I have a lot to update about but I can't even wrap my brains around any sort of normalicy right now. My dear sweet aunt who is only 5 years older than me is losing her baby boy right now. Samson was born with Ds and a holey heart, and had surgery on Sept 7th to repair his heart. He's never recovered and is now trending downward... The doctors have told her there's nothing more they can do for him.
She's taking it all with grace and such resolve. I cannot even fathom the depths of dispair she must be feeling, because I know how I am feeling.
I've never met him. I live too far away. And now, if he does die, how on earth can I NOT go out to be with my family who lives 1100 miles away? You're supposed to vacation for fun reasons not tragic ones.
My heart hurts.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Nine? Or Ten?
Carsten said a funny thing to me tonight:
"Momma, the story said I have ten fingers and ten toes. That's not right! I counted and I only have nine!" Okay, then.
"Momma, the story said I have ten fingers and ten toes. That's not right! I counted and I only have nine!" Okay, then.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Dear Carsten
Carsten turned 4 yesterday!
Here is his birthday letter:
October 8th, 2010
Dear Carsten,
So today, you turn four. It’s amazing to me to think that you are the age now that Tyrus was when you were born. I am continually flabbergasted by how quickly time goes by, and the fact that you are now four years old just confirms that to me all the more.
This has been a big year for you! Last year, on your third birthday, you were still wearing diapers and had absolutely no interest in learning to use the big boy potty. But, I am happy to report that now, as a four year old, you are potty trained! Yay! We are still working to stay dry over night, and I am confident that will come soon, but in the mean time, you are doing a great job during the day! I am so proud of you!!! Yippee!
You are learning your ABCs and can count up really, really high! I don’t even know how high, but it seems higher than it should be for your age! You love to color and play with play-doh. Curious George, The Cat In The Hat and Tom & Jerry are still high on your list of loves, too. Reading stories is always a good thing and anything to do with Turtle Ninjas is great too. Recently, you’ve camped out in your big brother’s room a few times and you thought that was so cool! Aunt Stephanie got you a Turtle Pillow Pet for your birthday and you are hooked! Every night, you lay down and listen to a tape of stories – usually ones read by your Grandma Karen.
I do have to say that you are a feisty kid! You want things the way you want them, and you don’t like it when I tell you “no!” You say, “but momma, hear the whole thing!” when you are trying to convince me of something. You are still very picky with food, but I am excited to note that you tried pineapple the other day and, in your words, you “chewed up two pieces!” Yay! Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, peas, chicken nuggets, milk and yogurt are some favorites. Most things meaty you turn your nose up to, with the exception of ground meat. I’m not sure if you’re turning into a vegetarian on us or what?!
You also learned how to go into the pool with just your swimmies on your arms this summer! That was so cool when you realized you were tall enough to touch the bottom with your feet and stand up! You are getting so big!
I love you so much, Carsten. You bring light and life to our household. I cannot imagine what our life would have been like without you and I feel so very blessed and fortunate that God decided to have you come and be part of us. Your daddy and I love you so much.
Happy birthday, bud!
Love, Momma
Here is his birthday letter:
October 8th, 2010
Dear Carsten,
So today, you turn four. It’s amazing to me to think that you are the age now that Tyrus was when you were born. I am continually flabbergasted by how quickly time goes by, and the fact that you are now four years old just confirms that to me all the more.
This has been a big year for you! Last year, on your third birthday, you were still wearing diapers and had absolutely no interest in learning to use the big boy potty. But, I am happy to report that now, as a four year old, you are potty trained! Yay! We are still working to stay dry over night, and I am confident that will come soon, but in the mean time, you are doing a great job during the day! I am so proud of you!!! Yippee!
You are learning your ABCs and can count up really, really high! I don’t even know how high, but it seems higher than it should be for your age! You love to color and play with play-doh. Curious George, The Cat In The Hat and Tom & Jerry are still high on your list of loves, too. Reading stories is always a good thing and anything to do with Turtle Ninjas is great too. Recently, you’ve camped out in your big brother’s room a few times and you thought that was so cool! Aunt Stephanie got you a Turtle Pillow Pet for your birthday and you are hooked! Every night, you lay down and listen to a tape of stories – usually ones read by your Grandma Karen.
I do have to say that you are a feisty kid! You want things the way you want them, and you don’t like it when I tell you “no!” You say, “but momma, hear the whole thing!” when you are trying to convince me of something. You are still very picky with food, but I am excited to note that you tried pineapple the other day and, in your words, you “chewed up two pieces!” Yay! Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, peas, chicken nuggets, milk and yogurt are some favorites. Most things meaty you turn your nose up to, with the exception of ground meat. I’m not sure if you’re turning into a vegetarian on us or what?!
You also learned how to go into the pool with just your swimmies on your arms this summer! That was so cool when you realized you were tall enough to touch the bottom with your feet and stand up! You are getting so big!
I love you so much, Carsten. You bring light and life to our household. I cannot imagine what our life would have been like without you and I feel so very blessed and fortunate that God decided to have you come and be part of us. Your daddy and I love you so much.
Happy birthday, bud!
Love, Momma
Friday, September 24, 2010
Boo!
We had a fun day today. We got all of our school work done this morning and then headed over to our local greenhouse to go to a Kid Petting Zoo. There were all kinds of animals there, and the kids had a fun time petting them. Carsten was a bit skiddish with them at first, but warmed up after finally touching a soft bunny. After that, we made a scarecrow out of clothes we brought. It was cool.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Dear Journal
Here is Alexis' Journal Entry today, no corrections made.
P/23/10
IN WAN WEK
I AM GOING
TO THE DTROT
ZOO I AM VARE
IKSUTID MY FRIN
EMALE IS KAMING
TO AN MY
GRAM AN GRAPU
AER KAMING
TO LOVE ALEXIS
Ok, in case you couldn't translate -
In one week
I am going
to the Detroit
Zoo. I am very
excited. My friend
Emily is coming
too. And my
Grandma and Grandpa
are coming
too. Love, Alexis
P/23/10
IN WAN WEK
I AM GOING
TO THE DTROT
ZOO I AM VARE
IKSUTID MY FRIN
EMALE IS KAMING
TO AN MY
GRAM AN GRAPU
AER KAMING
TO LOVE ALEXIS
Ok, in case you couldn't translate -
In one week
I am going
to the Detroit
Zoo. I am very
excited. My friend
Emily is coming
too. And my
Grandma and Grandpa
are coming
too. Love, Alexis
Toads
HS is exhausting in some ways, but not in others. It is in that I have to go back and forth between each kid a lot and sometimes that gets a little crazy. However, I have found though that the house is staying cleaner because the kids aren't running through it all day long like they were when it was just summer break - so that's been easier.
Things have been going good. We're into week 2 now. Tyrus had a big meltdown today saying he felt like he couldn't do some things well any more. He said he always writes a '9' when he's trying to write a 'p'. I tried to give him an encouraging pep talk that he can do it, he just has to set his mind to it. He KNOWS the difference between a '9' and a 'p' he just needs to slow down a bit and write it correctly. I had him shout "I CAN DO IT!" That took the tears away, and the laughter came.
A few weeks ago, I went up to our laundry room only to realize that some how the washer had flooded the room! Now, know our laundry room is upstairs, so you know what that means - water damage came into the ceiling below in our livingroom. Yesterday, a plummer came to put some sort of back flow preventer deal into the drain pipe and now it seems to be working, thankfully. I was tired, I'll tell you, of hauling the clothes to the laundry mat! Today a drywaller came and repaired the messed up part in the ceiling. The kids thought both guys were really cool. I'm just thankful the drain is working now and the ceiling repair is done - all on our builder's dime.
Tyrus said something funny today in response to Alexis' rude comment to him: "I mean it! Don't make compliments!"
The kids are super hyped up about these crazy toads / frogs / whatever they are that they've found near our property. They've made up names for them: Hoppy, Toady and Sticky. They beg to bring them to their rooms as "pets", to which I've firmly said "NO!" And, the other day, they coerced me into taking them to the pet store to look at Frog Cages. Silly kids.
Things have been going good. We're into week 2 now. Tyrus had a big meltdown today saying he felt like he couldn't do some things well any more. He said he always writes a '9' when he's trying to write a 'p'. I tried to give him an encouraging pep talk that he can do it, he just has to set his mind to it. He KNOWS the difference between a '9' and a 'p' he just needs to slow down a bit and write it correctly. I had him shout "I CAN DO IT!" That took the tears away, and the laughter came.
A few weeks ago, I went up to our laundry room only to realize that some how the washer had flooded the room! Now, know our laundry room is upstairs, so you know what that means - water damage came into the ceiling below in our livingroom. Yesterday, a plummer came to put some sort of back flow preventer deal into the drain pipe and now it seems to be working, thankfully. I was tired, I'll tell you, of hauling the clothes to the laundry mat! Today a drywaller came and repaired the messed up part in the ceiling. The kids thought both guys were really cool. I'm just thankful the drain is working now and the ceiling repair is done - all on our builder's dime.
Tyrus said something funny today in response to Alexis' rude comment to him: "I mean it! Don't make compliments!"
The kids are super hyped up about these crazy toads / frogs / whatever they are that they've found near our property. They've made up names for them: Hoppy, Toady and Sticky. They beg to bring them to their rooms as "pets", to which I've firmly said "NO!" And, the other day, they coerced me into taking them to the pet store to look at Frog Cages. Silly kids.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
And we're off!
So school has started. Whew. The first day started out rough at first when I wanted to take a picture of the kids at the beginning to record the first day. We went outside into the sunshine and they complained and fussed SO MUCH about the sun shining in their eyes. Lots of tears and eye rubbing, etc made for not so great pictures. Anyway, once that was over, we went in and started our day.
It went very good. I felt a bit disorganized as there are lots of books, manuals, readers, etc between all of us that I need to find a better system to keep track of. But, we did accomplish everything I wanted to do, and the kids were very happy to do the stuff I asked.
Yesterday we worked on a Family Tree and the kids cut out pictures of all of the main people in their trees, all the way back to their great-great-grandmother. That was cool. We talked a lot about all the people. They didn't know that their great-great-grandmother had come over on a boat from Poland, for instance. While we were working on that, Tyrus announced to me: "I like homeschooling, mom." Well, I guess that's good, right?
After that, I read them a chapter out of Henry & Ribsy and when the chapter was over, I told them, "okay, that's all for today" and they begged me to read more! Gotta love that!
Tomorrow we have a Field Day for HS kids in our area. The kids are excited about it.
It went very good. I felt a bit disorganized as there are lots of books, manuals, readers, etc between all of us that I need to find a better system to keep track of. But, we did accomplish everything I wanted to do, and the kids were very happy to do the stuff I asked.
Yesterday we worked on a Family Tree and the kids cut out pictures of all of the main people in their trees, all the way back to their great-great-grandmother. That was cool. We talked a lot about all the people. They didn't know that their great-great-grandmother had come over on a boat from Poland, for instance. While we were working on that, Tyrus announced to me: "I like homeschooling, mom." Well, I guess that's good, right?
After that, I read them a chapter out of Henry & Ribsy and when the chapter was over, I told them, "okay, that's all for today" and they begged me to read more! Gotta love that!
Tomorrow we have a Field Day for HS kids in our area. The kids are excited about it.
