whhhoooooooo * ** ***

cough, cough, choke, cough

Yeah, that's me blowing the dust off my humble little blog. Poor penny...long neglected.

Missed you, whoever is out there still....do I hear an echo? Oh well. No more readers, probably. I'm not even positive if I'll find time to truly revive her. But, I've decided spontaneously to give it a try. Bear with me, push me along, and help me get better, 'kay? Thanks for that vote of confidence!

We're in the midst of our first homeschool year. It is so, so much better than school ever was for Little B. He is thriving, reading like a little professor, soaking up anything he can learn, and loving (almost) every minute. Our hard moments are fewer and futher between. A beautiful thing! His struggles are so much easier to keep in hand and work with. He is halfway through the math curriculum already - so I gave him 2 weeks off; we'll pick it up again on Monday. I have used that time to dig deeper into his Lego Education unit...oh, the joy. School with Legos. It truly doesn't get any better than that. This past week he's written a story about some Secret Agent Lego adventures that he's now revising (those would be the play Lego sets, not the school ones).

Miss C...Oh, Miss C is beginning to thrive in new ways. This summer we began some holistic treatments for her food allergies (NAET). She had reached the ripe number of 12 foods she reacted to, so we were way past time to test the waters here. At the moment, she does not eat the peanuts or milk intentionally (and we plan to wait until she's an adult for that), BUT when she ate them entirely by accident (both were in the same food - leave it at a very hectic week where I blundered in a purchase big time), she never reacted at all! This is my epi-pen girl I stay terrified of rushing to the ER. She is also now able to eat carrots, and we're waiting to hear about honeydew, canteloupe and watermelon. The neatest part is that as we are strengthening her immune system in these treatments, she is beginning to have way more energy, be more bold and outgoing, and blossom like a radiant flower. It's lovely to behold!

Then there is Baby J...going on 2 in a few months, which takes my breath away. So not ready for that. He's added a hefty list of allergies to his little self as well, and we can't afford to treat them yet (my hubby has developed a few of his own...the life we live is...interseting...), but after a year of agony, I have finally got this boy sleeping through the night - by taking out those foods that the allergist said were "too low (on the bloodwork) to really call allergies". Boy howdy, the difference in our lives when the boy sleeps is amazing! I had not slept 6 hours straight in a very, very long time.

Of course, HIS allergies are not at all the same at Miss C's, but my husband and Little B both have some of the same ones that he has...so if you want to know where I've been, I've been trying to figure out what these people I claim as family CAN eat. Dinner anyone?

A new endeavor I have is a book on allergies and what to do when they happen in your family...interesting, large project for a mom with 3 kids and not enough time. But, it's what I know and I do know most of it quite well! And none of the books I have come across really lay it out simply and chase away all the confusion. That is my goal.

Off to chase a few more cobwebs away but I'll return. Really. If you come along for the ride...

don't let the bed bugs bite

We don't use our master bathroom shower. Mostly, this is because it's too stinkin' far from the water heater and it's rare we can get enough hot water to call it a real shower. I like to be red from the heat - that shower has never provided what I need. The hall bath, on the other hand, comes much closer and if we've run a hot load of laundry or the dishwasher recently, I may be lucky enough to get red skinned by the end.

But that's not the point of my post. I tell you about the shower because we have failed to run water in it for a while. That means the p-trap has no water to prevent bugs from coming in (or odors, but then we haven't noticed a problem with either of these things until a few days ago). This week, we suddenly noticed several centipedes in the late evening. Not a pretty creature at 11pm to say the least.

And when you have left your pj pants on the bathroom floor (as in, next to the tub, not in the room with the potty) for a measly five minutes or so, and you then crawl into bed only to find a centipede IN your pajama pants BITING your butt (well, close to your butt, not on it), and it's too dark to see what in tarnation you've grabbed - it's really not a good thing, my friends. You will not go to sleep right away after such an event, either.

Run the water. Daily.
And don't let the bed bugs bite. It doesn't feel good. I know first hand.
I'm also wigged out by the creatures, quite thoroughly.

{{shudder}}

the beginning

So, today we started homeschooling.

Yesterday was the big day of withdrawing him from school and turning in our intent to homeschool. He seemed a bit emotional and cranky and with the huge change I decided to "take a day off" on the first day. ha!

Today went decently well. I don't have official curriculum, so I'm working to cover the topics he's accustomed to in each of the main subjects....reinforcing the math and spelling, etc. For science, I tried a totally different approach - we have the book The Way Things Work by David Macaulay that completely delights Little B...so, I had him choose a topic and write a few sentences on how it works. Later this week, we'll research it online as well as at the library. If applicable he can attempt to build it. He loves to read and will do plenty of that without my prompting, so I'll encourage some history stories and have him talk about it with me. And a friend made him a special writing notebook a while back with a box of "writing prompts" to encourage stories and thoughts on paper...we'll use that as a great tool in the coming weeks as well. As for PE, he's taking Taekwondo three times a week, so it keeps it simple!

Our school system only has 5 weeks left (25 days, starting yesterday), counting this week. I gave myself a few extra weeks to finish our school year when I turned in the form just so we can get a good feel for what works best.

Next year, I will need a good curriculum. I have begun diving into the depths of this new world; I hope I surface with confidence! The options are vast and I want to choose a curriculum that will work well for him. Thankfully, I've got a few friends who homeschool and can offer tips and suggestions.

Miss C started homeschool today as well - she was SO excited that she was ready to start an hour early and did all the sheets I'd printed for most of the week. I do believe I'll need to look further for resources for her. She's hoping to learn to read soon!

Keeping up with Baby J each morning will be my biggest challenge. . .

new adventures lie ahead

I've been AWOL for a while, mostly gone, rarely here. But, a new adventure lies ahead of me. What it holds, I cannot fathom. I think it will decrease the stress for my son and his struggles every day. I think it will give us a modicum of routine that is a bit less intense, allowing us to address and help cope with some more personal issues as they arise.

Little B has had a very, very hard year. He has been struggling desparately with bullies and stress and anxiety and completely unable to cope with anything by half way through the day, if he makes it that far. Suffice it to say, where we are is the culmination of months of agony for him and therefore for us.

I am almost positive I will turn in our Letter of Intent to Homeschool on Monday, perhaps even tomorrow. My life is surely about to take a change. I need to create a schoolroom from the messy bonus room upstairs, find six weeks of school work that is grade-level appropriate for him, and learn the ropes of what and how. Thankfully I am surrounded by homeschooling friends, but it feels a wee bit daunting for me. Yes, there are 6 weeks left, but the very prospect of it lightens his heart so much that the look on his face pushes me forward. I know it's the right thing.

birthday bash

Last weekend my Little B turned eight. Read that: E I G H T. I'm not certain how I missed the last eight years because I swear I haven't taken my eyes off of him for half a second, but he is definitely all of eight years old. (And his glasses make him amazing cute which frightens me just a bit.) This sweet boy of mine is . . . just who God ordered. I'm so glad my Lord doesn't make mistakes. I love my Little B in ways that I never fathomed.

So, a week before his birthday we took him and three buddies to play lazer tag. What a fun way to celebrate! Actually, only dads were present, but I hear it was awesome. Definitely worth a repeat, I believe.

Then, on his real birthday we just had my family over. My mom had to work that evening, so she and my dad visited in the afternoon and had some cake with us, then after they left, my brother came over - he hadn't been sure he could make it - and he had dinner with us. (Life is short, eat dessert first!)

But the real birthday bash came around lunch time, just before my parents arrived - Little B was riding his bike and literally bashed his elbow by running into the parked car we had not yet moved out of his way....oops. He was amazing, though, not crying or screaming or complaining while I cleaned the wound. It was quite large and bloody and gross and required a bit of gauze and tape for a couple of days. No stitches, thank goodness. Now, he has a war story to tell and battle scars to prove it. (I think the car won, though...it didn't get hurt.)

peek-a

At the end of dinner, Baby J and I were the only ones left at the table as he seemed willing to still eat a bit more green beans and chicken. I wasn't going to rush him, and he was chomping away happily - so long as he was allowed to have a fork or spoon, par for the course with him. Suddenly he shot me a sly grin and covered his face, pausing for effect.

"Peek-a!"

Accomplishment wreathed his face as he peered from behind his hands. And then again. And again. I could hardly contain my own delight so adorable was his look and so deep his pleasure at instigating this game and saying the word without help.

We've played "peek-a" many times this morning and Baby J even hid in the cabinet, sat on an oatmeal container, and pulled the door shut, opening it to play his new favorite game.

Oh the joy!

honesty

I feel like I'm pulling a huge, heavy load of treasure through rocky, uncertain terrain. I know we'll get there, and I know it's so incredibly worth it, and so often I can see the valuables glistening in there, but sometimes it's just...hard.

I have to remind myself that overall we've made noticeable progress, frustrating though it is. But I always feel we slide backward through the winter. Three steps forward, two steps backward. It makes a journey feel so long.