A deeply moving reminder of why we need others during the long haul times and not just the first initial moments of a dark situation. What It Means To Be There For Someone.
ASL Alphabet Memory Game
The more I try to incorporate signing into my day the more the kids are interested in it. To that end I thought why not combine a fine motor skill activity (picking up the shapes practices using the pincer grasp) with learning colours and shapes with ASL.
So I made 2 copies of the ASL alphabet that I found here: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/wallpaper1.htm
I purchased the wooden shapes at our local dollar store, but one could use card stock, cardboard from a box, or even foam blocks (if picking up almost flat shapes is too difficult for the person playing the game)
I then cut up both sets and glued one to different coloured circles and one to different coloured squares. Just like other memory games all the pieces are flipped over and you have to make a match. I tell the kids to make their matches by picking one circle and one square.
Both Miss. G and Mr. N love playing it and I’m getting some great practice before my first day of ASL class at our local college!
My Unintentional Hiatus
I realized today that I haven’t posted anything on here in a couple of weeks. It’s amazing how fast the days fly by at times!
We’ve been busy with all sorts of fantastic adventures as well as a growth spurt (Mr.N’s) and it’s all lead to the days blending together as they whirl by faster than fall leaves on a windy day!
We went camping as a family of seven for a week-end. For those that have followed this blog for awhile, you know just how much our camping trips mean to us as a family, and how much I treasure the moments we get to create magical memories both as a family and as part of a community on them.
I took Mr. C to a Linkin Park concert as his main birthday present. By the end of the concert he was crying tears of joy. I don’t think there are words to adequately describe how much it meant to me to see him THAT happy.
Mr. C did another lemonade stand at a local zoo to help raise money for a family that had lost everything in a house fire. Miss. G was as enamoured with a baby tiger as it was with her. She even went so far as to wrap her paws around her leg to stop from being picked up and brought away from Miss. G!
Mr. N is now officially in sizes 3 and 4! He grew at least 3 inches in the last few weeks. His sleep patterns are massively off right now. HIs emotions are also swinging wildly from his growth spurt. Understanding how his growth spurts effect those areas for him help me greatly to help him as best as I can to ease him through this difficult transition filled time.
Miss. G has added lots of words to her vocabulary, so many so that her speech therapist will be floored at tomorrow’s appointment! For example, last night she held up one finger and said “one mo time, baff peas?” because she wanted another bath after hers was finished.
I took Mr. C and his friend to the CNE, they had a blast and I adored watching them.
Hubby and I took the three to the CNE by train and that was an experience all on it’s own. Why there are no seatbelts on Go Trains?!?! But aside from the train antics, they had a blast and so did us grown-ups 😀
I had another workshop yesterday, which I of course thoroughly enjoyed.
Hubby and his brother took the eldest three to see Battle of the Best. It was a wrestling event hosted to help raise funds for Grandview Children’s Centre. The pictures he sent me of the kid’s smiling faces warmed my heart as I came home from my workshop. I also adored the t-shirt they brought me home with Brett the Hitman Hart’s logo intertwined with the wrestling division’s on it.
I picked up my textbook for my first ASL course at our local college. Some of you might remember that for my New Year’s Resolution I had wanted to learn a new sign every day. But I’ve struggled greatly with syntax, slang, and the different signs that mean the same thing but are used by different regions. To that end, I figured the best thing to do was to simply sign up at our local college to learn it. In two more weeks I’ll attend my first class, and I can’t wait!
Well that’s a very brief summery of our last couple of weeks. I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful time soaking up the last of summer.
Behind starburst eyes 