Liam's Thoughts....

"Daddy, where is Mommy?"  asks Liam.
"She's not here, she's out walking."  replies Barry.
"Ohhh, does that mean you're in charge?"    
We'll I guess we know who he thinks runs this house. 


A few weeks ago, as Delaney, Liam and I were in the car, out and about  to shop for a few groceries, he says, full of love and happiness....."Mom, you're the best mom in the world.  Daddy gets the money and you spend it!"    Well...we know who spends all the money too.

Soo so, cute...that little guy sure is growing up. He's working hard to keep up with his chores and morning responsibilities(making his bed).  He's starting to write letters, M and L, mostly.  He'll cut cubes of paper and write letters on them and hide them throughout the house.  I guess he's playing a game because when I found one and threw it away, he got a mite upset with me.   Today, while Barry and I were out in the muggy--a bit to warm, but not yet hot.-- heat, working in the garden, who should come bearing two glasses of water...but my sweet Liam.   I asked him to get some sun screen so could put it on Brianne--he did, and began  applied some to himselftoo.  Then he saw that my leg was getting sun, so he put some on for me, so thick, that I think he used 1/2 the bottle just on my leg alone!  He kept telling me, "Mommy, I don't want you to get a sunburn either."
Oh how thoughtful.  What a treasure he is.  I sure love that little guy. 

LDSHE Homschool Conference

We again attended the LDSHE home school conference this year.  Ryan joined Connor and I this year, and we had a good time.  Held in Fredricksburg, VA, we traveled through some beautiful rolling hills country, passed many old and new farms that were amazing to see, along with three civil war history sites.  Connor is planning to have his father take him and Ryan to this area again.
       I wasn't  as thrilled with the conference location....I mean who can beat a beach location? But we enjoyed being together, just me and my boys.  Usually, I come home from these on a spiritual high. While this didn't happen, and I was beginning to regret spending all that money,  I realized as I ponder on some of the things I learned I truly am thankful I was able to attend.  I learned that  I'm a right brained thinker....who knew?!  I always thought of myself as a left brain thinker.  With this knowledge, I'm reorganizing the way I plan time, stuff and all that's in my wee little brain.

    I also gained some more ideas on how to teach writing and history this year.  I had a wonderful conversation with another mother of children of various disabilities...some of which we have in our family too.  She taught a class on working with kids and I now have quite an arsenal of ideas to implement and try, especially for Brianne.

   Apparently, the boys enjoyed the food most of all .....true teenagers...it's all about food!!   We hit a grocery store in Waynesboro that deeply discounts food items for various reason, so we did get some yummy food that we don't normally eat.  We at out  at Five Guys, Burger and Fries for dinner one night...and then there's the donuts that Connor will tell you about...MMmmmmm

Connor's thoughts---Oh, where to begin. To start with, the absolute best thing about the trip was the food. Talking about the above picture, that's actually the second time I had ever eaten donuts from Krispy Kreme. The first time, I was only four (possibly younger) and therefore, barely remember the occasion. In addition, I got a new game called Metroid Prime Hunters. In addition, I got lots of time to read.  What did I read? In Search of Schrodinger Cat, Quantum Physics and reality. I'd better say something about the conference. They had two comedians there who were completely hilarious. Other than that, I gotta say, it wasn't nearly as good as last year.

Ryan's thoughts--- I guess what I have to say about the conference is that is was somewhat good. A few of the classes were interesting like the computer programing class. I was able to talk to all kinds of other kids who liked some of the same things I do. I talked a lot to a kid who was really good at doodling. I also like the food that we got to eat. I also got several new video games like Connor did and I too, read a lot. That is about all I have to say.

May's presentation group gathering...the final one for this school year

Our last presentation group meeting for the year....Delaney and Liam did a report on frogs.  "F" became our letter of the week and we learned about the life cycle of frogs.

He was quite proud of his hand puppet frog....he cut and pasted most everything by himself.

Krystal Mattson's presentation was a readers theather....it was funny how the most difficult reading parts ended up going to Amber and Liam, the youngest of the group!

Cailin claimed that she didn't want to do a presentation this month...yet, the day before the presentation day, she and Ryan walked to Pulaski Library, and she proceeded to research all she could on the lynx cat.  She came up with wonderful information and that has morphed into a desired to research more on other animals...and that has morphed into a new blog of her's.  On this blog she writes all about the different animals she's learned about.

The beginnings of Frog-Eyed Salad.....Mmmmmm one of our favorite treats!  This is what we shared at snack time with the others.





Connor didn't present this week, as he, Ryan and Barry were off on a mowing day!! :)

A history wrap-up

I haven't been posting much on our history and math day at the Mattson's on Monday's.  Well today was the last day for this year so here's a warp up of the past month or so....

Tudor England....we discussed England's monarch reign of the Tudor family, notably Henry the III- Henry the VIII, Queen Mary (Bloody Mary), Mary Queen of Scots,  and Queen Elizabeth (Good Queen Bess.)  What a family!  Thankfully not mine!

We learned that during the time of Queen Elizabeth (this was the time of Shakespeare), that many buildings were built in the shape of an "E".  This created two courtyards for gardens and lawns.  A favorite passtime was to play lawn bowling.  We too, played some lawn bowling.  A ball was thrown out for the target--ours was the small yellow ball in the picture.  Then the players each had a turn to roll their own ball towards the target ball.  The closest one to the target wins.  The owner of the basketball won this time.

Delaney takeing her turn playing the game.

Math time!!  During math time Liam, Amber and I work on learning letters and the sounds they make and have fun playing math games. 

Explorers of the New World....  For two weeks we spent some time on the explorers of North and South America.  Cartier, Champlange, Hudson, Vespucci, Columbus, Dias, Coronado,    We learned that many of them honed their map making skills and drew maps of all the lands they traveled.   Here's Liam with his treasure...a beautiful rock!

We gave the kids each their own book to make maps and write details about the flora, fauna and anything else they may discover in their new-found-land....below, you'll see Connor's map of the yard.

The People of the New World....The Aztecs, Incas and Mayans.    We know the real history of this wonderful new world....just read the Book of Mormon to get the full deal.  But we had fun reading and listening about the cultures that developed after the great wars between the Lamanites and Nephities, the Jaredites  
We created paper masks of Jaguars, vaguely similar to the ones that were worn by the Aztecs warriors. 

Although Ryan didn't join in the creating fun of crafts, he did often join us for the day.  He just went off to read about his history lessons or work on his math.  Many time I would drop him off at the libray.  He really enjoys spending time there.. I think it's because he doens't want to have to share the computer time with his siblings.

Painting her jaguar mask.

We especially enjoyed learning about their discovery of the caco beans and the development of chocolate.....Mmmmmm oh so yummy!

 The Reformation and Counter-Reformation    We listen, talked and learned about Martin Luther and his 95 Thesis and some of the others (Zwingli, Calvin, Wycliff and others)  that followed in his foot steps in challenging the Church and Pope about the doctrines they were teaching.  We learned that this all came about when Gutenberg developed the printing press and made it possible for the Bible to be available to the common people, thus reading for themselves the word of God and not having to rely on the church leaders to tell them what it said.  We also talked about how important this step in history was for the restoration of God's church to be brought back to the earth.  These great men of the Reformation were valiant servants of our Heavenly Father.  For our activity we tried our hand at potato printing.

getting to know my cousins

The younger kids and I took off for a few day so they could get to know their cousins.  What we discovered is that those two cute little boys adore and love the attention of their older cousin Delaney....and she loved the adoration of them too.  She was so sad when we had to leave....even now, two weeks later she asks when we can go back and see them.  It was a great boost to her "stuck in the middle of many kids" life.  She was top dog for a few days, she loved that too....getting to go to bed later than the others...and get a few extra yummy treats when the younger ones went down.

Feeding the boys their mid morning bottles.

Delaney is beginning to develop some confidence in reading and the boys....along with Brianne and Liam enjoyed listening to her read to them.

Playing outside is a great way to spend the day too...we enjoyed taking walks and they liked crawling around on the patio and grass.

I was concerned, with Brianne, just having her surgery two weeks before and being so clingy to me, that this trip wouldn't fair well....but all went well and she too liked playing with her cousins.  I tried to get her to follow their lead in learning how to crawl down the stairs.  She sits precariously on the edge of the steps wanting to go down.

We had a great time and really love our cousins too!

Tonsils..... you're outa here!

Last fall, in October Brianne got strep...and again in November....and December....and January...and so on until  she had it twice in April. Ever the sweet girl, she never showed any pain or anguish from it.  I only knew because of a rash that would appear on her bum...and if I didn't notice it soon enough, it would creep up her torso.  The first time she got it I tried every sort of cream and diaper rash remedy I could think of to get rid of her red blotchy rash...until I finally told her doctor, who recognized it immediately  as a strep rash.
    During this time we were meeting with her ENT for possibly putting ear tubes back in (they had fallen out and she was again having hearing problems (or was it selective listening?  Probably both :)  ...and I mentioned that she had strep twice now (this was in November).  Well, he wanted to keep an eye on it, plus,  wasn't fond of taking her tonsils out because she was so young....so he had us come back....again and again and again, just to keep an eye on her.  Finally, after a sleep study (to see what her oxygen saturation rate was at night--so-so at 92), and an X-ray of her neck (precautionary procedure for a child with Down Syndrome), he finally determined that this girl need to get those tonsils out!  (4/17)
   Six days later, 4/23 (wow! that was a quick turn around time from appointment to surgery) she and I arrived early in the morning and she had an tonsillectomy, partial adenoids removed and ear tubes put back in ( and yes, there was fluid in the ear canal...and yes, she's listening much better....she will turn and respond to me when I call her name.)
   Her doctor,  Dr. Aaron Prussin, (by the way he's wonderful!), told me often that she would probably need to stay overnight because of her past issues with oxygen and her Down Syndrome.  I kept praying and hoping for the best.  Later, her anesthesiologist told me, that he too, will probably want her to stay, I resigned myself to the fact that this wouldn't be a one day-in the hospital--affair.  However,  by three o'clock, Dr. Prussin came in and said that he just couldn't see and medical reason to keep her over night, she had done remarkably well....her O2 rates were up and she tolerated the pain med's well.
   I was thrilled.  He was still nervous about letting us go, but I assured him that I still had a pulse oyx machine to monitor her oxygen rates.  That bit of information visibly gave him relief and he let us go home.  Yeah!
    Eleven days later, I returned to his office for a follow up.  When he came in the office to see her, he said "I was sure I would have to admit her later that day...she's done remarkably well with this surgery."  It didn't occur to me until then that the blessing her daddy gave her, early in the morning before we left for the hospital was so beneficial to her recovery.  She was blessed that all would go well.  Dr. Prussin is a favorite among other parents of kids with Down Syndrome, Brianne isn't his first patient with DS.  He's performed surgery multiple times....and I'd bet that those little cuties did have to stay over night.  Which explains why he was so surprised that Brianne didn't.  I don't know this for sure, but I do know that a loving Heavenly Father helped his little daughter Brianne (Barry and I too), so that she didn't have to stay overnight.  I once again had my faith strenghtened and testimony reconfirmed of the love Heavenly Father has for us, how he is mindful of our needs, concerns, wants and desires.  It wouldn't have been horrible if she had to stay, but it would have been hard for our family--especially the other two younger ones, as they were rather emotional and needy themselves.
   She had a bit of a hard recovery.  She was extremely cranky, picky and persnickety with anyone, but me, holding her.  I was all she wanted or needed in her life at that moment.  After about 10-12 days of feeling crummy...she woke up happy and wanted others around her again.  Yeah!  I love my daughter, but I was quickly tiring of having a very heavy appendage--33 pounds to be exact!-- stuck to my hip!!   A friend of mine told me that she and her husband remind each other of an old Indian saying...."All's well that ends well, if it's not well....then it's not the end!"   And that has proved well for this episode in our lives.    All is well once again in our home...I have a happy, strep free toddler and I can put her down or into the arms of her daddy--which he's quite happy with too!

Called to Serve

 I'm so excited, proud and thrilled for my parents newest and grand adventure in life.  They are off to Cape Hope, South Africa to serve a full time mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   They have survived raising seven crazy...ahem, I mean wonderful kids...and they still have enough energy and stamina to help others find joy in this wonderful life through learning of Jesus Christ and his plan of happiness.

 They have spent the past week training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  Here they are with their fellow district senior missionaries.  In all, there were 37 senior couples total embarking this past week on their missions.

Saturday was their P Day, and they got the chance to go to the Provo temple.  They had a wonderful time learning to listen to the spirit and how to better share the gospel  with others....and now they are off.  Right now, I hear a plane flying over head, I wonder if they are in that plane on their way to London, England...and then a bit of a layover...and then they're off once again...final destination--Cape Hope, South Africa!