Sense of Humor

So I took Camille to see a Speech Therapist to be evaluated at the recommendation of her pediatrician. Turns out, she recommended speech therapy. No big deal, except one thing:

It is, of course, run through the school district.

Heavenly Father must have a great sense of humor. After all that I have done to release myself from the tentacles of this district, I am pulled back in. Obviously, I will do everything that I need to do to get Camille the help that she needs, even if it means going back to the district I hate. We may get some free pre-school out of it, so it won't be all bad.

I did find out some disturbing news, though. The district (in order to save money) is starting a new program where they put all of the Special Needs kids in the same classroom and there is little to no integration. They have greatly reduced the number of PERA's and Teacher Aides. So, even though Camille only needs a little bit of speech help, she may be put in a class with severely disabled students and no typical peers. It is frustrating simply from the standpoint that parents are (rightly) complaining that whether their kid needs a little help  or a lot, they simply aren't getting it. I am not sure if any of this is even legal, so I need to go to lots of meetings to sort everything out. I feel like I need to document how the district handles Camille and if she gets the help she needs or not.

Ironically, the therapist said, "Oh, it's good that you are in this county. They are generally really good about servicing Special Needs kids." Apparently, that is no longer the case. But I will let you know.

Fitting In

I've been doing a bit of introspection lately- something, by the way, that should be outlawed.

This was triggered by the fact that a new school board election is upon us. Oh, the frustration! I have really tried hard to not get so frustrated, and some days it works better than others, but now all the problems, all the lifestyle changes I have felt forced to make, all the bitterness- has resurfaced. I am thinking: "Do I get involved because I sincerely do want what is best for all kids, and I don't believe what is happening is best for kids, or do I step back because I have very intentionally removed myself and my kids from this toxic situation?"

But it's a little more than that. I am in this very weird place where I am a very-moderate-democrat-mormon-homeschooling-mom, a category that I have invented by and for myself. I'm OK doing things differently- that has pretty much been my MO my entire life. I have never followed the crowd or worried about fitting in. But I miss having some kind of a "tribe"- at least a small group of people who I can relate with and who can relate with me. I just don't really fit in with anybody right now, and it's weird. I'm trying to find my tribe, but it is proving more difficult than usual.

Thank goodness for Ben! For whatever reason, he totally gets me. He's OK with my crazy ideas, my passions, my weirdness, etc. I can talk to him about anything, and he's always on my side.

Last night we went on a date. Before the date we stopped at his parents house to drop the kids off, and we got into a football conversation with his mom, and the idea of an offensive lineman saying offensive things somehow came up. As a result of that conversation, I drew my first- and last- political cartoon. I don't even know if anybody else gets it, but Ben and I both think it is hilarious. See, I told you, he gets me. And if you get it, maybe you are part of my tribe, too;) Now, just move to Denver so we can hang out and I can feel slightly more normal!

Options!

Today the girls had their first day of Options, and I am SOOOOOO excited! As are the girls.

Well, they were a little nervous. But they got over it and ended up having a great time.

This program is as awesome as I had hoped! Of course, time will really tell, but I was incredibly impressed for the first day. Claire's class was a little small, about 7 kids, and Audra's class is a little bigger, about 15 kids. They stay with the same kids, and then rotate teachers- very similar to high school.

Unfortunately, Claire's karate teacher ended up not returning, so Claire had to sign up for a different elective. She chose CSI which is where they use reasoning and critical thinking skills to solve mysteries. She is the only girl in the class, and one of only two 1st graders, so we will see how this goes. Audra, however, is super excited for drama.

Finding their names on the Welcome Sign

The Piano Guys

For an early Birthday present, last Thursday Ben and I went to a concert at Red Rocks to see The Piano Guys!

My sister Melissa introduced me to these guys, and let me just say...they are AWESOME!!!!

We had such a wonderful time, even though we didn't get home until almost midnight (thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!!!). We are still recuperating a bit, but it was well worth it.

Also, a concert at Red Rocks. Wow. That is just incredible. I have to believe that as a performer, that must be the most amazing venue to play. It is so, so, so beautiful. Thankfully, the weather was unbelievably perfect. It was simply magical.

It was just a wonderful night. And, what a blessing to share it with my best friend. He wasn't so sure about The Piano Guys, but now he is a huge fan. We had such a wonderful time- I can't even describe it!

That's our friends who we went with, Karen and Rich, photobombing our picture.

If you don't know anything about The Piano Guys, they are an internet sensation out of St. George, Utah. Here's a taste (and, if you can go to a concert, GO!):

The Start of School

Yesterday we officially started school. It was time- we were in desperate need of getting back to a routine as the excitement of summer began to wane and fighting increased dramatically.

The girls were really excited- and I was, too. I was actually feeling a bit discouraged a few weeks ago and wondering once again if I am royally scarring my children for life by homeschooling, but then I pulled out our curriculum and ordered the last of our supplies and got super excited again. The curriculum is just so stellar! The read alouds we have this year are fantastic- we are studying World History from Christ-present. I love their math curriculum- we are once again switching it up. This time we are using Math U See. Anyway, it got me excited.

It also didn't hurt that I found out that the first two days of school were being spent on testing, because as you know- it wasn't enough to end last year with full on testing, they need to start with it as well just in case their educational level dramatically increased or decreased over the summer (news flash: it didn't).

So yesterday the girls finally got to wear their new school clothes. I splurged and let them buy new clothes, even though after we took our pictures we just went back inside to the dining room table and pretty much just continued right where we left off last year. It was quite wonderful, actually.

                                                                                              You can't read their signs, unfortunately. Audra's simply says 3rd grade, Claire's 1st grade, and Camille's Pre-Pre School, because as you know- if her sisters have a sign, she needs one, too.

I love this picture of Camille- might be my favorite one of her ever!

They don't even have to wear shoes at our school.

This promises to be another great year! I can not even begin to explain how excited I am for the girls to be in the Options program, and the girls are extremely excited as well. That doesn't start until the 24th, but I am certain it will be well worth the wait!

After we finished our official schooling, the girls went downstairs to play. Eventually they asked me for a screwdriver. Weird, but whatever- I gave them one. I went downstairs and they had completely taken apart this truck the girls are riding on. This is one of their favorite toys, but they were so excited to have put the ride in various parts. Then, they wanted to paint all the parts. I told them if they could put the truck back together, I would get them paint. As you can see from the picture, they got the paint.

After about an hour of working, they came upstairs with the fully put back together project. I am not going to lie, I was incredibly impressed. Apparently I need to get them a tool set for Christmas!

I counted this as their homework for School Day #1.

Claire Rides A Bike!

After a summer of riding around pedal-less, we put the pedals back on and VOILA! She rode like a pro on the first try- it was awesome!

We decided to give her a test ride and went to Waterton Canyon- which is a perfect place for a first bike ride. She did fantastic- except for braking. She hasn't figured that out yet.

The Fair

Audra's cake for the fair. She designed it all herself- she did 100% of it herself.

Both girls got a participation ribbon which was really nice.

We took the girls to the fair to be able to enjoy it and see all of their items on display. Audra, Claire, and I had to work at the exhibit hall to make sure nobody touched anything, so it was nice to go and hang out before we were put to work.

If there was, however, one word I would use to describe the fair it would be: Disappointing.

I know that isn't nice. I feel bad saying it. The problem is that I am comparing it to the Puyallup Fair which has such an amazing atmosphere, and a million rides, and a joyous feel.  This one had like 5 rides, and while they did have a few things for kids to do, it wasn't much.

But, there is a reason. Our county is not about the fair- it is about the rodeo. They do have a wonderful rodeo, and that is what everybody goes to. So, they just don't really care about the fair aspect of the fair and rodeo- and that's OK. It just wasn't what I expected.

Dove Valley

Today I crossed an item off my bucket list: Going to the Broncos training camp to watch the Broncos train.

Ben had to work (he was very jealous), so a dear friend of mine, Joann, and her three daughters joined us.

It was a lot of fun! It was amazing to see how organized and precise they are. A blow horn would go off about every 15 minutes, and the players would immediately move to their next drill. The sheer amount of players, coaches, trainers, and the like was astounding. They have two fields that they go back and forth between.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Peyton Manning, Damarius Thomas, Emmanual Saunders, and Von Miller. The girls didn't enjoy it nearly as much- they got hot and tired and hungry. They actually did great, but we weren't able to stay for the entire practice because they were just done. It would be really fun to just go with Ben, but that is simply not in the cards with small children in the mix.

The defense

Von Miller is #58. Joanne took all the pictures, so I need to get the offensive pictures from her, but you can see how close we were to the field. It was really fun.

Random IPhone Pictures From Seattle

Audra's FHE

Last week I talked about FHE and how we cut Ben's hair.

Audra's lesson tonight may have topped it.

All on her own (she does all of her own lessons now- she doesn't want any help from us) she wrote a story and read it to us:

"There once was a boy who wanted to find Jesus so he started looking for Jesus. He looked at the lake where Jesus might be feeding and letting the goats take a drink, but Jesus wasn't there. So he looked on the street where he might be helping people but he wasn't there. So he went home. And he told about his search for Jesus. And his mom said, "Well, Jesus isn't on earth anymore but you can still talk to Him by praying. And you can follow His commandments and be closer to Him," she said. The boy did that and loved Jesus. The end."

Then she had a bunch of footprints on the ground that led to a picture of Jesus. We had to turn each footprint over to see if it would lead us closer to Jesus, or further away. For example "Stealing" or "Sharing."

How on earth can that be topped?

4-H's Prom!

Today the girls went to 4-H's senior prom: The Fair!

All year long, this is what 4-H participants prepare for. Because Audra and Claire are so young, it isn't nearly as big a deal as for the older kids, but it is still a great experience. Claire had already made her sewing projects, and Audra decorated her cake yesterday.

This morning we loaded up and went to the fair.

It feels very Charlotte's Web-esque.

They had a Clover Bud (5-8 year-olds) camp for a couple of hours which the girls enjoyed. Then later in the afternoon they met with a judge who asked them questions about their project. It is great practice for presenting, speaking to adults, etc.

Both of them did great! It will get a lot harder next year because Audra will no longer be a Clover Bud and will have to keep a record book and do a lot more for her project, but for this year we got to just experience it and see how it works.

We also got to see a little bit of the rodeo, which I had never been to before. Ben is going to take work off on Friday and we are going to go the fair next week when it is in full swing (today it was really just 4-H stuff, not really fair stuff) which will be a lot of fun.

Here is Audra getting her cake ready

Getting Interviewed

When Claire chose sewing, she said she wanted to make a stuffed animal. I told her she is too young and she needed to start smaller. I was wrong- her teacher (a 12 yo girl in the club who works with Claire to earn leadership) did so many great things with Claire. It was so impressive! Claire made a kitty, tree, and unicorn. 

Claire getting interviewed

Some of the cakes by the older teens. Very impressive!