We are back at school here in the Lewis home. This week we finished our second week of homeschooling, all in all it's going well.
Autumn started chalk dust geometry late, we had to wait on the book I had e-bayed, so she has completed a weeks worth of lessons. She loves the chalk dust series and is very happy to watch the teaching DVDs :) She is working through a lesson 4 x week in her editor in chief book, I love it for teaching grammar and attention to detail. Reading/ vocab and spelling are going very well. In science she is reading Exploring the World of Chemistry, she had covered two chapters on metals. Geography is going slow, we have covered a weeks worth of lessons in two weeks, mostly due to some time issues with the need to go into town so often right now (Zach's PT, both boys having had mono, ect..) I just started dictation with Autumn and Zach to work on writing skills. Here at home her mood has been very stable, she is helpful and pleasant to be around. (although she has had issues with behavior while out of the home).
Zach is half way through his unit one life pack in math mostly it is review work. He has almost finished his first biography Sitting Bull, he is on track in his grammar workbook, reviewing comma usage. He has completed two lessons in spelling workbook, this is the hardest for him, (using the dictionary to look up parts of speech, usage, ect). We are a bit behind in geography & science we just competed week one's lessons. He started guitar lessons this week & is really excited to learn more.
Caden finished unit 1 in HOD, he was sick several days so we broke week one into two weeks. We will start unit 2 on Monday. We are almost finished with his first biography read aloud, Helen Keller, he really loves this story. He is continuing to improve on his reading skills and doing very well. In math he has mastered counting money & counting by 5, 10, 2's.
Everyone (mom included) is finding it difficult to stick to their routine & chores, this is the area where MOM needs more SELF DISCIPLE (and prayer) to get us all to stick to it...
Next week we are adding BIBLE study each day, also Tuesday school starts soon.

Today was a great day for the lake.. Yep Z got his cast off yesterday! so for the first time this year we headed to sandy beach. It was a really good thing too, since he has yet to straighten his leg out, it proved to be excellent therapy for him. So good in fact that we may go back tomorrow.

I am enjoying having a week off from classes. Dd is home and although it has taken some adjusting on both of our parts things have settled down the past couple days. I needed to sit on the sand and relax, just to take a breather and process things. Some already know this but Caden has been getting yearly lab tests as part of a study for siblings with type 1 diabetes, We were notified this week that he has tested positive for antibodies, three to be exact (gad65, anti insulin & ICA512) So what does it mean??? well we are having further labs and tests ran, but the reality is that he is most likely developing or will develop type 1 diabetes. We have no way to predict when though and it is possible that he might not. The doctors really don't have the answers as this is very new territory in predicting risk factors. It may be that we are catching it early ( even years) before any symptoms show up, for now his blood sugars are normal. I am not sure that I have even taken the time to process the thoughts of this yet, today I am just glad that for now at least he doesn't have diabetes, every day that we can say that is a blessing. And I am really thankful for the beach...

We will be very busy in the coming weeks, college starts again, home school starts next week, Dd will need to see her therapist once a week & will see the Doctor week after next. Z goes back for follow up on the leg in a month and to see endo in October. And Caden has more testing that we will be doing at children's next week and he will be followed closely. Blessings Lisa

She is coming home to stay !!! :)

Dd is coming home Tuesday, I am so glad. I can't wait to have all my children home every night. I am prepared for a time of transition for a while, it has been hard with her not here, but to be completely honest it was a break from having to deal with the issues she has day to day, and the worrying about her safety at times, so it will take some getting used to for both of us I'm sure. Praise the Lord she is coming home.

I can't wait to finish summer classes, It will be wonderful to have a couple of days each week to be HOME. Dishes and clothes can be kept up and ORDER can be restored around here. Oh sweet day! We have survived the summer only because of the help from my mom, she has been coming to our house to watch the kids each day since Z broke his leg & she takes care of lots of the cleaning for me. What I would do without her I just don't know, and my hubby is great to cook at night while I do homework. He is great! I am sure both of them will be glad when mom takes over her duties again. But for now its time for class... blessings Lisa