Just keeping it real….

I always like to start with a picture.
 
Life is full of everyday moments and those moments are what make life real.  Maggie and I are together nearly EVERY moment of EVERY day.  I can’t HELP but think about her and her future…
almost every moment of each day.

I know that life is meant to be lived… and Maggie lives!
I know that life is not about the destination but it is about the journey.
I know that I am blessed to have Maggie as my daughter
because she brings me to my knees in desperate prayer!

So, as we live each day trying to learn and work through adding and subtracting, reading and writing, Science and Social Studies and eye therapy homework, I find myself full of hope one day…. and other days I feel lost and lacking anything that resembles hope.

If it takes Maggie an average of 5 years to reach a new grade level in education, then we are probably looking at her “graduating” high school with the equivalence of maybe a 3rd Grade academic level.
That thought makes me lose my breathe.

Then my heart begins to wonder.  Do I hold out hope for more?  Or will there be a day when someone can tell me that Maggie will not likely reach any higher than her current academic level.  I posted once before that maybe things would be easier if Maggie had a label.  If I had some book I could read and research specifically how to help Maggie progress through life then maybe life would be easier to understand.

On my knees.  That is where Maggie’s life leads me…
and maybe that is exactly how God’s want it to be for now.

We never thought that we’d possibly have our daughter living with us for life… and maybe we won’t.  But maybe we will.  That is a reality that we have had to come to terms with.  Even Maggie’s big sister said to me the other day… “I wonder who Maggie will live with when we are older?”  She was asking which sibling would take Maggie, her or her brother….and my heart sank for a minute.

What will life look like for Maggie?   This is something that I ache over, even more than my other two kids.  Their lives are just as uncertain as Maggie’s, but there is something different about thinking about your child NOT having the skills necessary to ever live life on her own.

So, that leaves me with one thought.  Today.  Today we will awaken and start the day.   Today we will learn the best that Maggie can learn… and we will live.  Maggie will shine her smile that is so well known and other’s will feel her God-given love.  That is Maggie’s gift to this world!

And I will be there… holding her hand, picking up the pieces, navigating the waters of uncertainty… and in the quiet of my day or night, I will cry my silent prayers to God.

Working Hard

Year 2 of Homeschool has started off with a bang!
You are working so very hard…. and learning to do things that most of us take for granted!

Eye Therapy is HUGE!  You have been making such great progress… and even though you still have a LONG way to go in order to have your eyes working at a “normal” level,
you work hard on each and every activity you are given!

You are such a brave soul… you give your entire heart to each activity you participate in!
You are doing so well with your singing and dance company!
You love them and they love you… perfect!

Time for a new prescription…. and new glasses!
This time purple!

Lots and lots of eye therapy work each day before we start school work…
But there’s always time for fun!!! 
Like making the moon phases out of Oreo cookies… yum!
And visiting big sister at school and being a part of her school party!

Now off to a new adventure… Social Studies here we come!

We attended a field trip that Sunshine got to make an Indian drawing, a doll out of corn husks, grind corn into flour, and we even got to take a tour of an old farm house!

Good times in Homeschool!
I love you Sunshine…. you work so hard to so God’s love… just by being YOU!

Homeschool, Year 2

Here we are… Homeschool, year two!

Welcome to a new year my little Butterfly!
We have lots to do and lots to learn…

You are ready and willing and able….
Our wheels of learning are turning and turning…
and we’ll do this side by side my love!

Open House, Homeschool Style

This little Sunshine and I have been through a LOT this year…

I chose to Homeschool Maggie… and it has been a hard journey of watching her heart try and understand what life is like for her now. 

As a parent, and now her teacher, I KNOW that our choice to homeschool was the ABSOLUTE best option!  I KNOW how many opportunities she has been given this year because we are not in the public traditional setting.  I KNOW how much she had to endure in the public school and I KNOW how much she has been saved from this year.  But she doesn’t know any of that… she puts her trust in me, even when she desires something else, or doesn’t understand. 

What a gift it is to hold her heart!

It makes me think of what our relationships are like with God.  He knows.  He has the whole picture in His sight.  We only see the underside of His divine masterpiece.  We don’t understand, but we trust and we keep walking.   He holds our hearts and promises never to leave us alone.

Maggie LOVES people… she loves others more than most I would add.  It is one of her spiritual gifts.  She is God’s love.  And in that love she has always seen the good in a situation and loved through it.  She adored being near people at school, she lived for events like Flag Salute and assemblies.  She LOVED showing off all her work at Open House and having the whole family come and celebrate the joy of Open House.  But it wasn’t just our family that she adored seeing on the night of Open House… it was other teachers, other staff, other friends and other parents.  We would often laugh because we would lose track of her at an Open House night… and where would she be… talking and hugging a friend, or a teacher, or another parent.  People….. she LOVES people!

SO… what is her homeschool teacher to do…
PLAN AN OPEN HOUSE, that’s what!!!!
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Introducing our 1st ever Open House, at home!

Such a little beauty…

First a virtual walk-through to see all of Sunshine’s hard work!
(Maggie’s siblings participated in decorating the classroom as well, and Maggie loved having “classmates” do these projects too!)

Volcanoes

“If I Lived in Hawaii” writing and craft.

Hawaii’s State mammal and bird, The Monk Seal and Nene Goose

Pineapples and Tiki Statues

Our Hawaiian Rainforest with the Hoary Bat, Damselfly, Happy Face Spider and Kamehameha Butterfly.

Our Oceans of Hawaii… Jellyfish, Green Sea Turtles, Starfish, Reef Triggerfish, Humpback Whales, and Great White Sharks!

The Hawaiian Hibiscus Flower and Coconut Tree

Then a collection of other work from our year in Homeschool…


Wow… it really was a GREAT year…. lots of learning and loving!

But what’s an Open House without PEOPLE….
Sunshine is ready to host her guests!!!

Family!

Family and friends…


  A few action shots!


More friends!



What a lovely evening… full of love for Sunshine, support for her teacher and fun had by all!
Thank you to all of our friends and family that came to enjoy our evening. 
(And to the many lovely people that wanted to come…. I know how busy you are…
we love you and can’t wait to hug you another time!!!)
It means the world to me that Sunshine’s love is felt by many and reciprocated in more ways than one!

Love.