Snippets

Regular ol' school day around here. Everyone seems to be back in regular health except poor Miss B. 

This morning I sent Alan to the other end of the house so he'd have somewhere quiet to read his school chapter. (He's reading Heidi.)  

I said.... "Go lay on my bed" (Which was made, by the way).

This is how I found him:

 Fully clothed. In my bed. Not on my bed.

And two siblings climbing all over him. I shooed them out.

We finished the letter "L" today in our preschool lessons. 
 See my Little Lions? 

This afternoon I came upon Daniel and the cars he had lined up just so. 

He was very proud of his handy work. "It's beautiful!" he said.

School Update and Some Random Pics

It seemed to me that it would be a good time to catch up on how school is going around here, so, without further ado, an update on our 2013-2014 school year:

We are absolutely loving Easy Peasy (allinonehomeschool.com). Dale is on track to finish year 5 by the end of May. Which is pretty impressive, considering we didn't really get going on it full swing until January. Among other novels he has read Alice in Wonderland, and is currently working on Little Men. He's developing his writing skills, learning how to write a five-paragraph essay and be aware of creative language and complex sentences. He already  has a whopping vocabulary, so it's nice to start to see that come out in his writing now and then. The biggest hurdle we have with school is quality control. He is able to do most of his work independently, but I have to stay on my toes checking it or things get a little less than his best.

Accidently matching for church a few weeks ago.

Pretty much since the beginning of his "official" school career, Alan has been on a January to December calendar instead of August to May. Which is one of the beauties of homeschooling, really. He has never been behind or ahead, but right on schedule. That hopefully explains the fact that he began his 2nd grade work in January. He will not finish Easy Peasy level two in May, but will be able to complete the work with flying colors in November/December. He is learning a lot of grammar (nouns, proper nouns, action verbs, linking verbs, subjects, predicates). He gets frustrated with me for making him write exclusively in cursive, but his cursive is steadily improving and is already better than his print. 

The look on his face when I asked him Easter Sunday if he wanted go hunt eggs.

After letting Khan Academy fall by the wayside for several months due to web layout frustrations, I decided to check it out again recently, and I'm so glad I did! It's all different, and I love the changes. It's so much easier for me - and the boys- to see what they have done and what they need to do next. Also, lots of lower elementary concepts and exercises have been added, so Alan can do it too. Very, very pleased with that.

We are doing our usual read-through-the-Bible again this year, pretty much the same way we have done all but one of the last 5 years or so. We are currently mid-way through  II Kings, pausing a bit there to cover the prophets. Not sure at what pace I want to proceed through the rest of the Bible, whether to start the New Testament in August and take two years, or pack it all in to finish by early summer. Dale and Alan notebook most of the Bible lessons. They also (Alan particularly) like worksheets printed from Calvary Chapel Curriculum. 

We have covered a few science/history/social studies topics together this year, including animal habitats, Russia / the Olympics (which has made the boys interested in all of the news in Ukraine this spring), and currently, earthquakes.

For Tyler and Brooklyn we have been loosely following Hubbard's Cupboard's Bible and Rhyme curriculum - working our way through major stories of  the Bible and the Alphabet, along with appropriate matching crafts and occasional nursery rhymes. We sometimes sing songs, do hand rhymes, play with playdough, or get out special puzzles and games. We spend about 30 minutes of each day devoted to "Preschool Time." Tyler is ripe for learning to read. Not sure yet when I'll start official "lessons" with him. Meanwhile, Brooklyn has picked up on most of the letter sounds herself.

(I don't think she found any letter sounds in these giant eggs, though.)

I make it a point almost every day to read to Daniel and Brooklyn individually (and often Tyler, too), and then Tyler, Alan, Dale and I spend half an hour in a chapter book. We've read a couple of "Little House" books recently, and currently, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. It's one of my favorite times of day, and I think everyone else's, too!

Sticky Situation

By the time bedtime rolls around, I am done. Done.

We make it through pjs and prayers, and hugs and kisses, and 9 times out of 10 I'll tuck everyone in nice and snug.  But after that I consider myself off duty. Any child reappearing after the last 'goodnights' are said most likely isn't going to get much.

Even so, some child or another is often popping back in.  One night last week it was Alan.

"There is something gooey under my pillow."

Greg and I looked at him blankly. "Get a towel from the cabinet and put it under your pillow and we'll take care of it tomorrow," his daddy instructed him.

Alan went off obediently, only to show back up several minutes later.

He held out a small red plastic cup, one of the ones the kids use for orange juice at breakfast. "I just found another clue to the gooey mystery", he announced, stretching out the cup for me to see.

It had - at some point in recent history - been half-full of school glue. Now just the white wet gooey residue remained.

Oh dear.

This would be a good time to mention that Alan and Tyler share the full-sized bottom bunk.

The next morning involved a questioning of the primary suspect: the boy who naps (and sometimes just hangs out - ahem) in that bed in the afternoons; a stripping of the sheets - that were now stuck to the mattress pad in several dry crusty spots; and a search of the area for more evidence or damage. None was immediately found.

Later in the afternoon, Alan triumphantly produced the tell-tale orange screw-top lid of a glue bottle. I returned to the scene for a more thorough search and found a rather large glue puddle waaaaay back in the back corner, on Alan's side, thankfully mostly contained on an extra board stored under the bed.

We finally obtained a confession from the non-napping 4 year old napper. At the time of this writing, the (I assume) empty bottle is still missing.

Glue projects are on hold until further notice.

December 7

Today. Oh today was full.

It started at bedtime last night when I agreed to let Alan (and Dale) make pancakes for breakfast this morning. Alan has a Paula Deen kid's cookbook checked out from the library and wanted to use the pancake recipe from it. The problem with most recipes is they do not feed our large family. I have no problems increasing them, but that complicates things for a 7 year old. 

So, before I went to bed I hastily re-wrote the ingredients list to increase the recipe by a half.

This morning I awoke to the sounds of Alan and Dale clinking, working, and arguing in the kitchen.
Soon, Dale came and put my handwritten ingredient list under my nose and asked if I really meant 1 1/2 CUPS of baking powder. Goodness, no! I squinted my sleep bleary eyes at the list and complimented him on catching that mistake. 

It didn't take long for things to disentegrate in the kitchen, so I peeled myself from the bed to go set things right again. The pancake batter looked fine, but was not holding together well at all. Those boys had a fine mess. I began tweaking and working and trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

This is when I learned my second mistake. When Dale came to ask me about my mis-written recipe, he asked if I had SWITCHED cups and teaspoons with the ingredient below baking powder. In my sleepy state I answered "yes". This is how it was written:

1 1/2 c baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar

The sugar amount was RIGHT, but he thought I switched them and I said 'yes', so those boys put one and  half CUPS of SUGAR in those pancakes. 

They were truly CAKES and didn't need syrup at all!

In the end, everything was edible so it all worked out.

Greg spent a lot of the day rearranging furniture. We decided our original room arrangement needed a little tweaking since moving in, so we've been working on that as we can.

I went shopping with a friend this afternoon. Thrift-store / antique store shopping. It was really nice to get out and look at pretty things and have woman-friend conversation with no kids around. 

After I got home I started some split pea soup and worked on putting out some more Christmas decorations.

After our soup we all settled in for more hot chocolate and another movie. Charlie Brown Christmas this time. This is the one Christmas movie we own, and Daddy found it today it the furniture rearranging. Yay!

And, mark today down as a red-letter day, Miss Brooklyn is in a big girl bed! This is an essential next-step in the potty training process. A girl can't very well get to the potty when she's stuck in a crib, now can she?

As predicted by her mama, daddy, and three big brothers, she is enjoying her new freedom. Not long after tucking everyone in, we could hear little feet thump-thump-thumping and a sweet 2 yr old voice chanting "kangaroo! kangaroo! kangaroo!"

This could be a long evening.....

Love blooms.

My dear husband has been taking advantage of the spring wildflowers lately and has surprised me with a couple of beautiful bouquets.

(And something cool and sweet to sip on one day, too.  Hence the straw in the pic)

Not to be outdone, one of my dear sons decided he needed to show his love for me with something green and growing too.  

Too bad we are fresh out of wildflowers on our little plot of ground.

Hence the tree branch on my kitchen counter.

It's good to be loved. :)

Did you see what I saw?

Before the event we went to almost 10 days ago gets any more stale, I want to show the pictures from the booth that was a favorite for all of us.

I would love the say something poignant and inspiring about brothers and working together and so on and so forth, but the tiniest buffalo brother has spent more time crying than not this evening, so creative writing just ain't gonna happen.  You and I are lucky at this point that coherent is happening.

With that said.... pictures!

Chaps...

Gloves...

Ready...

Pull!

Pull!

Getting closer...

Almost there...

The prize!

Proud of my muscle men. :)

Going all out

We aren't super big into branding and characters around here, although we do have our fair share of it.

Alan has decided lately he is a batman and spiderman fan.

I enjoyed his resourcefulness - and the resulting delight - recently when he managed to gather up a full load of spiderman stuff from around their room:

If I remember correctly, the picture was his idea.  

Who are the characters at your house?

Making a splash

As if 4 kids and a pregnant mama don't make enough of an entrance on their own, we stepped it up an extra notch at church this Sunday.

On Sunday mornings you can always count on a handful of people mingling and visiting in our church foyer as everyone arrives.  This Sunday, this is what they saw as our little herd came through the door:

Dale, usually dressed in slacks and a polo or button-up  had picked out his new and very best outfit for this week.  I didn't know until he was all dressed and looking "sharper than sharp" (his words).  So he came in dressed to the nines:

Alan was bringing a birthday gift for his Sunday School friend.  But he hadn't picked out a little trinket or anything.  No, no...  he got Rachyl a HULA HOOP.  So in walks Alan with a hula hoop as big as he is.

Tyler, inspired by all the gifting had found himself a red Spongebob gift bag while we were all still getting ready at home and loaded it up with... 2 leftover biscuits.  No baggie, no napkin.  Just a couple of naked biscuits.

Brooklyn was looking pretty spiffy herself.  Some of her outfits are dressier than others, and Saturday night I had laid out one of her frillier dresses.  I hadn't noticed the coordinated colors yet, but as everyone was oohing and ahhing over Dale in his suit, he pipes up and says.... "The way Brooklyn and I match we look like a BRIDE AND GROOM!!"

And... hello everyone... we have arrived for church!!

Not back to school blog hop - Student Photo Week

Dale.  My firstborn.  The one with enough energy and enthusiasm for 3 kids.  The one who is often so tender and loving with his two youngest siblings.  The one who was most excited when we said a 5th baby was coming.  The one who has caused me more doubt and challenges than the other three combined.  The one with whom I am falling in love all over again.  He'll turn 9 this week.

Alan.  Our miracle boy.  He's been through four surgeries.  He's living life with a gifted liver.  And I do mean 'living', as he often seems to treasure every moment.  He's a charmer, easily winning over many hearts thus far in his life.  He trusted Jesus as his Savior this summer, and for a person who was already tender and sweet, seeing the transformation to "new creature" has been amazing.  He'll be 6 in November.

Tyler.  My big eyed, don't-let-him-out-of-your-sight, B.O.Y.  He thinks he's every bit as big as his brothers, and he just about is.  He ate more weird found objects in his babyhood than I care to recall.  Ditto for things broken and misused.  The boy is hilarious.  Not a day goes by we don't all crack up at something he says.  He keeps us on our toes, but he makes it worthwhile.  He's 4 months from his 3rd birthday.

Brooklyn.  Our girl.  The bit of pink and softness in a sea of maleness. 

A laughing, crawling, playing baby that everyone here loves to play with, feed, change, and dress.  We're never in want for willing hands and eyes to keep her company for a few minutes, and she enjoys being the recipient of such affection!  She is 11 months old.

Peace in the storm

Not long after tucking the boys into bed last night we heard the first rumbles of thunder.  

Thrilled at the promise of coming rain, I still winced at the timing and hoped the boys were already asleep.

Soon the flashes were brighter and closer, and the rumbles turned into claps.  Sure enough, around the corner peeped a wide-eyed 2 1/2 foot blondie.  With sheet and pillow.  

Greg and I were halfway visiting, halfway watching the Olympics with no volume, so it was easy to bed Tyler down on one end of the couch.

It wasn't long before the other thunderstorm-wary brother appeared.  Skeptical of it actually coming off without poking, kicking, wrestling and tattling, we settled Alan in next to Tyler on the couch while the storm boomed on.

It didn't take long, and only a few reminders to "lay down" and "close your eyes" before we looked over to see this:

Oh, the sweetness of sleeping babies.

This morning in our family devotion time we talked about God caring for us, and I thought about those two peaceful boys.

How often do we do what we think is the "right" thing and run to God when problems arise, but we run to him begging or demanding that he fix it.  "Do something, God!" we cry out.

Our boys came to Mama & Daddy afraid of a storm, but never once did they ask us to make it stop.  They simply rested in the comfort of nothing but our presence.

If only we can learn to follow their lead!  To simply rest in in the comfort of His presence.

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Exodus 33:14

Olympic Dreams?

Dale: What event would you be in if you were going to be in the Olympics, Alan?

Alan: I would be in the diving, but I would skip the diving and just go relax in the hot water.

The Removal of Alan's Tonsils (and related surrounding events)

Seeing as how we needed to be at the hospital at 8am, and needed 3 hours to get there in time comfortably, our day had an early start.

Big city morning traffic was not fun, but we arrived at Children's safely and on time.  Alan and Daddy were able to get in a few minutes of Spongebob before we were called back to reigster.  

 Things moved pretty fast after that.  After getting all the paper work done and a nice little co-pay taken care of we headed upstairs to another waiting room.  After a very short wait there we were escorted to a pre-op area where Alan was weighed and had his vitals checked.  After more paperwork and talking with both the ENT and anesthesiologist Alan was given a big swallow of some happy juice.  We helped him get changed in to his hospital duds and waited for the stuff to take effect.

We never really saw a big change in his speech or behavior, but the medicine did its job, as Alan had absolutely no separation anxiety as we went one direction and he was wheeled away in another by his nurse.


One hour and fifteen minutes later we were reunited with our little buddy in the post-op area.  We saw a big change in him within the hour we spent there as he woke up and his pain meds began to work.


Before we knew it it was time to go.  Alan was wheeled downstairs and Daddy came around with the car.  For the second time since waking up, Alan asked me to take a picture of him without his tonsils:

 We settled in at the Ronald McDonald House down the street to keep an eye on our fresh post-op kiddo.  Who seemed to be feeling fantastic. 

 Alan was still doing pretty good the next morning, although he was coming down from his post-op / RMH high.  We spent a little time exploring the house, which is completely new since we stayed post transplant.

 Alan enjoyed more computer time while Daddy and I cleaned up and packed up.  Cleaning your own room is part of the RMH deal.  Works for us!

 Once back home we settled in for Olympic opening ceremonies!  And of course, what's good for one brother is good for the other 2.  

We're all working together to keep Alan fed, hydrated, and rested.  Fed and hydrated is fairly easy so far, but keeping him still and quiet is another issue all together!  He spent one night and a full day with Mimi and Gramps, which helped on all fronts.  


We are still in the days of popsicles and pudding, but Alan is doing great so far.  We are super thankful for his successful surgery and recovery so far!

Odds and ends from our day on the road

 - Stayed up waaaay past bedtime last night to watch 13 innings (at least our guys won!) of a baseball game that had already been hilariously delayed.

 - Got up waaaay before usual to take Alan to Children's for a checkup.  Super thankful my parents had 2 out of 4 kids for the day!

 - No book, hand-held game system, or box of coolio crayons could compete with bringing your baby sister to your doctor's appointment.  Built in entertainment and show-and-tell!

 - Ah-MAZing to go to a clinic apointment and be done and back on the road before lunch.

 - Speaking of lunch, once out of the city we made a stop to open our new ice chest and assemble some PBJ's.  I love cheap. That's our favorite way to roll!

 - Drove home amid scattered thunderstorms, and sure enough, finally looked ahead and saw the road at the horizon gray and blurry. Drove through 10-15 minutes of POURING rain.  We could hardly see a thing!  And then popped out on the other side into sunshine and blue skies.

 - Until... back at home, just before supper.  We enjoyed a fantastic thunderstorm!  Lots and lots of hard rain, along with near constant lightening and thunder.  We love a good thunderstorm, and this one was a doozy.  Then the lightening cleared off enough ahead of the rain for the boys to run around playing in it. They came in soaking wet and changed into pjs before supper.  Hungry, happy, and glad to all be together again!

One tiny piece of The Greatest Story Ever Told

In the middle of May,

after a couple of months of questions,

a little boy lay in his bed one night,

and all by himself talked to God,

expressing sorrow over, and asking forgiveness for, wrongs done.

He told God he didn't want to sin anymore, 

and asked Him to save him so he would someday live forever with Him in Heaven.

I know these are the things he said, because he told me.

The little boy soon glowed with joy as he shared his decision over and over again with others.

Today, we joyfully shared in the boy's next step of obedience, 

shedding tears of happiness, and rejoicing over a life eternally saved.

Are you written into The Greatest Story Ever Told?  A Savior came and gave his life to pay for the sins of the world: Alan's, mine, yours.  Jesus' gift of life lies waiting for each of us to take.  Have you accepted this gift? 

In which we get medical and slightly technical

1. Thank you all for kind messages and prayers.  They are very encouraging and much appreciated!

2. Our nephew/cousin Logan is home from the hospital and doing much better. 

3. Alan:

The short version is this: Alan woke up Monday morning with a fever of 104.3.  We took him immediately to our pediatrician, where we found out his white blood count was over 24,000.  (Average/normal is 4,000 - 10,000).  From there he was moved to the local er to be treated while waiting on a transfer to our Children's hospital.  The fever responded very well on Monday to iv fluids and an antibiotic injection.

Greg and Alan spent Monday night at Children's.  That evening and much of the day Tuesday involved a lot of tests and a lot of visits from specialists.  

The bottom line seems to be fairly uncomplicated, as far as medical things go.  

 - Alan has had a cold/junky cough (we knew that).

 - He has pink eye.  We suspected that on Saturday / Sunday, and figured it would mean a dr. visit on Monday.  He got it from Tyler, who had a mild case and recovered on his own in just 2-3 days.  We don't know where Tyler got it.  It is viral, as opposed to bacterial, which means no meds to treat it, just let it run its course.

 - Alan has an infection in his ear canal.  More commonly known as: swimmer's ear.  No, we haven't been swimming.  Alan has had mounting issues with his ears in the last couple of months.  Since December, we have had an appointment scheduled with an Ear/Nose/Throat dr for the first week of June.  Things just came to a head (ha! Alan's head!) before we could get there.  We will be keeping that appointment, because...

 - Alan's tonsils are about as big as a kid's can get and will need to come out at some point.  Here again, this is something we were aware of, hence the ENT appointment next month.

To recap: it was the incredibly high fever and the high white count that landed Alan in the hospital. After evaluation we know those were most likely caused by the ear infection.  I think I will always laugh when I look back on this admission: my kid was hospitalized for pink eye and swimmer's ear!

In truth, however, my kid was hospitalized because he has a compromised immune system.  Infections are never a thing to be taken lightly with him, because we can never know for sure how well he will - or will not - be able to fight something off on his own.  Sometimes, a little thing can turn to a big thing way too fast.  

We are thankful for God's blessings and care.  We are thankful for cautious doctors that stay on top of things.  We are thankful for the simplicity of pink eye and swimmer's ear!  We are even thankful for the compromised immune system.  It protects the beautiful gift of life Alan was given on December 30, 2007.  As always, we are thankful for that gift, and the courageous family that gave it.

My little karate kid....

...isn't feeling so well.

My mom's blog has a bit more info on why mine is so quiet.

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Me-thinks we have too many caps.

Can you name that children's book?

This is how Alan appeared from his room this morning, calling the whole way down the hall, "Caps for sale!  Caps for sale!"


He even had his own personal monkey:

Five Year Old Fashion Sense

The Herd was on the move again this afternoon.


As usual, it was time to go and shoes were missing.  Today's directive was socks and tennis shoes for everyone.  Which ended up being everyone except the boy whose tennis shoes were missing.  So he wore flip flops.


Is that just us? It seems inevitable that somebody is going to be missing at least one shoe, if not both.


This weekend the directive was opposite: flip flops for everybody!


And once again, a pair of shoes were missing.  The flip flops, of course.  This time it was Alan.


As the rest of us gathered our stuff and headed for the van, I threw over my shoulder to Alan, "If you can't find flip flops then put on socks and tennis shoes!"


And when he emerged, I couldn't believe what I saw.


Seeing as how it was only a family fun gathering, I hid a smile and let it slide.


Turns out everyone else enjoyed Alan in his old-man socks as much as I did.

What else there to say, really? The boy is comfy in his own skin.  
And socks. :)

Kids Say Funny Stuff...

...even on vacation!

This morning, for no particular reason, I sang, "raindrops keep falling on my head...".  I don't think Dale knows the song, but he jumped right in with a second line (and tune) all his own: "And I say that's better tha-an hail!"  Good point there, buddy.

Yesterday we had a conversation that included the Bible verse from Genesis that says God said "It is not good for man to be alone."  Today, the whole family was supposed to be having rest/nap time, but one by one the boys slipped out of their room.  Finally, with Dale and Tyler playing in the living room and Greg out for a run, Alan appeared next to my bed where I was laying with Brooklyn.  He launched into a typical Alan-rambling run-on sentence that went something like this: 


"We are supposed to be having rest time but Dale left our room and Tyler left our room and even though I was trying to go to sleep I was all by myself in our room so I got up because God says it isn't good for man to be alone."  


I couldn't argue with that one.

Kite-flying from the roof level deck... in pj's!

And finally, yesterday, in the tight quarters of a dining car at the railroad museum, Greg turned around to navigate to another section of the car and lost track of Tyler, who was basically right behind him.  But it was crowded and Tyler does only stand 2.5 feet tall.  "Where is Tyler?" he asked.


Tyler immediately piped up, "Here I am! I found me!"

Today

Five years ago today our 9 week old baby boy was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

Four years ago today he was dismissed from the hospital with a life-saving liver transplant.

Today he sang songs to his baby sister.


Today he goes to his second taekwondo class.


Today he had a picnic lunch in the sunshine.

Five years ago today it felt like our world was falling apart.  So much of it remains perfectly clear in my memory.  The faces, the emotions, the laughter, and the tears.


Today we are different people for the journey God has led us on.  For the people we have met, and the grace we have been given.


Today I am thankful.