Halloween, 2010

This was our first Halloween in the new neighborhood, and it turned out to be a lot of fun!  There were quite a few houses that got really into it with decorations, and many people had friendly greetings for the kids.  Drew, who went as Richard Nixon, got the most attention.  A lot of the adults said he had on the scariest costume they'd seen all night.  LOL

Here are the kids and their friend, Duop.  Doctor went with us, too, but he joined us a little later, so I didn't get any pictures of him.

A Wonderful Thing

My grandma died yesterday.  She's with the Lord now.  That's a wonderful thing.

Guests

I had a friend back Michigan whose kids always knew when they were having company over, because it was the only time their house was ever clean.  I'm not that bad, in that my house is usually pretty clean, but I have to admit that we often save the do-it-yourself/decorating projects until some sort of crisis situation...like house guests.

We're having a couple over tonight.  We went to their house a month or so ago and had a great time, so now we're having them over here.  Besides the regular cleaning and the cooking that's going into this shindig, we also:

• finally bought and put up valances for the living room windows
• replaced the blinds on one of the windows in Baylee's room
• got a pretty floor lamp
• fixed a towel holder thingie in the bathroom
• moved the portraits of the kids over about a foot to the right

I'm thinking we need to have people over more often!  I need motivation to buy curtains for the kitchen.

Reality

My old phone finally bit the dust.  It's been limping along for more than a year now since I sat on it and cracked the display screen, but now it won't charge.  That means time for a new phone.  I'm not one of those people who gets really excited over stuff like that.  To me a new phone is just another thing to have to figure out.  I'm definitely an adult learner, in that I only cram necessary stuff in my head.  In fact, I jokingly tell Mike that I keep myself on a strictly need to know basis.  (And I don't need to know how to work the Direct TV remote.  That's what I have him and the kids for.)

Anyway, so we ordered a new phone and it came today.  It's a Samsung Reality.  It's "city red," which kinda looks like brown in my opinion.  Maybe they took smog into consideration.  There is one kinda cool thing, though.  I hear that when I finally get it all figured out I'll be able to go on Facebook with it.  So, like, next year some time.

My Dream

True story:

I have to read a verse to all the little girls and leaders in Pioneer Girls Club tonight, and then I'm supposed to explain why that particular verse is meaningful to me and our group as a whole.  So with this job hanging over my head, last night I had a dream.

I dreamt that I chose Proverbs 11:22 "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout, so is a beautiful woman without discretion."  I must've had the dream really close to morning, because when I woke up it was still crystal clear in my mind.  I thought, wow, I can't believe I came up with that idea in my sleep!  Now I don't have to worry about it today!

Then I got in the shower and woke up a little more, and realized it might not be such a great choice after all.

The End

Elf of the Evil

Drew and Baylee wrote a song together over the last couple days.  Well, let me back up.  Drew's been writing the music for awhile now.  I've heard him messing with it on and off for weeks.  Then last night he was playing it in his room and Baylee wandered in.  She started singing along, making up lyrics as she went.  Drew told her she was doing a good job and that she should write down what she was singing.  They spent time last night and again this morning working on it, and this is the result.  The band's name is "Elf of the Evil" (I didn't ask.) and the song is called "The Charging iPod".

I know the song is silly, but what I'm genuinely impressed with is that they did this completely by themselves, and the melody isn't the same as the guitar part.

Pumpkin Revisited

Last night when we lit the candles in the pumpkins Drew was really unhappy with how his looked.  Like "I need to bring it back in right now and fix it!" unhappy.  I told him no, but that he could do whatever he wanted to it today.  So he did.

He added a tree on either side of the house, and some tombstones.  Now lots of light can get through.

Regret

There's an interesting question on a homeschool forum I visit.  Basically the question is, "Is it my imagination or are veteran homeschoolers much more relaxed than those of us who are just starting out?"  And the answer she's getting on the board is a resounding "Yes!"

I've thought about that myself many times, about how I'm such a different teacher with Baylee than I was with Zach.  Now, granted, there was the (extremely) stressful issue of Zach's dyslexia going on all through those early years and that had a lot to do with how I handled teaching, but if I'm honest I have to admit I would've been a basket case no matter what.  I picked a $500 program to do with him when he was a kindergartener!  I mean, if that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.  With Baylee I bet I spent $50, if that.  And you know what?  Baylee got a better education.  Here's what Baylee and I did when she was five years old:  Read a Bible storybook (The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes) which I already owned, did a little math lesson, read a book from the library, did a phonics lesson from some old 1950s readers I was given for free by an elderly Catholic nun/schoolteacher, and worked a bit on handwriting.  All of that took about 45 minutes a day.  It wasn't 45 consecutive minutes, either.  It was squeezed in between her brothers' schoolwork.  In a way her education is still like that.  It's easier.  Freer.  And yet I think she's doing wonderfully.

There's no real point to this other than to say if I could do it all over, I'd do it completely differently for Zach.  I regret how uptight I was.  Poor kid.

We Interrupt...

...our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special report:

I went to WW tonight and found out I lost 7.8 pounds this week!!

Pumpkins

Here are a few pictures of today's pumpkin carving venture.  By the way, the song in this montage is sung by the Grand Haven Middle School Honors Choir, with my sister accompanying on the piano.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

autumn

The weather for days now has been rainy and cold.  I love it.  It makes me feel warm and cozy indoors.

Mike took the kids to Central Market to buy pumpkins.  They don't sell them by weight there; instead, every pumpkin is just 3 for $10.  Zach picked out a 48 pounder and Drew's is 52 pounds.  Baylee got a littler one.  We'll carve them sometime this week and probably make caramel apples, too.

Subconsciously

On the way home from grocery shopping today I turned the corner right by our house and there was a guy standing in the road with a football.  I didn't really look too closely, but my mind automatically registered that he was handsome and I shouldn't hit him with the car.  Then I looked harder and realized it was Mike, wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and a ball cap.  He was playing catch with Drew.

Then I smiled 'cause after all these years I still think my husband is handsome, even subconsciously.

Tonight

Disclaimer:  Those who don't want to read about frog dissection and/or cake should skip this post!

This evening we had two big events going on in our home:  Rachel spent (actually "is spending," but then my verb tenses would be all off)  the night and the frog was dissected the rest of the way.  How did that break down in reality?  Like this!

As a fun sleepover activity, the girls made red velvet cake with a mix Rachel's mom donated to the cause.

Mike helped contain the chaos.

Meanwhile, in the dining room, Zach dissected.   At first only Drew watched.

Soon, however, nobody could stay away.  I even helped Zach a little when he got discouraged with how tough the muscle was to remove. Quote 1 of the night comes from me:  "Thank God I didn't buy the kit with the fetal pig."

Quote 2 comes from Drew:  "Hey, it looks like Jesus!"

And quote 3 is from Zach:  "Um...Dad, you might want to wipe off your computer after this."  (Yes, some guts flew.  In fact, there's still a piece of frog breastbone in the carpet somewhere.)

  

Now.  Who wants a piece of red velvet cake?

Proceed at Your Own Risk

I kept meaning to mention, but then kept forgetting, that our neighbor from down the road, Anne (you remember Anne), came by one day last week with a whole batch of homemade cookies as another way to apologize for the dog bite.   She didn't cry this time, though, so we're moving forward!  I know it's terrible, but not long after she left I thought, "You know what would be funny?  If, next time I see her, I jokingly tell her that the cookies were great but they gave us food poisoning." There.  Now you understand the depth of my depravity.  Of course I'd tell her right away that I was kidding.  Of course I'd never do any such thing, but the fact that I even thought it goes to show exactly what you're dealing with when you visit this blog.

Observations

This week I started back on WW full-time.  I tried to start last week, and actually got a couple days in, but I couldn't do it without the accountability of the meetings.  So I went to my first meeting on Monday and started again, and in the past four days have gone through a variety of emotions over it, ranging from relief to irritation to sadness.  I don't even think it's about dieting, per se.  It's more about having to be disciplined in something.  It hurts.  If I was the type of person who didn't keep a clean house, then suddenly one day decided, "You know what?  I'm changing this about myself starting immediately," that would hurt just as much.  I know from experience that soon enough it'll start feeling more normal and natural, and it'll be okay.

Anyway, aside from all that, I've made a couple observations these past few days.  The first is that when you can't eat whatever you want, whenever you want, you become much more picky.  You have a certain amount of points (calories) to spend, and you're not going to spend them on food you don't care about.  Last night as I was drifting off to sleep I dreamily planned out my entire lunch for today, mentally choosing only things that sounded excellent.  LOL  Weird.

The other thing I got to thinking about is exercise.  I want to bike, because that's the one thing I really love, and I want to do organized rides.  But is it wise of me to go from zero to training for the STP without ever doing anything smaller?  Umm...no!  That's like trying to run a marathon before you've ever done a 5K.  So what I'd like to do is get a bunch of small rides, like 30 and 40 milers, under my belt.  I can start with the Chilly Hilly in...I think February?  Or March?  That's far enough out that I have plenty of time to prepare.  Then maybe eventually I can train for a century ride.  The point is, I need to be realistic.

Okay, Last One

I know I've been posting a lot of Drew's drawings today, but to be honest I'm a little shocked at how far he's come in one day.  It's weird.  He sat at his desk in his room for much of the afternoon, drawing, erasing, redrawing, smudging, shading, and studying the instructions in the How To Draw book.  This picture of a man (who looks a little bit like a cross between Captain Kangaroo and Colonel Sanders) is the last thing he did.  It took him awhile, too...probably a couple hours.

One More

Drew drew this today, too.

Misc. Pics

The problem with matching Tupperware:  Getting the beef stew mixed up with the Biology specimens.

Here's Zach tracing Africa.  For this chapter in World Geography he's learning all about that continent, including being able to write the name of every country on a blank map for the test.  (By the time he's done with this course he will have done that for every country in the world, and every state and capital in the U.S.)

Baylee cleaned out her fish bowl today.  She does it all by herself now.  Can you believe that fish is still living?  This has to be record for us.  I mean, we've had fish live this long and longer, but never in a bowl.

Finally, here's Drew with a drawing he did of a moth or something.  He's using How to Draw, which the kids got from Patty awhile back.

Brain Dump

Mike took Zach to an early morning (8AM) dentist appointment.  Zach got a filling and a stern warning to brush his teeth after eating anything sweet, every time.

When Zach got home we sat down and did Algebra, and then he took a World Geography test.  He aced the test.  I'm so proud of him.  These tests are not easy and require A LOT of studying.  In case you're wondering, he's also slowly coming around to not hating Algebra.  I decided to change my attitude about it and hope it trickled down to him.  I started going into every lesson with a goofy, "I like this stuff!  It's sort of like solving riddles!" and slowly he caught a bit of the...well...not excitement exactly, but curiosity.

Drew wrote the final draft of an essay on being who God wants him to be.  Here's one part:

God helps me to not do things I shouldn't.  When I'm tempted I try to focus on the bigger picture of things.  By that I mean I try to focus on the future:  What would happen if I did cave?  For example, I want to rip Baylee's "art work," but I don't because my sister will be upset and I will get in  trouble.

 Wow!  He is Godly!  (*wink*)  

Baylee finished her school day and will be leaving to babysit Conner in a few minutes.  When she gets home we'll do the kid exchange with Nicholas and Grace, then it'll be time for Wednesday evening activities at church.  We've been bringing Rachel with us, and now her brother Doctor is coming, too.

Drew's playing guitar for the songs "In the Light" and "Step by Step" tonight for the junior high praise band.  We've had a few issues with him being in this group.  Nothing major, it's just we're realizing he needs work on playing in a group setting.  Everything he's done up until now has been "I'm a star!"oriented, and now suddenly he needs to be able to hear what's going on around him, stay on beat, and not be a diva (What's the boy version of a diva?  Divo?)  I talked to his guitar teacher for quite awhile yesterday about this and his teacher made me feel a lot better.  He said those are all learned skills.  They don't come naturally to anyone, and he's met adults who didn't have them.  He said he once helped a band of 7 professionals, each on a different instrument, who couldn't play together.  It took them a year to gel.  So, all that to say, he's going to work with Drew on how to play well with others.

Mike and I both have new ministries at church.  Mike's running the sound system once a month, and I was just asked to be a part of a Christmas play put on by the children's department.  I was like, "Yes!!!"  I love stuff like that.

Okay, I think that was a complete brain dump and now I'm empty.  Carry on.

Oh, one more thing.  You should all watch this, because why should I suffer alone?



 

10 More Little Things

• When Florence Henderson danced the Rumba last week on Dancing with the Stars.  I felt like I needed a ritual cleansing after seeing that.  Or better yet a week in the Red Tent, then a cleansing.
• Dog puke
• When people say "Yummm!" on Facebook
• Cobwebs
• When people dressed as mascots (like Chuck E Cheese) want to interact
• Junior high orchestras
• Glasses that become tinted out in the sun
• People who think I should be able to play basketball because I'm tall
• When a candle wick gets buried in wax
• Getting halfway into baking/cooking something, and realizing I don't have all the ingredients
  

Every Bad Word I Know and Some I Made Up

I just went to my first Weight Watcher meeting.  I'm happy to be doing it again, but also REALLY MAD!!!!! at myself, because I'm almost starting completely over.  How could I let this happen???  How????????

I would put the little weight tracker thing back up at the top of my blog again,  but they don't have one of a woman stomping back up the stupid beach with a speech bubble filled with expletives.

Conversation with Zach

Zach:  The dog is doing a good job keeping all the squirrels out of the backyard.  Just look at it back there.  It's lifeless.  It's like Mars.

Me:  You mean Mercury?  Oh wait.  I guess they're all lifeless.

Zach:  Did you just correct me on which planet our backyard looks like?

Me:  ...yes...

Then we both laughed until our stomachs hurt.

10 Little Things

• a cup of coffee in the morning
• thick, warm socks
• when I sneak some of Zach's Axe shampoo and it makes my hair look and feel great, even though Mike said it makes me smell like a guy
• getting personal emails, as opposed to forwards and spam
• seeing streaks of clay and dots of paint on Baylee when she comes out of pottery class
• dental floss
• when I first get on my bike and start pedaling and nothing hurts yet
• watching Coach Jimmy Johnson on Survivor (before he got the boot)...what a nice guy!
• finishing a school day
• when Drew laughs really hard

Sappy

 Tonight Mike and I sat down together and I leaned my head back into his shoulder.  "I feel like quitting," I said.

"Will you?"

I had to think about it for a minute.  "...no.  If I quit every time something irritated me, I'd never get anything accomplished in life."

He laughed.  "We'd spend our entire day sitting on the couch watching TV." 

Then we both laughed and I felt better.  I think that's the very best thing about being married:  Having someone there.  Someone who gets you.  Someone who, when you admit you're mad and embarrassed and want to run away, just listens and likes you anyway.

It kinda reminds me of this Winnie-the-Pooh quote:

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes Piglet?"
"Nothing" said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

A. A. Milne

Anyway, I'm fine.  I'll go back to this particular ministry at church with a smile on my face...cough...in His grace alone.  (Hahaha!)

Dissection

Zach started his frog dissection today!  The first part of the lab introduced the dissection tools, talked about safety, and diagrammed the different parts of the specimen.

Then Zach moved into the family room and put the DVD on the big TV, so he could work at a table while following along with the teacher on the screen. 

Baylee was in the room watching for a few minutes, too, but Zach kicked her out after she named his frog Daisy.

Today Zach completed the mouth portion of the dissection.  Did you know a frog's tongue is attached in the front?

In a few days he'll do the rest of the body.  Meanwhile, Daisy is hanging out in a Ziplock bag in the fridge.

Here's a short video of part of Zach's class today, just to give you an idea of how homeschool Biology works.  I don't know why there's a line moving down the screen of the TV like that, because it's not there when you watch the DVD in real life.

Baylee on Friendship

 

I think her finger is the main character in the video.

Our Science Lesson Today

Alternately titled:  Einstein is Rolling Over in his Grave

Or:  Something Tells Me He Won't be Going into Science as a Career

"Drew, what law did James Joule prove to be true?"

"The First Law of Quantum Mechanics?"

"No, it was the First Law of Thermodynamics."

"Close enough."

Wordless Wednesday

Speaking of My Sister

She just had her baby, which I found out on...ahem...Facebook!  Something is NOT RIGHT when you find out your sister had her baby by reading it in your Facebook news.  I'm just sayin'.  However, I'm willing to forgive based on the fact that my sister and mom are, I'm sure, still fawning over the brand new baby girl.  My brother-in-law, on the other hand, is apparently surfing the web.  LOL!

Edited to add:  My mom called me with the news only about a half hour later.  Here are the stats...

• Cathryn Jane
• 7 pounds, 9 ounces
• 18 inches
• super cute!

Follow Up

By the way, we don't really have any Columbus Day decorations, much less an inflatable snowglobe with the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria inside it.  I was teasing my friend, Melissa.

Speaking of Columbus Day, I went to the Weight Watchers meeting last night and found out it was closed for the holiday.  I'm still going to get back on the wagon, though.  I'll just do it on my own for one week, and then go to a meeting next Monday.

Last night Mike talked to the people who own the dog that bit Drew.  They just live a few houses down on the other side of the street.  When the woman, Anne, found out the bite had left bruising and actually punctured the skin, she got teary-eyed.  Mike was really kind, though, and quick to let her know we're not mad and just want to make sure the dog is current on its immunizations.  It is.  After that was out of the way they had a nice chat.  So, long story short, that's one way to meet your neighbors!  I have to say, except for our horrible experience with the people behind us, we've really liked every person we've met around here.  This is quite a family-oriented area.

Today I'm thankful for my sister, Lindsey.  She's 9 years younger than me, so when we were kids she was always my little buddy.  I'd bring her along when I went to the store (after I learned to drive) and she'd hold my hand in the parking lot by grabbing my pinkie.  Sometimes my brother and I would take her along with us when we did fun stuff.  I have such great memories of the three of us sledding on the sand dunes by Lake Michigan in the winter.  I taught her how to read poetry properly when she was about 7 or 8.  I showed her that not all dogs are scary, and how to approach them in order to find out.  I gave her rides on the handlebars of my bike, until the day we fell over the side of a foot bridge and into a stream.  Now she's married and has two children with one on the way, and she's not my little buddy anymore, she's my friend.  (Well, okay, she's still kinda my little buddy.)  She called me last night and we talked and laughed for a long time, and it got me thinking about how lucky I am to have her.  Sisters are built-in soulmates. 

Sue

PS:  As I was finishing this post, you'll never believe who knocked on the front door.  It was Lindsey!  No, just kidding.  Actually, it was the neighbors with the dog.  They came to apologize to Drew.  It was so awkward, because Anne, the woman, was crying....oh my goodness, I'm feeling hot just thinking about it again...so I gave her a big hug and I don't even know her.  We talked and I reassured them that everything is fine, Anne kept saying, "No, it's not fine!  It never should've happened!  What am I going to do with that dog?" and finally I said, "I just mean that you and I are fine.  It's true you'll have to figure out how to handle the dog, but I want you to know there's no problem between us as neighbors.  We're totally good."  Then we all talked some more and finally they left.  Now I'm left with one question:  Why????  Why is it that the days I decide not to worry about putting make-up on or doing my hair are always the days somebody shows up at the door???

Happy Columbus Day

Today I had my favorite friend, who happens to be a Democrat and is therefore passionate about certain things, going for awhile.  I told her I was taking the day off school to celebrate Columbus Day.  I said we were going to use our free time mainly to put up all our decorations.  Here's how that conversation went:

"Columbus decorations? Really???  You know he wasn't such a great guy and didn't discover much of anything, right???"

"Well, we're just going to put up the three blow-up boats in the front yard."  I went on to describe our inflatable Columbus Day snowglobe.

She stopped believing me after that.

Drew was bitten by a dog yesterday.  Poor guy.  He was out throwing a football around with his friend, Shav, when the dog broke free of its owner (it was being walked at the time), ran over, and attacked.  Drew mentioned it to us, but didn't show us the actual wound until late last night, because he was embarrassed.  Mike is going to talk to the owners today to make sure the dog is up-to-date on its shots, since the bite broke the skin and left bruising. 

Tonight's my first night back at Weight Watchers!  I'm weirdly excited, I guess because I know it'll work as long I continue to attend the meetings.   That reminds me:  There's a woman in that group who lost about 200 pounds...twice.  The second time she told herself that come hell or high water she'd be in that seat at the community center, attending her WW meeting, every single Monday night at 5:30.  She kept her promise to herself and has maintained the weight loss for something like 7 or 8 years now.  I want to be like her.

Life

• Yesterday evening the boys and I were the only ones home, so we decided to have an Iron Man marathon with pizza.  It was fun.  I clapped enthusiastically after the first movie, the boys told me not to, so I clapped after the second one, too.

• This morning I called my mom to see how things are going over there.  My grandma is in her own home and dying now, so my mom is at her bedside most of the time, along with the rest of the family.  The family decided that to keep Grandma here in pain and barely alive is cruel.  They're letting her go.  It's the right thing, but...it's a process.  I feel so much for my mom.  She's amazing, though.  She's strong and capable and sensitive.  My mom told me that a year ago Grandma wrote a beautiful letter to her children and grandchildren, to be read at her funeral.  When I heard that (not the letter, just the fact that she wrote one) I cried and my mom comforted me.  In the back of my mind I was thinking, "What's wrong with me?  I'm like a six year old here.  I should be comforting her." 

• After the phone call I went to the drugstore to get a glasses repair kit, since one of the stems fell off my specs.  I couldn't wear my contacts, because one of them ripped, and I had to be able to see to drive...so...I went out in public wearing glasses with one stem.  What can I say?  Sometimes the nerd in me just breaks free.  Often, actually.

• Awhile ago Zach was calling to Baylee, telling her that lunch was ready, and in response she yelled, "JUST A MINUTE!  I'M IN THE CRAPPER!"  Sigh.  Sometimes she's such a sweet, little princess.  Other times, not so much.

•  Now I'm gonna pick up the house and enjoy the fact that I'm inside and cozy on a cold, rainy day.

Inspiring

This made me get teary.

I HATE failing. A lot.

Ugh.  Okay, I can't do this by myself.  I admit it.  I've decided to go back to Weight Watchers meetings starting Monday.  Even though I could do the program in my sleep, I guess I need those meetings, because it was when I stopped attending that everything started to go badly downhill.  I gained some weight back, stopped riding my bike, and stopped swimming.  I could take or leave swimming, but I really miss my bike.  It's just so mortifying to go back to that same leader, whom I admire, and have to say, "Hey, remember me?"  I'm embarrassed just thinking about it.

PS:  Yes, I suffer from a terrible case of COTUS (Center of the Universe Syndrome).  Why do you ask? 

The Day Can Only Go Up From Here

This morning in the shower I dropped the shampoo bottle, so I crouched down to get it and on the way back up banged my face on the soap holder that sticks out of the wall.  Yes, I said face.  I may be the only person to have ever done that, which is kind of an honor in a way.  As I said "Arrrgh!" and hopped around in pain holding my cheekbone, I somehow managed to bump my foot into the spigot hard enough to wonder for a second if it was bleeding.

I'm just glad I didn't have to shave today.  It might've been gruesome.

Make It Work

When Zach was 12 we found out for sure, through professional testing, what we pretty much knew all along:  that he has Dyslexia.  I use that as a catchall term, though.  What he really has is a learning disability which affects his reading, writing, and processing.  The clinic he went to for a year gave us several coping strategies, and we've come up with several on our own through trial and error.  Here are a few off the top of my head, in no particular order of importance:

• Zach "reads" all the time using books on CD.  He does this for literature assigned as schoolwork, and for his pleasure reading.  For some reason this has greatly improved his own ability to read.  I'm not sure why, but I think it's because he's hearing good books read by good readers for hours at a time.  It's modeling.  Beyond that, it gives him a chance to enjoy books that otherwise might be too tiring for him to plow through.
• I read most of his textbooks to him.  I'd say I read 2/3 and he reads 1/3 of any given assignment.  That way he can keep up.
• When he was in 4th or 5th grade I dropped all formal spelling curricula (which were a joke anyway.  They just didn't work with him.) and spent a year teaching nothing but the Dolch words, which are the 200 (or so) most commonly used words in the English language.
• I taught him to make spell check his best friend.  He bought a spell check app for his iPod Touch and uses it regularly.
• Oh, this is a big one.  HUGE.  When I first realized something was wrong and needed intervention beyond just letting him grow and mature out of it (Zach was 7 years old at that point), I dropped every bit of school we were doing and focused only on phonics, math, and Bible for one year.  Here's the key:  I used Saxon Phonics, putting him back in their 1st grade program.  It worked miracles, raising his reading level several grades.  Saxon Phonics is far and away the best program out there for struggling readers.  In fact, the clinic told me that using it most likely saved Zach from being a more severe case.
• Math facts and accuracy issues have always plagued Zach.  Using Times Tales helped, because it teaches the math facts with stories, instead of just by rote memorization.  Zach doesn't do rote well.  He needs hooks to hang information on.
• Another big thing that helps with math even to this day is to work on a whiteboard.  I (or he) write the problem on the top of the nice, clean space, and then he works it.  There's just something about the unclutteredness of it that puts him in a "Oh, I can do this!" mindset.
• I try as much as possible to give him a quiet environment in which to do school.  Mainly, I've worked with the other two kids over the years to be mostly silent.  Nobody is allowed to talk or play loudly when Zach (or either of the other ones, for that matter) is studying.  This noiseless atmosphere is the opposite of a lot of homeschooling homes, I think.  I get the impression from reading people's blogs that often learning is fun and boisterous, with everyone participating.  Sometimes it is like that here, but for the most part it's not.  Zach would never get anything done under those conditions. (Just a little aside:  I remember one time when he was about 6 and was trying to read aloud to me.  He struggled along, then finally stopped and yelled, "I can't read with all that racket!"  Turns out he was talking about the noise of a sprinkler watering a lawn...across the street.)
• When he was little I used to, as much as possible, make reading fun.  One thing I did was make little treasure hunts for him.  I'd give him a scrap of paper with something like, "Look under the table" on it.  He'd read it and run over to the table where he'd find the next clue.  After several of these he'd find a little prize.  He loved stuff like that.

 Okay, my lunch break is up!  There are things I'm forgetting, I'm sure, but that gives you a good idea of how we've worked with Zach's challenges over the years.

Us

Baylee asked Mike to call the dog to him, I think in order to get Gibby away from her.  He was probably being a pest.  Instead of calling out, "Gibbs!  Come!" like I expected, though, Mike did some sort of weird bird-like whistle.  It was similar to what you hear in an old Disney movie when frontiersmen want to secretly signal each other in the woods.

Me:  Haha!  Who are you?  Daniel Boone?

Him:  What?  It's my special call!  I trained him to come to it!

Me:  Okay, McGoober.

Him: [petting the dog who had come running]  You're just jealous.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today ~ October 5, 2010

Outside my window...it was warm and sunny today.  After school the boys played kickball in the backyard with Doctor, and Baylee rode her bike.

I am thinking...that when someone is failing or dying, you just never know how grief is going to look in individual family members.  Sometimes it looks completely different than you could ever anticipate.

I am thankful for...coffee. 

I am wearing...jeans and a gray Pioneer Girls sweatshirt, even though Pioneer Girls isn't until tomorrow.  It was in my closet...I was chilly...

 

I am going...to allow Baylee to accompany the neighbors to a Catholic church down the road this Saturday, so she can babysit their toddler, Conner, while their newborn is baptized.  She'll play with Conner and read books to him in a room at the back of the sanctuary called the "cry room," which is meant for small children who can't make it through the service.  I'm so proud of Baylee.  She's been babysitting Conner for a couple hours every Wednesday afternoon after she completes her schoolwork, and she takes it quite seriously.  She's a responsible little thing!

I am reading...The Chronicles of Fairacre.  I talked about it here once before.  It's a great book.  Very cozy.

I am hearing...Mike making brownies with Baylee.  He's letting her crack the eggs as we speak.

 
From the learning rooms...today, among other things, Baylee studied pilgrims, Drew took a test on prepositions (and got an A!), and Zach learned about the Lithosphere.

From the kitchen...we had sub sandwiches for supper tonight.

Around the house...Drew hung a Richard Nixon full face mask, which is going to be his Halloween costume, on his bedpost.  How many times will I walk into his room, see the mask out of the corner of my eye, and be freaked out, thinking there's a man sitting at the foot of Drew's bed?  I've done it about five times today alone.

On my mind...earlier today I was thinking that someday I should write a post sharing the things I've learned, mostly through trial and error, about how to teach a student with dyslexia.  For instance, the past few days have been rough for Zach as far as Algebra.  A couple days ago it came to a head and we were about ready to go to war.  This is embarrassing to admit, but we both yelled at each other before he stormed off.  I knew I needed to figure out a different approach, and I did.  And it works!  What's interesting (to me) is that it's kind of an odd solution.  That is, it's probably not the first thing you'd think of. 

One of my favorite things...bubble baths. 

Here is a picture I am sharing...

Drew making a poached egg for his lunch last week

To read the Daybooks of others, click here.

At the Homeschool Resource Center Today...

• I saw a bumper sticker on a minivan in the parking lot.  It said: Got Breast Milk?
• Baylee used the potter's wheel for the first time!  I took this picture as the class was ending and parents were picking up their kids.

•  I filled out paperwork for the boys to drop out of Lego Robotics.  I'm frustrated.  The school told me the class wasn't going to start until October 12, because it needed the computers for the full-time students to take some sort of standardized test.  Fine.  But then I showed up today and said to the woman running the desk in the office, "So Robotics starts next week, right?"  And she said, "Actually, no, we changed that.  It already started.  Didn't you get the email?"  Nope.   Come to find out the school forgot to enter us into their database or something.   I figured it was a sign and decided to not bother having the boys try to catch up at this point.  It's a relief in a way, because we're already so busy.

Destiny

With hair like that, did this guy really have any choice but to become a scientist?

PS: I've been finding these chemistry videos on a really cool website about the Periodic Table. You click on any of the elements and it tells you all about it and usually has a fun, related YouTube video to boot.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

This afternoon I took Drew, Baylee, and Rachel to our local Goodwill to look for a couple cute Halloween decorations for the house, because every year Drew asks me if we could pleeeeeease buy more decorations for Halloween, and every year I think it sounds fun, but then I never do it.    So we went and I found a cute ceramic pumpkin and a little wallhanging (Both of which Drew was totally disgusted with, by the way.  It turns out he was thinking more along the lines of skulls and tombstones.), and then we decided to look for Halloween costumes for the kids.  We got Baylee an adorable clown outfit, and Drew picked out a grim reaper's scythe.  He said he's going to ask Zach  if he can borrow his Richard Nixon mask to pair with it.

When we were almost back home from the store Rachel opened the box the clown costume came in and announced there were two hats in it.  I realized that when I opened the box in the store and pulled the costume out to see if it would fit Baylee, I must've shoved another clown hat I had in my hand in with the costume when I put it all away.  Argh.  I had shoplifted without even realizing it!  Every one of the kids was watching to see what I would do next.  Of course, I said, "Well, we have to turn around and go back.  We didn't pay for that extra hat."

"Are they going to call the police?!  Are we going to jail?!"

"Of course not.  It was a mistake and we're returning what we took."

And we did.  I brought the kids in with me again so they could see how it went down, the woman I spoke to was really nice, and that was that.  It was a good lesson in honesty!

Then we got back out into the parking lot and Baylee told me I should've said, "Oh dear!  My baby must've put that in there when I wasn't looking!"  And she and Rachel laughed their heads off.  Sigh. 

The Scariest Job on Earth

I got this from Craig Macdonald's blog.  He linked it a couple days ago, but he didn't do it justice as far as how scary it truly is.  Let me tell you something.  You couldn't pay me a billion dollars to do this.  In fact, I was completely freaked out just watching it.  I had to keep pausing the video to give myself breaks from the fear.

Haha! Awesome!

How come my chemistry teacher was never this fun???  (Stick with it, because you have GOT to see the Sulfur Hexafluoride demo!)

The Whole House Smelled Like Burnt Tennis Shoes for Several Hours

Yesterday during our lunch break Zach decided, without asking permission, to do an experiment.  He put a whole, raw egg (still in its shell) into the microwave for awhile*, then he took it out, laid it on the counter, and gently tapped it with his finger.  It blew up, covering the countertop,  walls, cupboards, the back of Drew's sweatshirt, the front of Zach's t-shirt, my picture above the sink, and the floor.  


Something tells me I should think about supervising lunch a little better.


*I don't know how long, and when I asked the answer I got was, "Not long enough for it to explode IN the microwave!"  Like that makes it better.