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!

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.

A Perfect Week

I made a goal for 2016 to study my scriptures using a journal as well as have at least one good personal prayer (preferably two) every single day this year. I am happy to say that I have successfully completed that goal for the first week of the year.

Our Christmas went well, we enjoyed another quiet year at home. I was spoiled with colouring things, starter calligraphy books and tools as well as a calligraphy quill.

This month we're looking forward to Caleb having his first appointment with a new psychologist and to hopefully start the process of getting him coded for school.
I hope you've enjoyed the first week of 2016!

Christmas Soapbox Moment

Excuse my soapbox moment, but I've seen enough comments and posts lately that I feel moved to share my point of view on the subject. I have heard people say that Christmas stuff shouldn't start until December, and that December is the only acceptable time for it. Halloween stuff comes out in August, over 2 months before the holiday itself, and no one seems to bat an eye about the appropriateness of that. There are a lot of people (including myself) who like to buy a bit here and a bit there to spread out the cost rather than buy everything in one big trip. Is that so wrong? Who decides what is appropriate and what isn't? I feel that you start buying for a holiday when it's right for you. If you don't feel quite ready yet, simply don't buy yet. Seems fairly simple to me.

Also, there seems to be some misconception that it is not humanly possible to respect veterans and to listen to Christmas music at the same time, which is completely ridiculous. Remembrance Day is treated sacred in our home, yet the kids and I have been happily getting into the Christmas spirit this month as well as I busted out the Christmas playlist. It makes us happier and reminds us of something we are so grateful to be able to enjoy so freely thanks to those who fought for our freedoms. While I personally don't start decorating before November 12 (which is a tradition I chose for myself), I would find it incredibly rude and judgemental to pick apart someone who chose differently. It's completely unfair to assume that someone doesn't have respect simply because they choose to enjoy the festive Christmas spirit longer than someone else does.

Sorry, but this is a topic I've become passionate about the past few years.

October Update

So apparently I'm sorely lacking in the 'remember to blog' department. Oops! Here's an update and I will do my best to get back on track next week.

Brettley has been doing eye patching for the past few months. He has one pair of glasses that his cloth patch remains on permanently and then his big boy glasses that have no patch for the rest of the day. He has been working hard at learning all about letters and numbers. If he keeps up the hard work, I may actually get to teach him some sight words before he starts Kindergarten next fall. He is very close to being able to get out of the car seat and into the booster seat, a day we are ALL awaiting.

Tyrell is loving grade 2. He has the same teacher that Caleb had last year, which I may or may not have fist pumped over (okay, I'll totally own the fact that I did). He is still a big chatterbox and ball of energy when he's not at his desk at school. He just turned 7 last week and keeps talking about how excited he is to turn 8 next year and get baptized and start Cubs. This week he moved into the room with the double bed (Caleb moved in with Brettley), and he is so excited to have a space of his own. Our plan is to have them rotate who gets a room to himself every year.

Caleb is doing alright, after we got him settled into grade 4. He had a hard time adjusting, and so the principal and I have decided to go through trying to have him get coded for next year (due to his ADHD aggression, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and anxiety) so that he will qualify for extra help and so that when he goes to junior high and we have to deal with many teachers instead of just 1, I don't have to fight too hard for him to get the accommodations that he needs. He still absolutely loves science and has shown an interest in computer programming, so he and John are getting books out of the library to introduce him to that. He turned 9 last month and already has a teenage attitude, ha ha.

John is doing fairly well, other than his bout of shingles these past couple of weeks. A huge blessing, though, that it was an extremely mild case and was more of a nuisance to him than anything else. The biggest down side was that because Brettley hasn't had his second chicken pox immunization yet, he has been living at my dad's for over a week. He gets to come home tomorrow.

I am doing pretty well, aside from the case of bronchitis that Caleb so kindly shared with me this week. I have been doing lunchtime supervision at the school (my dad watches Brettley) and I really enjoy it. I am still happily serving away as the Mia Maids adviser in Young Women to a wonderful group of girls. I have been focusing a lot more lately on getting more out of my scripture study and just about increasing my learning in general. It's been a lot of fun and it keeps me very motivated.

So I think that's our updates, or at least the Coles Notes version of it. Have a great Halloween weekend!

Our July

Wow, I sure haven't been using this as regularly as I'd planned to. Hopefully once the summer is over and we're back in the school routine it will be easier. The day after my last post I had a checkup with my 'new' family physician. We've seen a heck of a lot of each other the past several months, the average was every 2 weeks. I am thrilled to say that he was happy enough with my current medication dosage that I get to go 3 months between that checkup and the next one. That was such amazing news, I got into the van and just cried and cried with happy tears. Of course, I still have tough days, but the difference now is that it takes so much less effort to get back to feeling stable again. Horray!

Last weekend we went to Calgary to stay with my brother and sister-in-law. It was the weekend they were finishing renovating the basement suite of their house, so I even got to help with a few things, including the staging for pictures, which was SO much fun. On the way home on Monday we detoured to Drumheller to check out the Royal Tyrrell Museum (the dinosaur museum). Brettley was very scared at first when he heard dinosaur noises, but after a bit he calmed down and enjoyed himself.

John was off work this past week and is off again this week. Aside from our few days in Calgary, we are holidaying at home this year and it is THE BEST! John's birthday was on Thursday and we had a Dr Pepper themed day. For breakfast we had Strawberry Dr Pepper Jello and whipped cream. For lunch we had Dr Pepper meatballs. Supper was Dr Pepper BBQ ribs and baked potatoes. For the dessert we had Chocolate Cherry Dr Pepper Cobbler with whipped cream. It was a great day. I think I'm still trying to make up for his birthday in 2010 when our van died on the way to Utah.

I met with the surgeon on Friday and he recommended that since my gallstones are asymptomatic, that we just leave them alone for now. He did say, though, that as soon as I actually get symptoms that it will be coming out. I'm pretty happy to not be facing surgery at the moment though, to be honest.

So that's been our month so far. For the last week we plan to have Brettley's eye checkup to see how he's doing with the new prescription, a trip to the pool and a ladies' night in there as well. July has been a great month!

We Got A...

The boys had a great last few weeks of their school year. They maintained the exact same grades that they both had back in March. Both teachers commented to me about just how much progress Caleb and Tyrell have made this year, which is always awesome to hear. Last week all 3 boys were at my mum's. Brettley managed to bust his chin open and had to have it glued shut while he was there, but apparently he was very brave and handled the whole thing incredibly well.

I have been doing well. We went to the park and were out for almost 4 hours straight on Monday. I forgot that my meds make me more susceptible to effects from heat and sun and I got a bit of a sunburn. The boys have been doing chores each day to earn spending money. They also have educational work that they do on John's work days.

Our biggest news is that we got a family pet. While the boys were gone, John and I decided to check out a couple of pet stores to just price out a hamster and all the gear for that. John held a hamster at Petland and I was a goner. She is so adorable. She is mostly black with a bit of white fur on her belly and her name is Rogue. She is very loved by all of us. Caleb helps change her food and water as well as helping to keep her cage clean. Several people have been shocked that I am able to tolerate having her, given my extreme fear of mice. Because her tail is so short, my fear is, thankfully, automatically able to register that she is not a mouse.

I forgot to mention it as I caught up before, but a couple of months back I was told that I have a gallstone as well as fatty deposits on my liver, the results of my abdominal ultrasound. To deal with the fatty deposits, I was ordered to lose weight. It has been almost 9 weeks and I have managed to lose over 16 lbs so far. As for the gallstone, I had the option to have surgery as a preemptive strike before it becomes a serious issue and I decided to take that option, so I meet with the surgeon later this month.

So that's our update for now. Hope you're having a great summer!