10,000 Reasons

AT was asked to play the prelude at church this morning.  Here he is playing Matt Redmond's 10,000 Reasons.  You'll have to forgive the rotation in the middle; there was a misunderstanding on the camera operators part about how video cameras are different than still photo cameras.

TJ - 12 and 2

I am FINALLY finding some time to post about TJ's second anniversary with us - and his 12th birthday!  Unfortunately, since he doesn't like his picture taken, this is what you get to see of him.

(I think I'll nickname him "Wilson")

You're stuck with pictures of the rest of us.

Celebrating as usual with our donuts

Tim actually wrote out a lengthy list of items that he wanted for his birthday - in English!  He got a couple of his wishes - money, a new MP3 player and a trip to see the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Orlando Magic.  

As for his second anniversary with us, he has become very thoughtful lately about this anniversary.  He is truly processing a lot of issues related to his adoption and to being a part of our family.  As is characteristic of an older child adoption, some parts are easy and some parts are difficult.  Overall, though, TJ is adjusting very well.  He is doing great in school.  He played basketball with one of our local Christian schools and did very well.  He also is reading his Bible a lot and recently asked to start attending the Chinese Bible study again.  He still struggles with the boundaries/limits placed on him since he had so much freedom in China, but he is learning.  Many of the sibling struggles we had early on are rarely seen now.  TJ even asks a lot about when JA and AT will be home when they are gone somewhere.  

I'm so glad we ventured into the unknown territory of older child adoption.  I encourage everyone to at least consider it and see if it is right for your family.

The Basketball Boys

My guys hang out with another teen friend.  The other day, they were all over at his house and his mom was able to take these photos.  She even managed to get TJ to look at the camera!  Just don't tell him I posted these.  

Christmas at Our House

Lessons in Safety

Today we had lessons in safety.  This morning, we learned about safety at home - specifically in the kitchen.  You see, one of our children put some water on the stove to boil - and then walked out.  What they didn't realize is that a towel was sitting very close to the eye.  A few minutes later, one of the other kids asked me why it smelled like a campfire.  I responded that it was the heat (it is the first time we've turned it on).  A few moments later, the cooking child heard the timer go off and went back to the kitchen.  That was when the child found the flaming towel.  I happened to be following said child into the kitchen and spotted the towel as well.  The child did knock some of the flame down by smothering it with the other end of the towel.  But I ended up grabbing the towel and tossing it in the sink where I had some meat thawing for dinner.

Needless to say, we had a discussion reviewing the rules about NOT leaving the kitchen when you are cooking.  I have also hung the towel on the stove as a reminder for the next week.

Then this evening, we learned about safety away from home.  The four boys asked to walk to the W*lm*rt which is about 1 mile from our house.  We allow them to do this on occasion, but only if they go together (never alone).  They also take a cell phone so they can call if the need arises.  I called them about 5:10pm and asked if they were on their way home.  I wanted to make sure they would make it home before it got too dark.  They said they were still at W*lm*rt because they had forgotten to buy something we asked them to purchase.  I told them to hurry home and call if they weren't going to make it in time.  About 20 min later, I got a phone call.  One of the boys said he got cramps and the rest of the boys didn't wait for him.  I decided that I was going to teach them a lesson.

I went and picked up the lagging child (who fortunately had the phone) and drove him home.  I let the other three continue their walk.  About 5:50, I was ready to head out the door to go pick them up when I got a call from them.  They couldn't find their brother and had walked all the way back to W*lm*rt looking for him.  I played it to the hilt.  I went and picked them up and started drilling them.  They readily admitted that they had left their brother behind, though they claimed to have been looking back for him every 30 seconds.  I asked where they had seen him last and we drove there; they were noticeably concerned.  I made them get out and look in the stores (it was a small strip mall) for him.  Of course, they didn't see him.  I continued to drill them about where they last saw him.  Then one of them asked if the "missing" child had called home.  I stalled.  I finally pulled over and told them the truth.  I explained to them how I had picked him up and they hadn't even noticed.  I pointed out that I could have been anyone and who knows what might have happened to their brother.  I believe that they all learned a hard lesson and I hope they will never leave a sibling or friend alone again.

Once we got home, they all apologized to their brother and we discussed safety even more.  Hopefully, they will never need to put to use what they learned today.

Love Your Neighbor

Yesterday, we had a different Thanksgiving.  The kids and I got up early (like 6:30am!) and went to church. We helped prepare Thanksgiving lunch for the residents of a local mobile home park.  This particular mobile home park is very run down.  Many mobile homes have been removed due to being uninhabitable.

The kids became the "Mashed Potato Crew".  The night before, others had peeled and cut up a TON of potatoes.  When we arrived, the kids loaded the potatoes into steamer trays and then loaded the trays into the steamer.  Fifteen minutes later, they took the trays out and dumped the steamed potatoes into the mixer.  They then put the next load of potatoes in the steamer.  While the first batch was steaming, I heated the milk and butter to be ready for mixing.  We kept up this routine for probably a good hour and a half!  There was a LOT of mashed potatoes when we were done.  In fact, they had so many potatoes, that they decided to use some of them for Wed night chicken pot pies in the future.  BUT, they needed the potatoes cut smaller.  I volunteered TJ as he is excellent with a knife and routinely helps me cut up veggies at home.

The girls and I made lemonade; AT helped with making tea while BG continued to monitor the potatoes.  (We left JA and CP at home due to their injuries!)  Then it was time to start loading up some of the food so the boys helped load a number of pies, cakes, and bread to take to the mobile home park.  CP showed up a little later with JA and Grandpa and took the kids to the park.  I stayed behind to finish cutting up the turkeys.

We arrived at the MHP and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Lunch with the residents.  I met two people:  Robert and Amber.  Robert is probably in his mid to late 50s and has lived a hard life.   Right now he doesn't have a job and spends his days playing with his dogs.  Amber is probably 18-20 and lives with her grandparents.  She is trying to get a job, but is finding it difficult.  She told me she called 34 places last week and only 5 suggested that she come in and put in an application. However, she doesn't have a car, a bicycle or any money for the bus to get there.  Even if she was able to get the job, she wasn't sure how she would get to and from it every day.

As I was telling a friend about this, he commented that there is a critical level of resources needed here in the US (including transportation) that once you fall below that level, it is very hard to climb back out.  Even if she had a bicycle, if it rains on her way to work, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy to have a soaking wet employee on the job.

Last night, we enjoyed North Carolina Bar-B-Q that Grandpa brought home from his trip.  The meal was completed with Brunswick Stew, brown and serve rolls, homemade cole-slaw, boiled potatoes and pumpkin pie.

I think it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had.

Some Days

Some days I have so many thoughts in my head that I want to put on my blog but very little time to do so.  On rare occasions (like today) I actually have some time, but for some reason, my mind is blank about what to put on my blog.

There has been much going on at our house so I'll just recap some:

Saturday we had our Championship Swim Meet.  It had been postponed due to Sandy the other weekend.  Unfortunately, AT already had other plans so he wasn't able to swim, but SG and JA finished off the season in style.

SG finally got first place in one of her heats!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it (despite being the team photographer) as I was busy with JA at the time.

JA did great as well.  He finally beat the one boy who was strong competition for him in both the freestyle and the backstroke!  However, in doing so, he slammed his head and arm on the side of the pool during the backstroke.  He finished the race, but grabbed his head when he surfaced.  He didn't want to get out of the pool and his coach told him to just stay put.  They called the lifeguard who assessed the situation.  He finally agreed to getting out of the pool and we went over to the office area.  The lifeguard continued to evaluate him for about 30 min.  JA wanted to swim his last two heats, but we told him that he was done for the day.  I ended up taking him to Urgent Care where they diagnosed a mild concussion and a contusion (no fracture) on his arm.  After a 2 hr nap, he was feeling much better.  His neck is still stiff and sore, but the chiropractor is treating him for that.  

BG and TJ are now playing basketball for one of our local Christian Schools (the same one the kids swam with).  Since there aren't enough middle schoolers, BG (9th grade) gets to play for both the middle school and the high school team!  Both boys started the first game last week.  Unfortunately, they played a school where the kids have been playing together since 3rd grade so they lost - by a lot!  They get to play them again this Thursday.  

SG and HJ went on their first camp out with the American Heritage Girls two weeks ago.  SG was able to go since Sandy postponed the Swim Meet.  They had a great time learning how to play volleyball, tie-dying shirts, canoeing, doing a ropes course and having a campfire!  It was their first time away from home without Mom or Dad and they did great!  

We are on our 2 week break from school right now, but we'll be back in the swing next week.  I plan on posting more about school soon.

Radical Ideas on Schooling - Part 1

We have been walking this road called Homeschooling for almost five years now.  Our road has had many twists and turns in it and as a result, I have come to some conclusions that many might consider somewhat radical. 

A little background on our homeschooling adventure:

Students:
BG:  ESL learner - K-7th grade in China; 7th grade - 9th grade homeschooled
JA : gifted learner - K-3rd grade Public School; 3rd - 8th homeschooled
AT: gifted learner - K-2nd grade Public School; 2nd - 7th homeschooled
TJ: ESL learner - K-2nd grade in China; 4th-6th grade homeschooled
SG:  average learner - K-4th grade homeschooled
HJ:  challenged learner - K-3rd grade homeschooled

Curriculum's we've used:
Online Charter School using Calvert
Calvert for K
Robinson Curriculum
Eclectic

Radical Idea #1:  Don't worry about what your kids are learning until they get to high school
===========================
Yes, I really mean that with two exceptions:
1) Teach them to read - and I have some odd ideas on this one
2) Teach them math (though this may not be as critical as we think)

Kids don't need to learn history, social studies, science, etc in the early years.  Why?  Because they will have every bit of it again in High School!!! Think about it - what do you remember from elementary school in these subjects?  Probably not much.  And what you do remember is probably fairly useless in your daily life.  (I remember a unit we did on weather and I can name the different types of cloud formations - not that anybody has asked me about them since 5th grade)

When I was first introduced to Robinson Curriculum, I was intrigued by the idea of only teaching Reading, Writing, and Math.  Leaving out all of the other subjects didn't sound right, but the more I read Art Robinson's ideas, the more I became convinced he was right.  Even this very science oriented engineer agreed that teaching science in the early years really wasn't that important.  Why?  Because science in the early years only barely scratches the surface.  Each year, you scratch the surface a little bit deeper.  Why bother?  Your child can learn all they need in-depth in high school (or heaven-forbid - college!) 

I was talking to JA about this the other day.  He said he didn't like science in public school and I asked him why not.  He said he didn't understand why he needed to know that rain falls from the sky, runs into a lake/pond, and then evaporates into the sky again.  He became convinced that he wasn't good at science (a quote from him before taking the science portion of the standardized test we gave in 6th grade) because he didn't like it.  Funny thing is, he has now decided he wants to be a doctor.  He is working through a life science curriculum and still isn't convinced that he likes science because of his previous experience. 

The same idea applies to history, social studies and all of the other subject areas.  This material will be repeated in high school at a level that the kids can really grasp.  Focus your (and your child's) efforts and energy learning in high school.  This is what they will remember and carry forward in their adult life. 

I finally was totally convinced of this idea when I began figuring out what I needed to teach BG for high school.  As I looked at the requirements in FL for a HS diploma, I realized that it covers all of the same subjects/topics that many parents stress about in the early years.  He hadn't "lost" all those years of learning (even though he was blessed to be in school in China) and I didn't have to cram 12 yrs of school into his brain in four years.  I just had to teach him at the high school level.

Also, as I delved into the idea of Credit By Exam for JA, I began to wonder what really differentiates a middle school class from a high school class from a college class.   For example, Biology, most schools teach Biology (or Life Science) in middle school, then again in High School, then it is taught in College.  What is the difference?  I'm not sure.  But I imagine if I take a High School Biology class then I will learn the same things I learned in middle school Life Science.  Then why bother taking the Life Science class?  Just wait until your child is able to handle the high school level material (which may be at an earlier age than "typical" high school students) and teach at that level. 

What's interesting is many packaged curriculums these days actually leverage this principle.  They use the same base information and just have the younger kids do one thing, the middle school kids something else and the high school kids even more.  Why teach the same thing to your kids 3 (or more) different times?  Just teach it to them once in high school. 

I know, many people will have a hard time accepting this idea because it doesn't fit the norm of what we grew up with in school.  I am going to challenge you to really think about this and come to your own conclusions.  Besides, that's what homeschooler's do best.

*** One caveat:  Some of this doesn't necessarily apply to our challenged learners.  I'll address those issues in a later post.

Swim Meet

Now that three of the kids are participating in Swimming, our Saturday mornings are full of either practice or a meet. Yesterday, they had their second meet. They all improved on their times which is really the goal. Here are a few pictures:

Toot your own horn

This summer, three of the boys were blessed to be able to participate in a summer youth band program.  For FREE!  The only reason all four boys didn't participate is that the program was only open to 6th through 9th graders.

BG chose to learn trombone; JA chose to re-learn drums; and AT chose to learn to play saxophone.  They were also joined by a friend from church who is learning to play clarinet.  They practiced two hours a day, four days a week for four weeks.  At the end, they put on a concert for the public.  They played four songs - London Bridge, Early Bird March, Eagle Summit March, and Mouthpiece Waltz.  Mouthpiece Waltz is a special arrangement of the Blue Danube Waltz using mouthpieces.

Here are two pictures of our musicians:

If you can't tell, they are each "playing" their instrument.  We forgot to bring the camera so these are the only pictures we have.  They did sell a DVD which I purchased, but haven't received yet.  Hopefully, I can get some more pictures off of the DVD.

Scout

Tonight was TJ's first Court of Honor for Boy Scouts.  He was officially admitted to the troop as a Scout.  While he was proud of his achievement, he still does NOT like his picture taken.

JA and AT were recognized for achieving the rank of First Class.

and were also awarded a few merit badges as well as the snorkeling patch.

Baseball

AT has been playing baseball this year.  He has done pretty good.  

The other week, he got the surprise of the season.  His coach asked him to

PITCH!

AT hasn't pitched in over TWO years!!! 

but he did GREAT!  

He struck out one boy, fielded a hit and threw him out and they ended the inning with no runs. 

He is even getting some great hits.  

He is hoping to make it on the All-Stars team.  I don't know...

We'll see.

Coming Up For Air - AT's birthday

The last month has been busier and more stressful than anytime in recent memory.  Everything sort of hit all at once.  I think we are past all of that now :-)

Lots of things have been going on, so I'll try to do a couple of short updates rather than one long one.  First (well, most recently), AT turned 12!  We had quite a series of celebrations even though we didn't really intend to.  First, we had a small celebration at home on his birthday with donuts (much less expensive than cake and no leftovers!).  He then had to race out to a baseball game.

The next night, CP and I took AT to dinner - his choice.  He choose a local sports bar type restaurant that he had never been to before.  He enjoyed it and so did we.  Afterwards, we were going to head to the beach to just hang out, but it started to drizzle rain.  So, we started trying to think of indoor things to do.  CP mentioned bowling - so off we went.  We bowled three games and got home VERY late.  I didn't have my camera with me, so no photos.  Then, this past Monday, we used our Disney passes and went to Disney for the day.  AT had heard about the opening ceremony at Magic Kingdom and wanted to be there to see it.  (He also wanted to close the park, but I quickly nixed that idea.  We can do that another time!)  

Our friend Mr E went with us while CP, BG and TJ stayed home (their choice).

then AT decided that he wanted to go to San Francisco! So we let  him.

Second Class

Both JA and AT have been in Boy Scouts for a little over one year now.  Both of them recently received their Second Class rank.  They already both have most of their requirements done for their First Class rank.  They mainly needed to plan, purchase, and cook a meal on a campout.  This weekend, their troop went down to the Keys for a snorkeling trip.  They volunteered to take care of four meals for 22 boys/adults for the weekend.  We went shopping at Al*i's to buy the ingredients for the meals.  Their scoutmaster joined us - it was his first time at Al*i's.  At first, he kept saying how expensive things were.  However, by the time we were done, I think he was quite pleased at the total.  For 4 meals for 22 people, the grand total was.....

$100.69!

I think he was quite impressed.  I just hope the boys did as good a job preparing the meals as they did planning and purchasing the food.

Summer Fun

While I am frustrated with the other house not selling, we are truly enjoying our new house.

We have a nice backyard and a fire pit that the boys are enjoying.

To avoid being in front of the camera, TJ got behind it. He tried to take a picture of me, but ended up taking a picture of the ground.  I ended up cracking up and then he took the picture below.

and yes, we are roasting marshmallows - giant marshmallows!

A Wedding

Today we went to my nephew's wedding.  He waited until he found the right one for him.  I am so proud of him for waiting!  I pray they have a long happy marriage!

I took the opportunity of a captive audience to take some pictures.

I also managed to get pictures of all the boy cousins

and the girl cousins

We had a great day!