A Week in the Life

This post is just an update of the crazy Simons' life and a couple interesting stories. We are finally really settling into our groove and actually enjoying it. I have to admit that I am glad that it didn't work out to send the younger kids to school. We are having a lot of fun homeschooling them. Every week we focus on a number and a letter and are learning shapes. We do lots of hands on projects, games, and worksheets to learn these. Last week was F week. The kids cut out fish and decorated them and then made fish hooks to catch their fish. We also made watercolor flowers out of coffee filters--that was a huge, messy hit with the kids. Brian caught a frog to show them (which the girls adored and Diamond screeched like a girl in terror--who knew?), and I took them exploring at the pond to watch the fish come to the surface to eat. It was a highly succesful F week. This week is G week and we will be painting a special art project and making "Googly Guy Gs" out of googly eyes and pipe cleaners. These are placed on object beginning with G in the house. Florence is learning very quickly and retaining all of the letters and sounds amazingly well. Diamond struggles more with it. They both are slower to grasp numbers. Florence struggled for the longest time with shapes, but finally has mastered them all. Sophia is reading very well now, but it makes a difference that I have been working with her for two years. It is just hard because there seems to be some resentment from Diamond and Florence toward Sophia. I am trying to harness it to make them work harder--still working on the right approach.

The older kids do their school on the days the younger kids just play (MWF) and do flashcards, then they help and participate with all of the younger kids' projects on Tues./Thurs. It is working out really well and the kids play so well together. They are really into jumping on the tramp, riding bikes, and having dance parties in the front room. When I see them all playing like that it is so sweet and natural that I can't figure out why anyone would think that seven kids was a lot. It's the perfect amount!

Okay, so it is the perfect amount until you consider out food bill. We now pay more for food each month than we pay on our rent. We go through 4-5 gallons of milk a week, and about 3-4 loaves of bread, several bunches of bananas, a box of crackers a day, a thing of peanut butter every week, chicken by the truck load, and so on and so on. The problem is that I hate shopping more than just about anything else I have to do as a mom, and it is hard to keep milk in the fridge without going to the store once a week at least. The really sick thing is that they are only ages 2-11, can you imagine how expensive this is going to be when they are 9-18?

I got a new bike for Florence and Diamond. Diamond loves his bike more than anything. He told me it was "beautiful" because it is red and has a rocket on it. He is a little crazy on it and screams, "Speed, speed!" as he races down the street. Florence is having a harder time figuring the bike thing out. She has very short little legs and can't quite get the peddling down. But, I must note that she has grown an inch since she came home because she eats like there is no tomorrow. She tells me everyday that soon she will be bigger than Oakley because she eats more than he does. She also told me that Giselle will soon be getting smaller because she doesn't eat anything.

Diamond asked me the other day if he could vacuum for me. I agreed, but was surprised because he always act terrified of the vacuum, having never seen one before coming here. He seemed so pleased with his new found courage at touching it. I showed him how to do it and handed it over. He grabbed it, then stopped and ran out of the room. Soon he came back wearing protective swimming goggles and proceeded to vacuum the floor for me. Of course, once again, no batteries for my camera.

I have had some interesting conversations with Diamond and Florence as of late. Before they came home, I really tried to read up on the best way to approach the transition from a family that they loved to a new family. I have tried to be really open about their mothers and grandmother (which I met) and talk about how much they love each other and let them be very open about their feelings for their birth family. I really prepared myself for even the dreaded "you're not my real mother" phrase. However, I have experience the exact opposite. I asked Diamond if his mommy Miatta used to hug him and say I love you. He looked really confused and said, no, only you hug me and say I love you. I said, "Well, she loved you, and you loved her." He got a really upset look on his face and said, "No, you the mommy I love." Later that week, Chloe asked Diamond where in Africa he was born. Diamond got upset again and said, "I was born in America with Mommy." He really does not want to talk about his birth family or roots right now, so I am letting the subject go, at least until he brings it up again. Florence doesn't seem to have the same animosity, but she seems to be replacing her memories of Africa with memories of me. The other day, Florence and Sophia were playing house together. Florence was the mommy and Sophia the baby. Florence put her to sleep and told her it was the way her mommy put her to sleep in Liberia. When we asked her how that was, she said, "My mommy brushed my teeth, read me a story, said my prayers to me, sang me a song while she tickled my back, and then kissed me and said 'I love you'." Brian and I realized she was talking about me, but somehow remembering it that way in her infancy. Florence is very happy here and is just thriving in all kinds of incredible ways. If she wants to remember it that way, and it will heal her heart, then so be it.

We took the kids to the Barnum and Bailey Circus last week and it was quite an adventure--taking my circus to the circus. There was a dancing elephant and six white Bengal tigers and aerialists, acrobats, tight rope walkers, etc. The kids loved it and have asked every day to go back again. They were so well behaved, people stared because my children sat so perfectly well. There was one part where a clown rode a minature bicycle through a circle of fire. I had Florence on my lap and I noticed she tensed and widened her eyes and sort of disappeared behind them for a moment. I had the distinct impression that it had brought back a memory from Africa--and not a good one. Later, I asked her about the fire and if she remembered fire from before she went in the AFAA house. Sure enough, she told me something about seeing a boat full of people and bad guys starting the boat on fire and watching it from her porch.

Well, it has come to the end of another very busy day on Sesame Street. The kids are bathed and are eating banana milkshakes prepared by my very sexy personal chef (that'd be Brian, in case you were wondering:). Then we read scriptures, say prayers, load the children into their beds, sing them all songs of their choice, kiss them good night, then threaten their lives if they don't go to sleep about 60 times. Finally, by 10 pm--silence, for awhile anyway.