Okay, so I've not been keeping up with my blog. I've got countless excuses, but I won't go into them...except to tell you I've been trying to do alot of catching up now that I'm moving around easier!
I still have therapy three times a week....insurance will pay as long as I am showing improvement, and I'm definitely noticing improvement! I use a stationary bike as well as this leg press machine then another weight machine where I pull weights with my new knee. No big amount of weight, only about 16 pounds, but it's amazing how even that small amount wears me out! My knee really is healing well, and I am so thankful for that. When I'm on it for long periods of time, it starts swelling, but that's still normal....and can happen for at least a year, although most swelling should stop within then next month or so. I still get stiff towards the end of the day and first thing in the morning before I get moving, but that's lessening, too. I still wear out pretty fast, too, but again, the doctor and therapist keep telling me not to expect to be near normal for at least a year.
In other news...we had our third annual Christmas Showcase this past Saturday. Fourteen different home-based party-type vendors participated with lots of goodies -- everything from make up to jewelery, chocolate to alfredo sauce, cleaning clothes and supplements, essential oils and cookware, and of course, Watkins! Our local Kinship Chapter also had a bake sale. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate that well and left the roads pretty snowy in the morning...roads were just getting easier to drive mid afternoon when we were shutting down. Sales were still good, though. So mark your calendars for next year -- the first Saturday in December, St. Peter's Parish here in Park Rapids!
Tony continues to stay busy. He still has baby leaf lettuce growing in one of the green houses! And tomatoes are still producing, just as beautiful as they were this summer! He's also been doing some machinery repair as well as general repairs around the house and farm along with winterizing everything. We hope to start moving into the farm house shortly after the new year perhaps.
And Luke and Susanna -- growing like weeds! Susi is wearing a 6x most of the time, and even those are sometimes small on her. She's getting to be a tall girl. Luke wears about a 6 or 7...or whatever he wants to wear! He's got a flat backside, so he sometimes has problems keeping his pants or jeans up, especially when he runs around, silly boy! We continue to home school, and I'm thankful they are quick learners as this fall has not been on a regular schedule for home schooling. Now that I'm functioning better, we'll be going full force after the holidays are over. We do participate in our local home school co-op, and I love watching what they learn. They'll sit down with paints and combine colors to make other colors, talking about hues and tints and primary and secondary colors. They talk about textures and shading and all kinds of things that, as a non "artsy" person, I never fully grasped (or cared about). They'll talk quite a bit about drama and inflection and pantomime and all of that kind of stuff. Then the science stuff kicks in....last week, Luke looked at Susanna and said "My hypothesis is that Daddy kisses Mama on the lips all the time." Quick as a wink, Susi came back with "That CAN'T be your hypothesis because here is no way you can prove that happens all the time!" Okay.....Then there was the whole conversation about Peter and the Wolf and the different instruments and who they represented from the musical drama.
Luke is reading books by himself now and loves to sit and just read Peanuts cartoons. He'll read Susanna's AWANA book to her and work with her on her verses for the week. He's starting to add multiple numbers now and is slowly figuring out how to tell time...the one thing he's realized he isn't good at. And Susanna was thrilled to have read her first book all by herself last week! We've really struggled trying to remember the different letters in the alphabet and the sounds they make....until I started her on Hooked on Phonics. Wow, did she really take off then! And while she still doesn't remember all of the sounds without prompting, she'll sit down with her alphabet "cheat sheet" to remember what sounds each letter makes, then read thru the included books. She still insists she never wants to grow up, though.
We're also working on our Christmas program for this year, Dr. Newheart's Christmas Cure. The kids are doing wonderful, and we're looking forward to performing Sunday, December 19, during our second morning service. There are 44 kids this year! And at least 1/3 of them are first graders! This is also the last year our family is involved with the tiny Nativity, as Susanna is in kindergarten. She was thrilled to get the part of Mary, until she realized she has EIGHT lines to learn!
Well, that's what's going on around here...what's up with you?
2 comments:
Sounds like your kids are doing just fine school-wise.
When Blondie was younger I took the whole month of December off - it was just pointless to try to do anything. It was just field trips and crafts in December :)
I have a whole collection of Peanuts cartoon books for Luke to read when you come. I rescued them from U. Tim's when he moved back from college. Does Susanna live in Never Never Land with Peter Pan? So glad they're doing well with their home schooling. I believe they have learned more than you realize. We're anxiously waiting for all of you....
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