Considering Name Changes

When I started writing this new blog I changed names from Dancing Boy # since, at the time, I had only two dancing boys. The names Thing 1 and Thing 2 fit well for my middle boys because the were two sides of the same coin. But in the last year their personalities have begun to really come out and I think I should get more specific.

For Thing 1, I am considering Adamantium. I came up with this name when I looked up the word "steadfast" in the thesaurus. Adamantium is the metal that lines Worlverine's bones. It's virtually indestructible.  Thing 1 is very much like this. He rolls with the punches, and life does not break him. His spirit is strong and steady. And, hey, I love Wolverine. :D

For Thing 2, I am considering Evangelist, after the character of the same name in Pilgrim's Progress. It seems apt as his desire since he was maybe 5 has been to be a missionary.












So, those are my thoughts for names. And about all my thoughts period in this heat. :D Hey, I had to say something since we only have 1-2 weeks of tripled digits each year. This time next week there will be no weather to talk about. :) And that's why everyone wants to live in SoCal. ;)

So Glad Tomorrow is Monday

I say that almost every Sunday night. I know there was a time I looked forward to weekends. I'm pretty sure it was five kids ago. ;)

After an insanely busy Saturday, as usual, with company that night (the nice part. :)), we woke to an absolutely crazy Sunday. I'll admit, outside of Nutcracker season, Sunday's are usually pretty tame, so today was out of the norm. I'm sure that thought was what kept me going. :D

Braniac sang in all three services this am. He was looking forward to it so I asked him what he was singing. He started singing one of his favorite songs. I told him I didn't think it was that one. He assured me it was and that he was positive they'd be singing "My God's Not Dead" by the Newsboys. Um, yeah. Maybe that's why he spent more time staring than singing. :)

After all the services, there was an Easter egg hunt for the little kids.

Babycakes was really into trying to figure out the plastic egg "trick."

Still trying to get into the egg. :)

Braniac taking great care to get his cookie perfect.

It was such a beautiful day. Almost made me forget how miserably cold yesterday was. Almost. :/

We "ended" our day with just your typical flash mob at a shopping center. Everyone does that on Sunday, right? ;)

Someone kindly posted a good video of it on YouTube. Mine was a bit shaky, and rather focused just on my kids...for some reason. You can see Things 1 & 2 over on the right for part of the video. Thing 2 is in the green shirt, Thing 1 in the orange.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I'm sure Thing 1 would like to point out that I stole that title from Scarecrow & Mrs. King. :)

So, I learned something this morning...searches on my phone are not the same as searches on the computer. I don't know why. You'd think if it's the same search engine it would render the same results. At any rate, after a bit of research on the big box, I found a good posting board to ask my questions at and feel much better. I will keep plugging along, and just try to stay on top of things for Braniac.

So, having a boy genius in the house is certainly something new. And, as I said about school, some kids will be going in the fall. Things 1&2 and Braniac will attend a private Lutheran school about 15 min from our house. This will give me time to help The Teenager, who will be staying home and taking classes through a local PSP. He's looking forward to it. My hope is to have him ready to take a few classes at the Christian High School by 10th grade, and work our way up to 4 classes by 11th & 12th grade.

I suppose the biggest change is that we are in a new church. And man am I happy about that. I won't go into the gory details, I have a private blog for that. :D But, as I was talking to the PSP leader today I realized that things are so different around here than they were just a few months ago, and I definitely know it's getting into our new church. We have been taking a marriage class for Sunday School which has really helped. The kids are in AWANA and are loving it. For those of you who are not on my FB and Twitter, Thing 1 took first place AND the only High Honors of the competition. The Junior High ministry is great and really helping The Teenager grow much more than anything previously did. The middles love the Elementary Sunday School and Babycakes is always thrilled to get into the nursery.

The preaching is good, convicting and encouraging. The focus is always on living our lives completely for Christ out of gratitude for the work He did for us on the Cross. The church desires to equip people to do so as well. It is a large church so there are multiple bible studies. There are opportunities to serve in many different capacities, but there is no feeling that you must serve in everything that comes up, only in what you can do and feel gifted/called to do.

I could say more but that would put this blog into the category of my other and I don't want to do that. There's a time and a place for everything. This isn't the place. :) Suffice to say we are grateful to have found this new church so quickly after only a minor bump in the road (sts) on the way.

I'm Too Confused to Think of a Title :D

OK, so I haven't been blogging lately, something I plan to change over the next few months, if for no other reason than the hope that I can find some help for my latest "malady." What is this problem, you ask? Gifted-child. Yep. I seem to have one. Not sure how gifted, haven't had him tested yet. But he's basically taught himself to read (with a little help) and is doing 1st grade math. He's 4.

Now, if I planned to homeschool him for Kindy, as I have his brothers, this would be no big deal. However, the middles will be going to school for at least a year in the fall, possibly 2. When we toured the school for open house last week and I looked at the work, I knew he'd already done most of it, what he hasn't done he will before he starts. Sure the history & science will all be new, but the reading and math, possibly the Spanish, if he pays attention when Thing 2 is working on his, will not be.

I am perfectly comfortable advocating for my LD kids. Been doing that for years. Know it inside and out. But advocating for Braniac might be problematic, not just coz it's uncharted territory for me, but because I was just like him at his age, and school killed me.  Seriously, I died in school. I knew how to read, they forced me to relearn. I knew simple multiplication, they told me I was too young to possibly know that. It's the #2 reason mine have been at home all these years.

I had hoped by sending them to private school there would be less of this, and there may be. But right now I'm at that overwhelmed stage and I can't find an online group to get info from. Sure there are lots of organizations, but no place I can simply ask, "How do I communicate with the teacher?" "What should I ask for?" "How much home supplementation is acceptable?"

Well, I will now return to my search for an active group. Wish me luck. :)