Our Week with a Concussion

Last weekend we had a quick visit from Grammy and Annaliese.

I know it looks like last week's picture, but it's different, I promise.

Hannah and Katie adore Annaliese, and there were lots of Snapchat pictures taken and laughed at.

Grammy brought the girls coloring books, and she brought candy for everyone.

Grammy took Annaliese and Josiah out to lunch and Starbucks as a goodbye before he leaves for boot camp.

I've mentioned that we've been using our library more, yeah!  One of the features that the kids like best is the DVD section.  Lately, there have been Berenstein Bears and Arthur DVDs coming home with us each week.  Notice the 12-19 year olds?  They're watching Arthur in Fountain Abbey.  Cracked me up.

Hannah and Katie went to Shriners this week.  No pictures because Paul took them, but they were both casted for new legs, and we have a socket test fit appointment in 2.5 weeks.  They also go in next week, to see the lower limb doctor (we usually just see the prosthetics department most of the time).  I've found this to be the pattern with limb differences as a special need.  Most of the time, it's not a big deal, but then there are times when we can have a flurry of appointments.

In literature, we finally finished Mr. Popper's Penguins from last year and started on the Laura Ingalls Wilder classic, Farmer Boy.

Speaking of finishing, Katie completed an old Kumon workbook this week (yeah for decluttering!) and finished book one in her phonics program.  Fortunately, there are 2 more books in the phonics part and then another book of grammar, so we've got plenty to keep us busy for a while.

You may remember when we reviewed Figures in Motion.  I'm on their email list, and this week they sent out a link to this cool, super sized, dino printable figure!

My new printer does double sided printing all by itself, which made assembly a snap!  Hannah and Jack both helped with the cutting out.

Our new bendy t-rex inspired one of our journal entries this week, when the kids wrote A Day in the Life of a T-Rex, using first person to narrate what they thought a dinosaur's day might be like.

We're listening to an audio drama, so I busted out the play doh for the kids to keep their hands busy while we absorb the story.

For some reason, busy hands help keep the mind focused.

Sam spent some time at Zach & Heather's house this week, helping out with Brayden on days when both of them were working.

We only managed to do one art project this week.  :/

Positive and negative space from our favorite art DVDs.  A simple project with just construction paper, scissors, and glue sticks.

The results were quite interesting, though, and she alluded that we'll be building on the concept later, so this is laying a foundation for them.

Miss Katie is doing well with her new first grade math book.  She's currently using the math blocks not only to build problems, but also to measure lines.

If you missed our Field Trip this week, you can read more about it here:  Aerospace Museum.

This was from our time on the space playground afterwards.

There are two ropes between these two rock climbing structures.  Josiah climbed up one, used the ropes to get to the other, then climbed down.  He didn't want me taking pictures, though.

It's too bag this playground isn't more local to us.  It's a fun one!

In geography this week, the kids drew maps of North America from memory.

I've never been able to draw a map, so this was a great exercise.

Jack wrote about the aerospace museum in our field trip journal.  I'll have Hannah add to it later.

I noticed Hannah having a hard time with some basic math facts, so I re-started her on XtraMath.com.  It only takes a few minutes each day to keep things fresh in their minds.

Because we spent Thursday morning catching up on the work we missed due to our Wednesday field trip, we ended up going to the library later in the day, after dropping Josiah off at his last PT before boot camp.

We still got our bag of books and playtime at the park, though.

Friday mornings, Jack has speech at the local public school.  I've been having the girls bring their math books.

After finishing math, they can go find a book to look at.  We get a lot of funny looks from students and staff, who don't know what to make of a 5 year old and a tiny 9 year old at a middle and high school library.

Eli got hurt during football practice, and his coach wanted him cleared by a doctor before resuming play, so after speech, I took Eli in to be seen.  It was actually kind of nice to hang out with him.  He's been so busy with football and school that I don't see him much any more.

The doc confirmed that he does have a concussion, and wanted x-rays done to make sure his neck was okay.

He has beautiful bones, and his neck is fine.  So he'll be sitting out practices until his headache and neck pain are gone, and then following the concussion protocol to resume things a step at a time.

After Eli's appointment, Josiah needed to be taken in to the recruiter's office one last time to pick up his travel packet.  It's getting real now!  We're off to Target later today, to pick up a few last minute things he needs to take with him.

Whew!  Busy week.  Next week will find us saying our goodbyes to Josiah.  We're also scheduled for time at the dentist and at Shriners.  Next week is another home football game, but I don't think Eli will be able to play yet, so I probably won't go.