Stone Soup

I thought I'd share a little of our homeschool with you guys! We are a good way into the year and enjoying learning together..

We are doing Five in a Row for most of our Language Arts and enrichment for our other subjects.. We are also doing some of the Literary Classics in pure ASL. We basically follow the FIAR method with these books, bringing in academic elements from text, and making these stories come alive!

Of course it starts with the book! We read the book or versions of the book everyday for 5 days pulling out all of the amazing bring-it-to-life awesomeness!!! Then, we read the classic book in both languages, and then we have a child-friendly version to work on decoding skills! Lastly, we move to a video, hopefully we can find one in ASL, with English voice over, and English text! DawnSign Press does an amazing job!!! This helps with comprehension and helps the kids relate to the text...

Videos is ASL by Dawnsign Press. 

Rewriting and Language Activities! 

Cooking and Measuring! Did I mention they picked their stone out of the garden?!? 

We loved our Stone Soup unit!!! 

 Yep, that's the stone!!! LOL!

Homeschool Valentine's Day Party

So one of my daughters complaints about homeschooling (which are few, thankfully!) is the lack of parties....

Well, I can fix that!!! Why didn't I think of this before?!? Hmmm...

So I got together with my best friend/SIL/Partner in Crime that's also a homeschooling mama and we planned a party...

Nothing too crazy just a few mama friends and their little ones and we had a blast!!!

We had ART!

And Food!

Some of the girls even did a puppet show for the younger ones...

Well, I guess it's easy to see why I haven't heard any more complaints from my big girl... She's too busy making new friends and having fun!!!

Huge thanks to all of the mamas that brought your kids (and yummy snacks) to the party!  <3

Homeschoolers LOVE Valentines!

To start off the Month of Love our Homeschooling Group decided to start a Valentine-Chain-Mail of AWESOMENESS!

 The kids either made or bought Valentines, practiced writing their address on the envelopes, learned about mail, sent them off, and in return had a month of hearts and cards mailed back to them from all over the country!!!!! It was so fun!!!

My girls loved it and learned a lot!!!! ~ Even my 4 year old can explain how the mail works...she can even tell you where you can buy stamps! ;)

I love teaching my girls about life all with their academics, but most of all about LOVE!

Homeschooling~ Our First Week!

We have had a wonderful first week of homeschooling!! I am so proud of them...and I'm really enjoying our time together!!!
Also, I am VERY tired!! *See pic below!
 I am having a challenging time adjusting to getting everything organized, learning the new curriculum, and doing lesson plans at night along my other housework and laundry!  I am hoping to be in the swing of things soon~hope?!?

My big girl is doing a lot of review this week. She is  loving learning patriotic songs as well as learning maps and geography! She is also learning to write a friendly letter and working toward her book report!

My widdle-middle is loving Bible before she goes to her program for deaf preschoolers for the morning... When she arrives home we have lunch then have PE. and Art!!

My baby girl is working on numbers, colors, shapes, and letters & sounds! She loves learning!

Then there is me...at like 2AM. Still smiling, but then again how can you not smile at the gorgeous photographer?!?

A Journey Into Homeschooling!

So after a LOT of prayer, talks, and sleepless nights we have decided to homeschool our children.
We had always planned to homeschool, or if we moved I would get a job at one of the local Christian Schools and put our kids there...it was a nice plan.

Well, life had other plans~ adoption plans!

That was when I began to doubt our big, beautiful plan... I had a child that was ESL (English as a Second Language) that also had some other issues that made learning difficult. This made for some big questions~
Did I have the patience? I love her more than my own life~ but she can drive me nuts!!!!! Just being honest here.. Seriously; considering we have no biology~ we are SO MUCH ALIKE!!!! So yeah, we get on each others nerves!!! I fear the teen years are going to kill us all!

I also have another child attending a program for the Deaf. She couldn't be home with us...was it fair? Would it hurt her feelings? The answer: NOPE! She loves going to school... She will have Bible, Art, and PE with us at home as well so there is plenty of time with us! :)

My youngest has some challenges, but was aging out of therapy which meant it was up to me to help her now...which kinda meant more stress! So it hit me at like 2:00 AM~ what better way to help her than to teach her! I could "plan" time out of our day to work on her home-therapy.

So there I was~ out of excuses! I finally asked my husband; the amazing, wise leader of our family, what did he think for the final time. I mean we had milled over it, and over, and over, but one this day I just simply asked with desperation in my voice in and his reply was this "I don't want to put more stress on you, but, yes, I feel that you have a lot to offer our kids. If they were home with you they could learn stuff that isn't taught in school; they could learn how to be like you (trying not to tear up!), and that would help them for the rest of their lives."
To be honest I have never felt more honored in my life! In that moment I felt like the woman that was spoken of in Proverbs~
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Proverbs 31: 28

So, we applied with a homeschool charter, and ordered some of our curriculum...
~and that is how we became a homeschool family!

More to come...much more!

Family Weekend at the Deaf School

We are having a great weekend!!!!! We are spending the weekend on campus of the deaf school a couple of hours away!!! 

We learned so much at the classes & presentations!

 Our girls made new friends...

We were impressed with the art!!!

Our oldest (hearing) enjoyed the dramatic arts and meeting other kids with deaf siblings!

Our two youngest loved playing, learning some new vocabulary, and
making new friends!

Baking A Little Love...Along The Journey

So tomorrow is Valentines Day!! One of my girls is off on break right now, but my middle daughter is off to school with some yummy cookies! She attends a preschool for DHOH so I thought some Heart & Hands and ASL~ I Love You cookies would be perfect!!!

So that gave us a fun activity for this afternoon...

So we pounded out the dough...

Then we rolled it out...

Then cut out our cookies...

So I just baked up some variety and put them on a plate... Homemade chocolate chip on the bottom! 

So there you go... a little love! I hope the kids love them!!!

Learning Along The Journey...

My oldest is off track from her year-round school. We are using this five weeks to do a little "home schooling"  to try to re-teach her some basic math skills. We are in the midst of figuring out what we are going to do for school next year.........right now I'm thinking it will NOT be learning at home!

It's hard to explain~ I taught early elementary for years.........worked in a learning center.........even taught  preschool; so why is it so hard to teach my own daughter?!?

I guess time will tell, but as of right now I think this mama needs a few lessons in patience.

A Little Crazy On The Journey!!!

I am just plain crazy.... It's okay, I have accepted it.
I am crazy about my husband~ Crazy about my kids~ I am even crazy about my two cats~
Don't believe me?? I have a a detailed form on my fridge including when to give the cats their hairball cream and to only give filtered water to my fur-babies just in case something terrible happens to me and no one can remember the name of the vet's office! :)

Then there is another thing that  makes me appear crazy~ signing in the car!!!
I can't tell you how many times I have been chatting with my girl at a stoplight only to look over at someone staring not able to see my deaf three year old in the back (thanks a lot tinted mini-van windows!) which is  followed by the head shake of pity at my diminished mental capacity.

When hubby is driving I really get to show off my "crazy side" as I sign to everyone in the car.. ASL is not only my daughter's language; it is our family's language. So I guess that means we are all a little crazy, right?!?

You know, after writing this all out I guess I am crazy about ASL, too!
I love that I can chat with my little girl. I love knowing what is on her little mind....I love being a part of her world.
Communication is so powerful!!! 
 I love the craziness~ the excitement over the latest thing that she has learned!!! I love when she comes home from preschool and wants to tell me all about her day~ her teachers are so awesome!!! I just love the excitement of talking about what we are going to do that day...which is usually her wanting to ride her bike!

So yeah, I am crazy~ crazy in love!!! 

Dollies, Hearing Aids, and Puff Paint~Oh My!

So our middle daughter is doing great!!! She is loving her 3yr class for the deaf and is picking up a lot of new signs!!! We love her teachers!

 We also went as a Deaf Awareness Day at the Zoo and have made some new friends and had an awesome playdate! I am looking forward to many more! :)

Big thanks so Nonnie, Papa, Auntie, Uncle, & Cousins for going with us and making the day at the zoo so much more special! 

 Our bubbly little girl is also going to get her hearing aids in about 2 weeks which she hasn't had for a few months...long story! Grrr...anyway.

 I am somewhat worried that she is going to have a hard time adjusting so I got out the old puff paint and got her dollies some hearing aids! 

I am hoping it will help, but if not it sure is cute!! 

Umm...I may need someone to come wrestle the puff paint out of my hand?!? :D

I Don't Organize The Forks...and other confessions

Yep, you read it right I confess that I no longer organize my forks from the spoons! I know, it is just awful but at the same time each time I toss that cutlery basket into the drawer I smile a little inside...

I am sure some of you may cringe, but this is my new normal...brought on by a very good, yet hard conversation with our adoptions worker.... Her opinion was hire someone to help with the house, or find short-cuts! Then her words freed me from house-wife guilt "with 3 special needs kids, you just can't do it all." So since a housekeeper wasn't in my budget I went with the shortcuts!

I now enjoy baskets in closets that hide the clutter, a messy fork drawer, a basket for the shoes near the front door, laundry that is not sorted by color, and many others...most of all I enjoy more time with the family.

 I also enjoy more sleep as I am not up cleaning till 2 AM the night before a home visit.

While your "normal" may not be the same as mine with speech therapy,  physical therapy,  play therapy, family therapy,  school,  IEPs,  weekly home visits,  checkups & growth checks,  homework,  online ASL classes, mounds of adoption paperwork, and other weekly family activities....I am sure you have your list of crazy that we call "normal."
 So let me release you...you can't do it all. So what short-cuts do you make? Leave a comment and let me know.. :)

You know...now that I think about it~ I could just stock up on SPORKS!!!

The Yucky Stuff Along The Journey

Yes, today I am talking about two things that I really don't like one is laundry and the other is PUKE! Even worse when the two combine~ Ewwwww!!!!!!!!

I hate the tummy bug and with school back in session I know our girls will bring it home...

So I wanted to find out how other moms deal with the piles of bedding, sick blankets, dollies, and clean-up towels that come with our babies pets, or hubby is sick.. So what do you do? Any tips? Please share in the comments below!

I'll go first.. Here is what I do now:

1. Shake off...well you know.

2. Prewash with a couple of drops Dawn Dishsoap on cold. I figure if it is chemically produced to dissolve food, well, puke is food...um sort of I guess. ;)

3. Do a short soak/prewash with a few drops Tea Tree Oil. TTO kills germs, viruses, and gets rid of odors naturally.

4. Launder as normal on hot or as garment suggests. 

Your turn, what do you do to get those fabrics to once again comforts your sickies?

Because We All Need A Little Calm...On This Journey!

Yes I am talking about the calming jars! If you have spent any time on Pinterest (my new fave!!!) you have seen these little jars. I loved the idea! Umm...HELLO?!?!?!? G-L-I-T-T-E-R!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the stuff!!! Yes, I love that is sticks to everything, too!

Okay calming down...that IS what this post is all about right?!? So I knew for my girls we would need to use the plastic ones and that I would need some REALLY good glue to keep those suckers closed!

I made them in my girl's favorite colors: Blue for my beautiful 6 year-old, Purple for bubbly 3 year-old, and pink for my baby girl who is nearing the terrific 2s!!

This is them all shaken up!!! 

I wish I had made the middle one a little smaller..

About half way...

All calm and hopefully the child as well... 

These pretty little jars or bottles are mostly used for time out, but we use a modified time out for our girls ranging from special needs to "high" needs so I knew this would not work for that so we just use them for calming moments. They are great for in the car although after having one flung at my face...we may be making some a little smaller for the car.

 I needed a calming jar after that!!! 

We Learn Along The Journey...

So let me see if we have everything?? 

1. Hello Kitty Lunchbox~ Check!

2. Note From Mommy~ Check! 

3. Note In Said Lunchbox~ Check! 

4. A Tissue For Mommy~ Check!

5. Proud Family~ Check! 

We are ready for Kindergarten!!!!