Pieces of Us

ChemLab

No not the band, and no, nothing illegal!  AJ is such a mad scientist and is always building and inventing.  I found him in my garage/ laundry area with this contraption that he had built.  Some sort of pump/siphon made of straws.  There was also some sort of juie tasting lab and poor Caleb was the taster.  He apparently does not prefer the food coloring/pickle juice/ water combo.

Poor Sad Blog

    It's been so lonely in here hasn't it?  It's a known fact that when we have a play going on my posting time is slim to none. I will be back in full swing soon because Totally Rad opens TOMORROW NIGHT! I have those nervous butterflies which is a good thing.  It will be a great play.

    I didn't even get a birthday post in for AJ who turned 10 on Monday! We had a great potluck for him and he was the sweetest, most gracious boy.  He even wrote a Thank You song and sang it to his guests.  I am so pleased with his maturity and poise.  He still is all 10 year old boy though, silly, hyper and funny.

 Singing his birthday song.

Rock n Roll Dude!

Showing AJ his surprise gift.  Tickets to Star Wars In Concert!

Guitar Duet

Even caught Jess in a picture!

Jillian adopted a snail and names her Marla.  She carried Marla around in a cup all day lovingly talking to her and telling everyone Marla's entire backstory.

As much as Jilly loved Marla she willingly let her go.  I was very proud of how maturely she handles Marla's release.

AJ got a science kit and had a blast digging into it right away.  This boy LOVES science and invention.

The girls with their 'adopted grandma' Cindy. (Who took all of these photos for me!)

I am so glad Maddy got in on this photo, she was feeling so sick that day and not particulary sociable.

I think AJ was very thrilled with his day and happy with the gifts he received.  It was memorable for certain!

 

BABY AJ!

Words that Warm my Heart

    I have written several post about AJ in the past. He has struggled for many years with learning disabilities primarily in the area of reading and writing.  I also posted how this year has been his year or growth. Yesterday he uttered words that I would count as my most treasured since I began homeschooling 8 years ago. 

    ""I LOVE reading."

 

  To hear this from Maddy, Ginny or Gabby would be nice and not unheard of.  They are each natural readers who required very little instruction to learn to read.  But AJ... it was 4 years of rigorous instruction and going over and over the phonetic rules again and again. It was special colored paper and little colored transparent rulers, it was large fonts on the nook. In short it was the biggest challenge I have ever faced and it was likely the same for him.

  So this year when his reading just exploded I sighed with relief a little.  I never expected him to begin to love reading.  It is still a challenge for him at times when he sees the words differently than they are written, but he is loving it.  My in-laws bought him a boxed set of the How To Train A Dragon books for Christmas.  These are silly, nonsensical books with crazy drawings but plenty of challenging words.  He has devoured them. I rarely see him without one in his hands.  He is reading in the car.   He is reading on park benches.   He is reading by booklight late into the night.  

 

  And he loves it.

 

 He has excitedly reported to me that he is on his fifth book since Christmas.  Five books in four weeks or so. Not a bad accomplishment for anyone let alone a boy with learning disabilities.  This year has by far and away been our very best homeschooling year.  We have found curriculum we love and all of us- including me, are growing in our knowledge.  I am already looking forward to planning next year and praying fervently that it goes as well as this year has gone.  Is it possible that we have finally hit our stride?  I think so!

Putting his best foot forward

     AJ has struggled his entire schooling career with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Despite this we have never treated his disability as something that will hold him back. Instead we just try harder to make things work for him according to how his brain works. This year has been a huge turning point for him. He is fully independent with his reading now and loves going to bed to read a chapter book at night.  This just warms my heart because I know that many dyslexic kids never gain a love for reading because they do not get the attention they need to learn how to read. His favorite books right now are the How to Train A Dragon books.  They are fun and interesting but also just challenging enough to stretch him a little.

    For quite sometime I have been concerned about his writing.  He is a couple years behind on writing because we truly felt that he needed to move into it slowly and that reading should be solid first. In the last couple months I have noticed his copywork and dictation work has been much neater and yesterday when he completed this sentence I was so thrilled with his printing. I can see he hardly erased anything at all and none of his letters were backwards or corrected after he realized they were backwards.  I think the wheels in his brain are turning and things are starting to click into place. He really seems to be enjoying school now that it all makes sense. I know it must be hard to come after two girls who read very early and also to have a little sister who reads far above level but we try to make him see his gifts for what they are while working on his weaknesses.  After all every one of us has strengths and weaknesses.

 

I wonder what they think?

    We live not far from a mexican grocery store, a dollar store, a 7-11 and the Goodwill. The older kids can ride their bikes there without crossing any major streets so a lot of times if they have some money to burn, the kids will do a little 'treat' shopping.  Gabby and AJ left on a ride the other day and came back with some baggies full of Pan Dulce from the Mexican bakery. Then AJ opens his bag and pulls out a huge chicharonne.  It just cracked me up to see the excitement on his face over his purchase.  I wondered what the Mexican grocers think when this little pasty white, red-headed boy pulls up on his bike and orders a chicharonne. 

    Of course all the other kids wanted a bite.  Ginny asked, "Can I have a bite of your pig fat?" and then Maddy had to throw out there that it tastes like pork....and bread...like pigbread.  Ah yes, life is interesting in our house.

Happy Thanksgiving

    Our Thanksgiving is off to a great start.  We woke up and watched a little bit of a neat show called How it's Made.  We all love this show because we are all fascinated by the manufacturing process. I had two pies to bake last night but realized that we were out of shortening so this morning I went to the store (in my fluffly fleece pants) and bought some. All 4 of the younger kids wanted to help make the pies so the counter was surrounded by chairs with little people standing on them and vying for space at the island. Since AJ has always expressed a strong interest in cooking I decided to let him do most of the pie baking.  I taught him how to cut the shortening in really well so the pie crusts will be extra flaky.  He did a great job!  The littler kids rolled out extra dough and cut it into shapes to add a decorative element to the top of the pies.

    When it was time to make the filling we realized that we were short one egg so AJ hopped on his bike- Emeril apron and all- and rode to Nanny and Popa's house to borrow one. That is another thing we are thankful for- Nanny and Popa live around the block. The pies are now in the oven baking and it smells delicious in here.

  We're all watching the Twilight Zone marathon and we will head out to visit my parents in a little while and then to dinner at my in-laws.  It will be a great meal for sure!

It Doesn't Bend that Way

    I left Cub Scouts early tonight because they forgot to change the clock back.  I must have looked silly or rude rushing out at 6:30 but I honestly thought it was 7:30 and I had a coffee date with my mom.  God is wise though and I am glad I was not at scouts when AJ apparently dislocated his thumb.  It's a lovely shade of purple now but back in it's socket.  ICK!  And I was JUST telling Amanda (piano teacher) today that only my girls had had bone accidents.  Caleb is now the only one that hasn't broken or dislocated a bone.  This REALLY surprises me. 

Karate Kid

    AJ begins Karate today. It will be such a fun experience for him.  We were fortunate to discover that there is a kids karate class going on at TAC at the same time as the girls Irish Dance and it's only $10 a month. I just couldn't pass that up. He is ecstatic.

Henry Huggins visits the drug dealer

    AJ is reading Henry Huggins right now, a few chapters a day and then we discuss what he has read together. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have him finally at a point where he can read independently, it has taken him years of hard work and he still works at it daily.  I love Beverly Cleary books, they are funny, wholesome and good literature to boot.

    Today we sat down for our book discussion.

AJ:  So, this boy Henry Huggins, he found a dog and so he used a PAYPHONE (a payphone mom, isn't that cool!?) and called his dad to see if he could keep him.  His dad said he could so he tried to take him on a bus but the busdriver said he had to put the dog in a box.  So then a drug dealer gives Henry a box...

 

Me: Wait...what?  A drug dealer?

I have read enough Beverly Cleary to know there are no drugs involved in her stories.

AJ: You know, he went to the drug store and the drug dealer who works there gave him a box.

Me: HAHAHAHA!!  AJ that is a pharmacist, he is not called a drug dealer.  A drug dealer is a person who is a criminal for selling illegal drugs.

AJ: OH!!!

 

ZOINK!

Pride (in the name of Love)

    Facebook is easily the most interesting human experiment. It leaves me at times uplifted.  It leaves me shocked.  It leaves me dumbfounded.  It leaves me pondering many aspects of myself and others and the way we all think and react to the events in our everyday lives.

That person you thought you knew so well can oftentimes be the person whose status updates confound you the most. In any given day I might have a status update from a person who declares his faith in God while his daughter fights her second round of cancer in a year, just beneath it I might see someone cursing the fact that they have a slightly bigger workload today (when our country sees 1 in 10 out of work, this is a tough one to swallow).  There are complaints (a lot of these...some even my own), there is joy, there is silliness, there is crudeness and there is pride.

Pride.

Pride is the word that started turning my hamster wheels today. I was alone on my errands- driving that part of the canyon where the radio merely hisses and spits, vacillating between a Spanish station and talk radio. At this point in the drive I am alone with my thoughts and for some reason my thoughts were on facebook and pride.

I doubt a day goes by where I don't see a status update where someone is proud of their child.  It generally surrounds an accomplishment in school or sports. Some days it's a dozen or so. I have been guilty of it on occasion myself.  At some point in my drive something started resonating in my brain.

Are my parents proud of me?  Are they as proud of me and my brother as they are proud of my sister, she being the college graduate with the master's degree and the two of us who never finished college?  I consider all three of us success stories. My brother is a hard working man who worked his way to the top of his job, he is happily married.  I never finished school but I met my goal which was always to be a happily content wife and mother. My sister is also blessed with a wonderful marriage and she happens to have a great career as well.  Does one person's  'accomplishments' merit more pride than another?

The bible looks at pride in two different ways, the first being selfish pride. Proverbs 11:2,

When pride comes then comes dishonor,

But with the humble comes wisdom.

Often when I hear parents talk about the pride they have in their children it surrounds an accomplishment.  They aced a test, they got into a top college, they hit a home run. These are great things and any parent would grasp that feeling of pride and want to share it with the world.  But what would happen if we stopped focusing on the things that we and our children have accomplished and instead looked to their character. If we aim our pride on deeds over works what message are we sending to them now?  

Your character shows what kind of person you are. By showing good character you make me proud.

I can't think of a better message to send to a child than, We are proud of the person you are not the things you have done. I want my kids to look to me for approval on their actions and not their accomplishments. This is an example of good biblical pride.

We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

2 Corinthians 5:12

When one of my kids performs well in a play or at a swim meet or gets an award in scouts, I feel a little pride. It's not the same as the pride I feel when I see one of them 'do a good turn'.  A few nights ago we attended a pack ceremony for AJ's cub scouts pack. I noticed he had made a new friend and I was delighted.  He can be a bit of an underdog.  Mike introduced me to the boys parents and while the mom talked to me about the first time the boys met I felt the slight sting of tears. She explained that AJ had immediately taken the new boy under his wing and befriended him right from the getgo.  They had been worried that since they were new to the pack and he didn't know anyone he might have trouble fitting in.  I felt pride that AJ had welcomed this new boy and made friends with him. 

    This may in fact have been the catalyst for this entire rambling of thoughts on pride. I am never more proud of my kids than when I see glimpses of their good character.  Would this world be an even better place if our children learned that our pride in them surrounded moments such as this? It's my own personal challenge to show my children that no matter what they accomplish in life the things that make me proud lie deep inside them, in their character.