Tonsils and Tutorials ~ Mosaic of Grace

Tonsils and Tutorials

It's been a while since I've updated what's going on in the McManus house....so here's the scoop.

WARNING: THERE WILL BE NO RHYME OR REASON TO THIS POST AS I AM RUNNING ON VERY LITTLE SLEEP AND NOT NEARLY ENOUGH BRAIN CELLS AT THE MOMENT!

Aidan is, as of this morning, officially on his second go round with Strep this year! It's actually the second time in 2 months....so as you can imagine, we are over fevers and throat cultures....and I am over trying to find ways to ~~bribe~~ convince my sweet lastly born child that it is a good idea to let them jab those hideous cotton topped sticks down the back of his ~~already inflamed and covered in puss~~ sore throat. We (me) are also over 3-4 hours of sleep! Yesterday at this time? 103.5 on the thermometer....Today? Right Now? Outside shootin' hoops with his dad and siblings...Reason? God. And His miracle of a certain candy coated antibiotic. And speaking of candy coated antibiotics...did you know that Publix has FREE ANTIBIOTICS?!?!?!?!? Free. No joke. Not that I endorse an over usage of this stuff...but when your kids need it...PUBLIX!!!!

Apparently doctors have a "scale" on which to rate the size of tonsils....did you know there is such thing as "kissing tonsils?"....meaning the tonsils are so big, they actually touch. Me either. But it turns out that on a scale of 1 to 4, 4 being "kissing tonsils", our Aidan rates a 3! That coupled with the fact that he snores at night, has prompted the doc to recommend a visit to the ENT. Not what I wanted to hear. But I have prayed about it, and instead of jumping the gun, I am gonna wait till he is well, and have our regular Pediatrician...which just happens to be our small group leader at our church...take a gander at them when he is NOT sick to see how big they are under normal circumstances. So, we will wait, pray, and trust that God will give us peace about what will be best for him...and that He is much bigger than tonsils.

Onto tutorials...after a lot of prayer...and asking God to give us a "burning bush" about our next Homeschool year, we have decided to join a tutorial group. LCA...Liberty Christian Academy...it is a 15 year old Homeschool Tutorial group that meets once a week, spends a whole day in various classes, then has work to complete at home the rest of the week to be brought back the following week. The best of both worlds really because they are still at home with me 6 days a week. This school also does various community service projects, has a Ladies night out for the moms, a prom for high schoolers, and a Graduation ceremony for Seniors. We feel beyond blessed by God to be a part of it. I was asked to do this a couple of years ago and felt completely overwhelmed at the thought because the Elementary classes were actually a co-op...meaning to have my kids taught certain things, I would have to teach the kids something as well....HA! Not my comfort zone. And it is a 45 minute drive once a week so I had no idea what I would do with my younger ones while Tyler was in class. So the same lady that invited us 2 years ago, told me that this coming year, the Elementary will also be a tutorial...meaning I pay, they teach. Now we're talkin'.

Tyler will be going into 8th grade next year, and for the first time, this year I was starting to get frustrated teaching him English. I absolutely LOATH English. And although we have a superb Science curriculum, lets face it, I am not gonna be dissecting sharks anytime soon on my dining room table. And that is exactly what they were doing at this tutorial when we went for our interview on Monday. And I knew immediately why I would never do this at home....it smelled to high Heaven in there! But I also knew immediately that this is what I wanted for him...for all three of them really...to do more hands on experiments. So Adam and I prayed about it that day, and felt led to go in this direction for the coming school year. That's how we went into this Homeschooling thing to begin with...knowing that we would take it one year at a time, always seek God for direction, and know we would get creative if that's what it took to accomplish our goal for our kids. As we sat through the orientation, and I heard encouraging words from the many parents that have already graduated their children and seen them off to college, I wept. I can't explain it any better than to just say that I felt as though God Himself was sitting next to me whispering..."I've heard your many prayers...and I know your heart...and I am now meeting you right where you need me most...I have given you this group to encourage your soul....and to help you succeed on this journey."

We originally just wanted to sign Tyler up for Science and Language....but he was pumped about taking a whole year of World Geography. And since World History is what he has been studying all this year, I figured that would be perfect to connect some dots of people and places in his mind. And we were even more pumped to learn that as an 8th grader, he could actually take Spanish 1 this year and have it rolled into his High School credits since he will be studying a High School level curriculum! He is so excited about this one. And I am super impressed that the lady teaching it is actually from Puerto Rico and Spanish is her first language. So, maybe I'll learn a bit more than "salsa" from eating Mexican once a week!

Aidan and Maggie will both be taking History and Science....And Aidan is taking Music and Art. Maggie is taking a half year of Art and a full year of Drama....if the shoe fits right? :-)

God is so faithful....and He really will equip us with all we need to accomplish what He calls us to. Oh me of little faith sometimes.

In other news:

My poor mom fell and broke her shoulder in 3 places a couple of weeks ago....I've asked her if we needed to get her one of those alert systems that goes around your neck....you know, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up"....she didn't seem to think that was as funny as I did. Anyhoo, she lives in Roanoke all by her lonesome and for some strange reason, the thought of me bringing 3 kids into her 2 bdrm condo right after having pins drilled into her bones to help her, didn't seem to appeal to her....so we have offered to fly her out here when she feels up to it in the next few weeks while she's off from work recovering from her surgery. Not sure if she'll take us up on it but I sure hope she does. Hint,hint mom. :-)

We are getting excited about ~~smores~~ going on our first camping trip this year in a couple of weeks.

I am getting excited about Spring Break! Whoo Hoo!

I am not "down" with the fact that my Tyler is about to be 13 in 2 weeks....see? I'm not cool enough to have a teenager...word.

I seriously need to lose 10 pounds or I will be wearing jeans in 105 degree temps this summer and let's face it, that's just not a great idea.

Shipley blueberry cake donuts are just heavenly. Dunkin Donuts coffee with cream and sugar is divine.... This explains the previous line.

Are bras really necessary? Because I find them to be a pain in my you know what! To think of the nice pair of shoes or two that I could have had with the dough I forked out at Belk this week! Is this really the thanks we get for nursing our precious children???...a lifetime of paying $50 to put the girls back in their rightful places??!?!?

Allow me to play matchmaker for a second and introduce you to your soulmate of the bra world....WACOAL. They aren't cheap, but they are amazing. So don't walk past the shoe dept. first or you may come out with a snazzy pair of Rocketdogs, and a piece of fabric and a safety pin for the girls. :-)