In my life this week…
It was time to renew our Post Adoption Supports. (In our province, if you adopt children from foster care who have Special Needs, you qualify for post adoption supports until they are 18 and 3 of our kids qualify for this.) I always get stressed out about the meeting because it feels like I have to jump through a million hoops and fill out so much paperwork and prove the need etc. but this time, the meeting was amazing! The social worker approved tutoring for Miss Optimism to help with her reading! She also approved gymnastics for her, piano lessons in our home for Einstein, Miss O., and Granola Girl, tae kwon do for Einstein, art classes for the three of them, sensory tools, and Respite hours. When she found out that I was behind in submitting my receipts for Respite hours, instead of chastising me about it, she offered to finish the paperwork for me and hand it in! What a relief!!!
In our homeschool this week…
The kids (well, mostly the boys, helped The Husband install an irri-gation system and timer for the garden boxes and hanging planters that will soon be set up.
The kids used pirate stamps and paint to decorate paper plates.
The kids went to an art class where they did coffee painting… like literally painted with coffee!
The kids went swimming twice and went to the play gym.
We also worked on the letter “Qq”, continued in Story of the World, Math U See, did some skip counting exercises, and some workbox activities.
Today, we released the 11 butterflies we had raised. It was actually a beautiful thing to watch them get a taste of freedom and fly away. I’m hoping that is what I will feel when my little humans are someday ready to fly, but I think I will probably be somewhat more conflicted!
Some of the butterflies were more reluctant to leave their home.
Raising butterflies was such a wonderful hands-on science and creation activity. I highly recommend it to other homeschoolers.
I’m cooking…
Not much! My sweet friend Michelle has arranged for people to bring us over meals for the next few weeks while Miss Optimism is sick and while we try to manage her health and the trauma and cognitive issues that Dancing Queen is undergoing. We have gotten 3 meals dropped off so far and it has taken such a weight off me. I actually really love cooking, but I don’t enjoy the planning and grocery shopping and most of all, deciding what to make, so this takes that all off me and I couldn’t be more relieved!
I’m thankful for…
good friends, chocolate, new(ish) neighbours, a helpful husband, and a God who holds me up in the hard times
I’m linking up to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Mother’s Journal.
Wow! Sounds like your meeting went wonderfully! The kids will be getting lots of great services and the social worker was very helpful!
We’ve raised butterflies several times. It’s always a great project! We have the ladybug and ant kits now, but we haven’t ordered our insects yet.
Oh, and how nice to get the meal help!
I am so glad that your meeting went well and that your children will be getting the services they need.
We have done the butterflies before and my kids just love it. They have been asking to do it again. Thanks for the reminder!
I hope you have a great weekend! Many blessings, Lisa
Thanks for stopping by! Great idea about creating a Pinning board JUST for whatever special thing we’re doing!
Praise God for a wonderful meeting!! I’ve never gone through anything like that (but I despise anything involving paperwork so I can understand that part!)
Wait.. painting with COFFEE??? I love coffee!!! Why have I never thought to paint with it? That would be fun! =)
I really wanted to get a butterfly kit this year.. but then we ended up with caterpillars and pupas and butterflies naturally. So, it’ll do.
Have a great weekend!
We did the butterfly habit once, and it was so fun!
thanks for visiting my blog
sounds like a good meeting Im pleased so it should be
you are dong a wonderful thing
also sounds like a good home schooling week
enjoyed looking at the photos
may God continue to bless you and yours
What a beautiful thing to be blessed with meals in a time of need! Glad to hear you had success at your post adoption support meeting, too.
Painting with coffee…what a great (and easy) idea for an art project! may have to try that this week with my homeschool kiddos (we have 5 under the age of 11). Thanks for the great post and pics on raising the butterflies; that has been on our “to do” list…now I am motivated to try it. stopping by from The HMJ linkup.
So happy you had a wonderful meeting. We have a similar program here but in recent years they have made it almost impossible to get any services. Whith budget cuts they refuse to give anyone anything even though they say there is still funding. They have rejected respite care (told me to put them in school if I needed a break), suppliments for Tom Sawyer and lots of less important things. They did approve vision therapy last year for Goldilocks and I used the entire amount for the year to help pay for it. I am sorry they usually make you stressed out. It is a pity they say the funding is there and then make us feel like beggars when we ask for help.
Blessings, Dawn