enough, the only laptop that met all of my requirements (and there weren't a lot, either) was HP's Star Wars laptop. I am really enjoying it. Now the boys can have the old laptop, which will be great when Caleb starts learning to type and has computers a few times per week come the fall.
Not much else is new right now, I guess. My life is very home school-centric at the moment. I am loving it, though. I am so grateful that we were led to this choice for Caleb and that it is working so well for him!
Over the past couple of weeks, I finalized his lesson plan schedule for grade 5 and got his Education Program Plan ready, so when his facilitator comes soon, we can get his registration for next year done quickly. I had originally planned to go with a different board in the fall and register him as aligned to the Alberta Programs of Study, but changed my mind for a couple of reasons. The first is that our current board was willing to bail me out mid-year when we needed a fast solution, and I am extremely grateful for that. Also, I enjoy being able to use whatever curriculum I want to meet our goals for the year, and don't want to have to potentially give that up by switching to aligned (it's dependent on the facilitator how much flexibility we would have). Our biggest expense for grade 5 will be his karate class, so we don't require more than what traditional gets for funding. We will be able to do quite a bit with our $835, and have included 4 field trips in that plan. Almost everything he will be doing will actually meet the Programs of Study, but we decided to focus on different units in science instead. In grade 6 I am hoping to water down the Book of Mormon seminary program to his level, and add that into our day. We are also planning to get him doing a typing program so that he is comfortable typing by the time he gets to grade 7.
We picked up a new laptop with our tax return, as our old one was several years old and I'd rather buy one when I have a few extra dollars than have it crash 6 months from now and not have money to replace it without using the credit card. Funny enough, the only laptop that met all of my requirements (and there weren't a lot, either) was HP's Star Wars laptop. I am really enjoying it. Now the boys can have the old laptop, which will be great when Caleb starts learning to type and has computers a few times per week come the fall.
Not much else is new right now, I guess. My life is very home school-centric at the moment. I am loving it, though. I am so grateful that we were led to this choice for Caleb and that it is working so well for him!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Realizing My Capabilities
We've been through a fair bit in the past week. First, my little Brettley turned 5 years old. Where on earth has the time gone? As an extra thought on this, when Caleb was 5 he seemed so big. Because Brettley is the youngest and a little short (or a lot short) for his age, he seems super tiny to me. He wears size 5 tops, but just got into size 4 pants a couple of months ago, so he is quite short for a 5 year old. However, he made up for his lack of height by losing not 1, but 2 teeth on his birthday! Caleb and Ty were both 6 when they lost their first teeth, so Brettley is ahead of the group in that area. Some of the things Brettley got for his birthday were a truck launcher he'd been asking for, 2 Paw Patrol toys and a Paw Patrol bedding set (comforter, sheets and pillowcase). He was a VERY happy boy, and he's finally keeping a pillowcase on his pillow for once.
On Friday, the stress of everything I've been going through the past couple of weeks sort of hit me really hard. John and I decided together a couple of things. First, that because we don't actually need the money I get from doing lunch at the school and because Caleb did straight out tell me that it disrupts his home schooling too much, I will finish working for February, but won't be continuing to do lunch anymore come March. Also, we decided that 5 filling appointments in a month and a half was way too much stress on both out time and finances, so we're going to do 1 filling each month until they're done. Also, we'll get Ty's all done before we start doing any of Caleb's to give Caleb more time to develop some skills to get over his big fear of needles. I felt so much better after we reworked these things to cut down on my stress level a bit.
I think I got into this mentality that because I can handle things a lot better than I could before I started Seroquel that I need to be able to handle everything. One of the first things my doctor ever said to me was that I need to be aware of what I'm capable of and work with that. I'm going to work harder to be aware of my personal capabilities and be more willing to say no when it's necessary.
John was able to have a 4 day weekend, and yesterday we took the kids to the Telus World of Science. The past couple of years, instead of getting lots of toys for the kids, we've asked my dad to instead just fund a family fun day for us. As I've mentioned before, our kids are the only grandkids on my side, so they kind of get spoiled rotten. The boys LOVED going to the TWOS. I was worried Brettley wouldn't like it too much, but he was right in there just as much as his brothers were. After we were done there we took the boys for lunch at Red Robins (their choice). Then we took them to Toys R Us and Mastermind Toys to each get something. Well, Brettley did get a lot since he had birthday money to spend as well. Caleb bought a paratrooper with a no-tangle parachute and a little science experiment kit. Ty got a little space gun, a singing Olaf toy, a Frozen pen and Frozen skin stickers. In case you couldn't tell, he is still quite stuck on Frozen, ha ha. Brettley got himself a grabber claw stick, a red Boogie Board and 6 Paw Patrol toys with badges. He only needs 2 more now to complete his badge collection (Zuma and Marshall).
That's about it for this week. I woke up with a sore throat this morning, so I got an extra day at home with Caleb and Brettley. Now Caleb is finishing up his math for the day and I'm drinking another herbal tea with honey. I'm very much looking forward to March when I get to have days like this (minus the being sick) far more often.
On Friday, the stress of everything I've been going through the past couple of weeks sort of hit me really hard. John and I decided together a couple of things. First, that because we don't actually need the money I get from doing lunch at the school and because Caleb did straight out tell me that it disrupts his home schooling too much, I will finish working for February, but won't be continuing to do lunch anymore come March. Also, we decided that 5 filling appointments in a month and a half was way too much stress on both out time and finances, so we're going to do 1 filling each month until they're done. Also, we'll get Ty's all done before we start doing any of Caleb's to give Caleb more time to develop some skills to get over his big fear of needles. I felt so much better after we reworked these things to cut down on my stress level a bit.
I think I got into this mentality that because I can handle things a lot better than I could before I started Seroquel that I need to be able to handle everything. One of the first things my doctor ever said to me was that I need to be aware of what I'm capable of and work with that. I'm going to work harder to be aware of my personal capabilities and be more willing to say no when it's necessary.
John was able to have a 4 day weekend, and yesterday we took the kids to the Telus World of Science. The past couple of years, instead of getting lots of toys for the kids, we've asked my dad to instead just fund a family fun day for us. As I've mentioned before, our kids are the only grandkids on my side, so they kind of get spoiled rotten. The boys LOVED going to the TWOS. I was worried Brettley wouldn't like it too much, but he was right in there just as much as his brothers were. After we were done there we took the boys for lunch at Red Robins (their choice). Then we took them to Toys R Us and Mastermind Toys to each get something. Well, Brettley did get a lot since he had birthday money to spend as well. Caleb bought a paratrooper with a no-tangle parachute and a little science experiment kit. Ty got a little space gun, a singing Olaf toy, a Frozen pen and Frozen skin stickers. In case you couldn't tell, he is still quite stuck on Frozen, ha ha. Brettley got himself a grabber claw stick, a red Boogie Board and 6 Paw Patrol toys with badges. He only needs 2 more now to complete his badge collection (Zuma and Marshall).
That's about it for this week. I woke up with a sore throat this morning, so I got an extra day at home with Caleb and Brettley. Now Caleb is finishing up his math for the day and I'm drinking another herbal tea with honey. I'm very much looking forward to March when I get to have days like this (minus the being sick) far more often.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
3 Days In
So today is officially day 3 of home school. Monday was kind of odd. It was the first day, we were figuring what works to begin with, and then I had to leave to work at the school, so my dad was over for the tail end of Caleb's work, which was the worst example of it. The last 10 minutes or so were hard for Caleb, he was feeling a bit done.
Yesterday was AMAZING! I didn't have to work because my class was on a field trip, so I didn't have to interrupt our day. I became more conscious of when he needs breaks and snacks. I ensured that he ate a good breakfast before we started. Caleb gets really 'hangry' as of late. It was an all around awesome day and he even helped make supper as well.
Today was a hard day. The day after Cubs is ALWAYS hard. It causes him to get to bed a little bit later than normal (his normal bedtime is 8:45) and has him extremely stimulated in the evening. Looking at how thing are today, I may switch it so that on Wednesdays he does his work in the afternoon when I get home from the school, instead of in the morning. Or split it half and half. We'll see how things go next week and continue to adapt from there.
Tomorrow I go back to working at the school, so our days will be messed up again. I'm REALLY glad that I won't be doing lunch supervision next year, it just isn't working well for us now. I agreed to finish the year out though, so I'm trying really hard to keep that commitment.
***
In other news, my baby boy turns 5 tomorrow! His cake is currently in the oven. He LOVES homemade German chocolate cake with coconut pecan icing. He's my only boy who still prefers for me to make his cake instead of buy it, so I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts :)
I would also like to say that I was super impressed with myself on Monday, that I was able to home school and work at all. The night before was really bad. I have struggled with major back pain since I was a teenager. It's been a lot worse lately since I injured my back at Christmas a few years back. However, that being said, the pain I had on Sunday night was hands down THE WORST back pain I've ever had. If it wasn't for several layers of Tiger Balm, an amazing husband rubbing my back and keeping me as calm as possible, I definitely would have ended up in the ER.
Next week we're doing our family fun day. John is taking Tuesday off and Ty is being excused from school. We're taking the kids to the Telus World of Science, going out for lunch to Red Robin (as the kids insisted) and then taking them to Toys R Us so they can each pick out a toy. This day is my Dad's Christmas present to the kids. They are super excited for it and so are we!
Yesterday was AMAZING! I didn't have to work because my class was on a field trip, so I didn't have to interrupt our day. I became more conscious of when he needs breaks and snacks. I ensured that he ate a good breakfast before we started. Caleb gets really 'hangry' as of late. It was an all around awesome day and he even helped make supper as well.
Today was a hard day. The day after Cubs is ALWAYS hard. It causes him to get to bed a little bit later than normal (his normal bedtime is 8:45) and has him extremely stimulated in the evening. Looking at how thing are today, I may switch it so that on Wednesdays he does his work in the afternoon when I get home from the school, instead of in the morning. Or split it half and half. We'll see how things go next week and continue to adapt from there.
Tomorrow I go back to working at the school, so our days will be messed up again. I'm REALLY glad that I won't be doing lunch supervision next year, it just isn't working well for us now. I agreed to finish the year out though, so I'm trying really hard to keep that commitment.
***
In other news, my baby boy turns 5 tomorrow! His cake is currently in the oven. He LOVES homemade German chocolate cake with coconut pecan icing. He's my only boy who still prefers for me to make his cake instead of buy it, so I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts :)
I would also like to say that I was super impressed with myself on Monday, that I was able to home school and work at all. The night before was really bad. I have struggled with major back pain since I was a teenager. It's been a lot worse lately since I injured my back at Christmas a few years back. However, that being said, the pain I had on Sunday night was hands down THE WORST back pain I've ever had. If it wasn't for several layers of Tiger Balm, an amazing husband rubbing my back and keeping me as calm as possible, I definitely would have ended up in the ER.
Next week we're doing our family fun day. John is taking Tuesday off and Ty is being excused from school. We're taking the kids to the Telus World of Science, going out for lunch to Red Robin (as the kids insisted) and then taking them to Toys R Us so they can each pick out a toy. This day is my Dad's Christmas present to the kids. They are super excited for it and so are we!
Friday, February 5, 2016
Or Not...
So our plan was to wait until September for Caleb to start home education. Then things started going downhill really fast. Before, Caleb came home from school about 2/5 days each week and was either distraught in tears as he walked through the door, or he'd explode in anger. I eventually figured out that the problem was that he'd tried to stay in control all day long and bottled up 'everything' and it would explode when he got home. Well, it started happening every.single.day. Caleb couldn't handle things. I couldn't handle things. The status quo was clearly not working anymore. So we made a big change, and decided to start home schooling ASAP instead. I found a board that was willing to accept him mid-year. I quickly figured out some curriculum, pieced together an Education Program Plan and sent in his registration information last Friday. On Wednesday this week, I heard from Caleb's facilitator. He was very nice and let me know that he's happy to be involved as much or as little as we're comfortable with. Then yesterday morning the official acceptance letter came. So today is Caleb's last day at the school. Monday he starts doing home school. It's a little bit sad. He'll miss seeing his friends so much. It's sad for him to leave the school he's been at since the first day of Kindergarten. But all 3 of us (John, Caleb and I) know with a deep surety that this was the right decision for Caleb and his specific needs.
For inquiring minds, we are only doing 5 subjects for the rest of grade 4. English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Health. He was planning on dropping art and music next year anyway, so I wasn't even going to bother with that. He's doing level 1 French in grade 5 as is, so continuing FSL this year wasn't at all necessary. As for Phys Ed, we will still have opportunities for him to be physically active, it's just not an official subject for him for the rest of the year. We may put him in swimming lessons a couple of months down the road, but we'll see how things go.
So that's kind of everything that's been going on, for the most part. Most of my time went into dealing with this and getting everything ready as quickly as possible. I'm sure there are people who think I'm crazy for making this choice, but we got an incredibly strong answer from Heavenly Father and continue to get them, so we feel very confident going into this that we have made the best choice that we could for Caleb. I feel so blessed to be in a position to be able to do this for him, and to do it within a province that (in my opinion) is one of the best places in Canada to home educate.
In the way of other news, Caleb and Tyrell went to the dentist this week. They were both awesome, but they both need fillings, so we'll be doing that next month. Mostly nervous about Caleb, because he has a fear of needles, but we will be bribing him to tough through it. Also, my doctor referred me for a sleep study for sleep apnea, which I have do to at the end of the month. I'm really not looking forward to it, mostly because I have a hard time falling asleep as it is and I'm pretty sure that having a mask strapped to my face isn't going to help much in that area. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Sleep apnea causes a truck load of problems if not treated correctly.
And as a final note, I can't believe that the baby of the family turns 5 next week. In some ways it feels like he's still 2, but in other ways it feels like he's been with us for so much longer than 5 years. Two things are for sure though. 1) We love him so very much and 2) He is still the best surprise I've ever had in my life.
For inquiring minds, we are only doing 5 subjects for the rest of grade 4. English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Health. He was planning on dropping art and music next year anyway, so I wasn't even going to bother with that. He's doing level 1 French in grade 5 as is, so continuing FSL this year wasn't at all necessary. As for Phys Ed, we will still have opportunities for him to be physically active, it's just not an official subject for him for the rest of the year. We may put him in swimming lessons a couple of months down the road, but we'll see how things go.
So that's kind of everything that's been going on, for the most part. Most of my time went into dealing with this and getting everything ready as quickly as possible. I'm sure there are people who think I'm crazy for making this choice, but we got an incredibly strong answer from Heavenly Father and continue to get them, so we feel very confident going into this that we have made the best choice that we could for Caleb. I feel so blessed to be in a position to be able to do this for him, and to do it within a province that (in my opinion) is one of the best places in Canada to home educate.
In the way of other news, Caleb and Tyrell went to the dentist this week. They were both awesome, but they both need fillings, so we'll be doing that next month. Mostly nervous about Caleb, because he has a fear of needles, but we will be bribing him to tough through it. Also, my doctor referred me for a sleep study for sleep apnea, which I have do to at the end of the month. I'm really not looking forward to it, mostly because I have a hard time falling asleep as it is and I'm pretty sure that having a mask strapped to my face isn't going to help much in that area. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Sleep apnea causes a truck load of problems if not treated correctly.
And as a final note, I can't believe that the baby of the family turns 5 next week. In some ways it feels like he's still 2, but in other ways it feels like he's been with us for so much longer than 5 years. Two things are for sure though. 1) We love him so very much and 2) He is still the best surprise I've ever had in my life.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Post #2 For Today
I think I have done Caleb a bit of an injustice. I never saw him as a kid with special needs, I saw him as a kid who struggles with ADHD. As we met with his psychologist the other day and she had me list off what has been diagnosed and what I feel still needs to be diagnosed I had a realization as I rattled off this list:
-ADHD
-Oppositional Defiant Disorder
-Anxiety
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Severe Desire for Structure and Routine
-Rage Attacks Caused by Above
Caleb is, in fact, a child with special needs. It certainly doesn't make him a bad kid, and it doesn't even make me a bad parent for not realizing this earlier. It just means that now we're a bit better equipped to make stronger and more effective decisions regarding Caleb.
I think of things like travel, which we will be changing how we look at. His psychologist reminded me that travel in particular is going to be a very hard thing for him. It's different at my mum's. She follows any routine I ask her to, Caleb is used to travelling there every couple of months, and it's only a 2 hour trip home if things aren't working out well. Anything more than that needs to be seriously evaluated. Caleb desperately needs structure and routine in his life, and travelling really throws a wrench into that. He gets overstimulated very easily at family gatherings, which triggers a lot of difficult reactions in him. Travel that takes any more than 2 or 3 hours to get back home from, makes it very difficult if he needs to leave earlier than planned.
I'm in the process of changing how I make him aware of my expectations, of consequences and how I wind him down at the end of the day, so that these things are clear to him, become a routine and are more effective for him. We are becoming more aware of making sure his needs are met, both in making accommodations and also in making expectations and consequences easier to understand.
-ADHD
-Oppositional Defiant Disorder
-Anxiety
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Severe Desire for Structure and Routine
-Rage Attacks Caused by Above
Caleb is, in fact, a child with special needs. It certainly doesn't make him a bad kid, and it doesn't even make me a bad parent for not realizing this earlier. It just means that now we're a bit better equipped to make stronger and more effective decisions regarding Caleb.
I think of things like travel, which we will be changing how we look at. His psychologist reminded me that travel in particular is going to be a very hard thing for him. It's different at my mum's. She follows any routine I ask her to, Caleb is used to travelling there every couple of months, and it's only a 2 hour trip home if things aren't working out well. Anything more than that needs to be seriously evaluated. Caleb desperately needs structure and routine in his life, and travelling really throws a wrench into that. He gets overstimulated very easily at family gatherings, which triggers a lot of difficult reactions in him. Travel that takes any more than 2 or 3 hours to get back home from, makes it very difficult if he needs to leave earlier than planned.
I'm in the process of changing how I make him aware of my expectations, of consequences and how I wind him down at the end of the day, so that these things are clear to him, become a routine and are more effective for him. We are becoming more aware of making sure his needs are met, both in making accommodations and also in making expectations and consequences easier to understand.
Oil Love
We're still super excited about doing homeschooling next year. We changed his courses a little bit. We convinced him to keep French, and he will do French and Science online through our board and then the rest of his courses for the year will be parent delivered. It will be a very big change for us, but I can see a difference in the bond between Caleb and I even just having made this decision.
We had our first appointment with his new psychologist on Tuesday. It went well, I think that she'll be a far bigger help than his last one. We've made a few parenting changes since that meeting. John no longer plays games with a rating of T or higher while the boys are awake. I am getting a 'lot' better about keep a calm voice, even when I'm upset. The bedtime routine has changed as well. The boys are not allowed to have screen time within 30 minutes of their bedtime. The TV goes off with the first time, the older boys can use their iPods until their time is up. I also dim the lights downstairs at that time and turn on some relaxing music. It made a world of difference last night! We have a few more changes coming in the next week, that will make things even better in the long run.
Caleb and I have been borrowing an oil diffuser the past few days and testing out different oils. We love it and there has only been 1 oil that we didn't like so far. I spent my Christmas money and ordered myself my own diffuser and a few oils. So Caleb now has the Scentsy warmer that was in my room before. I have one in the basement as well, and told Tyrell that I'd try it out in their room and see how that goes. I'm transitioning them to sleeping with their big light in their room off, and the Scentsy warmers help a lot with that because they are like a nightlight.
Not a lot else going on here. Just the same old stuff, ha ha. Have a good one!
We had our first appointment with his new psychologist on Tuesday. It went well, I think that she'll be a far bigger help than his last one. We've made a few parenting changes since that meeting. John no longer plays games with a rating of T or higher while the boys are awake. I am getting a 'lot' better about keep a calm voice, even when I'm upset. The bedtime routine has changed as well. The boys are not allowed to have screen time within 30 minutes of their bedtime. The TV goes off with the first time, the older boys can use their iPods until their time is up. I also dim the lights downstairs at that time and turn on some relaxing music. It made a world of difference last night! We have a few more changes coming in the next week, that will make things even better in the long run.
Caleb and I have been borrowing an oil diffuser the past few days and testing out different oils. We love it and there has only been 1 oil that we didn't like so far. I spent my Christmas money and ordered myself my own diffuser and a few oils. So Caleb now has the Scentsy warmer that was in my room before. I have one in the basement as well, and told Tyrell that I'd try it out in their room and see how that goes. I'm transitioning them to sleeping with their big light in their room off, and the Scentsy warmers help a lot with that because they are like a nightlight.
Not a lot else going on here. Just the same old stuff, ha ha. Have a good one!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
A Change Is Coming, and boy are we excited
What a busy week! We had a very huge decision to make. After toying with an idea for a few years now, we seriously prayed for an answer about whether it was the right thing or not. Our answer was overwhelming to make this change. So starting in the fall Caleb will be home educated. All 3 of us (Caleb, John and myself) are excited for this adventure. We have already talked to his current teacher and the acting principal and they both are supportive of this decision. I spoke with a registrar from the willing non-resident board we will be with yesterday and was very impressed with how friendly and helpful she was. We will receive his registration package in April and we are excited to get the process started. Caleb will be aligned to Alberta's Programs of Studies, but has decided that he will drop music and art (and French as a Second Language, if possible). This means he will be taking English Language Arts (done in 3 separate time blocks), Health, Math, Phys Ed (karate class twice per week), Science and Social Studies. He was very happy that he had the option of dropping music and art. Art in particular has never been his strong suit and is clearly not something he plans on pursuing. We picked out the books we'll use for his curriculum, and will fill in anything they may lack with worksheets from some awesome websites.
I have had some pretty awesome people to talk to as we researched and were praying for our answer. My good friend/family member who has home educated since her oldest was old enough for kindergarten was a HUGE help to me. We also have some members in our ward who switched from attending public school over to home education this past fall. I was able to speak to their mom and one of the older girls about what that transition was like for them.
So that's our big news for this past week. I'm still going strong with my 2016 commitments. It's hard to believe that January is already almost half over. Caleb's initial appointment with his new psychologist is this coming Tuesday, which will be great. At least we're not in a huge rush now for a full assessment, since we no longer have to worry about rushing to have him coded before April.
I have had some pretty awesome people to talk to as we researched and were praying for our answer. My good friend/family member who has home educated since her oldest was old enough for kindergarten was a HUGE help to me. We also have some members in our ward who switched from attending public school over to home education this past fall. I was able to speak to their mom and one of the older girls about what that transition was like for them.
So that's our big news for this past week. I'm still going strong with my 2016 commitments. It's hard to believe that January is already almost half over. Caleb's initial appointment with his new psychologist is this coming Tuesday, which will be great. At least we're not in a huge rush now for a full assessment, since we no longer have to worry about rushing to have him coded before April.
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