"All of Me"

Isaac is playing "All of Me" by John Legend and Roman is acting all Ray Charles, but without the sunglasses.

 Yes, yes.  I am crying in this video.  Roman's therapist had changed his straw and cup (same formula) the day before.  He "could" drink out of it, but he was refusing it this particular evening.  We tried everything and he was just screaming and angry that he couldn't have his old straw cup.  When everyone had finished dinner and Isaac started playing the piano, I sat there next to him because Roman loves to "play" the piano with him.  Brian was videoing this because, of course, it is adorable and I was just thinking how exhausted I was from the struggle and how wonderful and very worth it Roman is.  They were tears of joy and struggle all mixed up.

He ended up drinking from the cup when he was calm and distracted by the piano.  We have since backed up and are working on that straw and cup in therapy and trying to push him, but not too much.  It's a very fine line.

On the Move

 Roman has seven therapies a month.  Four of them are all about movement.  He's practicing sitting and working towards crawling.  The last time his physical therapist came before she had her baby and went on maternity leave, she told me he was so close to crawling.  He was getting up on all fours like a bear. I had my doubts that he'd be crawling soon because he has plateaued so many times.  But sure enough she was right!

Within a week he was Army crawling.  In fact, I gave the boys the task of catching his bear pose on video while I was putting away his clothes, and instead he crawled on video for the very first time!

He also got his first tooth on the same day!

Judah's "Super Great" Dream

We had two nights of nightmares around here the first week of the new year, first Bob, then Judah. The third night there was no nightmares, and I inquired of Judah the following morning if he had good dreams. He enthusiastically said that he had a REALLY good dream. He told me it was Christmas again in his dream and he got "super great" presents. He listed them as follows: a giant bag of the best cereal ever (but he couldn’t tell me which cereal, but just that it was awesome),a Star Wars toy like his cousin got in the dream (but Judah’s had an extra part), and a big bag of candy that was like Skittles, but not exactly.

I got a big kick out of how excited he was about the cereal, because if you know my Judah then you know he LOVES his breakfast. We tease him that he eats breakfast until lunchtime because he asks for (and eats, mind you!) everything anyone comes in to the kitchen to make. He usually plants himself with his independent schoolwork on one of the kitchen island bar stools so he can eat his five breakfasts each day.

Here is a video that Brian came across of him on the exact day that this happened. I miss that age!

Then just a few days later, we got this video of him being silly.  We made him reenact what he'd been doing with his brothers.

Quarantine Weeks 8 and 9: The Gray Area

 Biggest news first!  I taught Judah to ride his bike without training wheels.  We chose a smaller bike from the garage to learn on, but he'll soon be confident enough to get on a bigger bike.  I struggled teaching all the older kids to ride and worked with them for weeks before giving up and handing over the final steps to either my mom or their dad.  This time I was able to finis the job.  After he mastered the balancing with no pedaling going down a slant on his own, I helped him for just a short time on two different days before he was starting off on his own even. 

The flip flops were a bad call, but somebody didn't listen to me and bring tennis shoes.

Mother's Day came and went without too much fanfare this year since we couldn't really go anywhere.  I made this Bible cover for my mother-in-law which turned out better than I was expecting for my first one.

I finished and mailed off the Saint Stephen doll.  I was so very pleased with the finished product.  I ended up adding "St. Stephen, Pray for Us" in Latin on it, used memory foam pieces to fill it, and used a soft back to make this a very cozy stuffed and lovable doll.  I can't wait to get my two Mary designs embroidered to make them into dolls as well.

I was having to motivate Bobby to continue in his reading lessons a bit by having him do scavenger hunts after he read a couple of words to me.  Judah wanted tasks to, so I had him find enough sticks to spell his name whereas Bob only had to find enough to make one letter "M."

Drew saw Genna getting creative with her lunches one day and then asked Dad if he could make a banana split parfait with yogurt.  Dad said only if he made one for other younger people who may see him eating it and want one too.  

The reason for the title is that this quarantine is gradually being lifted here in Texas, however, the virus is still a threat and about half of the people have been throwing all out parties to celebrate the end of this, then another big chunk is venturing out with masks and hand sanitizer, being very cautious, and then there's a small amount who are still staying home.  With how tricky this virus is showing no symptoms for two weeks or ever in some, it is going to be interesting to see what happens with so many people thinking that because the "shelter in place" order has been lifted that there is no danger.  This gray area is a difficult one because it is hard to know what to do.

Closing Ceremonies

The homeschool group held a talent show.  Isaac and Drew played a piano piece from their upcoming recital.  Drew was very nervous and ended up making himself sick from worrying too much about this extremely low key show in front of his friends.  He got car sick on the way home and the combination of it all led to him getting sick in our front yard when we arrived home.  He rushed his song a bit and forgot to count his beats, but he did fine for his first performance in front of people.  Isaac brought his music on just a piece of paper without a folder and the air conditioning came on in the middle of his performance and blew his paper onto his hands.  He kept playing like a champ and never missed a note.  The show must go on!

Genevieve got the second highest award for the National Latin Exam, Maxima Cum Laude, a silver medal.  She was shocked and we are so proud of her!

Genna wearing her medal!

The eldest four children have been taking piano this year.  It was Drew's first year, Isaac's  5th, Genna's 7th, and Hannah's 8th year playing.  I tried to attach the videos I took, but they are too big to upload here.  After Drew getting so nervous for the talent show and rushing his piece, we asked that his teacher sit up there with him and help him keep time.  He did so much better with that moral support!

Before the show...

Genevieve was the only one with a closeup for some reason.

Drew

Hannah

Isaac

Genevieve's seventh grade class (with the tenth graders and the schola club) put on a recital at UTSA.  It was truly a beautiful performance from everyone.  The schola group has many teachers in it and I love that.  Lots of talent!  Genna sang and played the recorder with her class.

And finally, to close out the school year, the eighth grade had a promotion ceremony to the high school.  To everyone's surprise, her good friend gave the commencement address. 

Hannah receiving her "diploma"

Shaking hands with the teachers

After we left the building, we were able to nab Hannah for a couple pictures.

We went out for ice cream afterwards!

It actually was my first rodeo.

Brian took Isaac and Drew camping with Troops of St. George one weekend and I took the rest of the kids to the Tejas Rodeo on Saturday night.  I was a little wary of this because my nephew has had me read picture books about the rodeo to him and I just didn't know how I felt about this whole idea.  In the middle of one book,  I turned to him and said, "This sounds kinda awful."  He assured me it was awesome.  I figured he's the kind of person who keeps this kind of thing going.  

I mean who thinks it's fun to repeatedly fall off a bucking bronco and who puts their kids on a goat to only to surely fall off, it's just a matter of time.  Well, apparently, a lot of people.  Judah's friend from co-op was there and entered the mutton bustin' contest and actually won.

And it wasn't terrible; in fact, it was even enjoyable.  It was a late night, but the little ones made it!  Bob was a little bit slap happy though.  We were all smokey and exhausted when we got home.

And now we can say proudly, "It's not our first rodeo."

Learning Up a Storm

This video is Judah after one week of learning the beginning of our timeline.  The first time I tried to take the video, I didn't push record right and missed the whole thing.  That time, Judah had hesitated briefly and Bobby from his car play behind said the next one for him.  I love that benefit of homeschooling, the learning by just being in the room.

Eat my bubbles!

I have never taught one of my kids to swim on my own until now.  I can take no credit for it really except that I had free hands in the pool finally.  I suggested he take off his floaty and just try to swim to me at a close distance.  I convinced him, showed him how the other kids started out with the "streamline" technique and he just swam right to me.  He has vastly improved and increased his distance since.  He can take breaths, but still struggles with that.  He is so motivated though to improve, just like his look-a-like sister, Genevieve.  He has also mastered flips, swimming under my legs, retrieve diving toys from the bottom, do a cannon ball, and is currently working on diving.  Thanks, Judah, for saving us some serious money in lessons!

A Trumpet Send Off

Two of Brian's friends surprised him with a mini concert with a trumpet and a hunter's horn.  It was very touching and beautifully played!  One of them came in town specially for this send off and the dinner that followed.

At dinner, Brian was lamenting that he had never sat in the cellar at this particular restaurant, but he'd always wanted to.  I had been seated there once when we took his mom there for lunch.  His friend slipped away and made a special request to the waitress that we be moved to the cellar and they did it without too much trouble.  It was such a sweet gesture.  Brian was pleased beyond words.

A Clue Jr Party and a Chicken Fest

The oldest three kids wer invited to a Clue Jr birthday party.  They were supposed to come in costume and character.  Each was assigned their character and I was emailed the information.  At first I was concerned about not having our stuff causing a problem for the kids pulling  costume together.  Hannah was Peyton Purple, Genevieve was Scarlet Red, and Isaac was Mr. Black.

I really fudged on Isaac's costume because it recommended a suit and bow tie for him because he was a butler, however, I didn't keep his suit out of the first shipment.  I thought of turning a shirt into a tux, but I only had one sharpie and a white shirt to work with.  I had to make his suit white. For Hannah we borrowed a purple dress.  Genevieve was supposed to dress like a movie star and in red.  We had no red dresses that we could find in anyone's closet, however, we had just put a fancy red dress into the thrift store pile.  So we dug it out to see if she could get just one more wear out of it.  And boy did she!   She won the costume contest!  And it turned out she was the murderer.

Two days before our good friends left the country to move back to the states, we met them and some other friends at the Chicken Fest.  They have delicious chicken cooked on spits by firemen.  I made sure that I got pictures of all my kids with their good friends.

It was really a nice time with our friends and we ran into our old landlord and his wife from last time we lived here in Germany.  It was a late night, but we drove separately since we had only the two smaller cars.  So I was able to take the three youngest home to bed around 10 or so.

Our Former Landlord

The kids had fun in the bouncy house and riding the mechanical bull.

Bob's First Movie Quote

At dinner one night, Bobby turns to me and says with the biggest dimple smile ever and a twinkle in his eyes, "Hey Mom, listen to this.  I've been a baaad boy!"  I then asked him what that was from and he told me it was the man in black from the "Mingon movie" (Translation= Minion movie.)  It was so cute that I've been having him say it for me all the time, although nothing can top the first time he said it with such feeling and expression.

Day 4 in Ireland: "Away, Away, Come Bye, Come Bye"

Ann is back chronicling our fourth day in Ireland.

Today we headed directly south to County Cork to our next house. My kids have read all three of the books from The Cottage at Bantry Bay series, so we were looking forward to staying in Bantry. Before leaving this region of Ireland we visited two more sights that were pretty much right on the way. First, we headed to Caherconnell farm to watch a sheep herding demo. The man who ran the demo explained how dogs have to get trained to a person’s voice first, then they train them to recognize whistle calls. They need to hear the whistle as our voices don’t carry as far and the dogs needs to be able to hear you when it needs to bring in a sheep from far away. Kelle and Brian starting using the commands “away, away” and “come bye” on their kids afterwards getting them to head to the right or left. The kids didn’t’ pick up on the commands as quickly as the dogs did! It was neat to see how the sheep respond to the dogs and how the dogs knew commands and whistle calls specific to them. This was my nine-year old’s favorite things we saw in Ireland. She loves dogs!

 Watching the Demonstration

Everyone enjoyed petting the old retired sheep dog.  She was the oldest dog they'd had, maybe around 19 years old.

Outside the Sheep Dog Farm, showing the stone "fences" famous in Ireland

The Demonstration

You can see the dogs sitting around the outside of the circle keeping the sheep in one spot while they guy showed us the different kind of sheep he hand there and explaining their markings.

Wearing Daddy's Glasses

Just a mile away from the farm we visited Poulnabrone Dolmen, a tomb structure reminiscent of Stone Hedge. It dates back to the fourth millennium BC during the Neolithic age. How could we not stop to show the kids something that old?! Other than the one standing tomb, the rest of the area was covered in limestone rocks that showed off the landscape of the Burren region in western Ireland. The kids all took off running in different directions beyond the tomb. We stayed there about a half hour, but it could have been a quicker visit.

We stopped just for lunch in Ennis, which is the largest town in County Clare. No time for sightseeing as Google maps said it would take almost 3 ½ hours to get to the house at Bantry. Lunch was at Cruises pub, and we squeaked in for lunch just before the kitchen was closing. Turns out some pubs have the kitchen close down between lunch and dinner.  I had a delicious Irish stew and we also ordered English Toffee Pudding. Brian had tried ordering it at the pub by Lisheen house and they had run out. Thankfully the chef agreed to make us two, one for the kids table and one for the adults, even thought the kitchen had closed by the time we ordered dessert. It was delicious!

So, Google maps was wrong and it took closer to 4 hours to get to Bantry. The final hour of the drive took us on a windy, single lane road through an uninhabited portion of a mountain. I kept praying we didn’t break down. Did I mention there were no potty breaks between Ennis and Bantry? We really didn’t even have any options for stopping. When the owner of the house greeted us and we told her about our ride she told us, in her lovely Irish brogue, “Didn’t ya read the directions I sent you in the email? You would have been much better off comin’ round directly to Bantry town then head to the house.”  Brian said something about remembering that now that she’d mentioned it.  For the record, when we headed back to Kerry airport on Monday we went a different way, and the road was shocking similar except it that just had a lot more houses on it. I think just getting over the mountains to get to the coast has limited road options in this section of the island.

The Front Yard of the Bantry House:  The view was amazing, and the kids immediately took off running and playing the minute we pulled up in the cars.

The owner of the house was kind enough to leave us a basket of fresh fruit along with some delicious Irish cheddar, a fresh ½ gallon of milk, Irish butter, and a few other things to enjoy. We (read the kids) enjoyed/devoured all of the fruit and most of the cheese, which tided them over until we headed out to dinner. For dinner Kelle and I dropped everyone off in the town of Bantry, about 10 minutes from our house, and we went grocery shopping at Lidl (similar to Aldi) while the dad’s found a place to eat. We planned ahead for breakfast and snacks to get us through Monday so we didn’t have to make another trip to the store. A soccer game was playing so many of the pubs were full of people watching the game. We met up with everyone as they were finishing their dinner at Wharton’s Fish and Chips. The shop also offered real southern friend chicken, which some of the kids, including Genna, enjoyed. I’m singling out Genna because on Monday, when we returned to Kerry airport, Genna turned to her mom and exclaimed, “Oh no! I didn’t have any fish and chips!” How this child missed out on every chance to order fish and chips baffled us all. Especially after one meal was at a fish and chips place.

We ended the night with some beers at the house and the adults playing cards. The men might say the only negative about this house was that it wasn’t’ walking distance to a pub.