Some Months... May, Oh May

The time between Easter and the last day of school always seems to go by in warp speed and things tend to spin out of control here until I make that final bus stop pick up in May at which point it almost instantly feels like a giant weight lifted off my shoulders.  May was so busy in addition to our regular therapy-filled calendar:

Charity walk
Mother's Day breakfast
Mother's Day brunch
Star Student (poster, pictures, sharing sack, estimation bag, letter to the student)
Bridal shower
6 field trips for the public schoolers
Anniversary date
Neighborhood block party (which I helped organize)
Multiple medical appointments
Touring a school
2 end of school year parties
2 movie mania parties
1 dinner and art class
Re-shingling the patio roof

Hello June!  Welcome.

Spring Traditions

May is bringing some of the year's favorite traditions to our family.

Strawberry picking and freezer jam (Ella helped me a lot with the latter):

And, of course, homemade buttermilk waffles with fresh strawberries:

Our seasonal weekly farm box deliveries have begun:

And the last day of school (which we commemorate by giving a sweet treat to all the families who have been with us at our bus stop all year and decorating our driveway) has passed:

Happy Summer 2019, everyone!

Happy Anniversary

Happy anniversary to my love.  We celebrated with a simple daytime date: a leisurely breakfast followed by a one hour hike and then a little bit of shopping.  During our hike we decided to venture off on a side trail and came upon a little fairy garden with a sign that seemed there just for us that day.

IAC 455-458 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 455 which was held on March 7, 2019:

1) Greek dossier from April 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 7 months

2) French dossier from January 2015 referred a female child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

3) US dossier from August 2016 referred a male child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from February 2017 referred sisters aged 9 years and 5 months & 7 years and 10 months

5) Italian dossier from November 2017 referred brothers aged 10 years and 2 months & 7 years and 2 months

6) Italian dossier from December 2018 referred a male child aged 10 years and 11 months with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from February 2019 referred brothers aged 10 years and 11 months & 11 years and 11 months

8) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3234) with a profile on the MOJ site

9) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3656) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#2541) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 456 which was held on March 14, 2019:

1) German dossier from April 2013 referred a female child aged 5 years and 8 months

2) Italian dossier from December 2014 referred sisters aged 6 years and 6 months & 4 years and 1 month

3) US dossier from November 2017 referred sisters aged 5 years and 9 months & 7 years and 1 month with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from March 2019 referred two waiting children (#3232 & #3530) with a profiles on the MOJ site

5) US dossier from March 2019 referred a male child aged 12 years and 2 months

6) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3426) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3594) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from March 2019 referred siblings (#3252 & 3273 & #3274 & #3275) with profiles on the MOJ site

9) US dossier from March 2019 referred a female child aged 1 year and 3 months with features in health status

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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 457 which was held on March 21, 2019:

1) Italian dossier from June 2013 referred a male child aged 7 years and 4 months with a family history

2) French dossier from December 2017 referred a brother and sister aged 5 years and 9 months & 7 years and 9 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from August 2018 referred a brother and sister aged 5 years and 9 months & 10 years and 1 month with a family history

4) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3124) with a profile on the MOJ site

5) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3564) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3657) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3722) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3596) with a profile on the MOJ site

9) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3496) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3601) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 458 which was held on March 28, 2019:

1) Dutch dossier from July 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 6 months

2) Italian dossier from June 2014 referred a male child aged 8 years and 1 month

3) French dossier from October 2014 referred a male child aged 1 year and 3 months wit features in health status and a family history

4) Belgian dossier from March 2015 referred a waiting child (#3763) with a profile on the MOJ site

5) US dossier from January 2017 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from August 2017 referred a male child aged 7 years and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

7) Italian dossier from March 2018 referred a female child aged 10 years

8) US dossier from September 2018 referred brothers aged 10 years and 1 month & 8 years and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

9) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#3424) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#1735) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from March 2019 referred a waiting child (#2644) with a profile on the MOJ site

How To Close Out A Home School Year

The last few weeks of the school year can be tough for students whose exhaustion from work and excitement for summer are steadily mounting.  Home school is no exception to that rule, so here are some tips from Ella and me on how to survive the end of the home school year and still obtain valuable educational hours.

Health and Safety/ Life Skills: when table work gets too drudging, we opt for tasks around our home.  Anything from baking bread to pool maintenance, planting vegetables to organizing closets is fair game because some day those skills may come in handy.

Movies and Videos: with resources like YouTube and Amazon, it’s easy to find movies that tie into the curriculum. For example, Ella recently watched and very much enjoyed Hidden Figures which connected with social studies (segregation, space exploration) and Ohio Studies (John Glenn).

Field Trips: strawberry picking, an afternoon at the zoo, and a trip to the bank to open a first savings account all intertwine with portions of the fourth grade curriculum and count toward our required 900 hours.

More PE: sunny days are back again and riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, and swimming are all considered physical education in this home school.

Music and Art: we saved some lessons in these two subjects for last because it’s really more fun to learn about Duke Ellington and try swing dancing than it’s doing fractions.  And Ella’ll take trying to draw a Gothic building over a grammar lesson any day.

Quiet Reading /Read Aloud: reading fiction has been a highlight all year long, so when we feel like a break, but still need to get those hours in, we can pull out our respective novels or read together in our shared books.

In less than 100 hours, my big girl will no longer be an elementary schooler, but move into her middle school years.  Cue the tears – time’s flying.  Didn’t she just start Kindergarten?

Five Years

Five years ago today we met Ella in Armenia.  The walls around her heart were like a fortress.  The transformation continues.

IAC 453 & 454

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 453 which was held on February 14, 2019:

1) Italian dossier from January 2014 referred sisters aged 5 years and 1 month & 6 years and 6 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from April 2016 referred sisters aged 9 years and 10 months & 8 years and 6 months with a family history

3) US dossier from March 2018 referred a sibling group aged 7 years and 7 months, 5 years and 3 months & 10 years

4) French dossier from May 2018 referred a male child aged 10 years and 7 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from July 2018 referred a waiting child (#3632) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from February 2019 referred a waiting child (#3597) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 454 which was held on February 21, 2019:

1) Norwegian dossier from August 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 7 months

2) Spanish dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months

3) French dossier from September 2014 referred a male child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from August 2015 referred sisters aged 7 years and 11 months & 5 years and 3 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from April 2016 referred a female child aged 10 years and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from January 2017 referred a male child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status

7) French dossier from October 2017 referred a brother and sister aged 5 years and 7 months & 7 years and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

8) US dossier from November 2017 siblings aged 5 years and 4 months & 4 years and 1 month & 8 years

9) US dossier from February 2019 referred a waiting child (#3422) with a profile on the MOJ site

10 ) US dossier from February 2019 referred two waiting children (#3622 & #3623) with profiles on the MOJ site