Conservation Department Class

On Monday the conservation department held a class about birds, eggs, and nests. 
The coordinator read the kids the book The Remarkable Egg and then talked about bird identification and the different kinds of eggs each bird lays.
The kids each made paper towel roll binoculars. 
The class was designed for younger kids, but my bigger ones enjoyed portions of it, too.

We arrived a little early, and then stayed after a bit to explore the hands on part of the conservation department office. 

Afterwards, the kids and I went to a park for a picnic lunch before heading to our afternoon dentist appointments.  No friends were able to join us, but they made the best of it by playing capture the flag (the big kids attempting to teach the younger two how to play).

Show and Share

A few families from the co-op had a show and share night last Friday.  We invited in extended family to come and see displays of what we'd done throughout the year.  Some children had science experiments, some of us had different samples of our yearly learning, and some were in costume as their favorite historical characters they'd learned about!

We were planning to do a "performance" portion of show and share and then the downstairs displays.  As it turned out, the interest in the performance portion wasn't great among the other families so we ended up canning it this year.  This was what my children had primarily focused on, though, so in the end we were a little helter skelter searching for a plan B. 

We finally settled on bringing our art journals to share, the big kids' writing journals, photos of our year, an autobiography Natalee wrote, recording Xavier's recitation, and letting Zayden bring his favorite big puzzle.

Grandma Num, Papa George, and Grammy Sara came by to look at the displays and show their support to our little scholars.

Friends and members from co-op families looked through our children's displays, too.

Natalee worked really hard on her autobiography.  We started with a timeline, then a rough draft.  After proofreading, she went on to typing it on the computer, then printing and adding pictures.

Xavier was most excited about his recitation and since the performance portion got canceled, we recorded him on the iPad and set it on a stand with his illustration so people could push play and hear his poem.

{The Loser by Shel Silverstein}

Mia displayed her final dress design - I wished I'd gotten the dress printed soon enough that she could have worn it! 

Zayden became a master at puzzles this year, so we took his favorite and he put it together and displayed it and showed it to anyone who cared to see.

We also took our magnet board and displayed photos of our year.  Our family photo from the Truman Field Trip, the group picture from meeting author, Eric Ode, and then a collage of each child.

Our school is not done for the year, but this was a nice way to pause and remind ourselves what a fantastic year of learning and fun we have had together!

Picture This Clothing

Lauren and Lance gave Mia a gift certificate for a dress at Picture This Clothing for her birthday.  She worked so hard the last 6 weeks on designing just the right dress.  I think in the end she designed over a dozen dresses.

We thought we had it narrowed down to three choices, but in the end she made one last dress combining all the things she loved about the other three, and designed herself the perfect dress.

The final design...

After I submitted it, the dress came quite quickly in the mail.  She was so excited to open it.

It's soft and it was spot on to her design.  They even put her sweet little name on the inside hem.

Isn't she lovely?

She was trying to save it to wear on Sunday to church but couldn't handle the wait, and ended up wearing it on the field trip today.  I suspect she will also wear it to church.  And to many, many other places. 

The other 3 contenders....

She ended up using a mix of mediums to make her final design.  She didn't like the plain colored pencils but needed something finer than the vibrant markers she loves, so I finally handed over my watercolor pencils and they suited her needs just fine.  She used them for the little girl,

parts of the flowers and tree, and the grass line.  For the rest she used markers - glitter markers, smelly markers, and markers in all the beautiful and vibrant shades.

Art is very soothing to Mia's soul and she delights in drawing, painting, and coloring - everyday.

She already wants to design more dresses and big sister has this on her birthday wish list, too!

Historical Museum Field Trip

We had a field trip to our local historical museum, one room school house, and log cabin.  This is only a block from our yard, yet I'd never taken my children inside!  I want to go back without my three year old tornado and really explore and read some things.  They've made a lot of changes since I was there as a child!

I was impressed with how generous our hostesses were to the children.  While I was a wreck trying to keep hands off of things, they really intended for the children to be able to respectfully explore the museum.  Not that we let them handle artifacts, but they were so kind to not be uptight.

One of the things our county is best known for is that we were home to famous William P. Hall and his circus.  Not only did the circus and parades frequent town, but Hall supplied exotic animals to many other circuses.  Can you envision - elephants and giraffes (and more) in town?  Especially in our little town?  The Historical Museum was the home of Hall, his wife, and (I believe) 3 children.  He did not build it (it was built by a judge), but he lived there and conducted his business from the house.  It's a beautiful home - it has charm that you don't find in homes nowadays - pocket doors, gorgeous original rugs, and so much more.  It's also set up in that fantastic way older homes were to get that beautiful cross breeze through the house to keep it cool.  The downstairs of the home had the entry way, music room, library, living room, dining room/parlor, and kitchen AND a summer kitchen (that I don't remember seeing as a kid!).  It also boasts a wraparound porch that is drool-worthy.

When I was a little girl, all of the upstairs rooms were roped off and you could only peek in them.  Imagine my delight when my kiddos (and I!) were allowed to explore every room to our utmost desire.  They have the rooms themed with different aspects of history pertinent to our county.  There was a war room, circus history bedroom, a room with the doll collection, a collection of trophies on the summer porch (Xavier loved the concept of a summer sleeping porch), an upstairs bathroom, and then one room that housed their cleaning and needed supplies.  Between two of the bedrooms there was a large closet that adjoined them - I was amazed at the closets in such an old house.  Xavier said the small bedroom (where the cleaning supplies were) was probably for the maid, and I suspect he may have been right - it was near the back, narrow kitchen stairs (there was a larger, turning stairway in the front of the house) and directly across from what may have been a children's nursery (adjoined through the closet with the other bedroom).  It's fun to imagine.

This cradle.  So sweet.
Someone donated their doll collection, which Mia thought was delightful.

After we thoroughly toured the house, we went out to the log cabin.  It's humbling to think about a family likely my size (2 adults, 4-5 children) in a one room cabin.  I don't remember getting to go up to the loft as a little girl, but they let the kids go up the narrow stairs today and they declared it "small" and "awesome."

My children would have to spend a lot of time outdoors for us to survive in a cabin that size.  A. Lot.

Mia took my phone upstairs to take pics...here's the only visible one.

These were taken by one of the museum volunteers.

I'm pretty good at shoving a lot of kids in a small space - I bet I could make it work.  I bet it would also be really hot in the summer!

Last, we stopped in the one room school house.  (homeschool mom dreams!)
There's so much sweet about a one room school house.  The desks, the piano, the blackboard, the teacher's desk.  I really love the atmosphere.

Searching for people he knows - the big kids found Papa Curtis's picture in the museum!

This was a fun morning.  My big kids are hoping to take Daddy back up there to show him some things and look at a couple things closer.  The history nerd in me rejoices.

Zayden "Loses" a Tooth

Our tiny 3 year old had his first tooth pulled today following his first dental exam a couple weeks ago.
It was less a "pull" and more an extraction, and I'm so proud of this little champion.  He didn't flinch once.  I wasn't feeling tops today emotionally, and wish I'd had someone to hold my hand, but as it turned out, Zayden didn't need my support nearly as much as I thought he might.

Here he is last night - one last picture with all his teeth.

His mouth is so tiny - toothy smiles are hard!

Prepped and ready.

I chuckle at his sweet little one-tooth-less smile.  Moreover, he has a teeny little lisp now, and that's the sweetest.

Sweet Sam, I'm sorry Mommy didn't realize you'd had an ouchie tooth!  I'm thankful the dentist was able to help us get it all better and I love your little gap.  I'm so proud of you today - you are so strong!

UPDATE:

The tooth fairy found him!

Another Day, Another Appointment...

Yesterday brought more appointments for Natalee in Iowa City.  These were follow up appointments from her appointment in November where we got an initial diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
First we had an audiology test and then an appointment with a developmental pediatrician.

She passed all the hearing tests except the highest frequencies in her left ear, which didn't surprise me, because I often feel like she doesn't hear me as well if she's turned to the left towards me.  I'm pretty sure (without getting our her records) that this is the ear that her tympanic membrane ruptured in several years ago, too.  No intervention right now - yearly audiology tests to make sure nothing worsens.

The hearing test room looked like a closet.  Natalee said it was "awesome."

The appointment with the developmental pediatrician was interesting.  She was very kind, but we didn't feel like we got a ton from the appointment.  Basically it was an appointment to rule out autism.  Natalee is not autistic - another pediatrician has suggested high functioning Asperger's before, (yes, they are now the same spectrum, I know that) and while I see several of those tendencies it's now very hard to discern between what is spectrum and what is just the way Natalee's brain works with CP.  She said that she definitely sees the affects of CP on Natalee's body as a professional, but that one of our biggest battles forever is going to be that the world can't see it readily.  While that sounds great, that makes it almost an "invisible" disability - one that affects her and us every single day but that others are quick to dismiss.  That's hard.  Not harder than having a profoundly disabled child but just *as* hard.  The doctor also said she feels like a lot of what we see emotionally stems from having this disability that others are quick to dismiss because it's not readily visible.  It's a fine balance - to work hard and push her to become strong and able and confident, and to help her find a place of acceptance and rest in what her body's limitations are.
I'm rambling..... my mom brain has thought a lot about this in the last 24 hours. 

Yesterday the pediatrician we saw told us she definitely sees what we see but her professional opinion was that the spectrum tendencies we see are more CP brain than actual spectrum disorder.  Either way, no further testing and no further measures other than following up with our CP team in STL as needed.  We were kind of disappointed to learn that we were "accidentally" referred to the peds doctor that specialized in autism, when, as she told us, we should have been referred to one of the two that specialize in cerebral palsy.  It was a six month wait to get into this appointment and overall we didn't feel like we got the best we could have out of the experience.

Our biggest concerns right now are pain management and overall physical ability, which we feel like our CP team is handling well.  We were hoping to get tips for managing emotions, behaviors, and some feedback on what the future looks like for Natalee as she transitions to an adult and maybe independent living.  Perhaps I just need to be more patient and let God unfold His plan for our Natalee, because I have no doubt that it's a grand one.

She and I went to these appointments solo - usually I don't go to "cities" without a driver, but as appointments in large cities are becoming more of our life, I have had to learn to put on my big girl pants and do what needs doing.  Thankfully, I'm pretty comfortable in Iowa City and we managed just fine.

We even made it to Hurt's Donuts to pick treats out to bring home to the family and to the mall to hit Target - and then the food court for a couple treats for this big girl of mine whom I love ever so much.

Maybe she'll always want to ride the carousel, even when she's old.  Good for her.  Do what brings joy.

Natalee, we love you.  You are simply amazing.

Charlotte's Web

We started listening to Charlotte's Web on audio book yesterday and finished it up today.  I found a chalk pastel tutorial from Nana over on Hodge Podge (click link, scroll down - the tutorial was a Facebook live but is still saved on her event).

As I type, the children are having a snack and watching the original Charlotte's Web DVD (though I want to show them the newer one with Dakota Fanning in it, too, at some time). 

Their art turned out adorable!

Xavier, age 9

Natalee, age 10

Ameliya, age 5
(she did everything except writing her word)

Mommy took a try, too.

We find it difficult to have good enough control over our chalk pastels for writing, so, to reduce frustration, I had the children use their pencils to put in the word, web, and Charlotte and then most of us chose to trace those portions with our fine point Sharpie.