FIAR Ornaments

Our FIAR group (our local one, not the on-line one) did an ornament swap again this year.  This is our 3rd year doing this and our biggest swap thus far (13).  Each ornament represents one of the book titles in the FIAR curriculum.  We had ornaments from Before FIAR (2), FIAR (10) and Beyond (1).  They are so creative and beautiful!  I just love them.  It'is hard to see how beautiful they are since they are 3D and you just miss something in a photo.  Here are some pictures.

 Big Green Pocketbook and Blueberries for Sal

Sorry this one is fuzzy.  I've already packed up the ornaments and don't want to get them back down now.   This is The Story About Ping and Pumpkin Runner.

Truman's Aunt Farm, Duchess Bakes a Cake and Boxcar Children

Wee Gillis and Cowboy Charlie.

Clown of God and Another Celebrated Dancing Bear

 

 Arabella and Roxaboxen

Blessings,

Leslie

New Year's Eve

We did activity bags like last year (see earlier post for link to last year's if interested).  This was a huge hit last year and our children were excited to do it again this year.  We changed things up a little bit - but not too much.  We were blessed to share the evening with good friends.  What a sweet way to bring in the new year!

Here are the bags at the beginning of the evening.

This year, I stapled the clues to the outside of the bag.  We had a theme idea of spies so they had to figure out the clue and then could peek in the bag.  Here's our evening.

Clue 1: WHERE

 

Questions, lots of questions will find you this night.

Answer then correctly and you’ll have fun alright.

Put on your spy hats and ready your mind.

It’s time to go hunting in order to find.

Where are you going? Where is the clue?

Where is the place that you leave your shoe?

Go together slowly and don’t race ahead.

Where you end up depends on where you are led.

*5:30 – In the bag: Noisemaker: 10 paper plates, beans, markers, crayons, craft stick, tape, glue, stapler. 

They went on a scavenger hunt.  I used one from a Klutz treasure hunt book.  These are FaBuLoUs!!!  All of the clues are figured out and it even tells you where to hide them.  For this scavenger hunt, they had to act out the location of the next clue.  When they had finished the hunt, they got the bag and made noisemakers.

Clue 2: WHAT

What is the question that is asked each day?

What is the one Moms don’t want you to say?

What are you wondering and want to ask?

Figure it out to do the next task.

*6:00 - In the bag: pizza crusts, olives, mushrooms

The question that they figured out was "What's for dinner?".  They then made their own pizzas for supper.  Yum!  We had a variety of toppings (pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms) that they used to decorate the pizzas.

Clue 3: HOW

How would you describe your year?

With laughter, sadness, joy or a tear?

How did you spend your days?

How do you want to change your ways?

7:00 – In the bag: cardstock with questions

We took our time answering questions and then read the answers out loud.  We tried to guess who wrote each one and most were pretty easy to figure out.  I think this could be a fun keepsake from year to year.

Clue 4: WHY

Why are there sprinkles and frosting and more?

Why is there sugar? What fun is in store?

Why are there things that need decoration?

One that needs to pull into the station.

*8:00 – In the Bag: Makings for cookies – cutters, sprinkles

We decorated gingerbread cookies.  They had their choice of a gingerbread train and people.  This was a fun and simple activity - much easier than making our own sugar cookies like last year.

Ready to open the bag.

Clue 5: WHO

Who is the star?

Who will make you giggle?

Who still wants a snack?

Do you promise not to wiggle?

*9:00 – In the Bag: Movie – Horton Hears a Who, popcorn

Clue 6: WHEN

When is it my turn?

When will we learn?

When do we pick teams?

Is it as easy as it seems

*11:00 – In the Bag: Chalk for Pictionary, club soda for a fun drink

Clue 7: LAST CLUE

It's time to say good-bye to '08,

Watching the ball drop will be great!

A hug, a prayer, a sweet drink for the toast,

Happy New Year, it's 2009

*11:45 – In the bag: A scripture for each person to read. shake noise makers, take pictures, cups for bubbly drinks

 

We enjoyed the beginning of the year and look forward to see all that God has in store for us this year.

Blessings,

Leslie

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

 

I've been off-line for a few days ...

because my sweet hubby has been working on the computer.  The end result ... I have a new computer!!!   Yippee!!!

The screen is bigger and it's faster!!!  It is password protected in case I want to keep anyone off.  Did I mention that it is faster?!!!  It was so much faster loading pictures.  Very nice!

Thank you  Roger!

If you emailed me during the last couple of days and I haven't responded, please try me again.  I know that I've lost at least a couple of emails from someone today asking if I'd gotten them.

Love,

Leslie

Princesses

I saw this on another blog - and just loved it! 

I know that we love our princess and delight in the joy she brings our family. 

All in all, Eliana is sooo much more than "Down syndrome".  It is a part of who she is - but it is not all of who she is in any way.  I know that I say it often - but I do want the message heard.  She is a blessing.  I am so thankful for her and am so very glad that God has placed her in our family. 

 Blessings,

Leslie

Eye appointment updates

Hi Friends,

I was reflecting on last year as I mistakenly posted a recent post (that I had started in Dec) in '08 instead of '09.  I had to go back to find it and was surprised to find that a year ago I was doing the same thing, almost to the day.  I was taking three children - and the same three - to an eye appointment. 

It seems like so much of last year was one of fears, changes, and difficulties.  So many things happened and I found myself clinging to God - the only thing that wasn't changing in my life.  After going through the roughest part of the year, I thought that dealing with just one more thing was just more than I wanted at the time.  I find though that the best part of trials, fears and challenges are that they cause me to run to God.  To cling to Him and spend time just resting in His arms.  One of the benefits of being housebound and tied to pumps for months after Eliana was born is that it gave me a lot of time to rest in Him.  (Though I truly got no REST in a physical sense.  lol)

Well, now I'm finding that things are stable.  There is still work, but none of the staggering difficulties and in a way it is hard on me as I find myself trying to do it all on my own.  Why do I do this?  Haven't I learned this lesson?  My times with God have been too short and disrupted and I need to find a better way of spending time with Him.  I want to cling to His faithful presence.  I want His goodness and peace to fill my heart.  I want to be like Him.  It's scary to say that though.  I understand in a different way now what it takes to be more conformed to His image and it's hard.  It often hurts.  It is good though because He is good.  Thank you God for being faithful, even when I'm not.

Today went pretty well.  Eliana had to have her eyes dialated - which she did not like (and we knew it).  When it was her time for the check-up, she did NOT want anything close to her face.  She was sitting on my lap and I held both of her arms and tried to hold her face still.  She was mad and crying and raising a real fuss!  At one point the Dr called in some others to help distract (Joshua had been doing his best).  They weren't better than Joshua though.  She still fussed.  Well, she got a decent look.  Her optic nerve looks a little unusual, but not in the same way as Daniel's did.  This is unusual, but in an acceptable manner.  The end result - she is waiting on glasses and wants to monitor her.  We'll go back in 6 months. 

Well, unlike last year,  (See this post ) I was really prepared for her to get glasses this time.  I guess it will wait though and I'm not disappointed.  I think it will be a challenge for her to keep them on - though I would love to be wrong.

Both of the boys did great.  Isaiah's eyes look great and are 20/20 with his glasses.  Joshua is holding and was thrilled that he doesn't have to wear the permanent patch now.  (If you look at his pic, you'll notice that his right eye glass looks fuzzy - that is his patch.)  He has to wear it for 10 to 30 minutes per day while reading.  That is doable, we just need to remember.

As we were leaving one of the nurses commented on Eliana's personality being joyful.  I agreed.  One of the other nurses begged to differ having seen another side of her.  Hmph!  She was one that helped when Eliana was fussing.  I defended her (why did this make me feel defensive?).  I commented that she had endured a lot of poking, prodding and hurtful things and it was now hard for her to be at the doctor's office.  (It's true.)  The part I didn't mention was that she is also incredibly forgiving.  She moves past a hurt and forgives - maybe even forgets? - in a way that is so beautiful to me.  She is an incredible example to me of this.  I want to be more like her.

Thank you God - for your faithfulness, for your gifts that sometimes come in unexpected ways and for loving me always.

Blessings,

Leslie

Playing catch-up

Last week was full and fun - which left not much time for the computer.  We were able to visit and spend time with family and friends.  What a delightful way to end one year and begin the next. 

We enjoyed having my parents here to visit for a couple of days.  We celebrated Christmas with them.  They gave us a Wii which has been a fun new toy for our family. 

We celebrated New Year's Eve in a similar fashion to last year with the activity bags.  I think this will have to be a family tradition now.  It's just too much fun! 

We also visited our sweet friends in Virginia beginning on New Year's Day for several days.  We arrived home yesterday and I met with a dear friend, Barb from the FIAR boards and her dh and oldest dd for lunch.  It has been several years since we've been able to see each other and it was wonderful. 

Since then, I've been doing laundry, trying to clean up the house and working on getting plans made for the remainder of the school year.  Tomorrow we have 3 eye appointments - Joshua, Isaiah and Eliana.  I'm thinking that this may be the time that Eliana gets glasses.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but ready or not - the time is here.  I'd love prayers for a peaceful time as I'm sure it's going to be a long time there.

More details and pictures (when they are uploaded).

Blessings,

Leslie

Christmas '08

Hi Friends,

Just thought I'd share a little of our Christmas.

I'll start with Christmas Eve.  We had a low-key day at home and attended church at 5pm (the early, child-friendly service).  Eliana was starting to feel a little warm to me, but since I woke her from a nap to get ready, I dismissed it.  She looks a little pink-cheeked in these pics after the service.  We came home for a nice meal.  Ham, garlic mashed potatoes (in the crock pot), salad and bread.

The children opened one gift - it's a traditional one - pajamas!  The most excited child was Joshua who also received a robe.  He has been wanting one and was thrilled.  It's fun to see them excited about something like this.  The funny part (to us) is when he put it on, he exclaimed that he "looked like a millionaire".  This comes from watching Gilligan's Island. 

On Christmas morning, Rebecca read some Christmas stories to the boys while waiting for us to be up and ready.  We have a rule that everyone has to wait for Mom and Dad before they can go downstairs.  We listened to the Christmas story and then headed down.  I also take a photo on the steps at the start of the day.  (This is where I slipped last year and broke my foot.)

Everyone opens stockings first.  I love the thrill of something small that delights.  After stockings we eat breakfast - another tradition for us.  Breakfast casserole (eggs, sausage and bread made the night before).  I can share the recipe if anyone wants it.  It is pretty common so most have probably seen it.

Next we open gifts.  We do this very slowly - and one at a time.  Each child had purchased gifts for the other family members and was so excited about giving his/her gifts.  The thought that went into each gift was sweet to see.  I'm thankful that my children enjoy giving to each other.   One of the silly and fun gifts - a snack that was a favorite for each person - from Christopher.

Roger and I gave them one gift each - something we thought that they would really enjoy.  We gave a second gift that was similar.  It was something that I was really excited about.  A gift of time!  I made small scrapbooks for each child (covered in paper that represented something about them).  Inside were 20 coupons (10 each from Roger and I) for doing something individually with us.  Some of the coupons were the same - a breakfast out, while others were specific to an individual child. 

The children were delighted with this gift.  Isaiah is the one that seems most excited about it.  He asked us to read the book to him at least 5 times on Christmas day.  The following morning, it was also the first thing he asked again.  He has carried it around and looked at it over and over.  We are all excited about the ways we will be intentionally spending time together this year. 

It was a sweet and simple Christmas.  The gift we are most thankful for is the one that arrived in a stable.  What an amazing gift Jesus has been to our lives.  I am thankful for the love, comfort, peace and joy that knowing Him has given me!

Blessings,

Leslie

Homemade Bib

Will get to Christmas pictures when I have a little more time.  :-)

Just wanted to share a little something I made.  I copied a bib that I received from a friend for Daniel.  (Thanks Lea!)  I love this bib.  It's large, absorbent and cute!  All that I want (and need) in a bib.  I finally got around to making another one - and have hopes of making more. 

I bought a cute Christmas hand towel to make into a bib.  I cut this in half.  (First is a pic of the entire towel and then a picture of half of the towel.)

Next, I cut out a small semi-circle in the top center for the neck opening.  (I can measure if anyone wants it - just let me know.)

I finished off the top edges.  I then used quilt binding (36" in length) and sewed this around the hole.  It is centered on the bib so that there are equal lengths on each side.  The lengths leftover are the ties for the bib.

Here's the bib on Eliana.  Isn't it cute?! 

She is a really messy eater (when feeding herself), so this works out great!  If anyone wants more details, I know this is not much and I'm happy to give more.  There isn't a lot though as these are pretty simple.  I think they will make great gifts too!  I know I've loved mine!

Blessings,

Leslie

Planning for New Years Eve!

If you are looking for something fun to do on New Year's Eve, I would love to share with you what we did last year!  You can visit my post here.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LeslieNelsen/462208/

This wonderfully creative idea was not mine, but was shared by various women on the Five in a Row message board.  I don't remember who the idea belonged to originally, but each person has taken it and made it their own.  Changes in what is done, times done (some do it earlier to end before midnight), etc.  Make it your own!

I'm busy planning on ours and am thinking we are going with a theme this year.  I'll write more later.  I need to make sure my one blog reader knows not to peek so that the surprise isn't spoiled.

Blessings,

Leslie

Roseola?

Well, yesterday, Eliana's fever finally seemed to be getting better.  Early in the evening when I was changing her I noticed a rash on her trunk and back.  It didn't seem to bother her.  I vaguely remembered seeing this before and googled it.  I think it's what Eliana has had. 

Today her rash is worse.  It still doesn't seem to be bothering her thankfully (no itching).  She has been a little more irritable than normal, is eating poorly and isn't sleeping well.  The last 2 probably contributing to the first on the list.  She is still being a trooper about it all though.

Hopefully she will be all well soon.  Though if we have to deal with a sickness, this one has been a relatively easy one to have.  Thankfully she didn't have seizures which can be the one bad symptom.

Just an update.  Thanks for your prayers.

Blessings,

Leslie