We had one of the most beautiful snow-filled weeks around here!
They called two delayed-start school days in a row, due to the slick roads. But homeschoolers don’t have to go out on slick roads, and Nate is walking the half mile to school each day, so we got to enjoy the snow from the comfort of the warm house and fuzzy footed PJ’s.
(new Winter Jackets from Grandma and Grandpa!)
Isaac volunteered to shovel both days, something I eagerly agreed to, purely for the energy-burning, sensory-fulfilling properties the activity holds for him. That boy of mine loves the snow and it was worth the late start to school it caused.
This week was a teeny bit better than our first week back, but still held lots of tears and tantrums. He did express how much he is enjoying the extra time in the day to do whatever he feels like. As long as I am agreeable to the never-ending crafts and projects that he proposes to tackle each day, he mostly stays out of trouble and is productive with his time.
Saul and I are discussing ways to utilize his eagerness to learn new things, especially to cook and bake and help out with tasks around the house. Isaac loves to feel useful and helpful, and takes great pride in finishing a task from start to finish. This is the perfect opportunity to encourage him in those areas!
Nate has had a hard couple of weeks, adjusting to going to school without Isaac. He has been very angry about “being left out” of things here at home, though what in particular I couldn’t tell you because he doesn’t say. Things like yogurt and free reading time have been mentioned, but I’m not too sure that’s really what is bothering him. It’s fair to assume that he feels isolated as the only kid in public school, and even though he is flourishing there as he never did here, he isn’t able to look at the big picture in the same way that I am. It has been tricky to navigate as his momma.
Elaina has also been struggling to accept our new routine with Isaac at home. She’s been mopey and pouty and altogether not herself. I took her out for some much needed Mommy and Elaina time to spend her birthday money and snack on some popcorn and soda. We made cookies too, and both of those activities have seemed to cheer her up a little.
We started the much anticipated Ocean Unit (Apologia source here) with a quick overview, a Blue Planet viewing, and a couple of crafts. I know I’ve mentioned before how much our family loves these Apologia Science units!
We even did an experiment to demonstrate what happens to our lungs when we deep sea dive.
Olivia and I got to enjoy half of our Wednesday alone together (before being called by the school that Isaac had a staple embedded in his finger and to please pick him up from school.) She spent her birthday money on a Jumbo coloring pad, two small Lego sets, a pony, a jewelry box, and lip-gloss.
She’s a pretty good bargain shopper.
She sat for over three hours putting together this car set, and then played with it for another hour after that. I’m telling ya…she is the ONLY kid of mine that can entertain herself for longer than 5 minutes.
We are still working through a few of the Preschool Packs that I had on hand from the other kids. Truthfully, I had planned on starting Kindergarten with her by now, but Isaac coming home to school kind of threw a kink in my planning…
Luckily she is easily entertained by whatever I set out for her to do each day.
We have plans to start back up with Speech Therapy, which starts the beginning of February. She has improved a lot since last summer, but still struggles a bit with her spontaneous speech and jaw stability. I’m very hopeful that the new speech therapist will be able to encourage Olivia better than the last one did.
(Ginger Beef and Broccoli, Steamed Rice, Egg Drop Soup, and Egg Rolls.)
Isaac made us a Chinese Dinner on Sunday and it was DELICIOUS! He also made Banana Bread all by himself.
I’m feeling like I’m in a major cooking slump, making the same-old-same-old meals. We had Tacos and Tostadas, Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches, Baked Spaghetti, and Pizza for movie night.
We surprised the kids with a trip to the theater to watch Into the Woods for our movie night. It was so fabulous, though none of us had any idea that it was a musical. Saul was less than thrilled to find that out after the movie tickets had been purchased…
We don’t have much on the agenda for the weekend other than some grocery shopping, a couple of haircuts, and a surprise birthday party for Elaina’s BFF. I’ve got a new book I’m dying to get started too.
In case you were wondering...
Isaac did indeed get himself into a bit of a pickle at school, and managed to get a staple deeply embedded into his pointer finger.
A trip to the doctor, some numbing cream, and 10 days of antibiotics.
He is healing very well, and (hopefully) has a deeper respect for power tools.
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