On September 28, my mom hit rock bottom and was admitted to the hospital for a nervous breakdown. In short things got to be too much and she wasn't able to handle things anymore. Finances were hard and her marriage wasn't good, things two things along with other stuff contributed to her nervous breakdown. After her stay at the hospital she came to stay with us. My brother joined too. Things became too much with both of them living here, so my mom went to stay with my sister, and my brother (Jonathan) is living with us. My mom doesn't have an income at this time so she is not able to support and care for herself and for my brother. This has definitely been a life changing event and one where I still feel like I am drowning. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are adjusting and trying to find a new normal. It is different raising a 17 year old who is autistic. My brother is a junior in high school, and I have been thrust into the business of high school. He is involved in TECH theatre which can be very busy. There is seminary which is a shock to the system, and then there is helping him in his classes and with his school load. This has been a learning opportunity, and though there have been times of frustration I am grateful for this opportunity and a mist the frustration I can see the good. I have been able to see Heavenly Father work through me as I have been able to help Jonathan get through his own emotional issues, and being able to serve someone like that is one of the greatest feelings. Yes this has been a lot of hard work, but I wouldn't trade it, my life has been blessed.
Life still goes on and we have had lots of good memories that I will do my best to capture, after all life is beautiful!
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Spencer:
At the beginning of the school year, the school launched a watch dog program. The Watch Dog program is short for Dads of great students. It is a program for the Dads to get involved in the school and help out. The father's help with drop off, lunch, help out in the classrooms, and the best part is that you get to introduce your dad on the morning announcements. Spencer has been begging his dad to be a watch dog and during the strike at Grant's work, Grant happened to have two days off during the week. Because of this Grant was able to be a watch dog and Spencer was elated to have his dad at his school.
In October the first grade class took a field trip to the fire station. The fire station is pretty close to the school so the whole first grade class walked to the fire station. Madeline and I were able to join Spencer for his field trip, and it was neat that they included Madeline in all the festivities. Also in October they had the yearly school fundraiser. They call it the Longhorn Stampede. The kids basically ask for donations, either flat donation or so much money per lap that they run. I like this fundraiser more then the catalogs. Madeline and I went up to the school to cheer on Spencer and at the end of his running period of thirty minutes he came in third place for his class-we were pretty surprised.
At the end of October, they had grandparent day. Grandparent day is when the grandparents come up to the school and eat lunch with the kids. My mom was able to come up and enjoy a "special" lunch with Spencer. Finally, at the end of November the first grade had their yearly Running Bear performance. In November they learn about Indians and at the end of the unit they do a Indian Love Song/Dance performance for the parents to watch. I have done this for three years and have enjoyed it every year. Madeline and I were able to watch Spencer perform his heart out. Since Spencer is the youngest this was my last time to see Running Bear. Somewhere in all of this Spencer had career day at school. The kids were to dress up in an outfit that represented what they wanted to be when they grow up. Spencer is still in love with the Wiggles (kids rock band) and so he wants to be a wiggle. Finally on Halloween the first graders had scarecrow day. They dress up as scarecrows as well as do various scarecrow activities and crafts. First grade sure knows how to keep parents busy.
This sums it up for Spencer.
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Anthony:
At the end of the first six weeks the teachers select the students in each class period with the highest average. Anthony won for Math and English. This is a new thing the school is doing and so we were surprised to get a call informing us of Anthony's success. The students are not aware and so they were surprised to see all the parents come into the cafeteria at the end of their lunch. At the end of the second six weeks Anthony got the highest average for World Cultures and English. He also won the Wildcat Award. The funny thing is the kids in Anthony's English class are working hard to dethrone Anthony. The teacher has turn it into a competition. Which is good because it gets the kids working hard, and for Anthony he works even harder to maintain his position.
Anthony was able to achieve First Class ranking in scouts at the end of September. Anthony's goal was to be first class scout by the time he was twelve and he was able to achieve his goal, he definitely worked hard!
In other news Anthony turned 12 which is a big birthday in our church and he was ordained a Deacon. These two big events deserve their own special post.
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Madeline:
For the most part I have been able to keep up with homeschooling with the craziness going on. There were a few weeks where school was hit and miss. It is still a struggle, but as things start to iron out we are able to get back into the routine of homeschooling. One week I wasn't able to get to the library to research whales for our whale unit, so I decided to take Madeline to the library and teach her how to research. We brought her other assignments and we had school at the library. She was able to learn how to research whales and we found a how to draw book and so she drew a picture of the Blue Whale and labeled it with information that she learned. After she completed all her work assignments we went out to lunch. It was a fun day and we were able to enjoy one of the many blessings of homeschooling.
One day after we finish our school work, Madeline informed me that she was going to go to her room and write out some goals that she wanted to accomplish. In the end she decided to write 20 goals. She was pretty proud of her self and it is neat to see her looking over her list and making sure she works on a few of them during the day. It is also neat to see her excitement when she accomplishes something great. I sure love being able to spend the day with her and to see her really blossom.
As you can see we have been busy, there is also Halloween to report and Grant grew year older, but those events deserve a post all on there own. Though it is hard to feel like we are constantly going from one thing to the other, I sure do love being busy with the kids. It can be a challenge sometimes, but it is a challenge I enjoy. We are busy experiencing life and making memories. I love that I can be there for them and experience their joys in life. Though I do hope for a time where things slow down so I can breath and get caught up on laundry and my ever growing ironing pile. Someday.
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