Busy Weekend

This was one busy weekend!

Randy had friends come into town, just to hang out.

They ate out, climbed Stone Mountain, went down to Olympic Park.

In general, they just did 'friend' stuff.

 What a great thing since he never goes out with the guys.

He took Ansley and Judson with them to hike Stone Mountain.

No pictures, though.

He swears the other guys took some and they will send us the pics, someday.

He hasn't downloaded the pics of downtown but they did ride the big 

Ferris Wheel at Olympic Park.

SO he got some great pics of downtown from the top of the ferris wheel.

(later, I promise)

I took Turner and Sawyer to Turner's soccer game.

What fun to watch the kids play.

They are so silly.

Then I took Turner and Sawyer to eat.

 Chips and Salsa are two of the few foods that all of my children will eat.

Turner then had a sleepover/birthday party at his friend

Charlie's house. 

That was all on Saturday.

Sunday, Randy took Turner and Judson to a Braves game.

That was all day, from 10:30 to almost 7, since it was scout day.

I took Ansley and Sawyer with me to run errands.

Suffice to say, no one complained about bedtime last night.

Halloween Preview

Everyone has decided what they want to be for Halloween.

We even have plans to go to a Halloween party put on by

Camp Sunshine.  They are a 'family' oriented cancer group in our area.

I put us on the list but said we are 'iffy' since Sawyer has chemo

4 days prior to the party.

Let's hope that he does well.

Here is our little Stitch. 

Not sure why he chose this since we never watch the show.

But Dawg-Gonnit, he's a cute Stitch!

It's All Good (even if it seems to present problems)

First, you must understand there is 'gifted' then there is 'GIFTED'. GIFTED can sometimes be called Profoundly Gifted or Extremely Gifted. 

When you are 'gifted', there is usually a place in public school for you.  You might get to  take some AP classes or skip a grade.  You still get to hang with kids who are basically your same chronological age and same mental age..

When you fall into the GIFTED side, things are not quite so cut and dried.  And when you are asymmetrical in your development, then it becomes even more dicey. 

In a perfect world, public school might be more like college, you get to pick your classes based on your level of understanding and mastery. Clepping out when possible. You don't have to sit through 5th grade math, when your understanding is more on a Algebra 2/Pre-calculus level.  (Believe me when I say, I'm not exaggerating)  You don't have to sit through 5th grade science, when your understanding is more on an 8th grade level.  (Again, not joking)  You don't mind sitting through a 5th grade English class because who really cares about English anyway?  (truth)

Now in the whole world that I call my life, this is NOT a big deal.  My son will find his place and we will find classes that interest and challenge him.  That means I must challenge myself to find the right fit.  Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you always should.  Meaning, we might could get him in a college class at the local community college.  But is that the best for all of us.   We love Khan Academy.  AWESOME.  but we've almost exhausted their math work.   So we will need to find more online classes, maybe even ones for credit.  Maybe ones that are not time specific but rather work on your own, like Khan.  But since online can be so isolating, then we must add maybe a co-op English class.  It then becomes a delicate balance of time and energy to reap the most we can from this adventure we call home schooling.  And that is just 1 child.

In the mean time, Sawyer's reading has been taking off.  It is so exciting to see that happen especially with all the chemo.

Turner is in first grade, he excels in Math.  Hates writing.  Loves Reading.

Ansley is in third grade, does well in all her subjects and is a grade level ahead in Math.  She loves Art and all things creative.

It's ALL GOOD!

Gotta Love This Kid

He is just so innocent in somethings.

Today he was reading a book on the Statue of Liberty.

He asked what year I was born.

So I told him.

He said, "Wow, did you know they had a parade for the Statue of Liberty,

October 28, 1886?  You weren't that far behind."

Kids may not stroke the ego but they still make you feel great.

It's What You Learn

My hubby always tells me

We can't control other people

Only How We React

(to others)

Sometimes folks do things I think are Stupid Or Wrong

Sometimes I blow up about the stupidity.

Then I come back down to earth.

Then I start trying to figure out how I can 'fix' the stupidity in my own life.

Like:

1.  Do I let my children make their own mistakes

Or do I try to bail them out every time to the point they are helpless?

2.  Do I let pride override what is right?

3.  Do I force my opinions on my kids

Or do I let them make their own opinions free

from my influence?

 4.  If someone doesn't do it the way I'd do it,

are they wrong or is it okay to do things differently?

5.  With each and every decision, am I being the best parent I can be?

So my pledge to my children, is to teach them right from wrong.  To let them be the people they were designed to be even if it is not how I'd do it.  To try very hard each and every day to encourage their talents, to give them strength to be the very best 'them' they can be.  To NOT let the court of public opinion influence what my gut is telling me is the right thing to do.  

(If we had listened to public opinion, we wouldn't have adopted.  We wouldn't have home schooled.  We would have aborted the most special gift a parent can be given. We wouldn't have breast fed.  All of this and much more.)

 

More Birthdays and Soccer

Turner had his 1st official game of the season.

Notice how dashing he is in his blue uniform.

Ansley also had a birthday party.

Swimming no less.

With her friend, Lilly.

They had a great time. 

They were quite cold at this point.

Guess Where We went today?

By the way, if you want the whole story check out our caring bridge page.

It's easy to set up an account.

The link is on the side bar.

Haircut

I'm a Mom who is pretty laid back on hair.

My only requirement is you keep it clean and combed.

I don't want to have to remind you all the time.

When you start 'forgetting' the rules,

this happens!

No super speedy lightening bolt this time.

Saturday Shot

you will have to read the caring bridge note on sunday to get the full story

Going Out

For some reason, I can't upload pics to Caring Bridge, so I thought I'd upload here. 

Suffice to say, we had a good day yesterday.  Sawyer's energy level is not great but he's feeling good.  So we all went out as a family to eat at Chili's.  We had a great time!

Haps Around the House

This was after a lumbar puncture/chemo so he wasn't 100%

Plus his seasonal allergies were acting up.

Today, he is much better.

Even though he felt bad, he was rocking the 'father' hat and 'father' jacket

while playing 'family' with Ansley and Turner.

One thing heard in our house yesterday:

Mom: Turner tell everyone what John Adams and T. Jefferson had in common.

Turner:  They died the same day but months apart. 

Allllllllmooooost, got it.

Must have a parent-teacher conference.

Soccer and Birthdays

Loving the little things in life!

Love Coach Nate!

Brothers

Annoying and Loving, all at the same time.

The Sun is Out

We have sunshine.

We are happy.

All is well.

Awesome Kids Award

I'm nominating my kids for the awesome kids award.

I get out of the shower today and am greeted with, "we are cleaning up the kitchen for your birthday!"   My birthday is not today but let's not quibble.

So they wash up dishes. They sweep, vacuum and mop the kitchen and dining room, too!

I'm not sure who these kids are but I think I will keep them!

I even heard, "don't tell mom but this is kind of fun".

I took a picture but it won't upload right now.   You will have to use your imagination.

Moving Forward

We seem to be getting into a new groove, so I'm going to start posting back on this blog.

 I've moved the caring bridge link to the side of blog.  I will continue to post info on Sawyer's cancer fight on caring bridge. I do apologize if the pictures end up upside-down on caring bridge.  I can't figure out why it looks fine on my iPad and wonky on my pc.

 I will post other life happenings on the blog.

Stay tuned.

Caring Bridge

Here is Sawyer's Caring Bridge Page.
Make sure the click on each tab so you can see the full write ups.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sawyerstricklin

Curve Ball from the Big C

We just joined an exclusive club.

We didnt want to be in this club. 

We were drafted anyway.

Yesterday, Sawyer was admitted into the hospital.

He has leukemia. 

We are heartbroken 

Budding Artists

One cool thing about living in a metropolitan area?

Summer Camps!

This year Judson and Ansley

are spending a week in Art Camp.

Here are their creations for today.

They learned about shadows while creating a 

'forest' of birch trees in the winter.

They are having a great time!

The Fourth and More

We've been busy.

Not a lot of pictures, though.

We went bowling with our friends the Mobleys.

(No pics)

We had Cub Scout Rocket Day.

We hiked to the top of Stone Mountain

Free Slushies at Sonic!

Farmer Judson growing corn.

On the 4th it was rainy.

Many things: parades and fireworks were canceled.

NOT the Peachtree Road Race.

Judson and Randy have been training for this for months.

Here he is before the race.

Too bad you can't see the way cool design he has cut into his hair.

Here he is after.

(Just a few of  the 60K folks that ran with him)

I suspect this will be a new tradition (assuming they can get a number, since it is a lottery system)

If I'm not mistaken, Judson finished 47th out of 200+ 10 year olds.

(don't quote me on that.  Just know he did very well.)

Usually by this time each summer, I'm ready to start back to school.

Not this year.

We are having a great summer.

Not sure when we will start back.