Farmers Market

This was supposed to be part of last weeks blog, but somehow it didn't make it and it was so late that I wasn't going to mess with it. So, tonight it gets a post of it's own. We have met so many great families here and have already made friends that will be very hard to say goodbye to. One of those families is the Manwarings. He is also a resident so his wife Ruth and I can relate to each other. Although he is on his second to last year of a SEVEN year neuro surgery residency, so she is pretty much a saint! Their kids are almost the exact same ages as our younger three and they all get along really well. Two Saturdays ago they invited us to go check out a really fun farmer's market in St. Petersburg. The kids were excited about seeing their friends, but not so much about where we were going, until we got there and it suddenly became the coolest place ever. So many awesome booths to check out, great food, street performers, and the most amazing balloon guy I have ever seen! Laila's is turned around, but she got Ariel.

 

 

One of the performances that we happened to catch was a group of break dancers. We got to stand right up in the front which the kids thought was awesome, and Macy and her friend Quincy got invited up to participate. Quincy was a little shy at first but ended up showing off a cartwheel at the end which I sadly didn't get, but Macy showed off some mad jumping skills!

Cats out of the bag

I mentioned on Instagram recently that I was really nervous because I had been asked to accompany two sisters while they sang in church on Easter. Well, I appreciate anyone who said a little prayer in my behalf, because it went really well. Unfortunately for me, that little performance gave away my secret of piano playing and suddenly I'm the primary pianist and a substitute Sacrament meeting pianist. I don't mind at all helping out in the primary, in fact I would have volunteered to help out much sooner if I had known that the primary president was also the pianist, but Sacrament meeting is a whole other ball game. I was very tempted to say no when the lady who plays the organ texted me this week to ask if I would play, and even more tempted to say yes when the one other lady in the ward who plays the piano (primary president) offered to play for me if I really didn't want to, but I decided that it was something I really needed to do. I was completely nervous the whole time, and have no desire to do it again anytime soon, but I'm actually quite proud of myself. The kids were excited to see me up there today too, which is one of the main reasons I said yes. I don't want them to ever be afraid to share their talents, and I can't think of a better way to teach that than by example.

  The rest of the week has been fairly quiet thankfully. Most of the time when we go to the beach during the week it is just at the bay here by our house which is nice but not quite the same as being out by the ocean, so on Tuesday I made the kids do two days worth of school work so we could take Wednesday off and go to the "big beach." I was met with quite a bit of resistance from one dramatic tween, but the next day she couldn't say enough about what a great idea it was! Life would be so much easier if she would just believe me when I say it will all work out and be worth it! Josh was bummed that he missed the beach on Wednesday so we made sure to go again on Saturday and got to meet up with Melissa and the kids for her birthday. (Beau was in Japan). I love that we are getting so much cousin time, but really the more the kids get to know each other, the harder it is going to be to say goodbye.

I know both of these pictures were already posted to Facebook, but I just love them, so I'm posting them again.

This girl has suddenly become very brave in the water and it makes me incredibly nervous!

Happy Easter

Wow. So, apparently I'm not so good at the once a week blogging thing. I really am trying though. Our day to day is pretty much the same. School work and beach, or if the weather isn't cooperating we go to Barnes an Noble or just hang out at home.

We did have the great opportunity to drive down to Fort Lauderdale last weekend for the temple open house. My kids have never been inside a temple so I was really excited for them to go. We made a fun weekend out of it and stayed with Beau and his family. The kids had a blast, of course and were really mad when we told them it was time to go. The adults even got to sneak away Saturday night for a movie. Having a live in babysitter is SO awesome! Life changing, really.

Not even a little rain was going to stop them from swimming!

And I would be completely ungrateful if I didn't mention today of all days how much the Savior means to me. Because of Him, I have these four eternal blessings to call my own. We didn't plan a lot in the way of Easter activities this weekend because Josh has been on call for the last two days, but last night the kids and I sat down and watched a couple of the Mormon Messages then read in the scriptures about the resurrection and had a really nice talk about what it means for us. It was really wonderful to see the understanding in them and know that they are already gaining their own testimonies of him.

We had to be earlier than usual for church this morning so I wasn't able to take pictures until we got home and Laila just wanted to go inside and eat her treats. Also, after we got done Samm said "wait mom, we have to take a picture of you!" I kept telling he no, but she kept insisting, so I gave in. Then she said "now do your most beautiful pose." I'm not sure if this is my most beautiful pose, but she seemed satisfied with it.

After a much needed nap for both mom and Laila, we piled in the car again and drove to my uncle Tony and aunt Patrice's house. Thy only live about 20 minutes from us, so we are hoping to get together with them again before we leave. My aunt Melissa was in town visiting with her family, so it was really fun for the kids to get to meet new relatives. They had a lot of fun with their 2nd cousins Bohdi and Skylar, and they got to meet their Great Grandpa Hug. He and Samm really hit it off.

Oh, I almost forgot. Macy decided this week that she was tired of brushing her hair so she asked me to cut it like aunt Krista's. And since I am equally as tired of the crying when I brush her hair I didn't hesitate to say yes. I was a little worried at first that she might be upset or think she looks like a boy, but so far she has been thrilled with it. And I think she looks adorable!

Teeth. Aquarium. Answers

We made it one month! OK, so it hasn't really been that hard, but I still have been unsure about how long we could survive in such close quarters. And since we are plugging along just fine, there are no plans yet for me and the kids to leave.

 

This week has been one of excitement. Not all of it good, unfortunately. Most of you probably saw on Facebook that James is going to need a little dental work done. Laila was mad at him for something so she scratched his leg, which made him made so he decided to get revenge by picking her up and body slamming her onto the bed. At the last second, he realized that was a really mean thing to day so he flipped around so that she would land on top of him and when they hit the bed her head bounced off his mouth. I was a little upset about his teeth, but very proud of him for making the right decision. He sometimes has a hard time thinking beyond himself, so that fact that he was worried not only about hurting Laila, but changed his action in the heat of the moment, was actually a pretty big deal. He's handling things quite a bit better today, but when the incident first happened he was pretty distraught about how his teeth now look. The turning point was when Josh told him about how he chipped his tooth as a kid. So now that he's like dad, it's not so big of a deal.

 

 

As uneventful things go, we have been taking morning walks to get some blood flowing before we sit down for school work.

On Saturday there was a pretty good chance of rain, so instead of the beach we decided to check out the Tampa aquarium. The kids had a great time, and since a season pass was not much more than going one time, we bought the pass and will be able to go several more times before we leave. When we left the aquarium it was pouring down rain. Poor Josh had to run through it quite a ways to get the car and then drive back to get us.

This picture makes her look way too grown up for my liking!

How awesome of a picture is this!

Do you see me and Josh in the picture as well?

The most exciting part of this week for me is that after many prayers, I feel like I have finally been guided to some big answers about James. He has come a long way these past few months, but Josh and I have still felt like there was something we were missing. He seems like a normal active boy to most observers, but at home we have noticed a few things that caused us some concern. He constantly puts non food items in his mouth, when he gets frustrated he will thrash his head around, he doesn't understand the concept of personal space, and several other little things that on their own wouldn't be alarming, but added together didn't seem right. We have talked about getting him evaluated, but weren't really sure what for, or how to go about it. Then, a few days ago a friend on Facebook posted something about how letting her son with SPD sleep with a white noise app and headphones had finally helped him sleep through the night. (another of James' problems) That post triggered a memory of something she had said to me several months ago about how James seemed a lot like her son and that I should check into Sensory Processing Disorder. My cousin Amy had also recently posted on Facebook that her son had been diagnosed with SPD so I decided I should at least read something about it. I went straight to Barnes and Noble that afternoon and bought The Out of Sync Child and within the first two chapters, I already felt like so many of my questions had been answered. Of course, we will have to have him professionally evaluated to make sure, but I can say with 99% certainty that James has a mild case of SPD. There are several different types, but he is a sensory seeker. Basically his brain isn't getting all the sensory messages that his body is sending to it, so it tells hims "I need more!" He chews on things, stands upside down, squeezes me really tight all day long, sticks his hand in the wax warmer every time he walks by it even though he has been repeatedly told not to, and talks with a loud voice in inappropriate situations, to satisfy his brains craving for stimulation. It also explains a lot about THIS post! Apparently, sensory seekers can be hard to potty train because they might like the feeling of a loaded diaper or underwear! I haven't finished the book yet, and I know there is going to be a lot more learning that needs to happen both for him and me and Josh, but I'm so happy that we finally have a way to help him. In just a few days we've already discovered a few tricks, like letting him chew gum while he has to sit still for school work, that have made a difference. I can't tell you how relieved I feel to finally have some answers, and to know that his behavioural problems aren't because of anything I did wrong as a parent.

Next week we are hoping for sunshine instead of rain. The beach is calling to us!

Another Week, More Sunshine

The house we live in is pretty small and fitting all of us around the kitchen table is impossible, so most afternoons I send the kids outside to eat. The backyard is mostly sand and weeds, but the kids don't care. If it was my house I would hate it, but temporarily it doesn't bother me. I'm just happy to have a fenced yard again so I can let Laila go out without me.

 

On one perfect afternoon when the sun was out and Josh was around, we went and explored a new park that Josh passes on his way to work every day. It really was the coolest park we have ever been too. The homeless people think so too, because it's where they all sleep at night. My kids ALL love these big plastic swings meant for babies.

The park has two parts. This is the older section with the more traditional baby swings. Macy still wants to be a baby.

Apparently, James does too! I actually took a picture of him sitting all the way in the swing, but he made me swear not to post it or text it to anyone.

Josh did what he does best!

The kids and I also went to the beach a few times after school. It was a little chilly when we first got there, so we played at the park until it was warm enough for the water. For the kids that is. It's still not warm enough for me to get in.

 

On Saturday we drove an hour and a half south and met Beau and his family at a cool beach where you can find fossilized shark teeth. The sand was not as white and smooth as some of the other beaches because there were so many shells everywhere, but the water was beautiful!

 

 

James found this interesting little guy who was not happy about being held. He would come out and look around and then go back in and swipe his one claw at us.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what happened to make this picture so blurry, but it's one of my favorites. Even though our kids have not, until recently, been able to see much of their cousins, they play together like they are best friends. It's going to be hard on them when we leave. The mermaid tails were Samm's creation. I decided to help out with Laila to speed things up, but Macy made it very clear that she wanted Samm to do her tail, not me.

So, almost a month in and we are still loving it. This week we had a few hairy school days, but I think it's because I was forcing too much busy work on them. When I decided to homeschool James, I knew that I had to make it different than public school or he would still hate it. After all these months though it's still hard to let go of everything I know about school based on my own and my kids' experiences and make something different that works for us. This week is going to need a little revamping again, but I'm still glad we chose to come and that the girls are getting a chance to experience homeschool. I would love it if the girls wanted to stay home with James next year, but I'm not going to force them. At least now they will be able to make an informed decision. The funny thing is, I used to think that I would be a complete crazy person if I homeschooled all my kids, and let's be honest, some days I am, but the benefits far outweigh the negative. The kids are learning more than in a shorter amount of time, which allows them more time to do what kids should be doing. Play! And, they are playing together which makes my mommy heart so, so happy!

Florida Chronicles

It makes me sad sometimes that I quite blogging, but no matter how sad I am, I can't seem to find the motivation or the time to start it up again. I actually tried about a month ago, but blogger was having issues and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get my pictures to load, so I took it as a sign and walked away again. Now we are on this fun adventure in Florida and I don't want this time to slip away undocumented. In fact, I make the kids write in a journal every morning as part of our school routine so they can always remember the fun things we did here. It doesn't really seem fair to ask something of them that I'm not willing to do myself, so here I sit. In FLORIDA! It's been two weeks, and I still get excited when I say it.



For anyone that happens to read this (not sure anyone still reads blogs) and wonders why we are suddenly living in Florida, here is the very short explanation.

Part of Josh's residency program is to complete four months of trauma training. The hospital in Michigan has something set up with two of the hospitals in Tampa that allows all of their residents to come here one at a time for four months. Total side note and not really important is that Josh is actually the last resident that gets to come to Florida, the program has made a change and the rest of the residents will be going somewhere else. Anyway, we've known all along that Josh would be coming here and the plan the whole time was for me and the kids to stay in Michigan because of various reasons including school and small housing accommodations. Anyway, about a week before Josh was supposed to leave I woke up feeling very depressed about how lonely I would be for four months and then looked outside and saw that it was snowing AGAIN and felt even more depressed, so I called him up at work and said "we're coming with you!" End of short story.

Josh was definitely happy that we were coming, but had his concerns. Will he be too distracted to write his paper, will we go crazy living in such a small space, will I go crazy trying to home school everyone? In the end though, we both agreed that even though there would be challenges, this would be a really great opportunity for our family to get back on track. Not that our family life has been terrible, but we have certainly felt like busy schedules and too many distractions have pulled us a part.

So, after a week of rushing around to get everything squared away, we loaded up both of our cars with only the most important items (no tv or xbox) and set out for sunny skies.

There are so many things I could write about already, but I will have to save most of it for next week because it is already way too late and would like to be nice mom school teacher tomorrow instead of grumpy mom school teacher. But I do want to mention a few of the great perks of living here.

1) Family time! Even though poor Josh is working crazy long days and nights, we have found plenty of time to go exploring together. And, we've already been able to hang out with Josh's brother Beau and his family who live 3 hours south of us.

2) No TV and no XBOX! Josh and the kids aren't as excited about this as I am, but this right here made coming all worth it. The kids are actually playing together, and reading books together instead of sitting in front of a screen. And, the effects on everyone have been noticeable. (more on that next week)

3) Smaller house means a lot less time cleaning! I really miss my garbage disposal though. Surprisingly, more than the dishwasher.

4) Warm, glorious, sunshine! My heart is happy!


Really, my heart is happy. I'm in heaven!

Lesson Learned...maybe

Three years ago I posted this story about a cute little kindergarten boy and his scarecrow day outfit. I forgot about it until the night before and then somehow managed to pull together a pretty darn good costume. Just sayin. Anyway, my mom's comment was "Save it because Macy will need it in a few years."

Guess what I did not do and guess what I remembered last night! Yup, today was scarecrow day again. With no saved costume and no more energy I had to come up with something that Macy would be excited to wear to school. Fortunately, she did not want any straw because it might be itchy and we found an old shirt in James clothes pile that she was pretty excited about. All I really had to do was sew a few patches of fabric on her jean skirt and then tie some raffia in her hair as her "hat."

She does make the cutest little scarecrow girl I have ever seen.

I'm actually really glad that I didn't go all out again, because on Fridays I go to Macy's class and put together the kid's folders with all their work from the week, and there were only a few kids that had dressed up. And most of the other kids were just wearing either a plaid shirt or a straw hat. I guess James was probably way over done his year.

And this has nothing to do with scarecrows, but it did happen today also, so I'm caboosing it on. Macy's teacher is the same one that James had and she is really great about letting the siblings come to class to visit or help out. When I told her that James was homeschooling she asked me to bring him along with me on Fridays. Last week he just helped me put together the folders, but this week she asked him to check some counting books the kids had done and then stamp them. Then, she asked him if he would mind reading a book to the class. I honestly didn't think he would say yes, but he did and it was so sweet. I got a little emotional watching him because I am just so proud of him and how far he has come not just in school work but in his confidence. I could tell that he felt pretty proud of himself after as well, especially when the teacher said he was now the designated Friday reader.

Less structure, more slime

I'm sure most of you have heard by now, but in case your not up to date on the exciting details of our lives, I have decided to home school James. I've written a lot about the back story on my other blog here, but I want to write more of the personal details here. There are so many things I don't want to forget and I want James to be able to read about them someday.

 

The decision to home school James took me all of 3 seconds when I finally allowed myself to accept that it was possible. Or really, to accept that I could possibly handle it. I asked James right away if he would be interested in learning at home and without hesitation he said "Yes!"

I asked him on a Monday if he wanted to home school and without much preparation we started the next day. I honestly had no idea what to expect on our first morning, but I was preparing myself for the worst. James hadn't exactly been the easiest child to work with in the past and I pretty much dreaded the kids coming home from school everyday simply because I would have to help him with (force him to do) homework. I was sure that he would argue with me when I asked him to do his work, and I was almost prepared for him to beg me to let him go back to school after the first day. My goal however was to make it to Christmas. I was hoping that by then that I would see results, and that those results would compel me to keep going.

I prayed a lot the night before we started about whether or not this really was what was best for James, and for myself to have what it took to be his teacher. I will admit I didn't have that overwhelming burning of peace, but I did feel calm, and that was enough for me to move forward.

If I had felt that my prayers had not been answered as fully as I would have liked the night before, I was immediately humbled and grateful when James woke up more cheerful than I had ever seen him on a school day. And then I asked him to help Laila  get cereal for breakfast and his answer was "sure mom." I honestly can't recall if he had ever responded like that before to a request for help. What I can tell you is that his normal response would have been to either pretend like he didn't hear me at all or whine and ask "why do I have to do it?"

He even did all his school work without complaint and at the end of the day said "home school is awesome!"

After the first day I was excited about how things had gone, but still had my doubts. I thought maybe the excitement of staying home would wear off after a few days and he would be back to his normal self, but the changes in him over the last few weeks continue to amaze me and I am finally starting to realize that he is just now getting back to his normal self. He is finally the happy boy I remember.

 He continues to say "sure mom" just about any time I ask him to do something. He has made enormous strides in his reading because he finally cares about doing it right and even sets goals on his own to get all the words on the pages right. He has been incredibly affectionate to not just me, but to his sisters. On Samm's birthday he could not stop telling her what a great sister she is and even offered to play whatever she wanted that day. (showing consideration for other people's feelings is a huge step that I am so excited about!) He continues to wake up happy and ready for school each morning, and in our prayer together one morning after we had read from the Book of Mormon reader, he said "please help me to be like Nephi so I can always be righteous." This one especially had me on my own knees later that day giving thanks, because just a few months ago he told me that he did not want to go on a mission when he got older.

There are still days that are mentally and physically exhausting for me. Today was especially hard, because we sat at home all day yesterday listening to General conference so he was a little wound up with energy. The beautiful thing about being at home though is that we can take as many breaks as we need and when he is bouncing off the walls I can send him outside with instructions to bounce 100 times on his pogo stick before he comes back inside. We can also make slime anytime we want!

Even with all the incredible changes I've seen in James, what amazes me most is the evidence that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. He is making it possible for me to give James exactly what he needs right now and still manage all the other things in my life. Before homeschooling I felt like I was loosing the juggling act that was my life. I've cried many times to Josh about how overwhelmed I felt just from my day to day responsibilities and how I couldn't do it all. I certainly don't still do it "all" now every day, but somehow in the same number of hours as I always had before, I am able to educate my son, maintain a somewhat orderly home, take on as many if not more hair appointments, add a second church calling, watch a friends little girl twice a week, and help out in Macy's classroom every Friday.

On my own, none of this would be possible, but I know that through Him all things are possible. I can let go of selfish desires and find joy in devoting myself to teaching James each day, and my weaknesses (time management) can become my strength.

I never in a million years thought that I would be a home school mom, but I am so excited about what James and I are doing right now, and I can't wait to see how he continues to grow and mature throughout the course of this year.

One year older and starting to give mom anxiety

We are in party season at the Rollins house. Between birthday's and Holidays things will get a little hectic around here over the next few months...OK, things are always hectic, this just adds to it!

 

Samm's birthday always sneaks up on me and every year I swear it's not going to take me by surprise, but I was still running between stores last night trying to find anything to get her. Eleven year olds are really hard to buy for. They don't really want toys, but they aren't quite into clothes enough yet either. After wandering up and down isles, making a few phone calls for ideas, and starring at books for 45 minutes, I finally settled on a few things that I thought she might really like. I was mostly excited about the book I found here because it combined the two things she is most in to right now, horses and Greek mythology. And then she opened it and said "oh, I love this book! I read it at school."... Of Course! I offered to return it for something else, but she said she really did like it and wanted to keep it.

James was super duper sweet to Samm all day and kept wishing her a happy birthday to the best sister in the world! She is really is!

Her main gift was a much needed bathrobe. She loves all things zebra with hot pink right now, so this was the perfect find at her favorite store, Justice.

And Laila just loves anything the older kids do, say, eat, play, or wear. Do not ever cut up her food, unless you want to see a full blown Laila meltdown!

Laila wearing Samm's bathrobe kind of kills me, because that was just Samm. She was my baby just yesterday, and now she is a full fledged tween. I honestly never imagined it would be this hard to let her grow up. I am so lucky to have her as my daughter!

She's 2!

Officially, Laila turned two on August 22nd. We didn't celebrate until just last week though due to some lack of planning on my part. Part of that lack of planning means that instead of a real party with cake and ice cream, we had Swedish pancakes for dinner and put a couple candles in Laila's. The kids thought it was pretty great.

The main reason for postponing the party was because I didn't decide until the night before her birthday that I wanted to get her a rocking horse. I had to order it, but it was worth the wait. She Loves it!

So hard to believe my baby it 2! She is turning into such a fun little lady full of personality and spunk. She knows exactly what she wants and doesn't let anything stop her. Some days it can be really frustrating, but mostly I admire that quality in her. Love you Bug!