A Year in the Life - Week One- Day 3 & 4

Hi everyone,

After getting the four girls off to school I headed down to the boy's school where the 7th and 9th graders had to do P.E. testing. I volunteered to help weigh and measure the kids, but instead I ended up checking every one in and out. The kids had to run so many laps, do flexibility and strength exercises, and get weighed and measured.

 I knew a few of the kids but not many since my boys are both in 8th grade. At their school not all the students go to school on the same day. When the 9th and 10th graders go to school they are the only students on campus. When my boys go to school you would find four grades attending at the same time, 7th, 8th, 11th & 12th.

We had three different shifts of kids so I was there from 8:45 until 3:30. I did manage to get a Costco trip in there. During a break two of my sons met me at the school and we drove over to the bank and Costco. We shopped, they dropped me back off at the school, they took all the groceries home and put them away, and then brought the van back to me. These are teenaged boys. Yes, teenagers can be responsible.

This week at the boy's school was a week that is called Projects Week. During the week different groups of students work on different projects already selected by the teachers. Some students visited 5th grade students from a local school, learned about them, and each made a scrapbook to give to their student. The one that broke my heart was the boy who said his happy day is, "The day I don't get bullied and my family isn't sad." His sad days are, "When I get bullied and my family is sad." What?! Heavy stuff. This is too much for a 5th grade boy to carry. (May we reach out to the children around us and treat them as we would want others to treat our children. You never know what a child's family life is like.)

Another project students and parents made homemade blankets, crocheted blankets or infant hats. They get sent to an organization that sends the items to hospitals around the country so babies can go home with a homemade item. There were many other projects that the kids selected from.

The project that my boys signed up to do was a Walk About San Diego. For three days they were to go to different areas of San Diego, learn about them, and journal about their experience.

The first day we hiked Cowles Mtn. I made it about 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile up. The kids all went to the top and some ran down. Me? I needed my walking stick to help me down the rocky path.


 
From Wikipidia: Cowles Mountain is a prominent mountain within the city limits of San Diego, California and also within Mission Trails Regional Park, in a neighborhood known as San Carlos, San Diego. The mountain is named after George A. Cowles, an early ranching pioneer in San Diego County. Its 1,593-foot (486 m) summit is the highest point in the city of San Diego. The main trail to the summit is a popular hiking destination taking hundreds of people per day to a 360-degree panorama of San Diego County. The hike to the top is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and an elevation change of about 950 feet (290 m).

 

 

Mission Trails Park

After our hike we went to the Mission Trails Visitor Center and had lunch out in the amphitheater. We then walked to the Grinding Rocks where we took a few pictures and the teacher explained what the Grinding Rocks were. After a rest there we continued on our path on another loop.

I was glad when the hike was over. I was tired, but glad I went so I could spend time with my teen boys and get to know some of their friends.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art Show

The woman's club where we live had an art show. The local schools submitted art projects from their students. My girls didn't win anything, but they had fun visiting the show to see their art projects. Adah was in the local paper. A reporter happened to be at the show when dad and Adah went to get an early peek. Unfortunately it was closed, but a reporter was coming out of the building. She wanted to interview Adah and get her spin on event. I was mortified when I found out that her picture had been taken that night and would be in a newspaper. Her hair was a mess! She had been at school all week, it was Friday night and we had been at a soccer game. All that plus me as a mom equaled what is called-"White mom hair." I will try and scan the article when I get to my other computer. Until then enjoy these little gems.

Free Adoption book on Kindle

This Mean War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption



I bought this book in print form several years ago and loved it. It's offered for free today on Amazon for Kindle readers. Don't have a Kindle? You can download the app to your computer and read it there. Here's a write-up I did on it a few years ago.

This Means War Write-up

Starbuck savings & recipe book

I subscribe to The Krazy Coupon Lady. In today's email she has an article on how to get more savings at Starbucks. Since I didn't know about these savings I thought maybe you didn't know either. Sip and Save is where you'll find out the ins & outs on how to save more at Starbucks. There is also a 32 page recipe book that is available at Starbucks Recipe Book. Unfortunately they don't have the recipe for the iced coffee that I love and my 15 year old son knows how to make perfectly, but I did find the recipe for their frappucinos. Enjoy!

World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day. I don't know anyone in my everyday life that has Aids or HIV, but I do know plenty of adoptive families that have brought HIV+ children into their homes. Knowledge is the first step away from the fear of this disease. We are approved to adopt a child with HIV+. I wanted the approval just in case we needed it. We haven't, but I did get a bit educated in the process. We're not in the 80's anymore!




Project Hopeful video:
Truth Pandemic

You can also visit: The Farmer's Wife Tells All
to see how one family lives with a daughter who happens to have HIV.

Upside Down Christmas?

As the mom of a large family I do not look forward to Christmas for the above reasons. What if we celebrate simply? Do my kids remember what their third gift was last year? I'm already thinking that we will go to the thrift store and let the kids pick out $5 or $10 worth of gifts for their family gift swap. I do need to read with my kids more. We should play more games. That's what they'll remember. Not all the stuff that was in their stockings. How did we get to where we are? Get us off the merry-go-round, please!

For more on this topic go to That We Might Be Adopted

The Real Mother Goose

 

 

I used to read this book as a child over and over again. I loved the nursery rhymes and didn't mind reading them over and over again. I found this the other day at the thrift store so I bought if for myself. Rhymes are good for children and my older girls missed out on this in their education so backtracking can't hurt.

 

The Real Mother Goose

 

Cock-a-doodle-do!

Cock-a-doodle-do!

My dame has lost her shoe,

My master's lost his fiddle-stick

And knows not what to do.

 

Cock-a-doodle do!

What is my dame to do?

Till master finds his fiddle-stick,

She'll dance without her shoe.

 

 

The Pumpkin-Eater

Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,

Had a wife and couldn't keep her.

He put her in a pumkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

 

Shades of People

 
I found this book at the thrift store last week so I HAD to snatch it. The first two pages: "Have you noticed that people come in many different shades? Not colors exactly, but shades."

My girls consider me peach and they call themselves brown. My youngest wants to be peach in the worst way, but I tell her I would love to be a lovely brown like she is. I explain to her how most peach people lay out in the sun so they can get browner.

We were at our Ethiopian church a few years ago and the children's teacher explained to the children that we are not black and white. She held up examples and asked if she were as dark as black, and if I was as white as the white paper she held up. They responded no and that is where they got the brown and peach idea.

Keep your eyes open for little gems like this book. They're great to show your kids that people come in all shades and can look very different from one another, but w're all people!

This is an Editorial Review that was on Amazon. Shades of People

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1—This book is filled with wonderful photographs of happy, smiling, inquisitive, trusting, and adorable children—all with varying skin tones, hair colors and textures, and facial features. "Have you noticed that people come in many different shades?" is the opening sentence, accompanied by framed head shots of youngsters. It is followed on the next page by, "Not colors, exactly, but shades." The text is minimal, with approximately 3 to 10 words per page. The last page features a large photograph of eight little hands of varying shades. The message is clear and to the point: "Our skin is just our covering, like wrapping paper. And, you can't tell what someone is like from the color of their skin." A good introduction to racial and ethnic diversity.—Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH END

My little firefighters

Firefighters come to the girl's school yesterday. They brought all the goodies for the kids and taught them to "Stop, Drop, and Roll!" I was questioned by Anna as to whether we had a smoke alarm or not. As part of their goodies they were given plastic firehats so I had them pose when they got home.

  

                                       For some reason she was a grumpy girl.

                                                     Okay, that's better!

                                                  Charlie's Angels?

 

 

What I've done the last 24 hours.

I took the girls to a birthday party at Pump It Up. They had a really fun time jumping around on the jumpaleens as Adah calls them for about an hour and a half. Then they had pizza and ice cream cake before we went home.

I asked the girls on the way home when the last time was that we had washed hair. We remembered that we had gone to a birthday party last Sunday so we didn't wash it then which meant it was hair washing night. I take the little girls one by one and wash their hair twice and then put conditioner in and we leave it in for twenty minutes. While this is sitting in their hair I put them in the bath and start on the next one. I bring them back into the shower where we wash all the conditioner out and they're able to rinse all the bathtub yuck off of them. This method works well for me since they're not old enough to wash their hair themselves. Thankfully Addis & Abi are able to wash and style their own hair.

This morning all five girls were to school by 8:00. Addis does their hair in the morning for me while I prepare lunches and breakfast. After I drop them off I come home and pick-up the lunch and breakfast mess, get a load of laundry going, and do some type of cleaning or organizing.

 Today I organized my coupons. I have been cutting them and filing them which takes a lot of work. The way I'm going to try it is file them by date and/or coupon publisher. I have Red Plum, Smart Source, Proctor & Gamble. I took it a step further and put my grocery store ads in a file and then also one for other stores. I use www.grocerysmarts.com which tells me what coupon to use for a particular item and the coupon source.

After getting that accomplished my jr. high boys needed help with math. Those pesky uncommon denominators were getting the better of them. They also had a three paragraph essay due on a Mark Twain story called The Californian's Tale. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-cal.htm I read the story to them since they weren't getting the gist of it. They wrote out their summary and I'll look over that tomorrow. I had never read it before and was taken aback by the ending.

In between all that we were also working on their 3D animal cell project that is due this week. We got the idea for the project from YouTube. 
http://youtu.be/HhtkCYqRIFg   

Last week we took our coupons to Michael's to buy the supplies for our animal cell project, and bought the styrofoam balls, white foam sheets, and some other things. We used some black spray paint that we had, and Steve brought home some wood from work for the base. I did most of the cutting because I didn't want them to get hurt cutting out a piece from a 10" styrofoam ball. I used my serrated knife for most of it and it was challenging. Our nucleus accidentally got thrown away so the boys used the end of a badminton birdie.

This is John's finished project.

After we did that I did a few pick-ups from school. Some of the girls like to come home after school and a few like to stay for the after school program. I let them stay and play a few extra hours. I only allow it a few times a week because of our schedule and they get so tired.

Steve & I went out for dinner and let the kids fend for themselves. They had leftover chicken from our dinner on Friday when we had company and James made rice and biscuits to go with it.

We're home now and I'm chatting on fb with my daughter. I have one son at soccer practice. One is sitting behind me trying to download iTunes to a new computer, one is working on schoolwork, three girls are in bed, and I don't know what the other three are doing, but it's quiet. Which is always a good thing.

Thanksgiving coloring pages

I was searching for coloring pages for my Little House class and came across this website. The pages aren't Little House related but they are Thanksgiving related and since it is one week before Thanksgiving I thought the children would enjoy coloring them. I enjoy this site because the pages are acceptable for older elementary. They're not too babyish. There is one where a pilgrim couple is knelt in prayer and another where a pilgrim woman is offering a native American some food. I think your older kids as well as younger children would enjoy these!

http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-color.html

KPBS-Road to Beautiful

Go to your local KPBS station and see what time it comes on in your area. It's airing this week. I have waited about four months for this! I did to set my TV to record it.

This is the description from the KPBS Nova website.

This program, a story of hope and survival in contemporary Ethiopia, presents the stories of five Ethiopian women who have been devastated by obstetric fistula, a common aftermath of neglected childbirth. An obstetric fistula is a hole that forms between the vagina and the bladder (and in some cases the rectum) during prolonged, obstructed labor. Affecting over two million women worldwide, this horrific injury leaves victims incontinent, often suffering nerve damage and in some cases unable to bear children again. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are often left to spend the rest of their lives alone, isolated and ashamed --unless they can get help. NOVA follows these women on their journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, where they find health and solace for the first time in years. The dignity of their struggle connects viewers to the plight of countless women in the developing world who face daily challenges from malnutrition, child marriage and lack of obstetric care.

Home School Book Sale

Today we loaded up the minivan with tables, books, dolls, cds, shades, and chairs and headed to a used curriculum book sale for home educators. Ever since we closed down our online bookstore we've been going to different sales and selling a little here and a little there.

We had an online bookstore and closed it when we started the adoption process, but we still have oodles and oodles of books! I think we're down to about ten totes or so.

The boys did great and even went shopping and found treasures of their own. I found some children's books that had black faces in them or was about Africa. One gem I found was about God loving all children of the world. It showed animated pictures of children from many, many countries. When I found a child from Ethiopia I was sold!

The books I found:
Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
African Wildlife Dioramas to Cut & Assemble (I found a dinosaur one for my boys too!)
Let's Talk About Children Around the World: God Loves Them All by Debby Anderson
Puzzle Map of California

It's fun to find treasures & gems; especially in the form of a book!

Library Reading Program

Yesterday I took James and Joel to the library. We signed up for the summer reading program. James is to read 800 pages and Joel is to read 300 pages. I'll have to read Joel's pages to him as he didn't do too well trying to read on his own. James has finished about six-seven books all ready! He picked out dinosaur books and has been devouring them since we've been home.

I signed up for the adult program. I just have to read five books. I'm in the middle of two books right now. I did pick up a book about Ethiopia that looks very interesting.

Before we went to the library we walked and I got two miles in and then after the library we went for some frozen yogurt. Yum!

Endurance

After a long day at the beach we were worn out. A video had arrived that I had ordered from Amazon.com. It was rated G so we all went up to mom & dad's room and watched. I loved it!

It was filmed in Ethiopia about an Ethiopian. Haile Gebrselassie won a Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games. This is his true-life story of how hard he worked and what he overcame to become the fastest Olympic long distance runner in the world. He would run six miles to school and six miles back, go three aways each way to fetch water, and work in the fields for his father.

Some of the characters are played by his real-life family. It gave us a glimpse into what Ethiopia looks like. At one point he moves to Addis Ababa and it showed some city scenes. Steve & I are going to Addis Ababa so we were more than a little interested to catch a peek. We gained insight into the family dynamics, how they live, and how hard they work just to survive. You'll hear them speak in their language as well as their music.

I recommend Endurance. It's from the Walt Disney Co. and the ISBN is 0-7888-1456-7. The running time is 83 minutes.

To learn more about Haile Gebrselassie go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Gebrselassie

Africam

http://www.wavelit.com/popup/playerAfricam.asp

This is a really neat live webcam from a watering hole in Africa. If you visit at different times of the day you can see all sorts of Africa wildlife visiting the watering hole and you can hear all of the noises they make. It is very fascinating!


(thanks Sharra, Homeschoolblogger.com/Indiana)