Waiting Room

We shared the waiting room at the pediatric hearing clinic Tuesday with some lovely families & precious children!

A couple walked in with two brothers. (The couple are not related to the boys, and didn't know Mom's phone number.) They had come from 30 miles away. Big brother looked 8 or 9, and he could not hear the receptionist to answer her questions, but she joyfully assured him that he would be getting hearing aids that day!! Little brother told me that his brother had had them previously but they had broken.  Thank God for the couple who served them that day by bringing them to the appointment.  

Mom and grandma came with a 25 day old baby for hearing test. So precious! And can we just thank God for the technology He has allowed audiologists to understand?!

A mom & dad came in with a toddler and a baby in an infant seat set in a stroller. It was an exciting day, as the baby was there to get hearing aids that day!

Every day in our nation (& around the world, though sadly they may not have access to these services) babies are born with hearing loss. Thank the Lord for newborn hearing screening, audiologists, ENTs, aural rehab therapists, early intervention, hearing aid & cochlear implant companies (that continue to improve their equipment), speech therapists, and schools for deaf & hard of hearing kiddos! 

Bus Line

At 3 PM on Mondays this semester, you can find LM & me at the university speech clinic.  The building is also the lab school. And the entrance to the speech clinic is also the entrance (& exit) to the preschool wing for kiddos with hearing &/or vision loss.  

The preschool serves over 30 school districts in 4+ counties.

As we arrive to enter the speech clinic parking lot, we have to pass the long line of moms in car line, as school is about to be dismissed.  I'm thankful for the little pink parking tag I have that gets me into a coveted parking spot on the university campus! 

We must have been a few minutes early one day, because the bus lane was full!  I saw four school districts represented on the buses that were there at that moment.  

My heart was full of emotion!! I remembered the day BK & I toured that preschool and realized it wouldn't meet his needs. I was overwhelmed (yet again) with thanksgiving that he was able to attend the private preschool for deaf & hard of hearing kiddos.  I prayed that the kiddos going there now will have their needs met.  I remembered sitting in car line at his preschool, and was filled with thankfulness again that my friend drove carpool most days. 

Side note: Whenever I get in our van, and push "Maps," the first option that comes up for me is the gas station 28 miles away where we met for carpool!!  And the second option that comes up is the school he attended 68 miles away starting at 3 1/2 years old!! All these years later, those are still my phone's top two default destinations!

The peace, wisdom, and joy of Christ

Parenting is not for the faint of heart. And so my heart was encouraged to read in a recent email of someone who is praying for Jim and me 

 to experience the peace of Christ, along with the wisdom of Christ, and the joy of Christ.

Our pastor just completed a 29-sermon series on 2 Corinthians.  

Paul concludes the book with the famous benediction:

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 

If I remember correctly, he said it's the only time in the New Testament where we find the phrase "the love of God." 

I spent four years attending a certain Japanese church in Chiba City, and the pastor there (in my memory) always used that benediction at the end of worship services.

 『主イエス・キリストの恵み、神の愛、聖霊の交わりが、あなたがたすべてとともにありますように』

I can hear his voice now. Great memories! 

Many years ago another missionary to Japan and I were visiting a church in the US for a special Japan focus weekend.  A former missionary to Japan was on the missions committee, and really wanted the church to get a feel for Japan. Saturday evening there was a dinner, possibly with Japanese food, and we were each asked to share, including some lighthearted stories about language & cultural blunders we had made.  

On Sunday the other missionary was to preach. Before the service, the man in the church suggested he give the benediction both in Japanese and in English. None of us had a Japanese Bible with us, and this was long before smart phones or Bible apps. I have a humorous memory of the three of us putting our heads together as we tried to remember how that particular verse is translated in the Japanese Bible. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #66

641.  beautiful October scenery - blue skies, bright sunshine, and golden stubble as fields are emptied

642.  two Saturdays in a row at swim meets - a combined 24 seconds dropped by BK & LM in four events

643.  answered prayer in so many areas that are not mine to share publicly

644.  a church that believes in prayer & lives as if we do

645.  Scripture journals (Seriously, check them out as a Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life.) Link to ChristianBook.com (The full set is 54% off for $125.)

646.  completing some home projects 

Still waiting on one item to be framed.  I was so happy to find the bamboo frame at Hobby Lobby!
I love reading Scripture in Japanese on my walls!

 

A variety ... our home states, a barn Jim's aunt painted, and one of my dad's barns that someone painted. A fort my great-great-something-grandfather built or lived at, and some photos taken by Jim's cousin.

647.  parent-teacher conferences

648.  opportunities to serve (albeit food; not classroom volunteering) in our children's schools

649.  an after-school club for BK

650.  options for so many services our children need; I keep thinking of the desolate places we drove through in Wyoming this summer, and while I know the Lord would provide, I'm thankful I only have to drive 30 minutes for services :) 

Language learning

When did you first learn another language? 

Latin I as a freshman in high school opened my eyes to a love of foreign languages! I had the best teacher, the best classmates, and the best textbook! We recited noun declensions and verb conjugations. I had numerous "Aha!" moments as I realized how English worked (by studying Latin!).  All the vocab I memorized definitely boosted my SAT score. :) We translated (simplified I'm sure) selections from Homer and the Odyssey.  We had quizzes with a sentence in Latin to translate and also had to answer the question: "Who said this to whom and under what circumstances?" I have discarded all my textbooks ... except Latin I and Latin II.  ❤️

I also took Spanish I and Spanish II in high school, but hardly learned a thing. (And that reminds me we had 9 weeks or so of a pilot Spanish program in middle school.) Spanish is definitely not my thing.

From 1989 - 2009 I studied Japanese in many ways, mostly through daily life, but also through 1:1 tutors, a local language school in Chiba City, four weeks at Karuizawa Language School one summer, 8 weeks of immersion at Middlebury, Vermont, and a year of Japanese II at Virginia Tech.  

It was such a hodge-podge, which means I had LOTS of gaps.  I could explain intricacies of theology and use old-fashioned biblical terms (think King James), but I didn't know the colors for years! 

This past summer, BK and I started Duolingo, and we currently have a 125 day streak.  (Some days he does chess, and some days I do Japanese, but we both use the same app on my phone.)  I am LOVING my 10 minutes a day 2-5 days a week of speaking and listening to Japanese! ❤️

Last week in Sunday School, I noticed that when I take notes, some are Latin words and some are Japanese. :) 

Learning other languages gives me such joy! What about you?

School

My mind is turning toward school. 

In keeping with my just-in-time parenting reality this summer, school shopping will probably take place on our way to back-to-school night. Oh, well! I can't even get it together to look at the lists and make an online Walmart order. 

I've scheduled the necessary appointments for BK to get a new pair of hearing aids (and thought ahead to what it would entail for the university hearing itinerant services to switch the teacher's microphone receiver) ... only to find out that our insurance policy changed from covering a new pair every 2 years to every 3 years.  (Obviously, we would sacrifice & pay out of pocket if he absolutely needed new hearing aids, but I'm confirming with the audiologist that his are still sufficient.)

I'm looking forward to Moms in Prayer and beginning to "advertise" on Facebook, in hopes of finding more moms who want to pray. 

I met with an educational tester and consultant, and determined that having LM tested for dyslexia would not help in our situation. Instead, she gave me some questions to ask the school and some action points to consider in hopes of helping her get the interventions that would be most helpful. 

I have phone calls in to three different offices at the state university. (Do other moms have the numbers for these offices saved?) Can we get LM back in the speech clinic, even if it means taking her out of school to do so? Would low-gain hearing aids & a teacher's microphone help with her auditory processing disorder? Could their testing center test for dyslexia and would that be helpful in the long run? 

Lots of questions. Lots of prayer. No clue what the best answer is in any of these situations. I'm not an expert. But I keep learning. And I'm sure the Lord will guide us.  

Celebrating!

BK swam his first 500 at swim practice tonight!  Woo-hoo!  We're thankful for such enthusiastic & motivating coaches and for the many character-building benefits of being on swim team.

LM is doing amazing in her weekly speech therapy at the university speech clinic.  She is working hard! And making great progress!  They primarily focus on word retrieval skills & strategies, as well as practical language (syntax, etc.).  

This week's homework is to practice word association.  I say king, and she is to say queen (or crown).  I say fork, and she is to say knife (or spoon or plate).  So, we practiced in the van this evening.  I wish I could remember all of the pairs, and I wish I could analyze her answers to figure out her fascinating brain.  But I'll share the answer I liked the most. 

I said, "Church," and LM said, "Stable."  Do you know what connection her brain made?  Jesus lives there. :)

Speech Anniversaries

Today's FB memories from 6 years ago said, "First day of BK's twice-weekly speech therapy at school. Thankful and hopeful!"

Yesterday's FB memories from 3 years ago said, "Speech therapy journey #2 ~ LM loved her first day of weekly speech therapy at our local grade school!"

Another recent FB memory referred to meeting BK's aural rehab therapist for the first time (8 years ago).

LM is starting her fourth year of school speech therapy. She started as a weekly drop-in and then the school therapist traveled to the Christian school where she attended preschool.  Now she receives services at our local elementary school. 

School speech takes a break from mid-May to late-August.  So, I found private speech at a pediatric therapy clinic for her the summer of 2020.  We continued private speech there (in addition to school speech) throughout the 20-21 school year and the summer of 2021, until I was exhausted, to be honest.  

In January 2022, she finally had an evaluation at the local university Speech Clinic, and was immediately offered a coveted spot for speech therapy.  The therapists are grad students, so therapy is only offered during the semester and 6 weeks in the summer (if you qualify; which she does).  

Of course BK had weekly speech therapy through Early Intervention and then daily speech therapy for 3 years at his private special ed school. 

How many hours of speech therapy have our children benefited from? Well over 1000! 

Thank God for speech therapists!!  

Marathon Day

Do you have a Marathon Day?  We sure do!   It's more of a Marathon 24-hours, as it stretches from Wednesday to Thursday. 

5.45 PM - 8.40-ish Wednesday we are at Awana (6.30-8), 25 miles from home.

Thursday morning I go 25 miles to ladies' Bible study at church, and run any errands I have in town.  Some days I make it home just in time to go straight to car line.  Only to ... head right back to town.

Thursday after school we head straight to the nearest city (20 miles away) for Little Miss's 3.30-4.30 speech therapy.  This involves a crowded university campus, an elevator, bathroom stops pre- and post-, and a debriefing with the student therapist & supervising professor. 

Thankfully, as of last week, Little Guy's swim lessons were moved to Thursday at 5 PM.  This helps with gas, etc., and frees up another afternoon, but it's a marathon!

And that's why we go to town three times in 24 hours. :)

CASLLS

Pronounced like "castles," the CASLLS (the Cottage Acquisition Scales for Listening Language and Speech) is a checklist of speech sounds, language, and grammatical structures.  

Before LG was 2 years old, his speech therapist was charting his progress on the CASLLS.  At a glance, she could see where his gaps were and what goals to set.  At a certain point, he progressed to the next level (& color) of CASLLS.  

Every month for three years at the parent-teacher meeting, I heard about his progress on the CASLLS.

And I wished that LM had a CASLLS checklist.  Alas, CASLLS is designed for children with hearing loss, so none of LM's five (and counting) speech therapists have ever used it with her.

Periodically I googled it, but the order form on the website is designed for schools to order in bulk.  

In a stroke of genius ~ or desperation ~ I emailed and asked if they ever sell single copies.  Yes!!  You can be sure I ordered a CASLLS (or 3 or 4) for LM as soon as I could.  Pre-sentence CASLLS, simple sentence CASLLS, complex sentence CASLLS, & sounds and speech CASLLS.

And if you need me, I'll just be over here charting speech sounds & language structures I hear coming from her mouth. :)  I love data!

Books to inspire courage

Scrolling through Facebook, this image caught my eye.  The link took me to this Amazon page, where Sally Lloyd-Jones has listed her top book picks for inspiring courage.  You can be sure that several of them immediately went into my "books requested from Inter Library Loan" list at the library. 

Up until recently, our children rarely browse the shelves at the library.  Instead, I peruse lists of books (on homeschool curriculum sites or in the book Give Your Child the World) and request them from the library.  

We definitely use the library, because we do not need to be acquiring any more books. :)

I actually purged some of our books last week when I knew I was taking a load of toys to the thrift store.  Our 9-cube unit has the following sections:

• social-emotional books (see here)
  
• poetry
• Usborne (2 cubes)
• Dr. Seuss + Usborne paperback reference books
• Joke books + Good News for Little Hearts series from CCEF
• collections (Children's Book Treasury, Little Golden Books, James Herriott) + adoption books
• two cubes of general picture books including the books about death & heaven.

Our tall bookcase next to it has the following shelves:

• board books + books for the smaller set (2 shelves)
• books about Jesus
• Richard Scary, early readers, high quality picture books + Usborne reader set
• Usborne 
• chapter books
• & the top shelf ... only for Mom ... guest book, photo albums, binder of children's certificates, hiking book & bird book.

LM is not currently allowed to keep books in her room. LG has a tall bookshelf in his room with more chapter books, Usborne books, and favorites (Mrs. McNosh Hangs Out Her Wash & I'll Love You Forever).  

Seasonal books are stored in the basement.  We just reported our first ever missing book to the library and will be paying for it soon.  Apparently it's about a snowman. I have no memory of it.  I checked the seasonal books, and I went through all our bookshelves when attempting to purge.

How do you organize books in your house?  How do you keep library books safe?

Usborne Love

No, I don't sell Usborne books ;)  (but don't think I haven't been tempted, if only to get a discount when purchasing for our own use).  If you're looking for someone who does sell Usborne, I can give you my friend's name. :)

It's hard to imagine I haven't mentioned Usborne books except in passing (see these posts). 

Yes, Usborne books are pricey, but they are QUALITY (construction & stories) and they last.  

One of LG's baby gifts that is still used to this day is the Usborne Farmyard Tales book.  It came with a CD of the stories, which he promptly memorized (& which I grew tired of, so LM has never heard it - ha!).  Each page has one line at the top and two or three at the bottom.  The parent can read all, or the child can read the top and the parent read the bottom, or a beginning reader can just read the top line and the story will still make sense.  Brilliant!

On both children's daily summer docket is a line, "Work a puzzle." These Usborne puzzles are perfect for LM right now!  I think I bought this box of 3 (which comes with a book) right after the world shutdown in 3/2020.  In advance of her daily puzzle this summer, I purchased two more (for a total of 6 puzzles).  Working on them daily (even for less than a week), her skills are really improving!!  We have a few other hands-on Usborne books ... math fact wind-ups to use while waiting in a restaurant or doctor's office, small booklets that you write on with a dry erase pen for the same places, and a Laundry Helper book with felt clothing that you hang out to dry, put in the drawers or closet, and then dress the children in the book.

I love the story collection books on the right in the photo above.  Most of these type (and at least half our Usborne collection) came from the kids' consignment store when LG was commuting.  We had one with us this weekend in WI and it kept LG occupied.  To the left of those are the Hey Jack series.  I found the entire series at Goodwill one day when he was commuting.  They were 99 cents/book.  They were a favorite for a long time and introduced ways to handle difficulties that children face in playing with friends.  For early readers, they are great because no words are hyphenated at the end of a line, font is larger, and there's plenty of white space.

This section of our shelf has some really fun ones.  Look Inside books are a great winner here!  All Better has removable bandaids that the child can place on the right animal as you read.  Lifesize & Dinosaurs came from the thrift store.  "How Big is a Million" and "How Big was a Dinosaur" have pull-out posters, in addition to illustrations that help a child grasp big concepts.

The small books on the right are mostly Goodwill finds, several of them sold via Scholastic.  We love non-fiction!  The red and blue early readers sets were a very generous prize when I was mystery hostess at an Usborne book party once!  Both children love them!

The music books (Four Seasons & Quiet Time) are very well done.  The phonics collections are amazing and fun, too!  We have used them when working on certain speech sounds. :)

Little Helpers is the laundry book mentioned above.  What are germs? is memorized by almost all of us! Aesop's Stories for Little Children is a perfect adaptation to introduce Aesop to little ones.

This shelf is all Usborne also... some reference books and social-emotional ones.  At the Garage is one of the shine-a-light books.  One page is dark, but when you shine a flashlight on the back of the page, you can see the picture come to life. 

Are you an Usborne family? Do you have a favorite from Usborne?

April calendar

So far, our April calendar holds the following.  The plan is that everything with an * will happen during morning preschool, which is great for efficiency, although not necessarily restful for me. (19 school days; 13 with appointments)

 

* two Zooms with my health coach

* monthly lab work

* a hair appointment

* dermatologist follow-up from summer

* my monthly infusion (need to find childcare after LM's 10.45 bus)

* monthly rheumatologist appointment via telehealth (scheduled during infusion - ha!)

* an injection at the infusion center (and an hour+ wait afterward)

* weekly speech therapy for Little Miss at nearby university clinic

one day of annual speech and language testing for Little Guy 70 miles away (three sitters unavailable - LM may miss school that day & go along for the ride)

Kindergarten Roundup

weekly Awana

weekly swim lessons

two TrailLife meetings + first Saturday morning outing

* townwide garage sales - Woo-hoo!!!

one (& possibly two) family get-togethers

* IEP meeting at school

two days of no school (Easter weekend - yay!)

Early Release day (that deserves it's own blog post!) 

a birthday 

a friend's birthday party

Easter!!

Normalcy

LG is due for his annual speech and language testing in April. We have not yet started scheduling in April yet, but plan to open up evaluation spots soon. Is there a Monday or Wednesday in April that would work best for you for a 9:00 eval? I will plan to administer the CASL- a higher level language assessment since he is older now which will give us an opportunity to probe some different language areas.  {Speech therapist} reported that there are no concerns with his speech at this time so I do not plan on doing a formal speech assessment.

 

At 8 years old, wearing hearing aids seems like old hat.  LG charges them each night.  I am getting experienced at cutting new earmold tubes and attaching them to his hearing aids every 6 months when they arrive at our front door.  When I register him for day camps, I write my little blurb in the "health needs" section & don't think much of it.  He's pretty independent & has great self-advocacy skills. 

Yet I remember (see this post) how new & hard it once seemed.  

And his hearing itinerant (who visits his school twice a month) told me yesterday that he works VERY hard to listen.  She is incredibly impressed with his listening skills, and said, "He must be very fatigued when he gets home after school."

Yesterday I also received an email which included the paragraph at the top of this post.  I read it rather matter of factly, and then stopped short.  

This is amazing!!  To say, "There are no concerns with his speech at this time," deserves celebrating!!  He has worked so hard!  A year ago, we heard disconcerting news about his speech, and immediately said, "Yes, please," to summer Zoom speech therapy, which did the trick.  

Woo-hoo!!  Way to go, LG!!

Seven Years Ago

Seven years ago, I buckled 11-month-old Little Guy into his carseat and made the 65 mile journey alone to the pediatric hearing clinic.  A month previously I had made the trip alone with him to the surgicenter to have tubes put in his ears.  But for the many trips prior to that, someone had always gone with me ... Jim, my sister-in-law, a niece, et al.  

This was (if memory serves me correctly) my second solo trip.  The solo trip for his tubes procedure had been anxiety-producing, but we survived. :) 

This trip was the one-month follow-up with the ENT and also an appointment for yet another hearing test.  The test was his 9th or 10th, but the first 2 or 3 had been in the hospital (newborn hearing screen) and he had had one or two attempted tests at a local ENT's office.  So I am not sure how many tests he had actually had at the pediatric hearing clinic.  I do know that none of them had been conclusive.  They always ended with, "Let's make an appointment to keep trying to get a complete picture."  

And so on December 3, 2014, LG and I went in the sound booth.  Jim and I had had 11 months to say to ourselves, "He jumped at that loud sound; maybe the newborn screen was a false negative."  And no other hearing test had been conclusive, so I wasn't prepared for a diagnosis, and was pretty shocked that this test was conclusive.  When our beloved gentle pediatric audiologist said, "He needs hearing aids. I'll make the impressions for the molds today, and you can come back in 3 or 4 weeks to get his hearing aids," my world was rocked.  As I pulled out of the parking lot, I drove up on the curb. 

On December 29, the three of us spent a couple hours with the audiologist, learning all about hearing aids and tips & tricks for keeping them in a baby's ears.  And that winter, LG started speech therapy and aural rehab therapy.  He was amazing at aural rehab and we were so sad when his therapist graduated him from her schedule. :( 

His speech was so far behind, but, as his beloved speech therapist said, "Once he started making strides, he moved quickly!"  He quickly learned to read lips and also to trick her when she was doing his LING sound check. Little stinker!  

At 3 years old, he graduated from Early Intervention and weekly speech therapy through the clinic, and began twice a week drop-in speech therapy at the local elementary school.  Six months later, testing showed that he was not making progress, and we made the hard decision to enroll him in the private special ed school for deaf & hard of hearing kiddos (65 miles away).  He attended there 11 months a year (3 days a week - Tu, Wed, Th - the first year; 5 days a week after that) from August 2017 until the world shut down in March 2020.  He continued with a rigorous Zoom schedule (of both classes & speech therapy) through July 2020.  

After almost a year of in-person school at our local elementary school, his speech testing in April 2021 showed some regression, so we did 3 months of zoom speech therapy through the clinic, and he finally graduated from all his speech sounds!! Woo-hoo!! 

This week, while in quarantine due to being a close contact, I had to video him making a show & tell presentation for his class.  When I watched the video, I almost cried.  I sent a random 30-second clip to his former Deaf & Hard of Hearing Teacher at the special ed school.  Her reply: "He’s so awesome! And everything he said was so clear. Amazing!!!"

Yes!  His articulation was PERFECT!!  Praise God for almost 8 years of answered prayer regarding his speech & hearing!! And thank God for the amazing pediatric clinic, speech therapists, and school - combo! 

Today may be a trauma-versary for me, but it's also a reason to rejoice and look back and see God's hand leading us.  

I am thankful for the audiologist at the local ENT's office who referred us to the pediatric hearing clinic and said, "If he needs follow-up, it's worth the drive to keep going there." I had no idea how true her words were, or that he would need follow-up (for years!!).  I shudder to think of the what-ifs.  

So, while my body still has a visceral response to remembering this day seven years ago, at the same time, I also am full of thanks. 

1000 Books Update

On September 30th, Little Miss enrolled in our library's 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program.  

The paper with 100 numbered circles hangs on our fridge.  Our goal is to complete one page of 100 circles each month.  My goal is three books a day, but reading a book at any time is great!  

On late nights, she gets very upset before bed, "We not read!!" So we work hard to push reading earlier into the day.  Or on nights we need extra cuddles & start early, we just grab a stack of 9 or 10 books off the shelf, and go through as many as we can, to catch up.  She is very motivated! 

When she eats breakfasts, she asks, "You read books."  And I have been known to carry books in the van, and read a couple while we wait in afternoon car line (with my captive audience).  The babysitter knows I need a book count at the end of the evening, so I can cross more numbered circles off. :)

And for the first time, I am letting one of my children pick out their own books at the library (I cringe to admit that), and I don't care if it's Halloween or Lego City or a cartoon character.  We are just here to read! 

I can always supplement with our 100s of good quality children's books in our living room or with requesting books from Give Your Child the World via Inter Library Loan. 

We filled out our 100th circle on November 5th (3 a day would have gotten us to 100 on November 2nd).  I'll count that as a win!  

Nine more months of 3-a-day books to go!  Can we do it before Kindergarten starts in mid-August? :)  I think we can. I think we can. I think we can.

Listening Adventures

Little Guy is decidedly an auditory learner. 

His 2nd grade class reads for 45 minutes everyday (Woo-hoo!!) ... silent, independent, sustained reading.  They started the school year with 5 minutes a day, and added a minute or so each day.  The teacher had them enthused from Day One about their 45-minute goal and interim 25-minute goal, and the rewards ... bring your stuffy to read with you (for 25 minutes) and wear pjs and bring your stuffy (for 45 minutes).  And they did it!!

But his preferred method of reading is listening!  On Audible, Sugar Creek Gang, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Paddington, Ralph S. Mouse Collection, Toy Story, Anne of Green Gables series, and Charlotte's Web are his go-tos. (We listen to the same stories over and over and over again!) 

He also enjoys podcasts ... Base Camp Adventures is his new favorite (thanks to a friend's recommendation).  

Keys for Kids & Good News Radio are two other podcasts he enjoys. 

And a HUGE current favorite is Your Story Hour. It is web-based, and there are 4-5 free stories each week. 

I learned recently about Tribe of Dan podcast, which has the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre edition of The Chronicles of Narnia.  We haven't tried that one yet.  

What do your children listen to?  How/where do they listen?  LG falls asleep listening to Audible or podcast on Alexa.  In the van, I stream from my phone.  Sometimes after school, I turn on my phone during snack or play time so he can listen.  I think he would listen 24/7 if allowed. :)

Blessed Assurance

Recently I came across a sibling music group in Japan ... Ruah Worship (found on FB, YouTube, etc.). As I listened to their recording of "Blessed Assurance" (below), my heart soared in worship. 

I have been surprised over the past 6 months or so as I have periodically sought out Japanese praise music and hymns, how much they move my heart to enter into worship. 

Perhaps because I grew so much while living in Japan (& while singing those words on Sundays in corporate worship), they reach me in a way that English doesn't always? 

Perhaps because I have not been using my Japanese (receptive or expressive) language skills, that part of my heart has felt less alive, and so I feel more whole when I am using both English and Japanese? 

At any rate, even if you don't know Japanese, you might enjoy listening to their recording.  :) 

"Blessed Assurance" is a special hymn in Jim's family.  The extended family took a heritage trip for his parents' 60th (?) anniversary, and sang "Blessed Assurance" by his grandparents' & great-grandparents' graves and also at the altar of the church where his parents were married.  A few years later, at his mom's graveside service, the pastor said, "I don't know if the family is a singing family, but I thought we could sing, 'Blessed Assurance.'"

Do you have a special hymn in your family?

Thankful ~ 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Six years ago, LG and I started our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge, and four years ago, we completed the extreme challenge, and started LM on hers! 

Younger sibling definitely isn't getting the extreme challenge (1000 unique books). Tired Mom counts every book, even if we read it 5 times.  But Tired Mom also forgets to write books down. And Tired Mom doesn't read as much.  LM is up to 840 (mainly thanks to summer reading logs) - woohoo!  

This week our local library in Tiny Town announced that they are starting a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge!  I am so excited! I need the challenge.  And LM is excited, too!  

I explained that if we read 3 books every day, we can win the prize, and she chanted, "I'm the champion!" 

I know that technically we don't need to start over on our way to 1,000.   But I imagine to be counted in our library's program, we will need to. And it's do-able. 

Thankful ~ friends

One day in March 2020, I drove carpool 65 miles.  We met at our usual gas station parking lot near the interstate, and transferred boys to my van in the morning and from my van in the afternoon.  We shared everything in those days!  Boys, toys, snacks, car seats, car seat trays, etc.  

We didn't know it was The End of our carpooling life as we knew it.  The boys facetimed a few times, and we saw one boy in some of LG's Zoom classes.  Of course, we saw him & his family at the socially-distanced graduation at a drive-in movie theater also. 

Finally! Finally, yesterday we met halfway at a splash pad. LG said, "It's been a long time that we've been separated from them." Yes it had. :( 

In an amazing twist of providence, the boys' teacher showed up, too! :) She was in our closest city for another reason, so hung out with us for over an hour.  

So the three carpool boys + LM (the "baby" who rode along in our van) + "Baby J" (the "baby" who rode along when the other mom drove) ran and splashed and got wet and played in the water and on the playground equipment for more than 2 hours. 

And we three moms (who saw each other twice daily at our carpool spot) and Miss Sarah (whom the driver of the day saw twice daily at the school drop-off spot and who - much more importantly - loved our boys so well and taught our precious boys sooooooooo much, both as a deaf educator and as an amazing human) sat in the shade catching up.  

The nine of us (students, younger sibs, moms, & teacher).  Our lives had been so very intertwined, it's hard to describe.  We were completely interdependent on each other in a way I've hardly experienced elsewhere in the US.  

It was good to be together again.