I get a lot of great quotes out of the kids, some more publishable than others. ;) Today's was overheard as Alex and Bianca were sitting at the dining room table coloring. I have no idea what the context was (I'm guessing they were talking about what they were drawing) but all of a sudden I hear Alex pipe up, "Yeah, and baby horses eat baby corn."
To which Bianca replied, "Ewww..." (no idea why; she likes baby corn in stir fry!) and Alex's response, "No, really, they do. They like it."
Showing posts with label Alex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex. Show all posts
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
No puking today
...and his work is done.
I was a very, very mean mama this morning. I do know of a few things that tend to motivate Alex, one of which is playing outside. Because it's been so hot lately we haven't been outside much. So this morning I told the kids they could take the bikes and play out front, which is a huge deal around here. Amazingly enough, Alex managed to get his folder erased within 30 minutes and then started on his work. He did not finish in time to go outside (I had to make the kids come in--they were drenched with sweat and it was getting pretty hot outside before he finished) but he did get to play.
We seem to be making progress on him doing his work diligently slowly but surely. At this point, I'll take any progress at all!
I was a very, very mean mama this morning. I do know of a few things that tend to motivate Alex, one of which is playing outside. Because it's been so hot lately we haven't been outside much. So this morning I told the kids they could take the bikes and play out front, which is a huge deal around here. Amazingly enough, Alex managed to get his folder erased within 30 minutes and then started on his work. He did not finish in time to go outside (I had to make the kids come in--they were drenched with sweat and it was getting pretty hot outside before he finished) but he did get to play.
We seem to be making progress on him doing his work diligently slowly but surely. At this point, I'll take any progress at all!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Alex
Today Alex had 5 papers to do, the same as Tim and one more than each of the girls. Instead of doing his work, he chose to scribble all over his folder. This is something he has done in the past and I have asked him to stop, so when he was doing it today I told him he could now erase his whole folder. He spent so much time crying and whining over it he made himself sick--literally.
After the third time he threw up (with no fever) I sent him to bed for the rest of the day.
He is by far my biggest pain in the rear when it comes to doing work. He can do everything he's being given, and if there's a chance he can't do it or I think it's something we need to reinforce, I sit down with him and we go through it and do several examples. And then he still sits and whines about it instead of doing it. But find some kind of motivation and all of a sudden his work gets done. He just doesn't seem to be motivated by much--and believe me I've tried.
The other day he was whining about a fill-in-the-blank paper, and I finally looked at him and said, "Alex, they can't make it any easier for you. All of the answers are in the box at the top of the page." But instead of filling in the blanks, he spent an hour whining about doing it at all. I spend a lot of time rolling my eyes (I try to keep it out of sight of the kids, but I'm sure I don't always succeed. ;)). I have heard of other kids doing this--sometimes for years!--so I'm hopeful that at some point he will just decide it's easier to do his work than to whine.
But we're certainly not there yet!
After the third time he threw up (with no fever) I sent him to bed for the rest of the day.
He is by far my biggest pain in the rear when it comes to doing work. He can do everything he's being given, and if there's a chance he can't do it or I think it's something we need to reinforce, I sit down with him and we go through it and do several examples. And then he still sits and whines about it instead of doing it. But find some kind of motivation and all of a sudden his work gets done. He just doesn't seem to be motivated by much--and believe me I've tried.
The other day he was whining about a fill-in-the-blank paper, and I finally looked at him and said, "Alex, they can't make it any easier for you. All of the answers are in the box at the top of the page." But instead of filling in the blanks, he spent an hour whining about doing it at all. I spend a lot of time rolling my eyes (I try to keep it out of sight of the kids, but I'm sure I don't always succeed. ;)). I have heard of other kids doing this--sometimes for years!--so I'm hopeful that at some point he will just decide it's easier to do his work than to whine.
But we're certainly not there yet!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Spam
So apparently if you don't post for awhile, some kind of spambots take notice and start trying to spam your blog. I'm getting multiple spam comments a day.
I think it's a hint. :)
Without further ado, a brief update:
Hives: We had our first incident of hives. Although none of our kids have ever had hives, I recognized them pretty quickly. A sudden case of big red splotches seemed pretty clear cut. The problem was figuring out the cause. We had gone to the zoo over the weekend for Mark's work picnic, but we hadn't done anything unusual and the food was hot dogs and burgers, so nothing odd there. But nevertheless, Sunday night Emily was covered in splotches. I gave her some Benadryl and she was good in the morning, but then Tuesday afternoon they popped up again. After some Googling and a call to the pediatric nurse, we just kept giving her Benadryl. But no one had said how long to give it to her, so I gave it to her for 24 hours then stopped. Thursday afternoon she looked like this again:
After three more days of continual Benadryl, the hives seem to be cleared up. Still no exact idea as to what caused them, but we did pet the stingrays at the zoo and got splashed (dripping wet) by one of them, so it might have been something in the water. However, the kids and I went again this past Wednesday and she didn't have any problems, so...???
A birthday: Alex is 9! He had a great birthday and we've been talking a lot about being 9 and what that means for him. I think he's excited to be growing up. :)
Circus Flora: The kids LOVED the circus. I really hope we can make this an annual tradition. The newest girls were just in awe of everything they saw. I think the kids liked the dog act the best, but I really liked the jugglers.
I have pictures of Alex's birthday and the circus, but since I've already waited a week to post this hoping I could get to the other computer and add the pictures, I'm just posting without them!
I think it's a hint. :)
Without further ado, a brief update:
Hives: We had our first incident of hives. Although none of our kids have ever had hives, I recognized them pretty quickly. A sudden case of big red splotches seemed pretty clear cut. The problem was figuring out the cause. We had gone to the zoo over the weekend for Mark's work picnic, but we hadn't done anything unusual and the food was hot dogs and burgers, so nothing odd there. But nevertheless, Sunday night Emily was covered in splotches. I gave her some Benadryl and she was good in the morning, but then Tuesday afternoon they popped up again. After some Googling and a call to the pediatric nurse, we just kept giving her Benadryl. But no one had said how long to give it to her, so I gave it to her for 24 hours then stopped. Thursday afternoon she looked like this again:
After three more days of continual Benadryl, the hives seem to be cleared up. Still no exact idea as to what caused them, but we did pet the stingrays at the zoo and got splashed (dripping wet) by one of them, so it might have been something in the water. However, the kids and I went again this past Wednesday and she didn't have any problems, so...???
A birthday: Alex is 9! He had a great birthday and we've been talking a lot about being 9 and what that means for him. I think he's excited to be growing up. :)
Circus Flora: The kids LOVED the circus. I really hope we can make this an annual tradition. The newest girls were just in awe of everything they saw. I think the kids liked the dog act the best, but I really liked the jugglers.
I have pictures of Alex's birthday and the circus, but since I've already waited a week to post this hoping I could get to the other computer and add the pictures, I'm just posting without them!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
It's rough being 8
"Moooommmm, I need help with my homework."
"Alex, I'm not going to give you the answers. Everything you need to do those questions is on your paper."
"But it's not here..." (pointing to one section)
"No, it's not."
"You mean I have to think all by myself??"
"Yes, you have to think. That's what happens when you're eight years old."
"Alex, I'm not going to give you the answers. Everything you need to do those questions is on your paper."
"But it's not here..." (pointing to one section)
"No, it's not."
"You mean I have to think all by myself??"
"Yes, you have to think. That's what happens when you're eight years old."
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Some explanations
I think there might be a little confusion out there about the current state of our family, plus there may be a few of you who are just joining in from this last adoption so I thought a detailed explanation of "us" might be in order.
Mark--sole breadwinner and highly esteemed physical therapist, house rehabber (rebuilder!), and worm digger
Courtney--highly educated (not the same thing as qualified, FYI) stay-at-home mom as of this past Monday, former maker of medicines, now dispenser of more band-aids than can be counted
Alex--8 years old and going on 40, loves history, has issues with anxiety especially with schedule changes
Tim--7 years old, loves to tell jokes and do "magic" tricks, keeps me laughing when he's not driving me crazy with his antics
Danielle--7 years old, thinks she's a princess, prefers not to do any work (princesses don't have to do work, do they?) and is definitely going to want the largest share of the mirror as she gets older
Bianca--6 years old, new to the family in March 2011, loves language and almost knows the alphabet song (there are lots of C's in her version)
Emily--5 years old, thinks she's cute (and will tell you!), never ever EVER stops talking
Julia--5 years old, new to the family in March 2011, has an infectious giggle and a monster pout
Those of you who've seen us out and about during the week have probably also seen another little girl with us. That's R. She's 18 months old and the daughter of one of Mark's co-workers. We babysit her during the day. We did not adopt another child right after Bianca and Julia. :)
As you can imagine, things at our house are a little chaotic. Right now during the day it's usually just Bianca, Julia and R, but on days like today and tomorrow when the other kids are out of school I have all 7 at home. I've found divide-and-conquer to be an effective strategy. As in, send two to play in one room, two upstairs, etc. ;)
In the stay-at-home realm, I am still LOVING IT. I am so much more relaxed than when I was working (that should say something since I have 7 kids at home!). I love that I can do all of our meal preps during the day. I am slowly tackling various projects around the house to try to better organize and streamline our lives.
Mark--sole breadwinner and highly esteemed physical therapist, house rehabber (rebuilder!), and worm digger
Courtney--highly educated (not the same thing as qualified, FYI) stay-at-home mom as of this past Monday, former maker of medicines, now dispenser of more band-aids than can be counted
Alex--8 years old and going on 40, loves history, has issues with anxiety especially with schedule changes
Tim--7 years old, loves to tell jokes and do "magic" tricks, keeps me laughing when he's not driving me crazy with his antics
Danielle--7 years old, thinks she's a princess, prefers not to do any work (princesses don't have to do work, do they?) and is definitely going to want the largest share of the mirror as she gets older
Bianca--6 years old, new to the family in March 2011, loves language and almost knows the alphabet song (there are lots of C's in her version)
Emily--5 years old, thinks she's cute (and will tell you!), never ever EVER stops talking
Julia--5 years old, new to the family in March 2011, has an infectious giggle and a monster pout
Those of you who've seen us out and about during the week have probably also seen another little girl with us. That's R. She's 18 months old and the daughter of one of Mark's co-workers. We babysit her during the day. We did not adopt another child right after Bianca and Julia. :)
As you can imagine, things at our house are a little chaotic. Right now during the day it's usually just Bianca, Julia and R, but on days like today and tomorrow when the other kids are out of school I have all 7 at home. I've found divide-and-conquer to be an effective strategy. As in, send two to play in one room, two upstairs, etc. ;)
In the stay-at-home realm, I am still LOVING IT. I am so much more relaxed than when I was working (that should say something since I have 7 kids at home!). I love that I can do all of our meal preps during the day. I am slowly tackling various projects around the house to try to better organize and streamline our lives.
Friday, March 25, 2011
A question
"Why do you love me, Mama?"
Asked not in simple curiousity, but out of desperation, and a true lack of understanding as to why someone could...would...love him. After all, everyone else had abandoned him.
Those who said they loved...left.
And he is left struggling to understand how it is that someone who didn't know him, now loves him.
How do I answer that question?
To some extent I understand. I have dealt with feelings of loss and abandonment for most of my life. They threatened the early years of our marriage as I could not shake the feeling that Mark would leave. Recent events in my family once again caused me to question how and why love is.
I don't know, Alex. I don't know why I love you. I don't know why others didn't love you, or why they did things that made you think they don't love you.
But here and now, I love you. You are my son. And I will choose to love you for the rest of my life.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
I love ESL
"Mama, I know how to spell Santa Claus!"
"S-A-N-T-A....C-L-O-T-H-E-S."
Lots of giggling ensued from Mama, who was really trying hard to hold it together. He did get praised for spelling Santa right, as well as clothes!
"S-A-N-T-A....C-L-O-T-H-E-S."
Lots of giggling ensued from Mama, who was really trying hard to hold it together. He did get praised for spelling Santa right, as well as clothes!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Alex
Alex has had the most struggles with the beginning of the school year. A lot of the reason I wasn't posting was because of that--we were trying different things and I was hesitant to post until we had figured out what was going on.
We still haven't figured things out. :) :)
At the beginning of the school year, Alex started having "emergency" bathroom runs during school. And then he started having accidents at school. It has taken a lot of guessing and trying and...well, everything, to determine that this is not physical or a medical condition. Once we figured that out and implemented some controls at home (i.e., giving him the choice to pee in his pants or the toilet, but him also having to deal with the natural consequences of that--thanks, Diana!) all of a sudden all of the accidents at home went away. His teacher has not been willing to let him deal with the natural consequences so he is still doing emergency bathroom runs at school. But interestingly enough, only at about 3 pm, so just in case she doesn't let him go and he decides to push her on it, he only has to sit in wet pants for 15 minutes.
Smart boy.
So we've had a lot to get a handle on with Alex. I'm not sure why this popped up all of a sudden (and I do mean all of a sudden) but such is life. Other than that, Alex is doing well at school. His biggest struggles are in math but he is one of the top readers in his class and he LOVES to read. We're working a lot on his reading comprehension but a lot of that is starting to click as well. He is still excellent at spelling. It's been fun for me trying to figure out how to help the boys learn things because they learn so differently. Alex is a visual learner so when he is learning the states (all 50 of them) we write the names on the states--it doesn't work for him to write a number that corresponds to a list, or to do a puzzle of the states, etc. But for Tim (who as I mentioned CANNOT spell) he needs things hands-on, so I have been cutting up his spelling words and he has to put them in the correct order. His grade on his spelling test last week doubled after doing that (and it was still a really bad grade--that's how bad of a speller he is! LOL).
In other news, Alex has started counseling with a fantastic therapist. She actually has a couple of years experience counseling orphans in South Africa, so she understands more about Alex's background and some of the grief issues he deals with. Alex is doing great, and he's adjusting well, but we still feel like he has some trust and bonding issues related to the many changes that happened over the course of a couple of years in his life. We want to give him whatever help we can to become a whole, happy little boy and he LOVES going to see his counselor E. She's seeing a lot of the same anxiety as we do (stress over schedule changes, etc.) and I'm really hopeful she'll be able to help Alex learn some good coping skills for that.
We still haven't figured things out. :) :)
At the beginning of the school year, Alex started having "emergency" bathroom runs during school. And then he started having accidents at school. It has taken a lot of guessing and trying and...well, everything, to determine that this is not physical or a medical condition. Once we figured that out and implemented some controls at home (i.e., giving him the choice to pee in his pants or the toilet, but him also having to deal with the natural consequences of that--thanks, Diana!) all of a sudden all of the accidents at home went away. His teacher has not been willing to let him deal with the natural consequences so he is still doing emergency bathroom runs at school. But interestingly enough, only at about 3 pm, so just in case she doesn't let him go and he decides to push her on it, he only has to sit in wet pants for 15 minutes.
Smart boy.
So we've had a lot to get a handle on with Alex. I'm not sure why this popped up all of a sudden (and I do mean all of a sudden) but such is life. Other than that, Alex is doing well at school. His biggest struggles are in math but he is one of the top readers in his class and he LOVES to read. We're working a lot on his reading comprehension but a lot of that is starting to click as well. He is still excellent at spelling. It's been fun for me trying to figure out how to help the boys learn things because they learn so differently. Alex is a visual learner so when he is learning the states (all 50 of them) we write the names on the states--it doesn't work for him to write a number that corresponds to a list, or to do a puzzle of the states, etc. But for Tim (who as I mentioned CANNOT spell) he needs things hands-on, so I have been cutting up his spelling words and he has to put them in the correct order. His grade on his spelling test last week doubled after doing that (and it was still a really bad grade--that's how bad of a speller he is! LOL).
In other news, Alex has started counseling with a fantastic therapist. She actually has a couple of years experience counseling orphans in South Africa, so she understands more about Alex's background and some of the grief issues he deals with. Alex is doing great, and he's adjusting well, but we still feel like he has some trust and bonding issues related to the many changes that happened over the course of a couple of years in his life. We want to give him whatever help we can to become a whole, happy little boy and he LOVES going to see his counselor E. She's seeing a lot of the same anxiety as we do (stress over schedule changes, etc.) and I'm really hopeful she'll be able to help Alex learn some good coping skills for that.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Loving school
My kids are keeping me rolling with their school antics. I have a really hard time trying to be a stern disciplinarian when I really want to laugh.
Emily did a much better job yesterday listening and obeying at school. The only thing she got in trouble for was putting her ziploc bag (gallon size) over her head, and then laughing about it when she was told to stop because it could hurt her. She is a total ham. If I had to guess, she was trying to wear it as a hat but her head is so small it fell down over her face. ;)
Danielle had a small episode of lying yesterday. That's been a prevalent problem for her over very little things and we definitely want to nip that in the bud. Other than that she seems to be an angel at school and enjoyed learning about "cabibull I" yesterday.
Tim's favorite subject is still P.E., and I think it will be for his whole academic life. He was excited that they got to use their little chalkboards yesterday and work on vowels. What are vowels, Tim? "E...A...O..." And from the background pipes up Alex, "A E I O U." Really?? Where did that come from? He didn't know that at the end of last year!
I mentioned that Alex had been trying to control his teacher but didn't give any specifics. Apparently every day since school started he has asked to go to the bathroom numerous times. On Monday which his teacher mentioned this to me, I said there wasn't any reason for him to go outside of scheduled times, and when it happened again on Tuesday I told Alex (in front of his teacher) that he was only going to be allowed to go to the bathroom with his class--no other times. Yesterday afternoon he asked to go and when she wouldn't let him he pestered her for a while and then, miraculously, he made it to the end of school just fine without going to the bathroom (there is a change of clothes in his backpack just in case). So I'm guessing this new behavior should settle down pretty quickly once he's really not allowed to go.
Before anyone has concerns about underlying medical problems that might cause Alex to actually need to go, let me just say this is not the first time we have experienced this. He goes to the bathroom with the class but tries to be the first one done and doesn't actually pee (or not very much) and then needs to go again 10 minutes later. This has happened with us at home and out and about as well, so we know what's going on here and don't suspect any physical cause for his behavior. :)
Emily did a much better job yesterday listening and obeying at school. The only thing she got in trouble for was putting her ziploc bag (gallon size) over her head, and then laughing about it when she was told to stop because it could hurt her. She is a total ham. If I had to guess, she was trying to wear it as a hat but her head is so small it fell down over her face. ;)
Danielle had a small episode of lying yesterday. That's been a prevalent problem for her over very little things and we definitely want to nip that in the bud. Other than that she seems to be an angel at school and enjoyed learning about "cabibull I" yesterday.
Tim's favorite subject is still P.E., and I think it will be for his whole academic life. He was excited that they got to use their little chalkboards yesterday and work on vowels. What are vowels, Tim? "E...A...O..." And from the background pipes up Alex, "A E I O U." Really?? Where did that come from? He didn't know that at the end of last year!
I mentioned that Alex had been trying to control his teacher but didn't give any specifics. Apparently every day since school started he has asked to go to the bathroom numerous times. On Monday which his teacher mentioned this to me, I said there wasn't any reason for him to go outside of scheduled times, and when it happened again on Tuesday I told Alex (in front of his teacher) that he was only going to be allowed to go to the bathroom with his class--no other times. Yesterday afternoon he asked to go and when she wouldn't let him he pestered her for a while and then, miraculously, he made it to the end of school just fine without going to the bathroom (there is a change of clothes in his backpack just in case). So I'm guessing this new behavior should settle down pretty quickly once he's really not allowed to go.
Before anyone has concerns about underlying medical problems that might cause Alex to actually need to go, let me just say this is not the first time we have experienced this. He goes to the bathroom with the class but tries to be the first one done and doesn't actually pee (or not very much) and then needs to go again 10 minutes later. This has happened with us at home and out and about as well, so we know what's going on here and don't suspect any physical cause for his behavior. :)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
First days
School has started, albeit sporadically. :)
The boys started in 2nd and 1st grade and had full days of school last Thursday and Friday. The girls (both in kindergarten) had orientation on Thursday and a half day on Friday, so I really consider Monday their first day of school.
So far, we're not seeing anything unexpected. And yeah, that last sentence just made me laugh out loud. :)
Alex is working on control (of his teacher, not himself) and we've given her some thoughts on dealing with that. Nothing major, but stuff he knows better about and just has to test at the beginning of school. Monday he came home with his memory Bible verse for the week and he's already recited it to me (from memory) two days in a row. Tim is a little freaked out about 1st grade as he's realizing he was pretty much allowed to coast through kindergarten and now he's actually going to have to work. I really like his teacher and she'll be great for him. Danielle's behavior has actually been way better than I expected (or her teacher is holding out on us). She's loving being in kindergarten. Emily is pushing every button she can trying to figure out this kindergarten thing. She's being pretty defiant and if it keeps up we'll have no choice but to put her back into preschool. Thankfully she's not acting out at all, just not doing what she's asked to do. As in her teacher says tells her table to stand up and she sits there and looks at her while everyone else gets up. :) Her teacher has 16 kids and I'm not going to prevent them from having a good kindergarten year just because our daughter is causing problems. We'll see if she can manage to settle down. She really wants to be in the big school, not the preschool, so we're using that as leverage.
Danielle's first few days of ankle therapy have gone well. She goes on Monday mornings before school and then Tuesday and Friday after school. Coupled with Emily's speech on Thursdays after school and we've managed to pack a lot into the week. Thankfully, Danielle's therapy is in a place that is quiet with no one else around so the boys can get their homework done there (and Emily if she has any). The ankle therapy is only about 45 minutes so we can still be home by 5 and have dinner by 5:30 (if I've planned ahead ;)).
So far so good. By the end of this week I think we'll be pretty well settled into the new routine. One day at a time!
The boys started in 2nd and 1st grade and had full days of school last Thursday and Friday. The girls (both in kindergarten) had orientation on Thursday and a half day on Friday, so I really consider Monday their first day of school.
So far, we're not seeing anything unexpected. And yeah, that last sentence just made me laugh out loud. :)
Alex is working on control (of his teacher, not himself) and we've given her some thoughts on dealing with that. Nothing major, but stuff he knows better about and just has to test at the beginning of school. Monday he came home with his memory Bible verse for the week and he's already recited it to me (from memory) two days in a row. Tim is a little freaked out about 1st grade as he's realizing he was pretty much allowed to coast through kindergarten and now he's actually going to have to work. I really like his teacher and she'll be great for him. Danielle's behavior has actually been way better than I expected (or her teacher is holding out on us). She's loving being in kindergarten. Emily is pushing every button she can trying to figure out this kindergarten thing. She's being pretty defiant and if it keeps up we'll have no choice but to put her back into preschool. Thankfully she's not acting out at all, just not doing what she's asked to do. As in her teacher says tells her table to stand up and she sits there and looks at her while everyone else gets up. :) Her teacher has 16 kids and I'm not going to prevent them from having a good kindergarten year just because our daughter is causing problems. We'll see if she can manage to settle down. She really wants to be in the big school, not the preschool, so we're using that as leverage.
Danielle's first few days of ankle therapy have gone well. She goes on Monday mornings before school and then Tuesday and Friday after school. Coupled with Emily's speech on Thursdays after school and we've managed to pack a lot into the week. Thankfully, Danielle's therapy is in a place that is quiet with no one else around so the boys can get their homework done there (and Emily if she has any). The ankle therapy is only about 45 minutes so we can still be home by 5 and have dinner by 5:30 (if I've planned ahead ;)).
So far so good. By the end of this week I think we'll be pretty well settled into the new routine. One day at a time!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The dentist
Yesterday all four kids went to the dentist which they love. They did a great job obeying me and then also did well for the dentist. Lots of clean teeth, no plaque on any teeth(!), and healthy gums, so that was definitely good news!
Alex got to share that he had lost another tooth (last week) which is his fifth tooth to lose. Tim is still patiently waiting for any of his teeth to fall out. :) Tim's teeth still show some of the black iron staining when they grow out. You can see it right at the base of his teeth (close to the gum) although it's much less noticeable than it used to be. Supposedly his permanent teeth won't have it at all which would be really nice for his sake as he gets older.
Alex got to share that he had lost another tooth (last week) which is his fifth tooth to lose. Tim is still patiently waiting for any of his teeth to fall out. :) Tim's teeth still show some of the black iron staining when they grow out. You can see it right at the base of his teeth (close to the gum) although it's much less noticeable than it used to be. Supposedly his permanent teeth won't have it at all which would be really nice for his sake as he gets older.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Umm, it's August??
Yes, August is getting away from me. School registration, school supply shopping, frantically trying to figure out what we were doing with the boys for the week and a half before school started (but after summer camp ended)...August is rather taking my breath away. And it's not half over yet. ;)
So what have we been up to?
The boys are in extended summer camp. A few other parents and myself were able to convince them that they needed to offer something during the week and a half before school started, since most of us don't have enough vacation to cover that time plus all of the school holidays. They're basically doing the same things they were before, except no cooking in hot oil and no bus field trips. ;) The boys have picked up the words "dude" and "duh" at summer camp. So I get sentences like this:
"Dude, I have piece of paper?" and "Wow, that's a cool red truck duh."
Can I just say that it's hilarious to hear slang coming out of Alex's mouth mixed in with the speech apraxia, and I find it hysterical that Tim uses the word "duh" (if you can call that a word) but has no idea it's supposed to be sarcastic so he just tacks it on at the end of sentences.
Emily and Danielle are both super-excited for school to start. It's a daily conversation regarding going "upstairs", since the school and their classrooms are on the floor above their preschool classes. Danielle knows most of her letters and numbers to 10 now, although we're still working on it nearly every day after school. Emily's birthday is coming up soon--she'll be 5!--and we're getting her...
...wait for it...
...a vacuum!
Yes, a real working vacuum. She is going to be over-the-moon with her own working vacuum, and I'm thinking my house may be cleaner than I'll know what to do with. ;) It's a small stick vacuum with a telescoping handle, but if it doesn't telescope enough we can remove the handle and she can use it as a hand vacuum. I know it sounds like a bit of a sexist present, but all of my kids love to clean and I anticipate some fighting over Emily's present. A few days ago Alex asked me if, after he came home from summer camp the next afternoon, he could "sweep up the dog hair, and then get the bucket and cloth, and clean the bathroom floor?" And Tim was so excited about it that he wanted to help too. To which I replied that maybe they could each do a bathroom so they could each have one to themselves, and they thought that was a great idea.
No, I am NOT joking. My kids love to clean and I'm going to let them think it's a fun way to play for as long as I can get away with it!
For me, clearly I haven't been cleaning. ;) I did can 12 jars of peaches (I could have canned a few more but it was 11:30 at night and I wanted to go to bed, so I made a peach cobbler from the leftovers the next day). Mark has been busy keeping track of the contractors for the other house (that's a whole other post!) and we're getting close to being done with the systems (HVAC, electrical, and plumbing) and should have functioning air conditioning by the end of the week. I'm sure it will be in just in time to break the heat advisory we're under here. ;)
So what have we been up to?
The boys are in extended summer camp. A few other parents and myself were able to convince them that they needed to offer something during the week and a half before school started, since most of us don't have enough vacation to cover that time plus all of the school holidays. They're basically doing the same things they were before, except no cooking in hot oil and no bus field trips. ;) The boys have picked up the words "dude" and "duh" at summer camp. So I get sentences like this:
"Dude, I have piece of paper?" and "Wow, that's a cool red truck duh."
Can I just say that it's hilarious to hear slang coming out of Alex's mouth mixed in with the speech apraxia, and I find it hysterical that Tim uses the word "duh" (if you can call that a word) but has no idea it's supposed to be sarcastic so he just tacks it on at the end of sentences.
Emily and Danielle are both super-excited for school to start. It's a daily conversation regarding going "upstairs", since the school and their classrooms are on the floor above their preschool classes. Danielle knows most of her letters and numbers to 10 now, although we're still working on it nearly every day after school. Emily's birthday is coming up soon--she'll be 5!--and we're getting her...
...wait for it...
...a vacuum!
Yes, a real working vacuum. She is going to be over-the-moon with her own working vacuum, and I'm thinking my house may be cleaner than I'll know what to do with. ;) It's a small stick vacuum with a telescoping handle, but if it doesn't telescope enough we can remove the handle and she can use it as a hand vacuum. I know it sounds like a bit of a sexist present, but all of my kids love to clean and I anticipate some fighting over Emily's present. A few days ago Alex asked me if, after he came home from summer camp the next afternoon, he could "sweep up the dog hair, and then get the bucket and cloth, and clean the bathroom floor?" And Tim was so excited about it that he wanted to help too. To which I replied that maybe they could each do a bathroom so they could each have one to themselves, and they thought that was a great idea.
No, I am NOT joking. My kids love to clean and I'm going to let them think it's a fun way to play for as long as I can get away with it!
For me, clearly I haven't been cleaning. ;) I did can 12 jars of peaches (I could have canned a few more but it was 11:30 at night and I wanted to go to bed, so I made a peach cobbler from the leftovers the next day). Mark has been busy keeping track of the contractors for the other house (that's a whole other post!) and we're getting close to being done with the systems (HVAC, electrical, and plumbing) and should have functioning air conditioning by the end of the week. I'm sure it will be in just in time to break the heat advisory we're under here. ;)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Summer camp and Alex
Monday when I picked the boys up, their schedule had changed and instead of going swimming they had stayed at the school and had stations (which turned out to be good because apparently I forgot to send shorts with them for after swimming!). For stations they rotate through different "stations" (clever, I know) like cooking, videos, Bible, sports, and arts and crafts.
When I picked them up, Tim and Alex were trying to explain to me what they had made in cooking. It smelled like funnel cakes, but Tim kept telling me it wasn't funnel cakes but he couldn't remember the name of what they had made.
Fast forward a few hours...right before dinner, Alex started complaining that his head hurt. I told him if he didn't feel good he could sit down on the couch or if he wanted he could go to bed. He decided to go to bed so he went upstairs to put his pajamas on. When I went up to turn his AC on and tuck him in he decided he was feeling better and came downstairs to dinner.
And then promptly went in the bathroom and threw up.
That's not unusual for him if he's dehydrated (although it usually happens in the mornings) so I didn't think much of it and he came back and sat down and ate dinner. As soon as he was finished with dinner, he said his head still hurt and asked to be excused to go to bed.
After he had left the table, Tim and I were still trying to piece together what they had made for snack at summer camp.
"You know, it's long, like this...and has cream inside?"
A Twinkie?
"Yeah! A Twinkie! And we put it in the oil, and we turned it like this and it turned brown, and then we put lots of sugar on it and ate it!"
Oh yes they did. They had fried Twinkies for snack. I started laughing so hard, because all at once it was crystal clear as to why Alex didn't feel good. They had fried Twinkies for afternoon snack and then spent the next hour and a half running around playing soccer in the gym. I'm impressed he didn't throw up earlier.
He's been fine the rest of the week, although he did tell me today that fried Twinkies aren't good for you. I'm guessing he won't be eating any more of those for awhile. ;)
When I picked them up, Tim and Alex were trying to explain to me what they had made in cooking. It smelled like funnel cakes, but Tim kept telling me it wasn't funnel cakes but he couldn't remember the name of what they had made.
Fast forward a few hours...right before dinner, Alex started complaining that his head hurt. I told him if he didn't feel good he could sit down on the couch or if he wanted he could go to bed. He decided to go to bed so he went upstairs to put his pajamas on. When I went up to turn his AC on and tuck him in he decided he was feeling better and came downstairs to dinner.
And then promptly went in the bathroom and threw up.
That's not unusual for him if he's dehydrated (although it usually happens in the mornings) so I didn't think much of it and he came back and sat down and ate dinner. As soon as he was finished with dinner, he said his head still hurt and asked to be excused to go to bed.
After he had left the table, Tim and I were still trying to piece together what they had made for snack at summer camp.
"You know, it's long, like this...and has cream inside?"
A Twinkie?
"Yeah! A Twinkie! And we put it in the oil, and we turned it like this and it turned brown, and then we put lots of sugar on it and ate it!"
Oh yes they did. They had fried Twinkies for snack. I started laughing so hard, because all at once it was crystal clear as to why Alex didn't feel good. They had fried Twinkies for afternoon snack and then spent the next hour and a half running around playing soccer in the gym. I'm impressed he didn't throw up earlier.
He's been fine the rest of the week, although he did tell me today that fried Twinkies aren't good for you. I'm guessing he won't be eating any more of those for awhile. ;)
Monday, July 19, 2010
The best entertainment ever
Tim got a birthday card that plays music, and he's had a great time listening to it over...and over...and over...
The kids have been playing games with it like hide-and-seek and train (the person holding the card is the engine and when the music stops the train stops). But today the card stopped working. I suggested to Tim that maybe it needed to rest. :) :)
So he decided that it needed to rest for 10 minutes, until 5pm. He and Alex promptly went in the living room to wait for the card to finish resting (Tim actually laid down on the couch with it) while they watched the clock.
The clock in the living room is over a big arched doorway. After about 5 minutes of waiting, the boys were ready for it to be five o'clock.
So they decided they could maybe "help" the clock get to 5pm.
By jumping.
So they stood under the archway and jumped, taking turns. Then they'd look excitedly at the clock saying "Look! It moved! It's closer to five o'clock!"
Yes, they really did this for 5 WHOLE MINUTES.
Now what I want to know is if I could convince them to help "move" the clock for an hour?? :)
The kids have been playing games with it like hide-and-seek and train (the person holding the card is the engine and when the music stops the train stops). But today the card stopped working. I suggested to Tim that maybe it needed to rest. :) :)
So he decided that it needed to rest for 10 minutes, until 5pm. He and Alex promptly went in the living room to wait for the card to finish resting (Tim actually laid down on the couch with it) while they watched the clock.
The clock in the living room is over a big arched doorway. After about 5 minutes of waiting, the boys were ready for it to be five o'clock.
So they decided they could maybe "help" the clock get to 5pm.
By jumping.
So they stood under the archway and jumped, taking turns. Then they'd look excitedly at the clock saying "Look! It moved! It's closer to five o'clock!"
Yes, they really did this for 5 WHOLE MINUTES.
Now what I want to know is if I could convince them to help "move" the clock for an hour?? :)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
He's 8!
I can't believe I'm now the mother of an 8-year-old. And that he was only 5 when he came home!
I made the slight mistake of asking Alex the night before his birthday what kind of cake he wanted. I was expecting "chocolate" or "vanilla" or "sprinkles" or something along those lines. No, I get
"Noah's Ark."
I started laughing and Mark asked if he should go find a Noah's ark cake, but I was pretty sure I could do it at home. So I baked a sheet cake while moderating an online chat for adoptive families. I then cut the cake in the shape of an ark, and frosted it the next day. It wasn't the best cake I've ever seen but not bad for a couple hours notice. Most importantly, Alex liked it. :)
Alex only asked for one thing for his birthday: "a helicopter that flies up in the air." I didn't think he was quite ready for a RC helicopter, so I went searching for one of those helicopters that sits on a trigger and shoots up in the air. After lots of searching, I finally found one on Amazon. Even better, it's made of foam so it can be flown inside!
Happy, happy birthday to my firstborn!
I made the slight mistake of asking Alex the night before his birthday what kind of cake he wanted. I was expecting "chocolate" or "vanilla" or "sprinkles" or something along those lines. No, I get
"Noah's Ark."
I started laughing and Mark asked if he should go find a Noah's ark cake, but I was pretty sure I could do it at home. So I baked a sheet cake while moderating an online chat for adoptive families. I then cut the cake in the shape of an ark, and frosted it the next day. It wasn't the best cake I've ever seen but not bad for a couple hours notice. Most importantly, Alex liked it. :)
Alex only asked for one thing for his birthday: "a helicopter that flies up in the air." I didn't think he was quite ready for a RC helicopter, so I went searching for one of those helicopters that sits on a trigger and shoots up in the air. After lots of searching, I finally found one on Amazon. Even better, it's made of foam so it can be flown inside!
Happy, happy birthday to my firstborn!
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Summer camp
This summer the boys are attending the summer camp at their school while both girls are in the preschool (Emily was already there and since Danielle hasn't started kindergarten she still qualifies for preschool).
We looked at putting Danielle in the summer camp but were pretty sure it would just be way too exhausting for her. As it was, she was coming home from school exhausted and that was after a day with lots of playing but also lots of sitting and down time.
Summer camp doesn't have any down time.
They do field trips almost every day, including swimming, the zoo, the botanic gardens, and the science center. However, at the preschool she gets rest time every day.
So far so good as to Danielle and the preschool! She loves it and it is a nice controlled environment. She gets to play a lot which I think is good for her development (they have stations so she does lots of cooking in the pretend kitchen) and she's learning to play games like bingo and dominoes with the other kids. She has been resting quietly and even sleeping in the afternoons and her behavior at home is so much better. She usually sleeps about 11 hours at night but that just isn't enough to keep up with her activity level so it's great for her to have some rest time during the day.
We're not quite as keen on the summer camp for the boys. So far they've had soda and watched PG movies, both things which we do not agree with at their age (and without parental guidance!!). But we are between a rock and a hard place at this point and it's the best option we have. Nothing there will kill them so we're tolerating it for now. They are having a good time so I know they will remember this as a really fun summer!
We looked at putting Danielle in the summer camp but were pretty sure it would just be way too exhausting for her. As it was, she was coming home from school exhausted and that was after a day with lots of playing but also lots of sitting and down time.
Summer camp doesn't have any down time.
They do field trips almost every day, including swimming, the zoo, the botanic gardens, and the science center. However, at the preschool she gets rest time every day.
So far so good as to Danielle and the preschool! She loves it and it is a nice controlled environment. She gets to play a lot which I think is good for her development (they have stations so she does lots of cooking in the pretend kitchen) and she's learning to play games like bingo and dominoes with the other kids. She has been resting quietly and even sleeping in the afternoons and her behavior at home is so much better. She usually sleeps about 11 hours at night but that just isn't enough to keep up with her activity level so it's great for her to have some rest time during the day.
We're not quite as keen on the summer camp for the boys. So far they've had soda and watched PG movies, both things which we do not agree with at their age (and without parental guidance!!). But we are between a rock and a hard place at this point and it's the best option we have. Nothing there will kill them so we're tolerating it for now. They are having a good time so I know they will remember this as a really fun summer!
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Insights into Alex
The Friday after school was out I started the math curriculum. I know, I'm a mean mom. ;)
We watched the video first and I had all of the kids sit down to watch it. They don't get to watch much TV so they thought it was a treat. LOL Alex wanted nothing to do with it, but I told him he could either watch it now or later by himself and he opted to watch with the rest of us. It was really funny watching Tim raise his hand to answer questions to the man on the video. At least I know he learned something in kindergarten! Alex, too, began to participate in calling out answers at times.
After the video, the three youngest wanted to play with the manipulatives while Alex chose to go outside to play. I let the three littles play with the blocks and just build and have fun. When they were done they went outside to play. As soon as I had put them away Alex came in and asked to "play with the same thing Tim and Danielle were playing with". And it clicked.
He's embarrassed.
He's embarrassed because he thinks he can't do math and he doesn't want to look stupid in front of his siblings. I got out the manipulatives for him and let him play a little bit while we talked about them, but we didn't do any actual "work".
I didn't have the kids do any work over the weekend (see?? I am a nice mom!) but started in again on Monday (Memorial Day). Mark had to work so it was just a day at home for the rest of us. I sat down one-on-one with Alex and we started doing the Math-U-See worksheets. As we worked through some counting and place value, I noticed a few things.
One, Alex was slowing down and actually counting. He's very bad about skimming over things and counting 6 when there are really 5 or 7 when there are really 9.
Two, he got excited. At one point he told me "Mama, I can do this! I'm smart!"
Which is what we've known all along. Now if we can just really convince him of that so that he believes it!
We watched the video first and I had all of the kids sit down to watch it. They don't get to watch much TV so they thought it was a treat. LOL Alex wanted nothing to do with it, but I told him he could either watch it now or later by himself and he opted to watch with the rest of us. It was really funny watching Tim raise his hand to answer questions to the man on the video. At least I know he learned something in kindergarten! Alex, too, began to participate in calling out answers at times.
After the video, the three youngest wanted to play with the manipulatives while Alex chose to go outside to play. I let the three littles play with the blocks and just build and have fun. When they were done they went outside to play. As soon as I had put them away Alex came in and asked to "play with the same thing Tim and Danielle were playing with". And it clicked.
He's embarrassed.
He's embarrassed because he thinks he can't do math and he doesn't want to look stupid in front of his siblings. I got out the manipulatives for him and let him play a little bit while we talked about them, but we didn't do any actual "work".
I didn't have the kids do any work over the weekend (see?? I am a nice mom!) but started in again on Monday (Memorial Day). Mark had to work so it was just a day at home for the rest of us. I sat down one-on-one with Alex and we started doing the Math-U-See worksheets. As we worked through some counting and place value, I noticed a few things.
One, Alex was slowing down and actually counting. He's very bad about skimming over things and counting 6 when there are really 5 or 7 when there are really 9.
Two, he got excited. At one point he told me "Mama, I can do this! I'm smart!"
Which is what we've known all along. Now if we can just really convince him of that so that he believes it!
Monday, May 24, 2010
End of school
This week is the last week of school, which means the past couple of weeks have been crammed full of field trips, meetings, homework, etc.
I am wiped out. I slept for 9 hours Friday AND Saturday night. It felt great. :)
Things are hopefully going to start winding down and settling into a summer routine after this week, but we still have: a field trip (Emily), a trip to the dentist to replace two fillings (me), kindergarten graduation (Tim), AE graduation (Danielle), speech (Emily), and Shakespeare in the Park (all of us if I can make it work!). Plus normal school and work schedules for everybody.
One of the reasons I've been lax in posting is that I've wanted to post about Alex and haven't quite known what to post. We've really struggled with whether or not to send him to second grade next year. He is failing math but that is the only subject he is failing--everything else he has As and Bs. The bigger problem is that he does not seem to want to do the work a lot of the time, so we are working on helping him through some of that. A lot of his problems right now are stemming from some issues from the orphanage, we believe, so we are working on the best way to help him grow past this. Don't get me wrong--it will always be part of him, but there are some things he needs to work through right now in order to move forward.
I think in a lot of ways he's coming to a breaking point for himself where he realizes he needs to let go of some of the "old" and he's really struggling with that. Some of his habits and survival skills he has had for a long time. He is starting to see that he needs to let go of them but I think he's very scared of doing that--of really opening up. I don't want to say this is not about attachment because I'm sure some of this affects his feelings and interactions with us as well, but this is really about Alex and his view of himself (which is quite often where attachment problems come from too). I think Alex is secure in his place in our family. He shows good attachment signs and we have no qualms about his attachment, although I personally believe it takes longer than a couple of years for a child with a background like his to be firmly and completely attached.
This really boils down to his self-esteem and self-worth.
In addition to helping him work through some of those issues, we are tackling the math too. :) I recently purchased the Alpha set of Math-U-See. Alex is a very visual learner so I'm hopeful that this may help him "get" math better than the curriculum they use at school. We will be starting this after school is out and doing a little bit each day. I'm actually going to do it with the three oldest (not sure about Emily yet) as I think it will be beneficial for all of them, too.
NB: I've turned off comments for this post, not because I don't like you. :) :) I would love some encouragement right now but I'm not up for discourses on what we should be doing for Alex. I have not posted the full situation here nor how we are handling it and that is intentional. So please trust that we are working towards the best solutions to help Alex and please be praying for him and us that we can help him heal from his past. Thanks! :)
I am wiped out. I slept for 9 hours Friday AND Saturday night. It felt great. :)
Things are hopefully going to start winding down and settling into a summer routine after this week, but we still have: a field trip (Emily), a trip to the dentist to replace two fillings (me), kindergarten graduation (Tim), AE graduation (Danielle), speech (Emily), and Shakespeare in the Park (all of us if I can make it work!). Plus normal school and work schedules for everybody.
One of the reasons I've been lax in posting is that I've wanted to post about Alex and haven't quite known what to post. We've really struggled with whether or not to send him to second grade next year. He is failing math but that is the only subject he is failing--everything else he has As and Bs. The bigger problem is that he does not seem to want to do the work a lot of the time, so we are working on helping him through some of that. A lot of his problems right now are stemming from some issues from the orphanage, we believe, so we are working on the best way to help him grow past this. Don't get me wrong--it will always be part of him, but there are some things he needs to work through right now in order to move forward.
I think in a lot of ways he's coming to a breaking point for himself where he realizes he needs to let go of some of the "old" and he's really struggling with that. Some of his habits and survival skills he has had for a long time. He is starting to see that he needs to let go of them but I think he's very scared of doing that--of really opening up. I don't want to say this is not about attachment because I'm sure some of this affects his feelings and interactions with us as well, but this is really about Alex and his view of himself (which is quite often where attachment problems come from too). I think Alex is secure in his place in our family. He shows good attachment signs and we have no qualms about his attachment, although I personally believe it takes longer than a couple of years for a child with a background like his to be firmly and completely attached.
This really boils down to his self-esteem and self-worth.
In addition to helping him work through some of those issues, we are tackling the math too. :) I recently purchased the Alpha set of Math-U-See. Alex is a very visual learner so I'm hopeful that this may help him "get" math better than the curriculum they use at school. We will be starting this after school is out and doing a little bit each day. I'm actually going to do it with the three oldest (not sure about Emily yet) as I think it will be beneficial for all of them, too.
NB: I've turned off comments for this post, not because I don't like you. :) :) I would love some encouragement right now but I'm not up for discourses on what we should be doing for Alex. I have not posted the full situation here nor how we are handling it and that is intentional. So please trust that we are working towards the best solutions to help Alex and please be praying for him and us that we can help him heal from his past. Thanks! :)
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Alex
Alex had to write a story tonight about ladybugs. He came up with four sentences all by himself and I only had to do ONE grammar correction. For him that's HUGE!! Between the speech apraxia and being an ELL, English grammar is really hard for him. It's great to see his progress!
Here is his story:
"The Ladybugs"
"The ladybugs are living in the leaves. Ladybugs are crawling on the ground. Ladybugs have twenty-two spots. Ladybugs can fly." (My grammar correction was for "on the ground"--he said "in ground.")
***************
At dinner we were talking about playing soccer next fall. Alex frowned when I asked if he wanted to play soccer. Shaking his head, he said no. I was so puzzled because Alex LOVES soccer, and I couldn't imagine what would make him not want to play.
He then paused and said, "I want to coach."
When we told him he couldn't coach, that that job was for grownups, he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll play."
Here is his story:
"The Ladybugs"
"The ladybugs are living in the leaves. Ladybugs are crawling on the ground. Ladybugs have twenty-two spots. Ladybugs can fly." (My grammar correction was for "on the ground"--he said "in ground.")
***************
At dinner we were talking about playing soccer next fall. Alex frowned when I asked if he wanted to play soccer. Shaking his head, he said no. I was so puzzled because Alex LOVES soccer, and I couldn't imagine what would make him not want to play.
He then paused and said, "I want to coach."
When we told him he couldn't coach, that that job was for grownups, he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll play."
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