Total Silence

Yesterday was my first day EVER alone in total silence that I can remember. What did I do? you ask....
1. 1 load of laundry
2. spun 4oz. of Corriedale fiber the boys dyed with Koolaid
3. watched 3 old movies on the FOX movie channel
4. talked to Hubby and MomMom on the phone when they called to see if I was "ok" ;)
5. can't forget the fact that I burnt my lunch!

Featured Crafter of the Week

This weeks featured crafter of the week from the SheTeam at Etsy is me! I sell yarn that I have dyed, Knit items. It's a family endeavor so the boys are free to make and sell also. So far Deven is the only one to take me up on that. He is dyeing yarn and selling it. He would like to move on to wooden items. I am excited to see what he comes up with in the future. The blue yarn here is one of his creations he has named "Inspiration". The floral design doily is cotton dishcloth. It can be used as a washcloth/hot plate/trivet/and much more. Do come and visit our shop, you might just find something you like :)

Wow Sales in My Etsy Shop!!

We are so excited! Deven should be very proud of himself though. All 3 sales today and last night are his. I've been teasing him about having a big head. And he's been teasing me about being the better "everything" ;)

Featured Crafter of the Week

This week's seller is Handcrafted at Wit's End. She makes handbags and purses out of repurposed items like antique quilts, and my favorite...cloth feed sacks, and coffee bean bags. Awhile back she had one that screamed my mom made from a Kona bean bag. It was gone faster than I could think about buying it! I like chickens so here is an example of her work with a chicken on it ;) and do go check her out!

Week in review Wednesday

I'm a day late. ;)
Deven and Logan had testing yesterday and that took up 1/2 the day. They go back to finish tomorrow. Derek wants to go to the High School here. It looks smaller than Jenna's. I think his class would have a total of 65. I graduated with 334! So now I am having to wrack my brain on what he has been learning for the last 3 years. I do not remember a lot. My medicine really did do a number on me memory wise. The kids don't like to discuss it, but when I can get it out of them I was "pretty dang slow". No wonder I thought I was going bonkers when I was coming off it to switch over to Topomax.....But I digress. Derek has to go to the High School and take the 1st 1/2 of the TAKS test tomorrow morning. I'm not worried about him taking tests. It's him writing an essay that bothers me. He just cannot sort his thoughts quick enough. I hope he doesn't freeze on that part. Phillip says he doesn't mind if Derek gets put in the 10th grade instead of the 11th. I think he will be bored to DEATH. But maybe not. High School is different than Middle and Elementary. We'll just wait and see what the tests say.

We got approval to get an appointment for a pediatric psychologist for Logan to get a firm diagnosis on Aspergers and/or any other LD's there may be. Now to find one. The yellow pages aren't being much help. Dr. ofc isn't aloud to make this referral for us, "its a private matter", they said.

I've dyed yarn. 414 grams worth. I was going for camo. It came out green and pink. The dyes split somehow. So instead I have "Briar Rose" soon to be in my store. While Zander was here we dyed 463 grams of Corriedale roving with koolaid. First time ever to dye roving. Koolaid was safest with an 18mo around. AND was first time to steam dye. That was fun. My spinning is getting more consistent and stays around worsted weight.

Of course Phillip is on call. Good news is they have a new guy now so in a couple months he gets to share ;)

School again. HUGE flip flop

Part of the reason it's taking so dang long to decide on what to pick or do is, Deven has been waffling back and forth all summer about going to school this year. We keep telling him "Fine go." Then he changes his mind again. So yesterday afternoon we all went to town to "see the school". This town is 1100 people large according to Google. All 3 schools are together. Middle School is a new one. Band camp was going on there, and the Asst Principle gave us a tour. A gaggle of giggling girls followed us around and finally started to talk to Derek and Deven. It was really funny. The girls ranged from 13-15. One ran off to tell a friend about the boys and came rushing back all embarrassed. When I looked over there were 3 more girls looking through the glass window. haha. My boys are clueless! They think they might want to go to school this year haha. And Deven says he may try out for football. From what I understand they don't care if he can play or not. He's 6ft 2in. in the 8th grade! The other kids are not ;) I hope it goes well for Derek. His experience last time was scary aweful at KISD. I don't foresee any "gang activities" in a small town. But we'll talk to the High School Principal anyway about those sort of things when he is there. Logan is wants to try too. They are going to place him in the special ed program. (have to get paperwork from old school). With the school being small, it's integrated up to a point. After that he would be bussed to Academy. He'll still have to be after-schooled. He does well with schedules because of his Asperger's. It's the being away from home all day I'm not too sure about. It took 3 months to integrate last time he was in public school. I really hope it is quicker this time. I want this to be trauma free.... For everyone. I count this as being the first time for me being home alone ever since kids. Last time doesn't count. I don't remember it. My old medicine did that. I don't remember alot. It dawned on Phillip last night before bed that I would be alone. He still worries about seizures. It's been over 3 years now, almost 4. And Logan may only be gone 1/2 days. Depends on the testing and how the special ed program works. I am hoping for full integration program, but it may not happen. There are several delays. Age wise he is 6th grade. But when is he was in KISD he was 1 yr behind. They wanted to hold him another yr behind but he is a big boy and he had an IEP. So they said they would pass him and give him another IEP. It's a toss up right now if he will be 5th or 6th grade. They will use the test and his size to determine. School starts the 25th. Which coincidentally was when I was going to start anyway. But now I feel rushed. They all have shoes. Some of the correct school supplies. Now I need to make sure they enough nice clothes to wear.

Rogers is alot like Douglass only smaller. The grainery is next to the train tracks. I even saw a little mexican restaurant on the corner when we drove into town :) We'll have to drive around there some more, but I doubt they have a Pizza Hut ;)

Shoes

Normally when buying shoes for the boys, it's a painful process. It will take days. They don't like the style, no one has the right size, and so on. It wasn't like that this time. Instead we went to Shoe Carnival and cut them loose. (We always start out like this). But we live in a different town now, and people ask if they can help us...often. So Logan got his foot measured. And then we found a shoe he liked! He walked in the store with a men's 9.5 4e and out with 13 4e!!! OMG why didn't the child say something sooner about needing new shoes?! We were willing to buy him 2 pairs, but they only had 1 that he liked. Deven went in with a 10 4e and out with an 11 4e. Derek stayed the same 9.5/10 wide, it just depends on the shoe. He got a 2nd pair since the pair he had was still nice. The store was having a "Buy 1 get 1/2 off sale" so I got a pair of Sketcher girly shoes. They are brown leather with embroidery on them. All 4 pair for $152. MUCH cheaper than the last time the boys needed shoes LOL
Phillip's shoes will cost more than all four pair combined I am sure. He wears those SAS ones, and has about worn them out. If he ever gets a non-OT weekend we'll be going to the outlet mall and getting him a pair.

Featured Crafter of the Week

Each week my Etsy group the SHEteam has a featured crafter. This week it is KLow. Take a look at her store. She makes cards and paper crafts. Here is an example of one her cards. Very cute!

Are you ready for school?

We almost are.
I won my ebay auction for Logan's history/geography. He'll be learning Winter Promise's American Story part1. The rest is easy we continue where we left off at the end of last year. :D

Deven and I haven't decided on yet on if he is going to do the Ancients or an in depth 1yr American history. After we figure that out, then I can search out the big deals. ;) He needs to take a placement math test. He's hoping to place the same or higher than Derek LOL. It's a European math program. So things are more integrated. Algebra, Geometry, etc are used every year, all year long instead of split into separate years. Deven is also waffling between Earth/Space Science and Life Science. The rest we continue where we left off.

Derek is going to be in the 11th grade this year! Can you believe it?! He will be in Driver's Ed. Civic's, Spanish, American Literature, Most of Year 11 History/Literature/Biographies from Old Fashioned Education, his Language Arts will continue from last year. I'm thinking Psychology might be a good elective if I can find a good book for him. And perhaps Economics. He wants Computer Science or Physics for his 3rd Science credit. I just need to find the books! Many are on line just waiting for me to hit print or buy for $2......I just know it ;-)
Wait! when is the big library sale? that's where I found most of last years books.....

If the boys go on a reading frenzy I'll look at the suggested reading at Ambleside Online or hit the used book store and let them find their own books :)