new stuff...specks and retainers...

Here is our handsome son and his new specks...I think he looks great! And just below is our daughter and her new retainer...it's a cheetah print!

Stay tuned...

...my "Troy" is getting glasses! He is really excited and so am I! He has been struggling with skipping lines while he reads and even though he is in the "third" grade his reading level is not. I hope I'm not putting too much weight on these pair of glasses. I was told by the second opinion the same as the first , that he may need vision therapy, that his eyes tend to want to turn out. Dr. Walker, a wonderful, kind, gentle woman said that this is just one piece of the puzzle and we will start here, since it is the easiest...stay tuned for a great picture of Troy in his new specks...we are hoping to pick them up today!

INCH Conference, Lansing, MI

I can not wait until the INCH conference the first week of May. It is a great homeschooling workshop full of interesting speakers and a huge vending hall! I can be very overwhelming but I love to look at most every booth. This year I am spefically looking for Writing for Excellence by Andrew Pudewa. I have been doing some research on this writing program and am a little intimidated by how difficult it is to peruse and figure out. For over $200 I don't think this should be an issue. BUT, I have heard great things about it...so have you heard anything about this program? Specifically the Student Writing Intensive? That word "intensive" really makes me nervous!! LOL!

Can we buy it?

We just finished a wonderful book titled, Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink and Troy and I just loved it! It's a Newberry book too! We borrowed our copy from the library and all I've heard since we've finished it is ," Can we buy it? I loved that book!" I read it and it took several weeks for us to completely finish it. It's close to 280ish pages and here is a tidbit about the book..."Children everywhere will love red-headed Caddie with her penchant for pranks. Scarcely out of one scrape before she is in to another. Whether she is crossing the lake on a raft, visiting an Indian camp, or listening to the tales of the circuit rider, Caddie's adventures provide an exciting and authentic picture of life on the Wisconsin frontier in the 1860's." I even found myself missing it this morning...but we've started a new book, Snow Treasure, and are hopeful it won't disappoint us!

A new blog!

Well, this is my second homeschooling blog but I deleted the first one and thought that once we completed our adoption that I'd just combine the two blogs. But there is so much to adoption and so much that changes, and it seems it brings about an audience that is so in love with adoption but maybe not homeschooling. Which brings me to starting up another blog about our homeschooling dayz. I have a 9 year old son with the code name "Troy" and he is our third grader (we do go by grades at home), our 6 year old daughter with the code name "Elizabeth" is my K/1st grader but we refer to her as a kindergartener in outside programs, and I do preschool work with our 4 1/2 year old "Major Cutie"...you can read about her at our adoption blog, Holding Fast. Our 3 year old "Boo" is along for the ride and picking up lots from his siblings!