Scraps to Kindle Cover

I had a fat quarter bundle and made a quilt. I used all of the fat quarter except for a small stripe of fabric. I didn't know what I was going to do but I just sewed them together. Then I put it aside. The fabric is so bright and fun and not me but I love it. I am the classical navy and black. I decided that scrap would be the right size for a Kindle cover.

I used some batting and with decorative stitching attached the batting to white backing and then I just put the right sides together and sewed all around leaving space to turn. I turned it and figured where I wanted to fold it and then added some velcro.



I like the way it looks. I fit the Kindle and has batting to protect it.

Hurricane Irene

J painted a picture of Hurricane Irene.

We enjoyed a quiet evening at home. Homemade chicken noodle soup in the crockpot, some brie cheese and warm chocolate chip cookies. Daddy reading a bit of Swiss Family Robinson.

Happy Birthday, Dad

(I am slowly catching up on a few blog entries.)

We celebrated my dad's 70th birthday with a family dinner (missing a few family members) at a teppanyaki restaurant. There was lots of fire and Miss K was not sure of that. The boys all loved it.

Then we went to my parents' house for come cake.

Happy Birthday dad. You have built so many things over the years but I think one thing that I think of is the character you have instilled in us. You have taught me so many lessons -- how to drive, how to make fried potatoes and eggs (I will save that for another post), how to faithfully serve the Lord. Thank you and happy birthday. Love, your favorite daughter

I can sign it that way because I am the only daughter.

 

The Power of the hose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After washing the garbage can and the recycling can, the water fight began. Somehow Miss K got the hose and it was all out war. 

She was very proud of herself. I admit I was surprised to see that she could squeeze that.

She was in control and she went after her brother. I did get caught in the crossfire and became a target as well.

No one was really save.

Her brother tried to protect himself with the lid. It worked a bit.

Daddy won by turning off the water in the basement. It was fun to watch her play and to be control.

 

Going Grocery Shopping

I heard the sound of the car remote beeping, just a little beep that lets you know the remote is working and that someone is pushing the buttons. I was a bit slow in putting together what was happening but then I realized Miss K had my keys. The other week  my neighbor came over to tell me that she was in the car -- she had my keys and was trying to put the key in the ignition.

Well, once it all hit me what was happening I went into the living room and found this.

She told me she was going to Super Fresh. She read her list to me -- cream cheese, sour cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, sauce, grape juice, chicken, and beef (yes, she used the word beef). I quickly grabbed the keys after I took a picture. She has learned that you need a list and a bag. Now if only she could be trained to go to Starbucks for me, I would be really happy.

 

Lego Robotics Camp

We are blessed to be in an area with lots of summer programs. One of the things that we found offered locally was a Lego Robotics Camp. J did it last week and on Friday we went to see a demonstration of some of what they learned.

Since it was using the Mind Transformer Legos he was not able to come home and build these things with his legos.

Here he is ready to set his robot out on a mission.

It was a small group which I think meant that they got lots of experience.

The black lines were the zone where they could do things and once the robot left that area they were not to touch it. They would run various missions like get something, knock the barrels into the front box, etc. As they ran these missions they would have to program what the robot was to do and then also debug if there were problems. While this was lots of fun, he was debugging and learning a skill in a fun project. I don't even know if he realized what he was learning.

What time is it?

Miss K is a visual learner. That seems to be typical for Down Syndrome children. We use flash cards for lots of different things. I stock up on 3x5 cards at Back to School sale and I love Staples 1 cent deal and my teacher rewards card.

In the spring I made some flash cards with the clock and just the different hours time. We started working on those just going through the stack asking, "what time is it?" and Miss K would answer. We usually do it once a day. My goal is for her to recognize the time and tell me what time. Now that she has that down 90% or so. I handed her a clock and asked her to show me 9:00. This requires a bit more work but she was able to do it.

Once I feel we have the hour down then we will throw in half hour. She gets a bit confused on 6:00 and 12:00.

 

Heart = Art=Therapy

The other day Miss K kept say "heart, heart". It took me some time to realize that she wanted to do art. I guess she hearts art. I found these and I forget what they are called and decided that it is time to do something with them. Miss K has found the bag a few times and had fun throwing them on the floor which then means she has to pick them up and to get her to do that it means you have to stand with her.

You dip them in a bit of water and then they stick together. I gave her a bowl with a tiny bit of water in the bottom, showed her how to do it and she went to work building towers. She really is a city girl.

As I watched her work on this, I realized that her art was an excellent OT activity. She had to pick up the pieces and then put them together and sometimes they needed to be held a bit to stay together. I love when I find an activity that is fun and has a therapy purpose as well. We have reduced some of the pieces but we still have plenty for another heart=art=therapy.

Four, three, two, one

Four people, three suitcases, two countries visited (I guess that could be debated but we won't do that here and now), and one love that keeps it all organized. A couple of years ago I discovered Eagle Creek packing cubes. I bought a few then and have slowly been adding to my collection. There they are ready to go in the luggage.

This summer we went to three cities in China and were in a place a night or the most two nights. Everyone's clothing were in packing cubes and I was able to open a cube get the clothing out and not have clothing all over the place. It was easy then to repack to head to the next city. My only dream would be to buy them all at one time and be able to assign everyone a color or maybe to have a spot on the top where I can insert a small card that labels that cube.

Miss K's packing method is much different. She has a suitcase which I found at the thrift store one day and since she was with me, the lady sold it to her for $1.00. She loves to pack that suitcase and at times has packed when she see daddy getting ready to pack for a trip. She puts diapers, clothing, and her toothbrush in it. She also has a backpack that we only use when traveling. Months before our trip she had decided to pack and got the backpack out. That evening we couldn't find her toothbrush and discovered that she had already packed it.

When I was packing, she got her backpack and started to pack. Here is what she put in there some jewelry, a Snoopy book, rat, another backpack, some wooden doll furniture, and a few other things. Mama did repack the backpack. (Sorry it is not the best picture of her. I was trying to get a picture of the things she packed.

This blog was not sponsored by Eagle Creek nor was I paid by Eagle Creek to write this. If they would like to fulfill my dream, that would be wonderful until then I will use the various colors that I have collected and since I buy them closeout they are varied.

The only thing that needs to happy to make my packing better is to find suitcases that will last a bit longer than one trip. Disposable luggage is not something I like buying but seems to be what we have bought.

 

Saxon Math

As I got ready to start math this year with Miss K, I considered using Numicon which is something from the UK used for Down Syndrome children, I thought about Math-U-See, I priced Touch Math but decided that I need to start with what I have. I have Saxon Math K. That worked great because Miss K thought the K was for her. "K's math!" We might just have to change Saxon Math 1 to 1K. We started math the beginning of June and then went on vacation but have been working on a lesson every day or so. At this level there is no workbook so it does not require writing. As we work through this, I am thrilled that she is getting it. Saxon might not be considered special needs math but we are working through it and at some point I might need to find something else.

I have tried sequencing with her in the past and she just didn't seem to get it. Saxon has you color the calendar every day in a pattern. That has helped her except she does have a bit of a free spirit and want to add other colors but I guide her. We were working on sequencing the other day. She loves to make "ovies" (I don't know why she drops the m but I correct it and we go on). So I let her make a movie.