OCD is rearing it's ugly head again. I hate it. I hate what it does to my daughter. Around this time of year, every year she begins to have problems. This year we have a move to add to the equation which I know is adding to her stress.
I began seeing signs a week ago and didn't want to believe it was happening, again. Tonight she had a very minor episode that I was quickly able to help her through. Now I'm waiting for the big one. The one that keeps us second guessing ourselves and everything we've ever done. The one that will take days, maybe weeks or even months to get over. We had gone so long with nothing and then, wham! It hits you up the side of the head again.
So much anxiety for such a young person. It makes me so sad to watch her struggle. Her own mind working against her.
I love my sweet daughter and I pray that she will be healed very soon.
I'm just popping in to let you know I'm still here and still deciding what to do with this blog. My primary blogging emphasis right now is at my writing blog www.encoruagingwordsforwriters.blogspot.com . Agree with me that the Lord will give me wisdom about this blog. Thanks!
My lovely friend Suz (who has the most lovely speaking voice and should be paid to talk to people) has some FABULOUS ideas for shaking up school on Fridays. She has graciously started a blog and she posts weekly what she and her kids do.
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Her Fun School Friday blog is worth checking out. I don't know how to subscribe to it or I'd suggest that too. We haven't "officially" started our year yet, but her latest ideas are fabulous (but ha, you'll have to wait to find out what they are!!) So, this week I plan to do FSF just because it looks so good.
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Confession: I'd ignored the first 2 weeks since I wasn't "doing school" yet. That was dumb. Don't be dumb like me.
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And just in case anyone wondered, we have had a rough time of it these last several months. I'd sure appreciate your prayers.
We've been studying Vincent Van Gogh's work the last few months. About a week ago hubby took R grocery shopping and they came home with some sunflowers. Since Van Gogh Sunflowers are one of the prints we're studying, I thought it would be fun for the kids to create their own paintings with our sunflowers.
We read Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt, a story that is based on an actual encounter and real people. It tells the story of Vincent coming to Camille's small town and Camille's family befriending the lonely artist.
After reading the story we broke out the watercolor paper, some pencils and the paints. I turned on some Beethoven and let the kids create. Here are their creations:
A view of my busy artists w/ our wilting sunflowers
Another shot of the artists and flowers
Finished Product
S's age 5
R's age 8
E's age 11
A's age 9
Just one more reason I love having them home, I get to see all this creativity come to fruition. By the time I was R's age, art was a class I dreaded in school. One too many art teacher had let me know that I was not artistic by the age of 8, that I gave up trying because I knew I wasn't good at it. So glad my kids haven't learned that they aren't artistic because they couldn't make their project look like the teachers!
Not to be left out, here's J's creation:
J age 3
And while the girls were quietly drawing and listening to the classical music, here were my boys, having a sword/gun fight out of something they made! You can see S.'s paper on the ground behind him. LOL
S. chose our Carob tree for his study. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to draw it "really well". I told him not to worry and just do the best he could. :) He was also worried because he can't write stories or poems yet (he can't write! LOL). Again, no worries. If there's something in particular he feels like sharing, let me know and he can dictate the prose to me and I will be his scribe. :)
He did a sketch of the tree and then decided to do a bark rubbing.R chose our very sad little orange tree. My sister and bil gave us this tree as a house warming gift. Citrus trees don't like to be transplanted and this poor guy was transplanted a couple of times before finding it's final resting place (and I'm afraid it truly is a "resting" place). It only gets watered from our sprinklers, which isn't nearly enough. You'll also notice the lovely gray guard around the trunk. That's there to keep the weed wacker from hacking away any more of the trunk!
Poor, poor little tree.
For whatever reason, that's the tree she picked so here is her drawing and songs and poems to this poor little tree!
my little orange tree
is so cute and soon it will be
a big orange tree
but now it is a little, o little orange tree.
Little orange tree, little orange tree
you are so very cute
and I know you will make yummy oranges someday.
but right now you are still little, my little orange tree.
I have a little orange tree,
it is so very cute.
In the morning I go to see it
grow little orange.
When I spy
a little orange
I will be so happy
I will jump up in the air and scream so loudly
I will knock the orange right off.
So I love you little orange tree.
This is my orange tree. (note there are illustrations to this story not included ;-) )
It was brought to us by our cousins. It began to die but it has some leaves now. We try to water it but sometimes we forget to. But, I still love it.
The End
A. chose our Lemon Tree to study over the summer. I mentioned our lemon tree the other day, the one that gives us the most incredible juicy lemons. :)
Here she's conducting to the music that's playing instead of drawing. LOL
Our lemon tree
is home to so many birds.
It can hide them from the hawks
and in the storms,
it's leaves protect them
from the rain like God
protects us.