Life schooling

I am in the middle of planning the 2014-2015 school year. I will have a 9th grader, 2nd grader, pre-k'er, and a pre-pre-k'er. :) 


Cloee and Luke will both return to the Mother's Day Out program which they loved last year.  It is only 2 days a week.  Cloee will be in the pre-k class and Luke will be in what they call the "3's" class.  Pre-school maybe?  I have held them both back 1 year.   Cloee's birthday is on September 1st so in the public school system I could do either and they recommended I hold her back.  When we had her evaluated for PPCD they said no one they know has ever regretted holding their child back one year.   Luke was in an orphanage for the first two years of his life and we feel there is some discrepancy in the age they gave us.  Therefore, we are holding him back too.


Jenna will actually start 2nd grade in October.  She is completely off of the public school year and I'm okay with that. :)  So I won't post about her "new" year until then.


Cade starts 9th grade this year.  I absolutely cannot believe I have a high schooler now.  Where has the time gone?


He is the one I have been planning for this week.  I have planned his start date, finish date and his required 180 days for the year.  I will post next week on his curriculum. 


He will begin on Friday, August 22nd.  This day will only be for perusing his new curriculum and going over lesson plans with him.  We will go over goals and expectations also.  Then, Monday, August 25th, the real work begins and we will be diving in!


His last day is scheduled for Friday, May 30th.  This is tentative because he may need more days off during the year for good weather, illness, etc. ( and yes I said "good" weather off days).


What about socialization you ask?  Cade is extremely active in his youth group at Church and they do a LOT! He also plays competitive soccer and will be trying out for the Houston Homeschoolers basketball team and track team.  There is also a wonderful homeschool teen group here that also has many get-togethers. So, rest assured, my son is being socialized. ;)


If I can keep up with my blog, my focus will be more on homeschooling I hope. And a little of our life sprinkled in.


Blessings,
Lauree

Word for 2014:

INTENTIONAL

  definition:  Done in a way that is planned or intended.  I also saw on another definition that it meant purposeful.

I thought about a focus word last year but never did anything with it.  This year I am.  I prayed about what God would have me focus on.  I ran through a list of words but they only covered that specific area....I needed more.  Then "discipline" stayed awhile.  But even more than discipline, my life needs to be more "intentional."  I feel like I sort of lost my way in 2013.  Nothing major, just little bits and pieces here and there throughout the year.

Mom guilt seemed to attack me more often.   I couldn't get or keep my house clean, couldn't get or keep my health under control (weight included).  I couldn't keep my daily walk with God on the forefront.  My parenting skills went down the toilet or I hit a wall and became a screamer, a yeller, no patience, no tolerance for kids asserting their independence. I lost control of my life.  There was no purpose.....nothing planned.... nothing intended.

2014  will bring purpose, plans and most of all-an intentional life.

First up because without no other can succeed.  My daily walk with God has been planned and implemented.  It is intentional.  If this is not in place I might as well give up.  My life has felt out of control because I tried to take back control this past year.  And that never works.

Second up, my health/my weight.  The two go hand in hand.  I am armed and ready to tell the doctors what I want.  I'm tired of them telling me to do this and do that, when it has NOT helped.  They will change a few things and I will handle the eating and exercise.  People, when you have a thyroid disease research everything!  You are not fat just because.  It is harder to lose weight, feel energetic and be happy, happy, happy.  Get the doctors to actually hear what you are saying, do something about it then get yourself in check!  Time to get intentional with my physical health.

Third up, my parenting.  I have been such a "reactive" parent this past year.  Talk about failure. That ever present guilt strangles me some times.  I must be more intentional in giving them over to God-more.  Pray over them more.  Our days must be planned with purpose.  I must let go of Cade.  I must give Jenna more responsibilities.  I must give more understanding and structure to Cloee.  I must give more structure and discipline to Luke.  I must parent with intention.

And there you have it.  Do you have a word for 2014?  Care to share?

My blog is back.

I've decided I need to come back to my blog.  It's my open diary and I need to write. 

Jeff and I are beginning a new chapter in our life with one of our children.  Today, Cloee was unofficially diagnosed with Autism.  We are in the process of making an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, which of right now is next to impossible!  The one we were referred to is not taking new patients right now and is booked through February 2014.  So our Pediatrician is working on getting OT initiated for her. 

I also called the PPCD program to begin that process.  I am waiting on the diagnostician to call and set up the evaluation appointment.  If they find that she needs help, we will have a second appointment to set up an educational plan for her.  And then she will begin that program.  She is developmentally delayed and speech delayed so I'm fairly certain she will begin PPCD once the testing is complete.

I decided to come back to my blog because there may be another mom out there doubting her gut reactions.  I am here to say, "please don't."  You know your child better than anyone.  If something seems different, start documenting.  I sat down one day and wrote out 2 pages without thinking.

My anxiety levels have hit an all time high when taking Cloee out in public.  Not knowing if something would set her off or when it would set her off.  My mother finally saw one of her epic meltdowns (as I like to call them) in the car going home from my brother's wedding.  Once started, it lasted about 45 minutes, in the car.  Yes I did have to pull over and yes I had to get out of the van so I could breathe.

Along with the validation I feel, is the overwhelming feeling of heartbreak for my sweet girl.  I feel anger, a lot right now.  I'm not equipped for this, I'm scared for us, I'm scared for Cloee.  I don't know anything about Autism.  I feel like my whole life right now is spent educating myself on how to better parent each of my special needs children. 

I feel like I'm not a good enough parent to handle these challenges, why was I chosen to raise these beautiful children who need so much that I don't know about??  I'm reeling and I'm rambling. 

I've studied today.  Autism has to do with brain development-our Cloee had an extremely rough start in life, probably plays a huge part in it with some genetics mixed in. 

Would you please be in prayer for my sweet girl?  And for us as a family?

Seasons of change

We have started back to school.  Made the official move to year round schooling.  This allows us a great deal of flexibility when we want to take time off.  It's so hot in Houston in the summer so why not do some school so we can take time off when the weather is nice?

Cade's schedule this year (7th grade):

~Horizon's Pre-Algebra.  I LOVE Horizons math.  And apparently I forgot I really like Algebra-for real!

~Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS) - Language Arts.  SOS is computer based.  LOVE it.

~SOS - Bible

~SOS - History & Geography

~Apologia Science - Swimming Creatures of the Fifth day.  He really wanted to take this class and I've planned some fun fieldtrips.

~Writing - Can't find it right now.  Oops.

~Art/Nature Study

Cade runs 3 days a week- typically M, W, and F.  Basketball tryouts are in September-hopefully he will make the team.

Jenna's schedule this year (1st grade):

~My Father's World - 1st grade.  This is a complete curriculum that covers all classes with alot of wonderful read alouds also.

~ Science:  This is included in MFW but she will also participate with Cade in Apologia.  I think she will enjoy the projects and science experiments.

~  Nature Study will also be included and she has her own sketchbook.

~Her PE consists of playing outside with her friends everyday and walking around the lake.

Daddy doesn't know this yet but I really want to have our science experiments on the weekend and for him to lead them.  I will get all of the stuff ready and he will just conduct it.  I think all of the kids will enjoy watching them.

Other changes:  My blog.  I think about it everyday.  I feel like I'm headed towards closing it down.  Sometimes I think I will post once a week but right now that even seems alot.  So, rather that closing it down, I think I will just take a hiatus for a period of time.  Not sure how long.  When I come back I'm sure I'll link it up to facebook.

Blessings!

Lauree

More catching up



Still catching up!  Life in Houston-I'm actually loving it.  I especially love the area where we live.  There is so much to do if we choose.  We typically reserve Fridays for park days/field trips and they usually include the Wood kids from www.amazinggraceandasafehaven.com .  School generally is Monday through Thursday.  Cade can usually be done by lunch.  We start late, after we burn off energy!

 

 

Jenna and Cloee-they found the rainwater and had some fun!

Cloee, Luke, Jenna and our friend Haley creating art

Luke-he loves body art

Jenna-when she started reading the Bob books.  She loves it!

Manny, Haven, Jenna and Grace-silly

Jenna and Luke at the splash pad

Cloee having lots of fun

 

Blessings,

Lauree

Catching up

I think it's time to do some catching up.  We've been busy living life and getting used to living in Houston.  One of the reasons I haven't posted is because I don't know how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer.  So if you have a Nokia Windows phone and know how to do this, I sure would like to know.

We are wrapping up our homeschool year for Cade.  He is down to just his Bible curriculum and Math. Jenna will finish sometime this summer.  They won't begin on the same day.  Jeff doesn't want much down time for Cade in school, so it will probably just be a 1-2 week break and he will begin 7th grade.  Jenna is on track to begin 1st grade probably in August.  I will blog about their 2013-2014 curriculum in another post.

We've been visiting Churches, trying to find a new church home.  It's so hard when you loved the one you were in.  We visited one for a few months but the format doesn't work for us and Jeff was having to miss too much of the Wednesday night group.  We are visiting another one, we think this one may be the right fit for us.  Still praying about it.

I've joined a couple of the homeschool groups and we've gone on a couple of pretty cool fieldtrips.  But they are slowing down for the summer.  Tryouts for basketball are in September.  Cade is very excited about this.  I think the boy would play basketball all day if he could.  Hopefully we can get Jenna back in gymnastics in August.  She misses it.

Cloee and Luke are doing great.  Cloee still is not interested in being around people she doesn't really know.  And Luke doesn't know a stranger.  Interestingly enough, Cloee walks right into her new Sunday school class without any hesitation.  It's such a shock for me to witness, but I am so thankful.

Luke's 3rd birthday

Cade's 13th birthday

Kids love to play in this creek

Jenna's 6th birthday

Cade

Jenna, loves the bounce houses

Cade, Jeff and Cloee

Cloee-not sure why it was blurry

Jenna and Cloee-fieldtrip, they loved these big trikes

Cade-they even had some for the teenagers

Jenna-another blurry picture.  She actually did the zip line.

 

That's all I have time for.

 

Blessings,

Lauree

We've Moved!

The last few months have brought about some major changes-the biggest being our move to Houston. Jeff accepted a much better position at a different company. We actually thought we were moving to Austin. Sometimes it is soooo funny how God works things out. Jeff interviewed in Austin, Houston wasn't really on our radar. The day they called with the offer, it was an amazing one....in Houston. We have never looked back. It was very hard to leave all of our friends and my mom in Whitehouse. I was terribly worried about our 12 year old son, Cade, who did not want to move. I was nervous about leaving my mom-we've never lived more than an hour from each other. :) But God has worked it all out. Cade immediately made friends in our new neighborhood and has been very happy. We are visiting a Church that our kids LOVE. Especially Cade. It's a small church with an even smaller youth group. Apparently this is right up Cade's alley. Our Wednesday nights at our old church were too big for him. This is a much more intimate setting and he is thriving. Who knew!! We've beeing going on regular playdates on Fridays and the little kids really look forward to that. Luke gets to hang with other little boys which I love. His sisters can be a bit overwhelming at times. :) I've been trying to get Cade into track but that's not working out like I wanted so far, so he may have to play soccer. He suggested it and as long as he's active, we don't really care. We'll be putting Jenna back in gymnastics soon, that's where her heart lies. Homeschooling is going great and even better for me since we have our dedicated classroom. I much more organized this way. We turned the formal dining area into a classroom. Jenna will finish Kindergarten this year and Cade will be heading to Jr. High. Time continues to march on.

6 months

Luke has been with me for 6 months and at home for 5 months. It seems like he has been with us forever and yet it's hard to believe 6 months have already passed.

Our life is a lot busier with 4 kids! Jeff's work schedule changed and it was not for the better because it took him out of town for days and days at a time. But we are still so thankful that he has a job and one that allows me to stay at home and raise our children.

Back to Luke:

He is now is 2t clothes-where as he was in 12 months in February when we were in Congo together. He is growing! And boy can he put the food away.

He is now in size 6 shoes-he was in size 3 in February.

He weighed around 21 lbs I think in February. Maybe less. He is now 27 lbs. Not sure about inches.

His vocabulary is really improving! I can understand so much of what he says. This is from a child who in February had never uttered a word-did not talk at all nor babble.

His smile lights up a room and he adds so much happiness to our lives and completes our family.

He is a joy. He fits into our family perfectly.

He sleeps in his own bed in his room he shares with his brother. He only sometimes ends up in bed with us, which is fine with me.

He is adventurous, He loves his siblings, He gives the biggest and best hugs.

He loves us to sing to him before bed.

He tells me, "I uv oo, mama" and my heart melts.

Thank you God for my newest son!

The picture above is in Congo.
The pictures below are from this summer.

Track and Field-Temple

Cade has joined the HEAT. Home Educated Athletes of Tyler. He just finished his first year of track. The following pics are of the big track meet in Temple. I met so many nice families. What Jeff and I both noticed is that the kids congratulated EVERYONE after each race. They patted the winners and losers on their backs. They talked to them. They encouraged each other and others on different teams. We have NEVER seen this before and were more than a little shocked. This is the way sports should be. The kids all made new friends, played in the sand, picked flowers, had a picnic on the sidewalk. One other major thing we have noticed is that age doesn't matter in friendship. The older kids (boys AND girls) talked to Cade, included him, everything! It was so nice to see. It was great actually. These are Christian kids that Cade can really look up to and we love that they include him.

Happy Father's Day Jeff

We love you! I can't begin to share how much I appreciate all that you do for our family, for me, for our kids. I love how your heart has always been open to building our family through adoption. I love how you truly stepped out in faith with Luke's adoption.

Your kids are blessed to have you as their father. I know some days you doubt this, but God doesn't. He doesn't make mistakes. I am blessed to have you as my husband.

We love you!
Lauree, Cade, Jenna, Cloee and Luke

Bonding in Congo

Bonding with my son.

Luke and I co-slept the entire time we were in Congo. I LOVED it! Once we started bonding, he would wake me up sometimes by rubbing my face or patting my arm or rub my back. This is what I would do to him if he wasn't awake for the 7am breakfast call. He would reach out in the night just to touch me or hold my hand. It was very sweet and touched my heart in a mighty way. It's amazing really. The feelings of love that sweep through you at different times as you bond with your child. Sometimes, late at night, I would look at him and think, "wow, he's mine. I'm so not worthy but thank you God." He's an amazing little boy that was meant to be a Solberg. He had such a rough start and was moved around too many times. It affected him. So much trauma in his short life. I cried when I thought about it then, I cry when I think about it now. He did not smile, make eye contact, barely cried for almost a week and a half. He was a limp noodle in my arms. It was the strangest thing. I really had to hold onto him. As time went on, I continued to try and make eye contact and when I did, I made sure I was the first to look away. That way he could feel free to stare at me, to get used to me without direct eye contact. I constantly touched him though, stroked his face, kissed him, rubbed his back, whispered to him telling him I loved him. His first sound was the moaning/groaning while eating. It was funny, cute and so very sad for me. Then I would catch him staring at me from across the room and when I would look at him and connect he would stop what he was doing and come to me. The bond was forming-between a mother and her son. The feelings were overwhelming at times for me. His eyes spoke to my heart in a way that words could never do. His eyes spoke of pain, heartbreak, fear and a distrust that at times seemed insurmountable. I wanted to climb inside and piece his little heart back together.

His little body was filled with parasites. He could never get full. There is no telling how long he had them. But he had a tummy full and the more I thought about it the angrier I became. He could have eventually died from this. He had been in foster care for 6 months. He should have had the medicine long before I got there. I never dealt with parasites before, much less these monsters. While the sight of them freaked me out, knowing his precious little body was filled with these, broke my heart for what he had to feel like. We live in a country where we don't have to worry with this, but this is life in Congo.

Each day brought us closer together as mother and son. My heart felt like it was wrapping around his. Every day I prayed for him to feel safe. This little boy and I were learning about each other. He was learning my voice, I was learning his cry. He was learning my scent, I was learning his. He was learning my touch, I was learning his personality. He was learning trust and I was learning his heart. We were learning to love as a mother and son, together.

When he first smiled at me, I felt the breath escape from my lungs. I fought hard and prayed hard for that smile. For me, the first smile represented a change towards trust, letting go of fear. From the first smile came his first sounds. Then came the laughter. There are no words to describe my feelings when that happened. Praising God with tears in my eyes and a heart overflowing with joy. I was overwhelmed with so much emotion. To see the smile and hear the laughter and for both to reach his eyes; his eyes-the window to his heart and soul. Finally. Laughter reached his heart. And stirred my soul as I fell completely in love with my little boy.

I'm so thankful, words can't desribe, that God put adoption back on my heart and pressed me until I could not ignore Him anymore. I simply cannot imagine my life without him. I love this boy more than words can say. He captured my heart half-way around the world and I am still overwhelmed that God chose me to be his "mama".

I am so lucky.

I am so very blessed.

All girls orphanage

(*You can see a "before" picture of me in one of these-it's scary)

We visited an all girls orphanage plus one little boy who is HIV+. This is by far the best orphanage we saw and not typical. The woman in blue is actually from the US. Her mom was Congolese and opened the orphanage years ago. These girls are not available for adoption but rather they are raised to learn, go to school and get a job and give back to their community. They can stay there until they get a job, because the alternative for them is prostitution. They live in a compound to keep them protected from men who would kidnap them to sell them.

The schools cost money and they go as long as there is money. Then they stay home when the money runs out until they can find donations for them to go back. They have donated stuff from US people and the lady's friends-all of the furniture, etc.

I took some of the donated soccer balls and boy did they love them, as you can see in the pics below!

Luke Manzili Solberg