403 + 299 Weeks

I can't believe it is Thursday again.  This past week feels like it was such a whirlwind.  We had two lovely beach trips to north Mollymook Beach.  The weather is definitely cooling down now, so we won't have many more beach swimming days ahead.  I didn't expect to be here for another winter - I thought we'd be in Port Macquarie by now.  We've taken the house off the market for the moment, so we are here indefinitely.  I am a little sad, but I do love our house, and of all the places in the world to be stuck, this is pretty lovely.

This week there was a homeschooling event held at a friend's house on the river in Nowra.  It was an absolutely beautiful location, and all of our homeschool friends were there, along with some new faces.  It was really wonderful having all of those kids together, different ages, different abilities, all playing together and helping each other.  The kids swam in the river despite some jellyfish, they made bread, did crafts, roasted apples in the fire, had a treasure hunt, and played freely with each other.  We are hoping for more of these days, as it was a really lovely time.

Carmie had a speech assessment this week, and it turns out she has quite a few issues with her speech and language.  She is very literal, not understanding sayings such as "my eyes are bigger than my stomach".  She also has a stutter and a whole bunch of things going on with her conversational speech.  This is all part of a bigger assessment, but it does look like she will need a bit of speech therapy going forward.

Arley is still Arley - he likes to shout a lot and be antagonistic.  One of his therapists today told me that it just might be his personality!  He has taken to drawing a lot, as has Carmie, and it is really nice because it offers me some peace and quiet.  I have had to organise my trip, which will happen on April 10th to 16th.  I can't quite believe I'll be taking off on my own for six days.  It is rather stressful, but also quite exciting :)

Mollymook Beach

 Iceblocks at the harbour with Dad

 Day with our homeschool friends

402 + 298 Weeks

It has been a good week, of course with the usual intermittent shouting and arguing from Arley.  These last few days he has been really good, and the kids have been getting along quite well, which sure does make things easier.  Carmie had her hair chopped off this week.  We have continually cut her hair shorter and shorter, but we were still dealing with 20 minutes of tears every morning while I brushed her hair, because of her ultra-sensitive head.  It was always an argument to get her to brush it herself, and then last week, she actually became nauseous from the pain of me brushing out the tangles.  So, we decided to go short, and I tell you what, we love it.  She loves it, I love it, Jeff loves it, she is getting tons of complements, and more importantly, it takes about 30 seconds to brush, and there are no tears!  We should have done it long ago.  Her long hair was beautiful, but she can go long again when she is older and can handle it better.

We went on a family trail ride on Saturday.  Jeffrey SO didn't want to go.  He hadn't ridden a horse since before he could remember, and he kept saying he was just going to drop us off, that his back hurt, did he really have to...Yes, he did have to!  And low and behold, it was so fun.  Jeff was on a really large horse, but he handled it well.  The kids had a little time racing each other ahead, my horse took up the rear.  We rode through the national park and back to the farm, and it was so much fun...that is until the end when poor Arley fell off his horse!  His horse had stalled as we were near the stables, and my horse walked up behind and stalled too.  Then my horse pecked his horse on the butt, his horse jumped and ran, and down Arley went, right onto his head.  Before I knew it, Arley's riding instructor was at his side checking him over.  He was crying and very shaken, but ok.  He ran away and got really angry, but I managed to get him and we coerced him back onto his horse, and his instructor lead him around the farm again.  It was a bad ending to such a lovely morning.  However, since then, Arley has had another lesson and he got back on Rocky like a champ, so all is well.

We met my friend Svenja and her son Finn for a play at Narrawallee park.  And I also invited over to our house a little boy called Ben and his mother, as I wanted our boys to meet because I heard Ben is five and will be homeschooling next year.  Arley and Ben were slow to warm up to each other, but after a few hours they seemed to gel and played on their own while us mums had a chat and got to know each other.  It turned out to be a really lovely morning and I think Arley has a new friend :)

We've also had iceblocks at the harbour, plays in the neighbourhood park, softball in the cul de sac, big swims at the pool, occupational therapy, Japanese class and play with friends.  Really busy, despite the rain.  We had a few days indoors, and during that time I got the family room, essentially our 'school' room, organised.  And remarkably, this has completely transformed the kids!  This week they have made jewellery, made me colouring books, studied their nature table, started spelling and writing books, and they've been drawing a lot.  It seems an uncluttered room really does un-clutter minds!

So yes, it's been a good week.  Next week we get busy starting with Carmie's assessment.  She is going to a speech therapist for her first assessment.  And then next month, she starts seeing the psychologist.  Today our OT had a chat with me about her dyspraxia, and it really explains a lot.  We shall see what this assessment reveals...fingers crossed there's nothing to worry about.

Park play at Narrawallee

 New hair cut :)

 Famiy trail ride

401 + 297 Weeks

It has been a big week, with a few downs but mostly ups.  On Friday we met the kids' friend Aska and his Mum at Narrawallee Inlet for a paddle.  It was beautiful there, and for the most part, we had the place to ourselves.  Carmie and Aska are getting along really well, but poor little Arley felt a little excluded.  He has been very sad lately about not having many friends.  Jemma has moved away, and he is really feeling her loss, and his other buddies all started school this year so he is feeling quite lonely.  In an effort to remedy this, the kids tried out after school care on Friday afternoon.  It is held at Ulladulla Public School, and run by three teachers.  I didn't like it much, it was very authoritarian and very schooly.  Sadly I didn't put the kids in closed-toe shoes, so they were unable to participate in the sports activity.  When the school kids had to do their homework, Carmie and Arley sat and read.  The teachers were astounded, literally open-mouthed when they saw what the kids were reading.  One teacher sat and had a conversation with me about how I 'do it', as in, how do I get them to love reading.  She told me that all of the kids in there thought reading was a chore and she had to force them to do it.  Another teacher came up and told me that all of the homeschoolers she had met were a different breed, and told me that she would definitely be homeschooling hers when it came to it.  Anyway, the kids in there were certainly different from my two.  They have decided to go back and try it again, because they want to do the sports activity.  I'm not sure how long this will last, but it means I'll get a few hours to myself on Friday afternoons.  Also, one of the teachers told me about a lady who teaches Steiner here, who has a five year old boy whom she is homeschooling next year.  So, I have tracked her down and we have arranged a playdate for our boys on Tuesday of next week.  I'm really happy to have found a potential friend for Arley.

On Saturday we took a spontaneous trip up to Kiama on the train.  It was a nice cool day and perfect for an outing.  We took the kids to a couple of parks there, took them for the obligatory ice-cream, and then did the walk up to the lighthouse and the blowhole.  After that we had dinner at the pub, and caught the train home, all with no dramas!  We realised it's all about bringing the kids' kindles with them.  Whenever they needed down-time, they read their books.  I usually do this for short outings, but it worked so well for an all-day trip.  It turned out to be a great day.

Sunday was hot and beautiful so we took the kids to Mollymook Beach, the north end.  It wasn't very crowded and the water was beautiful, although once again, too cold for me.  The kids had a great play in the ocean and made up a game together.  They have been playing together a lot more lately; our play therapy seems to be working.

We also had the care worker Wes come over to play with the kids again.  They love having him here, and I do too, as I get two hours to work.  Arley is now playing alone a lot more.  Our lounge room is permanently littered with toys, but he is really making big breakthroughs, playing like he should have been two years ago.

I took Carmie up to the paediatrician in Nowra on Tuesday, to start an assessment on her.  We are just trying to rule things out, because she gets very overwhelmed easily and there are a few other things going on.  It's going to be a long process, as I have to find her both a speech therapist and a psychologist, but at least I've got the ball rolling.

The kids are still doing brilliantly at horse riding.  Carmie is cantering like a champ, and started learning to jump.  Arley has a much better handle on the horse now, but is still getting the hang of trotting.  They absolutely love it, and I have organised a family trail ride this weekend with their horse riding instructor.  Hopefully it won't get rained out, the forecast isn't good.  Today it felt like summer is officially over, it was freezing!

Narrawallee Inlet with Aska

 Feeding the chickens at after school care

 On the train to Kiama

 Mollymook Beach

 And Carmie starts to learn to jump :)

 Carmie & Rocky

 Arley's outrageously beautiful portrait of me.