smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

First time sparring

Well, I clearly was more nervous than my son was going into this tournament. Beau is only 4 years old and it was his first time sparring at tournament. I made myself literally sick the days before thinking about it. He is the smallest one in our Taekwondo school sparring so I thought he'd be the littlest one at the tournament sparring too. Thank goodness this was not the case. The kids were very evenly matched and were all very close to the same size. He was not the biggest nor the smallest. He did a wonderful job. He did not get hurt and he did not hurt anyone and he did pay attention very well. He made sure to answer loud and clear with an impressive "Yes Ma'am" and he had a lot of fun. I am very proud of him how well he did sparring. He does need lots of work on his form! All in all, it was one of the best tournaments we attended. The weather was PERFECT! We really enjoyed the video, the shirts are awesome and the trophies were very cool! It was the first one we ever went to in Kendalville, but given the opportunity we will go again! The trip was even nice, not much road construction and we went through Shipshewana on the way home and got fresh pretzels and ice cream and looked at beautiful Amish crafts. The perfect end to a perfect day! Great Tournament Mr. Hayden!
The Photos above are Beau with Mr. Adams our most awesome taekwondo instructor and the other is Beau before he got his trophy after he competed.

Home Care and Homeschooling

It's been a while since my last blog.
We got our Taekwondo pictures back! I let him pick out his own background. His turned out PERFECT! Except for his swollen big toe that got stuck under the door... and that mosquito bite on his forehead.
I have been really busy lately. I have been working. I found a great way to help people, make money and keep homeschooling! It's been working out really well for us so far.
A friend's Mom recently had a short stay in a nursing home for therapeutic rehab. Once she was released she would need 24 hour care. I offered to help if my little boy could come too. Of coarse they gratefully accepted, they need all the help they can get and they love kids too. So I did that for a while. It was nice there. I could take care of that sweet lady and while she was resting or watching TV I could read to my son and work on our books. (We are both writing books, I think He will get published first! Mine is still in early stages.) Sometimes I would bring Art supplies and let him draw or color or make things too. It was nice to work with such a wonderful lady. They have since gotten a lady that can stay with her 24-7 so we got a little break.
My mom's boss also needed someone to help her mother-in-law who needs total care due to Alzheimer's 1 or 2 days a week. So we started doing that in July. Same thing, I can take my son, and teach him while we are there and still make a little money. I also think it is a good thing for this lady to see a little one around. She sometimes laughs when he says things that are funny or cute. Plus I think it is good for him to see that we need to care for and love and respect our elders. We participated in the Alzheimer's walk a couple years and now he understands what it is a little better.
I am glad we are making a little money I am planning on taking him to the Curious Kid's Museum in St. Joseph MI pretty soon, plus we are going to a Silverhawks game this week or next week. The 4-H fair is this week too. I also would like to take him miniature golfing this year. He seems to be really interested in golf. Not to mention the Taekwondo Tournament in Kendallville is coming up fast and that is going to cost us quite a bit too. (I need a new uniform.) Then there are the Birthdays and Reunion. The money just seems to flow in the wrong direction, always away.
Things are really going well here. Enjoying life, loving and learning together.

Does My Son Need Speech Therapy?

"When your child is in the midst of a great jump in his language skills (between ages 30 months and 5 years) it's natural that putting sentences together in a fluent way might be difficult. Her brain is like a computer, working to pull up the right words in the right order and at the right time. While the computer is "searching," her mouth may go into a "pause" (translated: repeat) mode. So it may sound like this: "Mom … I-Mom … I-I-want-uh-I want you-gimme dat teddy bear!" The whole word or first syllable is often repeated, not usually the first sound. This is a normal developmental phase that most children go through. You may notice it more when your child is tired, excited, or upset.


Below, please find blog posts I found from other speech/language pathologists that help to differentiate between normal developmental dysfluency and the speech pattern of a child who may develop into a school age child who stutters."
I read this on a speech therapy website and I felt so relieved. I was beginning to wonder if my son needed more and what can I do to help his advancement. I know he gets in a hurry, he just loses focus and repeats the first word, sometimes two exactly like the sentence above. He does also have issues with the "th," "r," "j," "g," "l," and sometimes "s" turns into the "sh" sound. I work with him often on these sounds and we have made some progress, but he still forgets to focus and reverts back. Today he did say "THIS" perfectly!
http://speechtherapyweb.com/
This website is amazing. If you have questions about your child's speech, or speech mannerisms, this is definitely the site to check out. They have therapist covering everything from articulation to stuttering. They have sections about sign language and anxiety and autism and apraxia.
I am not done checking out the site. I have found ways to help him focus and encourage and motivate him. There are programs on this site for children, teachers and parents. I am going back to check it out a bit more.

I Am An Author: We're Open for Business: Let The Party Begin!#c5891915422143960812

I Am An Author: We're Open for Business: Let The Party Begin!#c5891915422143960812

Kids writing their own books, Cool.

kidswritebooks Grand Opening tons of prizes!! Everyone Wins!! Kids publish their own books at www.kidswritebooks.com!
Check this out.
My son is excited to write a book himself!
I am excited he wants to. a couple months ago I couldn't get him to read. Then we went to the library and he got about 5 books and when he found out that he could get his own card he wanted to get every book! then with the summer reading program he got little prizes, and now he wants to write books!
He just read his first book to me cover to cover! It is so exciting! It was "1,2, Buckle My Shoe".
Now I have a story due for my class by the 15th and I can't think of anything to write about!

Home Schooling -a better place

I knew before my son was born I could not send him to the public school where we live. It has considerably below average test scores and only a 46% graduation rate.
I could not afford a Catholic school, and a move to another district
just isn't happening anytime soon. I know that I can give him the very best education. I can give him the skills he needs to be successful.
I WILL however modify teachings from what I learned in school. I will teach him values and morals and torerance of differences. I will instill in him a sense of community, not just talk about it. A feel for helping real people.
My mom still tells the story of getting called to the school when I was in kindergarten because I got in a fight. My second grade sister, my very best friend is affected with Cerebral Palsy. She is very intellegent, and able, but still walks differently. Kids are cruel. She was taunted and she had kids that even would push her down. I ended up fighting all the time. I fought for her, against these mean little monsters. I don't think the kids made it up on their own either.
I think kids hear things their parents say and repeat it too.
How can this "community" be so hateful? I will NOT subject my child to that.
How many partens say they send their sweet kids to school and they change into rude mean little monsters. I have heard it so many times. It does not have to be that way! I won't allow it for my son. I am not keeping him cooped in the house hidden away from the world either, I am teaching him there is a better one. Where people help people and folks work together. (Other people besides the Amish.) People smile and let a car in ahead of them in traffic, and there is a wave to say thank you. It's not always so difficult to be nice. We all should be teaching our kids these things. They are always learning from our actions, make sure you are teaching them the things you want them to learn.

Great Start!

We read 100 books for the St. Joseph County Summer Reading Program!

My son and I signed up for the summer reading program at the Western Branch.
We decided to set a goal of 100 books for him. We reached our goal a lot earlier than
we thought we could! We are aleady at 100 books and the summer is just starting!
Maybe our goal should have been 1000?
Think we can read 1000 books this summer? That's a lot of reading. He still is doing other studies daily too. Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Spelling and Vocabulary. Plus he is in Taekwondo and goes with me to my classes. Well, we still have almost 2 months, I say we
reset our goal to 1000! If we don't make it, we still read a lot of great stories along the way!

I made up some word cards to sort of nudge Beau into reading on his own.
It seems books are a bit intimidating. They are really long if you are only 4! As we are going through and he is looking at the words on each card, I can see that he is actually trying to sound out the words he sees. He even thought about some before sounding them out outload and said the word on the very first try! It is so amazing how much has changed just in the past month.
I tried to get him to read a bit on his own before and he didn't want to. I think he ws afraid he couldn't or maybe thought it would be too hard. But once I took him to the library he started getting into it a little more, then he got his own card and now he wants to read every book he sees! Each time we go to the library he wants more books than the previous time!

Also exciting news about the new library!
The German Township Branch Dedication is June 7th 2009!
We can't wait to see the new library!
Not to mention it is so much closer, we could even ride our bikes!

Below is a list of the first hundred books!

Title
Author

1
Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?
Jon Agee, Tedd Arnold, Harry Bliss, David Catrow, Marla Frazee, Mary Grandpre, Lynn Munsinger, Jerry Pinkney, Vladmir Radunsky, Chris Raschka, Judy Schachner, David Shannon, Chris Sheban, Mo Willems

1
The Pigeon Wants A Puppy
Mo Willems

1
One Tractor, A Counting Book
Alexandra Siy

1
I Dreamt I was a Dinosaur
Stella Blackstone and Clare Beaton

1
Bunny Money
Rosemary Wells

1
Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late
Mo Willems

1
Toy story 2
Disney /Pixar

1
Cars
Disney/Pixar

1
Toy Story
Disney /Pixar

1
Wall-E
Disney/ Pixar

1
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Dr. Seuss

1
Fox in Socks
Dr. Seuss

1
Green Eggs and Ham
Dr. Seuss

1
One Frog Sang
Shirley Parenteau

1
ten naughty little monkeys
Suzanne Williams

1
What Mom's Can't Do
Douglas Wood

1
Ships
Robert Crowther

1
Rise and Shine
Illustrated by Tim Warnes

1
THe Lord's prayer
Illustrated by Maggie Swanson

1
I Spy Fun House, A Book Of Picture Riddles
Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo

1
All Things Bright and Beautiful
Cecil Frances Alexander and illustrated by Anna Vojtech

1
Big Book Of Little Children
Catherine and Laurence Anholt

1
Quiet In The Garden
Aliki

1
Peanut
Linas Alsenas

1
Mr. Maxwell's Mouse
Frank and Devin Asch

1
The Sun Is My Favorite Star
Frank Asch

1
Mickey Moonbeam
Mike Brownlow

1
Hooked On Phonics Trucks
Hooked On Phonics

1
Hooked On Phonics Kindergarten, Puzzles and Mazes
Hooked On Phonics

1
Hooked On Phonics Boats
Hooked On Phonics

1
Hooked On Phonics Cars, Trains and Planes
Hooked On Phonics

1
Puzzle Ocean
Susan Leigh Illust. Brenda Haw

1
Highlights Puzzle Buzz
Puzzlemania

1
Hide and Seek, Focus- Reading for Success
Scott Foresman and Company

1
The Snow Bear
Miriam Moss illustrated by Maggie Kneen

1
Biscuit Visits The Big City
Alyssa Satin Capucilli

1
No Fair! A Math Reader
Caren Holtzman

1
Earth Smart -How To Take Care Of The Environment
Leslie Garrett

1
The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book
Judy Press

1
Kid's Make History, A New Look At America's Story
Susan Buckley and Elspeth Leacock

1
Stellaluna
Janell Cannon

1
Anything for You
John Wallace

1
Once Upon a Banana
Jennifer Armstrong and David Small

1
The Tiny Seed
Eric Carle

1
Roger the Jolly Pirate
Brett Helquist

1
Fire Engine Man
Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

1
Grandfather Buffalo
Jim Arnosky

1
Hedgie Blasts Off!
Jan Brett

1
Charlie and Lola, I Want To Be Much Much Bigger Like You
Lauren Child

1
Charlie and Lola, I am Really Really Concentrating
Lauren Child

1
Violet the Piolot
Steve Breen

1
Otto Goes to School
Todd Parr

1
Is there really a Human Race?
Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

1
The World of Cars, Tractor Tipping
Disney Pixar

1
Go Diego Go! Underwater Mystery
Trish Holland

1
Ozzie and Mack
Trish Holland

1
The Little Engine that Could
Watty Piper

1
Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, The Golden Paddleball
Amy Keating Rogers

1
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Judith Viorst

1
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle

1
Guess How Much I Love You
Sam McBratney Illust By Anita Jeram

1
Mommy's best Kisses
Margaret Anastas

1
On the Day You Were Born
Debra Fraiser

1
How Do Dinosaurs Say GoodNight?
Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

1
Where the Wild things Are
Maurice Sendak

1
There are Monsters Everywhere
Mercer Mayer

1
Crafting Fun 101 things to Make and Do with Kids
Rae Grant

1
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Dawn Bentley

1
Kindergarten Rocks!
Katie Davis

1
The Perfect Nest
Catherine Friend

1
The Giving Tree
Shel Silverstein

1
Just like Daddy
Frank Asch

1
This is Me and Where I am
Joanne Fitzgereld

1
What Could Be Better Than This?
Linda Ashman, paintings by Linda S. Wingerter

1
Tractor
Craig Brown

1
Five Little Firefighters
Tom Graham

1
Nuts to you
Lois Ehlert

1
Who lives here?
Sara Jeffery

1
The Train Of States
Peter Sis

1
The Reasons for Seasons
Gail Gibbons

1
My First Read and Learn Bible
American Bible Society

1
Kitten's First Full Moon
Keven Henkes

1
Maisy Big Maisy Small
Lucy Cousins

1
Maisy's big book of words
Lucy Cousins

1
Maisy Goes Camping
Lucy Cousins

1
Maisy's Nature Hike
Lucy Cousins

1
Maisy Bakes a Cake
Lucy Cousins

1
Jesus Loves Me!
Tim Warnes

1
10 Little Sock Monkeys
William B. Winburn

1
Follow the Line
Laura Ljungkvist

1
Whopper Cake
Karma Wilson & Will Hillenbrand

1
Albert's Gift for Grandmother
Barbara Williams

1
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault

1
I Spy Mystery
Walter Wick

1
Cats
Matthew Van Fleet

1
Oodles of Animals
Lois Ehlert

1
King Puck
Michael Garland

1
Me and My Family Tree
Joan Sweeney

1
Puff the Magic Dragon
Peter Yarrow

1
Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Pricilla Burris

100 Books!
Congratulations Beau!

Mushroomin' the Big Woods.

Mom and Dave by the river

Beau and his snail

Beau being silly by the water hole (underground spring)

Black "cup" type mushrooms

Tiny red mushrooms

Black Morel

Beau and I by the river.

I like this interresting tree. It looks like a neat place to sit a while.

Our trip mushroom hunting this spring was a bit of a challenge.

I thought everything was perfect, I had everything packed early, I even had plenty of cash just in case. I was all ready to go. On the way up, the GPS lied and took us away from our planned path. Then we got a flat on the '71 penguin. The roadside service Mom had would cover that, no problem. Well, slight problem, It was right in the middle of NOWHERE on a Sunday evening. They could not locate a tow company open anywhere. They finally found a provider after an hour of waiting, but this provider would be there in no less than an hour. So two hours late there was a really great guy there to change that tire. He was very nice and helpful. When we were finally able to get back on the road, we decided to sleep the night in a truck stop parking lot and head straight over to a local tire place in the morning to get the other tires replaced. 6 new tires later, we were back on the road, but luckily we aren't far now.

As we are getting closer to Wolverine MI, the scenery is getting more and more amazing. I am getting really anxious to just be there and be out of the car. It's time to get in the woods. We finally make it to the Wolverine Party Store gas station and Grammie and Kate are there waiting for us... because their RV won't start! It was flooded and the power steering belt was shot and who knows what else was wrong with the rolling turd (pardon my French.) Luckily Dave got it started. So we are on our way now, it's just over this next hill. Once we are technically in the park (I think) on the two lane dirt path there is a car turning around just ahead of us. They flagged us down and said there is no way of getting through. The closer we get the further we are. There is a HUGE mud hole in the road all the way across both lanes and there is a stick in the middle with a orange ribbon on it, a caution flag I am sure. Kate says well, should we go back now? I don't think she was kidding, Mom and Dave and I were like "What?" I couldn't believe the thought could creep into her mind. We had been through a lot already, where's the shovels?

We are digging and filling in the hole and driving across. Then we'll worry about leaving another time. We dug maybe a solid hour, filling in the best we could. It still seemed a bit squishy, but I bet we could make it across now, but don't slow down or we'd really be stuck.

We made it. Finally we got to our site. It was a relief to be there. We got camp set up and relaxed a while. I couldn't wait. I had to get out into the big woods. I went for a walk. No mushrooms though. Hmm. Later Mom and Dave and I went back to the fern patch. Finally I found a couple little mushrooms in the woods there. I was the first one to find mushrooms! How exciting! Then I got a nose bleed and got blood on my new PINK sweatshirt. It just would NOT stop bleeding! I didn't know what to do. No Kleenex or handkerchief with me. I just leaned over and let it bleed. I think it bled a long time and finally I made my way back out to the path where Mom and Dave were. It was still bleeding. They didn't have any Kleenex either. We made our way back to camp. Dave offered me his T shirt for my nose, but I couldn't take it. It was a nice gesture, but I wouldn't use my own because I would ruin it, so I couldn't ruin his either.

Then back at camp, it was horrible. While we were getting things set up outside, Grammie fell.

She didn't just fall. She fell out of the camper behind first and hit her head on the ground, HARD! I was so scared. I was afraid she was hurt a lot worse. Then would we have to dig to get back out to go to the hospital?! She didn't break anything but all her nails. She tried to catch herself on the doorway of the RV and broke every one of her fingernails. She bruised her backside, both arms and I am sure she had quite a knot on her noggin. She didn't go out walking the first couple days. She was very sore. Luckily it wasn't worse.

The next day we went walking, Beau wanted to just go back to the campsite all day. Kate and I found mushrooms then, not too small either! I filled my onion bag on that walk! I meandered out into the woods farther than they usually go. I did find more mushrooms, but I think this was when I got into the Poison Ivy too.

In the morning I thought I had been bitten by on of the nasty little black flies. I scratched my ankle all day. I never thought of Poison Ivy, so I never washed it off. It was the first time any of our crowd got Poison Ivy up there. (You'd think with odds like that I could hit a good lottery at least once!) Never thought of putting benedryl on it or calamine lotion or the Ivy Dry I have in the camper for just such an occasion. Just figured it's a bug bite, it'll go away eventually.

That night I used the bathroom in my camper and in the dark I stood up and really hit my head hard on the door frame. It hurt bad too, it bled a little. I couldn't sleep well that night. The next day we went to the rock pile and found some really cool stones and Mom and I found some mushrooms too. I found a huge one there, turns out it's a different variety of morel, it's nick named the big foot morel. How cool is that?! I also found a snail and Beau just loved it, so I let him keep it in his bug jar a while and he gave it a couple plantain leaves to eat. It made quick work of them. That's when I found the first tick! It was on the car seat I just got up from! It had to come off me! So we did a quick check and Mom had 2 more on her coat! Those creepy little things send shivers up my spine! Luckily though we didn't have any on our skin. We gave Beau a warm sponge bath. He looked and felt so much better. He fell asleep early. Harold and Norma came over visiting later in the evening. It was really nice to relax.

The next morning, I took a bike ride. I went almost to the water hole by the river. I think it's Pigeon River. The trip was OK. I felt uneasy once I got into the pines. The lady at the Party Store had told me that there are large cats and even the occasional bear found in the woods there. The path really was getting too sandy too. So I decided to go back. It seemed a lot farther on the way back. It was mostly up hill! Next time I went out for a bike ride, I went the other way, back the way we came in.

That day I felt a bump on my head and had mom check it out. I think it was from hitting it on the doorway. She said it looked infected and there was something in it. I prayed it wasn't a bot fly, I just saw a show about the 10 worst parasites on TV. Apparently it was a huge sliver. It had to be from the panel above the doorway in my camper.

That night it rained. It was nice. Not a harsh rain and winds or anything, just enough to knock down the biting black flies. We found a lot more mushrooms the next day. Grammie says that we were just too early this year. The trilliums were just blooming when we were leaving. Usually they are all blossoms when we arriving.

The rain did ruin the road work we did, so we had to find a different way out. I am glad we did, it was so beautiful there and we found a lake we never saw before! Luckily the way back was pretty uneventful. The GPS did lie and tell us to turn right when it should have been a left. We had to go around the block (Country block I mean, about 3 mile) but when we did we found the gas station we needed.

We made it home and the GPS told us to keep going another quarter mile! Not a chance of going anywhere any time soon. It was absolutely beautiful there, but it was kind of like the movie "Pure Luck" with Martin Short. I love that movie, but it hits kind of close to home.

Ahh, I am sure glad to be home.

Almost June Already!

It's finally over! The Diet pool ended and I won 200$, even more amazing, I lost 48 pounds! Now I just have to lose about 30 more and I will feel so much better. It's just getting so much harder to lose now. The closer I get to my goal the further away it seems! No worries. I will get there.

To update my last entry, I did in fact get my Blue Belt and I am now working on getting my Brown Belt. Beau got his Camo belt and has a lot of work to do before getting his 2nd Camo Belt.

He is feeling a bit under the weather today. Has a low grade fever but has slept all day so far. He has only eaten vitamins today. Poor kid, seems as though he's always sick.

Oh, right, to celebrate winning the diet pool, I am having a cook out in June! I am grilling Chicken, BBQ Ribs for Barry and the guys, maybe some Salmon or Tilapia and veggies. If we can catch enough crappie or blue gills before June 20th, maybe I can get Barry to fry some fish for you like last summer at Potato Creek! Those sure went fast!

Well, it happened. I caught Bean's cold. This is the best I have felt in a couple days. I slept through Taekwondo tonight. I haven't eaten all day. Just thinking about eating made me feel sicker. I haven't been able to exercise at all. I did go to Taekwondo yesterday though. I earned my 4 stripes! I can test Saturday! I even broke a board with my elbow! Beau is testing on Saturday too! His testing is at 10 am. Mine is at 12 noon. If I can pull it together this week and rest and take enough vitamins testing will be a breeze and I will get my BLUE BELT!

Well, BEFORE sparring at Taekwondo today I ironed curtains and a bedspread for mom and shampooed her living room and bedroom carpets. As you may guess, I took advantage of her scale while I was there. On the OFFICIAL scale I lost not only the 2 pounds I gained since Fridays weigh in, I also lost another 2.8 pounds! I am sure I lost more from sparring as well. I guess I am not out just yet. (although I wish I had never gained that 2 stinking pounds!!! Then I would have lost 4.8 pounds overall this 2 weeks instead of 2.8!)
I can't afford to pay even a dollar for gaining a pound! Nor do I want to. So maybe being that broke is on my side in this competition!