Sunday, March 31, 2013

Homeschooling, Life, and Happy Easter-Mar. 31, 2013

First of all, Happy Easter! We had a nice, laid back day and just enjoyed some time worshiping with our church family today. Bug and Doodles spent last week on vacation with my parents and other family members, so it was just Baby Girl and I home alone every day until hubby got home in the evenings. I tried to do a lot of things with her, and some were successful. Others were not so much! I would definitely say one highlight was having the Passover Seder since Doodles studied the Israelites in last week's history. We had the dinner the night before she left to go on vacation. Here are our highlights:

Passover Seder

Daddy helps Baby Girl with her stacking toy
Baby Girl enjoys the sunshine

More happy times in the sun!

I baked apples in the crockpot. Baby Girl actually helped me stir them, which is a big deal for her!

Soaked carrot seeds....

finally sprouted!

Soaked radish seeds...

saw lots of growth!

Soaked beans...

really began to reach for the sun!

Dry bean seeds...

began to see growth.


Spring verse and flower fairy for Baby Girl (Verse came from A Child's Seasonal Treasury and the image idea came from here.)
Sand and water table fun for Baby Girl. Welcome to spring!
More water fun
Splish and splash!
Back from his vacation and ready to dye eggs.
Dying eggs
Finished products...Baby Girl did not want to dye the eggs. She kept pushing them away. Maybe next year!

Baby Girl was ready to eat the bean plant...LOL









 



Monday, March 25, 2013

A New Haircut for Baby Girl

While it was hard to cut Baby Girl's beautiful long hair, it was for the best. She could not handle having her hair in her face, so we had to put it in a pony tail every day. We think this was making her head sore and contributing to her self-hitting, so we are praying this will help. She does look absolutely adorable with short hair, too!



Friday, March 22, 2013

Homeschooling and Life: March 18-22, 2013

     Well, this week had its ups and downs, without a doubt. It's like my spiritual life (unfortunately) right now: an absolute roller coaster. There are mountain tops, valleys, deserts, trials, defeats, victories...sometimes all in one day. This is where my faith is really being tested, and, thankfully, strengthened. Not that I don't have times of weaknesses...oh, boy, do I! But it's those depths that He comes to me and lifts me up again. So true are the words:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Without His power, I could not continue to face this challenge of parenting a special needs child. Truly, we all need His power to make it through this life, but right now it's so vivid to me in my struggles as a special needs parent. I am learning to lean on Him like never before. I cry out to Him, whether in sadness or anger, and He hears me. I don't understand "why," but I trust "Who." I have started journaling during my quiet time again, which has breathed new life into me. I had been struggling to even have a quiet time, and although quite often my "quiet" time is done when Baby Girl is awake, I have come to the place of yearning for that time again. It is so sweet. I found a book that steered me in the right direction, but I have to say that actually taking my Bible and reading the daily verse(s) from the devotional has been the glue that God is using to  hold me together. That, along with journaling, has strengthened my faith and my resolve to hold tightly to Jesus through it all. Also, He has blessed me with wonderful family and friends. One of my dear friends (unexpectedly) brought dinner to us one night--thank you!!! She also picked up some groceries for me. My mom is taking my older children for a special spring break trip this coming week so they can have some time away from the daily grind around here. In the midst of the hardships, I am blessed. Sometimes I just have to choose to see those blessings.
     Wow, I really didn't mean to post all of that. This was intended to be my regular weekly homeschooling update, but someone needs to read that. And I needed to share it. But now, without further ado, here are the highlights of this week:

Treat of the Week

Picture I sketched for Baby Girl to go with one of her verses this week (see below.) I got this image idea here.

One of Baby Girl's verses from this week

Two free books that Baby Girl received in the mail. This company offers two free books a year to visually impaired children. Plus, their prices are very reasonable. I love this company! On a really exciting note, Baby Girl loves the book Little Feet Love already. That is so wonderful b/c she is starting to enjoy books! I haven't introduced Butterfly Kisses to her yet b/c we have to focus on one book at a time for a long time due to Baby Girl's limited mental ability.

This is for Baby Girl, and I was THRILLED to receive this package from Nova Natural. This is another great company with very reasonable prices.

Baby Girl and Daddy check out Easter eggs. The story behind this picture:
we were headed out to an Easter egg hunt for special needs children that required us to drive for 45 minutes. Well, Baby Girl was NOT doing well at all with the ride. Ten minutes into the drive, she had done nothing but scream, cry, and hit herself. So we decided to come back home. It was best for her. She doesn't even understand what Easter is and she doesn't understand hunting eggs, so in all reality, just chilling out at home and playing with eggs in her own yard was best for her. We are learning as we go how to live this "new normal."

Baby Girl enjoyed checking out the grass in her basket.

Bug had to write similes as part of his Narnia unit study.

Bug composed original songs on the piano.

Doodles wrote an "interview" with Noah.

Doodles learned about plants this week, especiall focusing on seeds, roots, and leaves.

Doodles' plant investigation: weeds from our yard

Cup with soaked radish seeds, results from this week below:

Radish plants

Cup with soaked beans, results below:

Bean plants

Cup with dry beans, results below:

More bean plants

Cup with carrot seeds...they are so very small! Results below:

Not sure how long it will take to see the results of the carrot seeds. Patience required!

Investigating cabbage

Studying a garlic bulb

Doodles used the iPad to learn about mezuzahs. She studied the ancient Israelites this week. She will be making a Passover feast for us tomorrow night. We can't wait! I'll take some pictures and upload them in my next post.

More learning about mezuzahs.

Doodles sketched this from a painting we studied in her art book.

Doodles and Bug wrote letters to friends who moved to another state earlier this month.

 

Self-Care That's Not So Fun

As promised in my previous post, I am now going to talk about self-care that's not so much fun. This kind of self-care involves thin...