Update on a little of everything! :)

Life here has not been overly exciting  lately.  We have been working hard at school trying to take advantage of this time of the year when there is not a lot else going on to distract.  We also have standardized testing coming up in a couple of weeks as we live in a state that requires it each year.  I am trying hard to make sure we are at a good stopping point in our subjects as testing and Easter approaches.
I spent last week enjoying the Heart of the Matter Online Conference.  That was a great pick me up.  I was reminded of lots of things and learned some new tips as well.  Heather Laurie's presentation was a good reminder of keeping up a good sensory diet around here.  I think we are pretty good about that but was reminded of certain areas we haven't worked on in awhile.  I also walked away with a bunch of great tips on organizing my days after listening to Maggie Hogan.  I loved her idea of grocery shopping twice a month.  I hate grocery shopping to begin with so it is on the top of my list to strive for.
Last week was my week to sit down and ponder next year for our homeschool and start to think a bit about high school planning for Tyler. (yikes!)  He will be in the 8th grade, technically speaking, this next year although he really is above and below that in certain subjects.  The whole thought of homeschooling through high school still scares me a bit.  I don't want to screw it up but we still feel like that is the way God is leading us.  We have decided to go with Tapestry of Grace for him next year.  I ordered the download version and I love what I have seen so far.
Christian and I have been working on his communication.  We have been working with the Educational Insights Smart Talk system.  He loves to push buttons and we have tried different communicators in the past.  This is great because it has cards with big pictures of one thing and when you press the first button it names what is in the picture, the second uses it in a sentence, and the third button asks you what it is.  We are working on a set of about ten cards at a time.

Tyler has been working on all of his usual subjects and he has been working on a unit study on Russia.  He has also been loving the Sports Store business math program from Simply Charlotte Mason.  He finished his first mock month of business today and was so excited that he had made a profit.  It is his favorite thing we are doing right now.    He is learning a lot too like writing out checks, purchasing inventory, paying bills, and keeping a ledger.

As a final note here I had asked for prayer awhile back for my mom so I wanted to update you all on that too.  She is still not feeling well.  She is having a lot of shortness of breath.  She has had a ton of tests and so far they have determined she has water under her heart, fluid in her lungs, problems with anemia, and today they told her she has an enlarged liver so she will be undergoing more tests for that tomorrow.  There are still no real answers as to why these things are happening.  She is at home and my dad is taking excellent care of her and they hope to have some answers and hopefully some solutions soon.  Thank you for your prayers!  They are much appreciated.

Sorry there are no good pictures in this post and that it is a little choppy.  I am super tired tonight!  My hubby was doing a lot of sleep talking last night as he does when he is thinking a lot about work and I didn't get much sleep.  I am going to bed now and I promise to post something else (with pictures) real soon!