A Look Back Oct. 15-19

Another zany week at Hazelnut Academy but here goes the weekly report. Sorry no time for pics!


Language Arts: Princess Poodle is working on color and number words and moving right along with her reading. I have this gut instinct that we are about to hit another breakthrough...I wonder what this feeling is and if there is any merit to it? Triple H is doing so well with his capital letters but argues with me when I show him the lowercase letters. He says "No Mommy...that is not a T" for example when he is shown a lowercase t. I'm not sure what to think about this or what this says about him? He is also learning to write his name and is doing well considering I haven't really been teaching him at all. I just threw in a couple of lowercase letters to see what he thought but I haven't really been teaching him anything poor guy. In fact everything he is learning he has picked up on his own. Not sure what this says about me?

Math: So far Saxon 1 is still too easy for Princess Poodle. She's going to go nuts with this so I am speeding us along a bit and have skipped a few lessons. I know it will get harder we are only on lesson 38; hopefully she is gaining alot of Math confidence which can't hurt I guess. So we forge ahead with addition facts and measuring in cubes (my 3 year old can do this math)

History: By far our subject of choice and I have to discipline myself or I would spend all our time on History. What does this say about me? This week we are learning about Ancient China, the Yellow River Valley, Pictograms, and the many inventions that we can thank the Chinese people for. I had no idea; a compass, wheelbarrow, kite ...the list goes on and on. This week we read The Story About Ping; Princess Poodle did an oral summary which I wrote down for her. I like her summaries but am still uncertain what I am supposed to be looking for. All this learning about China has me missing our daughter...is she born yet? Is she warm and cozy and well fed? The adoption process from China has gone topsy turvy this past year and we got stuck in the middle of it. So what we thought would be a 10 month wait is turning into a potential three year wait. I keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect and that He will bring the little girl to us that He wants us to raise and love. Sometimes my impatience wrestles with my faith.

In Art Princess Poodle has been learning about Claude Monet and in Music at her school she is learning a hymn each month. I will try to get her to sing America the Beautiful and put in a video clip. It is precious.

Memorization: Princess Poodle has her Awana verses each week and I don't want to stress her out but I am hoping for one Psalm and one poem by the end of the year. I picked the psalm and when I read the poem The Swing to her she loved it as I did so we will hope to have both of these ready for her Kindergarten graduation party this spring.

Thought this week: Getting Old... Scary or Sacred
My dh grandmother is 91. She fell a couple of weeks ago and is in rehab. The kids and I are going to visit her as much as we can. She is so strong. Grandaddy died more than 30 years ago and she has been living alone in her home all these years. She still volunteers at our local hospital. I have been thinking about getting older..the fears I have. But I have also been able to look at her along with the many others in the rehab facility/nursing home for some, and see something beautiful in it. We come into the world completely dependent..we gain independence and with it pride, arrogance, selfishness etc. and then we become dependent again. Almost as if God knew we needed this step to wash away the years of pride and reliance on self. I pray for a long life..a chance to see my children live, learn, laugh, cry. And I pray that I age gracefully and I don't mean in appearance but in heart. And I pray that each day I might become a little more dependent on God than the day before and a little less focused on myself. Is it possible to age before our time and find wisdom there? Is it possible to be humble before the "fall"?


And now we are off to Disney World...a chance to laugh as a family, a chance to be herded like cattle along with the other million people I am expecting to be there, a chance to see something other than the walls of our house, but most of all a chance to be a kid again and get swept up in the magic. Thanks for the past 10 years sweet Papa Bear. I love you and more often than not you make my heart smile.