Week 14 ~ Parades, Thanksgiving and Reality

On My Mind ~ It seems everyone is instantly in holiday mode now.  I am not there yet.  I still have to get through Tim's surgery before I can enjoy the season with a more relaxed state of mind.  We leave for Duke early Monday morning.  He has pre-op Monday afternoon and surgery Tuesday (we do not know the time yet).  Tim is really uncomfortable and taking naps during the day.  It is so strange to find him in bed reading.  I look forward to having my energetic son back.  Even our very short Thanksgiving walk was exhausting for him.  He says his heart hurts all the time now.  He is not one to complain so I am one worried mother.

Everything is still moving along on the sale of our old home.  We have a back up contract now.  I never imagined we would have two contracts on our home. It is such a blessing.

Out and About ~ Our city holiday parade last week ran perfectly between our kids Nutcracker rehearsals.  The parade route went right past the studio so we were able to see much of the parade.  It was a mixture of bands, strange sights and companies advertising themselves.  The girls loved getting a little bit of candy and Tom Sawyer loved hanging out with his theater friends.


The kids are ready for the Nutcracker.  We hope to make it back from Tim's surgery in time for them to make dress rehearsal and the three shows.  The dance studio says they are welcome into the show whenever we get back.  This year the kids are a bonbon, mermaid, and little puppet boy.  I did not get a picture of Tom Sawyer or the Little Red Riding Hood in her costume, but here is Goldilocks.



Homeschool ~ We are enjoying The Secret Garden and finished watching the 6 hour documentary of The Manor House on YouTube.  Tom Sawyer finished his current level of Teaching Textbooks and is ready for the next level.  I plan on having him practice the multiplication tables for a few weeks until he is really quick with them.  Goldilocks wants to do more workbooks and to do them in her bedroom.  She finds her siblings and my fun teaching style to be distracting.  I had some workbooks and gave them to her.  So far she loves the workbooks but isn't staying in her bedroom much.  I am not terribly surprised.  She is very social and wants to know what everyone is up to at all times.  She is also our most disruptive student, so it drives her crazy how quiet it is when she is not in the room. LOL  She has to find out what the rest of us are doing.  All of the kids are doing more workbooks right now.  It is just easier on me and they seem to be enjoying the change of pace.  Workbooks don't take very long so they can go play outside faster.  We plan on schooling straight through Saturday since we are not going to get much done next week with Tim's surgery.
 

Around the House ~ I love this house!!  I love that I can see the kids from any back window.  When I see them being too wild, I just knock on whatever window I am near.  It is funny to seem them looking all around to see from where Mom is watching them now.  The below picture is from one of my kitchen windows.

Counting Blessings ~  We are so blessed to have a great hospital to go to next week.  I have total confidence in Tim's doctors.  We know that he will receive the best of care.  We are so thankful to have a reservation at Ronald McDonald House.  In addition, we are leaving Goldilocks with her wonderful mental health caregiver who has taken care of her for the past eight years when she needs to be away from the family.  Goldilocks is being crushed by her RAD and PTSD right now and is not up to dealing with hospitals and someone besides her being the center of attention.  She needs to be in a very stable environment where good quality RAD behavior modification can be provided.  I cannot do that at Duke, so she will stay with her caregiver for a few days.  Her behavior has been hard to manage for weeks now, and I am so blessed to be getting the break.  I really need it.  We were in a minor car accident this week and I am glad that no one was injured.  We also had a lovely non-traditional Thanksgiving.  Tom Sawyer can't eat all the good stuff (pumpkin pie, stuffing, gravy and rolls) so we made a special feast of our own.  It was very good.

mashed potatoes, fruit platter, spare ribs, green beans, organic rolls, London broil, butternut squash casserole, and chocolate milk

I am joining Homegrown Learners.

Blessings, Dawn