Week 12 ~ Calmer than Expected

I feel like this week was the calm before the storm. I also took very few photos this week. That is just the way of it sometimes. Life takes off and I forget to record it in pictures. The highlight of the week was having Anne's best friend Josephine over for the day. They kicked the day off with a Pringles challenge. They found it harder than expected to figure out the different flavors while blindfolded. The rules of the game state that if one guesses incorrectly, she or he is supposed to be slapped; but they were very gentle with each other. The afternoon was spent playing in autumn leaves. I am so glad they aren't too cool to have good, old-fashioned fun.

The remainder of this past week was about progressing in subjects that were behind, holding steady with subjects that were on schedule, and wrapping up projects that were in the way and creating messes. Here is what we accomplished:

• We played lots of board games this week ~ 10 days in Asia, 10 days in the USA, Scattergories, Stratego, Quizmo Geometry, and chess. 
• Anne learned and performed for credit three more songs in American Sign Language.
• Both kids covered five more hours of biology. They read about bacteria, grew bacteria in 10 more petri dishes and watched several episodes of Life on Netflix.
• They each accomplished four math lessons.
• Anne finished painting her night stand and put it into her room. She has just one more piece of furniture to paint. 
• Dean participated in two hours of boffing.
• We started reading The Brothers Grimm Vol.2 as a family.
• Anne attended 16 hours of dance classes, including a two hour private lesson in Cecchetti because no one but her showed up on that day. She also has six hours of rehearsal this weekend.
• We wrapped up our study of Sherlock Holmes and moved on to Jane Austin's Emma. We are watching the movie tonight. 
• Dean practiced guitar and ukulele every day and attended his guitar lesson.
• Dean finished up his art project for his art class.
• They watched CNN-10 news each day. 
• Anne finished a 1,000 piece puzzle of Mt. Rushmore that has been laying around for weeks. We lost one piece. 

It seems like more happened than that. Since I record lessons in the lesson planners as they are finished and not by the week we are in, I may be missing something. 

Anne also started decorating her room for Christmas. She is determined to enjoy the season for as long as possible this year. We love Christmas around here, but historically it has been a stressful time of the year. When our mentally ill daughter Goldilocks lived with us, she started really acting up around Thanksgiving and would be unbearable to deal with until mid-January every year. Her behaviors were extreme and dangerous. This is common for kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder and even worse because her birthday is just a few days after Christmas. Birthdays tend to be very hard on some foster/adopted children and this is true for her. Some years I wanted to skip the Christmas season completely. Then we added in The Nutcracker performances eight years ago and that made our lives incredibly busy and stressful. It feels different this year. Everyone in our household is in a good emotional place, and we are veterans of The Nutcracker. It really doesn't feel overwhelming so far. I hope the joy of the season sticks!

Last but not least ~ A photo of my handsome son, otherwise known as stick boy. HaHa.

Blessings, Dawn