Bug’s first stitches!

Staples, actually.....2 of them....in her HEAD!


This morning, my dad picked up Bug to spend the day/night at their place.   Less than an hour later, dad called and said "Bug fell and cut her head open. I need you to meet us at the hospital"

ACK! I was off!

Turns out, she was with him in his workshop and trying to watch something, so she was climbing up on a chair, it turned and she fell - and hit the back of her head on his LATHE machine!  OUCH!   She is his little apprentice in there, and always loves helping him work on something.

She's got about an inch and a half gash on the back of her head and had to get 2 staples in it. Of course it was bleeding all over the place, as head wounds do, so dad scooped her up to take her to the ER to see how bad it was.

I got to the hospital and she and dad were already in triage. She was so scared about what was going to happen to her, and also about whether or not she would still get to spend the night at their house (she wanted to!).

She was a TROOPER!!! The nurse looked at it, then the doctor looked at it. They gave me a cotton ball with some numbing medicine on it to hold on the wound. Then once it was numb, the doctor put a shot of more numbing medicine in the wound (YIKES!) - Thankfully Bug didn't see it OR feel it!  Then he used this little disposable staple gun (we got to keep it!!) and put 2 staples in as fast as you would staple paper and he was done!

Bug was more scared about what was going to happen next than she was worried about the pain. Makes sense, when you have nothing to compare it to, or don't know how all that stuff works. We assured her that I got to hold her the whole time, she wasn't going anywhere by herself, etc.

I told her I'd go get her popsicles or ice cream or whatever she wanted when we were done. She said "I just want some water".  Silly girl!  Poor thing, her tummy was upset (you know how you get a sick tummy when you get really hurt or upset?).


I didn't think to grab the camera to take with me (you know....when dad said head wound, I just went!), but Bug wanted pictures, so I took some with my phone. I'll take pictures of her staples better when she gets back home tomorrow.

After the hospital, dad took her home, and I went to the store. I got her some popsicles, ice cream, a coloring book (with an elephant on it!), and some stickers. Then I went to their house, rinsed out her hair and shirt (covered in blood!), and then left her in the care of my dad. She still wanted to spend the night, and once she was all done at the ER, she seems to be almost back to herself. She's tired, and her head is sore, but otherwise, she's doing great. I'm amazed really! God was really with her.  My sweet girl has cried for 2 hours over a paper cut before, so the fact that she bounced back from this so fast is a huge blessing!!

She asked me to "take a picture of me crying" - she's on my lap, that wasn't easy with the phone camera.

The wound

The staples  

Now, she gets to have a day of all the popsicles and ice cream she can eat at MeMe and Grandad’s house.  A great ending, I think!

Kindergarten – Month 1

What have we been doing for the last month? 
Having a great time!  

We officially started school on Sept. 8, right after Labor Day weekend.  The previous 2 weekends were huge “field trips” as we spent a weekend with my parents in Oklahoma, and then spent the next weekend at the Galveston beach with R’s mom!  Both weekends were filled with fun and learning about nature!

Each week we cover the following subjects:  Reading, Writing, History, Geography, Math, Bible, Science, Spelling, Home Economics, Arts & Crafts, & Physical Education.   The core of that is done in 2-3 hours a day!
We are having a great time!

Here are some of the highlights from the past month:

* Learning about Egypt and the fact that they used to shave off HALF of one eyebrow when their cat died to show they were mourning.
* Learning that the country of Italy looks like a boot on the map.
* Reading (Mommy read, she listened) to the first book in the Boxcar Children series.
* Checking the weather every day for our Weather Chart.
* Changing the days on our “Today is…” chart.
* Making fossils
* Making a weather vane
* Having a paper race to learn about wind
* Hearing my daughter ask if we can PLEASE “do more school!”
* Learning how to operate the “self-check” machine at the grocery store.
* Going to a local Greek festival after learning about Greece.
* Taking soil samples
* Building a rocket out of a cardboard box

Making a coracle and testing to see if it would float.
It did!


Fun at the Greek Festival:
 



Making Fossils



Soil Samples


Weathervane


Fun with Spelling


Egyptian Collar


Learning the difference between sedimentary & igneous rocks


Physical Education (aka: Getting the extra energy out!)


Whew! I can’t wait to see how October goes!

Kindergarten – Homeschool style!

I can’t believe it’s been an entire month already!  I am absolutely loving teaching Bug Kindergarten!  I admit, it took me a couple weeks to get in the groove with the new things to do each day, but we’ve got it now!  

I get so many questions about what we do and how we do it, that I really want to document it here to share.  This is one of the greatest things that we have ever decided to do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!  Please, please ask any questions that you may have.  I know that a couple years ago, this was not even on our radar and we had NO clue how to go about it.  We have learned so much and love to share that with others that are interested.

Currently, we only have one child.  However, when I was teaching her preschool, we had anywhere from 1-4 children ages 5 and under in our home because we were foster parents.  Then I was dealing with school, plus therapy appointments, entertaining little ones while teaching Bug, etc.  I can answer questions about that too!

Let’s start with WHY we are doing this.

Our Reasons for Choosing to Homeschool
1) We want our children to learn about the world from a Christian perspective, with a Biblical view, and to make that the foundation of everything they learn. 



2) We want to be able to teach our children in the way that they learn best, and with our daughter, the school system just would not cater to those needs appropriately.   We had no idea when we decided to homeschool that our daughter would be diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD, but now that she is, we are even more thankful to be able to work with that, not against it, and to treat it like it’s “who she is”, not a “problem she has”.   I’ll go into more detail later on how homeschooling has helped us meet her needs.



3) We want our children to learn hands-on about things like volunteering, serving others, grocery shopping, the post office, even doing laundry.



4) We don’t want to be penalized if we want to take our children on a vacation, or worry about missing too many days of school.   Going to see a memorial on Veteran’s Day, going to Washington D.C. for Memorial Day, going camping to learn about science in the woods, taking a road trip to the ocean to collect seashells or to the Grand Canyon, or Niagra Falls --- are all things we want to be able to do, WHEN we want to do them, and would provide incredible opportunities for education.



5) We love that with homeschooling, we complete all our work  (including ‘homework’) in less than half the time that public school kids are in school.  That provides us so much extra time to go do fun things as a family.



6) The flexibility in the schedule is priceless!  I use the term “schedule” loosely anyway, since we don’t have to follow one to the letter.  I have the lesson plans of what to read/teach on each day, and go from there.   We have so many options!! Do it all in the morning,  some in the morning/some in the evening,  double up on one day to get an extra day off,  save one of the days for the weekend with Daddy, etc.   If we need to visit a sick friend, babysit for someone, get some extra rest to ward off a cold – we have time!
 Typically, we have a 4-day school week.  That gives us one day for a field trip, and then 2 weekend days in case we need an “off day” for whatever reason.  

7) I love to spend time with my daughter!!  I absolutely adore getting to see her learn and get excited about it.  I would be so sad to miss that.   I love doing the projects with her, taking her fun places to reinforce what she’s learned, and seeing her grow in so many ways.

8) We don’t want our children exposed to many of the things that are in public (and even private) schools.  We do not keep her in a bubble, but the truth is that kids are growing up way too fast, and if I can slow that down just a little for my children, it will be worth it.

9) We get to go to the zoo, museums, and other fun places when it’s less crowded because all the other kids are in school!

10) Voddie Baucham is very convicting :)