9-27-14 Autumn Days

It’s been a beautiful week. No rain. No AC. No furnace. Stunning blue skies. Brilliant green grass and trees. Gorgeous golden fields waiting to be harvested.  Have I ever mentioned that autumn is my favorite season?

Back to last Friday. Josh had an appointment with his pediatric ophthalmologist. Dr. Vahey determined from all the tests and measurements that his glasses weren’t helping like she was hoping they would, and so he doesn’t need to wear them anymore. That’s the good news. The bad news, which is also good news, is that he needs to have corrective surgery done on his eye muscles which will eliminate the need for the glasses. While I’m not doing cartwheels at the thought of surgery on my [baby] son’s eyes, I am thankful that, once the surgery is over, he should have no need for eyeglasses. I’m not a medical-type person, I don’t care for hospitals much, and I don’t know the names of the muscles or much about how the actual surgery will go. But I do trust in Dr. Vahey’s abilities and experience, and ultimately I do trust that God in His infinite wisdom is in control of every little aspect of Josh’s needs, including Dr. Vahey and her team which will do the surgery. Because of the abrupt onset of Josh’s Esotropia (crossed eyes), Dr. Vahey is also requiring an MRI to eliminate the possibility of a tumor or other such unknown factor that could cause such a rapid onset. MRI and surgery are scheduled for mid-October. Also Josh will continue to wear a patch for two hours every day on alternating eyes. Although he has perfect vision right now, the concern is that one eye could stop working, thus leading to eventual blindness in that eye. The patch will eliminate this possibility.

A few px of the week.

*The last watermelon!*

Photography by Josh.

Another bit of news around here –

As of yesterday, Levi is the thankful owner of a new [old] house conveniently located about a mile north and a little west of our house on Broadway Road. Built in 1921 by Levi’s great-great-uncle Chris Kaiser and great-grandfather Joe Kaiser (Chris’s brother), it’s a privilege for Levi to be the fourth generation to own this beautiful property and continue the family heritage. We’re grateful that he’s not planning to move out quite yet; rather, he will rent it out and continue to live with us for a time.  We are rejoicing with him!

Levi’s house from our road.

From the east side of his property.

Our place from Levi’s front porch.

Same view but zoomed in.

And a bathroom report. On Monday, Chad tiled the floor for us. Grouted it Tuesday. Wednesday Ron & Dustin did a quick job on the vanities and the door, and today Chad made great progress on the shower tile. We’re thankful for progress and are happy with the new look.

That’s it. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend!

9-25-14 Kindergarten

I’ve had this post cluttering up my brain for a few weeks now. Time to get it out.

I’ve been wanting to chronicle for the kids and myself just what a homeschool day looks like in our house. Right now it seems like I’ll never forget these sweet days, but the reality is I will. So this post will be about kindergarten with Josh. It doesn’t look the same as kindergarten with Jewel or Sarah or Ben or Kate or. . . get the picture? But there are similarities and a general structure to our day that hasn’t changed a whole lot in the 15 years we’ve been on this path.

Josh gets up around 7:00 or 7:30 and has a chart with pictures of his morning jobs. These jobs are making his bed, putting his pjs away, getting dressed, having breakfast, brushing his teeth, and emptying all trash into the laundry room trashcan. Once his morning job chart is done, he is ready for schooltime, which starts with the other kids (Ben & under) in the greatroom. Since our #1 subject is God’s word, we start with Bible study. While we realize we aren’t under the old law of the Old Testament, we still see great value in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 and take its message literally:

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Hence, Bible study is the most important and the first subject we tackle. Together we recite scripture memory verses, reviewing ones we’ve learned in the past and spending time on the one we are currently learning. After a time of prayer together, I read a Bible story and we discuss it, asking and answering questions. Next I read a chapter of whatever storybook I’m currently reading; the stories are of normal families with normal children doing normal activities, and they all teach valuable moral lessons which are based on scripture. I appreciate the Miller family series for this and have also read through A Hive Of Busy Bees several times. This morning Bible time usually takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes, depending on how many interruptions we have and how many chapters the kids convince me to read [smile].

After Bible time is over, the other kids scatter to work on their various subjects. Josh might help me move some laundry over or finish cleaning up the kitchen (which should have been done by then but sometime doesn’t pass inspection…), and then he and I head to my bedroom loveseat where we work on his memory verse, drill alphabet and number recognition, and then I read to him for awhile. He’s not ready for letter/sound correspondence yet, but he’s getting close; and soon I plan to start him on sight word drill also. If you’ve never done it, I’ll just tell you: it’s very rewarding to teach kids to read. Even when they learn at a slower pace than others, the steady progress is really fun to watch! And it’s not rocket science either; actually it’s very simple. Here’s the formula:  letter recognition + letter/sound correspondence + blend sounds = reading! No matter how long a child takes on each of those steps, with consistent and frequent drill they WILL eventually learn to read (in cases of dyslexia it might take longer, but the steps are still the same). And after seeing that little light bulb ‘click’ for my first eight kids, with its accompanying grins and excitement, yeah I’m more than a little sad that my ninth will be my last student. Never did I think he’d be my last, and that it would be here so fast. Astounding.

Anyway.

After 30 minutes or so of drill and reading, we’re off again to check on laundry and various other household tasks. I’ll tend to these needs while Josh does more alphabet and number work, either cards in a chart or any of various puzzles; I’ll keep an ear on him as well as on the other kids too. Seems like inevitably there are questions waiting for me when we emerge from our loveseat schoolroom. Math, science, writing, you name it.

After Josh’s chart/puzzle time is done and I have laundry/questions taken care of, we go to the kitchen table where Josh does a few workbook pages. I usually require him to do one or two pages, but he usually wants to do more which is fine too. After a few workbook pages he’s ready to run for awhile; he usually heads outside to get reacquainted with his cats.

That’s it.

If you weren’t adding up the minutes, I’ll just do it for you: Josh’s kindergarten takes about an hour, which is made longer with frequent breaks for laundry and other tasks.

A few px.

That’s it!

9-23-14 Friday Evening

by Kate

Friday we got to keep our favorite Lainey for awhile.

Leann and the rest of the kids came for supper. After supper we shelled and picked corn for  awhile.

Sarah and Lexi worked on making clothes for their corn husk dolls in the play house. Jewel doesn’t usually play with them because she is usually with the boys.

Lainey had fun playing with the camera and taking pictures. It’s pretty cute watching her walk around taking pictures. Most of them didn’t turn out and these ones are the best.

[editor’s note:  Lainey was looking at her px on the camera. She was so cute when she saw this one: “Josh!”]

I took these next few pictures of the girls up in the tree house. It was very dark so they aren’t very good pictures. [editor’s note: I’m still very glad to have them. Thanks Kate!]

Lexi, Wesley, and Whitley got to camp in the back yard. We managed to find enough of the same clothes so the girls could match.

We slept in the tent……

……while the boys slept under the stars. They are not sleeping yet; the flash must have been bright. It was at least midnight before we got to sleep.

Saturday morning Mom took them back home again. It was a lot of fun.

THE END.

9-20-14 Random