Fall Co-op Schedule

We registered for our fall co-op on Saturday! We were able to get many of the classes we wanted, and we are very excited to start next week! Below are the classes the kids have chosen:

Baloo: Physics, Liberty or Death, Chess, & Whose Line Is It Anyway
Because Physics is an extra-long class, he only gets 4 classes. He is taking Spanish I at another co-op, and all the rest of his credit classes will be taken at home.

Padme: Dance, Watercolor Painting, French & Italian Foods, Cheers & Cartwheels, Made by Hand (a crafts class that looks really great)

Lil Yoda: Adventures in Africa (Grandma Lori's class), Dance, Sewing, Cheers & Cartwheels, Body & Bones

Because this is Wendy, Angel & Dora's first semester at co-op and because they tend to be shy in new situations, I decided to put them in classes all together. Next semester I will probably give them a little more free rein in choosing their classes. They are taking:

Adventures in Africa (with Lil Yoda, taught by Grandma Lori), On the Ball (P.E.), Acting Out (taught by me), Math Games & Tricks (also taught by me) and Lego Creations.

This should be a fun semester at co-op! I am only teaching 2 classes, both 1st-3rd grade level. I normally like to teach high school, but wanted to back off some this semester so I can spend more time with my new family. The other 3 classes periods I will be assisting in preschool.

Locks of Love, Take Two

Wendy, Angel and Dora decided they wanted to cut their hair, and donate it to Locks of Love as Padme and Lil Yoda did last summer. Actually, Wendy wanted to get her hair cut first, in honor of her ninth birthday.  She thought short hair would make her look older (she was right, don't you think?).  When Angel & Dora saw how quickly she was able to brush her hair in the mornings (10 seconds, max), they begged to cut their hair as well!  I think they all turned out pretty cute!

Angel donated 14 inches!  She also cut bangs, which has been great because she had all of these "baby hairs" that were just long enough that they were constantly in her mouth! 

Doesn't she look so cute with bangs?

Dora donated 11 inches!  She was not even scheduled for a haircut, but our sweet hairdresser had an open time slot after Angel's, and Dora begged and begged to have hers cut as well!  

Doesn't she just look adorable?

Wendy cut 14 inches, too!  Of course you have seen her haircut already, in her birthday post.  We think she looks so beautiful and grown up, and she really can have her hair fixed in 10 seconds!  This is a great hairstyle - it just won't mess up!  Good choice, Wendy!

Our Summer in Review

Following is a list of our summer activities, in case anyone ever claims our kids never get out of the house:

Vacation Bible School
A week at Mema & Poppie's
Gymnastics - lots of it! (camp & classes)
Dallas Zoo
Sandy Lake Park
Dallas Arboretum
High School Musical on Tour
Hawaiian Falls
Medieval Times
The Reptile Guy (He brought about 30 reptiles, amphibians, insects & spiders for us to see & touch!)
Group Dynamix - team building & lots of games!
High Touch High Tech science class
Bowling
Bounce Houses galore, including jousting, huge slides & rock climbing!
Laser tag
Arcades

We went to the movies every week, and sometimes shopped at the mall while we were there!
Swimming at least twice/week
Swimming at local water park with water slides, lazy river, etc.
Plus the usual playing or sleeping over at friends' houses, etc. Our boat wasn't working this summer, so that was a bummer, but we still got to play down at the lake in our backyard!

We had lots of friends and family visit us as well!

We really had an awesome summer! We have now finished our 2nd week of school, and are glad we have such fantastic memories of our first summer with our new girls! Next summer looks to be even better!

Term 1, Week 1 Review

WOO-HOO!!!!! We have completed our first week of the new school year! I am pleased to report that, by the grace of God and with His help, I can, in fact, homeschool six children! Yay!!! The children did very well, overall. For the most part, I think I selected the correct levels for the new children, which is a big relief. The children are all enjoying their schoolwork, and I think this will be a very successful year! We are certainly off to a great start.

I have added to the margin a list of the books that the kids are reading. We use the Ambleside Online curriculum. Baloo is beginning Year 11, Padme and Lil Yoda are beginning Year 4, and Wendy, Angel and Dora are beginning Year 1. These do not necessarily correlate to grade levels, but do correspond to reading ability. I use the online curriculum as a guideline, then make additions, substitutions and adjustments as needed, based on the children's abilities as well as book availability. Because we have an extensive library, I will sometimes substitute an equivalent book we already own, rather than purchasing the new book listed in the curriculum.

The books listed in the margin include history, science, literature, geography, good citizenship and church history. In addition to these, the children do work each week in the following books:

Baloo:

Easy Grammar Plus

Current Events

Famous Speeches

Famous Essays and Short Stories

Building Thinking Skills

Copywork

Padme:

The Language Mechanic (Grammar)

Copywork

Phonetics Zoo, Level B (Phonics & Spelling)

Building Thinking Skills Level 2

Math U See, Epsilon

Wendy:

Explode the Code Book 3 (Phonics & Spelling)

Jump-Start 2nd Grade Grammar

My D’Nealian Handwriting Word Book, Grades K-1
Building Thinking Skills, Primary (Grades K-1)

Math U See, Beta

Lil Yoda:

Daily Grams for 2nd & 3rd Grade (Grammar)

A Reason for Handwriting, Book D

Phonetics Zoo, Level A (Phonics & Spelling)

Logic Countdown

Math U See, Delta

Angel:

Explode the Code, Book 2 (Phonics & Spelling)

Learning Horizons 2nd Grade Language

Modern Manuscript Handwriting Practice, Grades 1-2
Hands-On Thinking Skills, Grades K-1

Math U See, Beta

Dora:

Explode the Code, Book 1 (Phonics & Spelling)

Instructional Fair Grammar, Grades 1-2

Capital & Lowercase Letters, PK-1
Hands-On Thinking Skills, Grades K-1

Math U See, Alpha

In addition, we do group studies together. This 12-week term we are studying:

Artist Sandro Botticelli

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach

Hymns: A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Now Thank We All Our God
The Lord’s My Shepherd

Folk Songs: Camptown Races

Bill Grogan's Goat

The Crawdad Song

English From the Roots Up (Greek & Latin roots)

Lyric Language Italian, Spanish & French

Baloo works part-time and is a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The girls all participate in gymnastics classes each week. In addition, Lil Yoda will soon begin Tae Kwon Do lessons and the new girls will begin ballet & tap. Padme wants to begin competitive horseback riding, but we are still looking into that. I hope to get all the kids back into piano lessons very soon, and Baloo would like to take guitar lessons again, as well. All of these things cost money, so we are waiting on the Lord's provision for these "extras". Right now we are spending our time getting to know one another better!

We will begin our Friday co-op classes in a few weeks. Registration isn't for two more weeks, so we don't yet know which classes the kids will be able to get into. Baloo is pre-registered for Physics but that's all we know for certain, yet. He will also take Spanish classes from a Spanish tutor, beginning in September.

Happy 9th Birthday, Wendy!

Our 2nd eldest daughter turns 9 today!  Happy Birthday, Wendy!  You have blessed our family so much in the short time you've lived here.  We look forward to celebrating all of your birthdays with you!

We had lunch with Mema and Poppie today.  They gave her a purse with money in it!  They are such wonderful grandparents to all of our little sweeties!

Wendy & Daddy had a special date today.  Daddy bought her this outfit, and she even got her ears pierced!  This was a huge surprise to Mommy!  As you can see, she also cut her hair recently for Locks of Love, but I'll save that for a different post.

They had a wonderful birthday date, shopping, going to a movie and eating out together.   Wendy spent her birthday money at Build-a-Bear (she bought the pink cat above).  She also bought a Disney princess play set at the Disney Store, and a toucan Webkinz she named Taco.  

Wendy is a blessing in so many ways.  We thank the Lord for bringing her into our lives, we just wish we had been there for her first 8 birthdays!  It is hard to believe this confident young lady with the pierced ears and grown-up haircut is the same shy, withdrawn little girl who came into our home just 2 months ago.  We are so proud of your progress, Wendy.  You are maturing and growing up so very quickly.

Happy Birthday, Wendy.  We love you!

Our Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Belated Adoption Update

I'm so sorry it has taken so long for me to update. As it turns out, going from 3 kids to 6 is a bit more work than you might think! We are finally getting the hang of the whole 6 kids thing, and I can finally stop to breathe, I mean, post an update!


Short version: Adoption is extremely difficult but it is such a blessing already!


Long version: We have spent the last several weeks getting to know each other. The first couple of weeks, especially, were very difficult. The new kids were adjusting to a new family & new rules, and testing the boundaries. The old kids were adjusting to their space being constantly invaded and learning that their expectations about adoption just didn't match the reality. They did not anticipate the developmental delays of their newly adopted siblings, and were often shocked, disgusted and annoyed with the misbehavior/immaturity of their new sisters.


After a few weeks, however, we got to know each other better. The girls found things they could all enjoy playing together. They became used to each other. The new girls became more comfortable and no longer shut down or went into crying/screaming fits. The old girls' annoyance is certainly not gone completely, but they are able to enjoy their new sisters, rather than just put up with them. They don't seem to feel resentment towards the new girls, just annoyance that they won't hurry and Grow Up So We Can All Be Real Sisters. They are impatient for the fun part, the wonderful sisterly bonding, to start. And, truly, it has begun, it just isn't progressing as quickly as Padme & Lil Yoda wished & expected. The Lord is teaching us many things through this experience, chief among them Patience.


I believe that the new girls' shutting down and crying/screaming fits stopped largely because we got to know them better. Because they are developmentally delayed, we really have to treat them like they are 3, 4 & 5 instead of 6, 7 & 9. They have never been taught to communicate effectively. Like toddlers, they would cry or throw fits instead of speak. As we have gotten to know them better, we parent them better. We are able to anticipate what they want or need or what they are trying to express, and teach them to express themselves effectively. We have been working very hard on improving communication skills and have seen great progress. Now that they are able to express themselves verbally, they do not need to shut down, cry or scream.

We significantly underestimated the significance of the fact that we really don't know these children. This makes parenting very difficult. We have been with, or at least near, our bio children almost every second of their lives. We know nearly every experience they have ever had. Except with the teenager. He is old enough to have private places where even Mom & Dad don't belong. We understand the way God made them and what makes them tick. We know what motivates them, what frustrates them, what brings them the most joy and what they fear. Adopting children is like starting a book at chapters 6, 7 & 8. We have missed so much critical information, and we don't really even know what we missed. The beginning of a good book will set the stage for the story to come, introduce the characters and make you fall in love with them. By the time we even found the book, the first few chapters had been ripped out and thrown away, leaving us with a very complicated story but no background or introductory information.

Without a basic knowledge of these kids, it is very difficult to know the way they each should go. So how can we train them in that way? We must lean very heavily on the Lord to guide us as we train these children. He created them, He knows their inmost beings, He knows what way they should go and the most effective way to train them. We did not anticipate the magnitude of the impact made by the simple fact that we have missed so many years of our new children's lives. It sometimes makes me want to cry, thinking of all that we have missed, how many years of their lives could have been better with us, how many things we could have protected them from. But the Lord knows what He is doing, and He loves my children even more than I do...

As they have grown more comfortable in their new family, their obedience also has improved. We rarely have disobedience problems now, whereas we had issues all day long for the first few weeks. Our primary concern, though, is that we get not just outward obedience but their hearts as well. Deep down, we know the fear of disruption (fancy adoption lingo for sending the kids back) is possible. They know the system very well, and I know in the back of their little minds they are counting down the days until the Six Months' probation period is up, and the adoption is Finally Finalized. Until then, I don't think they'll allow themselves to truly let down their safeguards.

One issue we did not anticipate is that the new girls did not respect or, really, love each other. Therefore, getting new sisters was not something they necessarily looked forward to! The old girls, however, love each other dearly and expected to gain 3 more sisters who felt the same. Because the new girls were so needy, they just viewed their sisters as competition - someone who might get the attention they so desperately needed themselves.


In the past few weeks, we have been teaching the girls that Sisters Are Treasures. This has helped immensely, as the girls are learning to love & respect their sisters. This has helped my old girls as well who, because of the way their new sisters initially behaved & treated them, did not see them as treasures either.


The new girls are jealous of the relationship the old girls have with each other. I think it's a good jealousy, though. In that relationship, they see what they really want. Hopefully, in time, they will all be very close. I have been told this will take a couple of years, and that's okay. As long as I continue to see regular progress, I am happy.

In summary, our life is loud, complicated, funny, confusing, silly, frustrating, exhilirating, exhausting, and sometimes we don't know which way is up. Our house is filled to the brim with love, laughter and hairbrushes. We praise the Lord every day for this blessing called Adoption. How did we ever live without these girls? Thank you, thank you, Lord Jesus.