A New Adventure

As I contemplated the title of this post, the phrases "time for a change" and "change is just around the corner" all sounded too ominous. But "a new adventure" sounds exciting and hopeful, right? So here's to dipping our toes in the water...and eventually jumping at the start of the new year!

Beginning on January 4th, Aislin will be homeschooled via an online public charter school called Arizona Connections Academy. What exactly does this mean? She will still be enrolled in a school that has certified teachers, and because it's a public school, all materials - textbooks, workbooks, art supplies, and even rocks and dirt samples for science lessons - are all provided free of charge. She will have access to a variety of field trips, school outings, clubs and activities. And what the school can't provide socially on a more frequent basis, we will provide through the Boys and Girls Club, recreational sports teams, and play dates.

Now the big question, right? WHY.

It started with behavioral problems at school. At the beginning of every school year, she has struggled with finding her place amidst a large body of students and the rules of her school and classroom. It was understandable because she basically went from a long summer break at home to the busy environment of a public school, from being with family to being in a classroom of diverse personalities. And whenever she found herself in a stressful or emotional situation, her personality chose the "fight response" and retaliated. In other words, Aislin, at 7-years-old, has been threatened with suspension twice - once for fighting on the playground, another for threatening another student, has received more yellow lights than green on her teacher's behavior scale (green meaning 5-star behavior, yellow meaning...meh), and has had to trudge through the lessons of taking responsibility for her actions and never ever lying to mom and dad.

Another issue was the afternoon exhaustion. After 6 1/2 hours at school, she hardly had the energy or the patience to get through pages of homework and also practice piano. She could get through one task without whining, no problem, but trying to finish both was just too much. "Why do I have to do all this work when I just got home?" she'd sometimes ask. Honestly, it was because she only had that window of time before she really became tired, and then nothing would get done. On top of all that, she wanted to enroll in things like gymnastics and soccer, and she wanted to have play dates with her friends...but how could she fit those things into her weekday schedule? She would have a great afternoon for sure, one that a 7-year-old ought to have, but after dinner, cleanup, and a shower, she'd be too tired and cranky to do her homework.

Lastly, she is advancing in Language Arts; in fact, her teacher wants to have her tested for the Gifted and Talented Program this spring...but says the only thing that might hold her back is her behavior. (She thinks Aislin would have a difficult time fitting into a more structured program...as opposed to immediately benefiting from the exact thing her regular classroom lacks.) So I asked her teacher to give her something challenging to work on. Lately, Aislin had been asking me for sight words because sight word flashcards are what Des uses in kindergarten, and it's what she sees me drill him on every day. However, finding sight words for someone who already reads chapter books was a challenge. So I asked her teacher for advice, resources, anything. She sent Aislin home with a pile of 2nd grade sight word flashcards, which she breezed through...and half of them were upside down. I told myself that her teacher just needed a baseline to start with and that she'd eventually find something at her level. I informed her teacher that she needed a more challenging set, and she said she would look for the 3rd grade sight words "if she could find them." That was over a week ago. I have since gotten online and done the research myself, compiled five sets of flashcards for Aislin to go through, and found her baseline - a 4th grade reading level.

Our goals - mine, Tim's and Aislin's - in switching to a homeschool program:
- to change Aislin's environment to something she can handle at this time. My hope is that, by having more time with her at home, I'll be able to teach her to control her emotions, to respond appropriately to stressful situations. And that by giving her part-time social interactions, she'll be able to practice her behavior skills and making good choices without feeling overwhelmed.
- to change Aislin's schedule so that her school day includes all that she needs to do for school, while her afternoon is free for play time, sports, well-deserved relaxation! See, piano practice counts as time spent on a Music Elective. She actually gets credit for practicing piano! And because her work will be individualized, there won't be any homework. Everything she needs to work on will be done as she goes through and completes each lesson. Her school time will not be wasted :)
- to give Aislin the opportunity to explore her interests (the school has a number of clubs, activities, and field trips that she's really excited about) and work at her own level.

We are hopeful for what this school, what this change, has to offer. Here's to the New Year!

First Day of School - Finally!

The Sweet family treaded through a long and sweaty summer break with one bright light to keep our hopes alive: the first day of school.

Paisley was too excited to stay out of the picture, and Des was too sleepy to smile!
August 12, 2015

During the summer, Des was enrolled in two programs - one was a tuition-free Kindergarten prep program that went four days a week for three weeks, and helped kids adjust to an elementary school environment. Des got Mrs. Cullymore, just like Aislin did when we first moved to AZ...and just like Aislin, he later got her as his official Kindergarten teacher. We are a family that loves Mrs. Cullymore :) The other program was expensive and met every Saturday morning for six weeks. It was a reading readiness program that I had initially felt was a rip-off, but later realized how helpful it really was. Des learned a number of sight words and was reading by the end of the program!

Both Aislin and Des also had "homework" throughout the summer...to keep them from strangling one another, and me from strangling them. For a few minutes each day, at least five days a week, Aislin did pages from a 2nd grade workbook while Des practiced his handwriting, letter/number recognition, and reading. He now has stellar handwriting and writes "s" like an "s" and not like a "2," and he holds his pencil like a pencil instead of like a paintbrush. These are remarkable accomplishments :)

Since Des's programs kept him busy for most of June, Aislin wanted something that was just for her. So she agreed to start piano lessons! At first, I thought I'd just teach her what I could until the baby came in November, and then find another teacher to take her from there...but we've made such progress together and have enjoyed our lessons so much that I'm starting to rethink that plan. Sure, we'll have to take a little break after the baby's born, but I think I'll continue teaching her piano until I have nothing left to teach her!

As for the start of school, their weekdays now look like this: they drowsily get out of bed, agreeing to do so only after being reminded that we have to pick up our neighbor, Aubry. They dress according to their school's "color of the day," and then head to the kitchen where they slowly eat their waffles or cereal while I pack their lunches. Then there are shenanigans while they wash their faces and brush their teeth, and usually something to argue about while they put on their shoes and grab their backpacks. Finally, they clamber into the car with Paisley, who navigates from the passenger seat, and we pick up Aubry from across the street. I drop them off beside the Kindergarten playground where Aislin's old teacher from 1st grade greets students coming out of their cars, and the three of them clamber out with their big backpacks and bouncy shoes. At the end of the day, Aubry's mom picks them up and drops Aislin and Des off in front of our house where they run across the front yard, excited to share news of their day and raid the pantry for whatever snacks dad had bought from Costco.

Thank heavens for school :)

Happy 7th Birthday, Aislin!!

Wow, this kid is 7! That means 2nd grade and one year away from being baptized (which she eagerly reminds anyone who asks about her age).

7 also means losing your two front teeth (the dangly one was extracted by string just a few days later)
August 3, 2015

Aislin has been asking for a birthday party since she could speak...but as you all know by now, I don't do birthday parties. Maybe when she and her brothers hit those milestone birthdays, but for now, we try to make their birthdays special in other ways. We decorate the dining room the night before since it's the first area they see coming down the hallway in the morning, and we set their gifts on the table. And this year for Aislin's birthday, we made it a day of experiences. Basically, I indulged her in the things I never wanted to pay for her to do before.

She got to bounce on this thing at the mall...

...and ride this thing at the mall too.

I finally let her get something from Build-a-Bear...






...and Tim bought her a gun. Thus begins the Sweet family tradition: each child gets a rifle on his/her 7th birthday. On the following day, Tim took her to a gun safety class with his Scout troop where she answered questions faster than most of the teenagers!

At the end of the night, we all had dinner at Peter Piper Pizza (which is like Chuck-E-Cheese). The kids got tokens for games and prizes, and they had the place mostly to themselves since it was a weeknight!

Before bed, Aislin said to me, Thank you, mom, for the best birthday ever. 


Dear Aislin,
We love you so much, and we are grateful for your strength, wit, helpfulness, and kindness. We are grateful for the example that you set for your brothers - most of the time- and how you naturally take on that role of big sister, leader, and protector. We're even grateful for your unabashed voice, your strong will, and how you come up with your own ideas...even when they're sometimes contrary to the directions given to you. We're proud of you for your many achievements in these seven years, but most of all, we're proud of you for trying your best every day to choose the right, for already living true to the gospel, and for being the loving person that you are. 

xoxo,
Mom, Dad, Des, Linc, Paisley, and Baby Brother #4

Happy 5th Birthday, Des!!

May 31, 2015

He's 5-years-old, people! That means KINDERGARTEN!!

He's enjoyed riding his bike in the patio and around the driveway, but sadly his birthday comes just before the summer heat. At least he will have a bike ready for him come winter ;)

Although his birthday landed on a Sunday, he still appreciated all the singing and birthday wishes, the special treatment, the brand new bike, and the cake! His baby brother didn't quite understand who's birthday it was and took a swipe of frosting...to which Des responded, "LINKY! It's not YOUR birthday!!" I guess everyone appreciated the cake ;)

Desmond...is growing lean and tall. He loves to play video games, just like his dad, and even beat his first game (multiple times) when he was still 4! He's independent and knows how to take care of himself, and although he hardly ever asks for anything, he's started to develop likes and interests. In the past year, he has asked me for a pair of Batman sunglasses, soccer ball wall stickers, and a birthday party. I indulged him in the former two. (Clearly, the thought of planning and executing a child's birthday party still freaks me out.) He's still temperamental and moody, but he's learned that only tired and cranky people behave that way...and tired and cranky people must go back to bed. His attitude usually changes after that reminder ;) He and his sister are still thick as thieves, which means they're always in each other's space, quick to defend one another and quick to attack one another too!

He loves music and he loves to dance. When he hears a song in the car, he'll hum to it and sing what he knows. And when he hears music playing from the iPod at home, he'll dance ;) Tim and I always say that we should put him in a hip hop dance class...

Our dear sweet Desmond, we love every kind, affectionate, ornery, hard-working, intelligent, giggly, antagonizing, goofy molecule in your body. May you learn to fold your arms for prayer before stuffing food in your mouth, and may your fifth year of life be full of laughter, kindness, understanding, obedience, fun, and love.

xoxo,
Mom, Dad, Aislin, Lincoln, Paisley, and #4

Here Comes the Caboose

6 weeks
(taken in April)

8 weeks

Sweet Baby #4 is due on November 28th of this year, and we're having a BOY! Holy moly, three boys in Scouts...and one girl to rule them all - bwahahaha! We've made a number of jokes about this, including how Tim was, for the first time ever, WRONG about the baby's sex; how the Lord must've known we could only handle one girl; how getting pregnant just before the start of summer might not have been the best idea; and how Tim was wrong :)

We feel like this baby will be our last, mainly because my health gets a little worse with each pregnancy (but only during pregnancy...and yes, I'm talking about gestational diabetes), but also because I've reached the point where I'm just not having fun anymore! Pregnancy used to be very exciting, even in the first trimester...but now I find myself focusing on the inconveniences and discomforts more than the incredibleness of it all. I feel like I've "been there and done that," which tells me that this chapter in my life is coming to a close.

12 weeks

However, I will never forget sitting with Tim inside the Mesa Temple and praying about whether or not we should try for another child sooner, later, or not at all...and we both received the same answer: that the Lord would take care of us - my health, our finances, our needs - should we have another baby. Two months later, we received a Sweet blessing :)

24 weeks

So here's to our caboose, the butt-end to our loaf of banana bread, the tail to our 6-piece dragon costume...whatever his name may be!

Welcome to Thirty, Tim!!

Finally, the big 3-0 for the gentleman :) Welcome to the Big Kids' Table! xoxo

February 12, 2015

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln Connor!

(Dec. 28th, 2014)

Dear Lincoln a.k.a. Linky, Stinky Linky, Crazy-pants McGee, Cutie Patootie, Baby Brother,

We sure love you. 

You bring sunshine to our hearts, even when you're screeching at us for the Lucky Charms we don't like to give you because you only eat the marshmallows and rudely dismiss the cereal, or when you've peeled your diaper off while the rest of us were still sleeping and then pooped in your crib. All you have to do is smile at us, and all is forgotten. 

Heavenly Father has given you a sense of humor. Thanks to you, people as uptight as your mother are able to laugh about things she might not have found funny before. Thanks to you, we are all reminded that not everything needs to be taken so seriously. Thanks to you, we all smile just a little bit more every day.

Hugs and kisses, forever and ever,

Your Family

The Holidays - Year 2 Away From Family

Since moving to Arizona, I've been dull-spirited around the holidays knowing we didn't have plans to spend them with family. Last year, we were blessed to have the Taylors - a family that Tim grew up with in Willcox - over for Thanksgiving; and on Christmas night, our neighbors came over for a late dinner after one of them had a terrible evening with her mom's relatives. Even though I wasn't excited about the holidays last year, they turned out pretty well.

This year, we were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with our friends, Ben and Trisha, along with their kids and his family. They live across the street from us and go to our church, and we visit with their family frequently. Our kids are all about the same age, and our oldest two go to school and ride the bus together. We're grateful to have them as friends :) When we told them that we had no plans for Thanksgiving, they graciously invited us to spend it with them and their family. I told them that we didn't want to intrude since they were having Ben's parents and sister over, and that we didn't want to add any extra stress to their plans, but they kindly encouraged us to accept the invitation. So that day, we pushed Lincoln in his stroller with foil-wrapped dishes stacked underneath his seat, the big kids leading the way to our friends' house, and spent the evening with friends that we had made our family.

Christmas this year, however, was a different story...and it was all my crazy, obsessive, negative self's fault. I did well to get most of our gifts on Black Friday, put the Christmas tree and decorations up a few days later, and then have the gifts wrapped and under the tree the following day. I even survived the first week of the kids' winter break! Then it all just went...down hill. I was stressed out about insignificant things, restless, and obsessed with converting the office into Aislin's bedroom. In other words, instead of spending that week with my family (Tim had the week of Christmas off from work) looking at lights, going to the park, sitting on the couch with popcorn and Christmas movies, or playing video games together, we made family trips to Lowe's and Fry's Electronics. From December 23rd to the 25th, Tim cut holes in the walls, made cords, ran wires from the attic to those various holes...all so that the office didn't have to be the only room in the house in which we could have an office. Basically, he made it so we didn't have to depend on the strength of our Wi-fi anymore, and could use a hard-wire to connect to the internet (at least in the master bedroom, living room and family room). He's pretty amazing. Meanwhile, I moved as much as I could into the storage room in the garage and into the attic, and Tim got the computer set up in our bedroom. On the 26th, Aislin and I painted. The following day we moved her furniture into her new room, and then rested.

The kids didn't seem to mind all the hustle and bustle in our house that week. They were excited to go to Lowe's and Fry's Electronics, and they were excited to see an entire room painted purple. They still got to open presents on Christmas day and kept themselves busy with their gifts. They never once complained about the work their dad and I had chosen to do that week, especially on Christmas day, but I know I had cheated them, and Tim, of a more memorable Christmas. I wasn't in the mood...sunshine and spring-like weather didn't help to put me in the holiday spirit...we didn't have plans for Christmas anyway...were all pathetic excuses. Honestly, I'm not sure what emotion drove my attitude. Perhaps I was just homesick - it could've been as simple as that - and I had filled that sad feeling with compulsion...to work on a big, tedious, poorly-timed home project.

Next Christmas may be 11 1/2 months away, but I think I'm going to start planning now. So far, I only have an Advent Calendar idea: to place 25 cards in a jar, or an actual calendar, and read one with the kids each day...and no matter how tired or not-in-the-mood I feel, we will do whatever is written on that card. We will do things like: make hot cocoa and deliver jars of it to friends, make s'mores in the back yard, watch a Christmas movie, go to the library and check out Christmas books, see the Temple Lights, stand in a line at the mall (just once in our lives) to get a picture with Santa, bake cookies, sing Christmas carols, make Christmas crafts, buy gifts for the needy to wrap up and give away, put a dollar in as many storefront donation cans we can find, drive around to look at Christmas lights, send out homemade Christmas cards, plan a fantastic Christmas dinner and invite anyone who will be in town and without family to spend the evening with... So far, I have 14 cards. I just need 11 more to hopefully make next year's Christmas a memorable one for my family :)