It didn't take long to fall of the bandwagon huh?? To make matters worse, I have to admit that I have spent the last month flying through each and every day....not taking a single moment to stop and really appreciate anything.  It is the sad but honest truth.  I sit here exhausted right now, thinking back over the month of February and all I can say is that we got a lot done.  I don't know how, but we did it.   My house is a disaster zone despite my futile attempt to keep it clean and organized.  The surface is presentable but the closets, basement, garage, and any storage area should probably have caution tape across it.  I almost sustained an injury today opening our coat closet and a huge pile of shoes, coats and riding gear tumbled onto me!

So whats been keeping me busy?  work! OH MY work!! I am blessed to have a job especially in this economy.  It is something that is required for us financially but sometimes it is so overwhelming and time consuming.  I have had to put in a lot of extra hours, not to mention my time there is spent really working my tail off.  When I walk out that door (and this is usually only late morning/early afternoon)  I am mentally and physically drained.  I have exactly a 20 minute to drive to recoup, refresh and ready myself for walking into this door and facing what the rest of the day has to bring.  The hardest part is that I am on-call from 5p throughout the night so my phone is always ringing and usually starts at about 4:30a so I never have a solid night sleeps it is like constantly having an infant in the house....only Jason has learned to completely tune this "cry"out.  At least he would help with a baby :)  At the earliest I can make it to bed by 10p.  Ideally 9 would be great, but by the time I finish out my day, read and relax it is usually already after 10. Basically I am tired and "overworked" these days ... boo hoo!  My pity party is over now.

On a good note, I have been offered the opportunity to head a homeschool partnership with our local school district Center Line.  This was something that was attempted last fall but due to various issues it never took off.  So this year, they want to give it a shot again.  Much to my surprise but pleasure, I was recommended by the former Director.  She had other obligations and asked if I could fill the spot.  It was an awesome offer which I of course had to accept, regardless of my already jam packed schedule and sleepless nights.  The District is even willing to give us use of an entire building, a previous elementary.  This opens so much opportunity for our homeschool community, and I am praying with my whole heart that we can get everything up and running for the fall.  Basically the partnership allows the homeschoolers to set up classes (non core) and the school district funds it.  It is ran by a fellow homeschooling parent (myself) and usually retired and or new grad teachers and staff are hired to fill any needs we have.  We also strive to help boost the local communities economy by offering local businesses opportunities to come in and teach our children.  For example, the local racket ball center has a certified teacher who can come in once a week and teach Beginners Tennis.  The district will pay him to do this.  This boosts his business, he makes money, our kids get lessons that we would have otherwise had to pay for ourselves.  The possibilities are endless and there are several partnerships within Michigan now successfully running with 300+ students. 
Our first and biggest hurdle is convincing the ISD to approve it.  Wish me luck. 

As for Olena.  She is doing fabulous.  We ran into some issues with her stuttering again, but it has been a few weeks now and I see that it is, as usual, improving.  The doctor was a bit disappointed to find out she wasn't still in speech therapy and said that I  really should consider taking her back.  I am still juggling with the idea though.  I am not usually one to "give up" on things that come to Olena but I just think that this is who she is.  Her stuttering is always temporary and is always followed by an increase in her vocabulary and conversation speech.  I know she needs improvement on her articulation but she is nasaly when she talks and I think that has a lot to do with it.  None-the-less, I need to find some time to research local speech therapists and at least get an evaluation and talk to someone. 
In school she is coming along pretty good.  She still is not very strong in adding and subtracting but she is right on target with other aspects of math.  telling time, greater than less than, we are learning mapping and measuring over the next couple of weeks.  We do continue practicing with the adding/subtracting but we keep it in the background.

Other then working on math, I have stepped back a bit because she has been reading like a maniac.  She picks up any book and attempts to read it.  She is reading words that blow me away.  She now owns the entire Mo's Book Series and they use some pretty lengthy words in those books.... Let me give you an example of what these books read like...
Mo and Lucky's day by the sea is sensational fun.  Running, digging, surfing, and playing - for everyone.  Vast, exhilarating, salty, and island sweet, Mo smells Blue.  Mo smells freedom!
Now some of you may think that maybe she just has this book memorized.  That is not the case.  She now has something like 7 of these books and I have only read each one out loud to her once.  When we first get it.  From that point on, she has sat and taught herself to read each and every word of every one of these books.  The book she read from last night was Mo Smells Pink and she got it in the mail from her Auntie Jen on Saturday.  She read through several pages, pointing to each word and pronouncing each word perfectly clear.  I was so proud of her and I am so happy she loves to read.  Not only because the educational value but the personal joy and freedom it will give her to be able to sit down and really be engrossed in a book she loves.

So since she has been endulging herself into reading for several hours a day I have backed off on some schooling subjects.  We still do some light interest base learning, like this week we are learning how to read maps and measure distances.  She is into pirates and treasure maps so I thought this would be fun.  We get some handwriting practice by using a few worksheet each day, and usually each unit has some math related subjects to it. 

Well I need to get myself some dinner and answer a few emails so I will do my best to get into the habit of my "journaling", and maybe even find time to take a picture or two and post them! 

Momma's getting a new (well new used) car!

Next week, this is what I will be driving!  A Buick Rendezvous! Pretty nice, huh?

I love my Trailblazer and I love the idea of no longer having a truck payment, but it is getting pretty old and has well over 130,000 miles on it.  With all of the driving I have to do (especially far distance driving) between horse back riding, co-op, work, etc... Jason and I were starting to get a bit worried about the cost of repairs and the idea of whether or not the Trailblazer could continue to handle all of the extra miles. 

This truck is used, a 2006 but the mileage is really low (47k) and it is in great condition.  It is comfortable, has 3rd row seating,  it is a bit smaller than my Trailblazer and good on gas. 
Best of all, we got it for a steal.  The dealer closed another lot and aquired about 150 of thier car, which they have been sitting on for awhile now.  It was the fastest and easiest car purchase I have ever made.  We asked them to "eat" the cost of taxes and title transfer, and they agreed pretty much instantly - which is something that we didn't expect considering he showed us that they were already in the hole a few thousand dollars!  After everything, the bank confirmed that we paid about $4,500 less than what the truck is valued at.  WOW!

My budding author and illustrator.

This is the book that Olena is in the process of writting and illustrating for her co-op class.  They have to tell a circular story such as the series by

By Laura Joffe Numeroff

With that being said, I introduce to you, (the begining of at least)

If you give a Tiger a Tomato

Written and Illustrated by Olena Warchol.

To be continued...

Wedding bliss.

My weekend was spent in Windsor Canada with Rickie - my best friend - helping her with some wedding chores.  We had to shop wedding boutiques crowed with lots of chatty women and we had to assemble and stuff wedding invites.

Olena couldn't join us, due to the fact that busy mommy still hasn't made time to take her to the post office to get her passport renewed! it expired a few weeks ago, so now it is impossible for me to take her over the border!  It all worked out for the best.  She got to spend the day with her cousin playing, and Rickie's wicked bridezilla was not able to scare the pants off my kid.  Yes, my very best friend is a completely unruley bride-to-be.  She is sassy, demanding and not very nice.  But I sigh a breath of patience and try to remember that this is a woman who has been waiting about 14 years to get married.  I know it will never ruin our friendship, I don't think much of anything ever could, but it is enough to drive me batty for the next 4 months!

Things on my to do list:
Buy Olena's flower girl dress, and shoes

Buy my dress and shoes

Enjoy the wedding shower

(These are the invites I ordered for her, I just removed the details and contact information before posting it on this blog)

And lots and lots of little things all in-between and up to May 19th!!  Here comes the bride!!!!

7 Year Check Up!

Jan 2007 - 2 year well visit.
She was 19 lbs and 31 inches tall.
Fast forward to last year.  Feb of 2011 - 6 year well visit.
She was up to 29 lbs and 39.5 inches tall.  We steadly climbed up roughly 2 lbs and 2 inches every year.

Now, Jan 2012 - 7 year well visit.
She puts on her little hospital gown, stands to be measured for her height.....42 inches. Ok our usual 2 inches. 

Then she stands on the scale... drumroll please..............................39.5 lbs. 
10.5 lbs in 11 months.  I almost fell out of my chair.  I couldn't believe it.  I told the medical assistant her scale was wrong and she giggled.  I said "no seriously, according to the scale you are telling me my daughter gained more this year than in the last 4 years." 
She just giggled again, wrote down the numbers on the paper, and started fishing back through the chart looking at last years numbers.  You could see her face start to get a look of concern and confusion as she shuffled back and forth through the thick chart.  I started laughing.  I looked at her and said "don't worry, it's right.  Yes she did gain over 10 lbs this year.  But it's a good thing." She left the room and when the doctor came in, she too was laughing.  The MA so was shocked she ran and told the doctor; her response was "well we finally we got that girl on the growth chart" and sure enough after 5 years, it seems we did!

Happy 7th Bday!

Not that I believe it, but my baby is already 7...and yes I can call her my baby because she still is! :) It is always hard for me to process just how old she is. The fact that she is so small and that I missed the first 2 years, always makes me feel 2 years behind. I told her we should have gone backwards from 6 and did 5 all over again because 5 just feels right. She did not necessarily agree with me on that. Hey, it was worth a shot.

Her birthday was on Friday but Jason works afternoons and I didn't want him to miss out on anything so we waited until Saturday night and invited a few friends and family members over for a delicious cake and some ice cream. I figured after a couple of hours everyone would go home and we would have an early night...but boy was I wrong. It turned out to be a late night, with a house full of people, lots of laughs, and lots of fun. Olena didn't even go to bed until almost midnight....a first for her. The latest she has ever stayed up is 10:30. She was being so well behaved and was having so much fun, I figured it would be a nice bday treat for her. The cake was her choice. She wanted yellow batter, white frosting and purple flowers; and that is exactly what she got. It was yummy too. We like to get our cakes from Kroger with whipped frosting. The same lady has been making all of Olena's cakes since the day we brought her home...she is from Ukraine herself. It is one of the only times I can call and place an order using Olena's name and I do not have to spell it out for them.

We asked that gifts be kept to minimum to avoid any over stimulation (and over spoilage!) She got a beautiful horse bedding set from her Grampy, a few odds and ends from her aunt Rickie, the riding gear from my parents and her cousins passed on their Build a Bear collection (4 stuffed animals and a tote filled with over 50 outfits and tons of accessories) Which to my surprise she loved and has been playing with like crazy. She is not usually into "doll" stuff and clothes but then again they are all costumes for Hippo so I should have known she would love it.

Pictures below are of what Olena and I woke up too on Friday, the morning of her bday.  My schedule has been so hectic and I was so tired that I gave up on Thursday night.  I bit the bullet of guilt I felt, and just went to bed without decorating.  Well daddy came home from work, had a few barley pops with a friend and decided to decorate for me.  While I was extremely grateful and reminded of how blessed we are having such a marvelous daddy/husband I was bit less enthused with his confetti party.  Seems that drinking a few too many beers can make throwing confetti around, a little too much fun.  I did let her enjoy it for 2 whole days, but it took me over 45 minutes to vaccum up the mess it caused.  She liked it though, and said her room looked like vanilla ice cream with sprinkles...which is of course, her favorite! Happy Birthday Olena. 

Jason and I bought her a new pair of purple derby roller skates with wheels that light up. The original pair of skates we bought her last year are so beat up and the wheels are in rough shape.  She loves them and we spent the afternoon on Friday at Great Skate letting her break them in. We are now "regulars" at the rink. The workers are starting to recognize her, she has made a few friends, and has even earned a few admirers who love watching her tiny little self zoom around the rink.

My littlest equestrian! This is her last week sporting her new riding gear that she got for her birthday. She got the fleece lined and padded riding pants, the fleece riding coat, the helmet and face warmer, as well as a pair of leather riding gloves. She thinks she is so cool now!

The horse she has been riding is named Kidd (see him here)  I tried to put his picture on the blog but it is secured.  Unfortunately the light has been awful since they have been riding in the indoor arena but once they get outside I will get some better pictures of her on the horse instead of the just modeling the clothes! :)

Here is a little bio about Kidd...


Registered Name: M&M Kidd
Donated By: Ann Crawford
Arrived At Banbury: June, 2008
Birthdate: April 20, 1991
Nickname: Kid-A-Roo
Color: Bay Roan Breed: Appaloosa Height: 15.3 Hands
Kidd has become an instant favorite. His demeanor is similar to that of a gentle giant. While he stands pretty tall, he is tolerant of any rider on his back. He enjoys every minute of his time spent in the ring. Kidd also sports a short tail, which makes it hard for him to fight off flies, so you will see him sporting many interesting tools in the summer months, including tail extensions! Before Banbury, rode english and western, and competed in 4-H shows with his owner.

A few random pictures taken over the course of 2011 with my mom's camera. She let me borrow it until mine is fixed and when I downloaded the card I was able to get a few extra pictures that I didn't have before :)

Catch up

I know it seems I already feel off the wagon by not posting all weekend, but you are wrong!! I have been writing down a few sentences everyday. I have just been so swamped I haven't had time to log onto the blog and type everything out.  We had an extremely busy weekend but it was filled with lots of good company and tons of laughing.  My sides are still aching because of it :) but right now I have dinner to cook, a little girl to get to bed, some reading to get done and some sleep to catch up on, so I promise tomorrow I will get everything posted and bring you up to date! Ta ta for now.

Short and simple

It is late, I have been up since 4:30 and I am whipped. My truck broke down...but thankfully it happened while I was at my parents house. So it now sits in their barn until Jason can get out there on Saturday to fix it. In the mean time I am driving mom's car. 

Today was a simple day.  We had riding lessons which went really well.  Olena received some wonderful gifts from my parents and had all new riding gear today.  I will get some pictures up maybe over the weekend.  (my mom is letting me borrow her camera for a little while)

Olena's 7th birthday is tomorrow! I cannot believe it.  I am sure I will have more emotions to share about that tomorrow night.  Lots to do still. 

The things we eat...

Can You Guess What McDonald’s Food Item This Is?

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made – things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve — bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?  And I love how everyone I show it to says, "hey don't show me that or I will never eat McDonalds again!"........REALLY!!!  Olena may be upset but I am not really sure I am too willing to give her a Happy Meal again any time soon. 

Source: http://docakilah.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/can-you-guess-what-mcdonald%E2%80%99s-food-item-this-is

Why homeschool?

This was sitting unnoticed in my draft box.  I read it today and had to chuckle because it was written quite awhile ago, back when I just started homeschooling.  I remember the day I wrote it, I was flustered because of comments from the family regarding our choice to homeschool.  I can laugh now, but I use to be a bit defensive . 


I have been asked the question a few times...why do you home school Olena? And we definitely have family that feel that way. 

With the way I seem to stress with juggling work and homeschooling it seems that it would be easier to send her to public school.  Believe me...the thought has crossed my mind a few times throughout this process.  The doubt only lasts seconds though because my reasons for homeschooling heavily outweigh any other choices I feel we have.  

One thing I do find surprising is why everyone considers us (the homeschooling community as a whole)  "out of the norm".  Personally it seems to be the other way around in my eyes.  When did it become right to send your kid away for 8 hours a day to sit in an over crowded, windowless, cynderblock room?  To be taught over a period of 14 years by strangers.  During the earlier centuries and in the HS community now...the same education can be taught  in half the time? 
Why is it considered socializing when your child is continuously surrounded by peers his/her own age? and usually carries through their whole school career with the same group of kids?
Your child is not encouraged  to talk or ask questions during class, and they are inevitably going to be socially labelled?  That is socializing??

I am not judging those who chose to send their kids to school.  And I am not saying it is the wrong choice. As long as you are doing what is right for your family and your children.  I am merely asking to please don't judge us, our choices or look at us as unsocialized group of homebody weirdos, because you are so wrong!

A great day.

Today we had a fabulous day of school.  We studied horses.  Labelled parts of it's body, read about their senses and behaviors.  We also learned the proper names for their colors and markings.  Which I found pretty interesting myself.

She goes to therapeutic equestrian classes at Banbury Cross and they have all of the horses pictures and a biography on their website so we then went there, and she had to distinguish what color each one was and what marks they had using the reference web page. She really enjoyed it, and I know tomorrow once we get to class she is going to be pretty geeked about sharing her new knowledge. 
We also had a HUGE break through in math today.  As I have mentioned before addition and subtraction has been a bit of a struggle for us.  Today we went onto Starfall to do something a bit different and they added a new add/subtract game.  She was hooked and within a few minutes she caught on and was adding and subtracting like some mathematical genius (ok so I am exaggerating but that is what it felt like to me)

We have been working on this subject for months. I continued on with other things like reading a clock, greater than/less than and she can do all of that.  Every week I just made sure she continued to work on a few math problems every day using different media.  Worksheets, caulk board, salt tray, math blocks, board games, manipulative's....you name it....I tried it.  Today the switch finally flipped and the light bulb is burning bright! Thank you Lord :)

Today was start of Olena's second semester of co-op.  She has "We Love Books" and "Outdoor Survival" I am the teachers aid for W.L.B because it has over 23 first through third graders!
Then, Ms Locke, in Outdoor class said she would probably need a hand when it comes to building shelters and the hands on activities too.  Guess that means the 2 hours of reading time that mommy was looking forward too, won't quite be in the schedule this semester.  It's ok, I like being there with her, and it gives me a chance to watch over her.  She is smart as a whip and truthfully I don't have too much trouble keeping her attention here at home.  She will easily work on a project for 30-40 minutes if it interest her enough.  But oh my...what a difference a classroom makes.  This girl is in complete lala land the entire 2 hours.  She is so busy looking at everyone else, copying what they do, and fiddling around in her seat.  And it is never without fail, she is always drawn to the class clown...every single time.  She seeks him out like a hawk and he then becomes her point of interest throughout the entire class.  She laughs when he irritates the kid next to him, she copies his movements, she gets excited when he does, she studies him closely....it is a mothers nightmare! We have had several heart to heart talks but once she is in that class it as if she just can't control herself.  Sigh!! ...............We'll get through it.  We always do.  Tomorrow we start our lesson plan about horses. She is excited and it should be fun.
Things are always so much more pleasant within these walls! I love homeschooling. 
 

Resolution

I read a story on line about a man who had a journal and devoted to writing at least one sentence everyday...something simple about anything that may have happened or how he was feeling.  He said he planned on making copies and giving them to his sons once they were adults. 
I got to thinking what a wonderful idea.  We often go through our days not noticing or being grateful for even the simple moments in life.  And then they are gone...and we don't ever think about them or even remember them for that fact, ever again.  This blog is similar to my journal and I plan on having it around for Olena so I am going to make this idea one of my new daily tasks. 

A few sentences everyday.

With that being said...
Today, my cousin Kevin (21 years old) babysat Olena for the first time ever and at his house.  I am so happy that she has him in her life.  Neither Jason or I have any brothers, so she doesn't get to experience the fun/good times with young uncles like we had.  But Kevin does a great job filling those shoes.  She adores him and he equally adores her.  They had a fabulous time together and when I got there to pick her up she was well and happy as can be. Thank you for my fabulous family!  

Big cry babies.

Olena was fussing the other day so I looked at her told her if kept crying I would call the "WAH-mbulance."  of course she thought that was hiliarous and stopped her fake crying.  It was nothing we have ever said around here before, it just came to me and we thought it was funny. 

Fast forward to last night...she was reading a book to me before bed.  It was way past her bed time (due to guest being over for dinner) and I knew she was too emotional to deal with much but she was determined to read the book.  She was getting stuck on a few hard words...(exubuerent) and started to fuss again but would not let me help her or see the word.  I put my face in my hands in frustration because I just wanted her to get some sleep but I didn't want to unmind her efforts.  All of sudden I feel this little wet finger shoved in my ear and she belts out "what's wrong mommy??...should I call the WAH-mbulance?"

Truthfully I don't know what was funnier...the wet willy in my ear, or the comment! but we both got a really good laugh and she finally let me finish the book, while she fell fast asleep!  :)

Where's winter?

In Michigan mid-January should be a time of ice skating, sledding and shoveling.  But not this year. We have barely even seen a snowflake.  Instead of ice skating Olena has been roller skating up and down the street.  Lots of people complain about the snow, but I love it.  The smell, the twinkle, the crunching sound when you walk on it....I love it all!  I imagine that either we will have primarily a wet rainy winter OR we will get blasted with snow in Feb and it will stick around until June! That is something that could easily happen here.  Hopefully soon!

We have had a pretty mellow few weeks.  My Kindle broke which I was really upset about.  I had just bought 3 new books, turned it on to download them and nothing.  The screen went all crazy on me.  When I called Kindle support they so kindly said "oh yeah that's a defect but your warranty ended last week".  I was so bummed.  I had just read the last paper book I have in the house, and I haven't been to the library so I had to trudge through a few weeks with no chance to get lost in the oasis of a book.  Then my amazing and loving husband came home with one for me over the weekend!!  I did ruin his surprise by interrogating him (because financially we currently have other obligations and not much "fun" money) but it was a well welcomed gift! I read one whole book that night when he went out with some friends.  :) 

Olena is doing fabulous.  The trampoline and pool of balls has been amazing in her therapy needs.  It has made a huge difference in her ability to stay focused and together for most of the day.  She goes down stairs with Jason in the morning while he "es-cer-sises" (as O calls it)  and for about 45 minutes she jumps, plays and does jumping jacks. 
It is great having her "back".   It is hard to explain but Olena's SPD can be so off balance that she almost seems to have a dual personality.  There is the amazing 6 year old girl who is funnier than heck, and completely curious about every single thing around her. Obedient and proper.
Then there is the other O....she on the other hand is nothing short of the Tasmanian devil from the cartoon I remember as a kid.  She is constantly on the run around this entire house and leaving a path of destruction in her wake.  And she has no regard or care for punishment what so ever.  She will laugh at anything and everything you do and say.  It can be so frustrating.   
We figure it out though.  Thankfully we have the resources and knowledge so it helps and we get through it.  I am really lucky to have the support of understanding family too.  I have parents who are my assylum. My mom always knows when it is time to take O to her house for a couple of days.  It gives me time to regroup and get caught up.  and then there is Jason...there are just no words for how blessed I am having him as the father of my daughter.  Those two are like peas in pod, or peanut butter and jelly....they know how to work together.  She respects him.  She loves him.  And she loves to drive him crazy!  They love hot rods, motorcycles, and loud fast things.  He is a very active participant in her life.  Not just meaning he plays with her in his spare time, he really takes care of her.  He cooks her breakfast every morning...poached eggs, sausage and toast and basically takes over whenever I am not around.  Granted he grumps a lot at her when she is over rowdy, but God definitely chose the right daddy for this little girl. 

Well maybe I will get back on later but I have a half dressed little girl (nothing but underwear, tutu and tall knee socks!!) dancing around behind me carrying on wildly about reading Olivia and bouncing in a bouncy house....good grief!  I need to tame the lion and put her to bed!

Lost in life...

So here I sit, house is quiet, dark and warm.  Once again I find that I am lost in thought instead of working on the 1 million things on my TO DO list.  It is 2012 and I find the need to "renew"....but renew what? this has been something on my mind for several weeks now, and while I had strongly hoped that come January 1st it would hit me like a brick, and I would start living this renewed life with such joy and success....well, hhmmm...... here I sit still in deep thought. 

Thoughts about what you ask? EVERYTHING! It is kind of hard to explain without sounding like a complete raging lunatic but I really feel like I don't know myself.  Somewhere along the line, I lost that person.  My life...a whole series of events made me who I am today, but yet this person is not really me, is it?  Don't get me wrong, I have a lovely life.  A fabulous husband who has walked this rocky road of marriage with me through good and bad.  I am blessed with the most perfect daughter, and I have a loving and gracious family.  I am a very fortunate woman, and I am grateful - though I honestly think I forget to remember that everyday.  But, lately I feel like life is happening around me...almost like a movie, I am just watching it, not a part of it.  

Whats my purpose? where do I fit in this world?

Again I am happy for my many blessings, but I have to be more than the house cleaning, caretaker, underpaid office grunt worker that I feel like. (I am putting my dirty laundry out there for the blog world to read.)  My #1 flaw is my inability to follow through with my ideas, dreams, and wishes in life. Over the last few days I have started a bucket list, only my bucket list doesn't contain what I want to do before I die but what I have wanted to do either currently or in the past but never seen it through for one reason or another?  Embarrassing to say, but it is quite lengthy. I feel like I have a lot to figure out, a lot of soul searching to do, but life...it keeps going, so instead of being so distracted, I need to get my head out of clouds and join this movie reel before my TO DO list drowns us all, my unschooled daughter is running the streets, and my ravaged animals take over the house! 
I have considered telling Jason "lets sell everything, move overseas and start a new life"...but maybe coming back to reality is a better idea?

Mid Semester breakdown??? or Midlife crisis???

Christmas Cheer

We had a lovely Christmas, and according to Olena it was the "most awesome day ever!" She was so cute, and absolutely LOVED her gifts.  We set up a sensory heaven in our basement...aka: a trampoline and a huge ball pit!  and she thinks the ball pit is the coolest thing ever.  Sadly I don't have any pictures since my camera is still out of commission but as soon as it is in working order again, I will definitely put some up for you to see.  She also received the Leapster Explore from my parents, which is a child version of the IPad, she is starting to grow more fond of it everyday but she was a bit disappointed to find out that there was no app for Angry Birds.  Crazy girl. 

We spent the morning together just the three of us, but the rest of the day was spent traveling around to see the parents.  Though it was a busy day, it was still wonderful.  This year was one of the first ones in a long time that I can remember that we didn't have any snow.  When you are from the "North", it just doesn't feel like Christmas without snow.  I am sure that soon enough we will be blanketed and it will probably stick around for way too long!

Jason has the week off and hopefully we will see a few of the straggling projects come to completion.  My husband is marvelous but he has a huge issue with completing things.  Every project in this house is missing the final 10% - it is enough to drive a wife insane. but I am optimistic and hoping for the best :)

As for this week, I am hoping to tackle a couple of projects myself, particularly my January lesson plan.  I have completely feel off the wagon and had my midterm breakdown.  I am beginning to learn that this is normal process to the homeschooling life.  So hopefully some planning and reorganizing will fix this problem. 
I also want to start researching travel ideas for a family vacation.  We have never, in the 5 years of being a family - have taken a vacation with just a three of us.  We got some money for Christmas so we decided to use it to book a trip.  But now the tough part...where to go?  I would love Disney but truthfully I am not sure if it is worth the money.  Granted it is the most magically place on Earth but really the cost to go there and the surrounding expenses such as food, gas, lodging are ridiculous if you ask me.  If I am going to spend that kind of money to go I would rather wait until O is older, would get more enjoyment out of it, and remember it.   Not to mention my idea of a vacation is relaxation, not running around some humongous park with thousands of people and standing in lines all day.  My two main ideas at this point is either Alaska or the Bahama's....quite the extreme difference huh?   But I am also torn about flying.  The cost of that is crazy too, do I want to spend all that extra money or would it be better to chose a place within driving distance?  hhmmmm....the choices.  Any suggestions? I'd love to hear what some of you have done.

While I wish I could say that the night we decorated our tree was a beautiful peaceful night of carols and lots of love. But really it was more about 2 exhausted adults and 2 exhausted children, and lots of dropped broken bulbs.
After a full day of hard work and play we finally got to the moment we had all been waiting for...tree decorating time. Well we were not quite prepared so it started off with Jason spending 45 minutes trying to fix lights just to realize we didn't have enough so at 8p on a Sunday he went on the hunt. He was gone way too long and the kids were practically falling asleep so I let them go ahead with the decorating, we had some cocoa, and then I put them to bed.
It took them about 2 minutes to fall asleep so I then undecorated the tree. When J got home we strung the lights and redecorated until midnight! Thankfully both the kids were excited enough with the final outcome the next morning that they didn't even notice the changes I made :)

This year we got a real tree, and I LOVE IT. It has resorted to me having to take Zyrtec everyday to be in the house with it, but it is worth it!

Fun Day at the park!

Wedding Shower Bliss.

My dearest and bestest friend Rickie's Canadian wedding shower.
I will have one for her, here in the States in April! This one was held by her fiance's family.
Her and Dan will marry (finally after 12 years) on May 19th, 2012.

My grandmother is selling crochet sets; hat, scarf and wristlets.
Color and style of your choice.
Made to order. $28 per set!

I should be diligently wrapping Christmas presents while I have a few moments to spare but I thought I owed it to everyone to at least try and update once before the Holiday. 

Things have been really busy so of course the blogging has taken the back burner.  A-Line (my job) is super busy and I have been working about 10 more hours a week than usual.  And while that doesn't seem like much, it definitely makes a difference to a homeschooling mom.  School has slowed down a bit.  She has been doing a lot of computer work and projects which she is thrilled about.  No writing or arithmetic is her idea of a great school day.  I am hoping to work on a lesson plan for the month of January between Xmas and New Year.  I want to spend the month working on her speech.  She hasn't made a lot of progress over the last 9 months or so and I see some regression in certain areas.  I also have noticed that more and more adults are having difficultly understanding her.  I plan to make it a month of lots of verbal work, and I have a CD program that I got from the homeschooling conference that we will work with.

I have a few pictures to share but sadly my camera has been broke for about 2 months now and the few I do have I had taken with my point and shoot but the quality is awful not to mention I have to take them "blind" because the screen does not work and the view finder is fogged over for some reason! Christmas and lots of other things have caused a bit of a financial crunch so the camera being fixed will have to wait for the time being :(

We just finished up our first semester of co-op.  It has been fun and the field trip opportunities are amazing.  The three classes we just finished were Painting Like the Masters, Spanish 101, and Lego Engineering.  Lets just say I am pretty confident that she will neither be an artist or an engineer. In January she will start Outdoor Survival and We Love Reading and Writing.  In addition to the horse back riding lessons.  Looks like 2012 will be arriving with a bang. 

We recently toured the Meadowbrook property which was AMAZING!!  If you live in MetroDetroit this is a must see.  Country mansion built in 1925 by Matilda Dodge who at that time was the wealthiest woman in the world.  She sold her Dodge shares in 1925 for $146M.  She was an amazing woman and lead an interesting life...not to mention that she had fabulous taste in design.  This house so warm, inviting and cozy.All you wanted to do was curl up on one of the big cushion coach and read a book.  The detail was in every nook and cranny was unbelievable.  Olena went with us of course and she did great being patient with us but I would love to go back with some adult friends and really spend time looking at everything.  Your not allowed to take pictures but I will try to put something together from pictures online. 

Well I do still have a few things to do and I want to get some pictures posted.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Lady Pirates of Halloween Night!

I am back...at least for the moment.  I figured it was about time I take the extra 15 minutes to check in and try to keep things interesting.  However, it seems my life has lacked a lot of things interesting lately. 

Being a working/"stay at home"/homeschooling mom has been quite the challenge for me lately and I basically just feel like I am constantly fighting a mental battle about where I should be, and what I should be doing.  When at work trying to get things done, I get caught up late and I feel "I need to be at home working on school".  Then when I get home I have things to finish I didn't do at that office, the phone is ringing constantly all through the evening, I have household stuff to take care of and oh yeah...that homeschooling thing too.  Did I mention we also have three co-op classes, and 1 field trip a week?

Not complaining...just sharing my daily life.  I am grateful for my job.  Is it ideal? No.  But none-the-less it gives us an income that we surely can use.  This has never been an easy part of my life to navigate.  I always second guess my decision and it seems I am always struggling with a hint of guilt.   My employer could surely use and would love to have me full time, not to mention the extra full time income would be AWESOME for our family.  Then on the other side of the coin I feel that I shouldn't even be working part time.  Money is not the answer to everything and we can make ends meet with one income.  Because I work, even part time, I often find it hard to keep up with homeschooling and I always fear I am not doing enough.   For now, it is what it is! I pray for the energy to keep up the pace, I pray for days of cooperation and a "whole" daughter, and I pray for the knowledge and ability to keep all of my current responsibilities juggling smoothly.  All of these prayers have been faithfully answered thus far so I will take it as it comes!

As for Olena, she is doing awesome.  She learns like a sponge and obviously LOVES reading.  It is common to see her grab a book, sit down and dutifully read it over and over until she masters it.  In one week she taught herself how to read 3 Mo's Nose books that I ordered for her on-line.  They are not even geared towards early readers for example..."Red strawberries are plump, delectable, and bursting with sugary juices."  She would figure out all the words and then come ask me what certain ones, like delectable, meant.  It was amazing because the entire week she completely engulfed herself in reading and learning what the words meant.  btw...I know a few of my blogger friends have children with sensory needs.  The Mo's Nose books are a great tool.  Olena has a strong drive for scent so these really help to meet her needs.  Word of warning, roll down the windows while in the car.  Once she got done going through the books 100 times during our hour drive we were both woozy from all of the aroma therapy.

I haven't spoke too much about Olena's and her "challenges" lately. To be honest we have been very lucky in that we haven't been faced with many new issues or concerns. However the time has come where we are once again finding that we are dealing with "episodes" more frequently.  Episodes are not easily defined, but to help you understand; basically when Olena is feeling overwhelmed or her sensory needs are not being met she will "act out" in various ways.  Sometimes she will break out into an obnoxious uncontrollable laughing fit. She may start to become very active such as running fast continually around and around, jumping, climbing.  There won't be any "purpose" to her action, it is almost robotic like she is determined to burn the energy. She has a few other quirks that signal us to her needs such as rubbing her hands together, making humming noises and smelling everything.  When she is attending OT, Theresa teaches us different techniques which we of course carry over into our every day life. We go to OT and practice this "sensory diet" for about 6 months.  We get her to what I call her "whole self", we get discharged from OT and we can maintain this for about 6-8 months after therapy ends.  So basically for about a year we can help her control herself and help her to recognize her own needs.  But after that year, it's as if she grows out of these techniques. 

I took some time to go back through her medical journal. The files I keep charting her OT, our appointments, concerns, etc and sure enough for the last five years - just like clock work we are continuously coming full circle.  Winter/early spring OT, late spring/summer no issues, late fall she starts to decline. This time though, we have decided to tackle it from a different approach and it is another one of my many prayers each night that I am doing what is best for her.  I have enrolled her into a year long therapeutic equestrian class.  Basically horse back riding for children with special needs and cognitive disorders.  I did a lot of research, received tons of fabulous information, and she absolutely adores animals.  I figured it would be a perfect "substitute" for OT.  That paired with a few changes we are really focused on making around here should give us a great outcome...at least I hope.  I did a lot of thinking, and I want her to learn about new "natural ways" to meet her needs.  I am not sure if as an adult she is going to want to wrap herself in a tight blanket burrito, lay in a bean bag and listen to classical music on her headphones every time she feels overwhelmed.   Obviously as she grows, it is very likely she will carry some of these challenges with her into her adult life.  I don't want her turning to medications, or risking the use of drugs to deal with this.  If she is aware and has the knowledge and power to tackle these challenges she will be able to accomplish anything.  She is perfect in every way.  She will surely be independent and extremely intelligent, I have no doubts about that, but the fact of the matter is, that she suffers from prenatal alcohol exposure.  That is the truth, there is no candy coating that.  She also shows many signs of FAE.  None of this tags her as incapable of anything, but it does, as her mother, make me worry about what she may encounter down the road.  I can't drive myself crazy with the what-ifs so I feel my best plan of action is to continually teach her different ways to handle any roadblocks and/or discomforts that come her way.  I love this girl with every cell in my body, and I want nothing more than for her to love herself just as much. 

Thanks for being a blessing...

Thanks for being a blessing...

First...I must say there are a whole bunch of 19 mamas who are just blown away by your outpouring of love, support, and generosity for the precious souls that still weigh heavy on our hearts. YOU have donated from your heart to give an orphan a Christmas blessing this year and oh how awesome it has been to see the Christmas goodies keep rolling in....

Many of you have donated cute toys...

...socks, underwear, gloves, hats, hair bows...

...and then there were the boxes...

When the mamas of baby house 19 wanted to do something for the children we said goodbye to...we were praying that we would collect enough boxes to provide a gift to each of the 115 children that live behind the walls of baby house 19. NEVER would we have imagined that the Lord would use so many of His servants to spread the word and provide for His children. As I'm typing this post...we have collected 189 boxes with more still on the way. You...our sweet friends...have not only provided the children of baby house 19 with a Christmas blessing...but we have gotten word that an older children's internat located in the same region will also love to have Christmas blessing boxes for their children. Isn't it amazing! The children of 2 different orphanages will be receiving Christmas gifts this year...Praise God!

We still need your help! Please spread the word...we are still in need of monetary donations to help cover shipping. Remember...all donations of $25 or more are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

On behalf of the mamas of baby house 19...thank you for giving

You gotta love this pirate regardless of how mean she looks!

We have been so unbelievably busy for the last 2 weeks but I promise to get on soon and post, hopefully later tonight.  I also wanted to get this picture posted for my parents - my amazing momma made her costume again this year.  We had a skating party on Wednesday so I tried to get a few pictures to show my mom and dad the sweet final product.  We have 3 more events which require costume so I am sure I will have no shortage of this Pirate at her best.  

Writing on the wall can be so much fun...

I love to spend my Friday nights alone sitting in the computer room surfing the Internet reading blogs. Adoption, travel, home school and I especially love the country living style blogs.  One the new trends I have been seeing lately is the caulk board wall. 

I am pleased to announce...I now have my very own caulk wall and I LOVE IT!! This was against my husbands better judgement, and my moms, my father-in-law, my friends - the list goes on but I persevered, stood my ground and did it.  I am so happy I did.  Jason now admits he is starting to like it and thinks it pretty cool he can write right on the wall. I think the little love notes that I have been leaving there for him at night could have something to do with his change of heart?? 
Sure, one day I'll out grow it and end up painting over it, but for now its all in good fun and looks fabulous. 

It takes about 4 days to do, between the drying and conditioning.  And I have to admit, when you first paint it on, it is a bit overwhelming and very black but the final project is completely different. 

I am not going to post the full picture yet because it is still a project in the making - (it is being transformed into the  house hold communication center.) But here's a few others that inspired me.

This picture is from my wall.

One dirty bird school girl...

She goes to bed looking like a shiney new penny, within an hour of being awake, she looks more like this!  As for school work, I thought that this was worthy of a photograph because it was the first day she actually enjoyed our handwriting lesson! It gets better every week!

A fun afternoon.

A few weeks ago Olena and I spent the afternoon at a local nature center.  It was my first time here and I was very impressed.  I was however bummed that I didn't take more and/or better pictures so I hope to go back again soon.  They have 2 deer there name Sunshine and Serria.  Both are beautiful and very friendly, however one of them has a serious licking problem. HAHA.  Anytime I got within a few feet of the fench she would run over stick her head through and start licking my hands and arms.  Even when I tried to feed her, her first concern was to lick my hand before taking the offering.  Guess I am just too sweet! LOL!

We were even able to spend a few hours inside of thier nature center showroom.   It was beautiful.  Fire place, cozy couchs, with tons of books.  Toys, lots of taxidermy animals and furs to touch...a sensory childs heaven.  They are usually only open on the weekends or during field trips but I called ahead of time and the manager said he had take care of the lawn work that afternoon so he opened the doors for us while he did his work outside.  It was the perfect afternoon.  We walked the trails, seen frogs and turtles in the pond, they had an old one room Little House on the Prarie cabin set up on display.  That was really cool.  You could look through the windows of the house to see how a home was typically set up, then they had an outhouse, a barn, woodworking shed, a working water pump and tons of farm tools.  They even had an old wooden tree swing which Olena loved.

Introducing Lady Mantis....or maybe Sir Mantis???

 My mom found this Mantis at work and brought her home some time back in the early summer.  After Olena checked her out we released her into our garden.  We are very proud to say that she decided to stay and every day we got to see her at least once.  It was neat to watch her "move" from one part of the garden to the next over a course of a few weeks.  She started at the flower box on the far end from the porch, we would see her there hanging out on the Dahlias every day around 1:00p.  She stay there for a few weeks before she moved to the front of the porch and lived in some vine flowers we have there.  She would come out late afternoon and bask in the sun on the cement porch.  Then once fall hit and the mums bloomed she moved in there, and every day for hours she would sit right on top of the bush greeting us whenever we came or went :) 

One afternoon I thought I better get a picture because this will be something neat for us to remember years from now; so I go get my camera, come out and start taking a few close ups when I notice something moving out of the corner of my eye.  I look down and low and behold...there was another one!  So I was able to get a few pictures of him too.  Olena swears they were husband and wife.  Not sure if that was the case or not, but I will say, we only seen Sir Mantis for 2 more days and then he never returned.  You know what they say about those crazy Lady Mantises'.....guess we'll never know the truth.

I made this one bigger so you can see her a little better.  Whenever we watched and observed her she would turn and look at us, and tilt her head back and forth.  Olena thought this was hilarious and would crack up laughing every time.



Unfortunately we did not ever get to see her hunt, but we did watch several videos on YouTube and studied Mantis' all week for school.  Did you know that some Mantis eat prey as big at birds and rodents? sorry but I have to say that was so gross to watch and a bit disturbing.

The joys of home schooling!