G is for learninG

Evan's teachers came over for parent/teacher conference.

I wish I could have them over for hours and hours. We have so much to talk about. They know Evan on the level me and Jim do, except they have a different perspective and wonderful ideas.

When I mentioned that we wondered if Evan has some kind of diagnosis like ADHD or autism, they both shook their heads emphatically and seemed almost surprised at the suggestion.

So what is going on then? He's just delayed?

Answer: He just has a problem processing abstract information and language and therefore he gets emotional because he can't express himself properly.

Which is so spot on.

 I have been teaching him concrete stuff like letters and numbers and how to read...all the things he is doing great with.

What I NEED to be working on is the abstract. (which is tough because it's, well, abstract).

For example, he has a hard time drawing people and things.

So guess what we are gonna add to his homework? Drawing a picture and "writing a story".

We need to ask tons of "wh" questions. who what where when why. These force him to process the proper language skills to answer properly.

Tonight he wanted to make a Christmas tree. He drew a triangle and a rectangle, cut them out and glued them together. He asked me to cut a star for the top of the tree. This is huge! I didn't even prompt it.

Also they talked about how nice he is to all his friends and that when he gets frustrated, he NEVER gets aggressive and NEVER tells Teacher Debi "no". That makes me really happy.

Overall, I feel like Evan has progressed so so much this year. We take two steps forward, one back, but at least we are progressing.

Avery's conference was fun too. 

Mrs. Shapiro said, "she's always happy and eager to learn,"

wherein Avery chimes,

"that's because you make learning so fun!"

Haha. Good girl.

N is for burN

We had a few weeks of freezing cold like the rest of the country, which meant it was time to fire up the wood burner.

We have to keep our wood covered from the rain, so we have half of it under a tarp, and the "ready to burns" are stacked in the garage.

(Evan is riding his broomstick. We love the book and movie "Room on the Broom)

There is an art to fire starting, isn't there?

I am constantly checking and admiring.

And is there anything better than backing up to a hot fireplace?

Sometimes I just stand there and stare for as long as the kids will let me.

Sometimes the kids sit on my lap and we stare at the fire together.

 

I is for I

1. I love to watch birds in formation.

Sometimes when I ride my bike by the bay, a big flock of birds with fly by and make the neatest shapes and patters.

Or sometimes the geese are high in the sky, flying south in their V shape. I think it's fascinating to see them perform something so instinctual and efficient and scientific and artistic.

 

 

2. I am learning to play the piano.

When I was in high school, I took piano lessons for a few months as a young women's project. I am terrible at it. Lots of my family members have natural musical talent, and I do not.

So when we moved into this house with a built in piano, I said, "someone needs to learn to play the piano."

I have been wanting to learn something new lately. I've lost the bug for crafting and sewing, but I wanted another challenge that I could do here at home with my kids. Valerie's piano is the perfect thing for this season of my life.

I rented some piano books from the library and learned some chords. That kind of turned a light on for me. Then I bought Hymns Made Easy. I play every song until I get to the end of the book, and then I start again.

It's fun to see how I improve every time I start over on the first page. I like that my kids see me doing something different besides chores. When they "need" something from me, they realize that I too am a human being, and they will have to wait until after I am done "playing".

I love the sacrament hymns. They are my favorite. With all the sharps and flats, the songs are so dramatic and emotional. I love when Avery sings along with "I Stand All Amazed" (we learned it this year in primary). I love that my brain is stretching in a new way.

But I'm still pretty terrible at it.

 

(I found this picture on my camera. It cracks me up.

"no officer. I wasn't napping.")

 

3. I don't understand why candy companies think it's a good idea to make blue suckers that dye children's mouths/faces/hands/ blue. Blue suckers are my worst enemy.

4. I am loving Pandora radio lately. These are my current favorite channels:

"The Weepies". They are a husband/wife duo, folky and mellow. I listen to it when I'm in the mood for nostalgic, woodsy tunes.

"Florence and the Machine". This channel procures some great violin hip hop, synthesizing, orchestral, energy tunes. It makes me stop what I'm doing and have a little dance off with what ever kid is in the room at the moment.

"Band of Horses". A little bit ballad, a little bit angst.

5. Mary texted me the other day to say that this yarn wig tutorial from our long forgotten craft blog has received 55,000 hits on pinterest.

Haha! It makes me squirm a bit. It makes me proud a bit. It made me go and edit it a bit. I don't know.

If I were to do it again, I would just sew a simple red yarn braid onto a red beanie.

 

 

6. Me and my sisters/mom text all the time. For the past few months we have been obsessing about Charles Wysoki puzzles and art. If you were a fly on the wall of our texts, you would mostly hear about different puzzles we have found at thrift stores or on eBay. Haha. It's just so nerdy.

 

 

7. I have mixed feelings about technology. It's such a double edged sword (if you don't mind me using the cliche). So often it makes me think of Lehi's Dream. You know when all the people are in the great and spacious building laughing and pointing at the people eating from the tree? I am struck with the thought that social media is the great and spacious building of our time. It is the perfect vehicle for mockery and hatred and falsities. I can't really explain what I mean, but basically, the comments section is the most depressing place to ever visit.

           

V is for Vestiges of the Day

Remember last year I documented what we were up to every hour on the hour?

Here is this year's play by play.

 

Friday, November 7, 2014

7:00 am

Get ready For School

Avery picks out her own clothes.

I do her hair while she eats.

There are dominoes all over the floor.

****

7:20

Bus Stop

We walk out to the road and wait for the bus. 

Sometimes we have to huddle under an umbrella. 

New teeth are so jagged.

Have a good day, Avery! Dinner will be waiting for you when you get home.

****

8:00

Breakfast

I feed myself and the boys. 

****

9:00

Dink Around

I play some piano,

start laundry,

and hang around.

(Birkenstalks circa 1996)

****

10:00

Bike Ride

When I circled the round about, I heard some bald eagles "chirping".

Have you ever heard their call? It's surprisingly wimpy. 

I thought it would be more majestic, but it's...chirpy.

Anyway, so about half a mile later, right as I'm riding up to these trees, they both come and land on the branches. It was amazing. 

 It was like they did it on purpose just for me...to show off their giant wingspan.

For some reason pictures make it look like they are far away, but I can see their eyes and beaks.

Tell me how I'm not supposed to jump off my bike and take a jillion pictures.

There was an article in our local newspaper by some eagle expert and he said one of the local nests got so heavy, the branches broke and it fell to the ground. Some nests can weigh up to 2 tons!

Last night there was a huge wind storm. 

The waves from the bay crashed up over the road. The evidence is all over and I dodge rocks, logs and sand. 

I wish I took a picture of it. I've never seen anything like it since living here. Instead I took this selfie. 

See that guy there in the yellow shirt?

Every time I'm out here running or riding, he is walking at a brisk pace with this exact shirt on. 

Today as I rode up to him, I said, "you're out here every day!"

and he said, "every. day."

I gave him a thumbs up and rode on by.

****

11:00

Earn A Sucker

To earn a sucker, Evan has to get three "dots":

one for getting himself dressed,

one for being happy/not whining (this is pretty impossible...but it's a start)

and one for doing homework.

Because of his developmental delays, I feel like if I can help him learn to read before he starts school (next year!), it will give him a tiny bit of an advantage that could help him manage everything; level the playing field a bit. 

For "homework" we use this book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". Each lesson is short and has a script for me to say/teach. I don't usually make my kids "do lessons" or force academia on them, but I feel like Evan needs all the tools he can get.

We do one lesson a day.

He is able to recognize letter sounds and can sound out the words, but I don't think he understands that he is "reading" yet.

Also, this poor boy is sick. I give him some medicine. He mostly sits on the couch and watches tv all day. Poor thing.

****

11:30

The Bus Stop

We wait for the bus outside today. 

It is such a beautiful day.

Bus driver Cindy is my favorite. 

She tells the kids what to look for on the drive to school.

Today she has him look for flags (for Veteran's day).

12:00

Andrew's Nap Time

Ahhhh. This is when the house is silent and I can relax and do whatever I want.

I used to "get things done" during this quiet time, but then I decided to make it a "relax" time to recharge my batteries and do things I enjoy.

Usually it lasts at least two hours.

*****

1:00

But Today, It Only Lasted 40 Minutes.

Poor sick Andrew couldn't breathe, so he took the shortest nap ever in history.

Usually this ruins my whole life,

but Andrew is such an easy going kid, I don't even notice he is up. Plus his fever makes him super mellow.

****

2:00

Chores

I do dishes,

wash tables,

sweep the floor,

tidy the garage,

laundry.

****

3:00

Start Dinner

Today we are having Fettuccine Alfredo 

with roasted carrots and onions

and salad.

****

3:15

Jim goes to work.

He flies to Oakland with another mormon pilot who swears a lot.

I love how Andrew waves. He just stands and holds his little hand up.

There isn't any real "waving" involved. It's more like a salute.

****

3:30

Avery's Home!

She always has something from her backpack to show me.

Today it's books she checked out from the library.

****

4:00

Evan's Home!

He always jumps off the bus yelling,

"I got to pick the treasure chest!"

Then he pulls everything out of his backpack to find the trinket he earned.

Papers, jackets, and backpacks are scattered across the floor.

He's just beside himself to show us what he picked.

They wash their hands, and we eat dinner.

Evan ate four giant bowls. 

Hungry kid.

Andrew doesn't eat much and whines to get out of his chair. 

****

4:30

Avery Writes A Song

She is over there whispering to herself,

"tee, ta, ta tee, tee, tee, rest, tee, rest, ta, ta, rest"

****

5:00

More Chores

 

This is the time of day when everything blurrs together.

The kids unwind, and I start prepping to wrap up the day.

I fold laundry and put it away.

They play around and watch Frozen (on the computer).

They are happy and not fighting. It's pleasant.

 "Watching Frozen" only lasts until "Let It Go" is over. Then they all lose interest (don't we all?).

****

6:00

One Last Activity

Someone gets down the water colors and they beg to paint.

I don't love starting a new project at 6:00 pm, but I can handle watercoloring. 

It's a good activity to keep them busy and happy before bed time.

Andrew plays with the baby casino.

This was a hand me down from a friend. I "hid" it, in hopes that it would be a Christmas present.

But they found it. So whatever.

****

6:22

Finished!

About now, Andrew is fussy and sick, so I take him to have a bath and get ready for bed.

He is shivering and so sick during the bath. I get him out, put warm jams on, and sit him on the couch with a blanky and a bottle.

that's when I hear Evan doing this...

****

6:42

I Lose Patience

I think normally this wouldn't make me mad, but:

I had JUST cleaned up these boxes in the garage.

Does anyone else have a "box graveyard" in their garage? We do, and Evan scatters them all over the place, and it makes the garage such a mess, and you can't walk around.

 I had put them all in the corner neatly and strategically stacked earlier today. 

So when I come and see this happening right before bed time, I lose it. I kick one of the boxes to smithereens and yell at Evan to put them back in the garage neatly. 

(right after i take a picture. i am paparazzi today)

He puts them back in the garage, but not neatly. Of course not. Because that takes time and an adult brain. And remember I already did that chore once today?

****

7:00

Bedtime Routine

Now I am super grumpy, but I go through the bedtime motions.

They get jammies on, drink their tap tap, and I read two books.

Andrew is still on the couch in the other living room.

****

7:10

I Lose It Again

While I am reading, Evan disappears in the other room where Andrew is.

After I'm done reading (Avery is the only one listening),

we go to the other living room to say prayers with the boys.

I catch Evan in the act of dripping the last drops of his tap tap onto poor little Andrew's HEAD.

Let's just skip the details and say Evan is in deep trouble and crying in his bedroom.

I am done with him for the day.

When I come back from that, I find Andrew has fallen asleep on the couch.

I carry him to bed. Poor little baby.

I leave the door ajar in his room because I am a little on edge about him being so sick. 

****

7:38

I Cool Off

Avery's bed time isn't until 8:00, and she is allowed to do homework or read until then. 

I eat cereal while she colors.

The steam coming out of my ears slowly dissipates.

I go and talk to Evan about the bad choice he made. I say I'm sorry for getting so mad, and he says he's sorry for putting chocolate on Andrew.

But he's still not allowed tap tap for an entire week. So help me.

I sneak in later to check on Andrew. His fever has broke and he is snoring peacefully.

Jim gets home around 10:00. We debrief. We watch Jimmy Fallon.