2009 is here!

We had Christmas. It was really nice. We were able to open our home and enjoy the company of some loved ones in the congregation here. It was a quiet day, but very enjoyable. The biggest "news" of Christmas was that when Mike & Ann were here, Mike re-strung our guitar with the nylon strings (squishy, WAY more comfortable to play with) Dad bought for it when he and Mom were here in Oct. IT IS WONDERFUL TO PLAY WITH NYLON STRINGS!!!!!

For Christmas Natasha (using her birthday money!) gave Jeremy and Justus identical Nerf guns. WOW, have they been enjoying it!! The nerf projectiles have plastic suction cups on the front end, so some of the favorite things to shoot them at are windows, mirrors, and wall hangings with glass fronts. (Of course, every time one sticks it leaves a perfect little round mark.... :) I'm refusing to get into a tizzy about it; it's all in good fun!!) Well, occasionally they go around the house shooting each other. This is HUGE, BIG FUN, evidently. The laughing is hysterical, and it is extremely high-energy. At one point Justus poked his head around the corner, and saw Jeremy aimed right at him. He opened his mouth to squeal, and started laughing, and when Jeremy let loose the "bullet", it hit on the side of the inside of Justus's mouth - and stuck!!!!!! Justus then continued laughing so hard, and for so long, that his lips turned blue!!!!!!!!!

For New Year's we celebrated 'til after midnight, with about 50 others, at the out-of-town cabin of some beloved church members. Good times!! Good food (and TONS of it), good fun, and good singing!! We learned that every year they sing in the new year, starting at 11:30. GREAT TRADITION, EH?? It was cold, but the roads were clear and everyone was safe!

Here is the latest episode in the saga of Natasha's dyslexia. [Wait, isn't part of the blessing of homeschooling the possibility of escaping "The Label"??! Okay. Yes. But ... can't there be a difference between an unnecessary, detrimental 'label' and effectively using available information to help a child (or adult!!) best-manage personal strengths and weaknesses?? That is my perspective on Natasha's dyslexia.] Thankfully so far she doesn't have negative feelings about it, that I can perceive. And she doesn't have it "severely". But it does seem to me to be more than just the typical 'backwardsies'. First, she is a *girl*, age *10* still struggling with it on a daily basis, though seemingly in her own handwriting only. When she was learning to read (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons), during lessons ... oh ... say ... 15 through 70 I was noticing Natasha guessing(!), it seemed to me like, on some words ... but there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to the words she was guessing on. Long words, short words, all letter combinations. It took me 'til probably lesson 40 or so to figure out that she was flipping letters and then letting her brain figure out, based on context and whatever *other* letter-flipping her mind could do, what the word might be. I was so fascinated by it that I started keeping a list of what the word was and what she "read"; I've long-since lost that list, much to my consternation. An easy example that comes to mind would be a word that *ends* in an ob she would read as a word starting in po, pa, da, or do. By lesson 70 or 75 the largest amount of the struggle in READING had all-but vaporized ... a testament, I believe, to the effectiveness of the DISTAR method (100 Easy Lessons).

At this point Natasha is still struggling (in her handwriting only -- she is reading at 8th or 9th grade level) with that "b/d/p/q/9/6 thing", and it drives. her. nuts, but in a sweet, endearing way. Oh, and that *is* "thing", singular. (I remember, very early in my writing and reading experience, having a mite of trouble keeping the b and the d straight, but never the p and the q or the 9 and the 6; from the perspective of a 'normal' brain, this seems like three separate difficulties.) In her math she'll get the answer 9 but write it as a P ... or a 6, but more often these days as a P. Here is what I learned that has helped me understand that for Natasha to flip b's, d's, p's, q's, 9's and 6's is all the same issue: dyslexics don't flip words *just* left and right, which is what I always thought; instead, their minds, in that same f-r-a-c-t-i-o-n of a second(!) the shape is viewed from the left and the right, ALSO view it as though looking at it straight-on from the top, the bottom, the front, and the back.

The author of The Gift of Dyslexia explained it rather like seeing all six sides of a cube, and all eight corners, basically at once, or as though your body were spinning around the object while viewing it ... which is why (I NEVER KNEW THIS!) many dyslexics actually feel a split-second of dizziness in that initial nanosecond of "nonrecognition"!!!!! [That feeling of dizziness is just about the only thing that helps them know every time they need to view this object from their reference point ... which the author stated is most effective when the dyslexic chooses to view the object from a spot four inches above eye level, directly between the eyes, but forward from the forehead about 8"-12". In his decades of being a dyslexic and 'treating' dyslexics, this method has been failproof!] Without a frame of reference the mind just guesses which one is right, based on context. This event happens subconsciously whenever the brain doesn't immediately recognize, for certain, what the shape 'means'. This is why dyslexics are often outstanding athletes, artists, and mechanics: their brains are capable of doing perceptive mental calesthenics -- things the rest of our brains muddle through.

At any rate, it is looking like -if I'm diligent to catch them all- Natasha might end up re-creating for me that long-lost list of examples of efforts her 5yo mind made at understanding words. In her handwriting assignment today she did what was required (a Bible verse where Jesus promises the Comforter to the twelve); then she chose to fill the rest of the page from memory with the verses from Acts wherein the prophecy is fulfilled! (It wasn't word-for-word, but I'm still amazed ... and of course extremely pleased!) Since she was going from her memory and not a copy sheet, she wrote "the Holy Sqirit". Ohmy.... LOL!

For the record, I have not yet taught N about the "point of reference"; I keep thinking that if she is actually going to outgrow it, I'll just not bother her with it.... But I'm coming up on the point where I'll go ahead and explain it to her and then let her at least try using it ... just to see if it helps. She knows her trip-up with the b/d/9/6/q/q, so at this point when she needs to write one of those shapes, she has to stop, look for one to copy, and then copy it. That makes for some slow going.... (sigh)

We got sleds for our children. See, last fall our back yard neighbors volunteered their permission for our children to sled down our back yard straight through their back yard; at the bottom is a fence and some bushes. Ssssssso, we bought sleds, and there has been NO SNOW since then. Yet, the world is still white. Whassup?? It's 3" - 10" of solid ice. The children went out with Jeremy one afternoon, and went down a couple times, but crawling (yes, on all fours!!) back up took 15-20 minutes, and ... wrecking is simply NOT safe on SOLID HARDNESS. So we're now awaiting more snow....

Kitchen Basics broth is a major recommendation!!! Jeremy's sister Jennifer recommends tons of good stuff to us. :) Kitchen Basics broth is the newest one. Chicken & veggie broth with low sodium, no MSG, HERBS!!! I like to use broth that I boiled from a chicken. When I don't have any I used to use boullion granules; I have shied away from that recently, trying to avoid MSG.... I have had good success with boullion options from the health food store, but it's pricey and I don't always have access to it b/c I only shop that store once a month. MMMMmmmm, though, check for a box (to pour out of) in "school bus yellow". Kitchen Basics. It is delicious BY ITSELF. GREAT.

I have another LOUD, RESOUNDING suggestion/request. Read Francine Rivers's book "Redeeming Love". I have enjoyed EVERYTHING I have read by this outstanding Christian author, but "Redeeming Love" is a longer book than anything else of hers I've read; the story 'sticks to your ribs', so to speak. It's not just that her stories are interesting and entertaining, but they are written based on factual Bible events, so the spiritual lessons are vast and deep. "Redeeming Love" is the story of Hosea and his prostitute wife Gomer, told in the setting of California's 1849 gold rush.

Sorry, still no pictures; we're workin' on it. ;)

THIRTEEN subjects!! -sheesh-

DECORATING FOR N's BIRTHDAY
Natasha suffers from a December birthday. lol! It has been a number of years since we decorated part of the house specifically in pink and purple, just for the girl. We decided to do so again this year, and set aside the dining room as Birthday Room. I'll post birthday pictures later, but these pictures were taken of Justus on the day he learned how to blow up a balloon! :)







N's MULTIPLICATION
Yes, about N's multiplication being shocking to me, I will explain in more detail. We have not yet really "instructed" her on it, just explained what it is so she could pair that with what she read in her little workbook, and ... she's off to the races! No memorization yet, just the 'figuring' of the problems ... which is *better*, I've become convinced in recent years, than the memorization, which I expect will come later. So, yes, she's doing it (and doing it *well*) with precious little instruction, but also that she seems to genuinely *enjoy* it, often doing more than the one page we're currently requiring (in this workbook) per day.

HOMESCHOOL CHANGES
This year of homeschooling is different, basically, in that we spend more time doing seat work than ever before. Which, especially in Natasha's case, we would have done anyway at this point, now that she's 10. I made the 'master list' of what we want them to accomplish each day; occasionally we get it *all* done. Most times we get most of it done. (The list includes, for example, "Morning routine," "Household service," (that's the weekly 'chore' list, with one or two items to do each day: process recycles, pick up the yard, take the trash to the street, vacuum downstairs) "Handwriting," "Math Workbook page," "Exercise/Play Outside" "Read (set number per kid) minutes," "Piano practice" ... like that.) There is a check-box for us to check as they get things done, and I left a blank line next to the things I'm wanting to track (e.g. - WHAT book they did their reading out of). Right now there's no real work for me in assigning stuff; it's just, they do the next page in their books. If they want to do more, they have to, like, ask me if it's okay, and/or do the rest of their school work first. ... ... Justus's work that's officially "schoolish" work is taking him maybe 20 min. - 1 hr., depending on how long he takes to do it or how much he wants to do or what else we have going on that day. Natasha's (same variable factors, obviously) ... maybe 1 hr. up to 2 1/2 hrs. Pretty much everything else we do in a day's span is still educational and productive, but ... maybe not so much considered 'school'.

FREECYCLE
Freecycle. It's an ongoing give-away for which you don't have to go anywhere; it comes to you ... in your Inbox. You can post anything specific you're looking for, in case someone has it and is ready to gift it to you. Otherwise, when someone is gifting something that you or someone you know of will use, simply decide if it's worth the trouble to contact the gifter to arrange a meeting place for a pick-up. The idea is to put less stuff into the dump, because you *know* there are people out there who either want or need the item you're about to toss ... at least, if it's not truly garbage. The item and city/area location is the e-mail's subject, so you don't have to open every e-mail to see what it is. Mostly, it's just a matter of deleting the things you're not interested in, IMO a small price to pay for the great, FREE, finds.

TEETH
On the topic of Justus being so much later than Natasha losing the first tooth, yes, (as suspected) Justus was a number of months later getting his first baby tooth than was his sister. And, continuing on the subject of teeth, sadness reigns in my mouth. Some of you know that my bite has been a source of much consternation over the decades; I have always been a candidate for orthodontic work.... Already, at age 33, the consequences are showing. My front six teeth are filing each other *off*. The last few months have been really sad; I'm chipping off a piece of one of those front twelve teeth at the rate of about one every 3-4 weeks. WHAT TO DO??? Teeth aren't expendable!! :**(

DEATH OF A CAMERA
Please imagine "Taps". Our camera didn't survive this last drop. I felt thankful it wasn't I who dropped it to its official death (That would have been equally-likely.). Thankfully Jeremy's camera takes pictures, so those will be the pictures you see ... for quite some time now, barring an unforseen windfall that allows us to purchase a new camera. ;)

BIRD WATCHING
I'm being a careful bird-feeding human so I don't kill off the ... maybe 60?? birds that feed at our feeder regularly. Sadly, we had a new arrival today, an unwelcome one: European Starlings. I scared them away and they haven't come back so far. Maybe they won't. (sigh) I was worried one morning when a number of inches of snow had buried the seed I'd put out the night before. Never fear, the squirrels are here!! They came up and dug straight down to the seeds so I didn't have to. :)



Natasha was fascinated with these bird footprints, and requested permission to shoot a picture.


MORE APPLESAUCE
I found Jonathan apples at the grocery store for $1/lb. That is, according to a local orchard owner, the best applesauce apple; after the applesauce creating Mom and I did in October, I agree!! Katie M., 14, who is making great strides toward her goal of going to Chef's School after graduating from high school, took us up on our offer to teach her how to make applesauce, so she came over last Saturday to learn how; Mitch & Jo asked if they could send along a box of a neighbor's apples that had been given to Mitch & Jo last fall, to see if we could make applesauce out of those as well. Success!! :) Next Saturday project, for early January, maybe, is going to be to teach Katie how to make bread, at her request. Fun! :

SUGAR PLUM DANCE
Our children have a favorite Christmas song to dance to. [Due to pride, sadly I hesitated to even post this otherwise-enjoyable video because the backdrop is the less-used, neglected corner of our house.... eek!] It looks like this video, again, isn't going line up with its own audio. Sorry! Maybe a new camera will do better at this???


GRAMMAR/MEMORY VERSE
There was a rather long, lively discussion on one of my Yahoo Groups regarding the ultimate value of teaching sentence diagramming. I read it with interest because I thought diagramming sentences was a fun, interesting challenge, and I do believe it has value as far as handling and understanding the English language. I'm not saying a whole month needs to be spent perfecting it, but some instruction and a certain level of mastery is, I believe, beneficial. One of the memory verses the Sunday morning adult Bible class was assigned this quarter (Of course, memorization is "optional", but I rrrreally like to challenge my brain to memorize scripture; what BETTER way to keep the brain and heart sharp than by hiding God's word in there??! Ps. 119:11) was "only" two verses long, but ... shoosh! The Sunday after I memorized it, I told Jeremy on the way to the church meeting, "I'm nervous!" He said, "Why??" I said, "Because I have to give a speech at the beginning of Bible class this morning!" He said, "What??!" "That MEMORY VERSE!!!" It's Hebrews 6:17-18. "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us." [OUTSTANDING statement; I'm so thankful I was encouraged to memorize it. It has a whole new meaning to me now.] Almost every time after I go through it, my mind thinks, "Diagram that!!"


WEIRD WEATHER
Woah, the ice storm that hit a couple nights ago was (blink, blink) ... typical Midwest winter unpredictable scary weather.... First we had freezing rain for two hours. Then it snowed for two or three hours. Then we got freezing rain again. When I took Jabba out for his final potty trip, there were 2" of snow on the ground, but the frozen rain topping was so strong that I didn't even sink in to make footprints! THANKFULLY Jeremy was proactive with the salt the night before, so snow/ice removal the next morning, though still a large project that (mostly) the boys worked on together, wasn't nearly the hassle it would have been otherwise. We were very happy that none of us had anywhere to be until late that afternoon!

Thankfully most of the precipitation we've received has been good, old-fashioned snow! :)



Extremely common sights:




HEALTH
One day two weeks ago Justus sat at the table like this for one full hour. NOT NORMAL.


Our health is good, now! :) Jeremy fought another bug last weekend and into this week, but he's over that now, thankfully. On Wednesday at the church meeting Jackie asked me if we were all well. I said, "I think so! It seems to me like the Midwest, knowing this was our first year back, threw at us all the germs it could to test us and see if we're strong enough to live here again!" She said, "You know, I've heard other people say something similar." -weird- lol



MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Here is the uncropped version of a picture we're sending out with our (e-mailed) Christmas letters.

Early December

The story of Natasha losing her first tooth is that she was 4 1/2, and we had never had a reason to explain to her that baby teeth fall out. She FREAKED!! lol We hadn't even known she had a loose tooth!! She bit a toy (no clue--), and out the tooth came. >>Then:





Justus is 6 1/2, and has just now "finally" lost his first tooth. [I read that anywhere from age 5-7 is 'normal'.] This means we haven't had a 'lost the first tooth' moment in five years!! It was Jeremy who pulled Justus's first tooth. Jeremy said it's the first tooth he has ever pulled, besides his own! Wow!! Lots of firsts! >>Now:












The children and I have taken turns the last few weeks fighting a nasty bug. I got it first, with a cold, but then before I completely recovered from that, I came down with a 24-hour-flu. Woah, I was more sick than I've been in 20 years. One morning as I was d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g out of bed, I said to the children, "Oh, guys, I am ssssso sick." Natasha, preciously, consoled me: "Well, Justus and I can pretty much take care of ourselves." [All I could think was, "Yeah, but who's going to take care of me?"] Natasha caught the flu a week later, and then she and Justus have both fought colds, too. Uggh. It has taken a toll on our 'school days', so I'm thankful that we don't have to do a "Christmas Break", and we can blow through a bunch more days.

Natasha is getting a kick out of starting to learn multiplication. I basically stand back and shake my head in consternation. Jeremy and Justus have had a bunch of bonding time shoveling during the last couple weeks. Our sloped driveway is definitely a winter challenge, providing lots of opportunities for the children to practice removing snow. :)

I have started doing Pilates. Sometimes the children do it with me. [I laugh so hard because at one point the instructor talks about curving the body into a 'C'. I have decided what I curve my body into is a BAGEL.] Slow & steady wins the race. Well, I don't imagine I'll be *winning* anything any time soon, but for now it's nice to have at least SOME kind of exercise I can do when it's too icy/windy/snowy/rainy to walk; it's also nice to do something 'strengthening'. For so long I've just been shooting for something aerobic. We're supposed to be doing both, right? I'm watching Freecycle for someone wanting to give away some exercise equipment, especially a Gazelle. We have the space for it in the basement!!

Speaking of Freecycle, thanks to a young, fellow Des Moinesian, homeschool-graduate minister who is off-loading stuff he doesn't need before he moves to Phoenix, we were able to gift Natasha with a fairly nice desk that is 'just hers'. She is enjoying doing her school work (and other things) there when she wants some place quiet. I'm hoping it'll help her churn out her school work more efficiently so she can have more focused time for other things. ...? The young man also gave us a like-new office chair, a much-appreciated replacement for the office chair we had that broke a couple years ago. Freecycle is becoming my FRIEND!! Whoever thought of that deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, I believe.

Jeremy's lesson last Sunday included the story of how, in his Mustang 13 years ago, he was trying to get to MT the quickest way possible one night by driving in a zero-visibility snow storm holding the door open so he could stay on the road by keeping his eye on the yellow line. Needless to say, he ended up doing three full 360-spins, at 80 mph ... under an overpass into the median. To the audience on Sunday he said, "I could have died!" That's when Justus looked up at me, so concerned, saying in a slow, tiny voice, "Well at least he didn't!" And then a few seconds later, "I would be really sad," followed a few seconds later by, "He's a really nice dad!"

Today Jeremy was frustrated at me because I kept bumping his knee he keeps ... spraining? ... while trying to get into the Saturn on the ice. I was massaging some of that miraculous "Sore Muscle Massage" into it; it makes such a wonderful difference!!! But I kept forgetting it hurts for it to bend.... So Jeremy said to Justus, of me, "Should I keep her or get rid of her?!" Justus answered, "Keep her at least 'til 100."

We aren't like lots of families who immediately start decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving. We are set to deck our halls on, maybe, Friday. We've decided to reserve the dining room to splash in pink streamers and balloons this week for N's birthday #10.