Look Who Can Pedal!

A few shorts months ago, she didn't have the coordination to make it happen, but look at this!  Jen is doing so well on her tricycle at physical therapy that the therapist actually had to stand on the back of it to slow her down when she took it outside!  Way to go, Jennifer!

Hide and Seek!

Today held one of those unusually relaxed mornings.  You know, the ones we all love where we sit around in our pjs waiting for the just-woke-up sleepiness to wear off - and then some!  I was leisurely reading my email when Abigail came running into the room, plopped on the couch, covered her head with a blanket and said, "Shhhhhhhhhhhh!"  (Score big for me having my camera within reach!)

I heard counting in the other room, and watched in amusement as Jen came doing her little pony trot with her walker shortly thereafter, and was (surprise!) able to find Abigail pretty quickly.  Then Abigail ran off to count and Jen plopped down on the couch in the very same spot and covered her head with the very same blanket.  Yup, Abigail found her.

I thought that must certainly be the end of this particular hiding place.  Wrong.  Princess A.  Same spot, same "Shhhhhhhhhhhh!"  ..... different blanket....

While this sequence of events amused me greatly, it also caused me to think back to a year ago.  Only one year ago the Little Princesses did not know how to play.  I remember when they went in their playroom full of toys and just SAT.  There were toys all around them, but they didn't know what to do with them.  We've spent a year developing imagination and learning to play.

Today, even though their "hiding places" weren't very "good" they were actually playing together.   There is a certain progression of thought shown with Miss A using a different blanket and covering her entire self up the second time around.  I believe we are making progress!

My Son, the Orc!

Tikvah is a huge fan of  J.R.R. Tolkien.  Having read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, and currently reading The Silmarillion, she's infected her brother with a love of all things Tolkien. They have spent hours since The Prince got home watching the movies, and now she's started in reading the books to him.

These fantasy books take place in a fictional past (predating our history) and  in "Middle Earth."  I am neither a fan of fantasty nor of action packed battles so I won't pretend to understand Tolkien or his works.  (Please don't send me hate mail.)  In spite of me, many of my children have loved his writings - long before the movies were released.

If you (like me) don't follow the story, this is how I perceive the series.  It all centers around Hobbits, Elves, Men, Dwarves, Wizards and Orcs (aka goblins) over the power struggle to obtain possession of the Ring of Power.  The bad guys want to own it, the good guys want to destroy it.  Certainly simplified - my apologies to the Tolkien fans.

Isaac saw the movie "The Hobbit" with his foster family in China, and probably began his Tolkien fascination at that time.  His favorite character seems to be Legolas, an elf of the Woodland Realm.  This is likely because of his weapons!  Legolas was chosen to be a member of the Fellowship that intended to destroy the Ring.  He served as the group's archer.  An interesting side note:  Tikvah has begun begging for us to allow her and Isaac take up archery.  Oh help!

 Of course, being a boy, our Prince tends towards fascination with the fights, or epic battles if the little I've watched the movies are any indication.  The Orcs are the henchmen soldiers of the bad guys.  I'm not sure if Isaac dreams of fighting the bad guys or if he just likes the way the word ORC rolls off his tongue, but ORC seems to come up regularly in every day situations around here.

"What was that?"  An orc.

 "Did you hear that sound?" It was an orc.

 "Who did that?" An orc.  Well, you get the gist.   It has become somewhat of a family joke around here that whatever it is, it must be an orc.   

Another of Tikvah's hobbies is face painting.  She has been the creator of many a dog, cat, rabbit, etc. and shows enough interest in it that over the past few years she has amassed a collection of face paints and how-to books on the subject.  She surpassed it all this week when she made her brother into an ORC!  

 

Um... yeah.  I'm happy to say that after a little soap and water, he returned to his very handsome self! 

 Disclaimer: Neither Orcs nor Isaacs were harmed in the process.

Summertime : Time4Learning?

Making two trips to China in only eleven months to add three children whose primary language is Chinese presented some unique challenges to our homeschool this year.  I've been looking for a way to keep all the children learning this summer, but let's face it.  No one (including me) wants to spend the summer with workbooks!  I've signed up to review a website that has intrigued me for quite some time, and this may be the perfect chance to give it a trial run.

Over the next 30 days, I will be reviewing Time4Learning. They offer an elementary school curriculum, middle school curriculum, high school curriculum, and tools like the Getting Started Homeschooling Guide. Be sure to come back and read about my experience!

My Little Princesses Meet the Disney (type) Princesses

On Friday night I took Tikvah, Jen, Abigail and one of my grand daughters to meet the Disney Princesses. (not sanctioned by Walt, I'm fairly certain!)  This was actually the recital of the voice students of a local music teacher.  They put on a great song and dance show featuring many of the most loved songs from the princess movies.  My girls had a wonderful time watching the show then eating treats with the princesses afterwards.  What a fun idea!

with Jasmine,  Mulan, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella

with Pocahontas, Belle and Rupunzel

with Ariel and Snow White

with the step sisters - who were quite hilarious!

Locals - Fundraiser Yard Sale!

I met a lovely Mama a couple of weeks ago who is working to raise funds to bring their child home from Taiwan.  If you are in the Cincinnati area, why not stop by this weekend, find a bargain and help her out?

May is Busy!

We've had a busy month, full of things to do.  The out of town adult sisters and their husbands, Grandma, and some close friends have visited overnight to get acquainted with Isaac.  It has been an active household, and at times probably too much for our shy Prince.  He never complains though.

Early in the month Tikvah turned twelve, and had her first overnight party with a few friends.  They included the siblings in some of the activities and of course in the cake and ice cream! (Seems Isaac's life is full of girls!)

A couple of days later WE traveled to Indiana to celebrate a grand daughter's third birthday!  The theme - what else?  Princess!

 

Isaac DID go to the party, but he mostly hung out in one of the other rooms with some of the guys playing games.  Princesses, it seems, are not "his thing."  LOL!

Then we celebrated the ending of a successful homeschool co-op year with presentations from some of the classes.  This is a scene from Tikvah's musical theater class.  Yummy snacks followed the presentations.

We're thankful for the happy times shown above where our royalty can just be "kids."  The month has also been full of medical appointments.   These revealed some significant health issues in Isaac, which triggered even more appointments and tests, which triggered even MORE ...well you get the gist.  Our Prince has some health needs that won't get better overnight or with a dose of pills. All these tests and doctors are hard on adults, so I'm not sure how a child deals with it.  We'd appreciate your prayers as we go to nearly daily medical appointments with one or another of them.  I confess to feeling overwhelmed at times, and am thankful for caring friends who step in to provide a meal or play with the other kids while we are at appointments.  I truly couldn't do this without their support.  Thanks guys!