This Week at Our House #7

We returned to school and regular life. It was a busy week with errands and dental appointments, and trying to get work done. I got my poetry book up for sale. The formatting was difficult, but now I know what I need to do, so the next times it will be easier.

1. Ruth has written and illustrated a children's book. Her illustrations are gorgeous! I think she is going to color it. She is also working on coloring the illustrations she has completed for my next book.
2. Kate is working on her next book. I am waiting for her to complete illustrations for two more of my books. These girls work hard. Kate made the most delicious raspberry truffles for Valentine's Day. We are possibly going to try and sell them at the Farmer's Market. Kate bought herself a parakeet and everyone is in love with it.
3. Johnny is working on computer programming and illustration. He says it is hard. I am always glad when he gets something done.
4. Adam helps me a lot around the house and with the little kids. His favorite thing to do these days is to draw. He draws for hours everyday.
5. Rachel got most of her school work done in a reasonable time period. She is not my studious child. She had her dental appointment and has no cavities, but was told to clean her teeth better. 
6. Anya is now as tall as or possibly taller than Rachel. I suspect she will get taller than Rachel soon enough. 
7. Joseph is doing so well with school. Except for math, he is on the same level as Adam. 
8. Joshua does his work happily enough. He has been more sweet and affectionate recently.
9. Arwen's a great reader now, and very mature and helpful and fun to be around.
10. Suzy pretends she is a horse everyday. 
11. Sam has been drawing everyday. He mostly scribbles, though it is becoming more geometric, but he is very serious about it.
12. Gideon loves chasing Susan and Sam and screaming and growling. I'm happy that he is playing with his siblings now.

This Week at Our House #6

I have not been good at keeping up on this blog this year. This week, we took the week of school off because many of us were sick. It really wasn't until Friday that everyone was better. Each one of us was sick between 3 and 6 days. It's nice to be better now.

This Week at Our House #5 Dentist and Sickness

We had dentist appointments on Monday and again on Tuesday, and then Thursday Johnny had a fever and by Saturday everyone else was sick. School was a little odd for all of that, and I got little laundry done. While some people are feeling better now, this is clearly not a 24 or 48 hour illness.

1. Ruth actually only felt very tired and not very sick until Monday, so she was the last man down and did a lot to help Saturday when I felt feverish. She's still working on her illustrations for her first book. She is also writing a really interesting story. I'm not sure if that will turn into something big or not.
2. Kate was the second to fall ill. She laid in bed all day on Friday unable to even eat a few grains of rice or watch tv. 
3. Johnny was very sick Thursday and it wasn't until the evening that we noticed anything was wrong. I think he tried to do his ordinary work before we realized that he needed to be laying down. 
4. Adam was very matter of fact about being sick. I came home from grocery shopping on Friday and he had a fever, but had just said, "I think I am sick, but I am not sure," and then he carried in all the groceries with Ruth.
5. Rachel stayed well longer, but when it hit her, it really hit her. She was very sick for about 48
   
   hours.
6. Anya was one of the people who went to the dentist and I got to learn that she is not brushing well enough, so she had tartar and cavities and Anya agreed that she does not try to clean her teeth well.
7. Joseph went to the dentist too. He had one cavity, but I think it is a small one in a baby molar, so they are not going to fix it, as it should come out before it becomes a problem. Otherwise, his teeth were clean. Joseph takes good care of his teeth.
8. Joshua played all week until he got sick Friday night, and then he laid around miserable and coughing over the weekend. I was away half the school week for dental appointments, so he had to work independently, and he did that well. He still likes a lot of help with reading and school.
9. Arwen and Susan woke up sick together Friday morning. She did not eat a thing before Sunday night, even though she got over the stomach part early on.
10. Susan has a lot of dental work that needs to be done. It's going to be hard and I haven't yet gotten her to a dentist who can do the work.
11. Samuel had his very first ever dentist appointment and he has a clean mouth with no cavities. He sat as cute as can be too. He did everything he was told and sat perfectly still, but looked frightened and would not say a word until he got to the treasure chest. 
12. Poor Gideon. Once he got sick, he was miserable and would not be put down for anything. He is still like that, though his fever is gone.

This Week at Our House #4

I am late this week. I have been so busy trying to find ways to earn money. There'll be more of that next post. The kids are well. Gideon is the cutest little thing walking around and getting into everything. We had to move the trash can so that it's now behind a closed door.

1. Ruth has finished illustrations for my next kids book. She has now written her own, and is in the process of illustrating it.
2. Kate is working on a new kids book too. She is also doing one illustration for pay for her aunt.
3. Johnny now has some actual visual moving content on a computer game. 
4. Adam's doing well, as the oldest of the school kids. He picks things up and remembers them quickly. 
5. Rachel's still going slow when it comes to school. She has no excuse and offers none.
6. I'm still surprised that Anya is 12, but when she does something immature, I am like, "You are 12!"
7. Joseph worried about Anya and walked around distressed and nearly in tears when I said that he could not help Anya with her math.
8. Joshua is doing fine. He seems happy enough. He has several little books made from copy paper that he kept taking out and writing from.
9. Arwen usually finishes all of her school first unless she gets stuck on her math. Then she'll take hours doing nothing. I have to catch her at it and direct her right.
10. Suzy's doing great in with learning the things she needs to. I have her working slowly. She most plays games with me, does a small amount of handwriting and I read to her.
11. Samuel likes school. He does a lot of what Suzy does with his own volition. I have heard other homeschool mothers say that about younger children, but I have not had younger children interested in school ever before Sam. I will probably get him a couple of his own pre-school workbooks for the next year. 
12. Gideon walks around getting into things about the same as Sam did two years ago. He even gets into the dishes and silverware the same as Sam did.

This Week at Our House #3 2 Birthdays

Monday through Thursday, we had school, full on in its intensity. The kids did fine for the most part. The days are long and the studies are reasonably intense, but the kids are working well. I can't remember any one melt down, so it can't have been too bad. Our weather was quite warm for January, and I am wishing for snow, but we might not get any this winter. Joshua and Gideon had their birthdays each a day apart on Friday and Saturday and that worked better than I thought it would. All in all, it was a decent week with the family.

1. Ruth is inking in the pictures she drew for my next book. Next we will photograph it and see if it looks okay with color. 
2. Kate has been working on another book of her own-- about ducks, though I think she plans to do more with mega-dragonsaurus. Kate and I read a book together this week. In fact, we read half the book in one night.
3. Johnny has been doing a lot of graphics for a computer game he is programming. We have the computers together, so it is working more easily to get everyone the time they need on the computers that have the needed programs. 
4. Adam is doing really, really well with school. He is top notch in his grammar and spelling which I am pleased about. I was worried that he did not know enough at the end of last year.
5. Rachel is still mourning that she has to do school, and falling behind everyone else. Though I know it has 100% to do with her choice and not with her ability. She is capable enough. Rachel has grown some more. She has my long legs and arms, which make her look taller than she actually is. She has gotten real pretty in the last 6 months.
   
6. Anya is so easy going. She does her school without any nagging and she does her chores in the same manner. She sits next to me and rests her head on my arm, when the little ones don't push her away, and I love that. 
7. Joseph loves his chickens. He goes outside to check on them several times throughout the day, and cries when he cannot see them all right away. Today, I asked Joseph if he got 50 chickens, would he keep track of them all, and he said that he would.
8. Joshua had his birthday. We let him choose what he would during the day, and I was pleasantly surprised that he did not choose to play computer games the whole day. He played board games, and drawing games, and outside games too. 
9. Arwen is funny and tells it like it is. If you want to know if you aren't looking your best, she might just say it to you. When Arwen told Ruth how much she liked her drawings for my book, and how good they are, Ruth knew Arwen meant what she said. On a similar note, Arwen gets upset when anyone tells her she lied, and I think she has that right because Arwen does not lie. She is very straight forward, and sometimes rude.
10. Suzy Q writes her name Susan Q. 
11. Sam loves Gideon's birthday present, and he knows what he is going spend his Christmas money on now.

Gideon had his first birthday, and as first birthdays usually go, he did not care too much. I would be sad, but he still breast feeds several times a day and wakes up in the night. He is still definitely my baby.

Happy Birthday, Gideon

A year goes by so fast now. I am mourning a bit with this little one turning a year. What a blessing he is to have and to hold. He stares into your soul with those big eyes.

Gideon is big and strong and in a hurry. He was the youngest of all his siblings to start walking. He was going across the room at 9 and a half months. Now he runs, a cute waddling run. He is into the cupboards. We had to hide the trash can. He pulls down the books and likes to dump out the pencils and the crayons. He has his own little clip board for his scribble drawings which he has been doing for a couple of months.

Whenever, he is outside, he picks up a stick and walks around like a little sentinel. More recently, he has been interested in playing in the water and in the shed. He is strong and healthy and a hand full.

Gideon weighs over 21 pounds, which is the same as many of our other kids weighed at 2. He is big and healthy and tall. I laugh when I think about all the worries we had during his pregnancy.

Happy Birthday, Joshua

My oh my, it's hard to believe that Joshua is 9! He has had his struggles. Reading is still one of them, though he is coming along and does test in at grade level. He reads the big words just fine, but mixes up all of the little ones and has trouble with tracking. But he is improving all the time, and I think that in time he will be a good reader.

On the hand, Josh is quite good at math. He's not keen on memorizing math facts, but he understands the concepts very well.

Josh has a huge and original imagination. He comes up with his own ideas and stories that are different and unique. He does not take his things from movies or books. He has his own.

Josh is a builder. He builds legos and builds his own designs. He makes amazing wooden block creations with details one would think could not be managed with a wooden block. Josh builds little houses outside out of sticks and rocks and old shingles.

I think this is the year when Josh will stop being a little boy.