Daily Adventures at Rose's House Monday July 19, 2010

Today started at 3AM when Michael woke up and crawled into bed beside me. He was very restless, swinging his arms around and tossing and turning. Doug couldn't go back to sleep so he got up, got ready for work, went to the store for milk, and ran an emergency call with the Rescue Squad before he even started work.

I dozed off and on between Michael's flailing around and then, when I thought he had finally settled down enough that I could get up without him noticing I slipped out of bed. This was around 4:50. By 5:30 Michael was back up and wouldn't go back to sleep. And so began another Monday.

It had been awhile since we got our the rice and beans for the sensory table. I put them in the freezer early this morning so they would be very nice and cold as an added sensory experience. The kids loved it.

We did some Math.

The kids enjoyed taking a close look at a grasshopper. It's hard to see but it's sitting on Gabe's hand. Gabe said he was having a staring contest with it.

The kids enjoyed playing with balloons during music and movement time. We ended up just doing a whole lot of moving with no music since the cord to my CD player misteriously disappeared. But it was fun anyway.

The letter of the week is Ff.

Queit time with music and books. And yes we did have music. I didn't find the power cord to my CD player but I did use my computer to play the CD.

We played two games of Memory this afternoon .  .  .

.  .  .  and then got out the craft supplies.

And here are some pictures of the fun they had during their free times.

It's been a good day, and fun day, a LONG day. I'm really hoping Michael sleeps well tonight. Not too sure how it's going to go though - he has already fallen out of bed once tonight.

And now I'm off to bed to get some sleep.

Daily Adventures at Rose's House Saturday July 17, 2010

Amanda is just loving Little Red, the guinea pig. Technically this is Doug's pet, but . . . we'll see.

Don't you just hate it when vacuum cleaner belts break?

A little math practice.

Coloring pictures to go with our Bible lesson - Jeusus Baptism.

Some imaginative play.

Perler beads remain a huge favorite with the older kids.

We had a good, fun day. More adventures tomorrow.

Daily Adventures at Rose's House Tuesday June 8, 2010

These snack crackers (recipe here) were such a hit last week that we made them again today. Gianni doesn't look too sure of Michael's oil pouring skills but Michael actually did really well.

Snapshots of the day.

When we first got our cat, Scout, he was a very timid cat, afraid of other animals and very of afraid of little kids. He would refuse to be in the same room with them and run and hide if they unexpectedly came near him. Amanda has worked very hard to help him get over this fear, gradually introducing him to the kids and rewarding him with treats when he allowed them to come close. Eventually he would tolerate a little petting and now he will occasionally come in the same room or in the play yard and seems to enjoy the interaction. I think Amanda has done a wonderful job with Scout.

Doug started painting Amanda's room this evening. Since we have agreed to take in a another child if everything works as we hope, plus there are two more who may come stay with us for awhile while their grandmother undergoes some treatments for cancer, we really need to finish the work we started on the upstairs rooms. 

And that is today's peek into our adventures today. More fun tomorrow.

Daily Adventures at Rose's House Thursday June 3, 2010

What a day this has been! It wasn't a bad day, just hectic.

A large number of our kids receive childcare payment assistance through the Va Department of Social Services. Because regulations and guidelines have recently changed I was on the phone a lot with social workers making sure we had everything in line. Several families here are making changes or facing decisions of one kind or another so there was a lot of sorting out of details there to deal with as well.

On top of all that we were asked several days ago whether we would consider taking a child with time consuming special needs in to live here for awhile. We said we would consider it but would need some time to think about it. Today we were called and asked if we had made a decision yet. We hadn't. So Doug and I needed to talk that over as soon as he got home from work. We decided to do it on a trial basis. Doug is concerned that the added responsibility may be too much for me with everything else we have going on. I feel confident I can do it but am willing to do it on a trial basis too ease his concerns. There are still details to work out that will effect whether or not he comes but we're willing if all works out. 

In the meantime the rest of usual activities went on around all this.

We started our morning by mixing up some pasta salad (recipe here) for dinner. Amanda took pictures while I helped the kids. Some of them were very upset when we got done and then had to wait for it too chill before eating it. I did allow some tasting however.

New pictures in our outdoor art center were greeted with enthusiasm.

And baby Heaven got lots of attention.

Amanda spent a lot of time today working on a play house for her pet rats, Micki and Amber. The younger kids enjoyed watching her. Part of the time she was talking on the phone with a friend while she worked.

Busy and fun and more fun busy-ness on the way tomorrow.