Check Up

I took Cadence in for her 2 year checkup today (a little late, I know). The doctor kept saying how cooperative she was - doctors are the only people that child cooperates for! After he measured her, he looked at me and said "She's in the 75th percentile for height - where did that come from?" He said she will probably slow down as she gets older, but there is a chance that she could end up taller than Gabe. Poor Gabe, at least he has big brains...Anyways, Cadence is in the 50th% for her weight, and everything is looking good.

In other news, I'll be leading worship tonight for the first time in a long time. I've decided to jump back into it and see where it takes me. I no longer feel like it is something that I need to do, or that it is my primary goal in life. But I love to do it, so here it goes.

On the Jacob front, we found a lawyer and are meeting with him next Thursday. He mentioned that we will need to have a home study done and I will need to adopt my own son. It seems ridiculous to me, but I guess NY State laws are pretty antiquated on the adoption front.

Rights and Responsibilities

I just realized that an update on Jacob and the adoption is overdue! We took Jake to see a counselor, and he didn't have any trouble explaining himself there. He told the counselor that he is just more comfortable with us, and he doesn't like going to Dave's all the time - but he still wants to see him a few times a year. Mr. Honess asked Jake about adoption - what does it mean, what will it change? He explained that as a son of Todd Young you will have the rights and responsibilities of a son. (He will have to take care of us when we are old, or at least find a good nursing home for us!) Jake gets responsibility pretty well, and the "rights" of sonship are what he really wants.Then the counselor suggested that we set up an appointment for Jacob and Dave together.
Yesterday, I took Jake to see the counselor and Dave met us there. The three of them talked for about 45 min, then they called me in. Dave decided to "respect Jacob's feelings" and "trust Todd and Kelly" and has agreed to sign him over! I could tell that Jacob was trying not to be too excited (he knew Dave was sad) but the smile on his face was priceless! So now we have to find a lawyer and get things moving - soon Jacob will be wholly ours.

My Little Boys...

My little boy is growing up! Today he brought home a bunch of stuff from school, including this book - a 120 page choose your own adventure. He threw it on the bed and said "I finished reading that a long time ago." He has always been a reader, but until now the only way he would read "real" chapter books is if I was reading and he was listening.

Gabriel also made a big stride in the reading world today! This was his first reading lesson without the Distar type (which includes long/short vowel signs and blends like th, sh are written more like one letter) Just when I thought he wasn't catching on and we would have to do some review, he took off and finished the lesson like a champ!

So Much to Say

Things have been hectic around here for the last couple of weeks (hence the lack of posts!). Last weekend was the homeschool convention, which Todd and I attended because we will be homeschooling again in the fall. There are lots of reasons that we have decided to bring Jake back home (and keep Gabe home). We have talked about developing a "mission statement" for why we homeschool, but that hasn't been done yet.


We subsribe to the idea of strength based living and believe that everyone learns differently and has different interests. Therefore, a boxed education is the very best that we can offer our children. No one knows their strengths and weaknesses like we do. It is our mission to train up each of our children "in the way he should go" which is a reference to the unique natural bent of each child. Then of course there are issues of morality and world view, which allthough not our primary reason for homeschooling, do play a part in our decision to educate at home.


That being said, the convention was a pretty good time. It renewed our passion and we came away with some great new ideas and vision. There was a woman there doing sessions on homschooling and special education which I found incredibly interesting! Her name is Cyndi Ringoen, and she is a Neurodevelopmentalist. She is of the school of thought that labeling and druging people with learning differences/problems does solve anything, it just makes drug companies rich. At one point in the lecture, she talked about kids who have underdeveloped deep pressure sensitivity - they tend to have bladder control problems, they overstuff their mouths and overeat, they seek out sensory stimulation by touching, grabbing, stepping on things all the time...It was amazing - I wanted to stand up and say "You just described my son!"

She suggested a massage technique to help the brain better recognize deep pressure touch, which if done frequently and regularly will cause the brain to make new connections. She also offers consulting services to families to help them find ways to educate and assist their children. I am going to try the massaging for a while, and if it doesn't help considerably, I'm thinking about scheduling a consult. The organization that she is associated with does have a website www.ican-do.net


One reccurring theme that we heard was that of mercy. Mark Hamby pointed out in one of his sessions that in the Bible, the ratio of God's mercy to God's judgment is somthing like 3 to 1. But we as parents tend to extend judgement to our children more than mercy. The idea of first time obedience is important to instill in toddlers, but as our children grow older we should begin to practice mercy a little more frequently. This goes hand in hand with the idea of letting them fail while they are in a safe place. One quote that has been stuck in my head since the convention is "Sucsess is failure upon failure with great enthusiasim."


The last big thing about the homeschool convention stirs up a whole array of emotions in me... Lew Sterret of Miracle Mountain Ranch (www.sermononthemount.org) was one of the keynote speakers. My sister and brother-in-law have been exploring moving there to go on staff for several months now. Just before the convention, they went to the ranch for a weeklong, working interview. And while we were at the convention, Lew let them know that everything was looking good and "I'll see you in August". It is about a four hour drive, and we are going to miss them like crazy. Things are still not completely in stone since they have to raise support (it is kind of like being a missionary), but I think it is probably where they belong. (The ranch has great summer camp programs too if you know anyone who is looking for one).


And in other news, my mother got married this weekend - and yes he is REALLY old! This picture is my sister, my mother, Nate (the new husband) and Joe (my new brother in law).

Jacob was the ringerbearer, and my niece Rebecca was the flowergirl. My oldest niece, Nicole played the piano as people were coming into the church and she did an awesome job! She has been playing for about 2 years - I taught her until I couldn't sightread her music anymore, and now she has moved on to another teacher. (I haven't read any music since I left Oswego in 2000). Is it just me, or is this picture adorable? Jake and Beccca are only 14 months apart and are sometimes more like brother and sister than cousins.

Aren't they adorable????

I wasn't in the wedding, but I got to light the unity candle with Nate's daughter. (Since when you marry someone who is 84 they don't have parents to light the candle!) Here is my mom pinning the flower on me and trying not to poke me in the boob with the pin!

Gabriel and Cadence had a great time on the dance floor.

And one last picture - I guess no one can ever get a good picture of my grandparents, so my mom was really excited to see that I got a couple of good ones.