Mom I'm hungry....

This is a common thing for kids all age to say right? It's a sad thing also when you hear about children in other countries that do not have food or the means to get it. I have another version and very heartbreaking for me.

A~man just turned 10 this week...yippee but I will save that post for another day. Tonight (3-8) he was with his respite provider at our church that has a special needs classroom. They have a day placement for adults with sn's but A~man is kindof like their special mascot haha and in the summers he is there with the rest of the younger children with sn's. But Wed's are his special afternoons without mom or dad hanging out at his favorite place on earth...church. While he was there we took Z~girl to go swimming for some more one on one attention. (or is it two on one?:) While ds is at church he hangs out in the classroom socializing then he goes to eat as they serve a meal on Weds. I'm not sure when things went bad...I'll find out more details tomorrow...for now I know enough. Hubby went to pick him up from church....he was throwing a fit screaming bad bad stuff...he had to carry him to the car. Keep in mind this is a HUGE church...geesh I wonder what people think? He is so high functioning that when he falls apart I know people must think he is just a bratty kid (he's NOT) that must have been raised by wolves....ok I gotta chuckle...but he has autism thrown in there which is a double whammy on self control.

Anyway this entry has no rhyme or reason...I'm rambling...just need to vent. He gets home in hysterics....dh has to go back to work:( and I could not get him to get ready for bed. He sits on the couch and starts saying he hasn't eaten dinner and he is hungry.....just crying "I"m so hungry please feed me!!!" Rip my heart out already....Did I feed him? No. I know he had been fed....so I just held him on my lap and let him cry....finally I was able to get him to jump in the shower with the promise when he calmed down he could call daddy. He wanted to tell daddy he was sorry for the way he acted. He also was telling me he wanted Jesus to forgive him....(he screamed he hated Jesus in church) RIP MY HEART OUT AGAIN! stomp on it too....

I just instantly thought of GRACE. I told A~man that Jesus forgave him .....he did it long ago so he could forgive him now. I told him that God loved him VERY much.

I am exhausted.

PEACEFUL weekend

We had planned to go camping this weekend but it was off and on rainy and cold...cold for the south that is. ;) We tried our best to find a cabin nearby to rent but our area is notorious for leaf lookers and it seems they are all filled until the last leaf falls off the tree. The kids were so dissapointed....soooo we went to a new waterfal...a small one but it was so peaceful.

DH actually took a cat nap by the falls on a most comfortable rock....I found a comfortable rock myself to lay on while keeping an eye on the kids. After a bit we decided to explore some more and crossed the highway where Z~girl found another path. On that path we found some more leaves for our collection and yet another waterfall of sorts...more like a damned off area. I'm hoping to return there in a week or so when the leaves have more color.

Then....we went to Lowes to buy a fire pit. This is something we have been wanting for ages and I told DH it would be our belated birthday presents. (our bdays were in July) So we cooked hotdogs and made s'mores that night. Afterwards after a minor scuffle between A and Z they settled into the INDOOR tents I made for them in the livingroom.

Bonding with nature...

This afternoon it was just me and the girl. The hubby texted asking what we were doing and I told him "bonding with nature" he chuckled...a private joke. We both (before kids) used to work with a little boy with autism for years and during part of that time we shadowed him at a montessori school....there was a day when both dh and I were there...along with the ABA (applied behavior analysis ) consultant...and "D" was hugging a tree....the teacher said "he was bonding with nature" The ABA consultant looked mortified and dh and I both chuckled at the polar opposites of the teacher and "specialist". Anyway...Z and I bonded with nature today...but then again...our family enjoys exploring Gods Creation on a regular basis.

We are doing a Tree unit study. I LOVE TREES. When I was more artsy...most of my pictures had a very detailed tree in it. Before I get too big of a head...the unit study was not created by me but a local homeschooler who's children are grown. It was made especially for the levels my children are at. My dd is 8 and ds is 10......both "3rd grade" whatever that is;). She chose the books specifically for my advanced 8 yr old and my more challenged 10 yr old. The books she chose for both have been WONDERFUL. It is also our 4H project for the year so we will be using it for an extended amount of time.

Today the most colorful leaf we found were some red oak leafs. It was the most wonderful girl bonding, chatting about the changing leaves, the why's etc and what we would do with the beautiful leaves we found. We each found about a dozen of the SAME type...some red and some still green off the ground. We found a bench and she traced some of hers (actually for this she did different kinds in addition to oak) and then used colored pencils. BEAUTIFUL! When we got home she did some crayon rubbings with them and I used some contact paper to laminate mine.

I'm hoping ...if we are brave we might take one last camping trip this weekend. Even though we are in the south it will be CHILLY. But it would be fun to explore the trees...the sounds...the smells and the chill of fall!

feeling overwhelmed....

It's been such a wonderful end of summer....begining of fall! Meeting a wonderful new group of homeschool friends....tons of homeschool events that are absolutely wonderful...no complaints there. In fact for the first time in ...gosh who knows how long...over a year I am going out with friends to a movie! no KIDS! woohoo! Our family has been on some many nice new hikes to local places we have never seen and the actual HOMESCHOOLING is going so well! Z learns so easily despite what I have no coined the "GIRL 'TUDE"...A~man is trying so hard..I have found such a wonderful match of curriculum...it's hard to fit all the fun learning in a day! I have also started trying to relearn crocheting...and also have been sewing. Oh and add in the exhibits we entered in the fair..I need to post pictures!!!

Now for the OVERWHELMED. My house is awful. A complete mess. Now there have been times when it is cluttered (there is no hope for me there with my love of books and fabric) but it needs scrubbed top to bottom. WHEN? Now just a disclaimer it is not "unhealthy dangerous dirty;)" but YUCK. My downtime is in the evenings I can't survive without it honestly. I do have someone doing respite with A~man once a week now for about 4-5 hours....but during that time I or we, if dh is not working like to spend extra time with Z~girl. Oh and we just joined the gym...where will I get the extra hours/energy for THAT??? ROTFLMAO.....

Aye aye aye....I need a housecleaner. Now I know in the whole picture I am accomplishing the IMPORTANT stuff....but geesh it would be nice to not be embarassed if the doorbell rings....you know instead of hiding in the closest......JK.....

A trip to the orchard

it just became clear to me....

We are going on our 4th year of homeschooling. Through the years we have tried and used so many kinds of curriculum....I'm embarassed to even say! Last year I bought My Fathers World. LOVE the idea behind it....love all the material. Did we use MFW last year? no. We used it here and there and read most of the books but today it hit me. With my personality and the kids personalities we are just not a strict schedule type of family. This week was so wonderful....Boy scout swim party kickoff, 4H started, Girl scouts started, a field trip with our homeschool group, and today a trip to Dunkin Donuts followed by a playdate with them at the park. It ran me ragged but I just let myself enjoy this week. Inbetween all that we did our "school work". Next week will be a mainly HOME type of week. In years past I felt so much guilt if we did not get everything done on our "list" and would feel guilty about the weeks we were busy out of the house. I am going to stop with that crazy notion! I'm also going to stop feeling the need for the PERFECT all around curriculum....and use a little this a little that to fill in the needs of our family.

Flutterby