Mood:  sad

So, this evening I'm forgoing my usual blog post just to ask for prayer for my classmate. Her name is Cathy Lingle Stevens and I believe that she has three teenage sons. She is under hospice care and could die at any time. Thanks for all of your prayers and thanks, Lisa, for passing the news on to me.

Subscribe to Families Again

Mood:  caffeinated

Ah yes! It's been one of those days. We were up early because this was the first day of Upward Flag Football. It wasn't that we had to be up early, mind you. Our game wasn't until 10am. It wasn't even that we wanted to be up early. I had every intention of sleeping in until at least 8 or maybe even 8:30. You must remember that we have an interesting creature living in our household. A creature named Joshua. Joshua is our aspergers (autism spectrum) child and has been going through a difficult time of it recently. He has been on medication for a few years and just switched medicines. He went from one family of medications to another and it has not been working well. Nothing major, he has just been off the wall. Talks continuously, has no attention span, laughs at inappropriate things. Needless to say, a doctors visit is in order for this coming week. Anyway, another reaction to this new medicine is waking up way too early. Hence the no sleeping in part.

Well, after the big first game (he did great) we came home for a short rest before we went out to a benefit fund raiser for a local charity that we work closely with. Only, we never made it to the benefit. Joshua, in his exuberance from the earlier game, decided that he wanted to go over to the next door neighbor's house to play football with one of his friends. However, he wasn't supposed to leave the yard. So, I sent John Allen over to get him only to have Jacob tag along with big brother. A few minutes later a screaming four year old comes running into the mission where I was working. He had fallen into the neighbor's cactus and...you guessed it...his hands were full of needles. Forty-five minutes of screaming and tweezer picking made us realize that our feeble efforts were not working. Off to the hospital went Sarah, Jacob and big brother John Allen while I stayed home with the very repentant Joshua. It's amazing what one of those magnifying eye pieces can do. The doctor had the rest of the needles out in short order and Jacob called me on Mommy's phone to tell me four words, "I feel better now" before handing the phone to Sarah and getting back to his popsicle.

A trip to the McDonald's play place was in order for all of us. Sarah and I needed the kids to run off steam, Jacob needed to celebrate hands that feel better, John Allen needed a reward for standing by Jacob in need, and Joshua needed to know that his brothers still loved him. It was a lesson well learned as to what can happen when you disobey.

So, tomorrow's another day. Up early for church, the mission in the afternoon, then church again in the evening. Intermingled, of course, with life's adventures!  

Subscribe to Families Again

Mood:  happy

1. Creative Learners
2. The Homeschool Desk
3. Ramblin' Roads
4. The Stewards Steno
5. Mama Manuscripts
6. Train Up a Child
7. We Love to Homeschool
8. Day by Day in Our World
9. Acorns - or Homeschooling Nuggets of Gold
10. The Berry Patch

Subscribe to Families Again

Mood:  a-ok

I've written before about our experience at our first ever homeschool convention in Cincinnati last spring. John Allen came with me every day and we had blast! One of the neatest things about any homeschool convention are all of the vendor booths that are set up. There were dozens and dozens of vendors. Some were vendors that the homeschool crew had the privilege to work with last year. We had a fun time getting to know them and talking with them face to face about their great products. Other vendors were new to us but were equally as nice.

One product that was brand new to us was Lockrobots. Their super nice guys had a booth set up with lockrobots for the kids to play with. John Allen was so enthralled by the Lockrobots and the booth workers (which ended up being the inventor and educational consultant Mike Teel and Dan Olson) that he visited their stand over and over again. In fact, if we ever got separated, we had a standing agreement that we would meet at the Lockrobot booth. During our time at the convention John Allen learned how to make every model that they had and he even invented a few things of his own. Mike and Dan were so nice to John Allen that they ended up giving him a free set at the end of the convention.

I, in turn, was so impressed with Lockrobots that I decided to write a review of them on my blog - not because John Allen was given a free set, mind you, but because I really do like the product. Lockrobots are so much more than a toy, they are super educational as well. But, before I tell you more about them, John Allen wrote a review of them himself:

Lockrobots are a connection kind of toy that are shaped like a person. I saw their booth a the home school convention and totally fell in love with them!! You can create many things with them like an elephant, giraffe, plane, helicopter, and many more!! there are 4 ways to lock them together. See if you can find all 4!! They are also very good for homeschooling, and therapy. They have 4 different sized cases, a 15 Lockrobot case, for toddlers, a 30 Lockrobot case, for a little more experienced builders, a 70 Lockrobot case, for advanced builders, and a 150 Lockrobot case, for master builders. This person shaped toy is fun for kids of all ages, and their parents too!!

Subscribe to Families Again

Mood:  mischievious

Subscribe to Families Again