Week 15 ~ Where Did the Last Five Weeks Go?

We are done with our third five week unit. I can't believe we have finished another five weeks! This past unit seemed to fly by extra quickly. I imagine the next five weeks will be even faster, since they will end on the doorstep of Christmas. We had our Show and Tell presentation for unit three last night. I am a bit deflated by it. The kids seemed confused about the material and just completely off their game. They did not make this homeschool mom particularly proud. However, I know one night is not a full reflection of the work we are accomplishing day in and day out.

Tom Sawyer has been "off" all week due to Halloween candy (which, for the kids' well being, now has been discarded). I thought I had given him enough supplements to counteract letting him have candy a few times, but I obviously over did it. He has been one red, hives covered, tearful, ADHD mess. I hope we will have him detoxed by the end of the weekend. I sure am looking forward to a week off to rethink a few things and get our holiday schooling off to a successful start.

Operation Christmas Child ~ It is almost collection time again. The dates for collection are November 17 - 24. Since next week is our week off and we have lots of plans, I decided to do our boxes now. We had almost no budget for Operation Christmas Child this year. We collected items year round for this event so we already had some things. I really need to make every dollar squeal this holiday season, but I don't want that fact to take away from our charity work. I have a friend who has worked at the sorting center for years, and she told me that used was okay as long as it was in excellent condition. I decided to go with that theory this year.

Little Red Riding Hood made lots of crafts at the Arts for Life table (at the hospital) this year. We took the ones that could become toys and used them for our boxes.

We also are ready to give away our Brio. Many of the trains were chipped and I was not able to resell them on Ebay. So the kids painted them with non toxic paint (acrylic) to make them safe and like new to send. We also had a large bag of Lego blocks that had been donated to us which we used in the boxes, and the hard candy came from their bags of Halloween candy.

We joined together with our favorite twins and put together seven boxes for Operation Christmas Child and two boxes for Meals on Wheels. We purchased cups, pencils, paper, toothpaste, soap, tooth brushes, and wash cloths from the dollar store. The total cost to us was $16.

Our Show and Tell Night ~ As I stated earlier, the kids were not their best for this event. Tom Sawyer struggled with the writing of his report (in fact, Grandma typed and wrote a lot of it). They struggled to keep all of the details of the Civil Rights Movement straight and just seemed at times like deer caught in headlights. However, they got through it. For dinner, we had a traditional African-American soul food meal. We made 7-Up Cake (substituting organic lemon-lime soda), flavorful green beans, oven-fried fish, and mac and cheese.

Tom Sawyer's Physical Therapy ~ On a positive note, Tom Sawyer has stopped complaining about the mechanics of writing during the last few weeks. There have been almost no tears, and he is writing his dictations much more quickly. He has had many years of occupational therapy to help with his handwriting, but it has done almost nothing. Tom Sawyer has cerebral palsy, and his new physical therapist has stated that his core is so weak that she can't figure out why he hasn't been confined to a wheelchair. Having a weak core affects everything, including one's ability to write. So this new physical therapist has started working to strengthen his core. Now Tom Sawyer does daily core strengthening exercises, and it is reflected in his improved ability to write. Thank goodness for progress!!

Blessings, Dawn