Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Girl's Camp
Savannah got home Monday night, and left the next morning for Girl's Camp. I don't think either of these girls wanted to be separated again so soon. Savannah would have taken Kate along to camp if she could have.
Garden
The big kids left on the Thursday after school got out, and got home the following Monday. After they got home, we immediately snatched them up and took them to Zamzows to pick up garden supplies (and see the cute bunnies). We were a little slow getting our garden in this year, but we finally got it planted!
Playing While the Big Kids are Away
While the older three kids were gone to Lava, I tried to make things fun here at home for the younger 4 kids. We did movie nights with popcorn (in the living room) every single night. I let them pick dinner each night. One night we put swimsuits on them, picked up chicken nuggets at McDonalds, and took them to play in the fountains at Heritage Park.
On another day we took them for frozen yogurt at Aspen Leaf.
They played together in the backyard, without any older kids to boss them around.
It was fun to see how the friendship dynamics changed with the older kids gone.
I think these kids had just as much fun here as the older kids did away. But, we were all very happy to have Savannah, Josh, and Sara come home!
On another day we took them for frozen yogurt at Aspen Leaf.
They played together in the backyard, without any older kids to boss them around.
It was fun to see how the friendship dynamics changed with the older kids gone.
I think these kids had just as much fun here as the older kids did away. But, we were all very happy to have Savannah, Josh, and Sara come home!
Lava Hot Springs
The day after school got out, I sent my 3 oldest kids (and my van) off to Lava Hot Springs. Anne's dad had a house there, and her mom and sister were coming from Alaska for a visit. They were all going to Lava to stay in that house for 5 days of fun, and she asked if my kids could come along. I knew it would be such a fun opportunity for them, so of course I agreed. But, I missed them something terrible while they were gone! Here are pictures that Anne sent me during the time they were gone. Looks like they had a ton of fun. When they came home, Anne said, "I've never seen Sara smile as much as she did while we were there".
End of School
I love the last day of school almost as much as my kids do. I love having my kids home. I love not having to do homework. I love getting to stay up late and sleep late in the mornings. And I LOVE being all together!
Randy brought us cupcakes so we could celebrate the last day of school when the kids came home.
And with end of school comes backpacks full of papers. Here are some of my favorites that I wanted to remember.
Aaron's:
Nate's:
Nate smoked the IRI test! He's the youngest kid in his class, and he scored the 4th highest in his class!
Sara's:
Randy brought us cupcakes so we could celebrate the last day of school when the kids came home.
And with end of school comes backpacks full of papers. Here are some of my favorites that I wanted to remember.
Aaron's:
Nate's:
Nate smoked the IRI test! He's the youngest kid in his class, and he scored the 4th highest in his class!
Sara's:
Challenge
A few months before the end of school, I received an email from Aaron's teacher. She said she had "seen evidence of giftedness in the classroom" and wanted to have him tested for Challenge. She sent home a questionnaire for us to fill out about him. As I filled it out, I thought how similar it was to other questionnaires we have filled out in the diagnosing of his SPD, except this time the behaviors were a positive thing. Things like:
#1 Displays a great deal of curiosity abut many things, is constantly asking questions about anything and everything,
#3 Is uninhibited in expression of opinion
#9 Is nonconforming, does not fear being different.
Those are all things that we've thought went along with SPD, but I guess they also go along with giftedness. I got to the bottom of the page, and realized I'd answered all 4's. The truth is, Aaron's brain works differently than most kids, and if we can harness it for good, it will take him very far in life.
We waited for him to be tested. At Sara's Invention Convention, we saw the Challenge teacher and asked how the testing was coming. She said she was very back logged, but hoped to get him finished up before the end of the school year.
On the last day of school, I received a call from the Challenge teacher. She told me she had just received his results and just had to immediately call and tell me that he passed. He scored in the top 99.9% on the IQ test. She said, "He is your smartest kid on paper" and said, "You have a genius". He scored a 149 on the IQ test!
A few days later, Aaron's school teacher called to talk with me about teacher placement for next year, and we talked about his high IQ scores. She said, "In all the time I've been referring kids for Challenge, I've never seen a kid test that high". And she said, "That isn't anything I or his other teachers could have taught him, that's all Aaron". We talked about how his brain works on a higher level, and she said she was convinced he must have a photographic memory because he sees things once and he just knows them. I talked with her for 20 minutes, loving hearing her praise Aaron and point out all of his amazing qualities. It was such a happy mom moment. I love that Aaron has been so blessed to have people in his life that have searched out the good in him, instead of getting distracted by the not so good. He has come a long way since Kindergarten when he was first diagnosed with SPD, and it's been because of amazing therapists and teachers that have loved him through everything. I am so proud of Aaron, and am so excited for the great things that are in store for him.
#1 Displays a great deal of curiosity abut many things, is constantly asking questions about anything and everything,
#3 Is uninhibited in expression of opinion
#9 Is nonconforming, does not fear being different.
Those are all things that we've thought went along with SPD, but I guess they also go along with giftedness. I got to the bottom of the page, and realized I'd answered all 4's. The truth is, Aaron's brain works differently than most kids, and if we can harness it for good, it will take him very far in life.
We waited for him to be tested. At Sara's Invention Convention, we saw the Challenge teacher and asked how the testing was coming. She said she was very back logged, but hoped to get him finished up before the end of the school year.
On the last day of school, I received a call from the Challenge teacher. She told me she had just received his results and just had to immediately call and tell me that he passed. He scored in the top 99.9% on the IQ test. She said, "He is your smartest kid on paper" and said, "You have a genius". He scored a 149 on the IQ test!
A few days later, Aaron's school teacher called to talk with me about teacher placement for next year, and we talked about his high IQ scores. She said, "In all the time I've been referring kids for Challenge, I've never seen a kid test that high". And she said, "That isn't anything I or his other teachers could have taught him, that's all Aaron". We talked about how his brain works on a higher level, and she said she was convinced he must have a photographic memory because he sees things once and he just knows them. I talked with her for 20 minutes, loving hearing her praise Aaron and point out all of his amazing qualities. It was such a happy mom moment. I love that Aaron has been so blessed to have people in his life that have searched out the good in him, instead of getting distracted by the not so good. He has come a long way since Kindergarten when he was first diagnosed with SPD, and it's been because of amazing therapists and teachers that have loved him through everything. I am so proud of Aaron, and am so excited for the great things that are in store for him.
Hiking
A few weekends ago, I texted Scott on a Friday afternoon and asked him what we should do for date night. He responded with, "We actually get a date night? It seems like it's been forever!" For a very long time, date night for us has been our weekly grocery shopping trip to Walmart. And even that has been tricky lately, because Savannah has been getting outside babysitting jobs, so we have to work around when she is home. I decided that we needed to do something fun.
So we went hiking! I've lived here for 15 years and have always wanted to hike Tablerock. So, I convinced Scott to hike Tablerock for our date night. We took some extra trails to make it more of a hike.
We passed some beautiful rock formations.
Tablerock is a very popular hiking spot, and once we hit the top, it was crowded with people. But because we took the back trails, we were on trails with no one else around...except wildlife. I was so grateful I spotted this rattlesnake coiled on the trail in front of me, instead of walking right into it. We made sure to go very far around it.
I enjoyed seeing this cute rabbit much more than I did the snake.
We hit the top right around sunset. We relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
We headed down the trail as it started to get dark. We decided not to go back the way we came (because it was about 5 miles), but we also didn't know which was the main trail, because we hadn't come up it. So we ended up taking a wrong trail on the way down that added a couple of more miles, and left us hiking in the dark. Thankfully there was a bright moon that helped us see the path in front of us. It was definitely an adventure!
By the time we got back to the truck, it was almost 11:00. So, we had to find a restaurant that was open late so we could get some dinner. We ate at Applebees and laughed about our crazy long hike (which was longer than we had meant it to be). All in all, it was a great date night. It definitely beat grocery shopping at Walmart!
So we went hiking! I've lived here for 15 years and have always wanted to hike Tablerock. So, I convinced Scott to hike Tablerock for our date night. We took some extra trails to make it more of a hike.
We passed some beautiful rock formations.
Tablerock is a very popular hiking spot, and once we hit the top, it was crowded with people. But because we took the back trails, we were on trails with no one else around...except wildlife. I was so grateful I spotted this rattlesnake coiled on the trail in front of me, instead of walking right into it. We made sure to go very far around it.
I enjoyed seeing this cute rabbit much more than I did the snake.
We hit the top right around sunset. We relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
We headed down the trail as it started to get dark. We decided not to go back the way we came (because it was about 5 miles), but we also didn't know which was the main trail, because we hadn't come up it. So we ended up taking a wrong trail on the way down that added a couple of more miles, and left us hiking in the dark. Thankfully there was a bright moon that helped us see the path in front of us. It was definitely an adventure!
By the time we got back to the truck, it was almost 11:00. So, we had to find a restaurant that was open late so we could get some dinner. We ate at Applebees and laughed about our crazy long hike (which was longer than we had meant it to be). All in all, it was a great date night. It definitely beat grocery shopping at Walmart!
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