Rainbow Jello

 

Each of the children chose an item to make and bring to Thanksgiving.  L chose the rainbow jello.  He poured, stirred and mixed colors.  He was very involved in dictating when it was time to add the next layer.  It turned out great!

Horse Therapy

L is a funny boy.  He gets amused by things and is literally tickled by his amusement.  It makes us all laugh.
 

L goes to horse therapy Occupational Therapy each Friday.  He works on writing, coordination and emotional regulation while on a horse.  It's so nice that insurance and the state scholarship pay for this.

Last time we went to the Alligator Farm I gave each child a quarter.  2 chose to use the view thing instead of feed the alligators.  This day was a homeschool day so there were lots of kids considering it was during school hours.  One of the stations let the kids eat a dehydrated silk worm and then throw a live meal worm to the cranes.  All stations gave candy.

August has been great.

His hair generally lays down so this morning hair was really epic.
 

lP put L down for a nap and snagged one for herself too.

As the youngest, L plays with things in a different way than the older kids.  For one, I let him play with these little houses more than I did the others, thinking I was saving them for future littles.  L is the last little so he gets to play with them as toys.  He enjoyed stacking their boxes last time.

L loves the thrift store.  He gets to play with the toys and usually has enough money to buy one.  He got this sweet boat and I took him to the inter coastal to play with it.

L loves cuddles.  He is our most affectionate child.  He's also missing his front teeth at the moment.

L has daily work and a check list that works well for him.  His good and beautiful curriculum asks him to spell sometimes.  It turns out that L is very happy to spell if he can write in giant block letters.  I'm so grateful to be able to homeschool him and let him do whatever works for him.

7 and doing great

 L has been taking vyvance for ADHD and it is helping him.  He has a daily check list of work and he is able to complete his tasks often on his own without giving up.  He sometimes does complain that they use up his energy but he is reading independently and completing worksheet pages.  

We have a deal that on days he takes a nap, he can have computer time after dinner.  Because of M's camp pick up time and us going to the pool, he was supposedly going to nap on the way home.  He was able to hold that thought in his mind and pretended to take a nap for a 40 minute drive.  To me that is a huge accomplishment. 

Great times

L got to go mini golfing twice!  Lucky boy.

He had a lot of fun at the Lego store in Disney Springs.

He enjoyed seeing a lady bug at the temple.

L was recently diagnosed with ADHD.  He's a very smart boy with a struggle in focusing.  He has started testing medicine.  He will start occupational therapy soon.  B told him that he has a disease which made L cry.  I'm glad I was there quickly to explain the he has a weakness like anyone else.  B had a weak eye.  G is deaf.  L is aware now of this weakness and he's working on it.

We got to go to the hill playground twice.  L is able to just run and play, climb and explore.  He's a great age for life.

Earning stars and the froof store

 L gets a behavior report from school each day.  If he follows the rules he gets a star on the chart.  He's had some pretty rough reports including getting suspended for hitting a teacher.  We made a chart with 10 spots so he could earn the privilege of going to the thrift store.  This was a big motivator for L and I'm glad that he did finally achieve the goal.  We went to the froof store (as he calls it) and he bought a penny board.  Later that night we rode our bikes to the park and he rode the skate board down the sidewalk.

Tuna for bob

Bob is a cat in the neighborhood.  L looks for Bob when we ride or walk past that house.  Recently we were eating when we went by and L wanted to feed Bob.  I told him that Bob doesn't eat muffins but would like tuna.  L had a plan.  We would bring a can of tuna with a not sticked to it that said "To Bob Love L" and Bob would be so happy.  It took a while but yesterday the plan was enacted.  I am sorry I resisted the prompting to bring my camera because it was really cute.

School and a pool

 L has had some good days and a lot of bad days at school.  Having him go to school has had a big impact on our structure.  We read and have a proper bedtime every night.  He's getting used to the routine but still having distracting behavior in school.  

We went to the community pool on Saturday as L had requested.  He got to use the water torpedos we got 4 months ago.  We enjoyed a picnic during the break time.  I'm glad we are back at the pool.

hard work!

 There was a 7 page booklet about the New Year in L's back pack tonight.  I was not sure if it was homework or not.  I got him set up with fancy markers and continued to read from "Dinosaurs at Daybreak".  He was plowing through the pages at the rate of 1 page per chapter.  He said he was tired, and it was in fact bed time.  I put out a new marker for each page.  As I kept reading, he kept working. 
He showed me tonight that the biggest thing holding him back is low expectations.  I'm so grateful that the teacher sent that book home.  Having someone else hold up an expectation is very powerful.

Kindergarten

 L started kindergarten today.  We meant to have him do VPK, but then that situation didn't pan out.  We meant to have him do kindergarten last year but then there was a pandemic.  He's fully vaccinated now and needs peers.  He has spent his whole life as the baby of the family.  He's like me, quite smart and very charming, but with older siblings so smart that he feels dumb.  

When we went to meet the teacher yesterday he told her that he didn't know much.  

I pray he has a good experience and finds peers.  I think he'll love having a class of kids since he's the most social of all the kids.  He is the most attached of all the children.  For over a year he would tell me that he never wanted to leave me and would miss me so much.  He feels things so deeply.

I went shopping to gather the school supplies including a miniature set of headphones.  I packed all his supplies and got his masks ready.  It's hard to send a child to school for the first time in the middle of a pandemic.  

I was driving the highschool kids this morning so I wasn't going to be able to drop him off.  P called me so I could chat with him.  The connection wasn't clear but he sang "I am a Child of God" for me.  I love him so much.