inside-the-teenage-brain

  
I found this wonderful article on the teen brain. It is a real education in understanding 'why'?

Boundry Training of Children

Greetings to you with hopes that you are enjoying a pleasant day.

Days here are full of many lessons. When you teach your children it is often you who learn the lessons. The kids are kids with hearts needful to be taught where they begin and end. I am reading and implementing Boundaries For Kids by Cloud. It is a core character development study. With boundaries we can thrive to become quality adults full of love in action. I was raised with few examples of boundary. When they were taught often it was a imposed rigidity that was way too far over to the swing of abuse.
Without boundaries a life is left with these types of difficulties;

• Inability to say no to hurtful people or set limits on hurtful behavior from others
• Inability to say no to their own destructive impulses
• Inability to hear no from others and respect their limits
• Inability to delay gratifications and accomplish goals and tasks
• Struggles with intimacy and maintaining closeness with others
• Inability to be honest with those they are close to
• Inability to confront others and resolve conflicts productively
• Experiencing life as a victim instead of living it purposefully with a feeling of self-control
• Addictions and compulsions
• Disorganization and lack of follow through

As you can imagine it is a time that love has to be pulled up from my toes. Patience is stretched so far as to make every effort to overcome my lack of training. I must teach myself boundaries as I implement them into my children's lives. Parenting must be intentional if we are to change.
These questions must be asked

• How do I teach boundaries to children
• How do I enforce my own boundaries with my children in appropriate ways?
• How can I ensure that my children will not have the problems with boundaries that I have had?

This is the beginning of my study on intentionally teaching my kids to have sound boundaries. A foundation has been poured many stones set as our kids are partly grown now the building not only needs repair, it needs major improvements.

What better gift to the world than to offer children intentionally raised to be healthy adults able to practice where they begin and end.

Childhood in a flash a young lady

It is a wonderful cloudy day .

Along with the sunshine hiding behind the clouds is the passing of the summer desert heat. It will be a long time coming and with much delight brisk air will kiss my cheeks every morning as I drive Dove to Jr High. She is so beautiful now. Donning high heals for the first time my little girl begins her journey into becoming woman. Lady I tell her for any girl can become a woman but to become a lady is the goal.

 Today she has these shoes on, the black color block ones. They fit her! Well almost with a little wedge at the heal and a pad under her toes. The years a flash and a blur and after you wipe the fog from you eyes she is grown into a beautiful young lady.

Sometimes being a lady in a world of men and women is a hard thing. Boys and girls will make it a challenge too. Lady is a term of character to me. It is a supreme complement to a girl young or old. Seasons pass and the little girl in heals becomes a "lady" in training. Training began so long ago when toys and mommy's shoes were play things.

 

 Thanksgiving Day

The absence of kindness, when children believe a lie.

Being missing in action has left a tole on my family. Warm meals and clean sheets may not sound like much but it makes a real difference. Kindness in its absence leaves for survival. Yes as all who have said were right "they will get through it", but it took a tole here. My kids missed edification and the luxurious lifestyle of moms gifts of kindness. The clean, warm kindnesses offered by a present mother.
In the absence of kindness irritability grows, self sufficiency can become resented. It is now for me to heal the edges of resentment with patience that honestly I have not been able yet to pull up. Being worn out before 10 a.m.is left me discouraged. Using as many tools as I can with Dash has left me to tears. He is with me 24/7, Dove is at Jr High.
Special needs kids have an extra layer to cover, to heal and peal back from my absence. Dealing with low self esteem left from an absence of being built up daily is a heroic challenge indeed. One I certainly feel ill equipped this morning to handle. Attachment Deficit Disorder is a hard special need to deal with. Dash being with me all day still needs to be at my hip constantly. I am not hardly able to go to the bathroom. I can sit here near him while he does his work and he is fine. Being so stressed I took to doing something about it. Here is what I have come up with that may help me this morning.
My son has hardened into a 'choice' to think he is a failure. Like an identity. We have done all we know to expose this as a lie, a choice to believe or not. We feel we may have failed him ourselves. For him to think of himself this way devastates me. It is based I think in the inability to accept that he is an imperfect human with an intolerably high IQ. It is not accepted by him if he does not do everything perfectly the first time. He is being taken to his knees in hopes all of this will help him find some humility and peace.
I really am taken into places of anger and frustration with him due to some poor parenting practices. Each kid is different to parent. Some kids are harder. This boy of mine is so amazing bur really stubborn. Being his home school coach is a full time job, it has left me wanting to be able to praise him more. He tosses any praise aside and disregards it. Lord I need wisdom and I need health for the strength to do this all better. It is so hard. I feel worn out at times not wanting to fight or yell at him ever again. So I will do my best to avoid the traps. I am a parent who has made mistakes and now I need to keep learning how to do it better. My habit of trying to encourage him when he is angry has to stop. He can not hear it and it just makes me escalate into frustration.

At the moment we have a honeymoon stage. Oh it is just so exhausting. I am not speaking with him as I am typing so he is now singing Christmas song and talking well chattering with the dog. As his coach with school I have to work so hard to praise as I correct. Hard work.

1. Don’t yell or challenge your child when he’s angry.

Many times parents deal with angry outbursts by challenging their kids and yelling back. But this will just increase your feeling of being out of control. The best thing you can do is remain calm in a crisis. Think of it this way: Even if you get into a car accident and the other driver jumps out and is furious at you, if you can remain calm, they will probably start to relax and be reasonable. But if you come back at them with an aggressive response, and say, “What are you talking about, that was your fault,” the tension just stays at that heightened place. So don’t challenge your child when he’s angry—that’s just like throwing a match onto a pile of firecrackers. Just wait until he calms down.

2. Don’t try to reason with your child when he’s in the middle of a tantrum, tirade or angry outburst. ME!

Many parents I talk to fall back on logic when their kids are angry. After all, as adults, we reason through things to defuse tense situations. This is always a challenge with kids because they don’t have the same capacity to stop and reason like we do. So when you’re dealing with your angry child, you have to leave that verbal place where you feel pretty comfortable and use different techniques. Saying, “Why are you mad at me? You were the one who forgot your homework at school,” will only make your child angrier. Instead, wait until he calms down and then talk it through later.

3. Pay attention to your physical reactions.

It’s important to watch your physical reactions because your senses will tell you “Yikes, I’m in the presence of somebody who is very upset.” You’ll feel your heart start beating faster because your adrenaline will be heightened. Even though it’s difficult, the trick is to act against that in some way and try to stay calm. Remember, you’re lending your children your strength in these moments; you’re showing them how to handle anger.  By staying calm, you’re not challenging your child by yelling back and engaging in a power struggle; this only escalates the tension. And paying attention to your own reactions will also help your child pay attention to himself because he won’t need to worry about you or your emotions. When you don’t respond calmly, your child will work even harder at his tantrum to try to get you to pay attention.  So you really have to tap into some solid parenting skills to handle the outburst quickly and effectively.

4. Don’t get physical with your child.

Sometimes on the Parental Support Line we hear from parents who have lost it and gotten physical with their kids. I took a call from a dad whose teenage son mouthed off to his mom, and the father shoved him. The fight escalated. The son would not speak to his father because he felt his dad should apologize to him; the father, on the other hand, felt that his son caused the problem and worried that his authority would diminish if he apologized. I advised him to say, “I lost control and it was wrong for me to shove you. I apologize.” That’s it; end of story. You don’t go into your child’s role in that situation at all because it is an attempt to place the blame on someone else for your actions. Rather, you want to teach your child how to take responsibility and make a genuine apology. Don’t worry—you will have other opportunities to work with your child around being mouthy or defiant. But it’s important to be a good role model and address your role in the fight going south. Remember, if you get physical with your child, among other things, you’re just teaching him to solve his problems with aggression.

5. Take a different approach with younger kids.

If your small child (eighteen months to age four) is in the midst of a temper tantrum, you want to move ever so slightly away from him, but don’t isolate him completely. When small kids are upset, you want to help them to start to learn that they can have a role in calming themselves down. You can say, “I wish I could help you calm yourself down. Maybe you can lie on the couch for a little bit.” So have them calm down until they feel in control. By doing that you’re asking them to pay attention to themselves. So instead of, “You have to sit there for ten minutes by yourself,” it’s more of, “When you feel better and you’re not upset anymore, you can come on out and join us.” You can also give them a choice. You can say, “Do you need time to go into your room and get it together?” Again, don’t challenge them when they’re in that mode.

6. Don’t freeze up.  

Some parents freeze up when their kids throw tantrums or start screaming at them. The parent is emotionally overwhelmed and becomes paralyzed with indecision or gives in to the child. If you’re this type of person, you may find that sometimes your child will get angry on purpose to engage you; they’ll bait you by throwing a fit or saying something rude, because they know that this will cause you to give in. So your job is to not take the bait—don’t get angry, and don’t give in.

I think parents sometimes have a tendency to renegotiate with their child in these situations. Often, they’re having a hard time managing their own emotions and so they don’t know how to coach their child properly in that moment. But remember, if you give in and renegotiate, even every once in a while, you’re teaching your child that it’s worth it to act out.  Instead, let them calm down and try to coach them to use their problem-solving skills later. In my opinion, once you start doing that, you’re not passive. You are making a conscious choice to not get into an argument. You’re saying, “I’m not going to renegotiate; I’m going to be calm.” Although it may not seem like it on the surface, all of those choices are actions—you are making a choice not to give in.

7. Give consequences for the bad behavior, not for the anger.

When your child throws a tantrum, starts screaming and really loses it, make sure you give him consequences based on his behavior and not on his emotions. For example, if your child calls you a foul name during his angry outburst, give him a consequence later for that infraction of the rules. But if all he does is stomp into his room and yell about how life isn’t fair, I would let that go. Kids get angry just like we do; they need to feel that they have a safe place to let off steam. As long as they’re not breaking any rules, I think you should allow them to have that time to be angry.

8. Don’t give overly harsh punishments.

Giving harsh punishments in the heat of the moment is a losing proposition. Here’s why: Let’s say your child is angry. He’s having a tantrum and shouting and screaming at you. You keep saying, “If you don’t get it together, I’m going to take away your Wii for a week. Okay now it’s two weeks. Now it’s a month…do you want to keep going?” But to your dismay, your child keeps escalating; the more you try to punish him in order to force him to stop and get control of himself, the worse he gets.

We have a name for that kind of discipline: It’s called “consequence stacking.” What’s really happening here is that the parent is losing emotional control. I understand that it is hard to tolerate it when your kid is upset—we don’t like it. But what you want to try to ask yourself is, “What do I want my child to learn?” And the answer might be, “I want him to learn how to not throw a fit every time he has to do something he doesn’t want to do. I want him to learn that when he gets upset, there’s an appropriate way to get out of it.” The worst thing you can do is join him and get upset yourself. Harsh punishments that seem never-ending to your child are not effective, and will only make him angrier in that moment.

9. Take a break.

On the Support Line, I’ll often ask parents who call about their child’s angry outbursts the following question: “When you and your spouse are mad at each other, what do you do to calm down?” Often, people will say they take a break and do something on their own for a little while until they can calm down and talk it through. This technique also works with your child, but parents often don’t think of it because they feel they should have control over their kids. But remember, when somebody is angry, you can’t reason with them and you can’t rush it. The bottom line is that if you stay there in that anger and keep engaging each other, it will not go away—it will just get bigger.  So take a break and come back and interact with each other later when everyone is calm.

10. Role model appropriate responses when you’re angry.

I also tell parents they should try to role model dealing with their own anger appropriately in front of their children. What are some good ways to do that? Say, “I’m getting frustrated—I’m going to take a break.” or “I can’t talk to you right now; I’m really upset so I’m going to wait until I’m calm. I’m going to come back and we’ll talk later.”

Admitting that you’re angry and you need some time to calm down is not a weakness; it takes a lot of strength to say these words out loud. Remember, you’re teaching the lesson of how to manage your anger, and that’s exactly what you want your child to learn.

 

Make your heart stop! sorta week

5/9 In the morning I had the privilege of working in Dash's class at the elementary for the first time all year. It was wonderful to hear the children calling my name and vising for the space to hug me. Really built up my heart.A painting demonstration in acrylics. My dear Rena, painted in an evening sky with stars. Wonderful deep issues of heart with children who opened up to be heard. Really awesome. While leaving a child approached me to carry my gear. It was perfect timing. I barley had the strength to do the rest of the afternoon.

5/10 loads of laundry and lots of cooking with prep time

5/11 Unexpected skate party for the school 6-8 p.m. Steve worked late so I took the kids. Had two/three extra that parents just dropped off... I could never imagine doing it. Talked to the mom who volunteered to keep an eye on our dog. Asked her about hearing that her daughter might have given Dove a boys email. Asked her if she knew of the boy. She was at a loss. She knew of NO kid who her daughter might of know. 

We went home Steve was there and he and I got right into the email. Read that for two days correspondence was going on. Thank God that Dove and I can talk. She showed me a picture of a boy in the morning. It sent up concern.

5/12 Pedophile scare to be explained needless to say it took a few years off my life.

We keep an eye on every email that comes into the kids and that goes out from them. Within two days of correspondence this all took place. We caught it the evening of the second day.

when I read an email 

"how dare you accuse me of doing that" sent from the friend. Outraged that I asked her mom/accused her of giving Dove the e-mail...(that was what Dove had told us) We panicked!

This is very involved.

To simplify all I can is to say this. 

A friend of Doves created a fake e-mail tricked her into responding to a pretend boy. She sent him her image! ( now daddy man hears me and disabled her Iphone from internet). This is the stuff kids kill themselves over. 

Dear Lord she even sent an image of herself! Yes we have trained her never to do so. That does not stop a kid from thinking that they know more than the parent.

Any way the last message was that "he saw her across the playground and was going to meet her the next day at 12:13 behind the cafeteria". We discovered it the night before. Read all the two days emails say that she had sent image. I was so ....angry to candy coat it!

Called the police (not knowing any of the above) several officers, investigators and child protection people got on board within minutes. All at 10:30 a.m. to catch this guy at noon. Steve researched it and the e-mail (server) was out of Arkansas. The last email from a cell phone! Panic!

The cops thought he even had discovered where we live.

They did a stake out on the school, when he did not show they came back here. We had Dove under the eye of all of the teachers and administrates at the elementary. With careful consideration and advice from the officers, I trusted that it was best not to bring her home. THAT WAS HARD!

All night I kept vigil, next morning the kids mother calls to say the kid came clean and told her what she had done. The posy was called off. The kid said she did it to teach Dove a lesson.

5/18 2:30 meeting...The school counselor is going to advise the counselor over at the Jr high of it. They need to do a real thing on cyber bulling. For that was really what it was.  She told me something I had not thought of. If the 'boy' that did not come was awaited on by Dove and then Dove humiliated by the whole school...this is what kids are killing themselves over. No Itouch internet! To easy for the immature to send images of them self. Thank GOD that the lesson was this simple. Dear God may this simple child of mine learn and understand how serious this was. We are not real sure she does. Scarey!

I was LIVID! I hate her being on line. Always have. This kid who did all this is more savvy than most adults and can manipulate the internet to her advantage. The smart ones learn it fast. Too much power for any kid.

The early teen years folks don't let them on line the developmental stage is just to tender to the matter of who likes who.
This woman has helped us so much with Dove over the last few years. She made sure Dove was set up for next year at the JR High.

5/13 Dealing with parents and police

Concerned for this family that they may be charged for all these man hours.

5/14 Steve changed all the hoses on the car. We went to a party in the evening, thus after having 6 kids in the house all morning. Two of them had slept over 

5/15 rested need I say more :)

5/16 Dash had his Arizona History play at 6 pm

5/17 My Dog had to go to the vet. He is alright.

5/18 With only one week left of school hear and Dash being unable to have 'mom' in his class all year I pulled up all I had to gift him with my presence. We had the Arizona presentation at a care facility for the elderly and in firmed. This after an a late bus in class with the kids for 45 minutes, an hour in the park playing then giving the lunch at 10:30 a.m.! A mix up in plans. Two teachers, 63-65 kids on ONE bus!, and me. It was horrid! Never have I witnessed kids being rabid animals! Truly I wish Dash would of been removed. I just did not understand how really bad it was. Our elementary absorbed another school and doubled this year.

I fell asleep at 3:15 and slept until 8:p.m. worn out. I even had to break up a physical altercation on the bus! In all my years working with kids...the teacher are just passively exhausted. Dash had become part of the problem. Needless to say he gave his teacher a written apology for his 'baby talk' in class. Humor gone a muck. Kids have to try to cope. The new kids had a choice in their minds bully or victim. Mercy! rough kids.

 At the care home.

The kids all had to be rest roomed so I had to entertain for 15 minutes. I had each elder share a special word of wisdom with the kids. It was AWESOME!

Discovered that the kids were being given snow cones (for the third day in a row!) Gee I wonder why they have been so crazy lately! Can you say dye!

45 minutes after we returned from the field trip I had the 504 meeting with the school counselor.

See above

Dove is doing GREAT! in school. With the exception of the above innocence and lack of recognition to danger...BIG EXCEPTION! 

For the last few weeks 

In the midst of all of the activity of late I have been studying Fung shui and interior design. Very interesting observance of nature. Really is not even a religion at all. So many things are so misunderstood in the fear of ignorance. So the house is getting very well organized and the process is really giving some wonderful results in the atmosphere of this home. Those terms Asian to me are now understood words not understood can sound so cultist or evil. We can all learn so much through sociology. Understanding WHY people do what they do has always fascinated me.

 Cool image of Dash handing out the programs for the play.

Made me wonder if that man will be passing soon :)

After

S/W in Living Room (earth)

S in Dining (fire)

After

East (Large Wood)

Studio S/ E (small wood)

Center (earth) / South (fire)

to the left

N/W (Large metal)

Entry NW/N

Water to the Left

Metal to the right

 The girl spoken of earlier...Her parents have inherited the largest awning company in the valley. He gifted us with these awnings last week for a third of the cost. He installed them for free. We are so thrilled with them. Any one who has supped at my dining room table in winter can attest to that. The sun no longer is blinding. The house should stay much cooler

 Speaking of cooler I was able to bring our cooling cost down $25 a month on the average monthly plan. That is every month. Hanging laundry on the line. Only using the elec during low peak hours.

 A moment of calm peace...

Well May Bell wanted it to stay that way

May Bell the great defender

:)

Dove is off to Science Camp

Packed

ready to walk out that door

wings stretched

mine and hers both

three days

two nights

trust

low risk

fly

under His wing

safe

knowing who you are

trusting who He is

excitement

expectation

anticipation

wonder

tales of adventure to come

science in the forest

of the forest

a gift of risk

a gift of trust

a place to land softly

a since of self successful

new

bold

beauty

of freedom in inches

growth in miles

traveled up to the forest

back to my arms

all the while we both are in HIS

Violin Recital

Last night Dash played at the school orchestra concert. He placed a photo of our beloved Rena on his violin. He played for her last night. He misses her so.

friday funnies

click to enlarge

"Dash did you throw those old shoes away like I asked?"

 I guess I should have rephrased that

 "I promise I won't ware them to school"
He was saving them in the tree. Oh yes he has real nice ones to use.

Ushers Threat

Please pray
Dash has lost hearing in his right ear it diminished all of a sudden. Steve took him to urgent care. No infection. A vision test shows decreased vision. Our hearts are pounding! It hits in late childhood early teen. He turned 10 two days ago.

Ushers is a syndrome that is 8th nerve involved. It has been on the back burner now for a while because his hearing had miraculously improved. Now all of a sudden he can not hear well out of his right ear.
Research said dizziness comes. He has complained of being dizzy, but he was playing in the yard.

I'll get him into the eye doc in the marrow if I can, and if I can drive.

If this has come upon him...deaf/blindness would just be devastating.

We feel like we are just going to loose it with all that has been happening. Goodness will prevail. Oh may this not be called of him, or us.

breath, breath...it will be alright. May this not be his battle to fight.

Love never fails.

We had Doves 13th adoption day this week. she is so beautiful. recently she has worked so very hard and turned a 'c' in math around to a 'b/b+' . We are so impressed that she took such great pride in her education.

this week I posted a post met with total silence. It has been removed. Sorta left me naked and alone to do so.

spending time in the front yard is so favored now. It is so beautiful. the whole of it is pristine. It feels like that little piece of the estate that is just mine to have clean and unadulterated. It is a thing of beauty. Sunflower seeds were planted two days ago. Now I wait for the knees to absorb yesterdays injections.

Annuals are due in moon phase between the 4-12 of March so once the knees stop the fuss I'll get out and plant some more flowers. I love my flowers. Once a dream was to live in the forest and walk the dirt roads tossing wild flower seeds. Like a legacy was the vision. So now they are here in my yard. A legacy left where I am. the forest is within my heart here where it is warm.

A wonderful gift appeared at my door today. My best friend! She spoke and as if a dream it was her. She and I seldom get to speak or visit. Her life is full with work and 5 kids, a stay at home husband, dog and a cat. She is a Jewel, a prized dear friend. One that a six month span can be as if just a day ago. People like that in my life hold me embrace me. It is a belonging to a whole.

My heart is silence of some recent events that have hurt me to the core. To the core. Silenced. We forgive and forebear. We breath in and out and do the best we are able to believe in humanity. To believe the best in humanity. No matter the wounds we must not let it defuse the compassion's we chose to set forth in our lives.

Sweet Dash got a really BIG HUGE lesson is tough love today. So much so that his birthday must be postponed to get the lesson across. Really tears me up to do what must be done. Love is that way you know it can just tear us up.

Love never fails though.

doves got the flu

we were in the ER last night
sweet kid
love your prayers for her please

Mommy stock rises!

Several of the girls in Doves grade had decided to throw one of the girls little sister a surprise party at the park.
Now I had no knowledge of this until Dove asked if she could go to the park. I had saw myself taking her to the park in a dream last night so I immediately said yes..
In a few minutes she received a call from a child I did not recognize so I listened in. The conversation was over a cake that need to be baked because one was ruined. It was then that I recieved the full story that Dove had forgotten to tell me about dure to the busy weekend.
The girl had made a cake that her step father had cut into unknowingly.
I met the girls at the park curb, fixed the cake and took them to the park. Oh did I score!
I am SO COOL! they said so.

I made my daughter proud.

field trips

We first went to the mineral musuem no photos were taken
 there however. We each had 8 kids to tend too. It was really fun. Steve had Dash and his buddies.

 My sweet son is in 4th grade. This is most likely the last year for field trips with him. Steve was able to take the morning off so we went together with the class. She only had one other parent so it was a wonderful thing for her.

 This is the historical original house of representatives.

 I just loved the old radiator. Things are just not made like this here.

 The upper gallery had all the portraits of the speaker of the house year after year.

 The kids are looking at the USS Arizona. It went down at Pearl Harbor. The start of WW2.

 These were items from the ship

At the state capital we were able to go over to see the legislative branch. The real one. No representatives were there however it was lunch time for them.

Thankful Thrusday

A yard full of children. 

Glee and giddy

bycicles in the park

pick up load home

boys so silly

Daughter the 'mom'

no greater presence than this

a yard full of happy children

play full of imagination

hollars and screams as they play

this is certainly a beautiful day

Parent teacher confrences

funny day today

This morning my darling patted me on the bum and greeted me into a new day. "time to get up babe"

You know I did not even hear the alarm over my CPCP machine. So up and at the tasks I stood, then bidding him on with his lunch in hand. The house was quiet so I sat in the silence and prayed. Read some in the book of Lamentations. Seamed to speak to me. After a time Dash came in and asked if Dad was up yet. Telling him he was off to work confused him. He went into his room coming to me to say that his clock was messed up.

So he and I sat and I read three Chapters of the Proverbs to "my son". As time passed I thought I had better get the day rolling. Well so strange for the morning just lingered on so sweet. It was then we realized something was amiss.

Later on in the morning the call coming in confirmed it.

Steve called me  "what happened!?" he asked. "I thought that something was just odd about the drive, I got here to work at 6a.m. a whole hour before expected". He had me check the alarm clock and it was set right where it always is. "strange"

Well the kids and I had realized it was an odd morning.So they went off to school.

Steve had a day to work that would end just an hour earlier, JUST IN TIME TO MEET ME at the school to attend both of the kids parent teacher conferences. Now I was concerned of attending for my immunity is low with the infusion due on Saturday. I had spoke to God about it too. Even asked God to help me submit to Steve's leadership. HA! He woke me up.

HA! funny God.

We sat outside for Dash has over 30 to one ratio in a small class room. NO WAY should I go into that rat hole of a germ den.

We had wonderful reports for each kid. All A's and B's for each. Very good reports of behavior and character. Felt real nice to know that they are flourishing at school.

We learned a little tidy bit, Dash's teacher is turning 35 this year.

SHE WAS ONLY 5 years old 

when Steve and I got married! 

Now that is an odd thing. The sweetest thing however. She is not yet married and desires kids. She said "I realized that it does not matter, for you two have made me understand by watching you and teaching both of your children that I will adopt."

So we figured it out that perhaps it was the CPCP he heard. The alarm is an ocean sound used for many many years. We dislike the abrupt beep or buzz of other clocks.

Dash taught me how to play CHESS tonight.He is really working on writing v printing. He really likes it better. If I could just get him to do the home school books on it. Dove is the best writer of any kid in any of the grades she has been in.

Dove is sweet and going into her own. She lost her bedroom door yesterday. No more teenage door slamming here. :) She is really handling it well, very contrite. Steve came down on her for poor treatment of me. It was awesome that he loves us both so much.

She wants to be called 

Water Wolf

She will most likely have some life about the ocean the kid loves the water. We live so far away from any, but oh the kid loves it. A water wolf I have learned is a name for a type of fish I think it was a large cod. She she sees herself a blue wolf born of the water. Beautiful image I think. I love wolves. To me they are holy and remind me of the long train ride from Moscow to St Petersburg through the black forest of Russia. She will be doing a three month geography study using Russia as her topic of country.

Dove is doing Chorus this term I am thrilled and eager to see her performance.

Dash was just elected today to do another term of Student Council.

so if your husband taps you on the bum and tells you to wake up and start the day...trust that God is in his direction.

Funny that. Steve got to go to the kids conferences. This is the man who hates to get out of the warm covers. It was totally wonderful having the time to read Proverbs to my son.

100 things I like about you for your child

Yesterday while thinking of all the things that leave me concerned about my daughter/son it dawned on me that my focus had become rather negative.
So early Friday morning began in prayer for the kids. At #24 for Dove the school morning was to be managed and the list set aside.
It was however a wonderful beginning of an exercise in Love. What matters most is how we see our self. So it is new eyes that the kids need to look into the reflection of who they are. I must be a mirror for them.
This on going list will keep me in the mind of knowing who they are so that raising them in the direction of who they might become, talents, interest and skill sets. It made a wonderful difference in the morning. The way I saw my daughter was so much more fond. She is a teenager right now. Some mornings reminding yourself that she is not her hormones or irritability is a must. It is so hard for her. Teenagers have such a hard time with all of the developmental phases they have to go through. Sure miss her.
It is my hope to copy the list and give it to her.
Then to make one for Dash.
Perhaps one for my husband too.

Little dove got pierced ears

 Last week I took Dove, when she was ready, to get her ears pierced.

She watched a child get her ears done the day before.
We gave her choice over it and today was the day after all these years.

So her and I took a mom/daughter day.

She is so grown up.

Bed time reading for the sharp minded child

Hello
This is a new type of post for me for I am adding some hot links to items that might be refered to in my normal posts. When they are clicked on it is my hopes that I might be able to better assist my family with a little income as well. I will not add these links if I do not feel good about what the content is.

Now I understand my friends that I am in a learning curve so please forgive any errors on my part as I learn the process.

Any way, Dash is not a child to be board at bedtime with stories that do not feed his imagination. You must also know that the Daddy man has read to our kids from day one. EVERY night with Dad now it is going on 10 years. Daddy Man has a gift of character drama in his story telling How I wish you could hear it. 

Well yesterday a book of great volume sat on the table in the foyer. It was 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'. The other day while watching an old episode of Star Trek it peaked interest for even good old Captain John Luke enjoyed the simulator of such. 

Amazon is a good place to find a copy of it.

click on image