There is still snow on the ground, but it's dissapointing we haven't had enough to build a snowman or do any sledding. It is s-soooo cold. Grandpa is doing well. He's really wanting to come home. I finally got over to the trailor yesterday and started going through some things to get it cleaned up and rearanged. What a mess! We did find some treasures though. A REALLY old set of Audio Bible records still in the original box, how cool is that? Unfortunately they are very small and would take a special turntable to play them. I hope I can get things done by the end of the month. We're hoping to bring him home for a weekend. It would be nice for his birthday, but I'm doubting that, unless I get some help. The weather has kept the helpers away. Also, with the holidays, the mail has been usually slow and I haven't been able to get the paperwork done for the medicade stuff. He did finally ask for something! Envelopes and stamps to write some letters. That was encouraging. Maybe since he's getting fed good and his meds regularly, he can write some coherent letters and actually send them. He had partial letters of meaningless babble in stacks all over his house, part of my cleaning task. It's sad, he thinks he's accomplishing so much and has done nothing but make a huge mess. We're hoping that since he's getting such good care, maybe he'll feel like going camping with us this summer. Right now we just are not planning to bring him home for good. He just doesn't want us to take care of him at all. It's been so nice to not have to worry about him and to be able to enjoy visiting with him, without having to fuss with him several times a day. We're thinking we'll try visiting him around every two weeks and bringing him home for a weekend every month or two (depending on weather and health) and then maybe we can take him on some camping trips. Hopefully that will be enough outings to give him some different scenery without sacrificing anyone's health.
The children are all doing well. We've had such good health this year. It has been so nice. We've had just a touch of allergies and sinus stuff here and there, but nothing major. We're about done with our school for the year. We started last Feb, so I'm feeling very good about our accomplishments. The little'ns are all about done with the present math books and #5 is looking forward to starting math with everyone else. He'll be 5 next month and I'm not too sure he's really ready for a formal course, but we'll try it out and see how he does. #4 is learning to tell time. I need to buy her a watch. I've always bought them a watch when they learn to tell time. She also just started 1st grade reading. She's loving it. I use Rod & Staff for reading. Right now she's loving the workbooks, she really likes to color, so these are right up her alley. I usually only do the workbooks for the first unit or two, they loose interest after that. They are made for classroom busywork and have 6-10 pages per day to do. At first there is a lot of coloring and cutting, but later it gets kinda manotnus. (okay there goes my spelling again...) At that point I work on basics with them, mostly copywork from other things we're doing or spelling words from the words they are having the most problems with in their reading. Once they get to reading pretty good (Ruth Bechick's next level...) then I move them to Learning Language Arts Through Litterature. Actually this year I'm going to tray WBLA. The technique is based on the same ideas as the LLATL, but it uses our Unit Studies as the base instead of me having to search high and low for different books... Time savings is always a real plus. We'll also be working on the same topics for all the children, rather than each one being in a different book. Again, saving me lots of time. I found a really neat looking sister program based on Character Qualities (CQLA) that looks really neat, though it does seem a bit pricey. The web site is called Training for Triumph. I look forward to hearing how families like it.
The older two have just been plugg'n along. The oldest is looking forward to getting her permit, we just haven't got there yet. I was looking forward to it too, but lately I've been getting motion-sickness a lot more than normal, so we'll see how it goes. We're also considering some further education and some away-from-home training. I wish there was more available closer to home... There are so many choices. And of course, it all costs $; travelling, room and board, and tuition.... Yikes!
The second is getting teased mercilously of late. She has decided she wants to eventually take over the family farm (my family). So we have decided (jokingly) to addvertize for a mail-order-husband for her. He needs to have the family name, come from a large Christian homeschooling family and he must have lots of practice braiding hair (since she won't wear her's any other way and can't do it very well herself yet...). We're having fun with it, and she's taking it well. Other than that, she spends as much time as possible out in the cold with her critters.
The baby is spending most of her time climbing up onto places she isn't supposed to be. She's covered in little bumps and bruises and we are constantly trying to rescue her from her latest conquest. She's keeping us VERY busy! |
