2018-2019 Homeschool Week 23: Surgery, Subzero, and Snow

I left off last Friday with a cold house and furnace that wasn't working. We were able to get a repair man in and he put a temporary part in to get us through the weekend so he could order us a new part. Yay for heat in winter!

Mason had his bracing appointment. He got three casts done: left foot/leg, right foot/leg, and a big cast from under his armpits to below his hips. Those will be used to make AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) and a TLSO (thoracic lumbar sacral orthosis, a back brace for scoliosis). We also had measurements done for adjusting Mason's HKAFOs (hip knee ankle foot orthotics), and some more custom parts need made. That means we will have to go back after all these custom braces are made/adjusted for fittings.

Saturday we had light snow on and off all day. The kids did their weekly video game time (30 minutes each, or 40 minutes together if they play with a partner) while Makayla went to work and I ran to the store for zucchini, lettuce, and some rolls. We cleaned the living room thoroughly, including moving furniture to sweep underneath. We changed out toys from the attic as well, so now in a couple bins of the cubicle we have wooden blocks, a few of Rebekah's favorite toys like her doll baby, and toy cars.

In the evening we had our next Come, Follow Me lesson. We reviewed our last lesson and picked up where we left off, with this question: If you met the Savior tomorrow when you were out, who is the first person you would want to go get, to bring to meet Him too? My heart squeezed so much as I listened to the thoughtful answers from my children and husband. These conversations are so precious.

We finished studying John chapter 1. We talked about the men the Savior was gathering early in his ministry, who they would become. We talked about how they were prepared to receive him. A child thoughtfully asked if Jesus ever got married, so we talked about what we know, what we don't know, and that one day we will know in full. Another child asked if the Holy Spirit will ever get a body, because bodies are essential to eternal progress. Heavenly Father has a body. Jesus has a body. We asked what everyone thought, and the consensus was he needs a body too, eventually. So we talked about when that could happen, knowing that right now the Holy Spirit has tasks to fulfill in the plan of salvation. Perhaps after the resurrection/judgement day? Again, one of those, we will learn the answer eventually type of questions.

Sunday we finally got to go to church because there wasn't a snowstorm this weekend, just light snow. Makayla did stay home because she's got this lingering cough that she felt would be a big distraction during services, but everyone else was there. It was so uplifting, even though it is a lot of work corralling so many kids.

This will be a super short week of just two days of school because on Wednesday my husband has his second surgery for the month. This is a shoulder surgery. His knee is healing from the surgery earlier this month. It is a slow process for that one, but going well. We do not know yet what exactly the surgeon will do in his shoulder. They can see some muscle tears on imaging, but won't know how extensive and if his rotator cuff needs repaired until they are in there. Because of the 2 day school week we are being purposeful in what subjects to do on those 2 days.

Monday morning I sat down with each child to decide with them what they were doing for school. My requirements were some language arts for everyone and history for everyone under Makayla. We have 9 lessons left in this year's history curriculum. The conversation with older kids was more of a "what do you feel like you want to do today, other than The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts?". Joseph and Emma decided to finish module 9 of Physical Science. Makayla chose to do the entire week's economics assignments and all her Art History assignments. Daniel chose to do extra literature reading. The other kids don't have TGTB language arts, so they did reading, literature, and then one self-chosen subject. Some chose handwriting. Mason chose math.

At snack time we did history. We did two lessons today. We talked about foreign missionary work in from 1800-1900, read about David Livingstone and several other missionaries, and then talked about missionary work today. Our second lesson focused on two people. First we learned about Charles Darwin, his beliefs and theories, and what to do when science and God's revealed truth don't line up. (The short version - remember that God knows everything but scientists are still learning and one day there will be perfect accord between the two. For now, science is imperfect and man's interpretation of information is too.) Next we learned about steam engines and how they revolutionized factories and the transportation industry for both goods and people, and the man who made the first steam locomotive.

Other things of note: The furnace was officially fixed today with a new part. Also, we did a Come, Follow Me lesson and focused on the Godhead and learning about each of them individually as well as collectively. I am using the printables from RedHeaded Hostess so this was a fun activity. We had a poster with four pockets on it labeled:

• God the Father
• Jesus Christ
• Holy Ghost
• The Godhead

I passed out a stack of tickets with different information. Each person read aloud a ticket and put it in the pocket they thought it went with, or asked for suggestions if they weren't sure. Here are a couple examples:

• He is the author of the Plan of Salvation. (God the Father) 
• He is the ultimate ruler. (God the Father)
• He was the Firstborn. (Jesus Christ)
• He atoned for the sins of all mankind. (Jesus Christ)
• He witnesses of the Father and the Son. (Holy Ghost)
• He reveals and teaches truth. (Holy Ghost)
• They are one in purpose and doctrine. (The Godhead)
• They preside over this world and all of Heavenly Father's creations. (The Godhead) 

Tuesday we focused on writing. Younger children did oral narration with me acting as scribe to capture their words on paper. Middle and older children wrote or typed a page about a history topic of their choice from our recent studies. Daniel chose Paul Revere, Emma chose the benefits and drawbacks of British Colonialism in India, and Joseph chose a survey of four types of government.

Our history lessons today focused on Florence Nightingale, the Crimean War, and the Irish Potato Famine. One thing that we did was talk about what a big difference Florence and her brigade of nurses made to the mortality rate of the hospital they worked at during the war. When Florence arrived 42% of men who arrived at the hospital would die. That is 42 men out of every 100. If our 10 children were the sample, at least 4 of them would die. Two years later the changes Florence Nightingale and her nurses instituted dropped the mortality rate of that hospital to 2%. 2 out of every 100 men died.

Tuesday afternoon Makayla and I took off to do her big Christmas gift. We drove a little over 2 hours north to a theater that was hosting The Lightning Thief musical for one night of its tour. It was a fantastic performance!

Wednesday was shoulder surgery day for my husband. Grandma (my mom) took care of the kids. We got home from the hospital just after 7:00pm. I then was up frequently all night long to take care of Jason, take care of Rebekah, do middle of the night medical care for Mason, etc. Mom life!

Thursday was a slow day mostly at home. I had a quick trip to the store to pick up a few things we needed. Part of my afternoon was spent scanning portfolio items for Makayla and sending them, along with transcripts, to another college. It is the first college to actually ask for a portfolio; the others we've heard from have simply looked at ACT scores and transcripts. Once the process is over I'll share more details about where she applied and what it was like as a homeschooler.

Friday we woke to a level 2 snow emergency and beautiful fluffy snow. We got between 5 and 6 inches of snow and everything looks beautiful and soft.

The temperatures warmed up above zero so the kids got to play in the snow. We  made it all the way to 20F, a change of 60 degrees from the -40F of the two previous days. By next Monday we'll have gained another 30+ degrees and reach the 50s, for a change of 90 degrees. Ohio winter is crazy!

Today we got to take my husband's bandage off from surgery. His shoulder was done laparoscopically, so he has three small incisions and all of them look good so far. His nerve block wore off and the pain is definitely there. They sent him home with this crazy ice bandage/tubing/cooler thing that fastens around his shoulder and is hooked to a cooler with ice water that pumps through the tubing of the bandage and back to the cooler to get cold again. It is a big help in the gap between when his pain catches up to him and the time he can take his next dose of painkillers.

Dinner was ham and green beans in the crock pot, with scalloped potatoes in the oven. After dinner I sat at the table with several sons to do an art project. It's February, so we did a collaborative heart with sharpies. Basically, you draw a small heart in the middle of the paper. Then you pass the paper to the next person, who adds a layer to the heart. That repeats all the way around the table until you run out of room on the paper. I stumbled across the idea originally on The Artful Parent and they have some cute pictures and a video if you want to see what I mean.