Making A Home

In which Molly gets a major haircut...

Malaika has been asking to have her hair cut since last Fall.  It didn't seem wise to do it right before Winter (brr!!), and besides, I knew something she didn't... she was getting a Molly doll (American Girl) for Christmas, and would want to be able to put her hair in braids and look just like her doll.  Which she did!  Remarkably so!  (Though she's still disappointed that the Molly Doll has blue eyes and she has brown.)

 
Malaika age 7, "before"

But one too many days of tears while trying to brush out the knots in her long, thick hair brought her back to my side, begging for me to finally cut her hair.  So today was the day!  She's now sporting a short, Springy reverse-bob that I think looks fabulous in her thick brown hair. 

 

Here's the back (my favorite part):

 

And of course, we couldn't let all that hair go to waste.  It's heading out to Florida, to Locks of Love.

 

I like how it turned out, but I have to admit, I figured there was at least a 30% chance I'd have to take her to a salon for a repair job!  Luckily, it worked out fine.

 

TOS Review: MathRider

MathRider is a math-facts adventure game. Your children (up to 10 players on a single computer) can each create an account to track their own quest (and allow you to track their individual progress). Each stage of the quest involves your horse jumping hurdles represented by math equations. The faster the problems are answered correctly, the faster your horse runs and completes that leg of the quest. Each “level” (Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert) for each function (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), has a different story that accompanies your quest.

 

Unlike many math games I’ve seen that require answers to be entered on a keyboard, this one was specifically designed to take into account individual typing speed, and rather than require you answer every problem in a certain number of seconds, it considers the facts “mastered” when you can answer them at a consistent pace. It also uses each individual’s stats to custom-tailor the facts presented in each level so that they can get extra practice on the ones they need more work on, rather than continuously drilling those answers they already know.

 

The game play can get a bit monotonous, but I daresay not as monotonous as the drudgery of flashcards. (And as you‘ll see below… *I* don’t have to be the one keeping track of which problems are still giving each child trouble!) I also like that it only expects you to master a small portion at a time (like addition 0-5), which makes the goals more attainable.

The program tracks not only your child’s mastery level for each function, but gives you a visual representation by way of a chart, to show you exactly which equations are giving them difficulty. I personally appreciate having an easy representation of the equations that need more practice.

 

The graphics left a bit to be desired (while the backgrounds, horse and rider were decent, the story sections and map reminded me of something I could create in “paint” on my computer), but my children didn’t seem to notice or mind that at all.

They enjoyed the game overall, and I do think it’s a pretty painless way to improve recall speed. I don’t think I would use it independently, as the only way for my children to practice their facts. (Even flashcards have their place!) But it’s a nice addition to our “tools”, and the children thus far are still willing and usually even excited to play. The story lines give them something to work towards besides just math mastery… academic improvement becomes a bonus, while their immediate goal is finding a healing flower or rescuing a princess. While players can’t compete head-to-head, there is a “high scores” board that allows for some friendly family competition.

MathRider retails for $49.95, but is currently on sale for $37 and is instantly downloadable from the MathRider website.

(Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review.  I have not been compensated in any other way.)

TOOTH # 2! (And a Baby K Update)

Sure enough, tooth #2 is peeking out today, too! 

Now, she may never crawl, since she despises being on her tummy, and much prefers STANDING to anything else... but she has teeth!  :)

Went to court on Tuesday, a review hearing.  Lots of strangeness in the hallway while waiting for our case to be called - weird comments I overheard from the birthparents, in addition to them not being as friendly as usual.  Though a friend told me she went to every court date for her soon-to-be daughter and her biological sisters and not once did their birthmom NOT storm out of the courtroom and act angry and distant, when they had a good relationship generally.  Maybe court dates are just weird that way.  The only other hearing I'd been to was the termination of Gideon and Malaika's birthmom's parental rights, and she didn't show up to that, so it was open and shut.  Since all of our previous children were placed for adoption (rather than foster), we weren't really involved in that whole process.  Exept Natty, of course, but her SW didn't really keep us informed of upcoming hearings, or explain the benefits of coming to them, so we just never did.

It was expected that the birthparents would ask for more visitation (so great-grandma could come along and bond with K... they didn't.

We expected them to file a motion to have Baby K moved to her great-grandma's house right away (they are in the process of a homestudy that will determine whether she moves), but they didn't.

Basically, nothing happened... and that was strange, and a little unnerving.  Are they planning something bigger?  (There was a long private conference with the birthmom and her lawyer while we waited, so you have to wonder what that was about.)

So, we continue to wait.

We have a TOOTH!!

Baby K popped through her first tooth (bottom left) this morning.  I THOUGHT I saw two little white lines yesterday!  Which means tooth #2 should be here any day now.  Aww... I love "baby milestones"!

 

The Time Machine

For our homeschool program, we have to check in weekly, and the children all fill out a short survey.  Among the questions last week were where and when you would go if you could travel back in time.  Gideon's answer was interesting.

"I would go back in time to when I was born and see what it was like for me to grow up. Because I don't know exactly how my life went and exactly what happened and I think it would help me understand things better if I knew what really happened."

Sam, of course, wasn't happy with the question as written (this from the boy who was writing his own songs by his second piano lessons, not satisfied with the songs in the instruction book.)  He wanted to go FORWARD in time to see what was yet to be invented.

The time machine came up in conversation again yesterday in the rear seats of our van.  We were headed to a friend's house when I overheard their conversation and Malaika threw in her idea...

"When I'm a grown up, I'll go back in time to when I'm a kid and tell myself to pull it together and do better, so I'll do what's right."

Hmm...

TOS Review: The Reluctant Reader Solution

We've had a lot of fun the last few weeks with "The Reluctant Reader Solution" from KidScoop.  Most of my children caught right on to reading with no problem.  Hallie was reading before she was 4, Sam was 4, and Molly learned to read very quickly, being able to decode most words and read quite fluently within just about 6 months of coming home.  Gideon, however, gets intimidated by any book thicker than 1/8 of an inch, and has trouble decoding words.  (Early neglect, spotty school attendance and lack of support at home during his formative reading years contributed to the problem, as well as an emphasis on "sight words" rather than phonics at his school, which I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of.)  Was he "reluctant" enough to make this program worthwhile, though?  I thought it was worth a try.

 

This program consists of basically three parts:

1) Daily "Make Reading Fun" tips.  

These emails are free from their website for 30 days, so feel free to head over there and sign up to give it a try.  For the most part, these are creative reading activities to set your students to work with a newspaper. Many were reading ideas, but there were also a lot of math activities.  Since we don't actually get the newspaper, I can't say we got a lot out of the ideas, but I did snag a couple of old ones from my mom's paper bin, just to try it out.  Some of my favorites:

- Looking for contractions in the comics section, then writing the words that comprise them.
- Newspaper scavenger hunts, looking for a variety of things (both words and pictures) throughout the newspaper.
- Finding a "new" word in the newspaper, posting it on the wall and seeing how many times you can all use it in conversation throughout the day (with small prizes like a jellybean or sticker for each use.)

2) The Reluctant Reader Solution E-Book.

 

365 pages of activites (science, math, reading, writing, even P.E.), divided into subjects like:

- Baseball
- Valentine's Day
- Kitchen Creativitiy
- Gorillas
- Lousia May Alcott

Each subject has several pages of activities.  There are word puzzles (like Mad Libs, crosswords, word searches, etc), art projects (like drawing lessons), cooking projects (like Solar S'mores), active games (like Valentine's Day Tag) and much more.  At the end of each subject are website and book suggestions.  There are even little jewels hidden within the pages like tips for cleaning your room, budgeting, managing your allowance, fire safety and how to blow a really big bubble with gum!  The topics are certainly kid-friendly, while still being wonderfully educational.

3) The Reluctant Reader Solution Online Newspaper for Kids. 

 

This is like a kids' magazine that you'd get in the mail once a month, but instead, it's online.  The nice thing about that being you can print copies for more than one child.  The newsletter comes out once a month, for a total of 12 issues a year.  It's similar in content to the e-book, but in full-color, and with constantly new content.

I expected to get some reading practice that Gideon would hopefully not fight me on.  Instead, I got something ALL of the children can use and enjoy.  The topics are a fun way to shake up our school day when things are getting monotonous, the activities stretch their minds and develop reasoning skills, in addition to touching on a huge variety of academic subjects.  The real trick (besides the fun topics, of course), is that many of the activities are so well disguised, the children don't even realize they are practicing their reading.

For instance, my children LOVED "Valentine's Day Tag."  The person who was "it" runs around trying to tag someone, and when they do, they hand the person a slip of paper that has an activity they need to read and complete before the game continues.  Fun things like "Stand on one foot while singing for 45 seconds" or "Pretend you are carrying an elephant for 60 seconds."  They were active, giggling, pretending, telling time, AND practicing reading. 

The variety of activities makes this produce useful for elementary school aged children of any grade. The pricetag of $97 includes more than a year's worth of activities, and it comes with a 365-day money-back guarantee. 

Baby K, February Update

Just got back from a permanency planning meeting.  Lots of hostility.  Not me... I just sat there listening, until I got accused by some guy on the phone wanting to know what MY plan was for Baby K.  Was I trying to get the baby and had she been promised to me by the department as part of some big plan to thwart the birthparents and the great-grandmother that wants her?  I stated very simply that we adore her and would love to adopt her, but that where she ends up is not remotely up to me.  The facilitator and SW backed me on that, and that was about the end of my contribution to the conversation.  Mostly I just listened.

I did find out that we are still "plan B" for the birthmom.  That if her grandmother's adoption homestudy isn't approved, she still wants us to adopt her.  Good to know we're still in line after all the uncertainty this past month. 

In the meantime, she's 4.5 months old.  She's growing, smiling, laughing, spitting (blowing raspberries), and is fighting a cold that she came down with 2 days after going to the doctor... just like last time.  (Interesting!)  She sleeps great (often 9:30pm to 7:30am), and is eating 6 oz every 3 hours (her tummy has a very precise internal clock!)  She takes about 4 naps a day. She's rolling over from stomach to back (inconsistently, but rolling just the same).  She likes her bead toy, though she still doesn't have great control of her hands.  She's babbling and DROOLING (still no teeth showing). She LOVES her exersaucer, hates the wind, and is starting to "track" the cats as they walk through the room, when she didn't even notice them 2 weeks ago.  So fun.  I love this age. 

 

All In A Day: Introduction

Although I barely think we qualify with just 5 children...
And although I'm already 2 weeks behind...
And although I still owe you a "Valentine's Day Part 2" post...

I thought I'd jump in and join the fun.

"All in a Day" is a group of large families blogging about how we get things done (or likely sometimes, how I don't!)  I'm not part of the original group that started these posts, but I'm along for the ride.

Week 1 (like I said, that was actually 2 weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to joining) was "Introductions." 

 

I'm Hilary.  Wife to Brian, mom to 4, foster mom to 1. 

We live in a tiny house (less than 1000 sq ft, which is pretty tiny considering it's inhabited by 7 people, possibly more someday) in a large town/small city in Northwest Washington.  Brian works in the mobile phone industry and I'm a homemaker and homeschooling mom.  I used to enjoy crafting and scrapbooking, but just channel that creativity into schooling my children these days.  For fun we like to go to the zoo, the beach and throw school-related parties with friends.  For sanity, I get together weekly with some other adoptive moms at "Grump Therapy", which is really just coffee and comraderie.  (Currently we are also viewing a video series on parenting children with attachment disorder, which has been enlightening!)  But back to my family...

Brian met his friend Scott in college.  I met Scott on America Online (back in the day when that WAS the "social network"), and we became friends in real life, too.  When Brian moved from Michigan back to Washington to share the rent on Scott's parents house, Scott introduced us.  The three of us went to Red Robin for dinner, then to an Advent concert at their Alma Mater.  During the course of dinner, Brian and Scott told me the story about Brian accidentally kicking an old man in the bathroom in college (thinking it was Scott in the next stall), and despite the fact that I'm sure that sounds cruel and heartless, I was cracking up and found it refreshing that he was able to be so honest and laugh at his embarassing mistake, while still obviously feeling bad about his part in the escapade.  I strategically placed myself between the two men at the concert, giving me a chance to chat with both of them, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Brian proposed 6 months later and we married within a year of that first meeting.  (He came with a coffee maker and a garbage bag full of clothes.)

Reproductive issues on both sides made adoption a no-brainer.  (It's a matter of odds, really.  Spend tens of thousands on fertility treatments and still have no guarantee of a baby, or spend less on adoption and be guaranteed a child?  One that needed a home anyway.)

Sam (4th from the left in the photo) is our first and oldest child (currenly 9 1/2).  He came home at 1 year old, blond-haired, blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked and with an amazing sense of humor.  He was late walking and talking, but super smart.  When he was 6, we finally got an Asperger's diagnosis.  (High Functioning Autism.)  He never stops making noise or moving, but also never stops thinking and planning and figuring things out.  He's going somewhere, that one. 

Hallie (far right) came home next, just a year after Sam.  She's his full sibling and came to us at 3 weeks old, our first baby.  She is currently 7 1/2, also blonde/blue, and with more spunk than her tiny frame can contain.  She likes anything girly - princesses, fairies, tea parties and dolls, but also has to be reminded frequently that it's not appropriate to tackle boys to the ground.  She walked early (9 months), talked early, read early (3 years) and keeps us on our toes.  We'd have our hands full with Hallie even if she was an only child. 

Gideon (2nd from left) is our second-oldest (also 9 years old).  He's somewhat the opposite of Sam, appearance-wise.  Slender, with black hair and chocolate-brown eyes.  He comes across as quiet and shy, but I assure you, that boy can make noise with the best of them.  He likes sports and video games and movies and playing outside.  He arrived at the age of 7 (then again at 8) with his full biological sister...

Malaika (far left) is our youngest permanent child.  She is 7, like Hallie (2 sets of "virtual twins"), but arrived at 5, then again at 6.  (They were placed with us for adoption, taken from us by an aunt, but returned to us 7 months later, then we finalized their adoption 5 months after that.)  Malaika (Molly) is also a girly-girl, and loves princesses and jewels and dress-up.  She can be very sweet when she wants to be, but extremely stubborn and antagonistic when she so chooses.  (We're working through some attachment difficulties, but have great hope that the sweet, fun, creative, loving girl we've seen glimpses of awaits us on the other side of these challenges.)

We became foster parents in order to adopt, but have taken a few shorter-term placements in the meantime.  (See sidebar on the left.)  Most recently, we are fostering "Baby K", whom we picked up from the hospital at 3 days old in October.  The "very very short term" placement has now been with us over 4 months and is every bit a part of our family.  We adore her and would adopt her in an instant if given the chance.  In fact, her birthparents told me to my face they wanted us to adopt her... but a week later were making all kinds of other plans.  So we'll have to wait this one out and see what comes of it.  You can't NOT get attached to a baby this sweet, and even the children are hopelessly in love with her.

And I think that's all I have to say about that!  Looking forward to the next topic.  (Maybe I'll even catch up and get on schedule!!)

Valentine's Day (part 1)

 
It may be quiet over here, but I still won't let holidays go by without a little fun!

I spent yesterday afternoon playing with my new toy:

Our local fabric/craft store had the Cricut Cake Mini on sale last week for an INCREDIBLE price.  I knew if I was ever going to get one, this was my chance, and was able to nab the very last one they had on the shelf.  I make homemade birthday cakes for my children every year, and this is going to make that process a snap!  As a practice round, I made these cupcakes for Valentines Day. 

 
 

There are definitely some tricks to be learned with this machine, bit it's a whole lot of fun and the possibilities are endless!  (I've had a Cricut for paper-crafting for several years now.  You'll recall the t-shirts and wall words and things I've used it for as well.  This works the same way, but with food products!)  For the decorations on these cupcakes, I used rolled fondant.

And for breakfast this morning... Heart Pancakes. 

 

(I added food coloring to a small amount of the pancake batter, put it in a squeeze-bottle, then used it to add hearts, letters, etc, to the pancakes, and finished up the remaining batter with just some small pink hearts.)

 
 
 
Time got away from us this morning, and I had to assemble Brian's breakfast "to go", so he could eat it in the car on the way to work.  (2 heart pancakes, with a thin layer of strawberry preserves and bacon between them.)

 
The day's not over yet, hence the 2-part post, but thought I'd share the beginning of our day while I had a few free moments.  Happy Valentine's Day!

TOS Review: The Curiosity Files - MRSA

We were offered the chance to review one of The Old Schoolhouse's new e-book unit studies in their "The Curiosity Files" series this past month, and even better, we got to choose our own!  These studies (the first 9 so far released) are on a variety of intriguing topics about "the strange things God has created" such as:

Blue Diamond
Dung Beetle
MRSA
Puffer Fish
Red Tide
Zombie Fire Ants
Blue-Footed Booby
Cicada-Killing Wasp
and Quicksand

Given our choice, I leapt on MRSA!  Not only did our Malaika have MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) before she came to us (it was in her medical records), but Gideon had an occurrence on his knee this past Summer, and just a few months later, Sam had it on his elbow!  I thought they'd appreciate knowing more about this bacterium (and Hallie might enjoy getting some tips on how to avoid it!)

 

While usually when I refer to our family doing a "unit study", I should probably actually refer to it as a "topical study", since I really just mean immersing ourselves in one subject, these Curiosity Files e-books are a UNIT STUDY in the truest sense.  Not only to they have a lot of great information on their subject (in this case, MRSA), but they tie in other academic subjects as well.  For instance, this one had :
-Bible (scripture study on illness and healing),
-Math (a unit on the metric system relating to the tiny size of germs - I especially appreciated the "real-life" examples.  For instance, did you know a dime is approximately 1mm thick, and a Cheerio is approximately 1cm wide?)
-More Math (the exponential growth rate of MRSA, which was a pretty amazing concept for my children.)
-Even More Math (MRSA word problems)
-Writing Projects (including graphic organizers)
-Spelling and Vocabulary (vocabulary word lists divided by grade levels, and spelling, wordfind and crossworkd puzzles)
-Handwriting (copywork, both for printing and cursive)
-Science (a bacteria experiment)
-Cooking (homemade yogurt)
-History (Medical advances & events timeline)
-Geography (Superbug Geography Game)
-Art (Posters and Presentations)
-Music (rhythm game for learning pronunciations and memorizing prevention methods and other facts, and other songs)
-P.E. (a tag-like "infection" game)

There are also additional reading lists and internet links for learning more, as well as pages for lapbooking and notebooking.  So as I said... all inclusive, and they are easily adaptable for different ages - just pick and choose the parts your children will get the most out of.  We mostly just used the reading, writing and science portions, and we still (myself included) learned a lot!  My children got grossed-out by some of the "remedies" (like maggot-therapy, which is pretty much what it sounds like), but that only added to their enjoyment of the topic.  I've already purchased a couple more of these studies (they were having a sale, and I wanted to jump on it, since we enjoyed this one.)  Next up: the Cicada-Killing Wasp and Red Tide!

These studies generally sell for $6.95 each (or $46 for the whole set of 9).  Currently, some are available at The Old Schoolhouse's Homeschool Dollar Sale for just $1 each, so if you're interested in trying one or a few, I'd hurry on over, since I don't know how long that will last.