My Day - #462-470

Miracle's home.(#462) Angelica went to pick her up before watching the girls this afternoon. (#463) The plan was for Miracle to stay upstairs and get some things done while Angelica babysat.  Busy Bee would have none of it.  Busy Bee wouldn't let Miracle out of her sight.  She was so excited to see her. (#464) So Miracle babysat the girls today and Angelica came upstairs.  

There were lots of bumps and bruises today.  First, all four girls went to the splash pad, which we do almost every day without incident now that summer is here.  Today, however, the little girls bumped into each other and Doc lost a tooth.  As in, came out of her mouth and we can't find it.  The good part is that it was a baby tooth, likely ready to come out. (#465) Doc was quite upset about it all.  Then they came home and watched movies before heading to the park to play.  I love summer! (#466) As soon as they came back in the house, Doc bumped into the wall and has a knot on her forehead.  She is a little wobbly but passed all the neurologic tests they would have run at the hospital. (#467) Both my girls having neurologic issues when they were younger came in handy because I have watched the doctors do a neurologic exam so often I knew what to do and what to look for. (#468)

Now they are both making lists for camp next week.  And enjoying each other's company. (#469) And Miracle is dyeing her hair again.  You would think after such a long week we would all be headed to bed.  But it feels SO GOOD to be together again. (#470) I don't think any of us want to waste a moment of this weekend.

Because I'm Magic Like That ;)

Yesterday, I started to throw two water jugs away and then told the girls to keep them, that I could make Easter baskets out of them.  Doc heard me and said, "You can do that?!?"

 I said, "Yeah."

Her voice filled with awe, "Wow! Are you magic?"

"No."

"Then you CAN'T make Easter baskets from water jugs?"

"Yes, I can."

"Then you ARE magic!"

So today I made two Easter baskets for the little girls.  Then we hid eggs and let the girls find them.

Busy Bee found one that was camouflaged to look like a stone and asked, "¿Esta hegg?

"Si."

So she picked it up, looked at it more closely and threw it back down exclaiming, "No hegg!"

"Mira, " I said as I opened the egg to reveal the candy inside.

Every time she found the camouflaged eggs after that, she made me open them so she could see the prize inside.

After coming inside and emptying the candy into their baskets, Busy Bee said, "Abuela gave me candy."

Ayer, empecé a tirar dos jarras de agua de distancia y luego dije a las chicas para mantenerlos, para que yo pudiera hacer cestas de Pascua fuera de ellos. D me oyó y dijo: "¿Puedes hacer eso?!?" 

 Le dije: "¡Sí!" 

Su voz llena de asombro: "¡Vaya! ¿Eres la magia?" 

"No." 

"Entonces usted no puede hacer cestas de Pascua de jarras de agua?" 

"Sí, puedo." 

"Entonces usted es mágico!" 

Así que hoy he hecho dos cestas de Pascua para las niñas. Entonces nos escondimos huevos y vamos a las chicas las encuentran.

B encontró una que estaba camuflado para parecer una piedra y le preguntó: "¿Esto Hegg? 

"Si." 

Así que ella lo cogió, lo miró más de cerca y lo tiró hacia abajo exclamando: "No Hegg!" 

"Mira", me dijo mientras abría el huevo para revelar el caramelo dentro. 

Cada vez que se encontró con los huevos camuflados después de eso, ella me hizo abrir los para que pudiera ver el premio dentro.

Después de entrar a la casa y vaciar el caramelo en sus cestas, dijo B, "Abuela me dio dulces."

Today I am thankful for these little girls. (#338)  I am thankful for the opportunity to be involved in their lives. (#339)  Mostly, though, I am thankful that Easter is so much more than baskets and candy filled eggs (#340) and I will forever be grateful that I had the opportunity to explain that to Doc yesterday. (#341)

Lent: candy, toys

Make Shift Diapers and Other Things :)

Today was good. (#257) There's nothing that stands out as making it good, but it was.  I was productive again, getting some paperwork done. (#258) Angelica was able to go to church and she took Doc with her. (#259) Doc is reading much faster and doing math without as much struggle. (#260) She also had to list as many words she could think of in 5 minutes for one assignment.  She came up with a sizable list and only misspelled one! (#261) I am so proud of her and how hard she is working to catch up!

Now for some comic relief...

Around 3, Miracle came upstairs with Busy Bee to get something and accidentally locked them out of their apartment so we all stayed upstairs this evening.  We had fun figuring out how to fashion a diaper from what we had on hand.  In the end, we used a t-shirt like they describe in this tutorial.  Ours didn't turn out quite so perfectly, but being as it has been 18 years since I last tried to "create" a diaper from things around the house, I think it turned out pretty good.  At least it did the job.  ;)

Lent: clothes

My Day - #237-238

Busy Bee is still not feeling well and consequently took a 2 1/2 hour nap today, this time in Miracle's arms, who is also not feeling well  

B aún no se siente bien y por lo tanto tomó una siesta de 2 1/2 horas de hoy, esta vez en los brazos de Milagro, que también no se siente bien

  

Doc busy doing studies.  Everyday she practices math and spelling and reads for 20 minutes even if she doesn't have homework.  In the very beginning she sometimes complained about this, but has come to understand this is the reason she is improving so quickly and astonishing her teachers.  (#237)

D ocupado haciendo estudios. Todos los días ella practica matemáticas y la ortografía y lee durante 20 minutos, incluso si ella no tiene tarea. En el primer momento que a veces se quejó de esto, pero ha llegado a entender esta es la razón por la que está mejorando tan rápidamente y había engañado a sus maestros. (# 237)

Today I am thankful; as in a constant feeling of gratitude within me, (#238) but I am so tired I can't find words to describe specific things I am thankful for.  Maybe tomorrow.

Lent: today I tried to give away a stuffed pig but the person who said she would pick it up didn't show.  Maybe tomorrow.  As of today, I have given 35 items away and there are still 16 days until Easter, so I'm ahead and will not be concerned about today.  :)

My Day - #232-236

Tuesdays are long days.  They start early and end late.  Last night, all I could do was list the first thing that came to mind simply because I was so tired.  Here are a few pictures taken yesterday.

Busy Bee - apparently any day is a good day to be a butterfly when you're two!

B - al parecer, cualquier día es un buen día para ser una mariposa cuando estás dos!

Even a day that you're so sick you can barely stay awake.

Incluso un día que estás tan enfermo que apenas puede mantenerse despierto.

Doc practicing spelling.  I will try anything to make the words stick.  We made a crossword of all the words she missed yesterday.  I actually think this is one of my best ideas. (#232) She spelled about half of those words correctly today. (#233) She is such a smart girl. (#234)

D practicar la ortografía. Voy a intentar cualquier cosa para que las palabras se pegan. Hemos hecho un crucigrama de todas las palabras que ella perdió ayer. De hecho, creo que este es uno de mis mejores ideas. Ella escribe sobre la mitad de esas palabras correctamente hoy. Ella es una chica muy inteligente.

Doc is feeling much better today (#235), but Busy Bee is still so sick that she slept most of the day.  I love holding little ones while they sleep. (#236)

D se siente mucho mejor hoy, pero la abeja ocupada sigue siendo tan enferma que ella dormía la mayor parte del día.  Me encanta la celebración de los más pequeños mientras duermen. 

Lent: stuffed dog

My Day - #205-210

Today started off slowly. I appreciate the mornings that I can take my time getting started because I tend to feel better the rest of the day. (#205) However, I am not feeling well and the extra exertion of  being on crutches and wearing a heavy boot is taking its toll on me.  Angelica left for class at noon and Miracle and I headed downstairs at 2.  Busy Bee played dress up before her sister came in from school.  It was fun to watch her play, to see her smile and enthusiasm. (#206)

B jugó vestir antes de que su hermana llegó de la escuela. Fue divertido de ver su juego, para ver su sonrisa y entusiasmo.

 After dinner, Doc wanted to play dress up, too so we pulled the box back out. The black "cape" is really a skirt my girls confiscated from my closet when they were about Doc's age.  They always used it as a queen's robe.  Doc and Busy Bee use it more like a vampire's cape.  When Doc has it on, she chases Busy Bee around and BB giggles and says "pooky" over and over.  Their antics make me smile. (#207)

Después de la cena, D quería jugar a los disfraces, también, así que nos detuvimos la caja de vuelta. La "capa" negro es realmente una falda mis niñas confiscados de mi armario cuando eran de la edad de D. Ellos siempre lo utilizaron como la túnica de una reina. D y B lo utilizan más como la capa de un vampiro. Cuando el D lo tiene, ella persigue B alrededor y B ríe y dice "pooky" una y otra vez. Sus travesuras me hacen sonreír.

By this time, Miracle had finished cleaning up dinner so Doc had to go finish homework.  I snapped a few more pictures of Busy Bee and me.  

Por este tiempo, Milagro había terminado de limpiar la cena, así D tuvo que ir a terminar sus tareas. Rompí algunas imágenes más de B y yo.

Before long, it was bedtime.  Miracle went upstairs and went to bed for real while I dozed on the couch waiting for Angelica to get in from school.  All in all, it was a good day (#208) and I am less discouraged than I was yesterday. (#209) My foot is hurting less as well. (#210)

**The little girls' mother is learning to speak English but can't read it yet.  I have added a translation so that she can read about their day.**

A Look Back - This Past Week ;)

Since I have been too tired, sick, stressed and achy at the end of the day to give a proper update here, I thought I would post pictures from Wednesday.  Angelica had to work all week at the ice rink.  Since there was free ice skating Wednesday through Friday, I decided to take the girls to the rink and let them have some fun.  Angelica's job on Wednesday and Thursday was skate guard meaning that she had to be on the ice, making sure everyone was following the rules, putting away unused walkers, and assisting anyone who fell.  Friday she was at the skate counter distributing skates and disinfecting returned skates.  Busy Bee used a walker and could get around pretty good on the ice by the end of the week.  Doc was already a pro on the ice because the school here offers skating lessons to the second grade children.  Miracle mostly helped Busy Bee on Wednesday but had a few minutes to skate around the rink on her own when Busy Bee wanted to get off of the ice.  On Thursday, Miracle chose to spend time at the library and on Friday she was elsewhere in the Y except for a few minutes. Thursday and Friday, Busy Bee wasn't very interested in skating.  She much preferred running and climbing in the bleachers!   Doc on the other hand has the skating bug and can't get enough time on the ice.  

I know I need to post what I am thankful for but I'm struggling to do so.  There are so many things that I can't write about and my heart is heavy.  That is precisely when I need to post.  Could you please pray for me?  If you're struggling and leave a comment, I'll pray for you, too.  If you are doing well, maybe reading a comment of what you are thankful for will be the boost I need.  

My Day - #123-129

The day started earlier than usual with an important meeting in the city.  Angelica drove me there and Miracle accompanied us.  Then we came home and napped.  All three of us.  We needed to go to the grocery store but pushed it off one more day.  After napping, Angelica went to her last class of the quarter and I went downstairs to watch the girls.  Busy Bee played and colored and watched tv.  Doc walked home from school and then did homework.  The picture below is one of the ways I made homework a bit more fun this evening.  Then we watched The Prince of Egypt.  Doc is learning about realistic fiction in school and asked if that was what the movie is.  I explained that the movie is based on a biblical truth but the director took some creative licence and elaborated to fill in some blanks not covered in the Bible.  She found that intriguing.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  In this case, I'd say 22 is a more accurate number.  ;)

I am thankful that I was healthy enough to attend today's meeting (#123) and that Angelica was available to drive me there. (#124) I am thankful that I was able to nap for a few hours. (#125) I really enjoyed watching the little girls. (#126) I am thankful for the opportunity to teach Doc the things of God (#127), that she absorbs everything like a little sponge (#128), and that I am not alone in teaching her these things as her mother also loves the LORD (#129).  

Learning

Hello.  Bonjour.  Hola.  

A lot of time around our house has been spent learning recently.  Both girls are of course doing their high school work.  In addition to that, they are both taking a language course at the local college.  Miracle is learning French in class.  Angelica is learning ASL.  

At home in the evenings we are also learning Spanish.  Monday through Friday, the girls watch Busy Bee (age 2) and Doc McStuffins (age 7) from 2 until 12.  When the girls first began coming to our house Busy Bee knew no English.  She spent the first hour and a half each day pointing to things saying, "Y esta?" and I would answer in English.  Things were a bit easier once Doc got in from school but there was still some struggle for her on English words as well.  Busy Bee has learned quite a bit of English, we have learned quite a bit of Spanish, and all in all we are communicating well now.  Most things come out of our mouths in Spanish, then English, then often with a spattering of sign language thrown in when we are talking to the little ones.  Angelica is doing the best at picking up Spanish.  

In addition to Busy Bee and Doc, the girls watch Baby Girl (age 1) a few days a week. While she is here both she and Busy Bee are learning to share and use words to express their needs.  Baby Girl's mother is autistic so we worked primarily on learning to recognize and express emotion.  Words cannot convey how excited the girls and I were the first time Baby Girl squealed in delight.(#7) 

We have also realized that in addition to learning language, we need to understand culture.  When Busy Bee and Doc first started coming, Doc would phrase everything as a statement rather than a question.  For example she might say, "I can't have that"  rather than "Can I have that?"  Written out it appears to be a statement, but her inflection almost always sounded like a question.  We had to teach her that in English you actually have to ask the question.  Several months later, we realized that stating questions was a cultural norm for her.  

Doc is doing much better in school since coming to our house.(#8)  At the beginning of the year, she went to her ELL class several times a week.  I haven't seen ELL homework in over a month!  That means she has a much better grasp on the English language.  She has also improved in math, spelling, and reading.  

So it seems we have all been learning.  My girls and I are learning Spanish.  Miracle and Angelica are learning another language as well.  Busy Bee is learning English and how to share.  Doc is learning so many things.  Baby Girl is learning to use language and express emotion.  

What have you learned lately?