Education Post

When Ve first came home, and I entered her into school, I decided that before I made any requests of the school or teachers I would see what they would do on their own. A passive approach. Sort of like to see what their policy would be. I felt since Ve was starting in Kinder, I really had time on my hands, and there was no lower she could start her formal education with like age groups.

I believe I also had mentioned earlier that I had relayed to Ve's teacher and Principal that I did not expect any special treatment with Ve in regards to expected behaviors. I realized very quickly that Ve could understand quite well, and her being so smart, would use the "I don't understand Look" to her advantage and try to get away with as much as possible. She required, for her own transition into her new life, a structured environment and structured teachers. Ve is a goof ball, likes to be silly and LOVES to be the class clown. I figure that the beginning of every school year, I will be contacted by her teachers because Ve will first test to see how much she can get away with, and then once I inform the teachers that they need to be VERY consistent with, what is expected of her, is indeed followed through with, otherwise she will take it as a suggestion. LOL, not really LOL. Anyway I digress.

I was receiving great reports back from her main teacher, but some not so good reports from her music teacher and gym teacher. The not so good reports were because these two teachers were more lax in their expected behavior, and guess what my class clown decided to do, yep, that’s right, not listen. Once I explained to the two teachers that they weren’t doing Ve or the rest of their students any good by teaching her that it was ok, to not follow directions, things started to change for the better. The teachers were trying to go easy on her since she was adjusting, but I explained that I wanted Ve to adjust to correct behaviors and not lax behaviors.

Then, at Parent teacher conferences, I of course received the news that Ve should be retained for Kinder again next year. It hit me hard, and I really had to sort through my feelings as to why, since I had initially told them I would be ok with this decision if that was necessary.

Once I realized that I was NOT Ok with this decision at this time, I jumped to action. At P/T conferences, Ve had only been in a formal school setting being educated at her age level for 6 weeks. Six weeks, and she was amazing everyone with her ability and her intelligence. Her kinder teacher actually wrote and told me she felt Ve had above average intelligence. I feel the same way and that is why I didn’t like this decision so soon after starting school. Of course she is behind. Not only did she only have six weeks, but little school or stimulus during her six years prior to school. Again, of course she was behind!! So after some pushing and requesting by me, we have decided to bench this decision for now, and re-visit it again in June. I think then, after 4 ½ months of schooling, we will have a better feel for if we need to retain her. I also plan to enroll Ve and Mim in an English immersion summer school for six weeks that meets half days. It will do them a world of good.

We now have 2 volunteer translators in place that meets with Ve a few hours 4 days a week, plus Ve is working with her ESL (ELL) teacher a few hours every morning and she is in Title 1 reading. If she was doing well before, and she was, she will really take off now. I also have requested a SST meeting of all her teachers. The teachers will get together and discuss a common course of action for Ve and then follow through. If I for some reason don’t feel my requests are being taken serious, then I will start an IEP on her. I don’t think I will need to do that this year, because the teachers and staff know that I am a VERY active parent, and I believe the teachers really want to see Ve succeed. They have been so great. It was actually the main kinder teacher and Ve’s ESL teacher that told me I needed to now, take an assertive role in getting these services in place for Ve rather than the passive role I had initially took. I am glad I learned so much here, because now I feel I will jump in quicker once Mim comes home since I don’t have a lot of time to help her catch up in school. Yet, I do know Mim is further along in her studies, but I am not sure how that will translate into our USA schools.

I have a whole ‘nother post for a different day on Mim and my thoughts on her education someday!!!

Ve is speaking English so well that we can carry on a conversation and I can understand about 60 – 70% of what she wants me to know. I sometimes forget how far she has come in such a short time. She is definitely becoming more relaxed, and quite frankly so am I. The honeymoon between Tuks and Ve is over and they fight and love like sisters. Just this weekend they were both sitting behind the recliner in the living room playing house together. It was cute to observe and brought back memories of when my sister and I use to do that too.

Spring Anticipation

My gourd selection this year


Nipped them with a nail cutter, added water.


Then heat, and now watch and wait for the sprouting of the root tip. Then I will place them in well protected planters


In 2 weeks, this is the location, my plant stand in the basement, I will start all my outdoor vegetable plants. I like to know that I grow my own from seed. I start all but onion sets. I can't seem to get much from onion seeds.
































Inside view. Sorry it is blurry and now cluttered, but it will be cleaned, fine tuned and up and running for the new baby seeds, and eventually plants..I am so excited.



OH and my final selection of chickens. We ordered them Frday and the little chicks will be arriving May 4th or 5th.

They are always amazing to me!!!

This morning, while I was standing looking outside my french doors, calmly holding and petting Beatrice. I hear. "Mama, can I have you attention, please". I look down and there on the steps in front of me is Tuks sitting with her play purse. I asked her where did she learn to say that, and she said at "Angie's school" . I then said" yes, you can have my attention, what did you want to show me"

Those polite words were again, very sweet to hear. On average on any given day I would say Tuks is now more sweet than not. I am hoping we are rounding a corner with her terrible threes since we are coming up on 39 months.

I have a huge post coming up about Ve's schooling and progress that I have been waiting to share for when the blog went private. You see her school district is also my employer. I need to be careful even though I really don't have any negative, just information I'd like to share more privately.

Delicious!!!

Tuki's new word that she uses at all our meals is "delicious".

Tuks: "Mama this delicious".

This word of praise can be heard from anything as simple as cold cereal and milk to the most complex meal I can think of. Either way it is sweet to hear.

Oh yes, and BTW, Tuks has been dry in her overnight diaper for the last two weeks..could it mean soon we will be completely diaper free?? One can only hope!!!

Hair Update4

I want to mention that I had a horrible week. It was bad at work and at home for a variety of reasons that I don't really want to get into, but now I can feel I am back to my old happy self. I like that A LOT!!

So I am up to share my weekly hair update. I did mange to talk with the owner of our local bead shop. She suggested using fishing line as an attachment to my threaders. It would be more durable and thinner thereby hopefully preventing me from breaking any more threaders. I will try that next week since this week is just puffs, sort of. I returned to my original standby hair style with big ponys. Hopefully not too big that Ve is uncomfortable. We'll see how it goes. I also noticed that her last weeks style became very dry, and I think it was because I didn't put enough gel in the hair while I was styling it. Hopefully this week I did a better job of it.

My friend who was born in Benin, bought me two more bottles of the leave in conditioner/gel. She laughed at me when she saw Ve's style this week. She said that I need to have a sit in session with her, her sisters and their daughters. I said I would LOVE to, so hopefully we can arrange that SOON!!! She also said my styles are getting a tiny bit better, but I have a long ways to go...I say, no kidding, tell me about it!! I really need hands - on help. I learn best through reading and watching/hands on. I need both, that is why emails and the yahoo hair group doesn't help me. I can't see the steps and quite frankly I am not even sure what all the terminology means. I need a teacher, who knows how to break this whole hair department down and teach me the steps, the terms and then let me try with my own hands. Yeah, I know I am needy here. So without further ado, here is Ve's style for the week.


Enjoying this weeks batch of Muffins. I alter the recipe a little each week to alter the taste and nutrient value. So far all has been a big hit with Ve, and an OK hit with Tuks.

Even though

it is snowing outside today. all. day.


Not a picture of my feisty lady.....















1. I know spring is around the corner because my Great horned owl is nesting. Granted it is a little later than other years, but she is still hooting and hollering out there when ever I bring her food. Her eggs are obviously infertile, but she sure is a good mother over those eggs. So yes, spring is coming soon.

2. In addition, if you hadn't noticed the squirrels are running around like crazy because the month of February is their mating month. Love is in the air for Squirrels....and soon sometime in March the little squirrely rodents will be born...

3. The Pileated woodpeckers are vocalizing up a storm lately.

So fear not, this snow means NOTHING!!!!!

To recap.
a. i saw a skunk
b. my great horned and wild great horns are nesting
c. the squirrels are out and about doing their mating dances
d. pileated woodpeckers are yelling "here I am pretty lady"
e. the seeds are on display in the stores

"I don't have a dad"

Today was the last day of the early winter session of the girl's gymnastic class.

Thus it meant parents could sit in the room rather than vying for a spot near the one big window so we could all watch our babies be gymnasts. I reminded the girls that even though I was in the room this week, they were to still pay extra attention and listen to their coaches.

During the warm up time the head coach mentions to all sixteen athletes, that there were very special people here today, their parents, or actually she said your Moms and Dads. Well low and behold that was inaccurate information. Tuks does not like inaccurate information so she likes to correct someone when something is stated falsely. So Tuks, out of all 16 kids, states matter of factly; "I don't have a Dad".

The coach then stated "your Mom is here"

Now I was not worried about Tuks statement at all. Like I have said before, I usually emphasize to the girls with things that we do have. A few months ago I remember reading some sort of story to Tuks, this was before Ve was home, and the story had a Mommy and Daddy in it. I mentioned to Tuks that we had 3 puppy dogs, 3 kitty cats, a mama and two sisters in Haiti, but no daddy. But that was OK, because we had so much. Tuks thought for a moment and she said, "We have Daddy Gary (Angie's' husband) at Angie's school" . I told her that is right we do. It made me so proud that she looked at our family as to what we have instead of what we don't have.



Today's response was just an act of correcting her coach's wrong information. I am sure we will have more discussions on this topic in the future, but today I had to laugh and be proud of my little fire ball!! So I won't go into detail of her tantrum AFTER the class...that one always has me guessing as to her next move....

Quote of the day

This morning Tuks was not listening to what I asked her to do, so she started having a tantrum and crying. Well we were on our way to all of our schools, and Ve must have either been smiling or laughing, not sure which, and I hear Tuks state with passion:

"I am not being funny, I am being naughty!!!!!"

and I had to smile and told Tuks, you have that right. What more is there to say when your child knows they are being naughty and still continues the behavior....LOL

Parent/Teacher Conferences

After talking with Ve's teachers tonight, we have decided that Ve will need to repeat kindergarten next year. Though I agree with the decision, I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I kind of hoped that they would say she ws doing so well she could move on, but jeez what was I thinking, of course she needs more time to learn the basics.

Plus I am jumping in to be more of a strong advocate for the French Translator. Nothing has been decided yet, but it was recommended to me that now as a parent I need to push for it. I really want this in place for Mim. She will need it.

I have attached an article for others to read so that you can see the need for a translator for your older children. View Table 1 closely.

Abrupt native language loss in international adoptees
By: Boris Gindis, Ph.D. Date posted:


This article was initially published in the ADVANCE - e-magazine for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists: Vol. 18, Issue 51, Page 5.

It is impossible to imagine an evil scientist masterminding an experiment to study the consequences of a young child being forced to forget his or her first language and urgently learn a new language in a state of frustration and intimidation. However, life is often more brutal than any imaginable scientific design. We have literally thousands of children who went through this process due to international adoption.

Practically all children adopted by monolingual English-speaking families lose their native language. The phenomenon of language attrition is not new. In the United States it mostly was studied in immigrant children whose families continued to speak their native language.

From the limited research it transpires that language attrition in international adoptees follows the general pattern found in bilingual children from immigrant families: literacy skills disappear first (in older children), then expressive language, and after that receptive language.1,2The study of the specifics of the linguistic mechanism, dynamic and patterns of first language attrition in international adoptees is still in its embryonic phase. The psycho-educational consequences of first language loss in this population have been studied even less, even though these issues have tremendous practical significance.

What do we know so far? One of the most shocking discoveries in the field of international adoption is the swiftness with which children lose their native tongue and the profound nature of that loss. A study of more than 800 children adopted from the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union between 1992 and 2004 revealed the time frame of functional language attrition for different age groups.3 (See Table 1.)

The youngest group for which we have clinical data is 3 years 6 months to 4 years. In this age group expressive language usually is just emerging or may be weak and delayed, with pronounced articulation difficulties, immature word usage, and faulty grammar in short sentences.

In a situation of full English language immersion, it takes these children seven to 12 weeks to reduce their expressive language to a practically non-functional state. Their receptive language may stay four to six weeks longer, but it is barely functional even in familiar situations with the support of gestures, voice tone, and other non-linguistic means of communication. For 6- or 9-year-olds, we are talking about months, not weeks, but the functionality of their language use still diminishes rapidly with every week of living in an English-only environment.

Initially, we thought that children who were able to read and write in their native language could resist language attrition longer. Unfortunately, it is not so. Literacy skills can help maintain the first language when there is motivation to keep it, but they cannot prevent the language from vanishing.

The literature presents identifiable causes of the rapid loss of native language, such as an initial low level of first language skills, a lack of motivation to retain the first language, no support of the first language in the family or community at large, and often an adverse emotional reaction by the children to their first language.3-5The toll paid for the abrupt first language loss depends on the child's age and a host of individual differences, but we are talking about no less than an overall disruption in language development.6Language is a tool, a mediator, a key element in most cognitive, academic and behavioral skills. If the tool is taken away in an abrupt manner, all these skills can deteriorate. No wonder we see regression in behavior patterns, communication, cognition, and academic skills and knowledge. For some international adoptees this factor may intensify cognitive weaknesses and even consolidate them into what is known as cumulative cognitive deficit.7

School-based speech-language pathologists should be aware of a number of consequences of first language attrition in international adoptees.

Internationally adopted children are entitled to a school-related assessment in their native language under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This assessment must take place within the first weeks of their arrival. Each week of delay rapidly narrows the window of opportunity for an accurate and informative evaluation.

First language attrition and new language acquisition take place concurrently but at a different pace. Language is lost much faster than a new language is learned. This factor must be understood when considering the behavioral and academic difficulties that might be caused or mediated by abrupt language loss.

International adoptees arrive in this country as monolingual individuals. Within several weeks to several months, they again become monolingual by knowing only English. The vast majority of students in our schools who were adopted internationally are not bilingual. Their first language has been wiped out completely within the first year in their monolingual family. Viewing these children as bilingual is one of the most damaging misconceptions that exist in schools regarding international adoptees.

A final consequence to consider is that the language and learning problems of this population should not be attributed blindly to their institutional background, cultural differences, and the process of new language learning. This attitude may result in denying them needed special education services or in-classroom support for years and keeping them in ESL programs instead of providing language and academic remediation.

Questions of great practical significance for many adoptive families and school-based specialists are how to address language-based educational issues and what proactive steps can be taken to prevent learning and behavior issues related to language attrition. School-based remediation should include the following:


•a full psycho-educational assessment of current educational needs, including speech and language evaluation;

•appropriate educational classification and an individual education plan (IEP) to receive special education supportive and remedial services, if needed;

•systematic monitoring and adjustment of the IEP based on ongoing evaluations of the child's performance; and

•specialized educational environment and remedial programs (such as the Wilson Reading program), if needed.

Language enrichment also must be a specific goal of home-based remediation. The best intervention is prevention. Adoptive parents have to foster intense cognitivelanguage development in their children from the start.

A remedial program that can be used for language remediation at home is SmartStart, which was developed specifically for post-institutionalized children, ages 3-8, who were adopted recently.8The program utilizes typical family activities to stimulate cognitive language learning, attempting to breach possible gaps in a child's cognitive language development while promoting attachment through enjoyable interactions. A prominent feature of each unit is a vocabulary section that indicates which words to introduce and how to explain an activity to a child in order to make it more meaningful remedially.

School-based educators and adoptive parents have learned that love and good nutrition are not enough to remediate internationally adopted children. They also must apply comprehensive and focused efforts to accelerate language development and promote thinking, learning and literacy in children who have been victims of deprivation, neglect and institutionalization. n

References:


1. Wong-Fillmore, L. (1991). When learning a second language means losing the first. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 6: 323-46.

2. Isurin, L. (2000). Deserted island or a child's first language forgetting. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 3 (2): 151-66.

3. Gindis, B. (2005). Cognitive, language, and educational issues of children adopted from overseas orphanages. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 4 (3): 290-315.

4. Gindis, B. (2004). Language development in internationally adopted children. China Connections, 10: 34-37.

5. Glennen, S. (2007). Predicting language outcomes for internationally adopted children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50: 529-48.

6. Kouritzin, S. (1999). Faces of First Language Loss. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

7. Gindis, B. (2006). Cumulative cognitive deficit in international adoptees: Its origin, indicators, and means of remediation. The Family Focus, FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoptions), XII-1: 1-2 (Part I),
XII-2: 6-7 (Part II).

8. SmartStart, at www.bgcenterschool.org/CDLibrary/CDs.shtml.

Article Source: International Adoption Articles Directory

Day of many posts

I guess today is a day of posts. I get so tired during the week and don't really feel like saying much, but I must be very wordy this weekend so hopefully it will hold for the rest of the week.

I washed and put up Ve's hair right away. I also put a tad of sheen into a spray bottle with water and sprayed her hair to keep it moist while I worked her braids in. The sheen that a friend gave me really helped keep the moisture in her hair this week. I attempted the beads. I used a medium sized hole and the threader, and yes again I broke another threader without getting that d*** bead onto the hair. The braid was thinner than a pencil. Was that even too thick for medium sized hole beads?? Please let me know. So I gave up the beads and put snaps and ponys in. I like the look and she likes the look. I zig zagged the parts so that they are different than last week to hopefully prevent breakage. I may have to give up the bead idea, unless they are large holed. I hate to do this since I have so many lovey beads. So suggestions on beading and threading would be great.









Lastly, I have now made up a song for Ve like I did for Tuks. Ve ends with adopted from Haiti, while of course Tuks ends with adopted from Guatemala. Ve was singing Tuks song to Tuks tonight, while Tuks was singing Ve's song Ve. It was really cute.

We didn't go to the bible study tonight since Tuks spiked a fever of 102 today after she woke from her nap. She is ok tonight, but I thought it best to stay home to rest and get ready for thebusy week.

Chicken Update

The first week of March, I and 3 others will be ordering our hen chicks. We had to order a minimum of 25 for warmth in shipping. I will be rearing 10 of those 25. The delivery will be for some time in early April. We are all VERY excited!!!!

My 10 will include:


4 Red Stars


3 Silver Laced Wyandottes


3 Black Australorps






















What a beautiful flock of girls and dozens and dozens of brown eggs we will have, don't you think???? LOL

VerbalVe and her perspective on her new life

Every time we go for a ride Ve shouts out "Christmas" all excitedly and points.
Tuks and I would look high and low for any signs of Christmas decorations etc., but usually come up empty handed.

Then it dawned on me one day that Ve was pointing at trees and calling them Christmas. Why you may wonder, well I believe since she came home just weeks before Christmas, and there were all kinds of Christmas trees up in the homes, and trees with outside lights on, we told her they were Christmas trees. Ve's translation is that all trees were called Christmas. Now she calls them trees too, and boy does she get excited about trees. There are a few trees and/or forests growing in Haiti, but not many. Plus Ve was born in Port au Prince, where there are very FEW trees and I doubt she hardly if ever ventured out of the city. So, she gets excited about trees, as do the rest of us.

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Today in Sunday school, the teachers had the kids draw pictures of what they were
afraid of, and guess what Ve's fear is; ready for this....SNOW. I had to laugh because I have been thinking that from her perspective, she may be thinking the snow is here to stay for the rest of her life. POOR Kid, but I am relieved that is all she has expressed a fear in, considering all she has been through..
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Last night I was real brave. I, by myself, translation, only adult, took the girls out to eat for Valentines Day Supper. It was the first time Ve has ever been out to eat with us since she has been home. She did pretty well, but there are certain manners we need to continue to work on. Tuks did great, but she has been out to eat numerous times, and she is in a very understanding mature 3 year old phase. She is a joy to be around again, except for the poor little girl has been dealing with a cold for the last week and it is wiping her out. So, I was glad to see we can still frequent outings and not fear about bad behaviours.

Happy Valentines Day

This photo captures the girls from last night, crashing and burning after their sugar high. LOL

Last night was fun to watch, that is until the sugar high kicked in. Both girls came home from their school with much sugar to bear from their Valentine's day parties. I can't even imagine Ve's perspective on this. Tons of candy in a little container. How glorious the USA must look to her sometimes.

This morning we had to forgo the girl's gymnastic class because we met with our tax accountant. We will be receiving the full refund back again this year and he figures we will continue for the next two or three years. That is good news since I am still working down the debt incurred from all three girl's adoption processes.


Once we came home, after lunch Ve jumped into the sun spot created by our southern window. She loves this place for obvious reasons.


I love the casualness of this photo. Ve is playing with the Sesame Street Alphabet bus game with her bud Hubble. She practices her letters just for fun now.

She and Tuks can also recognize and easily count items up to 10. Actually Ve can count items higher, but I am glad both can count and recognize the numbers.

We played Candy land this morning after a short hiatus and I must say both understand and play the game so much better.


Tuks jamming on her Guitaarrr.


Ve singing her alphabets.

On Monday we are having Parent/teacher conferences at my school, and in between conferences I will run over to Ve's school and have a conference with her teacher.

As for the rest of the weekend, the weather is suppose to be nice, especially for February, so hopefully in addition to church and bible study on Sunday, we will also get outside for some fun in the sun.

Have a Happy Valentines Day weekend everyone!!!

Home 2 months today

She was a brave little girl on the trip home with GR, and she continues to be a brave girl who is doing FANTASTIC!!

BTW I bought the doll from KMART, and she continues to be Ve's sleep buddy, that is along with Barney!!

4/4 Tagged

by Small Town Girl

to post the 4th photo from my 4th folder.



I am in the blue jacket in front.


The group I summitted 13,700 foot Grand Teton in Wyoming in the year 2003. Here we are at the summit. It took us 14 hours to technical climb, scramble and hike up and down only 200' since we started at the base camp located at 11,700 feet. We stayed at base camp for 2 days prior to the summit for training and altitude acclimation.

Anyone else interested can go ahead and do this tag, just comment back to me so I can check it out.

The stripped one has been spotted!!!!

I saw one of these little cuties last night in my yard, and yes, I did get excited. It means that they have stirred from hibernation. This in turn means the earth is thawing out and the earth is waking up in our neck of the woods. Spring is on its way, though still a ways off, it is getting closer.

I am almost finished with it

I received an email from Marie, my O director. She said to send her the VISA papers and fees for Mim because she is almost finished. I haven't received the OK from the US embassy on her I-600 yet. Once I receive that, then I know Mim will be home soon. I still think either Feb/March, but who knows for sure.

"OOPS TRY AGAIN"

The place to leave me your email addresses!!!!

Hair style for the week

At a later post I plan to share the recipe for the muffins they are eating...I kind of made them up, and boy are they a hit.


Tuks showing me her style


Beauty!!!

Upon the suggestion of a previous commenter, I am alternating weeks between puffs and braids. This week is puffs. I like how simple and lovely it looks.


Front


middle, Ve making a goofy face because I am taking her picture.


back, I noticed the side view shows the parts better, but Oh well you will have to use your imagination...I'm not sure why I try these back pictures because they never really show the hair style well. There are actually two green ponys in her hair you just can't see it for some reason. Six total puffs.

Now we are off to try out an in-home Sunday night bible study in which the kids are allowed to attend...I'll let you know how it goes.

Milestones

This morning on the way home from church Ve was spelling her name, the name I gave her, in English, and she was correct on all 5 letters and in the correct order. Plus I have attached three of her pieces of work that she brought home from school several weeks ago. She couldn't hold a scissors, let alone use one when she came home December 13.











The girls ready for church. Yes, I did ask them to stand against the wall for me.


Later today I will style Ve's hair for the week.

But I have a question, I have yet to get her hair trimmed since coming home. Should I to repair the damaged ends, or at least I think the ends are damaged...

FFF - Melt

The year Tuks came home we experienced incredible hot temperatures and since we don't have AC in our home, we were feeling the effects for about a week. We were melting in the high heat and humidity. These photos also honor Isaac, my sweet Dobe who passed away a year ago Feb. 17th. Sorry about the photos, blogger is flipping them for some reason..any suggestions on that?






see other FFF here

Sunday Tradition

Once Tuks was older I started to make more elaborate meals in hopes of getting her to eat an all around diet. Since she was still so young she didn't eat much, and then she turned 2 - 3 and became picky in her chosen foods. Then Ve came home, and I had renewed hope in making even more elaborate meals. If you have read the previous posts you would quickly surmise that Ve is a picky eater, but getting better every day.

One Sunday, many weeks ago, about 4 or more after a day of sledding, Tuks suggested a supper of Popcorn, cheese and apple, a meal not totally made up by Tuks since we had this meal periodically before. Being exhausted, I said sure, it sounded like a well balanced meal to me, and so we ate it with out any fuss or resistance from either girl.

Fast forward to the present, it has now become a ritual and tradition for our Sunday supper. We all really like it. The mainstays are popcorn, apples, cheese, and then we add a various things like sausage, banana ETC., while I am making the popcorn and cutting the other foods, Tuks and Ve are moving the kids plastic table and chair into the living room. The place we eat this Sunday meal...I guess you can say we have created a new, yet simple tradition that we all love.

Grounds Hogs Day

and Phil saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter, which puts us almost 1 week away from March 21st, the official first day of Spring.

Today was sooo much colder than yesterday. That is a downer.

I was almost giddy all day yesterday and I had to keep talking myself down by injecting reality into my mind by reminding my giddy up and go brain that we had many days of winter left.

BUT then I saw these




while checking out chicken supplies at Fleet Farm, and my heart started going all pitter patter, my step became lighter all the while I was dreaming of my 60'x 8' garden that I am planning to grow this summer.....I love dreaming of summer, gardening, and now our baby chicks....

So to Phil, I say "Get back in your D*** hole and keep your mouth shut, and then your shadow won't be an issue"

Red Stars are the bomb for egg laying

I am looking in purchasing 5 of these this spring for egg laying. They will complement my vegetable garden in providing fresh homemade food. No, I won't kill them, just eat and sell their eggs, which sounds like they could lay many. Where will I put them?? In the caging that I had the golden eagle in. I had placed him with another licenced bird educator about 3 weeks ago. I miss him, but was tired of buying so many rats. I still have the red-tailed hawk who is 17 years old and the great horned owl because she vocalizes so much and I love her calls. Don't worry, they are in different caging.



from a Hatchery

"We have finally found the sex link BROWN EGG LAYER that meets our strict specifications; easy to raise, lays large brown eggs, and has a good feed conversion ratio. A "sex-link" chicken is one, which at time of hatch, can be sexed by its color. RED STAR: These hens will mature with feathers that are reddish brown with flecks of white throughout. The males are all white with nice yellow skin. (They will not retain the same characteristics in future.) At approximately 22 weeks these hens will start to lay and lay they will. We're sure this hardy bird will become a favorite of yours as it lays eggs right through hot or cold weather. No wonder it's called the Red Star."

Hair styling by a dummy

Hair has never been that important to me. I should clarify and state I mean hair styles. Even when I was a kid growing up through all the teen stuff, the best I would do is perm or use a curling iron to put a few curls in at the sides of my head. The sides never matched, one curled easy and held longer than the other side. I have fine hair, but a lot of it, so very thick.. Any one who knows me or has met me in person already knows this about. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. My main goal with hair styles on myself is to keep the hair out of my eyes at all costs. I CAN NOT stand not being able to see what I am doing. So all these fancy stylish hair dos with the front longer than the back doesn't work for me. I have tried them from time to time, but they don't last long.

I tell you all this because I was/am willing to put myself out, way out of my comfort zone in having two daughters, and now I see it will be three who want/need their hair styled and fussed over. I have given myself a long break, the last month or so, taking it easy on yourself. Style Ve's hair one week at a time, with the knowledge that each week I would challenge myself more and more with more difficult styles.

Two weeks ago I ordered from Steph at Snapaholics and along with my order she was more than generous with beads, threaders, bandannas, hair boppers etc., as a gift to my girls. They arrived this week, and it was easily the cutest sight watching the girls as I opened each and every package. One would have thought it was Christmas morning all over again. I unloaded them into plastic bins that I had purchased from Fleet Farm (great advice from Mandy)




So today, the hair styling day, I attempted to style Ve's and Tuks (she, of course won't be left out) hair with beads.

The results:


One 1/2 hours, 10 minutes late for church, two broken threaders, an acquired skill for snaps, one bleeding fingernail (mine), still no hang of threading the small beads, but accomplished on the large beads later I was done. I WAS exhausted, mentally that is. I have read all these wonderful posts of great hair styles, but for some reason I haven't seen a post on the early in training styles. Well that is what this post is all about.



Both styles


Ve's tyle

Excuse Tuks windblown hair. Since we were having a heatwave today (it is in the 30's and that feels mighty warm, believe me) neighbor A took the girls to feed the ducks after church today, and it was WINDY!! Tuks hair is real fine, and it is hard to keep the braids and beads in. It is only 12:32 and she has only one braid left since the other fell out.

If you look real closely, you will notice that Ve has corn particles stuck in her hair from the duck feeding. Me, the dummy didn't think about the corn getting blown and yes, then stuck (due to the gels) in her hair...like I said, I am the hair stylist dummy. I have so much to learn.

I am a hair stylist in training,and let's be blunt, I HAVE A LOT OF TRAINING TO GO THROUGH until I can say with pride that I have arrived....

So I will take no offense if more seasoned hair stylist want to leave me tips or comments in how to perfect the styling, so it will go easier for me and the girls. You will be doing a great humanitarian work, by saving three little girls from the anguished process of their Mama attempting to style their hair, if you can help me out.