March in Review
Bible/Character: FamilyFusion is a great tool for reviewing with the girls what they are learning in their FSK classes each week. This month we had a great discussion about the "Keys to the Kingdom," and Callie illustrated them quite nicely. Coplea often enjoys directing scavenger hunts with Q/A as review for her sister. With FAITH training, we continued on in Luke this month. God has orchestrated it such that we will be reading the Easter story during Easter week. . . interesting, as it worked out that we were reading about Jesus' birth during the week of Christmas. A wonderful reward for Chad's faithfulness in leading us in these regular times of family worship! (We have also greatly enjoyed the first five chapters of the biography of Billy Sunday, with the girls alternately in tears and in stitches with laughter over our lunches these past few days!)
Dictation/Copywork: Verses from our Luke readings, quotations from within our read-alouds (currently enjoying a biography of the life of Billy Sunday).
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea has now completely mastered prepositions, objects of the prepositions, subjects and verbs, and is thus moving on to the finer points of grammar. This month, she covered reflexive, possessive and intensive pronouns. Whooo! That made for a good "Daddy-stumper" at the supper table. Callie is doing well as she continues with her Explode the Code lessons and one-on-one time with Mommy in our ongoing phonics lessons. She especially loves "online games" now, and is allowed computer time about 2-3 times per month.
Handwriting: Callie's Reason for Handwriting lessons have provided the added benefit of giving us additional Scripture verses to meditate on throughout each week and to discuss "as we walk along the way." Just today, we had a great time of chatting over lunch about what being "wise" actually looks like and who in her life she might like to "be with" and "become like." (Proverbs 13:20) p.s. She chose her Daddy!!
Math: Callie has been working on "doubles" this month - she now knows 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4,. . . . by heart, and this will serve her well in continuing on with her mastery of addition. Coplea has begun double digit by double digit multiplication, and encountered a few bumps in assimilating it the way Steve Demme recommends in the MathUSee curriculum. We have had to step back and simply ask, "How would you go about finding the answer?" - In doing so, we found that she already understands the concepts and the operations, it was simply a lack of connecting with HOW her current worksheets instruct her to show the work (e.g., 13x12 written as 10+3 x 10+2; a "long-hand" version). Her frustration with this difficulty led to an opportunity to really talk through the many ways we can choose to respond when things don't go our way. Coplea masters about 99% of everything she attempts almost immediately. NOT "getting this" right away brought her to tears (quite unexpectedly), and demonstrated for us all one of the negative ways we can choose to respond. After discussing how one might react (anger/yelling, silence, throwing things and more) and considering examples from real-life (my brother's disconnection from our family, Teddy Roosevelt's embracing every challenge as "fun", etc.), we realized together that the very first thing we should be doing is PRAYING. Asking for help is also a great second step. This seemed like one of those real "breakthrough" moments of growth in her character, and I was thankful I was here to witness it. Another confirmation that home is a great place for learning to take place! (And now she's moved on to double digit multiplication with regrouping with ease.)
Science: What to do once SEEK was no more? What to do? My typical response would have been to think about the best, most logical next step for several weeks and then implement it over a few more. However, the weather was great the week immediately following the SEEK graduation, and I just grabbed Jeanne Fulbright's Botany book (Exploring Creation with Botany) and called the girls out to the backyard. Now Botany is one of the most-requested subjects around here, and instead of "making time" for it once or twice/week, we are longing to get to it several afternoons each week!! Thus far, the girls have made their own special botany binders, learned about classification and been "sock taxonomists" (for a full afternoon - quite a memorable little experiment!!), collected leaves and studied the vascular tubes of each, learned about moss (a nonvascular plant variety) and repeated the words "binomial nomenclature" and "xylem and phloem" about 1,000 times in a row!! I think we've got a winner, and spring didn't even start until last week. We're definitely going to enjoy this subject together.
PhysEd: Upward basketball and cheerleading ended with a bang on March 9th as the girls joined about 600 other participants and many, many parents, siblings and more for an awards night, complete with an illusionist who wowed all the kids. The cheer Callie's squad learned meant five nights in a row of additional practices; a bit much for a 1st grader in my opinion, but fun for her nonetheless. The warmer days March has brought have given ample opportunity to be outside riding their bikes (new-found freedom at the foot of our hill in front, which still makes me a bit nervous), working in their "garden" (they absolutely never tire of moving those bricks around or of sweeping the dirt away!), or just playing on the playground. Sisters are definitely a blessing! (They've already been asking for popsicles most every afternoon.)
Latin: ongoing
Reading: Callie is gradually improving in her letter/sound recognition and we have enjoyed adding more easy readers to our daily routine. She has mastered the -sh and -th endings this week. I am quite proud of her and would say her attitude is good more often than not of late. Whew!! Coplea reads, reads, reads and often tells us the meaning of obscure words we run across because she can recall reading it in another context. Amazing!
History/Geography: We began March with a belated Unit Celebration which ended up being very appropriately timed - on March 5th we hosted our "19th Century party," complete with Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper from the 1890's, molasses cake from an 1884 cookbook, homemade cheese straws and Cracker Jacks! The girls displayed their work from the past several months, especially highlighting immigration and the Statue of Liberty. Thereafter, we looked at the life of Helen Keller (still awaiting the video version of her life - on hold at the library) and marveled at her tenacity and courage in the face of many obstacles. Theodore Roosevelt has become our new "favorite president," providing great fodder for conversation as we studied each of the stages of his life. What a fascinating childhood "Teedie" had, and what heartbreak as a young adult. He rose to each challenge with dignity and strength; a great role model for us even today. (Though I'm not sure he'll really supplant Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln as our final "favorite.") The girls had fun learning about the history of teddy bears in conjunction with our look at TR. We spent two days reviewing the recent history and the geography of Hawaii. A Child's History of the Twentieth Century has provided the backdrop for all of our "tangent' studies, giving a great kid-friendly timeline view of each year within the century. (Did you know ping-pong was originally marketed as Gossima??) During Coplea's week of state testing, we used Five in a Row for a lighter week of lessons, enjoying the origins of man-powered flight in France with a look at the life of Louis Bleriot and his inventions during the first decade of the 20th Century. The Glorious Flight chronicles the events leading up to his flight across the English Channel. Fun!
Creative Writing and Typing Luka's Quilt (a Hawaiian children's story) gave the girls opportunity to create their own versions of the quilt; Coplea also read Seabird and The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge this month and completed student activity pages for each. Both of the girls continue to impress me with their incredible recall after returning home from theatre productions, and their written summaries this month were no exception.
Fine Arts: ArkansasArtsCenter Children's Theatre: The Little Dutch Boy was a neat story of a boy who saves his town in the Netherlands by staying awake all night holding back a break in the dike. The props were great and the story flowed well, but we were accustomed to 90 minute plays, and this one lasted all of 42 minutes. The fairies used to portray the ocean water and its fury were also a bit disturbing. Since we had friends Evie and Jack with us, we headed to Community Bakery to let everyone choose a treat from behind the glass and called it a great morning of fun anyway!!
Music Appreciation: Ongoing piano lessons for Coplea. Saturday, March 10th was spent on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a juried piano competition. This was our first real introduction to such an event, and we were overwhelmed by the sheer talent of kids Coplea's age and younger! There were multiple "original compositions" within her age group alone. Wow! ("That was all I could say, 'Wow!'.") After a full four hours of playing and waiting, playing and waiting (plus some great conversation between mother and daughter as we strolled the UALR campus on a lovely afternoon) we chose to stick around for the medal concert, where each of the top finishers would play their selection. They were magnificent and beautiful. I was so proud of Coplea for just "showing up" and playing her best among these truly God-gifted musicians. What a thrill and an unexpected treat when she was awarded a second place and a third place medal in her respective categories!!!!! As it turns out, the two boys who had been on stage as "the best" in her age bracket all day truly were just that, "the best." From among all the "gifted" (though maybe not "exceptionally gifted") piano students participating, our nine year-old placed as the TOP finisher. Those were the sweetest, most rewarding 2nd and 3rd place medals ever presented. What an honor for her, and what a reward for being so content to enjoy the performances of the others with gladness in her heart for each of them. A proud moment!!
Pre-PreSchool: Caris had a challenging stretch during the month of March, refusing to say "yes" to either of her parents for some unknown reason. Out of sheer frustration, I resorted to a "naughty chair" one morning, and it worked like a charm. Two minutes facing a wall and she was quick to both respond and obey. Wow! Why didn't I think of that about 10 days sooner??
Other Activities:
An overnight birthday party at a local hotel for Coplea, complete with swimming and Krispy Kreme donuts.
Final Saturday games for our basketball star (she ended up missing hers - see below) and our cheerleading queen.
Saturday, March 3rd. . . . Text from an email sent to Beth:
After an overnight bday party at a hotel (swimming, etc), we picked Coplea up around 9:30 this morning. She came home and slept for a couple of hours and when it was time to get ready for basketball, I couldn't wake her up. Chad came up to wake her, and had trouble, too. Together we tried to motivate her to get up and get ready (you have to know she's usually dressed and begging to go to basketball in plenty of time). She just kind of stared at us. Chad was perplexed at how she didn't respond to anything we were saying. Just sat there. We helped her getting ready and she very slowly made it downstairs. . .now running late for Upward. I stood her in front of the mirror to put her hair in pigtails and tried to talk to her. . .she was still unresponsive. The next question I asked her she attempted to respond to, but her words were very slurred and the right side of her mouth was quivering. I stepped away to tell Chad I didn't like how she was acting AT ALL. . . thought we should consider going to the ER instead of to basketball. About that time she sat right down on the floor and started crying, saying "I'm having a brainstorm or something." (she knows the meaning of that word, and would never use it incorrectly - strange) She was clearly very confused -bewildered even - her words weren't making any sense. All very unusual for her. Chad laid her on the sofa to check her eyes with a flashlight and I said, forget all that just get her to the ER. I was thinking that if she was having an aneurysm or something strange like that, us standing around talking about it was wasted time. He remembered that our pediatrician's office is open until noon on Saturdays and thought about driving there. I called there as they left (so thankful he can drive now!). They put me through to the nurse who agreed we should head to the ER instead. . . .
Not knowing what else to do, I fed and moved along the rest of the girls to make it to Callie's game (cheerleading) by 12:30. Unfortunately, Chad's cell didn't work at the ER, so information was sketchy and it just seemed surreal to watch one daughter cheering (with two trying to crawl and eat off the gym floor!) while I knew another was at the hospital. After about 3 1/2 hours, a CT scan and bloodwork/urine sample, the MD determined there was no underlying brain trouble. . .it was labeled as a transitory migraine, causing confusion (worsened by lack of sleep). We're not ones to run to the ER - only 3 other visits ever, and all 3 related to seizures - but I just had a really bad feeling about how Coplea was acting, and would send her to the ER again if I had it to do over. Beverly does Neurology for "old people," and wasn't at the hospital today when I called her, but she did say later that migraines in children can give really odd symptoms that might mimick a stroke.
Once home, we called to say she couldn't make her piano exhibition this evening, and now everyone's resting in Coplea's room watching a movie on the laptop. . . and I hope she never looks at me like that again!!!! (The blank stare and confusion lasted for about 45 minutes total - now she's content again, just tired.)
Another interesting weekend in the Donley household! That makes 4 in a row - Chad's surgery, two weekends of stomach flu and now this. Hopefully next weekend will be much less eventful!!!
A good 7 year-old checkup for Callie with Dr. Martin; in discussing several reading/focus issues with her, she recommended evaluation with a neuropsychiatrist she trusts. Haven't followed up on that as of yet.
March 5 Unit Celebration - A 19th Century Gala event
Wendy's first FamilyLife "After the Boxes are Unpacked" study night in Chenal
March 7-9 at Grandy's house in Center Ridge so we could attend some FL training locally.
Chad and Wendy out to dinner and to see the newly released movie "Amazing Grace" during our unexpected night without the kids! What a great movie =)
Upward Awards Night on 3/9
Piano Festival 3/10 and a visit from Ryan and Emily Roach afterwards
(missed first track meet - trying to get Coplea involved, but they happen to practice at the exact time of her weekly piano lessons. . . we'll at least try to observe one or two meets to get a feel for it all in hopes of having her participate next year)
Y Princess meeting at our house - all things GREEN for St. Patrick's Day. The girls each decorated their own bandanas with paints. Callie also carefully chose all of the tableware and decorations, along with St. Paddy's Day necklace/bracelet ensembles for each of her friends.
Hosted dessert for a missionary raising support to minister to the local Latino population through her involvement at Mosaic Church - interesting and encouraging to hear from her heart.
3/19 - Cate's vision f/u appt. with ACH's Dr. Phillips (rest of the girls went to the Englishes AFTER a very scary burning episode. Cate is fine now, but she managed to crawl INTO the bathroom sink - at 14 months, that's saying alot!! - and sit cross-legged, then turn on the hot water. . . a very scary and intense hour or more as we were trying to get out the door to head downtown. We headed instead to the pediatrician's office and she checked out OK. It only looked like it was going to be 2nd degree burns due to her very fair skin!)
State-mandated benchmark testing for Coplea during the week of 3/19, followed by a fun playdate at Maumelle's LakeWillastein. I never knew a long jumprope could be such a tool for outreach. Angie brought one along, and within 20 minutes there were over a dozen kids lined up to join the fun!
Wendy's first "HomeLinc" meeting on 3/20 - a true encouragement to me personally
Several afternoons with the Carswell kids during their Spring Break stay with Janna in LR
Two mornings of helping clean out "stuff" at Nana's house leading up to the Catholic High "Junktique" sale - we also took turns paying Nana visits at Presbyterian Village, her new "home" (after 55 years on N. Cleveland)
Chad's surgery f/u brought good news that at 6 weeks "post-op" things are looking great with his shoulder!
Grandy offered once more to take the girls for a night or two while Ken was away, and a last minute decision to keep Callie home due to a poor attitude and a lack of focus during school on Tuesday became perhaps the best decision of late. . . .
Tillman girls (3 of them) overnight on 3/30
Wendy's "Welcome Tea" hosted by Elizabeth Girouard 3/31
Still to come. . . .our annual "Camp-In"
Until then,
wendy
Dictation/Copywork: Verses from our Luke readings, quotations from within our read-alouds (currently enjoying a biography of the life of Billy Sunday).
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea has now completely mastered prepositions, objects of the prepositions, subjects and verbs, and is thus moving on to the finer points of grammar. This month, she covered reflexive, possessive and intensive pronouns. Whooo! That made for a good "Daddy-stumper" at the supper table. Callie is doing well as she continues with her Explode the Code lessons and one-on-one time with Mommy in our ongoing phonics lessons. She especially loves "online games" now, and is allowed computer time about 2-3 times per month.
Handwriting: Callie's Reason for Handwriting lessons have provided the added benefit of giving us additional Scripture verses to meditate on throughout each week and to discuss "as we walk along the way." Just today, we had a great time of chatting over lunch about what being "wise" actually looks like and who in her life she might like to "be with" and "become like." (Proverbs 13:20) p.s. She chose her Daddy!!
Math: Callie has been working on "doubles" this month - she now knows 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4,. . . . by heart, and this will serve her well in continuing on with her mastery of addition. Coplea has begun double digit by double digit multiplication, and encountered a few bumps in assimilating it the way Steve Demme recommends in the MathUSee curriculum. We have had to step back and simply ask, "How would you go about finding the answer?" - In doing so, we found that she already understands the concepts and the operations, it was simply a lack of connecting with HOW her current worksheets instruct her to show the work (e.g., 13x12 written as 10+3 x 10+2; a "long-hand" version). Her frustration with this difficulty led to an opportunity to really talk through the many ways we can choose to respond when things don't go our way. Coplea masters about 99% of everything she attempts almost immediately. NOT "getting this" right away brought her to tears (quite unexpectedly), and demonstrated for us all one of the negative ways we can choose to respond. After discussing how one might react (anger/yelling, silence, throwing things and more) and considering examples from real-life (my brother's disconnection from our family, Teddy Roosevelt's embracing every challenge as "fun", etc.), we realized together that the very first thing we should be doing is PRAYING. Asking for help is also a great second step. This seemed like one of those real "breakthrough" moments of growth in her character, and I was thankful I was here to witness it. Another confirmation that home is a great place for learning to take place! (And now she's moved on to double digit multiplication with regrouping with ease.)
Science: What to do once SEEK was no more? What to do? My typical response would have been to think about the best, most logical next step for several weeks and then implement it over a few more. However, the weather was great the week immediately following the SEEK graduation, and I just grabbed Jeanne Fulbright's Botany book (Exploring Creation with Botany) and called the girls out to the backyard. Now Botany is one of the most-requested subjects around here, and instead of "making time" for it once or twice/week, we are longing to get to it several afternoons each week!! Thus far, the girls have made their own special botany binders, learned about classification and been "sock taxonomists" (for a full afternoon - quite a memorable little experiment!!), collected leaves and studied the vascular tubes of each, learned about moss (a nonvascular plant variety) and repeated the words "binomial nomenclature" and "xylem and phloem" about 1,000 times in a row!! I think we've got a winner, and spring didn't even start until last week. We're definitely going to enjoy this subject together.
PhysEd: Upward basketball and cheerleading ended with a bang on March 9th as the girls joined about 600 other participants and many, many parents, siblings and more for an awards night, complete with an illusionist who wowed all the kids. The cheer Callie's squad learned meant five nights in a row of additional practices; a bit much for a 1st grader in my opinion, but fun for her nonetheless. The warmer days March has brought have given ample opportunity to be outside riding their bikes (new-found freedom at the foot of our hill in front, which still makes me a bit nervous), working in their "garden" (they absolutely never tire of moving those bricks around or of sweeping the dirt away!), or just playing on the playground. Sisters are definitely a blessing! (They've already been asking for popsicles most every afternoon.)
Latin: ongoing
Reading: Callie is gradually improving in her letter/sound recognition and we have enjoyed adding more easy readers to our daily routine. She has mastered the -sh and -th endings this week. I am quite proud of her and would say her attitude is good more often than not of late. Whew!! Coplea reads, reads, reads and often tells us the meaning of obscure words we run across because she can recall reading it in another context. Amazing!
History/Geography: We began March with a belated Unit Celebration which ended up being very appropriately timed - on March 5th we hosted our "19th Century party," complete with Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper from the 1890's, molasses cake from an 1884 cookbook, homemade cheese straws and Cracker Jacks! The girls displayed their work from the past several months, especially highlighting immigration and the Statue of Liberty. Thereafter, we looked at the life of Helen Keller (still awaiting the video version of her life - on hold at the library) and marveled at her tenacity and courage in the face of many obstacles. Theodore Roosevelt has become our new "favorite president," providing great fodder for conversation as we studied each of the stages of his life. What a fascinating childhood "Teedie" had, and what heartbreak as a young adult. He rose to each challenge with dignity and strength; a great role model for us even today. (Though I'm not sure he'll really supplant Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln as our final "favorite.") The girls had fun learning about the history of teddy bears in conjunction with our look at TR. We spent two days reviewing the recent history and the geography of Hawaii. A Child's History of the Twentieth Century has provided the backdrop for all of our "tangent' studies, giving a great kid-friendly timeline view of each year within the century. (Did you know ping-pong was originally marketed as Gossima??) During Coplea's week of state testing, we used Five in a Row for a lighter week of lessons, enjoying the origins of man-powered flight in France with a look at the life of Louis Bleriot and his inventions during the first decade of the 20th Century. The Glorious Flight chronicles the events leading up to his flight across the English Channel. Fun!
Creative Writing and Typing Luka's Quilt (a Hawaiian children's story) gave the girls opportunity to create their own versions of the quilt; Coplea also read Seabird and The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge this month and completed student activity pages for each. Both of the girls continue to impress me with their incredible recall after returning home from theatre productions, and their written summaries this month were no exception.
Fine Arts: ArkansasArtsCenter Children's Theatre: The Little Dutch Boy was a neat story of a boy who saves his town in the Netherlands by staying awake all night holding back a break in the dike. The props were great and the story flowed well, but we were accustomed to 90 minute plays, and this one lasted all of 42 minutes. The fairies used to portray the ocean water and its fury were also a bit disturbing. Since we had friends Evie and Jack with us, we headed to Community Bakery to let everyone choose a treat from behind the glass and called it a great morning of fun anyway!!
Music Appreciation: Ongoing piano lessons for Coplea. Saturday, March 10th was spent on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a juried piano competition. This was our first real introduction to such an event, and we were overwhelmed by the sheer talent of kids Coplea's age and younger! There were multiple "original compositions" within her age group alone. Wow! ("That was all I could say, 'Wow!'.") After a full four hours of playing and waiting, playing and waiting (plus some great conversation between mother and daughter as we strolled the UALR campus on a lovely afternoon) we chose to stick around for the medal concert, where each of the top finishers would play their selection. They were magnificent and beautiful. I was so proud of Coplea for just "showing up" and playing her best among these truly God-gifted musicians. What a thrill and an unexpected treat when she was awarded a second place and a third place medal in her respective categories!!!!! As it turns out, the two boys who had been on stage as "the best" in her age bracket all day truly were just that, "the best." From among all the "gifted" (though maybe not "exceptionally gifted") piano students participating, our nine year-old placed as the TOP finisher. Those were the sweetest, most rewarding 2nd and 3rd place medals ever presented. What an honor for her, and what a reward for being so content to enjoy the performances of the others with gladness in her heart for each of them. A proud moment!!
Pre-PreSchool: Caris had a challenging stretch during the month of March, refusing to say "yes" to either of her parents for some unknown reason. Out of sheer frustration, I resorted to a "naughty chair" one morning, and it worked like a charm. Two minutes facing a wall and she was quick to both respond and obey. Wow! Why didn't I think of that about 10 days sooner??
Other Activities:
An overnight birthday party at a local hotel for Coplea, complete with swimming and Krispy Kreme donuts.
Final Saturday games for our basketball star (she ended up missing hers - see below) and our cheerleading queen.
Saturday, March 3rd. . . . Text from an email sent to Beth:
After an overnight bday party at a hotel (swimming, etc), we picked Coplea up around 9:30 this morning. She came home and slept for a couple of hours and when it was time to get ready for basketball, I couldn't wake her up. Chad came up to wake her, and had trouble, too. Together we tried to motivate her to get up and get ready (you have to know she's usually dressed and begging to go to basketball in plenty of time). She just kind of stared at us. Chad was perplexed at how she didn't respond to anything we were saying. Just sat there. We helped her getting ready and she very slowly made it downstairs. . .now running late for Upward. I stood her in front of the mirror to put her hair in pigtails and tried to talk to her. . .she was still unresponsive. The next question I asked her she attempted to respond to, but her words were very slurred and the right side of her mouth was quivering. I stepped away to tell Chad I didn't like how she was acting AT ALL. . . thought we should consider going to the ER instead of to basketball. About that time she sat right down on the floor and started crying, saying "I'm having a brainstorm or something." (she knows the meaning of that word, and would never use it incorrectly - strange) She was clearly very confused -bewildered even - her words weren't making any sense. All very unusual for her. Chad laid her on the sofa to check her eyes with a flashlight and I said, forget all that just get her to the ER. I was thinking that if she was having an aneurysm or something strange like that, us standing around talking about it was wasted time. He remembered that our pediatrician's office is open until noon on Saturdays and thought about driving there. I called there as they left (so thankful he can drive now!). They put me through to the nurse who agreed we should head to the ER instead. . . .
Not knowing what else to do, I fed and moved along the rest of the girls to make it to Callie's game (cheerleading) by 12:30. Unfortunately, Chad's cell didn't work at the ER, so information was sketchy and it just seemed surreal to watch one daughter cheering (with two trying to crawl and eat off the gym floor!) while I knew another was at the hospital. After about 3 1/2 hours, a CT scan and bloodwork/urine sample, the MD determined there was no underlying brain trouble. . .it was labeled as a transitory migraine, causing confusion (worsened by lack of sleep). We're not ones to run to the ER - only 3 other visits ever, and all 3 related to seizures - but I just had a really bad feeling about how Coplea was acting, and would send her to the ER again if I had it to do over. Beverly does Neurology for "old people," and wasn't at the hospital today when I called her, but she did say later that migraines in children can give really odd symptoms that might mimick a stroke.
Once home, we called to say she couldn't make her piano exhibition this evening, and now everyone's resting in Coplea's room watching a movie on the laptop. . . and I hope she never looks at me like that again!!!! (The blank stare and confusion lasted for about 45 minutes total - now she's content again, just tired.)
Another interesting weekend in the Donley household! That makes 4 in a row - Chad's surgery, two weekends of stomach flu and now this. Hopefully next weekend will be much less eventful!!!
A good 7 year-old checkup for Callie with Dr. Martin; in discussing several reading/focus issues with her, she recommended evaluation with a neuropsychiatrist she trusts. Haven't followed up on that as of yet.
March 5 Unit Celebration - A 19th Century Gala event
Wendy's first FamilyLife "After the Boxes are Unpacked" study night in Chenal
March 7-9 at Grandy's house in Center Ridge so we could attend some FL training locally.
Chad and Wendy out to dinner and to see the newly released movie "Amazing Grace" during our unexpected night without the kids! What a great movie =)
Upward Awards Night on 3/9
Piano Festival 3/10 and a visit from Ryan and Emily Roach afterwards
(missed first track meet - trying to get Coplea involved, but they happen to practice at the exact time of her weekly piano lessons. . . we'll at least try to observe one or two meets to get a feel for it all in hopes of having her participate next year)
Y Princess meeting at our house - all things GREEN for St. Patrick's Day. The girls each decorated their own bandanas with paints. Callie also carefully chose all of the tableware and decorations, along with St. Paddy's Day necklace/bracelet ensembles for each of her friends.
Hosted dessert for a missionary raising support to minister to the local Latino population through her involvement at Mosaic Church - interesting and encouraging to hear from her heart.
3/19 - Cate's vision f/u appt. with ACH's Dr. Phillips (rest of the girls went to the Englishes AFTER a very scary burning episode. Cate is fine now, but she managed to crawl INTO the bathroom sink - at 14 months, that's saying alot!! - and sit cross-legged, then turn on the hot water. . . a very scary and intense hour or more as we were trying to get out the door to head downtown. We headed instead to the pediatrician's office and she checked out OK. It only looked like it was going to be 2nd degree burns due to her very fair skin!)
State-mandated benchmark testing for Coplea during the week of 3/19, followed by a fun playdate at Maumelle's LakeWillastein. I never knew a long jumprope could be such a tool for outreach. Angie brought one along, and within 20 minutes there were over a dozen kids lined up to join the fun!
Wendy's first "HomeLinc" meeting on 3/20 - a true encouragement to me personally
Several afternoons with the Carswell kids during their Spring Break stay with Janna in LR
Two mornings of helping clean out "stuff" at Nana's house leading up to the Catholic High "Junktique" sale - we also took turns paying Nana visits at Presbyterian Village, her new "home" (after 55 years on N. Cleveland)
Chad's surgery f/u brought good news that at 6 weeks "post-op" things are looking great with his shoulder!
Grandy offered once more to take the girls for a night or two while Ken was away, and a last minute decision to keep Callie home due to a poor attitude and a lack of focus during school on Tuesday became perhaps the best decision of late. . . .
Tillman girls (3 of them) overnight on 3/30
Wendy's "Welcome Tea" hosted by Elizabeth Girouard 3/31
Still to come. . . .our annual "Camp-In"
Until then,
wendy
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