Thanksgiving Printables Roundup

The week of Thanksgiving is a major drag when it comes to Thanksgiving.  In essence I'm supposed to be teaching them something but really my mind is preoccupied about making the turkey, and did I remember to get the heavy whipping cream and did I tell my mom to pick up soda?, and on and on.  

Basically I'm a hot mess any other day but Thanksgiving just kind of sets a 450 degree fire under me to elevate me into a bunch a lotta fun mess. 

But you still love me, right?

So we will be doing a lot of worksheets.  A lot of printables.  A lot of turkey, gratitude themed worksheets that will hopefully sneak some learning into my kiddos without them figuring it out.  Oh the twisted webs we weave...

So here are some things I've found on the world wide webs.  

Do you like how I say that like old people say "the sugar diabetes"? 

Of course you do. 

Here's what I've scrounged up for you...

I've been a fan of Free Homeschool Deals as long as the day is short and let me tell you, this time of year is no exception.  

This downloadable packet from Only Passionate Curiosity is perfect for those of us who more than one child because there are sheets on different levels. 

Then there's this entire e-book from Apologia that I can't wait to tear into!  Apologia is the publisher of the chemistry book we are using this year and so far I have been loving it! There are lots of little science snippets, printables, craft ideas, and more!  Super fun! 

Over at the Proverbial Homemaker she has a neat Thanksgiving Lego Challenge.  This set features lego challenges, copy work, memory verses, coloring pages, devotionals, and more!  So amazing for those of us with little ones obsessed with Lego! 

Confessions of a Homeschooler has a really great Thankful Turkey craft.  Lots of fun to cut everything, assemble, and talk about what you are thankful for. 

Confessions of a Homeschooler also has an adorable Thanksgiving Preschool Printables.  Full of different activities you can have fun with puzzles, pre-writing, graphing, and more.  I just love all of her products! 

So there you have it, my list of printables I have found! 

If you have others you'd like to share, please comment below.  I love all of your comments and read each and every one of them.  You guys are so precious to me and I am so THANKFUL for each and every one of you!  I hope these printables help ease some of the stress around the holiday so you can have a blessed time with your little ones! 

Note: This blog contains affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Homeschooling Science: Bouncy Ball Fun!

In science we've been learning about Chemical Reactions and rubber and naturally we decided to make bouncy balls!  How fun, right? 

I thought I would show you how we made a bouncy ball.  The ingredients are for making ONE bouncy ball so if you want to make TWO bouncy balls then you need to double the ingredients...I'm so smart, right?

Okay so here's what you need: 

List of Supplies: 

Safety Goggles

1/2 tsp. Borax

1 tbsp. Cornstarch 

1 tbsp. White or clear school glue

2 tbsp. warm water

few drops food coloring

2 small plastic cups

a spoon

a timer

zippered plastic bag

Have your supplies together?  Okay, here we go...

First things first we're going to mix the water, food coloring, and borax together in one of the cups.  

Stir, stir, stir until it is all dissolved. 

Okay, next up you're going to take your other cup and pour in the glue and 1/2 tsp. of the borax solution from the first cup. 

Now add 1 tbsp. of cornstarch to the borax/glue fun in your cup but DO NOT STIR YET!!!

Allow it to sit for 15 seconds EXACTLY...<cue the Jeopardy song>...

Then you're going to mix the solution with your spoon until it becomes impossible to stir.  

And then we mix it, mix it...

Can't stir no more? 

Take it out of the cup and form it into a ball with your hands.  As expected this is kind of a stick mess so if you have a sensory sensitive child like I do, you may have to do it for them.  

So there you have it...how to make a bouncy ball so your kids can have tons of fun with their very own creation!  

I got this recipe from the kids Science book: Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics by Apologia.  You can get your copy here.  

Note: This blog contains affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure policy here

Ooey-Gooey Caramel Apples

We have apples coming out of our ears.  

For real. 

You can read all about our apple picking adventures here.  For some reason I always say we're not going to get that many apples this year...

And then we wind up with gobs and gobs of apples.  Budget fail!  Because they always go bad, ya know?  It really is true that one bad apple ruins the whole bunch...

Anyway, so I've been trying to use up these dern apples and I decided to just go for broke and make something super nutritious...

Caramel apples.  Which sounded super easy until I realized I have never made them.  So here's what I came up with and what I learned along the way...

Crock-Pot SCCPVC605-S 6-Quart Countdown Oval Slow Cooker with Dipper, Stainless Steel

I made my caramel sauce in the slow cooker.  I found a bowl that fit in my crockpot that still had room around it so I could lift it out.  I am sure this will be different for everyone so just mess with your bowls until you can find one that works for you. 

And by the way if you need a crockpot you can buy the same one I have on Amazon.  And right now it looks like it's on sale for 45% off for only $29.99.  You can click here to check it out. Deal!

Anyway, I then opened up the two bags of caramels that I bought at the store.  I got about half way through unwrapping one when I got this great idea and called in the kids to finish the rest.  I have no idea how many they ate.  I decided to turn a blind eye and not judge them. 

Anyway, a few minutes and a ton of wrappers later they were done and all of the caramels were ready to go. 

I then poured water carefully AROUND the bowl (not in the bowl).  You have to play around with this too.  I think I ended up with about 6 cups of water.  I say I think because I dumped a bunch of water in there and then when the bowl began to float I had to take some out.  As difficult as caramel apples are I didn't want to complicate things by having to follow a bobbing bowl around in the water. 

I then turned my slow cooker to high and let it go.  I stirred it about every half an hour to see how it was coming along.  My caramel took about two hours to get soft enough to dunk apples into.  The photo is what it looked like when it was time to dip.  I posted that one to show you what it should look like.  I didn't think it would be ready but upon completion of stirring it was ready and we were thrilled! 

I dipped the apples just as a precaution but the caramel didn't get too hot so I probably could have let the kiddos.  But safety first!  As you can see I used popsicle sticks and just jammed them in there about half way through the core.  None fell out which was good.  And no one had kabob skewers to try to impale each other with so even better! 

I would like to point out that these caramel apples are not what you would call "magazine perfect" but they are what you could call "kid perfect" because they helped and loved them and to me that's all that matters.  And besides who doesn't like an apple with ooey-gooey caramel running down the sides?

We dipped half of the apples in sprinkles and the other half left bare. I was thinking nuts but we had these when we had new friends over and I wasn't sure about nut allergies.  So maybe nuts would work next time.  I'm also posting these AFTER Halloween because I thought that chopping up leftover candy and using it as a topping would be a really great idea!  

My mother hen piece of advice here is to make sure you really scrape down the bottoms of your apples before you put them on the wax paper.  The caramel will ooze that way as God dictated that's how gravity works, so only scraping a wee bit off results in this big boogery end.  Which is just all caramel and sprinkles which can't be totally bad, right?

Oh and I thought that was my last bit of advice but it wasn't.  Make sure you spray your wax paper with a cooking spray.  We did not and on some of the apples I was stuck (get it? ha!) trying to pick wax paper pieces off of the apples.  Not so fun.  

I hope you enjoy making your own ooey-gooey caramel apples!  

Note: This blog contains affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure policy here. 

Halloween Recap

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed trick or treating with your little ones.  

We saw many so cute little outfits while we were out in the rain (yuck) going door to door for candy.  We live in a National Historic District Neighborhood and it is always so picturesque and wonderful meandering through our streets. 

Last year even before Halloween was over Emma was begging us to have Frozen costumes.  So for a year our fate has been sealed as to what we were going to be.  Nick and I have never dressed up before with the kids so this was a first for us. 

I will say that we had a lot of fun as a family.  This year already Calvin has already chosen what we will be for next year and while I am going to keep it a secret I will say I think that it will be a lot of fun and super cute!

And has anyone noticed that Halloween has become this huge two week long spectacular?  I am pretty sure that everyone could find something Halloweeny to do every day during the two weeks leading up to the big day.  Trunk or treats, Harvest Parties, Halloween Haunts, on and on are going on. 

We went to the Fernwood Halloween event and to a party our realtor's office had.  Both were a lot of fun and the kids had a really good time.  It really makes the cost factor a lot easier to justify to Nick for costumes when we will be in them more than just one time.  

Well anyway, I've got to get back to homeschooling but hope you all had a spooky weekend!  And don't forget today's the last day to sign up for my Usborne Sticker Book contest....I'm giving a book away and would love for you to sign up! 

Happy Monday friends! 

Giveaway: Usborne Egyptian Mummies Sticker Book

Here in homeschool land we are back to learning about the Ancient Times this year.  This week we are covering when Joseph took care of Egypt by preparing for the famine.  

And since we were talking Egypt and it's the week of Halloween I surprised the kids with sticker books.  They were so thrilled!  It's so fun seeing them get excited over books.  

It's the Usborne Egyptian Mummies Sticker Book.  It is so much fun and packed with stickers and things to do so it provides of quiet play and learning for kids.  How amazing does that sound?

As you know I am an Usborne Books  Consultant and so I just think these books are so amazing.  The biggest feature I love about Usborne is my patented saying that they are "sneakily educational".  And that is so true with these books too.  The Usborne website explains how this was written with an Egyptologist. so all of the facts that you are reading are accurate and not just bland facts that every book has.  That is the coolest thing!  

So I started our morning out with a spooky halloween breakfast of warm apple cider, cocoa puffs, and a marshmallow peep (because it's Halloweeny time!). Then while they noshed and worked on their sticker books I read to them the chapter from our history book.  And seriously this would be one of my biggest learning tips, especially if you have boys: when you're reading to them let them do something with their hands  Anything. Stickers, playdough, legos, blocks.  Their brains absorb so much more when their hands or bodies are moving, it's incredible.  

Anyway, because I love this book I've deciced to give one of them away to one lucky reader!  The sheer fact that there are over 650 stickers in this puppy is just mind blowing!  There are lots of ways to enter into the drawing and the drawing will go all through the spooky Mummy filled weekend.  I know we're all super busy this weekend with our littles so this will give you plenty of time to get those entries in.  

Entry-Form

If you would like to purchase this book (or others) in the event of not winning be sure to check out my website here!  I'd love to see you get good books for your kiddos that they will love! Good luck and I hope all of you  mummies and deadies have a wonderful weekend trick-or-treating! 

Apple Picking 2015

These are the moments that I try to shove into the deep recesses of my mind so when I am old I can remember them.  I am so thankful for things like blogs so I can jot down the details of the day along with all of the wonderful photos and try to remember the time when they are this small.  I love these two children so much.  They fill my life with such joy.  

We go apple picking every year.  This year however was the first year that we went during October.  Picking apples in October apparently is very lame as there were hardly any apples.  But we learned our lesson and from now on will make sure that we go in September.  Before apple picking we always travel all the way to Bonneyville Mill for a picnic and some football.  

They have the most gorgeous Dahlia garden.  Seriously, out of a dream or something.  So of course I love taking pictures of our little lady with her little lady.  Can I please just bottle this age up of carrying a doll around in a sweet dress? I am sure I will blink and it will be gone.  This sweet girl and her happy heart captivate me.  I love being her Momma. 

And in a stark contrast from the sweet girl in a flower garden is the rowdy boy having fun climbing all over an old dam.  I love his adventurous spirit although most of the time it makes me feel like my stomach is up in my throat and I am suffocating.  But I am learning to let go and try to watch him have fun exploring.  

If you ever get the chance to go to this mill when it is operating you have to go.  You just have to.  Built in 1832 it's incredible that it is still working.  They have the cutest store that we buy our cornmeal from every year.  The photo above is the chute of the cornmeal coming out from the stone. 

There were these darling old bags and promotional items posted up from back in the day.  I thought they were so neat.  

After that we left the park and made our way to the orchards. 

These two are the apples of my eye...ey?  ey?  Ya get that? 

For the past few years I've been able to say "okay, bucket heads" and they've put their buckets on their heads.  But this year it was aparently cooler to shove his sisters bucket on her head than to put the bucket on his head.  

<sigh> it's the end of an era...

This year it was nice that they wanted to use the grabby stick thing because up high was about the only place that we could find apples :(  Boo.  

Success at last!  This seriously felt like it took forever!  Forever, Jerry! And can I please just have her clothes in my size?  So stinking cute! 

And then there's this guy.  He is such a goof.  Which I love.  He thoroughly enjoys going before me and looking for ways to make me laugh.  That or ways to make me freak out.  Either way he's looking out for my entertainment benefit.  I guess I will choose to look at it that way.  

Is there anything more peace inducing than to take the time to look at an apple and it's leaves.  It's such an amazing thing that God created because He loves us.  It just takes my breath away and I love sharing this type of thing with our kids.  The way that the star is formed inside the apple, all of the varieties, the way they grow on the tree, it all is just simply amazing.  

This is all we picked this year.  One reason because all they had were the "delicious" varieties which I tend to not find so delicious.  Another reason was that you could see these were heavily sprayed.  And the third reason being that Meijer has apples on sale for 59 cents this week and these puppies were 85 cents.  We got this amount for the memories, thank you. 

Have y'all gone and done your apple picking?  Were you late this year like we were or did you go earlier?  I'm curious is apples were in short supply this year or if it was because we were a week later than we normally are.  

Happy Fall, Y'all! 

Fernwood from A Child's Viewpoint

I spoke last week about how changing my perspective on our things that are cluttering our home is helping me to keep things tidier around here.  You can read more about that here.  

Well apparently I'm on some kind of "rose colored glasses" or "the eye of the beholder" kick because I am really trying to look at things from others' perspectives.  Neat how God works on your heart and it kind of takes over all aspects of your life, right?  

Anyway, we went to Fernwood (are you surprised? My kids BEG to go there) with my Mother-in-Law.  Anyway, I should have taken my phone for pictures but it was dead.  Dead, doorknob territory, dead.  And my camera battery had crawled in the same cemetary plot with the phone and they both were dead. 

I should have been really mad and frustrated with myself because that's what I do, but I wasn't.  I sought out the genius of it all and came up with having the kids take their point and shoots that their Grandma gave them for Christmas.  They LOVE taking pictures so it was fun to have them taking pictures around Fernwood of what they see and what they think is neat.  

So without further adieu here is a view of Fernwood and our day from about 48 inches up...

You've got to always love goofy looking selfies, right?  

Oh geesh, kids these days and their selfies.  

One of the reasons I love seeing kid pictures is because they see things from a perspective that is so ofter overlooked.  For example, this plant you walk under when you leave the main building.  I don't think I've ever paid much attention to it but it was a focal point for Emma.  Kids are pretty fascinating, aren't they? 

I think with the kids being city kids they would be content just looking in the wetlands section to find bugs or frogs and then leaving.  Seriously, I cannot be the only mom whose kids love to spend time in this part can I?  

Sisters are the only ones who catch their brothers being "eaten" by elephants, right?  So silly! 

I have to tell you that my goofy, fashion plate of a daughter got down in a photographer pose and started clicking her point-and-shoot away saying "this piece is really speaking to me".  She cracks me up.  Love her and this photo! 

I'll end you with this piece because it kind of spoke to me on a mothering level.  

Emma took this when we went on the river trail and then were headed back towards the nature center.  At least what we hoped was towards that way.  No one ever said I would win any awards when it came to following a map.  

I thought the little waterfalls were neat but in her tween way she seemed like "how lame mom" so we moved on.  But this photo of one of the mini waterfalls tells me that she was listening and watching too.  And she thought it was neat too.  

Ha!  So I guess the point is that even if they act like they're too cool for school and they don't want to be out in nature, they really do and they are seeing and noticing and getting it.  Everything works out the way it's supposed to, right? 

I hope you enjoyed this little perspective (ha! get it because she's short!?) of fernwood.  It's so fun seeing things from your kiddos angle and viewpoints.  

And if you are looking for a Christmas gift for a kiddos might I suggest a Fernwood Membership?  Or maybe a camera?  Or maybe both!  

School Curriculum 2015/16

We are a classically leaning homeschool family.  

I like to think that we homeschool with the classical method but we're cool and swanky here.  

But then again, maybe not. 

When I first started homeschooling I think the very first book I read was The Well Trained Mind.

Mind. Blowing. It was such a great book.  It's thick so if you read it, just know that you don't have to read the whole thing.  It's not a sit down and read from cover to cover kind of book.  Rather it's a book that explains the way kids learn, how they memorize, how the one-room school house of learning and teaching was so great, and then the book is split in chunks for age groups from preschool through high school. 

The book is not a set curriculum but as it was written by a mother and daughter who both have homeschooled their children, it's more of a "this is what we think is really great for this subject...." kind of approach and then it gives different suggestions for what to order. 

Most of the things that they offer are relatively inexpensive which was my biggest concern when i started piecing everything together. 

And since we piece everything together it is often difficult to tell people what I use when I am asked.  So I thought I'd write it down here for you and for me have to remember, lol.  

I'm just going to list everything together because there is a lot of duplication.  When you have kids 18 months apart in age, they pretty much can study the same things just a little tweaked to be at different levels.  You know, I'm lazy like that. In the subjects where they have different work, I've made a note.  

So here we go...

Emma Kazoo's in the 4th grade!!!

Bible: Awanas (Cals in Sparks and Emma's in T&T)

Spelling: Spelling Plus

Grammar: First Language Lessons (Emma has level 4, Cal has level 3)

Handwriting/Writing: Emma: Draw and Write Through History, Books 1 and 2

Calvin: Handwriting Without Tears, Level 2

Math: Saxon (Emma's doing 5/4, Cal's dong 3)

Latin: Emma is doing Latina Christiana I, Cal's doing, well, Cal isn't doing any Latin

History: The Story of the World, Volume 1 (Ancient Times)

Geography: The Story of the World, Activity Book for Volume 1 (Ancient Times) 

Science: Apologia's Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics

Art: Classical Conversations

Music: Classical Conversations and Piano Lessons

Keyboarding: Scholastic Jump Start Typing

I listed links on everything to the publishers when I could so you can do your own research and see what all they offer and all of the supplemental products.  But we buy most of our things from Christian Book.  They always have great prices and a lot of times I can score a free shipping deal which makes it not as painless to shop. 

This is a bit confusing (or maybe just to me???) so I hesitate to bring this up but...I also use Classical Conversations. 

Kind of.  

Just a little bit. 

So here's some backstory for you. 

Last year we did Classical Conversations because it seemed so easy. But we had to do it at home because we had ABA therapy for Cal and I just could not get it to work with our schedule.  

From everything I've heard from all of my awesome friends I'm assuming I didn't dig it as much as I had hoped because we did it at home. 

What I took away from doing CC for a year at home was that I really, really enjoying the methodology behind it all and how they teach kids to memorize and remember. 

What I am not a fan of is how little it taught of history compared to The Story of the World.  We have used SOTW since we started homeschooling and I've always enjoyed how the history reads like a story and that the activity book pretty much has everything that you need...including maps that teach geography.  

So the long and short of it is I still have my CC foundations guide and I went through and compared everything in it to the story of the world and matched the weeks up.  To do it, it literally took me two entire days and I was locked in a hotel room by myself trying to figure out how it all would fit.  But it does and so we will have memory work that goes with the stories and the reading and maps and the activities.  

I hope that all makes sense.  It probably all sounds insane and like too much work but what I have found in the 5 YEARS I have been doing this is that everybody has something different that works for them. 

I can't believe I've been homeschooling for 5 years.  I should know how to do this already, right? 

So there ya go, the long and short of what we will be doing.  Pray for us please... I think, no I know we will need it! 

Train Fun at Fernwood

I know I have spoken of Fernwood before.  

It is hard to put into words a place of visual beauty. 

But I'll try. 

Or you could just go.  You know, just saying. 

The kids and I went there.  It is instantly so peaceful.  The greens against one another invoke a tranquil atmosphere...

That is until someone spots a snake and then times because a bit more raucous.  

But that's the fun of going.

Armed with a Water Bottle...

And a map, we set out for the Railway Garden.  Not that we needed a map but in school we have been learning map skills so they were having a good time locating where we were on the map as we walked towards the trains.  

The Railway Gardens are amazing!  Water features, secret doorways, and plants all mix together around 4 trains as they pass through tracks on various levels...above you, under, below, beside.  It is just amazing and so fun! 

It always seems too that everytime we go we find something new to see!  

This time I caught sight of this darling covered bridge!  Isn't it just the cutest little thing?  

There are also all of these amazing buildings like this one nestled in for the trains to pass.  They look like local popular buildings. 

We are on Chapter 9 of "The Borrowers" and Emma and Calvin really enjoyed imagining Arrietty exploring the garden.  

But anyway, like I said before, so many things to spot! 

As many things as there are to spot our absolute fave is this cute, little ladybug train car.  How adorable is this? It zips around and the kids squeal when they see it and run to show me where it is...so many precious moments for me to remember.  Love sharing this with them before school gets started again.  

This train is my fave!  

I had to practically peel these two away from the trains.  If you have a little train lover you should go too!  When Cal was huge into Thomas (like 3-ish) we loved coming here are seeing all the "choo-choo's" whirring by.  And now look how grown they are :(  But they still love coming :)  

Fernwood's website says that the Railway Garden will be closed for the year after October 31st, so be sure you go check it out...it's a must if you live in the area!  

*This post may contain affiliate links.  If you have any questions, be sure to read my disclosure policy here :)

When the Fun Starts Feeling Like a Job...

Again, life happens and I haven't been on here much.  I'm so lame.  

But more than that the transition to this new blog has left me feeling like this just wasn't fun anymore.  

Which just shouldn't be true.  

I love to write.  I was the girl who would ask to stay in from recess to write.  The girl who went to her diary first to scribble through tears.  I was born to write. 

So boo to this feeling like a job because this should be fun.  The reason I started this blog (in case you were wondering) is to keep a record of our family for me and for the kiddos to read when they are all grown up. 

And it is so edifying!  Recently my cousin who is also the web designer was able to transfer ALL of my old blog posts onto this site.  It was so fun to read through and see how God has moved in our lives. For example...

When Calvin was a year and a half old Nick lost his job.  It was horrible.  Joy sucking bad.  And the kids were young enough that we made a vow about (or at least figured we'd take a stab at) them not even knowing what was going on.  We didn't want anything to change for them.  So Nick stayed home but Emma still went to preschool and we still had Christmas and we muddled through. 

At least I thought we muddled through.  But looking back through those blog posts helped me to see how awesome we were doing.  We had apples to pick and pumpkins to carve along with picnics to celebrate with and "happy pumpkin carving" decorated cakes to enjoy.  We weren't starving, or scared in the pictures.  We were happy and laughing and enjoying watching how our babies were growing.  And so I have this blog to celebrate how far we've come and how much God can carry us through.  We are better, we are stronger, we are here.  And this blog can be a testament to that.  

And while that was why I started writing this blog I have continued writing this blog because I have had countless parents tell me through so many different avenues that our transparency in the struggles of homeschooling and autism and marriage and everything else is so nice to see.  Because when you are in the trenches it is so nice to sometimes hear someone else saying "geesh, this is just the worst."  Because sometimes it is.  And sometimes it's the best.  And I'll say that too.   

So I'm getting back into blogging.  Nick's head has hurt, our son has been crazy, I've been marketing a sale, organizing curriculum, planning a school year, and cleaning a house.  But mostly I've been with two little guys trying to find fun things to do as we celebrate the end of the summer and the welcoming of Autumn.  

May you find the joy in that too.  

Awana

Last night was the Awards Ceremony for our kiddos Awana Program.  

We go over our Awana for the week every day during school so it's basically our Bible Curriculum which is easy peasey for me.  

All of the kids get some type of award which I think is super awesome.  This year Emma only got a participation award as she didn't get her books done.  The kids that did get their books completed received really neat awards so I'm hoping that gives her incentive to work extra hard next year to get things memorized and completed.  

Nothing like a little peer pressure, right?  

Anyway, because of he homeschooling Emma and Cal don't experience the fun days that school kids do like pajama day or crazy hair day.  And that's where Awana steps in.  I love that they get to experience "bring on spring day" or "crazy hat day" here so it kind of makes up for the lack of those days in school. 

Where Emma and Calvin attend Awana the award ceremony has an award time and then a little slide show.  It was so fun to see Emma in the sanctuary with her little friends grouped together, giggling over the pictures and having fun together.  I'm so glad she gets to have that somewhere.  Those are the types of things I get sad that she is missing out on in school.  

Now that Awana is over we are looking into the Awana TruthScripts program for home.  Has anyone done this?  It's a program for families to memorize together and it appears they have free resources and things on their site for you to use at home as incentives and prizes for learning verses.  You can check it out here.  

Next year we will be doing Awana again.  Calvin will be in Sparks and Emma will be in the Truth in Training program...can't wait to get started again and see how much they can learn!  

And let me know if you've done the Awana home program!  Did you like it lots?

Treasure Hunting with Kinetic Sand

For Easter we gave the kids Kinetic Sand in their baskets.  

Oh, excuse me.  The Easter Bunny gave the kids Kinetic Sand in their baskets.  

I have multiple personalities or something as  I keep referring to myself as The Easter Bunny for no apparent reason...silly me. 

Anywho, have you played with this stuff?  It's so cool! It's squeezable sand you can't put down... It's fun for kids and it is a wonderful quiet time activity when the world gets too loud for our Cal.  It would be great for old people too.  So if you know of any old people you should buy them this stuff too.  Just sayin'. 

The kids got out the playdough tools that they have not played with in FOREVER! and had fun mooshing it and trying to create things.  

The thing that made our Kinetic sand awesome is that it is normally $12.99!!!!  for a container of it and I scored it at Target for $6.48!  Unless you are my sister in law reading this who's daughter also received Kinetic Sand in her basket and then I totally paid retail. Only the best.  Full on retail all the way :)  

I'm not one who buys things because they're a steal, am I? 

I can't even say that last sentence without bursting out laughing at the sarcasm...of course I am!  There needs to be a saying like short-hair-don't-care except for about bargain people not caring if others know they scored a deal...if you think of that you just let me know.  

After all, when you spend so much time asking for God's favor and doing the hallelujah, Jesus provides dance in the aisles of Target, you have to own up to the deals He has blessed you with, right? 

Anyway, so excuse my tangent but the bottom line is that I don't think we would have splurged on the sand if it hadn't been for the clearance so be sure to check it out at your Target too!  

I had to show this photo and as you can see above there are crutches photo bombing in the background.  Emma came home from ballet saying she hurt her leg so she immediately came home and got my full size adult crutches out from when I broke my ankle.  

Totally not a drama girl.  Not.at.all. 

Sigh. 

The Kinetic Sand is moist and you have to keep it in a sealed container.  I recommend the plastic tubs that wonton soup comes in from a Chinese restaurant.  So, if you don't have any you can have an excuse to order some chinese food to get the containers.  

Or ziploc should work if you want to be lame and not order the food of the Chinese :)

I figured this would be one of yet again, many toys that gets played with once and then completely forgotten but they have played with it multiple times this week and are loving all of the things they can do with it!  Including one of their fave things: 

Treasure Hunt!  I hid 10 of these beads in each of their kinetic sands (they each have a different color so we're keeping them separated) and then they have fun digging them out like Archaeologists.  :) 

So whether you find the sand on sale or not I think the Kinetic Sand is definitely worth the money...we're loving it!  

Do you have Kinetic Sand for your littles?  I'd love to know your uses for it...post away with any ideas you may have, thanks!

Joy and sometimes dread come in the morning...

I've been a little quiet lately.  

Things happen around here and things are thought in my mind and it's often I find myself shutting down.  

The other day I shot this photo.  It's not much content, I know, but the sun is gently rising behind the fir in our yard. And I am reminded that there is beauty out there just waiting to be had.

Never mind that there's an autistic orangutan just trying to rip your face off living in your house. 

Beautiful sunrises still occur.

And so I keep pushing on.

Can I just say how much I hate Autism and this road I'm on with Cal? 

Because seriously, there are days, when I don't know how much I can take. 

I know people say that and then people trying to be supporting say things like "God never gives us more than we can handle" or "God gives special kids to special parents".

But if you have ever felt like I have felt than you know you want to get in your car and run those people over...slowly, intentionally...with a stolen cement truck with the spinny thing still going in the back.

Cal has been difficult.  To say difficult would be a vast understatement.  Those monkeys on planet of the apes taking over....that was difficult.  This is way over that. To the point I was in the doctor's office today crying, crying to the doctor about him. If you've ever cried to someone who listens to your seven year old's heart beat, there might be something wrong with you.  Just sayin'. 

But the lady did have some good advice.  She was able to get through to me enough to cut myself some slack.  

And she gave me permission to mourn.  This has been something I've been doing for the past four years...mourning. 

Mourning over the normalcy of child hood being gone.

Mourning over not being able to do normal kid things with him.

Mourning over not really knowing what normal is anymore.  

But she told me it's okay to do that and today I felt like this is what I've needed to hear.  She also gave me some wonderful advice. Here it is "kids with autism are not on the normal spectrum of what kids can do.  Some things they can do much better.  Some things much worse.  But life must be adapted for them and not them trying to fit into a normal life.  As you can't expect a blind child to know his colors so you also can't expect him to do things as a normal child.  You must give him boundaries and then expect him to do his own thing within those boundaries."

Wow.  That speech seemed life changing to me today.  

In homeschooling Cal has completely refused to do work.  Ugh, it's been like pulling hair out to get him to do anything.  In stepping back from the whole situation I am sure that he isn't learning in that kind of environment and it is such an emotional struggle for Emma and I to get him to cooperate that at the end of the day the whole family just feels drained and exhausted. 

So this afternoon I did what the doctor in more detail suggested I do...I insisted Cal stay in the homeschool area of the house and then I did school with Emma.  She and I got ALL of her work done in record time and he played with educational toys nearby.  He would often chime in if he knew an answer or recite memorization things that he was overhearing.  Overall it was very successful and seemed to do the trick in giving him a break but keeping him in the school setting.  

Hopefully in a week or so I can start gradually adding some school work in for him or to have him work with some more educationally based things that he can learn from.  

So that is where I've been in a nutshell.  I know probably several of you get where I'm coming from and those that don't I hope can empathize with me.  Still here alive and kicking and pushing on with the "dream" of Autism.  I know eventually this cloud of doom-feeling will pass and I will be able to enjoy the sunrises God puts out there for me to enjoy. 

Thankful For My Babies

What a rollercoaster of a year this has been!  

As we roll into the week of thanks, I find myself particulary thankful for these precious children of mine.  

So blessed God chose me to be their Momma!

As we go through life doing this super, crazy busy life, I am thankful for the opportunities God has afforded us...that I can stay home, that I have such an amazing husband, and such a great family network surrounding us.  It's just amazing.

Not sure how much I will be on here this week with Thanksgiving preparations under way.  So in case you don't see much of me I hope you have an amazing holiday with your family and stay safe!

Count your blessings, name them one, by one, count your blessings...