Day in the Life ~ July Edition

We are well into our second week of school. I am glad to see how quickly we are getting into our routine. I am not going to break our day down by the hour. That is just too exhausting. Instead, I will tell you that I started my day at 6:30 am and ended recording our day at 7:00 pm.

Early Morning ~ Dear husband had an interview this morning in another department at the hospital in which he works. I took a bit of time deliberating over ties with him and making sure his breakfast was extra special. Only minutes after he left, my Tom Sawyer (12) was by my side. He has always been an early riser. Thankfully, he is also a quiet morning person just like me. Tom Sawyer and I ate breakfast and listened to the alarm clocks going off for Little Red Riding hood (10) and Tim (our disabled adult son). They soon stumbled in and joined us for breakfast (or more sleep in Little Red Riding Hood's case). Tom Sawyer loves to get his independent work out of the way. He completed his journal, language arts workbooks, and math page.

The kids are allowed to be free until 8:50 am most mornings as long as they are not on the computer or watching television.

After breakfast, the kids wandered off to work on a video for YouTube. Little Red Riding Hood is busy trying to launch a mini rainbow rubber band business. Tom Sawyer video taped her while she made a bracelet tutorial.

School Time ~ Tim stayed home sick today from his brain injury day program. He has asthma and his lungs were really bothering him. He played chess with Tom Sawyer for a little while. Little Red Riding Hood completed her independent work (language arts workbooks, math page, and journal). We then started our group learning. I read the next chapter in The Saturdays to them (literature). We are just loving this book and only have one chapter to go. We then watched Molly An American Girl movie (history). We are almost done with World War II on the home front. The kids did their independent reading time (language arts). We concluded our core school time with how to write a condolence letter. We know a few people who have lost pets recently, and I thought this would be a good time to learn how to write that kind of letter. We studied our manner books and looked for phrases on a Hallmark website.

These two have always enjoyed chess.

Little Red Riding Hood addressing a card.

The phone rang off the hook during the morning. I am still dealing with so many calls in regards to our daughter Goldilocks (not pictured), who ran away and ended up in a psychiatric facility last spring. Her world is stabilizing in her placement out of the home, but there are many phone calls and piles of paperwork to fill out weekly to ensure that stability continues. Once we get the funding under control it should become easier. 

Our Afternoon ~ We had a rushed lunch because Little Red Riding Hood wanted to make it to the free art class at A.C. Moore. She is friends with the teacher and was allowed to use their rubber bands after completing the project. She loves making a few extra bracelets each week at no cost. 

We then raced back home to pick up Tom Sawyer who had been enjoying his media time. We picked him up and took him to his physical therapy appointment at our local children's hospital. The Arts for Life table was running crafts for kids in the waiting room. Little Red Riding Hood was delighted to see her favorite volunteer was running the table and babysitting the kids. In addition, a therapy dog was visiting, so Little Red Riding Hood was set with activities to do while I talked with the physical therapist and watched some of Tom Sawyer's therapy session. His therapist was almost apologetic that it looks like he will need PT for much longer than we originally suspected. His left knee almost dislocated last week and healing of his right knee still has a ways to go. Then there are the growth spurts in his future that will affect his bone and muscle growth differently than kids who don't have cerebral palsy. Actually, I was more relieved than disturbed that he will need more PT, because it is a relief to have a professional watching over him and trying to help him from dislocating again. I would hate to see him in so much pain again.

Our Evening ~ We returned home just minutes before Daddy. I started dinner, assembled Tim's nebulizer so that he could get medication into his lungs, and called my Mother. The kids went off to play on the Wii. After dinner the kids went outside to play with Daddy and I worked on Ebay, Amazon and this post. Before long it was bath/shower time for all. 

Another day done! This was a crafty day for Little Red Riding Hood. Crafts and dancing make her world go around so she was very satisfied with her day. Tom Sawyer would have preferred no PT and a play date with one of his friends. However, he thought the day went well, too. I, for one, am relieved that they are getting back into the groove of homeschooling so quickly after our crazy, bumpy spring and very short summer break.

Blessings, Dawn