Our Week (June 25-June 30, 2012)

  We are still rolling along with school and life, in spite of the fact that Baby Girl is still having issues. We are waiting for more test results, as we don't know at this point whether her problems are due to her special needs, or adoption issues she may be having, or a combination of the two. We just continue to love her through it all and trust that God has a plan for her and for our family. Adoption is truly a journey that has twists and turns and challenges, but it is also full of joy and blessings as well. We definitely appreciate your prayers as we navigate through each day. Thank you!
  One thing that my husband and I do on a regular basis is to spend some one-on-one time with each child. That is so important in any family, but particularly in families that include special needs children. Often the "regular" children can feel neglected due to the fact that the "special" child requires a great deal of attention from Mom and Dad. So we make it a priority to carve out special time for each child. Yesterday it was Bug's and my turn for a "date." We went to lunch, a movie (Madagascar 3, pretty funny by the way), and then went shopping. We had a wonderful time, and it was so nice to be able to focus all of my attention on him. We alternate parent/child each time so that the cycle is Dad/Doodles, Dad/Bug, Mom/Doodles, and Mom/Bug. Baby Girl does not participate yet, as she is not quite at the stage of needing that type of thing yet, plus she gets our attention for the majority of the time on a daily basis.
  We also do things together at home (cheap or even free) as an entire family. This past Thursday night we played "Scene It." It was boys vs. girls...and we girls kicked tail!!! On Friday night we played "Life: Pirates of the Caribbean Edition." I won...big time!!! So, if this homeschooling mom gig doesn't work out, then I can always plunder and raid on the high seas. Saturday night we went outside after dark and played with glow sticks and blew bubbles. We also used Bug's telescope to study the night sky. We went to church this morning, and then Doodles went home with a friend; Bug had two friends come home with him. Hubby rocked Baby Girl to sleep so I could have some time online.
  We are almost done with Sonlight Core D+E, and I can honestly say I've never learned and understood so much about American History as I do now. I highly recommend their curriculum. My children are able to discuss events with such knowledge. Doodles is looking forward to moving to the next Sonlight core, while Bug will be using this unit study based on The Chronicles of Narnia series. He will move back to Sonlight in a couple of years when I feel he's ready for Core F. Plus, as I discussed in a previous post, it's time to separate those two for all subjects.
  We also did more cleaning and organizing this week. I found these great (free!) printable chore charts. I printed them and then placed each sheet in a plastic page protector so that they're reusable. Just mark on the plastic cover with a dry erase marker to check off your work. No nagging, no excused...it's all right there in print!
  Here's a little peek into our week:

Baby Girl enjoys my coffee

Doodles and Bug, truly enjoying each other's company

Gotta love science experiments in which Mom allows you to stand in a chair

Two kids, glow sticks, + bubbles = outside fun at night

Telescope time

Doodles puts a glow stick collar on LuLu...poor dog!