Posts

Back to School, & a Super Speedy Summer Summary!

By -
Image
 Hello, Blog! It's been a while! The spotlight is on Rosa for this one, as she is officially our last kid at home now!  This spring she finished 8th grade, right after getting her braces off! After all those years at the charter school with a dress code, she immediately dyed the underneath of her hair blue And when Pearl moved out (more on that below), she got busy moving into the bigger room and redecorating it, including repainting She then got busy enjoying her summer, which mostly including doing a whole lot of nothing. Though she did pick up music this year, and has been teaching herself guitar. She also likes making art, watching 80s movies, baking, and eating chocolate.  Now fall is nigh, and she started school this week as a freshman in high school!!! People often say that four kids is a lot, and how do we do it all? But I don't think we'd know how to do it WITHOUT this kid; she has always been such a joy! We are so thankful for her!  We can hardly believe sh...
Read more

Green Day

By -
This post is not about the band Green Day, but I'll find a way to work them in somehow.  Today we were supposed to wear green to work, for "mental health awareness." We didn't really do anything else, but I was happy enough-- I like the color green!  But it did get me thinking about mental health "awareness." As a person who has faced several such challenges, what do I wish people were more aware of? You've probably heard the saying, "Mental health is health." It's a kind of dorky saying. But is it true? I think most of us would say, yeah, sure. But we also live like it isn't. Don't we? My experiences of mental health issues have been related to physical health, i.e. hormones. This is also one of those things where we'd say, "yes I agree," but live like we don't. This is actually the history of the word "hysteria." Look it up. I think thyroid disorders are a good example. Or, vitamin D levels. We are fami...
Read more

They did it!

By -
Image
 In addition to Pearl's BIG accomplishment , we've had a few other great things to celebrate lately too. Here's what the rest of the kids have been up to: Rosa turned 14 last month, can you even believe it? Our "baby" is 14 years old, heading to high school this fall! She is into skin care and western clothing, but also still likes cute little animals and things. She's still a clown and jokester, always fun to be around and making us laugh. It's an honor to watch her grow!  Rosa has also recently gotten into puzzles, which has been a nice thing to do together. The cat wants you to think she helped, but she did not.  Unless losing one of the pieces is "helping."  And Rosa got honor roll this quarter at school!  No easy feat at her charter school, she had to work hard! We're so proud of her!  Also in January, Jesse had one of his paintings featured in a local gallery. The show's theme was "I don't know what this is, but I love it,...
Read more