Winter Beauty, Speech Therapy, Delicious Food (Jan. and Feb. 2016)

January and February were full of getting used to a new routine, taking Elizabeth to speech therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays and later adding occupational therapy and taking her for a psychological evaluation, as well as doing plenty else.

Quick pictures to cover these two months, and I think I will also write up a review of 2015 soon, and either in that or my March or April post I will detail this year's plans—educational and otherwise.

I love nuthatches!  (Sitta carolinensis)

We get a lot of cellar spiders (Pholcus phalangioides) in the house.  This one is in a bucket from the garden tub, draining a ladybug.  Look at its eyes shining!  This up-close shot displays the design on the spider's abdomen.

We had a mild winter, and on some days the kids wore short sleeves or even less.

I never tire of these breathtaking views.  I love this.

It's too bad those small branches were blocking the full view of this beautiful bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

This is my first picture of a juvenile bald eagle. 

Trust and Liv watch their Supercharged Science videos together, and Elizabeth normally sits and watches with them.

Elizabeth finds it to be no trouble to keep herself busy simply exploring the ground and other things outside.

I think I must be reading in my chair in my bedroom, and here the boys are choosing to do some school on our bed.

Olivia spent some of her money she received from family back on her birthday on getting her ears pierced.  She had kept going back and forth for a long time on whether she wanted to get them pierced.  She ultimately decided any pain was her gain.

I do apologize once more for the pictures posted that I took with my iPhone.  Maybe one day I'll go ask how much it would cost to fix the camera in it.  It really frustrates me that it stopped working the right way.  I now rarely take any pictures with it, besides screenshots, which look just fine.

Speaking of screenshots, here is one of William's CAT 6 test this year.  He was doing mainly 9th grade level work during this time, but he was working through his 7th grade math, so I tested him on 7th grade level (I tested him on 6th grade level last year).  Whereas last year he was overall slightly below average on math and well below average on a subcategory of math, he scored average on math this year, so I was happy to see his progress there.  Next year I will test him again, but since he will have by that time be just starting 9th grade math (he will be doing his 3 math credits in years 10-12, rather than 9-11, like I did in school), I will test him on a 9th grade level, even though he will be doing mainly 10th grade level work at that time.  The GE column on the test results lists the grade equivalent at which he scored.  He was on "high level" on vocabulary, testing like someone who has graduated high school, whereas on total math he scored like a seventh-grader, which corresponded with his doing average in the 7th grade level math he's been working on (but at 6th grade level in a subcategory).   He will start 8th grade pre-algebra during the summer, only doing lessons 2 days a week while Elizabeth is in therapy. 

Trusten and Liv share quite the hate-love relationship.  They do a lot together and are interested in some of the same things, but then Trusten will be hateful and Liv will be upset at him for being so ugly.  Here, though, reflects one of the times Trusten was sweet to her.  He drew several pictures, and she taped them to her bedroom door.  If I remember correctly, I think that's Nathan, Trusten, and Olivia in the truck, but I don't remember which kid is in the bed.

I was doing spelling with William, and Trusten was working on his social studies or his writing.

One night William made pizzas for dinner.  It was so nice to get a break!  He did a great job.

Oops!  Ninabess decided to give Dinosaur a bath.  I wrapped him in a towel.  Doesn't he look cute?

Ninabess brushing her teeth. I, of course, brush them afterward.

This is the lobby of Children's Therapy TEAM where we take Elizabeth.  

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Mmmmm...some of the mouthwatering delights I made.  Well, ok, pecan pie doesn't make my mouth water, but Nathan sure loves it.  The cupcakes below are marbled, gluten-free (coconut flour).  That was only the second time I'd made them, the first being for Elizabeth's first birthday.

And to end this post, I present to you a screenshot I found on my iPhone.  I let Elizabeth play on my iPhone or iPad, and I sometimes find screenshots of things like this when I get my device back.  It cracks me up!  Olivia screenshots things, too.  She has screenshot the same recipe from a cooking game over and over.  I think she must be trying to send me a message. 

Until next time...