Granny's Latest Digs

For the past 4 years, my grandmother (the one who turned 100 in February) has been living with my folks at their house.  However, on their recent trip overseas, Granny moved into an assisted living facility that is some distance away from us, and is close to Mom's youngest brother.  I know there are many of our church family who would like to see where Granny is living now, along with some family-family, so I'm going to post a bunch of pictures to that end.

For now, Granny is going to stay put, as it were, since this is such a nice place.  Everyone involved takes decisions one at a time, and there is nothing saying that she will be there forever.  Nothing saying that she won't.  However, this was our first chance to go see her, since it is a 10 hour round trip by car.  Really, it's a 13 hour round trip, because with kids, you have to stop at least once on the way.  But, the kids, my mom and I made the journey this week (left early Tuesday, came back late on Wednesday) so that we could see her and see where she was living.  I'll admit that it was a tough trip to get so little visiting time.  But, we'll know what is involved next time we go, and we'll plan accordingly.
 




Anyway!  Here is a picture of the front of the home.  Nice big porch with plenty of comfy rocking chairs.  Make no mistake, there are plenty of hens out there in the afternoon jawing about life in general. 

This shows Mom and Tommy going in the front door. 

The second day we were there, we walked in that morning to see Granny in the common area at an exercise class!  The residents are by no means required to do this, but Granny is fairly affable when it comes to doing as she is "told" to do, so she just goes and does what she can from the wheelchair.  She can't hear (or see, for that matter) the teacher give the instructions, so she watches what her neighbors are doing, and then mimics them.


She does a great job!

This shows the entire dining room of the common area.  The residents all have their own table and place cards at their table.  The food smells so good when it's cooking, and it's served on real plates with real silverware, etc.  There is a lot of respect for the residents there.

The aforementioned common area also has a nice lounging area for the residents and guests.  I didn't get a good picture of it, but off to the left, you can see some open double doors to another interior room.  That is the library/game room.  They have a wall of books, and have some game tables out with a large checkerboard already set up.  And a closet full of board games.  Mom wishes there was a special Scrabble game that she could send for Granny.  Granny just can't see (or hear) well enough to play any more, and I don't think they make one that would accommodate her needs.







 


There is also a lovely piano in the common area that the kids found interesting and frustrating.  Interesting because it is a piano.  Frustrating, because Mommy wouldn't let them tickle the keys.  Tough life for them.

Those other double doors lead to a more private sitting area.  I'm not sure exactly what its specified purpose is, but I'm sure it's useful.



   

 




And, then, you'll also find all the mail baskets on the wall in the common area next to the front doors.







Here is a not-that-great picture of Granny's room.  She has the wonderful bay window that has two lovely trees right outside of it.  She is set up with her own furniture from her house, and Tommy has put a nice big t.v. in there so Granny can watch her Fox News.  (Mom and Dad sent her t.v. "ears" with her.  It's the only way she can hear the t.v.).


I'm standing in the hallway that holds an extra storage closet and a large private bathroom that is handicap accessible.  The employees who we met while we were there all seemed so nice and competent.  And even though they probably do more nursing with Granny than they do with most of the residents, they are kind and patient with her.  She might not normally be allowed in an assisted living home since she is pretty much wheelchair bound now.  But Tommy is friends with the director.  It's why Mom can stand to have Granny so far away.  There is one important thing (to me) that I noticed right away.  There is carpet everywhere.  In the common area.  In the dining room.  In the hallways.  In the rooms.  There is something about having carpet on a floor instead of cafeteria grade VCT type tiles.  It gives a warmth to the environment that keeps it from feeling medicinal and hospital'ish.
I appreciated that.  




 



Just before we left, they served lunch, and we got to see Granny with one of her dinner friends.  If I'm not mistaken, this lovely lady turns 100 this year also.  They put all the wisdom at the same table.  ;-)

 And then, we have a picture of the visitors.  I believe Poodle was still saying "cheese" and Tooter was expressing his dislike of the idea of taking a picture.  Joy.















All in all, it was a good visit to see a good place.  I like that she is in a nice place, but I dislike that she is so far away.  The trip is a long one without the kids, but with the kids, it's a Looooong one.  If you know what I mean.  We'll go back as often as we can.  I wish we could pick it up and move it closer to us.  I think she is happy.  She would be happiest if she could just go home - but that is something that just can't be done any more.  Unfortunately.




And, as an aside, we stayed at Tom and Kay's house while we were there.  He lives on Lake Martin and I thought I'd share a couple of views that he has from his kitchen table.  This is what they see as they drink their morning coffee.  The views, excuse my french, definitely do not suck.  :-D

As Fay Rains Down....

...I thought I'd share a few rainy weather pictures from earlier this month.  (A month, btw, that has been more rain-filled than usual.  Which is nice for August).

Our next door neighbor has a swale that runs from his backyard to the street.  It happens to be right next to our driveway.  So, after a good 2'ish day rain earlier this month, there was some good moving water there.  While Poodle just couldn't be bothered to come away from some random treasure map that she was drawing, I showed Tooter what happens when you drop a leaf into the little stream.  Oh, the joy!  He was king of the river!

Which, naturally, led to his claiming full dominion over the river and showing all who might question said dominion by planting his feet firmly in the swirling water.  Too bad he didn't have a flag.  (That was for Jmk).

Poodle came out later and was equally pleased with the coolness of sailing leaves down the running water.  She, however, fell victim to dead camera batteries and didn't get her experience saved for posterity.  But there was squealing and laughter.

We have kind, patient neighbors.  :-)

Update on Tooter

I've had some requests for an update on how Toot's doing with his speech et al, so let me see what I can organize in my head.

He is continuing to improve. There aren't any "ah ha" moments where he goes from zero to sixty, verbally. He tends to work on words/phrases very slowly. So when he finally gets around to saying things, it doesn't have the drama that saying a new word usually does. But, he is improving. I notice that he one of his "problems" is that he doesn't want to just say one word. Instead of just saying "pathta" to get some dry pasta to munch on, he'll try to say the whole sentence of "may I have some pathta please". While he can say all these words, prompted, if he tries them one at a time, when he tries to verbalize the entire sentence at once, it will come out something like: "meh da da da da pathta peeeeeeeeeeese". And sometimes, he gets so caught up in the jibberish of the sentence, he won't say anything clearly BUT the "peeeeeeeese". Which makes us have to get him to show us what he wants. Then we go thru the process of helping him say the correct sentence.

He had a progress update with his speech therapist a few weeks ago. He tested just barely inside the accepted range for his age for receptive language, and just below the accepted range for expressive language. Claire told us that one of the things that tripped him up on the expressive language part was saying things like "eat" when he should have said "eating".

Some of his words have noticeably improved. For example "mickey mouse" used to be "hah-caaaaah" not but a few months ago. Now, we hear requests for "mickeeeey mouse" on a regular basis. He is actually responding to those kids shows on Disney and ETV where they make efforts to engage the viewer. In other words, when Mickey asks "will you help us find the colors?", Toot will now say "yeth!" out loud, instead of just looking at the t.v. So that's definitely an improvement. And, he is able to play with Poodle a lot more easily these days. There is still frustration when she gives multiple directions for some complicated game of hers and he has no idea what is supposed to come next. But she has gotten used to dealing with his lack of communication and he has gotten better with working with her. So, that's nice to see.

I have discovered that when he gets to repeating the same thing over and over again, that it helps for me to make him repeat what I'm trying to say to him, one word at a time. It helps him to hear me. Or maybe it forces him to not tune me out. Not sure. For example, when he gets upset because I won't pick him up, I'll get him to repeat the sentence "Mommy. Will. Pick. Tooter. Up. When. Tooter. Quits. Crying." (one word at a time). It doesn't always make the crying stop, but you CAN see a wave of understanding cross his face.

And finally, while he's still below where he is "supposed" to be verbally for his age range, he is singing the alphabet song, knows all of his letters and their sounds, and loves to have someone write letters and numbers for him. (This "game" can go on for what seems like an eternity sometimes!) He still doesn't sit still for stories, and mostly likes books that require interaction on his part. But, when he is asked to be still for storytime, he was worked up to being able to sit for almost a minute before he starts getting fidgety and has to get up to do something else. He pretty much knows his shapes, and is getting better with his colors.

So, we're progressing. It's slow, and it's not "what Poodle did". But, then, he's not her. And he's not supposed to be. And every once in a while, I actually manage to remember that. :-)

Go Vote

If you haven't already received this email (I've gotten it probably 4 times already), MSNBC is running a poll regarding whether "In God We Trust" should or shouldn't be removed from our currency.

Here's the link.

Vote "NO" to show support of that historical wording. Almost 5 1/2 million people have already voted!

The Beauty of Friendship

I posted that last entry on Monday with much trepidation. Believe me - it's much easier to just share about the light and joyful and pretend that the roses are always blooming and the kids are always cute. And cooperative.

But it's not always like that, and even though we all KNOW this to be true, admitting it out loud almost feels like a failure. Which is perfectly ridiculous, but I never claimed to be completely rational. Yet, in spite of my shortcomings - numerous though they are - God has blessed me with some friends that are truly my life jackets. I got one email from a high school friend who commiserated by sharing this:

As women we have so many roles - wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend,housekeeper, trashlady, teacher............list goes on and on...........Iwas just saying to one of my coworkers this morning when do I get to be just"Eli" anymore???  I don't, I am too busy being too many things to  too manyother people, etc...................yet - why do I feel so alone?  And likeI don't have anyone to just pick up the phone and call? I don't know either.  I just keep trying.............everyday. 

Eli - thank you for that.  You summed up a lot in those few sentences.

Rebecca, thank you for letting me know that you have felt the same things.  I'll be praying for y'all's house to sell quickly too!

Mom, thank you for the good words about teaching.

SueSue, thank you for calling to tell me about the ballet class.  I needed to laugh with you! 

The greatest thing that happened yesterday was getting a call from a dear friend who lives too far away in Connecticut.  She barely finished reading the entry before she called me.  She quickly saw that it wasn't so much about schooling the kids as it was about other more pressing, and more difficult to explain, things.  And she talked with me, cried with me, I shared some problems that I was having, and she shared right back.  It was so good to be able to be in the boat with some one else.  To be able to cry and get it all out and know that I'm not alone and that if I don't learn how to cope with this stuff when it arises, I'm in for an unnecessarily tough journey.  I know that I should always be uplifted thru prayer.....  but when someone cries with you and for you - that catharsis is the answer to the almost unspoken three word prayer that Elaine Housley reminded me about.  "Lord, have mercy".

Boo, THANK YOU for taking the time to call me.  I wish I was as good of a friend to you as you are to me.  I want to do better.  You helped me turn a corner, and I appreciate it so much.  You are a gift to me - thank you for talking me off of the ledge!  I still need to play hooky one night, but I do promise that I'll take that ice cream break soon.  The weather didn't cooperate last night, unfortunately.

Emotional, sometimes irrational people we women can be.  But God sends blessings to us in the form of friends, and I hope that I don't forget this lesson that I learned yesterday.  KDBoo, you are a true gem.  A ruby.

Thank you all for the prayers, for the advice.  For understanding.  (CAB - we actually do have quiet/nap time here.  And, I am adamant about it.  But, for the past two weeks, I've been making a real attempt to exercise during that time.  So, I've felt like I haven't gotten a break, even though I have.  But, as it is with all things, it takes about a month to make something a habit or a routine.  Hopefully in a couple more weeks, nap/quiet time will go back to feeling like the break for me that it should be!)

And, now, something else that actually garnered a smile from me yesterday.

This is a neato combination of physics and art - in Japan.  You don't need sound to enjoy it, but it is nice to hear the water as it hits the pool at the bottom.  Take 5 or so minutes and enjoy!

Getting my wits about me

Why is it so hard, some days, to get your mind around even the simplest tasks? Why is that life sometimes seems to absorb all of your energy and all of your ability and then spit them back out in confused little spurts of disorganization while taking all of your desire to accomplish anything?

It's days like today that make me seriously question things like homeschooling. Even for kindergarten. If I can't keep myself together on days like today, days where this (see picture to right) is the extent of what we did all day, then how can I give the kids what they need?

I'm just having one of THOSE days today. Granted, we had a bad night around here last night. It didn't seem as though anyone slept well, but I can't let a bad night of sleep make me so ridiculously grumpy the next day. But here I am, Grumpy McGrumperson, all the same. I think that's one of the challenges of being at home with children full time. So often, even though they don't mean to, they are the cause of the grumpiness or the moodiness or what-have-you. Then, when you wake up the next morning, you don't have the opportunity to get away from the place/things/people that caused the frustration in the first place. So, there you are staring at the cause of your frustration, and you have no way of working through the emotions and thoughts. And it just builds up. Then your husband comes home from work and you, the kids, and the house look like something out of a Cymbalta commercial. Of course, if you're not keeping it together, then everyone else ends up grumpy, and by the time the day is over...... Good Gravy! There's not a pleasant soul around. And the poor little kids really have NO idea what in the sam hill is going on, but they know that the person they depend on for so much is quite the lunatic.

Bah. This too shall pass.... and all that. My poor mother is going to read this and get worried that I'm two steps from mental meltdown. But, hopefully, she'll just remember the days that she got this way and she'll know that now I understand. And I'll just keep repeating the mantra "I'm fine" and then I'll smile and eventually I will be what I'm pretending to be.

If there are any other All-The-Time Parents out there who ever get this way, please feel free to send me an email to let me know that I, in fact, am not the worst mother who ever walked the earth. And I promise to end this self-indulgent pity party asap.



Then, I'll remember that the WHY of what we do will help us to get back to the proper HOW of doing it.

Mommy's Back To School Night

Friday night, I had a date with a bunch of other "teacher mommies" at the back-to-school kickoff meeting for our local homeschool group.  Met with our small group to talk about possible field trips and social outings for the kids and met with the group as a whole to talk about general business'y things.  It was really interesting.  Not everyone comes to this, but even with only a fraction of the students represented, there were still 150'ish plus people there.  That was mostly just the moms.  And that's just for the metro area and closely surrounding counties.  And this is just one group.  I think HS is a bit larger than I expected.

Anyway, it was nice to see some of the vendors there that came to advertise their business and expertise.  There were boy and girl choirs, Civil Air Patrol, Debate Teams, TeenPact, local gyms, and even the homeschool sports league.  Yep.  That one floored me.  Had no idea it really existed.  They have a basketball and baseball program in place and initiated some football last year.  So that program should be in place by this year.  And they intend to begin a soccer program this year.  I believe I was told that they have a full season's schedule of games, and even some of the local private schools in this area put them on their schedule.  So they're not playing "just" other homeschoolers only.

I was telling some of my friends there that, to me, this means that in a few years, there will be a need for cheerleaders.  Homecoming game of sorts.  And, of course, a Junior/Senior prom.  Ahhhhh.......  and Lok is now in her element.  :-)

It's nice to have all this available.  Really nice.  It makes me extremely grateful to all those parents who homeschooled when homeschooling just wasn't done.  Who did it anyway, even though all the regular activities for school students weren't available.  They paved the way for those of us who are now getting involved, and it makes our life easier.  Thank you.  Even if my kids aren't forever homeschooled, the time that they are HS'd will be easier because people did it when it wasn't all that easy.  Thank you.

And - an extra thank you to MooMoo and GaGa for coming and getting the kids yesterday afternoon.  They had a great time and I appreciated the break so, so much.  Thank you!!!

Water works warning.

As kids in our area head back to school this week (still seems so ridiculously early to me, even though they've been going back in mid-August for years and years now) and moms are taking pictures of their little ones heading off to Kindergarten for the first time, I thought I'd add to the strolls down memory lane - at least for the grandparents of the Zoo's monkeys.  Jmk brought this to my attention (the first picture is at the bottom of the front page of our blog), so I thought I'd post them side by side.  sigh........  Time goes by so fast.

November 2006

August 2008

Monkey Pics for today

We had reached our inside limit for the morning and went outside to play.  I enjoyed Robert's camera for a bit.  And, Poodle enjoyed mine.  Toot, I believe, was concocting a plan to escape the photo session post haste.

Heavenly Sense of Humor

As I was getting ready for church this morning, it occurred to me: God truly does have a poignant sense of humor.

When I entered college oh so many years ago, I was an elementary education major. In fact, the full-ride scholarship that I was blessed to receive was earmarked for an education major. However, one semester into elementary education, I decided that I wasn't going to be challenged enough as an elementary age teacher. That I needed to teach "smarter" students. And, at the W, one didn't major in secondary education. One picked a discipline, majored in said discipline, and added a teacher's certificate to that major. So, I embarked on my journey to a degree in Math. However, I entered my senior year, and decided that, no, I wasn't going to teach. I would never make any money teaching, and after all, I was going to be a self-supporting girl when I graduated and needed to think about that kind of thing. Money was terribly important, right? How much money you make really serves as a good measuring stick for success, right?

So, this afternoon, as I was preparing my lesson plan for the next week and really having to challenge myself to get my ideas and thoughts in order so that I can teach a Kindergartener.... all for which I'm not going to receive a single paycheck with my name on it at all...... I had to laugh. God is. And He runs things. And if you think you're smart enough to squirrel your way out of His plan for His world..... well, you need a sense-of-humor-check. I know I did. And I got one.

Slow Start

I can't seem to get it together enough this week to blog much. It's not as though there haven't been things to share, but it has.... well, it's been a long week. For a number of reasons. However, I thought I'd share some homeschool updates just to at least get a new post up. :-)

I wasn't originally going to start school until after Labor Day (you know - like it USED to be), but for some reasons that actually don't apply any more, I thought it might be good for us to start early. So we did, but I didn't want to go from zero to 60 because none of us have had any experience doing this!

So, this week, we have had Bible time each day. We read a story from the Bible, Poodle answers some questions about what we just read and then she colors a workbook sheet that relates to what we just read. So far, it has been working pretty well. We did the Creation story two days in a row so that she could get the order of Creation in her memory banks a little more completely.
Yay!
I know I'll continue to tweak the methods as I figure out what works. For example, I can see how Friday would be a good day to review everything we read earlier in the week. But I didn't think of that until after we got thru today.

Okay, so we have begun to establish this school'ish routine. Next week, we're going to add reading time to the day's activities. Using Five In A Row, we'll read a good children's book each day for five days, and we'll focus on a different part of the story each day. History, geography, language arts, etc.

I think the next week, we'll add some phonics/reading/writing work. Then the next week, we'll add some math work. I hate for it to seem as though I think Math is least important, but we already "play math" right now when she feels like it. I'm sort of holding back on it so that she's (hopefully) more anxious to get to do it every day.

So, by the time we get to that magic "first Monday after Labor Day", kindergarten won't be akin to sugar shock for us all. At least, that's my hope.


For all of you who have given me so many wonderful comments and expressions of support, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you and value you for it. When my MIL told me that she was "excited about the homeschooling", I just wanted to jump around and do a crazy Poodle dance! Thank you all for the encouragement!!!