Testing

Oregon is pretty homeschool friendly, thankfully. We have very few requirements, and one of them is to test the student in 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th grade. We don't have to submit the scores unless the school district asks for them, but we have to test. As a trial run, to familiarize him with the testing process, and to just get a baseline for when he takes his third grade test, I decided to go ahead and have Ryan tested this year. He would have just finished kindergarten if he were in public school, but I thought the kindergarten test would be too easy for him, so I had him take the first grade test instead.


A friend of ours from our old church works for Basic Skills (the organization who does the testing), so she drove out to our house today and administered the test to Ryan. It was nice to have a familiar face to lessen the anxiety (for me...Ryan wasn't daunted at all!). He whipped through the test fairly quickly and only missed one (a double-digit subtraction problem)! Whew. I was pretty sure I had covered all the bases, but it's nice to have it confirmed. Ryan actually had fun doing the test, so that was an added bonus! Some parents test every year so they know where weak areas are, and I haven't decided yet if I'll do that or not. For now though, it is a relief to know he's doing fine...being responsible for my kids' education is sometimes very intimidating and overwhelming!


To celebrate Mommy's relief and Ryan's great job on the test, we decided to take Ryan out to dinner and then to get a scoop of ice cream at Baskin Robbins afterward. Ryan tried something new again and got Fudge Brownie!

Lost His First Tooth!

One last picture with all his baby teeth intact!
Friday the kids had their biannual dental appointments, and both had great reports of no cavities! Ryan has had a loose tooth since his last exam and cleaning in December, but over the last couple of weeks it has really become much more wiggly. The dentist said his new tooth is coming in behind the baby one and that we need to get the baby one out as soon as possible to allow the new tooth to come forward.


So with encouragement to wiggle away, Ryan has been messing with his tooth a lot. This afternoon I was looking at it and accidentally bumped it a bit which caused it to be so loose that I knew it would come out easily. As I was holding a tissue on it to stop a small amount of bleeding, I casually gave it a tug and out it came! Ryan didn't even know I had done it till he felt the hole with his tongue. He is now the proud owner of a smile with a hole in it!

He Can Tie His Shoes!

I have been negligent. I've never taught either of my children how to tie a knot or bow. I just simply don't buy shoes with laces! But since Ryan is approaching six, I figured it's probably something he ought to know, so we got out the book I've had for ages that has a bunch of shoes with holes to lace up and comes with a string. I sat down on Saturday and showed him how, then we reviewed it on Monday. Voila! He now knows how to tie his shoes (should he ever have shoes with laces). Why did I put that off for so long?

New Booster

Ryan has been legally allowed to sit in a booster for almost a year now, but since his old car seat still fit him and it's safer than a booster, we have just kept him in it. However, Abby has been needing a new car seat for various reasons, so instead of buying her a new car seat, we gave Ryan's old one to her and bought him a new booster seat. We had one that we keep in our other car, but now we have another so they both can have one if needed. He loves that it has lights on the side so he can read at night! I like that we can now move him to another vehicle without the fuss of strapping in a car seat correctly.

Grumpy Boy

Yesterday wasn't quite the blissful day we had on Sunday, so I kept it low-key. We ate at the hotel's continental breakfast, and Ryan whined and fussed about the food he had chosen (next time he doesn't get to choose; I will choose for him). We hung around the hotel room most of the morning, cleaning up and playing a bit. Then we went out for a walk. Ryan lost the privilege of having any input into where we would eat, so Abby chose Wendy's for lunch.


It was evident both kids needed some rest, so after a little bit of window shopping we went back to our room. Ryan had his quiet time while doing some reading from his school book while Abby took a nap. When Abby woke up we went down to the pool. I wasn't sure how Ryan would react since I wasn't going in with them. I forgot my swimsuit as well as their swimming goggles, and he is sometimes timid in the water. Thankfully, he seems to have mostly overcome his fear, and he and Abby had a great time together.


After getting into some dry clothes, I tried to find something for the kids to watch on TV while snacking on some popcorn. The hotel has 42-inch plasma screen TVs in every room, so I was hoping for a good movie. But there was nothing decent on any of the cable channels (reminding me why we don't have cable), so we settled for Curious George and such on PBS.


Daddy finished his day of training, and we decided to go see a Seattle Mariner's game. We have been playing with Ryan in the backyard lately practicing hitting and throwing the ball, and we thought he might enjoy the game. He's been to several Beaver's games, Portland's minor league team, but this was his first big league game. He loved the stadium, the hot dog and soda, and watching them chalk the field...then he was pretty much done! Grrr...he can be such a stick in the mud at times. I tried to engage him in the game, getting him to root for the Mariners (who ended up winning with a spectacular homerun in the bottom of the 9th!), join in doing "the wave," and explaining the game to him. It helped, but mostly he was just a grumpy little boy. I think he'll take a nap today as well as Abby!

Overnight Sitter

Daddy took me to a cabin overnight for my birthday, and Ryan and Abby had their first overnight babysitter (not counting Gramie). They were VERY excited and had not a trace of anxiety. Candace is a family friend from years ago when we lived in Tennessee (I babysat her a time or two back then!), and she graciously came and took charge of our kids for a while. She said they were well-behaved, and the kids reported having a great time!

Budding Photographer

As we were doing our geocaching last week, Ryan wanted to try taking our picture. He has a camera (freebie digital that takes horrid pictures) that he plays with, so he's been "practicing" with, but this is the first photo he's taken with our camera. He did a pretty good job, and exclaimed while he was bringing me the camera, "I think I got it straight!" He did indeed.

Overcoming Fears

Ryan used to love to swing high when he was very young, and then something happened when he was about two (we have no idea what) and he became terrified of moving through space whether it was swinging or being lifted up off the ground or whatever. Once when we went to see the Singing Christmas Tree, Daddy took him to see the orchestra pit during intermission and was going to lift him up so he could see better. Ryan FREAKED out, threw himself flat on the floor crying and would not budge (or listen to reason) until Daddy promised not to lift him up again. Thankfully I was at the other end of the stage and pretended I didn't know those two disruptive people! I still tease Ed that if he wasn't such an ogre of a dad who always heaved his kids into orchestra pits this never would have happened.


Today he was too afraid to stand up on
these, but he's doing better overall!
The last several months he has begun to loosen up a bit and do some things he previously wouldn't even consider. He likes to be pushed in the swing more than just one tiny push and is even climbing on the outside of jungle-gyms several feet up in the air. Last night he asked Daddy to throw him up in the air, and though he grapsed at Daddy's arms and shirt, he did allow him to do it several times. Sounds minor, I know, but really it's a very big step for him!


Sometime recently Ryan learned to pump his legs to get himself going in the swing, and he said something yesterday while he was doing that that I wondered if I'd hear him say, "Higher, higher! I can't make it go high."

Tae Kwon Do

We have been wanting to put Abby back in gymnastics because it's so good for her motor and neuro development, and we have been seeing that she needs something for herself where she isn't depending on (or being bossed by) Ryan. But Ryan loves gymnastics too, so we decided to find something for him.








The Sunday school teacher where we were attending church moved her Tae Kwon Do class from downtown Portland to a nearby location. Ryan really likes her, and so did we. So we took him for a trial class last night, and he liked it a lot. He was a little lost at times, but the teacher assured him (and us) that his performance was very typical for his age for the first time.


He looked so small out there with the other kids. He was at least six inches shorter than the next shortest child, but he is very flexible and his kicks were quite good! Next week he will be trying a wrestling class, and then we will decide which one would be best for him. We're hoping he likes the Tae Kwon Do the best because we love the instructor, plus it's a little cheaper each month and closer to home. Stay tuned till next week...

First PBH

Ryan is feeling quite grown-up these days and wanted to make his own sandwich for his birthday lunch. So I told him he could make himself and Abby a peanut butter and honey sandwich. After making his sandwich, he decided it wasn't as much fun as he thought and wanted me to make Abby's. Still, I think he was on to something and I may just have him make lunch for the three of us one day a week!

Completed First Chapter Book

I find it hard to believe, but today Ryan finished his first chapter book, The Boxcar Children. He had been slowly reading it in the beginning, but then the last week started reading it during his quiet time, some days 30 pages at a time! I gave him the book as a reward for finishing it. I'm so proud of him.

Preschool Presentation

Our homeschool year came to a close today, and Ryan did a little presentation for Daddy to show him some of the things he has learned this year during preschool.  He did the Pledge of Allegiance, sang some songs, showed a sample of his printing, recited some scripture, read a selection from his reader, etc.  Ryan enjoyed it, I think, and I know Daddy and I did.  Afterwards we had cupcakes, and Ryan showed Daddy his school folder full of all the worksheets and things he's done this school year.



He is so excited about being a kindergartener next school year, but he is also excited about the two-week break we're taking!  We will begin back with school on the 18th of September, and it's hard to believe we'll be schooling for the whole year this time around.  It's also hard to believe I have a kindergartener in our home, albeit, one younger than most.



I am so proud of Ryan!  Though he doesn't always have a great attitude, he is learning to be diligent (he can be done with school in 45 minutes if he's diligent!).  He's learned lots of math facts, his writing has improved tremendously, and I estimate that he is reading on about an upper 1st or lower 2nd grade level!

First Chapter Book

Ryan has been asking me to read The Boxcar Children again for several months now, and I keep telling him he can read it again for himself when he's ready. He's looked at it a couple of times but apparently decided the picture/word ratio was way too high for him. Pictures are still a very big deal for Ryan when it comes to books. But yesterday he insisted he wanted to read it, so I let him read it during his school time yesterday, not really expecting him to stick with it.

I was very surprised, however. He read the whole first chapter (nine pages with only three black & white pictures), and today he read the second chapter (11 pages with only three black & white pictures)! I knew he was capable of reading the words, but I am surprised to see him tackling longer stories that have few pictures. This is definitely a new adventure that he is enjoying...hopefully he'll stick with it and finish the book.

He Did It!

Ryan has never tried cookie dough, except for maybe the slightest little taste one day when I was trying to coerce him into trying it. Today I didn't even bring it up since his answer is always no. My sister-in-law and I were just laughing about his reluctance a couple of days ago. Neither of us can fathom someone not liking chocolate chip cookie dough!

Well, today after mixing our cookies, Ryan said he wanted to try it! Whoo-hoo! He took two pretty decent tastes, said he liked it, but then didn't want anymore. Maybe he will never like it, but I'm so glad he finally tried it. Funny little boy!

VBS

This year Ryan is old enough to go to vacation Bible school for the first time. He goes from 9:00 to 12:00 every day this week, and it's been taking a toll on him! He has been pretty tired, but he's having a great time. I wish I could say he's been learning a lot about Jesus, but that doesn't seem to be the case. He appears to learn more in Sunday School. Yesterday when I asked him if he listened to the Bible story he said, "I listened, but it didn't come along with me."

I arrived a little early today and took some pictures of him playing tag with some of his friends. He didn't know we were watching, so it was fun to see him in action when I'm not around. I was pleased when he and Jacob (a friend he's been talking about all week) crashed into each other that he didn't make a big fuss about it but he got up by himself and then helped Jacob up. Then this afternoon he's been unusually kind and accomodating to his sister. Hmmm...maybe he's learning something afterall!

First Crush

Daddy graduated yesterday! We're all so proud of him, and Ryan had great fun yelling "Yeah, Daddy!" as he walked to receive his diploma. As excited as he was for Daddy though, I think the big highlight of Ryan's day was seeing Mrs. Lundy again. Cathy has watched Ryan and Abby for us numerous times over the last several years, and I think Ryan has a crush on her. He gets the goofiest grin on his face whenever we mention her name!

As you can see from this picture (a genuine smile, no less!), he's in heaven being with Mrs. Lundy! She was like Mary Poppins with her bag of tricks. She brought quiet toys and games for the kids to play with, and it was a huge hit. I brought some too, but of course mine were old and boring. I had to laugh when Mr. Lundy looked at Ryan after dinner and solemnly informed Ryan that Cathy was coming home with him!

First Time for Everything

This morning Ryan slept a little later than usual, and I was helping Abby get dressed in her room. I looked up and saw Ryan standing in the hall, and my first thought was, "Did we put him to bed in his clothes last night?" Then I realized he had got up and dressed himself! He has never dressed himself without being told before, so it kind of stunned me for a minute.

A few weeks ago I started implementing some new routines in our home because I knew we were going to begin homeschooling soon. One of those things was that both kids needed to be dressed, have their beds made and rooms clean before breakfast. Usually it's a joint effort with me helping them along and reminding, etc. But this morning Ryan stepped up to the plate and got dressed and made his bed without being asked. Way to go, Ryan! My little boy is growing up.

Taking a Deep Breath

This is the moment that I've been preparing for and anticipating for years. I have looked to this day with trepidation and excitement, and now it is here. We are beginning to homeschool this month. Of course, I've really been homeschooling for years, but now I feel like it's "official" and that I need to be more structured. My son learned to read almost a year ago, and he's been learning math facts and some geography too. However, our learning has been pretty hit and miss, and I feel the need to have more structure, or at least routine. We will only do "official" school for about 30 minutes to an hour per day, but my goal is to do it every day, not just when it works out.

But it is April, and you don't begin school in April, you say? Well, I guess I want to get some routine and structure going before our first full school year begins this fall. It's a little like practicing. I think my son is ready, and I am too. So here goes...

Surgery Details

After playing for a while in the play room, the nurse called us back to his bed and gave him some meds. The nurse was impressed with how willingly he took his meds. They gave him some Tylenol and some Versed. The Versed took about a minute and a half to start working, and he was pretty loopy! It's supposed to relax the patient, but it relaxed me too.

About ten minutes later they walked all of us down to the operating floor. Poor Ryan was trying to tell us something, but all I could understand was "go back." I knew he was a little scared but the Versed seemed to be helping him. We were allowed to wait with him in the pre-op room, and we talked to the nurses and the anesthesiologist who would be attending Ryan. Next, Dr. Goodman, our surgeon, came in and talked to us for a while.

Then the dreaded moment was upon us. I was worried about how he would respond when they took him from us, but he was so out of it, he didn't notice a thing! We waited for almost two hours, and then the doctor came and said everything went great. What a relief that it was over and my baby was all right!

We only had to wait another fifteen minutes or so before they came and got one of us to go back into the post-op room with Ryan. Ed was gracious enough to let this worried Mommy go, though I know he wanted to go too.

Ryan was still out when I got back there, and they had just given him something for nausea. I guess because he was sweating profusely they knew he was nauseous. The nurse told me that for some reason, the eye muscle surgery patients always seem to get very nauseous. I talked to him and stroked his head and arms. He stirred a little, but not too much. When he finally roused somewhat, the first thing he said was "Where's Daddy?" I was going to go swap out with Ed, but they said it was time to take him back upstairs to his room and we'd pick up Daddy on the way.

So back we went to the recovery room for another hour or so. All the other children in our room were awake and eating popsicles and drinking soda. They don't give the eye muscle surgery patients anything since they are usually so nauseous. I felt bad for Ryan, but he didn't seem to notice. We had removed his eye patch, and he could have looked around if he wanted to, but it was just too painful to open his eyes. He laid there quietly with his eyes closed for over an hour. Finally, we determined he wasn't sleeping, only keeping his eyes closed and resting. So they got his vitals again, and then said we could take him home. We got him dressed, gathered his things, and home we went, approximately six hours after we arrived.

I guess Ryan's flu bug was a blessing in disguise because on the way home he told us he thought we was going to throw up, so we had time to pull over and get him out of the van before he actually vomitted. If he hadn't been sick just the week before, I know he wouldn't have known what that feeling was. That was the only incident he had, and he rested his eyes the rest of the way home. What a relief to be home and to have the surgery behind us.

I'm so grateful to God for watching over Ryan. He is so faithful! I am grateful too for all the prayers that have been prayed on Ryan's and all of our behalf! We had as much peace as I imagine one can have during something like this. Thank you, Lord, family, and friends!

Stage Debut

Ryan had his first presentation last Wednesday. My Bible study, CBS, has a fabulous children's program, and Ryan LOVES to go every week! He can always tell me what he learned, which is rarely true for Sunday school. The adults take turns at helping out in the kids' classes, and ever since I helped out in Abby's class in October, Ryan has been dying for me to come to his class. Since we are moving, this will probably be our last week to attend, so I asked to be put in his class on Wednesday. I am so impressed with the teachers! They do a fantastic job. It's very clear that this is a ministry for them that they love.

Since this was the last week before Christmas break, all the children did a presentation for the parents (Daddies and other family members were invited as well). This was Ryan's first time up in front of a group of people, and though he didn't seem nervous, he really didn't "perform" very much. I think he was too distracted trying to find Daddy in the crowd. He did sing a little and do a few hand motions, but most of the time he just stood there. Even though neither of our darlings seem to be stage material, Mommy and Daddy still enjoyed watching them be part of this program.

After the program, Daddy came back to visit Ryan's class. They had a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party, with cookies and a present for each child. Ryan was really happy to have his Daddy with him in class!