Mulan Jr!

This fall we became theater parents for the first time.  ;-)  Nate auditioned with Center Grove Fine Arts Academy in August and was assigned a role in Mulan Jr. as a Son/Chinese Solder. It was a big commitment for him, and for us. Rehearsals were 2 days a week for 3 months.

 The cast was made up of wonderful kids and the directing team was incredible. I was amazed at the vision and execution they were able to have in a children's production.

 

One of the families posted their camcorder recording of the last performance of Mulan Jr on Vimeo. Click HERE to check it out.
 

 We were so blessed to be a part of this wonderful group. And were incredibly honored to have so many friends and family attend the show in support of Nate. Thanks to everyone who came!!

Big Boy Birthday!

Ten!  My firstborn son is ten years old! I can still hardly believe it!  As you know, turning ten is kind of a big deal. We offered Nate the choice of a party (like we usually do) OR a special outing for him and one friend to Kings Island. Having never been to an amusement park before, Nate hardly hesitated. Kings Island was the obvious choice!

We went on a Friday at the beginning of June (actually a month before Nate's birthday) to avoid the July heat and crowds. It was perfect. There were hardly any lines at all. I think the longest we waited for a ride was 15min!! Nate could hardly believe it when we told him that in the past when Daddy and I had been there we had waited in line for over an hour for rides!


Nate's friend Liam had never been to an amusement park before either so it was great for them to experience their first roller coaster rides together. Every ride the boys would hesitate, saying it was gonna be too big/scary/etc as we went through the line... and then they would ride and LOVE it!

What a wonderful day with a few of my favorite guys!! Happy birthday to my baby boy!!  ;-)

Its been a great year!

 I often feel like we have more than our fair share of challenges. And maybe its true. But we all have our challenges. I try not to let people say that mine are bigger than theirs, because we each have our own mountains to climb. What is the use in comparing?

This past year had its fill of challenges. Lots of medical paperwork. Countless phone calls with insurance, doctor's offices, therapists and medicaid personnel. Tantrums and tumbles. Dirty diapers and tear streaked cheeks.

Awhile back I read an article online that really captured how amazed I often am with Nate. Dear Sibling to a Child With Special Needs could have been written about Nate himself. In a way it is.

 Throughout the early part of the year Nate was getting frustrated to the point of tears almost daily. The tantrums from his brother and seeing me frequently frazzled really got to him. Can't blame him for being shaken up sometimes.

We had a lot of talks about finding the good in each day. Not letting a bad situation or frustrating circumstance get us down. We had this conversation a LOT. Frankly, I think I was talking to myself as much as I was talking to him.

At first I didn't really notice that these talks were starting to make a difference. But after awhile Nate started saying "its been a great day". Sometimes it was in response to something good that had happened (going to a playdate or out to lunch) but other times, it was just because he knew that even though we sometimes have to deal with hard things, we are still blessed. Even Nate's friends and their parents have taken notice of his new "outlook on life".

I have told him how remarkable that it is for him to have purposefully changed the way he thought about life, his life. There are plenty of adults who have not been able to grasp this concept of recognizing the good in our life even while going through hard times. This wonderful outlook that he has taken on gives me hope for the man he is on his way to becoming. 

A Very Harry Potter Birthday

A couple weeks ago was my oldest's 9th birthday! AH! I can't believe I am mom to a soon-to-be 4th grader!
Well, this boy loves Harry Potter so we put together a pretty Pintastic, magical Harry Potter party for him.

My awesome friend who runs a before and after school program let us borrow a Sorting Hat to sort the boys into the different houses at the beginning of the party.

Each boy had a lightning bold drawn on their forehead, Harry Potter style glasses (really just these that we cut up to be like Harry's), a Hogwarts robe and house tie.

Each of the boys got a Harry Potter goodie bag with some fun treats including: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a pair of Chinese handcuffs, a box of sparklers, a Hogwarts notebook, and a Hogwarts certificate/scroll.

Our local library had a Harry Potter party on the same night as I had planned the party so we decided to incorporate it into the plan. So, after the boys were sorted we all loaded into the van and headed to the library.

They had Potter themed snacks including: pretzel wands, butter beer, wizard hats (Bugles) and magic color changing potion drinks.

There were craft stations where the boys were able to decorate their own wands, color pictures, get house badges, and make Monster Book of Monsters.

After the fun at the library we came home for dinner and movie.  We had some Potter themed drinks, Wizard Chex Mix, fruit and of course a party staple... PIZZA!  ;-)

Because I wasn't sure which kids had seen which movies I chose for us to show the first Harry Potter movie (The Sorcerer's Stone). 

** Because the Harry Potter books and movies get progressively darker Nate is permitted to read a book each year around his birthday and then we follow it with a family movie night to watch the corresponding movie. Shortly after the party he and I finished listening to the audio book of The Goblet of Fire and watched that movie as a family.

I am wondering how much longer Nate will be into themed parties and such.  As much work as they are I love being able to make his birthdays special and unique every year.  He is an incredibly special kid and I am proud to be his mama!  Love him!

Pinterest Science

I'll admit this year has been a little lacking in creativity. I have had very little energy for crafts and science projects for/with Nate. So on the last official day of school Nate had a friend over and we tackled a couple of fun science experiments that I found on Pinterest ages ago but hadn't gotten around to actually doing.  Here is what we did:

Marshmallow Catapult 

This was pretty successful. Though some of the marshmallows were a little on the soft side and had a hard time holding the skewers. But they did have a good time catapulting the mini marshmallows across the room.  ;-)

Optical Illusion

Each boy drew two pictures that went on opposite sides of a pencil. They would spin it between their hands and (ideally) they would be able to see both images together. Originally they drew with colored pencils and we found that it was too light to see when spinning. So, they went over their pictures with crayons to darken it and that made a big difference.

Milk Science Experiement

This involved making food coloring move around in the milk. The boys loved this one so much that in the end their bowls were a murky mess of colors!

Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction

We kept having premature chain reactions... but it was still pretty cool. 

The boys had a great time with all of the experiments but I will say that they didn't take up near as much time as I thought they would. Because we had just the two of them, we kind of breezed through them quickly and eventually they ended up playing games on the Kindle.  

Thankful for good friends!

Homeschooling and My Heart

Homeschooling is an ever-changing creature in our house. We have tried different curriculum, workbooks, texts, websites, you name it... but what we had been needing to change was not the books.  It was me.  I was really struggling to stay on track with homeschooling because my head was in a million places at once.  If you know me or have read the blog much you probably realize that I have a lot going on (but don't we all).  And in an effort to clear my head I would escape it all through media.  I was spending too much time online - occasionally it would be on something important... but usually it was time wasters like facebook, Pinterest and Netflix.  I am NOT saying those are bad things.  But the way I had been using them was.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.- James 3:1-5

Recently I read an article from the Multi-taskingMom about why they quit homeschooling.  Only it wasn't what you would think it would be about.  She just shared how their family went from trying to duplicate public school in their home to relaxing and turned the focus to creating a learning environment for their children.  And I love SimpleHomeschool's honesty in her post "What about Me?".  She opened up about how frazzled she had gotten trying to juggle it all amidst poor time management and a lack of prioritizing.  And she shared a couple of steps she took to make things more manageable for her and the whole family.


Mom's Mustard Seeds shared how she was quitting homeschooling to begin discipling her children. Oh, how I needed to hear that. She mentions how sometimes the world (even inside our homeschool or church communities) can be vindictive and tries to tell you to do things this way or that way, pulling you in all directions. Regardless of all the fuss over curriculum, teaching methods, etc... when it comes down to it, our primary purpose in parenting is really to lead our children to the cross.

But what to do?  Habits are so hard to change.  Seriously, when you are in a rut it is so hard to create new patterns of behavior. I have been in a deep rut.  One full of mud and muck that is keeping me from moving forward.  But its not going to be this way forever. I know that balance in my life is important and even thought it isn't easy, I am doing something about it. I am working on spending more time connecting with my children than connected to the internet. I am taking my focus off of reading about the various teaching methods and actually devoting time and attention to what my son is interested in learning. I've cut back on things that were a burden and am trying to do more of the things that fill me up. Little by little I am working on developing new, healthier habits for myself that will benefit me and my family.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. -  1 Corinthians 10:13

Merry Christmas

 

2013 Family Christmas Letter/Card

 

We neglected to write a Christmas letter last year... 2012 was a super busy year for our families. We shared in mourning when family members pass away and people that we love's marriages ended and we rejoiced together when babies were born and weddings brought new members into our families. It was a year full of endings and beginnings. In comparison to 2012, this year has been less monumental, but still a time of growth.

Isaac is enjoying his job working in IT in Fishers. It was interesting for him to transition into a position in IT after working for so long running the counseling center. He is thriving in this environment and looking forward to many more years with the company.

Wani is working hard balancing homeschooling Nate and juggling Joe and Christine's school and therapy schedules. With special kids come special challenges and Wani is thankful for the support and encouragement from friends and family to help on the hard days. She enjoys doing photography on the side and is happy to see her work improving with every job. Taking advantage of having a daughter, Wani has taken up sewing and often makes dresses for Christine or gifts for friends and family.

Nate began the third grade in the fall. He seems to take this fact very seriously at times. While he is still doing well academically, he is having to work harder than he did previously. Nate enjoys spending his time building imaginary worlds through Legos and his storytelling skills. He loves exploring nature and playing with his friends. He and Isaac have been playing through the Lego video games and enjoy that time together. Nate is becoming a big helper around the house and he is an awesome big brother to his siblings who adore him.

Joe has continued in his life skills class. They are pretty structured and are working with him on his IEP goals. He seems to miss it while on school breaks. He is doing a lot of assisted walking these days. When we go out Joe often will walk holding our hands – but while at school he uses a walker with some help. He loves bouncing around to music and playing with his big brother... and sometimes terrorizing his little sister.

Christine graduated from First Steps in the spring and entered developmental preschool in the fall. We are thankful to have the familiar faces of Joe's former teachers and therapists welcome Christine into the program. The goals that she is working on in school and therapy are very similar to those that Joe is: including increasing communication with augmentative devices, progressing in the walker and others. She is a busy little bee and a very happy girl. She brightens our days with her smiles and laughter.

We are thankful for the many ways that God is blessing us and would love to hear what He is doing in your lives as well. If you want to catch up with us you can do so via facebook, or the phone/emails/blogs listed below.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. - Romans 15:13

Blessings From,

Isaac, Wani, Nate, Joe and Christine