Mason's Graduation from Preschool

Once upon a time I had a 9 pound baby boy...our 5th child, 2nd son.

He was loveable and cute...but I felt like he wasn't developing as quickly as my other children had.  At his 9 month well child check he was diagnosed with low muscle tone and torticollis.

We started physical therapy once a week at our house...when he was 2 we started speech therapy as well.  When he turned 3 I had to make a decision.  He still needed therapy, but they wouldn't come to our house anymore.  I could put him in the school district preschool where he would continue to get therapy (3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours) or I could bring him in once a week for therapy.  We decided to go with the preschool option...but I was nervous.  I had never sent any of my children to public school...and he was so little.



It ended up being a positive experience for him...and me!  He had fun and got the therapies he needed.  He is doing so much better with his speech than he was 2 years ago.  He still has a slight head tilt at times...I'm not sure that will ever go away completely.

And now his time at the preschool is over.  They had a little graduation ceremony to celebrate.  (Truthfully, I think preschool graduation ceremonies are a little ridiculous...but since it was my own child I thought is was sweet of the teacher to do it!)

My current plan for him is to keep him home and take him into the elementary school for the therapies that he needs.  He is doing much better and at our final conference the therapists weren't sure whether or not to have him continue with his therapies or not...but we decided to continue just so someone could be watching to see if any further interventions might be needed.

As I have been talking to him about preschool being over he is excited that now he can go to coop with Logan and Sienna.

As a side note...I took Mason to his eye appointment this afternoon.  He is doing well and we do not have to go back for 6 months.  Yeah!

End of Year Questionaire

I've always wanted to sit down with my kids and talk about how the school year went, what we could do better, what they wished we would have done, etc.  And I often do talk to my girls informally about those questions....but I wanted something more.

This year I made up a questionnaire that I could keep in their notebooks about some of their favorite things from this past school year.  I just made up my own because all the printable ones I could find were geared for public school kids (they all had the question...who was your favorite teacher?  Ummm...that would be ME!)

It was a simple typed form...but it worked!

Here are some of the answers

Logan...just finished kindergarten

Favorite Color:  blue, green, orange, purple...all of them
Favorite Food:  candy
Favorite Indoor Activity:  color
Favorite Outdoor Activity:  give Dogger a belly rub
When I grow up I want to be:  a movie maker and live in Logan (Utah)


 
Sienna...just finished 2nd grade
Favorite Color:  pink
Favorite Food:  bow tie pasta
Favorite indoor activity:  reading
Favorite outdoor activity:  jumping on trampoline
When I grow up I want to be a librarian
I'm really good at:  reading
What is the most memorable moment from this past year:  When we did the human tower (the kids made a human tower last Father's Day...it must have been memorable for Sienna!)
What are you most happy about accomplishing this past year:  Finishing the Book of Mormon
What was your favorite book this year:  Magic School Bus and American Girl books

Jenessa...just finished 5th grade
Favorite Color:  purple
Favorite Food:  pot stickers, bubble pizza
Favorite indoor activity:  playing card games
Favorite outdoor activity:  riding my scooter on driveway, kayaking, playing with animals
When I grow up I want to be:  either a librarian, preschool teacher or kindergarten teacher, or a professional soccer player
What is the most memorable moment from this past year:  moving to our new house
What are you most happy about accomplishing this past year:  finishing elementary school and starting junior high next year
What was your favorite book this year:  The Land of Stories series, Kane Chronicles, Nancy Drew series, Hardy Boys series, Emerald Atlas series

Kessiah...just finished 7th grade
Favorite Color:  black and red
Favorite Food:  cheesecake and chocolate
Favorite indoor activity:  playing on computer, reading, piano
Favorite outdoor activity:  kayaking, hiking, playing with animals, riding bikes, ziplining
When I grow up I want to be:  pilot or an animal trainer
I'm really good at:  piano, video gaming, computers
What is the most memorable moment from this past year:  getting my Kindle, turning 13, getting the chicks, moving
What are you most happy about accomplishing this past year:  accomplishing my goal of getting a new house
What was your favorite book this year:  Erin Hunter books, 13 Treasures series, Hunger Games series

I didn't fill out a questionnaire for Mason or Corbin...but Mason's favorite color is red and Corbin tells me his is yellow!

Fathers & Sons Campout AND Mother's Day

This year Ryan took all three boys with him on the Fathers & Sons Campout.  I wasn't going to push him to take Corbin (he kept joking that he couldn't take any boys that were not potty trained!) but Jenessa did push!  She packed a bag for Mason and Corbin and helped get all the stuff in the truck.

Ryan said it went fine.  If we rate the amount of fun had to how much dirt was on their faces when they got home...then Mason and Corbin had a great time!

The girls stayed home and had "C" night...we ate calzones and cupcakes and watched old episodes of Studio C.

This weekend was also Mother's Day.  Ryan bought me some flowers and did all the cooking/cleanup in the kitchen...and even changed a stinky diaper!  Some of my kids made me some reminders of how much they love me!  I feel truly blessed to have the family that I do.

Life on our Little Homestead

It has been wonderful for us to have the opportunity to go from .24 acres to 3 acres.  It will take some time (and money) to make all of our plans happen.  It is exciting to think about the possibilities!

One of the first things I did was make a place for a compost pile.  There were some pallets left in the horse area that I used.  My plan is create three spaces with the pallets for compost.  Not very pretty to look at but hopefully, we'll have some good compost...especially with our chickens (and soon to be rabbits)

We planted 24 berry bushes.  They are in different degrees of growth...some have lots of leaves and are a couple of feet high and others look like small sticks!  We love berries at this house so I'm not sure we will have enough to preserve but we will sure enjoy eating them fresh off the vine!

We are enjoying watching our chicks and ducklings grow.  It has been a great little adventure for us.  We got 12 chicks thinking that not all of them would make it...but they are all doing great.  The kids love playing with them.

Ryan has been working hard to make some garden beds...we hope to make more garden space and a greenhouse next year...and we do not have the cedar timbers secured around the outside...but for now we have a great start.  I have enjoyed getting my hands a little dirty and have been doing most of the watering during the week while Ryan is at work.  I haven't taken a very active part in our gardening until now...maybe that's why our garden beds haven't done very well most years!  Ryan doesn't have much time during the week to play outside and I have felt so swamped with babies in the past that I haven't done very much to help!  Now that the kids are getting a little older it is easier for me to get out and help.  I'm hoping for a lot of fresh and yummy produce this summer!

We had to buy a new lawnmower.  We had one...but after not using it for over 6 years we couldn't get it to start.  I'm hoping we have 4 lawnmower pushers in this house (Ryan, me, Kessiah, Jenessa)...so hopefully the job won't be too big!  Ryan mowed the lawn this weekend while I was at 4H sewing club with Kessiah and Jenessa...he said it took him about 1 1/2 hours to mow our lawn.

End of the School Year Review

Honestly, this year had a big bump in the road!  It was a good bump, but still a bump!

Kessiah kept on track with Williamsburg Intermediate...she had some hiccups with math during the last part of the year but she did get her grade where it needed to be by the end!  She is getting really good at the piano, it is fun to listen to her practice.  She found a song from Frozen on the computer and now plays it so well that all her siblings sing along (I do mean all...even Corbin sings it!).  Because of our spending freeze she did have to drop violin...hopefully we can add that back in at some point.  She has continued to participate in 4H and has chosen to focus on small stock and sewing.


Jenessa is very good at staying on schedule with K12.  She continues to improve at the piano...sometimes I'm not sure if it is Kessiah or Jenessa playing.  Unfortunately, because of the move she was unable to participate in basketball or volleyball this year.  She is looking forward to soccer in the fall.  I'm excited to see her learning to sew in 4H.

We did get back on track with Sienna's schedule after the move.  She has been really good about getting her assignments done early in the day so that she has a lot of free time.  She is taking piano lessons as well.  She did not participate in basketball or springs sports either...but we did keep doing gymnastics at the Y.

Logan is where we (I) got way off track!  We just couldn't seem to get it together after the move!  My fault, I know!  Thankfully, he did learn a few things from our homeschool groups and Sienna read him some science books as part of her assignments.  They especially liked the Let's Read and Find Out Series.There are so many titles I can always fine one that they are interested in reading.

I'm looking forward to starting our summer schedule so I can start fresh with doing some academic things with him.  Logan was bumped up a gymnastics class so this year he has been in an all boys class.














Mason and Corbin...no schooling needs here.  They have both been enjoying gymnastics.  Mason moved up a class so he is no longer with Corbin.  They have really enjoyed the new space we have to explore at our new house.  These 2 little guys are some of the reasons I'm so glad we made the move.  I had been thinking of sending Mason to kindergarten and Corbin to preschool.  In our other house, the floor plan was so open that Kessiah and Jenessa didn't have a quiet corner they could go to when they needed to focus on school.  These 2 little guys had a really hard time being quiet!  That situation has been changed here...so these guys get to stay home. I am pretty excited about that!

I have to admit is was nice not to have winter and spring sports schedules.  We really needed the time to get things done around here, but it was also nice not to have to do so much running around!  Our chickens have kept the kids quite occupied...maybe I'll count them as our spring sport!  Kessiah and Jenessa have especially taken over the care of them...I have really appreciated how responsible they have been!  Kessiah refers to our chickens as our comedy show...they are pretty funny to watch.

What We Read in April 2014

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WOW!  A powerful and inspiring book, truly a must read.

I've also read a few ebooks that I got in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle...there are plenty more to read but for starters I read and   (I'm trying to decide if I should do something more with my blog and these books gave me some things to think about)

Kessiah for school has read
 , , and .

Jenessa' favorite from last month was The Enchantress Returns
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She said it made her laugh and cry...I think this was the 3rd in the series.

Sienna has continued to read some American Girl books and has enjoyed the longer Magic School Bus books.

We are still working our way through Journey to the Center of the Earth as a read-a-loud

...it has been a tough read for us...we will be glad to finish this one!

April 2014

1.  General Conference.  Since we don't have DISH anymore we had to think about how to watch conference this time.  We ended up in our office watching it on the computer.  Strangely enough I thought it was one of the least chaotic conferences we have ever had!  I know my kids are getting older but I still have 3 boys that are 6 and under!  We were also in a smaller room so there was no room for toys for the boys to play with...they could only color!  I was grateful for the opportunity to listen more and I even took notes!  We enjoyed our traditional cinnamon rolls and orange rolls for breakfast and our ice cream sundaes during the 2nd Sunday session.

2.  AIMS testing.  Jenessa and Kessiah both had AIMS...on different weeks.  My parents were here the week of Kessiah's testing which helped me make sure that I got her where she needed to be when she needed to be there.  My parents also helped me get some things organized around here that I just hadn't had the time or muscle (thanks Dad!) to get to!

3.  Chickens and Ducks.  It has been fun watching the baby chicks and ducklings get bigger.  They aren't the cute little balls of fluff that they were when we brought them home.  They get held a lot...they are sure to be very friendly pets!  The ducks get a bath/swim in the bathtub a couple of times a week...they love it!  We moved them from the house to the garage.  And we have started giving them some outside time in the chicken coop during the day.

4.  We (mostly Ryan) have continued to work on our garden beds.  There was an area with some small raised beds already here...but we wanted some more spaces to plant things.  We planted some tomatoes during the middle of the month...we have never planted anything that early...and it was a mistake! We got some nights that were too cold and we got some snow flurries at the very end of the month (not very common!)...the general guideline is don't plant until Mother's Day...we should have waited!  We did get 6 rows of corn and 2 rows of peas planted.

5.  I had the opportunity to talk to the youth in our ward about my mission.  They had a mission prep night with 4 previous missionaries talking about their missions.  I made some dulce de leche to take...and made extra for my family.  Kessiah and Jenessa thought it was great on ice cream!

6.  BYU-Idaho Sound Alliance and Vocal Union.  We had a fun time watching a big band/singing program put on by BYU-Idaho.  I'm getting braver...we took everybody!  I've been in the habit of sending Ryan with the girls for events like this!  Corbin actually sat on my lap about 15 minutes into the concert and fell asleep...not sure how he did it because it got pretty loud at times!  By the end Mason and Logan were asleep as well...I guess it was a little late for them and it didn't hold their interest.