Week one is over and it was a little crazy  and a lot of fun. 

Our study this week was Aesop's Fables.  They come up so often in literature that we looked at 8 of them.  Next week we return to our beloved FIAR!

Monday was bonkers.  N was sick and cranky and very needy.  I ended up taking him to the doctor in the afternoon, but it is just a cold.   We have to be very careful about ear infections and he was yanking on his ears and screaming....so off we went.  I'm thankful his ear canals are getting larger.  Our doctor was able to see them completely on Monday.

Tuesday was K's 7th birthday!  It was a very sweet day with lots of little surprises all day long.  He declared it "the best". 

Wednesday was Independence Day!!  We did school in the morning since the church festivities (our annual tradition) didn't start til 5pm.  We worked on the Five in a Row Fold'n Learn on July 4th and spent the morning talking about the Founding Fathers, the Constitutional Convention, and the Declaration of Independence.  We made Lemonade Cookies.  Then off to the church picnic.  The boys had GREAT fun in all of the bouncers.    There was also a little Thomas Train to ride.  They loved their snow cones as well.  We didn't stay for the ice cream (Tom had to work Thursday and is VERY VERY busy there!) or fireworks....but it was a lovely day.

Thursday was a little hard since we were all tired.  I had an early appt. at the doctor.  (I fell in the garage in April and my foot has been hurting since.)  The doctor still feels like it is a slow healing sprain and asked me to wait 5 weeks.  If it doesn't improve, I have another appt.  If it doesn't, I'm going to push a little because we have met our out of pocket for the year and all of our appointments are covered.  I don't want it dragging into 2008 and find us paying for it out of OUR pockets.

Oh, and how can I forget!  K pulled a second tooth yesterday.  That kid has guts!  Tom suggested that he try to pull it and handed him a washcloth.  YANK!  It was out.  The tooth fairy left him 50 cents and he was so proud. 

Friday is a shorter school day.  We often have co-op classes on Fridays at church and today we didn't!  The boys are mostly done and we're all ready to relax.  It looks like Tom will be working a lot this weekend on a big project with a looming deadline.  We are also invited to my parent's house for dinner tomorrow.  We keep hoping to see the big old raccoon that has started eating out of the dog bowl on the back porch.  LOL!

Kate and Jeff Estes own Hands and Hearts in Greenwood, SC.  They have been having a very difficult time lately.  They have 7 precious children.  Their youngest, Noah, is very ill.  They have also had some other serious (and expensive) situations in their family.  See their blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull

Several homeschool publishers have gotten together for a benefit sale to help the family.  They are offering an amazing assortment of digital products for 27 dollars.  ALL (yes ALL) money will go to the Estes family.  Here are the details!  http://www.chirotoons.com/benefit/

Three years ago our youngest son was born with Down syndrome and other related problems.  As we entered the world of special needs I ran across the idea of teaching sign language over and over.

This wasn't a new idea for me.  When I was pregnant I had learned of the benefit of signing with very young children.  We diligently signed with our older boys, but they were very verbal and progressed very quickly to talking.

However, I knew that probably wouldn't be the case this time around.  Thanks to some wonderful friends who also have children with Down syndrome, I found Signing Time (http://www.signingtime.com ) DVDs at the library.  What an exciting way to learn to sign!  Fun songs and cute kids as well as two families with their own stories and experiences to share.

My older boys were 4yo and 6yo when we started watching and learning to sign.  The DVDs were so good that we bought our own!  The boys loved to watch and learned so much!  Then we started signing to our little guy.  It took so long for our little guy to sign back, but just over a year ago he started signing "More".  What joy!  Then he hit age 2yo and the tantrums started.

We had never had many 2yo tantrums with our younger boys, probably because they were so verbal.  So many times it was evident that his inability to talk was the root source of his tantrums.  We kept signing...and now he is signing back!

What joy to know that he wants a "cracker" or "milk" or "cheese" or that he is "all done"!  His tantrums lessened and we are still signing.  He recently learned "read" as he loves to sit and read his books.  He also loves "play" which is done with SUCH enthusiasm that Tom and I refer to it as "Party, Party, Party!" He is also watching the DVDs now and laughs with his gurgling little laugh as he does.

Will we continue to sign?  Most certainly.  His verbal skills are still a tremendous challenge, but through signing he is learning to communicate.  It is also very handy with the older boys when we need to communicate across a room or in church.

I am so thankful for Signing Time!  Thank you Rachel, Emilie, Alex, Leah, Lucy and the rest of their families.

Yes....in less than 12 hours our new school year begins.  Physically we are ready.  Emotionally...I'm not so sure.  We have had a nice week off....but the other 6 were kind of rough.  I'm kind of hoping that school will help balance us out.  LOL!

I need to change the curriculum links on the page.  Our main curriculum--our beloved Five in a Row--will be the core of our program again this year.  E is moving up to Volume 4, though.  We have chosen to keep K in Vol. 1-3.  This will add extra teaching time, but I hope it will also allow each child to bloom a bit on their own.  Volume 4 is very rich, also, and I wouldn't want to water it down for K.

The boys went swimming this evening at the neighbor's house.  They tried to go all day, but small storms kept skirting around us.  Finally, they had 30 minutes in the pool.

The new church year typically starts in August, but this year it will be September.  I think I will like that.  I hate moving K up.  He will be 7 on Tuesday and I'm not ready.  However, HE IS!

He has enjoyed the past few days.  Some presents have come in the mail for him.  We like to let him have one/day so they all get enjoyed.   I remember E's second birthday.  He'd open one gift and we'd have to move to the next--and he was NOT ready.  We also found that the gift pile generally had ONE winner and the rest was kind of discarded.   We really enjoy spreading the gifts out this way.  Yesterday we gave him a Fandex President's guide and he LOVES that thing.  He has really enjoyed looking at it.

Dh's family is vacationing at the NJ shore.  We had hoped to go visit his family in Sept., but our trip last weekend showed us that N is just now ready for a drive like that or a visit.  He is still very much like a toddler and isn't exactly ready to sit and visit or play yet.  That means that one of us must constantly chase him while we travel.  We found it very challenging/exhausting on the short trip and knew that we were not ready.  At home we have a room that is fully baby proofed and that helps so much. 

I've found it frustrating, but I am focusing on how far we have come in 3 years.  Three years ago life was really hard with a new baby with many medical needs that were very overwhelming.  Hopefully we can try the trip next year.  My mother in law was very sweet about it, but she has spent a lot of time with our little tornado and understands.  As for Tom and me, we both have the travel bug and are ready to go places. 

Well, time for bed. See you after school!

For some time I have wanted to mention the button on the page.  Actually....it has been so long that I can't remember if I've already done so.  However, even if this is a repeat....that is fine.

The button is PRAYING FOR ELIANA. Eliana Joy is the 6th child of a precious friend.  Her mom, Leslie, has been a friend for several years.  She was a huge blessing to me with Noah was born.  See, Leslie's best friend, Catherine, has a child with Down syndrome.  Both of these ladies have been such a huge blessing to my life especially since Noah was born.

Eliana was born in December with some very serious heart issues as well as Down syndrome.  Eliana is still struggling with feeding issues and her family continues to need your prayers.

I have another friend who needs prayers too.  Her name is Maggi.  She is a beautiful, spunky, Christian homeschooling mom to 4 sons.  In April she nearly died with meningitis.  She had a double amputation of both legs below the knee.  She is a fighter, though, and was home earlier than anyone expected.  Maggi will have to wait about 6 months before prosthetics.  She also is facing some more surgeries.  Their family has been a beautiful testimony of faith over the past few months.  Please pray for them as they continue to work out the new challenges for their family.