Nap Time

Our cat, Heidi, settling in for a nap. 

The Lessons Born of Adversity~~Homeschooling through Tragedy

(the original of this is being posted on Latter-day Homeschooling on Sept 6 2010)

My Christmas Tree goes up on September 1.

“Are you crazy”, you may ask?  Well, yes, I suppose, according to some. When I was asked for the story of why I do this, I explained it as thus,

“ I love Christmas Trees. I do. They cheer me, bring me joy, lift my spirit. Back when I was a normal person who worried about, or even considered social norms, our family used to wait until the first weekend of December to put up the tree (Having children on the Autism spectrum taught me to throw social norms out the window).
But, the year came when I just couldn't wait until December, so we put it up just before Thanksgiving. Then the next year the kids started asking for it in October (I am easy to convince on this subject), so up the Christmas Tree went, just before Halloween,  and it remained our tradition for years after.  It stayed up until, oh, February..March…April…the Holiday is just too lovely to enjoy for only one month.

When we moved to Arkansas, truly, “normal” became only a setting on a washing machine. My husband was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  As far as I’m concerned, the person who is not going to recover from an inoperable brain tumor gets everything they want, so on September 1, 2004,  8 months before my husband died , he asked for the tree to go up rather than wait till the end of October. So up it went; anything to bring him peace and contentment in his adversity.  As one of my sisters said, “It was Christmas every day until he died. “
So, now, my friends, it goes up when the time feels right.
Merry Christmas!! God bless us, every one! “ 

My family has, indeed, evolved into something a little different.

Homeschooling also changed drastically during my husband’s illness.  Some people counseled me to put my children in public school (ACK!) so they could get away from it.  Well, I saw things differently.  Their father was not going to recover from this and I was not going to take away what little time they had left with him, to put them in a place that could not even accommodate their needs.  We pulled together more, focused on our family, on service, and love. 

I don’t remember much about the academics during this time, but my gang learned about occupational therapy by helping their father through his exercises.  They learned about selflessness.

They learned about the Spirit of the Law, that though their mom couldn’t go to church on Sunday because of dad’s illness, she worshipped at home and in her heart. When dad couldn’t join us at the table anymore, we had dinner in the living room, where his hospital bed was. 

They learned about selflessness through service because of the people who came to pick up them for church and bring them back home~~and we live 14 miles out of town from our church building.

They learned that you plow through difficult times, you keep going, that we live on the love and care of the Lord.  He holds you up if you allow Him.

They learned flexibility, that’s it’s okay to give the person with a brain tumor Yellow Cake with Cherries on top for breakfast if that’s what they want.  Or Hamburgers and French Fries.  You can eat it with him. 

My children read to their father.  They had been accustomed to being read to, but they learned to take the responsibility, the initiative, to read to someone else.

They learned that sometimes the dying have to be told, through a Priesthood blessing, that’s it’s okay to go, that the responsibility is going to be passed on to the Lord and He takes His responsibilities seriously.

Some days, school was reading aloud to their father, watching School House Rock videos, or gospel based movies, playing Math Blaster on the computer, keeping dad company by watching old black and white TV shows, or spoon feeding him when he couldn’t hold his own spoon anymore. Without fail, though, we began our day with Family Scripture and prayer.  We still went to 6 am Seminary, holding tight to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our adversity.

What they learned of traditional, temporal, academics; maybe not so much. What I know they learned; priceless, eternal and worthy to be called “Treasures in Heaven.”

What Sept 1, 2010,  looked like at my house.

playing with fotos

My kids like to take pictures then play with them.  Mary takes many of the photos and they are great.  Buddy gets it into our Paint program and well…this is Buddy’s latest creation.

Michael Cockrum in the chair, Patrick with wings, Buddy with the parachute…..

Sunday Morning

Patrick blessed the Sacrament for the first time today. Brothers….  Blessing the Sacrament together…..It was a beautiful thing to see.  I couldn’t sing.  I just watched them. 

8-22-10 Buddy, 20, and Patrick, 16 on  Sundays.

The 12 Days of Laundry, By Buddy and Patrick

The original version of this post appears on the Latter-Day Homeschooling blog on August 16. 2010

 Bubble Masters

The 12 Days of Laundry
Written by Buddy and Patrick, 2008

On the first day of laundry, the first thing that we saw:  a washer that doesn’t work right.*

On the second day of laundry, the second thing we saw:  two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the third day of laundry, the third thing that we saw:  three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the fourth day of laundry, the fourth thing that we saw:  four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the fifth day of laundry, the fifth thing that we saw:  five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the sixth day of laundry, the sixth thing that we saw:  six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the seventh day of laundry, the seventh thing we saw:  seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the eighth day of laundry, the eighth thing that we saw:  eight holey long johns, seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the ninth day of laundry, the ninth thing that we saw:  nine muddy snow coats, eight holey long johns, seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the tenth day of laundry, the tenth thing that we saw:  ten icy ear muffs, nine muddy snow coats, eight holey long johns, seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the eleventh day of laundry, the eleventh thing we saw:  eleven dusty bathrobes, ten icy ear muffs, nine muddy snow coats, eight holey long johns, seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

On the twelfth day of laundry, the twelfth thing that we saw: twelve crusty gloves, eleven dusty bathrobes, ten icy ear muffs, nine muddy snow coats, eight holey long johns, seven moldy towels, six filthy shoes, five underpants, four smelly socks, three dirty pants, two crummy shirts and a washer that doesn’t work right.

*note~~my washer works fine; must be a user problem.

How Katie Loves

I came in the house this  afternoon and Katie was no where to be seen.  I called out, “Katie, are you here?” and I heard a noise coming from the boys’ room.  She appeared and said, “I’ve been dusting in the boys’ closet.”   Who does that?
(obviously not the boys..)

Patrick has been away, staying over with a friend for several days and Buddy was away all day at YSA conference, as was Mary.  The house was very quiet and she missed everyone.

Patrick’s 16th Birthday

He woke us up at 6 am so he could open his presents first thing.  We packed everything in big boxes because Patrick has a tendency to figure out what’s in the packages days before his birthday and it loses all the fun. We packed little things in big boxes and big things in small boxes.  *;-.)

Rattle, rattle….Fra—gee—lay..wonder what that means?

Guitar Thumb Picks!!

Smoke on the Water sheet music  (who remembers that one? Even my 77-year old momma likes Smoke on the Water)

Guitar Rock Classics~  I was listening to this music when I was his age…

When he expressed an interest in Iron Man sheet music, I thought he said Cast Iron…so I bought him a Cast Iron Dutch Oven…

The only 16-year old I know who can be happy about receiving cookware for his birthday. 

Mary got it right..Iron Man Sheet Music

It doesn’t look like it, but he really was happy about receiving 10,000 bb’s for his birthday.  He and the guys from church are having a battle today (yes, lots of goggles will be involved). The girls were invited to battle too, if they wished…

YES!!  Camo Duct Tape!!!

After opening presents…. some of that stuff was heavy….He really *did* ask for the Cast Iron Dutch Oven. He’s a big scouter.

Looks like someone else was interested in Iron Man.  He snatched it up before Patrick got to his guitar…
Then Katie turned on the song, “Sixteen Candles,” just for her bro…  It was cute.