Weekly Wrap-Up

From the Heart ~

It has been such a busy week. There was a fair amount of challenges each day but many happy moments as well.  One of my goals for the children this year is to get them together with friends more often.  They had several opportunities to play with other children this week.  It is a nice start to meeting that goal.  Speaking of goals ... my dh and I are contemplating our goals for the children this year.  We want to sign them up for several classes but need to find balance.  With so many therapy and doctor appointments for our children, it is often hard to commit to anything else.  We really do want the children to get lots of other opportunities, though, so we must press on.  So far, we are putting the kids into dance classes ( I found an all-boy dance class for Tom Sawyer),  and Goldilocks will be joining the homeschool choir.

Learning Time ~

The kids really enjoyed our nature study this week.  We have a crop of wild mushrooms growing in our gravel driveway.  The kids wore gloves since we were not sure whether they were poisonous.

I also gathered together our first FIAR group event for this school year.  Our book was The Bee Tree, and we had fun making bee crafts and eating honey.  We also conducted a neat density test.  First we put honey in the jar, then oil, then colored water.  The oil floated above the water and all three liquids separated.  We then added to the jar a grape, cork, button, and coin.  Each item stopped at a different level, depending on its density.

Family Fun ~

The kids were invited to two birthday parties in the past week.  The first was with a friend they have known for several years.  The birthday party was held outside, and the family rented a giant water slide.  Everyone had loads of fun.

Little Red Ridinghood did not want to go on the water slide and spent most of her time on a rope swing.

The second birthday party was held at a local museum for twin girls, who are new friends.  The kids got to make rockets and shoot them all over the party room, which they all enjoyed a lot. I do believe we have come up with another use for all of the film cans my father sent...making rockets!

Sweet Moment to Remember ~

We are watching a DVD show from  The Waltons series several nights a week right now.  My Goldilocks (9) especially enjoys this time together.  It is a nice bonding time for her, and she loves The Waltons.  I love the moral content, happy normal family, and interpersonal relationships that she is being exsposed to.  Sometimes the themes of the show seem too adultlike or over her head, but she watches with interest and shows appropriate emotions.  In the past two weeks, she has started singing and saying things like "I love John Boy..." and "I am going to marry John Boy".   She even asked me if I thought he would be a good guy to marry!!!  I could not be more happy about her first TV star crush. For a child who has seen so much horror in her earliest years and has a tendancy to make poor choices, this first crush is a tender and adorable experience for us.  When you look at the statistics for a child with FASD and RAD, the outcome of them having a successful adulthood is not good.  Since there is no cure for FASD, the only recourse my husband and I have come up with is to plant our dd's feet so firmly in the right path that it does not occur to her to stray into trouble.  This first crush shows us that we are making headway in our theory.

To see more weekly wrap ups, go over to Mary's Blog.

Blessings,

Dawn