Melynn's Dance Recital

Wow, this is old news. I am really behind on getting some things blogged about. She had her recital at the end of April. The problem was I couldn't get the video to go directly from my phone to the blog. So, I am trying Vimeo to take the video from my phone to the computer where I can finish the blog post. I can't seem to add videos to blogger on my phone. Bummer. I also can't schedule my blog posts when I use the phone, which has made it frustrating to blog that way. But, I'm trying to figure new things out and hopefully having my phone will help me blog more, not less. We'll see.

Anyway, her dance recital was awesome. I was a very proud mama. She was just the cutest little ballerina. I really liked her dance teacher and felt like for the price (phenomenal) Melynn got great instruction. The only sad part is that our homeschool co-op is switching days and that creates a conflict in dance...therefore I am in search of a new ballet teacher. I am open to all suggestions, but would love one with excellent instruction (teaching the names of the steps and correct execution) and a great price. Yep, hard to find both of those.

Here is my little dancer girl:
melynn ballet recital 2015 from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.

melynn ballet 2 from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.

Going Under the Knife

I haven't talked much about the post C-section problems I've been having. But today is hopefully the beginning of the end. I had surgery to cut out the wound area and extra skin and fat. My plastic surgeon was careful to say I was not having a tummy tuck. Either way, call it what you will, he did say that he was going to help me have a flatter stomach. I am excited to see what it will look like after it heals.

Here's the backstory for those that don't know and for me to remember. Cora was born on December 6, 2014, by C-section because she was breach. After that, my wound opened up at the skin level. The OB didn't seem concerned at my six week check up, but had me come back two weeks later. At that appointment she prescribed a cream that was an anti-microbial silver infused substance used on burn patients. She wasn't sure it would work. It didn't. It just made it more irritated.

At that point I just tried to keep it dry and clean to prevent infection. Josh wanted to stitch it up, which eventually he did. It took me a long time to let him do that. I was afraid that it would trap some germs inside and make the thing worse. After the stitches had been in for two weeks, Josh could tell that it wasn't working. So I went back to my OB and she signed me up for wound care nurses to come to my house. All they did was change the dressings and give me some supplies so I didn't have to keep buying gauze at Walmart. After a few weeks of wound care, Josh said it was time to get a referral to a plastic surgeon and get it taken care of. He was right. As always.

So here I am, post surgery, with a drain hanging out of the wound. The incision is about 14 inches long. I am supposed to stay down for five or six days. That's a long time for a mother of four. Thankfully, my mom is flying back to help me. And Josh gets to stay home for the long weekend. What a blessing.

Speaking of blessings, which I consider a tithing blessing, is that the surgery will be covered 100% by insurance. I have already met the deductible and all of my out-of-pocket costs so this will be free.

Here's hoping my recovery is quick, that this scar will heal completely, and that eventually I will be up and able to exercise again. That is one of the things I have missed the most.

It's Tucker's 3rd Birthday!

I just gotta say it: I love this kid. He is such a joy to have in our family. He is always making me laugh, he loves to give hugs and kisses and can even say, "I wuv you too." Melts my heart, that kid. We celebrated last Thursday, on our big day, match day, 10th anniversary and all. We just felt like we should celebrate everything all at once. Today has actually been a really lame birthday for him, except that he is 3 and just doesn't know really that we aren't celebrating today. He is watching Frozen, one of his gifts, so that is fun, right?

Here are some pictures of his celebration:

Purging

I have had a list of places in my house that I have wanted to declutter for ages. The linen closet was the top of my list. I finally did it this morning. It took about thirty minutes and now I have more space and less stuff. Feels good. 

Fellowship

We are going to Pittsburgh! Lots to research, lots to think about. Luckily we have many friends that have lived there before us. They can give us lots of advice.

Wrapping Up School

To say I am ready for summer break is an understatement. I am so done with school this year. Adding a second child into our school and having a baby has done me in.  I still love homeschooling, don't get me wrong. It is such a blessing to have my kids with me all day, knowing that we are gaining such amazing experiences as a family, but it is really hard sometimes. I am hoping next year is easier. Haha. I'm probably fooling myself.

This is the time of year that I start evaluating how things have gone, how we have done, what I should change. I would say that we were pretty bare-bones in our schooling this year. I didn't do a lot of the fun stuff that we have done in the past. When I was pregnant I didn't have the energy to drag everybody out and then we had a new baby and I didn't drag everybody out because it was too overwhelming. At one point in the year, Emmett told me that school was boring. It really hurt my feelings at first, because I try to make what we do meaningful and memorable. And it felt like a personal stab. But after thinking about it and obviously explaining to him that our situation is not permanent I decided that it was okay to be boring for a while as long as I really make an effort to include more fun things in the future. I need to find the right blend of fun and boring. Boring in his mind is "required". So, we are making an effort to put in more of the projects that make school more than just "required and boring".

As for what I need to change, I would say that we finally found a rhythm that gets both kids done with their school each day...although it took a long time to feel that rhythm. I would like to plan our day out better to balance my time with Emmett and Melynn and to schedule preschool time with Tucker, as well. One of my big summer goals is to prepare a box a week for Tucker to have full of Letter of the Week activities. Some of them would be independent, like a busy bag, and some would be for us to work on together. I know it will work better if I have all the letter boxes ready to go ahead of time, so that is a huge goal. Worthwhile, but huge.

Another change we need is for our science to be better. I really didn't love our science curriculum this year. I thought I would but I didn't. Emmett didn't like it either. I need to seriously evaluate some new options...and I'm pretty sure I should just make my own because I would like it better. That would be so much work, but I honestly think that it would make the experience better.

My goal for Emmett next year is to start writing more papers on topics he studies on his own. My goal for Melynn next year is to work on her internal motivation and give her ownership of all she does. My goal for Tucker is to learn his letter sounds and progress toward reading. I really think he could be reading by the end of next school year if I worked with him consistently.

Here are some of the final things we have been up to in school:

We did a science experiment about density with different colored liquids. We had our talent show for co-op and Melynn have an excellent presentation on a python, to go with her awesome diarama. 

Nine more days. Nine to go.  

Cherokee Trail of Tears

In an effort to be more fun with our schooling, we planned a project to go along with learning about the Cherokee Trail of tears. We made forest pouches out of suedecloth and they loved it. Here is the final product:

Co-op Talent Show 2015

For your entertainment, I have videos from our talent show. Both kids did awesome.

co-op talent show from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.

Co-op Talent show from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.

I was especially proud of Melynn getting up there and doing a dance solo. I don't think I could ever do that and I don't even have issues with being in front of people. She does get nervous and this didn't even phase her! I really think that dancing is one of her talents, something that she doesn't struggle with, and that it can be a confidence-builder for her.

Personal Progress: Divine Nature #1

As I read through the scriptures listed for this value experience, I was supposed to make a list of divine qualities. Here it is:

Faith
Grace (I think of this as allowing others grace and allowing myself grace)
Peace
Virtue
Knowledge
Temperance
Patience
Long-suffering
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Charity
Humility
Submissive
Gentle
Easy to be entreated (I think this means being teachable, and also easy to ask things)
Obedient
Grateful
Hope
Prayerful
Compassionate

Then I'm supposed to come up with a plan to develop these qualities. I would say that some of them I already have. I don't really struggle with obedience or faith or virtue. I try to be prayerful and patient. Some of these qualities I would like to really work on because I don't feel like I am naturally compassionate or easy to be entreated. When I read that I actually thought of all the times I have snapped at my children when they ask me for something simple, like a cup of water, right after I have sat down to dinner or am in the middle of my own things. I am not naturally gentle or full of brotherly kindness. I am working on them, at home, in an effort to gain more peace.

How do I go about gaining these divine qualities? I think that by being humble and accepting that I have weakness, I can then gain knowledge and become more grateful for the talents I have been given. I think that daily prayer and scripture study will help me more than anything to develop these qualities. And lots and lots of practice. I hope that I can develop these divine qualities in myself and be a better mother and friend.

Updated: We All Love Cora

Cora is pretty spoiled. She has so many people that love her. Now that she can roll over, she is spending more time on the floor playing by herself and being happy. The kids love laying next to her to read stories or to just talk. I am glad they have this time to be with her, watching her grow up.

She has taken to sucking her two middle fingers and I can't get her to stop. So now most of her pictures have her fingers shoved in her face. It is still pretty cute, but I worry that we will have a problem down the line.

cora rolls over from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.

cora giggles at tucker from Alicia Wood on Vimeo.