Fourteen

This silly guy turned 14 on Tuesday!  I am still not sure that I am okay with that.  I can't believe how quickly time has passed.  I remember a 3lb. 15 inch long baby boy lying in an incubator letting everyone know that he intended to fight for his life.   And then there was a 3 year old who knew just about every line of every Blue's Clues episode and recited them all day long.  And I will never forget the adorable little 5 year old who was the smallest kid in Kindergarten and also the best reader. I smile when I think of a 7 year old I knew that when he started homeschool would walk with me everyday and talk of all the pebbles he would throw in the river along the way.  I treasure the thoughts of a boy who even at 9 loved to bake with me and still cuddled up for stories.  Even 11 seems like yesterday with a child who could ride his bike up and down the street seemingly forever.  

How did time go so fast?  It is so bittersweet.  I miss my little boy but am proud of the young man he has become.  He is smart and interesting and a lot of fun to be around.  He is energetic and enthusiastic.  He is also kindhearted and loveable.  He has overcome a lot of obstacles in his 14 years and has shown us what it means to be strong.  He loves football, music, and a certain floppy eared dog.  He loves a good story and a happy ending.  He likes to bounce on the trampoline or walk on his treadmill.  He loves to work with numbers.  He likes to go to concerts with his Dad and beat his mom at Monopoly.  He is a super person!

We celebrated his birthday over the last two weeks.  It was low key which is the way he likes it.  Last week my parents came down to visit and he spent some time with them.  He got to go eat a special birthday meal with them at a restaurant that Elvis once ate at.  He likes Elvis so it was kind of thrilling for him.  On his actual birthday we ordered out pizza and then he had ice cream sandwiches instead of cake.  He doesn't like cake!  He got some video games, cds, and a NFL quilt and sham as presents.  I think he enjoyed it all.

So now he is 14 and there is no sign of him slowing down on this whole growing up thing.  What's a mom to do but look into the eyes of a young man and know in her heart he will always be her baby boy and, of course, wish him a big happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Tyler! 

Shakespeare

Tyler loves Shakespeare!  I want to jump up and down and say that over and over again!  I did NOT like learning about Shakespeare when I was in school.  It was hard to read the Old English and we had to memorize huge boring sections of his plays.  I wanted to teach Tyler Shakespeare without having him dread it like I did.  I thought maybe if I worked really hard at it he might not hate it.  I had no clue just how much he would take to it. :)

We have been enjoying a lot of resources in our study of the bard.  I knew we needed to do a lapbook because he has been retaining so much more every time we use one to organize what he has learned.  I chose the project pack and lapbook from Hands of a Child.
I am really loving how this particular lapbook is suited to his age level.  I also like the creative writing assignments it contains.  One was to write a sonnet which was rather cute because he wrote it for our Lucy.

A really terrific book we have been using to learn more about the life of Shakespeare is Shakespeare for Kids.  This book does a great job of covering his life and also has a bunch of terrific activities.

I have chosen not to read the individual plays in the written language right now as I knew that create a lot of frustration for Tyler at this point.  We have been reading some adapted versions in story form though and I feel he is getting a lot out of them.  We are using the Shakespeare Can Be Fun! series, Tales From Shakespeare, and The Children's Shakespeare.
Hamlet is by far his favorite so far.  He calls it the play in which everyone dies at the end and he really loves to pretend to play King Hamlet's ghost.  We are also reading The Shakespeare Stealer Series which is a fiction series but has a lot of history integrated into it.  These books are great and both Tyler and I would recommend them.

As we read through the plays I have been having him notebook on the different characters and some of the plots.  He has been coloring some pages in The Dover Scenes From Shakespeare coloring book  to go with the notebooking too.

As added fun and some exposure to the original language of the plays Shakespeare wrote we have been enjoying a beautiful pop up version of the globe theater.  This I believe has been Tyler's favorite part.  This book is so beautiful to look at.

The book pops open to show the inside of the globe theater.

There are several punch out characters for each play.

There are two scripts with scenes from the plays to act out.

You slip the characters through holes on the sides of the stage and then read your lines.

I knew that I also wanted him to do some memorization work but I didn't want to have it be as boring as I had felt it was when I was in school.  I made him a booklet and I am letting him pick two quotes for each play in the book.  The book is actually just a couple of file folders I put together but he likes it a lot.  I am thinking of making a certificate for him when he finishes it.  I was going to put on it something like he had completed his apprenticeship and now he is a player in Shakespeare's theater company.
Here are the pictures of our memorization booklet.

Here is the download for our book if you would like it too.
Shakespeare Quote Memorization Book

It has been fun to watch Tyler recite his quotes.  He has an awful English accent but he does a great job at his memorization.  Hope you enjoy this one from Hamlet!

Casting Crowns Concert

Tim and Tyler went to see Caleb Chapman, Tenth Avenue North, and Casting Crowns a little over a week ago.  I meant to get the pictures up here earlier but with Christian and his ear I am a little whole lot behind.
Before I show you the pictures I wanted to share a little about how I feel about Casting Crowns.  I don't think I have ever shared this story here before but if I have I'm sorry for repeating!
In 2008 Tim was deployed to Afghanistan for 9 months.  He was due to return home in November and towards the end of September we began to plan his homecoming.  We ordered our banner and planned to have his favorite foods and such but I knew how hard it had been for him to be away for us that long and I also wanted to do something special for him.  Because of our family situation big parties and vacations are just not an option.  Tyler and I had found out that Casting Crowns, Tim's favorite band, was coming out with a Christmas CD and so I ordered that for him and it got me to thinking.  I looked up their tour dates and sure enough just a couple weeks after he was to return home they were playing a couple of hours from here.  I deliberated back and forth on weather we could all attend the concert but in the end decided it would be way too much for Christian.  I was able to reserve two seats in the third row and I figured Tyler and Tim could go together and have a good father and son time.  I sat there thinking a little more after I got the tickets and wondered if just maybe I could make it a little more special.  I knew that sometimes musicians esp. christian artists are willing to give a shout out at concerts for special occasions.  So... I worked up a little nerve and went over to Casting Crowns website and found the email address for Mark Hall, the lead singer.  I wrote and told him my story of how great my hubby is and what a big fan he is and how he was coming back from Afghanistan etc.  I didn't really think I would get a response but I was hopeful that maybe I would.  Well, about two weeks later I did actually get a response.  I got an email from Susan Dose the band's assistant and she said that Mark had read my email.  I was taken a bit back there she hadn't read my email but Mark had read my email.  She said that the band didn't do shout outs during their concerts but they could give him two meet and greet passes.  I was sooooo excited!  I knew it would mean a lot to Tim to meet Mark Hall, someone whom he has so much respect for.  Incidentally this concert also featured a lot of other artists who Tim and Tyler got to meet too.  There was Natalie Grant, Avalon, Michael English, PureNRG, and Denver and the Mile High Orchestra.  They had a wonderful time and were so impressed with how nice everyone was.  On a funny note both Tim and Tyler were both to shy to ask to get their pictures taken with anyone.  They did however get me a shirt at the concert and had everyone sign it.   I still wish they had gotten pictures. :(
So that's my great Casting Crowns story.  I love that they gave my hubby such a special time!  They are the real deal and hold a special place in our hearts.
Now when they come to our area we of course have to get tickets so Tim and Tyler went to see them again this last week.  No passes this time-just the concert but they still had a wonderful time.

The concert opened with Caleb, Stephen Curtis Chapman's son.  This is a picture of Will and Caleb Chapman.  Tyler was greatly impressed with these two.

The second performance was Tenth Avenue North.

And last but surely not least was Casting Crowns.

World Vision was there too.  Tim didn't get a picture of them though. :)  We did sign up to sponsor a adorable little girl in Tanzania.  I am already so in love with this little face.

We already sponsor a girl in India through Compassion and so we decided to go with Africa.  She is three and just too cute.  Don't you think?  The problem for me is that we started sponsoring our Compassion child when she was already 10 and so I am not sure what we are to write to a three year old or if we should mostly send pictures and drawings from the kids.  I would love suggestions if anybody has sponsored a younger child.  I am sure we are going to love getting to know her!

What to do in the heat

I spoke too soon!  I have been raving about what a beautiful spring we are having.  Usually we go from winter to super hot summer but lately we have been enjoying the most spectacular spring days with temperatures in the low to mid 70's.  Well, it had to end sometime I suppose.  Today it chose to bake us in the hot Carolina sun.  I believe the actual temp was 87!  There are only so many things you actually feel like doing when it is hot and humid outside.  Tyler has been really good all week as his schedule was a mess because of the time spent at the hospital with Christian.  So it was a nice day for him to get out and play on the water slide.
It was a hard decision to make because Christian loves the water too and he can't get wet right now because his stitches in his ear are supposed to stay dry.  I felt really bad for him as watched out the window as the water slide was set up.  I stayed inside with him and we watched lots of Veggie Tales together.  We watched King George and the Ducky twice because that is his favorite.  We also ordered from Papa Johns tonight which is a big treat here because we almost never do fast food.  I know he would have rather been outside but I think we had fun together anyhow.
Tyler really needed to wear off some of his boundless energy.  We have done a lot of sitting and waiting this week.  Sitting and waiting are tough on him.  He played on the slide for a couple of hours.

He really needed that!  He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.  I can't wait until Christian's ear heals and he can get some water slide time too!

All Glory, Laud, and Honor- Our First Hymn Study

We have started hymn studies in our homeschool.  My boys both have a big appreciation for music.  Last year Tyler's Bible curriculum had a hymn component included but this year we were really missing that.  I had read this post over at Jimmie's Collage and thought that something similar would work really well for us.
Since we had just celebrated Easter I thought we would start with the book Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart.  All the books in the Hymns for Kid's books are great and include the CDs with them too.
 We have been using these great notebooking pages from Jimmie of Jimmie's Collage to explore the vocabulary and verses that go along with our hymn.  I made our own notebooking pages also to explore the biography of the hymn author and for Tyler to write the lyrics out for copywork.  We are using the books Then Sings My Soul and Then Sings My Soul Book 2 for the stories of the hymn writers.  These are fascinating books and the stories of the hymn writers are truly inspiring.  We are storing all of our hymn sheets in a three ring binder.

The first hymn in the book is All Glory, Laud, and Honor.  It is a beautiful hymn about Palm Sunday. It was written by Theodulph, bishop of Orleans.  He wrote this text around 820 while he was imprisoned at Angers, France, for conspiring against King Louis the Pious. Based on Matthew 21:1-11 (and similar passages in Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12), the text was originally written for a Palm Sunday procession.  We love this hymn and look forward to studying another hymn next week.

Unexpected Lessons Learned in our Study of Russia

We have been studying Russia here and have been really enjoying it.  It has been a long study as there is much to learn.  Russia has always intrigued me.  They have such amazing architecture, beautiful art, and powerful music.  My favorite thing about Russia,however, has always been the literature written there.  I love to read Tolstoy and the older authors but I am equally taken with new writers like Boris Akunin.  I appreciate the complexity of the characters in Russian stories.  They are often formed through the combination of great hardships and strong spirits that yearn not only to survive but to find beauty in life.  When we started our study I was really anxious to share this with Tyler.
He had a great time listening to Peter and the Wolf and making matryoshka dolls to go with the story.

 We have used several  really great resource books along with our study. The first is Russia (Enchantment of the World. Second Series).

 The second is Eyewitness Books Russia.

We also used the Usborne book First Thousand Words in Russian.

Incidentally Christian was really taken with this last book.

This got me to thinking maybe he doesn't talk because we are trying to teach him English and he wants Russian.
Tyler has been doing lots of notebooking and map work to go along with our study as well.  We found some great printables at homeschoolshare.

By far our favorite part of this whole unit has been our read aloud of  Angel on the Square.

It is a historical fiction story that takes place in the years between 1913 to 1918.  This is the time of the reign of the last czar of Russia.  Katya, the girl in the story, is the daughter of the lady in waiting to the empress and therefore lives with the czar and his family which allows the reader to see not only the rule of the czar but his tender interactions with his family.
Tyler likes to label characters in his mind as the good guy or the bad guy.  There is not a lot of room for in betweens in Tyler's autistic world.  As we read through this story he was confused as to how to categorize the characters as many of them had complex relationships and made varying decisions.  He at first decided the Czar must be a good man because he loved his family and treated them well and was applauded when he rode through the streets.  Later when he found out some of the injustices he allowed he decided he must be the bad guy.  Only to change his mind again when he was exiled to Siberia and he felt sorry for him.  It was great to see Tyler attempt to reason this through.  There was another character Misha, who is a college student and a revolutionary.  Tyler was at first disgusted that he would be so opposed to following the rules.  He then liked him when he found out he wanted to help the poor.  Katya in the story is confused like Tyler and doesn't know how to feel about the people around her either.  This helped Tyler to see that he wasn't alone in his feelings.  He was able to understand in the end that it was okay just to take it all in and understand they were all humans that made good and bad decisions.  Understanding the people in the story didn't require us to label them.
I really like the unexpected lesson this story and our study of Russia and all it's interesting figures has brought about.  It shows me that he is starting to develop more complex thinking.  It shows me that there is room for learning beyond the accumulation of facts.  Yea for progress!!!

New Glasses

Tyler got new glasses today and we really wanted to share a picture with you all of how handsome he looks.

Are you ready?

Aren't they great?

Just Kidding!

Here they are for real...

 Much better!  He is very happy to be able to see a little more clearly.  Yippee for new glasses!

Get back up

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again. Proverbs 24:16

 

Tyler and I have been reading through Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz.  We have only been reading a chapter every other day so that we can discuss each chapter and he can have time to think it over.  It is an amazing book for boys that are headed toward manhood.

Today's chapter was about making mistakes and what we do after we make them.  The author used a story about football to illustrate his point.  Tyler was of course immediately interested as he is with anything that remotely talks about football.  The story was about a runner that wanted to quit after the first time he was tackled.  Tyler was amused by this because he knows that a running back  would expect to be tackled and wouldn't let that end his desire to play football and keep running.

 

We talked about some of the mistakes in life that we make that can cause us to fall down.   As we talked about some things in his life that make him fall down I thought of many in my own.  We had a great discussion about times when he or other people he knows have fallen down and what their response has been.

This wonderful chapter discussed some of the responses everyone has when they fall down.  Some people just stay down.  This has happened to me before especially when our kids were first diagnosed with autism.  The longer you stay down unfortunately the harder it is to get back up.    Some people like to just pretend they never fell.  This usually results in things getting much worse because we have done nothing to fix the cause of our fall so we will likely just fall again.  Some people get angry that they fell and so they lay where they fell and dwell on their anger.  Others will make excuses for their fall or blame others which will likely not only hurt themselves but their relationships as well.

The only good response to a fall is to get back up.  It is best to get up quickly and try to fix that which made us fall in the first place.  We also need to fix any damage we may have caused during our fall.

The great thing about falling and getting back up is that God knows we are going to fall and he knows how to help us recover from our falls too.  He is waiting to help pull us up when we do fall.  Tyler and I both found a lot of encouragement in that.  

The other important thing we talked about falling was that when we fall we have an opportunity to learn.  A foolish man continues to stumble because he fails to see what caused him to fall before.  This is a true sign of a person journeying into a godly adult life.   I want him to know that it is okay to make mistakes and to use them to learn how to either steer clear of a potential danger in the future or how to navigate through it.

I love the discussions this book has brought about between us.  It thrills me that he is starting to understand what it takes to be a godly man and that he desires to be one.  Thank you Bob Schultz!  I think we will both have fond memories of reading this book.

"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise..." Micah 7:8

 

 

Snow Day

I was truly convinced that we were the only people in the United States this year that weren't going to get snow.  Every time we have seen snow in the forecast this winter we have gotten excited and then just rain.  I think it was around Thursday that they started to forecast that we would get snow this time.  I didn't even tell the kids because it has been such a let down every other time.  But much to my disbelief on Friday night it actually began to snow here and this morning we awoke to what looked much like a scene out of Narnia.

I do believe that today every child on the block was up at the crack of dawn and outside to play in the snow.  I can't blame them however as we are lucky if we get even one snowfall a year here.

Tyler was very excited to see the snow this morning but I was unsure how he would actually feel about it when he got out in it though.  First he went out with his dad and Lucy, our dog.  He had a snowball fight with dad and then played on the snow covered trampoline with Lucy.

 

  

  

Lucy loved the snow too!

 

  

When Tim came in to watch Christian I went out and took a walk through the woods behind our house.  It was spectacular.

 

  

 

I took a lot more pictures than these.  It was so beautiful.  Tyler joined me in the woods after a little while too.

 

After the woods I tried to help him build a snow fort.  It was rather small however because he lost interest in the actual building part quickly.

 

The sun was also starting to heat up by this time and the snow was getting rather slushy so we went in.  It was lots of fun while it lasted though!  Hope everyone else who received unexpected snow this weekend was also able to get out and enjoy it.