Summer Closes

Summer Camp

     Sis got to attend a cheerleading camp this summer with her new neighbor friends. I think she really enjoyed it. They did floor routines, cheers, and stunts.

Ninja Date

      One day, Little Man and I took Guess Who? to Kaleisia Tea Lounge for drinks, spring rolls, and shared dessert. It's one of our favorite things to do.

Family Fun Nights

     Speaking of youtube...the kids got idea for taste challenges somewhere, somehow. We decided to do a Oreo Mystery Taste Challenge. Since I don't eat Oreo's, I was the one who bought the different flavors, blindfolded the contestants, and ran the show. They ate half of a cookie and wrote down their flavor guess. I actually can't remember who won? I'll ask them later and edit this if one of them remembers. It was fun, though, and instigated plenty of laughter and silliness.

          Next up, on another random night was the Hint Water Challenge.

     They had to guess the unidentified flavors and again, write down their answers, and I determined the winner. They had me do it next on my own, and it really was difficult to decipher between all of the tastes.

Tornado's First Job

     Tornado got to work for three weeks at the Autism Awareness Shop. He had the opportunity to work at a real job, hanging up clothes, pricing objects, putting things on shelves, etc. It was a good experience for him. He had a bit of a rough first hour (which is information he said is fine for me to share on this blog), which reminded me how difficult it will be for him to have a job one day. It's all a lot to think about. Once he got past the first rough hour, he did marvelously and was able to pick one thing from the shop each week to take home as his "payment."

Extra Blessing

 

    Speaking of baby fever (which will never go away for me), we have been so excited that one of our friends in Florida was expecting a baby. We were so invested haha - like the day she was going to find out if she was having a boy or girl, I just refreshed social media all day. :)

 

     Sis and I went to her baby shower. She is, of course, as sweet and cute as her photos.

Fitness

     Ok. Posting this as motivation. It's good to make your goals known. I have gained almost all of the weight back that I lost when I turned 40. Part of it is from being busy with moving and life. Part of it is my depressed nature that can kick in sometimes. And part of it, I wasn't born with the skinny gene but instead a wonky metabolism. Plus, I don't have a thyroid, and taking a pill everyday just isn't the same as having your body work naturally as it should. It really is always a struggle.

Birthday

     Not the best photo to post immediately after talking about losing weight..I increased another digit. Sis and Ninja assembled my mousse with berries and Theo's pb cups. I would always choose mousse over cake. My birthday wish remained the same as it does every year. I don't think I can say it though, right? I think I might have said it on here before. As I type this over 6 months later, it's on track to coming true. Also, I'm grateful for life. (I think that makes #488: Hey, I just decided I'm going to get back to listing these, working toward 1000.)

 

     For my birthday, I headed "home."

      She's working so hard paddling while I'm taking selfies.

     My friend Angie and I went took a short canoe trip on James River in Galena, MO. I had been determined to go floating for years now, and I hadn't had a chance. So I decided, by golly, I'm going for my birthday. I think I have only been one other time in my adult life, which is crazy. I had a few canoe experiences when I was young.

 

      We brought a picnic lunch with us.

     On the night of my birthday I went with two of my friends to Cafe Cusco, one of my favorite restaurants in Springfield, Missouri. Thankful for rivers, canoes, and these two. (#489-491)

Speaking of Grateful...

      At my age, it's an interesting thing to glance at my three big kids and realize how different our lives would be had we not went forth with having Number Four. They're all pretty old and self-sufficient. There wouldn't be toys lying around and crying and so much chaos. I also wouldn't have so much of this. I tell him every day how happy I am that we have him in our lives. (#492)

 

         I'm in no hurry for him to grow up completely. I'm so thankful for those sweet little hands. (#493)

Vegan Food

     At some point I became obsessed with watching youtube videos. Not when I should be doing something else. Like when I'm in a waiting room. Or washing dishes or folding laundry, etc. I have gained a lot of inspiration for life through this newest obsession. One of my favorite things I discovered is this two ingredient quinoa bread. (#494)

 

      Listen, if you aren't into health food and you're not really interested in eating more whole foods or less gluten/flour products, then these probably aren't for you. The base of it all is pretty bland. You can add whatever spices you want, though. I am looking forward to trying lots of combinations. For me, this whole idea is kind of life changing. I made a bunch of them, froze them, and only took out two or three thin slices to eat with my salad each day, rather than eating chips or bread on the side.

House Progress

 

     I had kind of forgotten about this moment and this photo. This was the first room that was "done." (Thank goodness! #495) I mean, stylistically I was still moving things around and deciding what looks best on the mantel, etc. But the room was cleaned out. No boxes. "Could have company sitting around it" kind of ready. Now on to the rest of the house!

Furry Family Members

 

     Ranger, Mabel, and Gertie

          Have I mentioned how much I love my kitties and taking pics of them? I have? Here it is again...

          My beautiful baby girl is named Ranger. Ninja named him that after my grandfather, who was a Ranger in WWII. We thought she was a boy. She just seemed so different than the other two. Her nipples weren't really present. She was the runt, though. Why did we think she was a boy?! It's all a little blurry right now. We didn't find out until she was like 6 months old, and we were getting ready to take her to get "neutered." I started looking and thinking hmm...I felt like such a bad cat grandma! I have apologized to her a lot since then. I gave Ninja the choice of renaming her something girlier, but he chose to let it stick. Now we say her name is Ranger Ruth.

I'm very grateful for Cali and her 3 babies.

(#496-499)

           I took this photo after I put together their new "little" toy. I'm grateful Ryan didn't kick me out when he saw this in his home. (#500)

 

 

     If anyone is curious, we do still have our puppy babies. I'm grateful that we still have them healthy and sweet at 9 years old. (#501-502)

 

      Do they get along with the cats? They do! Squeals.

Days Out with Friends

summer movie with our buds

and one day with them at the trampoline park

     Tornado doesn't always want to play. But he does appreciate the trampoline places. He had a lot of silly fun this particular day.

Discovering Florida

 

     I wanted one last little adventure before the new school year officially started. I had discovered the cute little town of Gulfport recently with friends. I took the kids one day to visit. It's technically a part of St. Petersburg. I adore this area. It's worth a stop if you are in the area.

 

      We went on a Tuesday for Gulfport Fresh Market, when the streets are lined with vendors. 

 

 

     We ate lunch at the very cute (and vegan friendly) Pia's Trattoria.

 

     We got to walk by Golden Dinosaurs, a new plant based restaurant that has been receiving good reviews.

         The kids ordered two desserts to share and enjoyed it on the patio.

     1st grade, 6th grade, 8th grade, and 12th grade: 

we are ready for you!

     Grateful for days like this. (#503)

(having some difficulty with my spacing and font changes - haven't figured out how to change that yet)

Wrap-Up Journal of Our Week

In Our Homeschool This Week

Lots of math and special phonics projects this week: adjectives, verbs, numerical sense, addition, and place value. Here they are doing Marshmallow Math with o's cereal to practice place value. Lots of time on our regular stuff: Saxon Math for the boys, Abeka Phonics for my 7 year old, and letter writing and blend sounds for Sis. In Apologia Science, it was "sea turtles" this week for Tornado.

Recent Learning Posts:

Space Activities

Raggedy Ann and Andy

 

a picture by Tornado, just because 

that's what he does

In AWANA This Week

Sissy received her big girl Sparks vest. Now she and Dash are matching. They both said their verses this week. Dash actually recited 5 of his verses for his leader, including the books of the new testament, which we hadn't even reviewed before class that night. He remembered them from last year. (They are allowed two hints.)

Places We Are Going and People We Are Seeing

We had the opportunity to spend last night with friends (about 80 people in all) celebrating Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. There is Daddy with Baby over to the right and Dash in the middle of the sukkoh (a temporary dwelling or hut topped with branches). His little buddy is teaching him the different customs of Sukkot, this one waving the lulav and citron to honor God who is all around us. 

At Homeschool Co-ops This Week

The night of The Sugar Cube Incident was the first night of about three in a row when I got into bed about 8:00 p.m. just to watch television (which I don't have time to do!), exhausted after tucking in the big kids.

My 7 year old told me in the car after co-op that they learned about Eskimos and completed a project using sugar cubes as an igloo. "Cool!" I said. "I have an extra sugar cube; can I eat it?" "Well...sure, okay."

It wasn't until bedtime that more of the story came out. I caught him acting very sneaky around his backpack, then clutching something under crossed arms. "What is that?" "Nothing." "What IS IT?" He showed me he had another sugar cube. "You had another one? How many have you eaten?" 

He tries to tell me "just a few," then I look at his paper. I'm estimating 20 sugar cubes. 20 sugar cubes that were glued onto paper, and my kid peeled them off and ate every one of them. Oh, except the last one, which I threw in the trash.

And before anyone says, "Poor kid, he never gets any sugar; he has to eat the sugar off his art projects!" Blah, blah, blah. He gets plennnnty of sugar. And he just shouldn't be sneaky.

A few of his other projects

from co-op lately:

He said this is based on an Indian art form of using hot wax and yarn to make animal designs.

Extracurricular This Week

The boys really love attending Acts Jr. This is a drama club with Community Connections, a local organization which provides extra-curricular activities and support for special needs children. (Tornado also attends the CC art class each week.) 

Acts Jr. is for any child, specifically designed to mix children with disabilities and no disabilities, helping them to strengthen their sensory processing, teamwork and adaptation skills, and self-confidence, etc.

They interact with skits and improv situations. They make little props and work on special drawing assignments, etc. I'm always proud of them when they tell me about the role-playing they did because both of the boys struggle with "performing." 

I love Tornado's invention he created: monster cookies that "cure the blues." He said, "When you're sad and depressed, just eat one of my cookies!"

one of Sissy's painting from 

art class this week

My Favorite Moment This Week
We all slept until about 8:15 this morning. The kids started trickling into bed with Baby and me. There were a lot of giggles and cuddles, and these are the moments I remember from growing up with 6 people in my family. Those were the moments that made me want to have a family of my own.

I'm Inspired By
The 8-9 pounds I've lost lately. The easiest way for me to lose weight is to lose weight, if that makes any sense. It's not a fun process, but when I see loss, it is motivating to continue. About 20 more to go.

I'm Grateful For (continuing on toward my goal of 1,000 gifts...#401-417)
My sister for driving from Little Rock to help me get Sissy to her classes one day, "no news is good news" kind of reports at special doctor's appointments for both of the big boys this week, these really sweet and thorough emails one of Sissy's teachers sends each week detailing their classes, encouraging words my husband gave me, these amazing books my mom brought to us because she knew we would love them for homeschooling, bed snuggles, Baby's healthy appetite, free blogging gifts in the mail to review, kids' artwork, that my kids are at similar enough ages to homeschool together, a new Sparks vest, scripture memorization, celebrations with friends, pretty good behavior from the kids the past couple of days...I needed that, pizza with my husband and kids tonight, and a God who went with me through another busy week.

A Question I Have
Now when I try to upload a picmonkey collage onto blogger (which I was previously able to do), it (blogger) tells me I am out of space and need to upgrade? But I can still upload individual pictures. What is this?