We were not allow to film at the theater, but the following is a dress rehearsal at the studio. Hope is the third poodle from the left with the long thin braid.  And yes - she is the one who is leading the others during the middle part.   She repeated the directions that the teacher would say, so the others followed her lead.

Disney Countdown: 109 Days


After one week of notebooking, I knew that was the way for us to go.  It was amazing to see the spark back in Julia's eyes.  Plus - it was evident at the amount of information she was really learning because she now speaks about  so many things from her readings and research. 


Science is a favorite subject for Julia but I had her bored her to tears with a workbook!  She loves chemistry and we had this book for over a year without even opening it up.  Now she is learning about the periodic table and enjoying it!!!

Disney Countdown:  109 Days

As you can see, I did most of the writing.  That is not a priority for us.  But she did write the following words:

Silly me - I had no idea there were so many versions. 

I have a pocket in the back to hold these cut-outs and we use them to act out the story.  (They are NOT included in the kit.)  Hope LOVES them.  They are from Hope's therapist, so I can't give a link to them. 

So that's our first attempt at a lapbook.  I am thinking we can add to it come the next holiday season.   

Disney Countdown: 116 Days

So it started last week when Julia, now 12, announced to me that school was not “fun” anymore.  I was devastated!  But the final blow was her next admission which was that she felt like she wasn’t learning anything lately.  WHAT?!?  How could this be?  Of course you are learning!  Of course school is fun! That’s why we homeschool! 

I remained calm and let her get everything off her chest.  When she went off to read and Hope was playing Starfall, I looked through Julia’s workboxes with new eyes.  It was 10 drawers of workbooks: reading, writing, spelling, math and even science, history & religion.  ALL workbooks.  I don’t how it happened.  I never intended it to…  One reason why I would never put her in school is because of all the mindless, busy work – but here we are.  And I felt like a hypocrite.

The truth is that as Hope gets older I find she needs me more for her work and therapies.  So little by little, I added “just one more” workbook for Julia to work on independently.   Alas... 10 drawers of mindless, boring busywork.    I can’t blame her for feeling the way she does.  I knew I had to change something and immediately.

So I took to the Internet and “hit” the blogs.  Soon a solution caught my eye.  Notebooking.  It seemed like a very simple yet brilliant idea.  Would it work?  I explained it Julia and I saw her eyes light up with excitement.  “YES!”  She exclaimed, “Let’s do it!”   

I didn’t have any extra binders laying around.  (I’ll explain why in a later post.)  And I have a strict rule that I force myself to adhere to:  When I want to try something new that I find on a homeschool blog, I am NOT allowed to purchase any new “system” unless I know it will work for us – or at least give it a try. 

So while I didn’t have binders, I did have a ton of 3 prong folders.  That would work. I set up a few into a notebooking / lapbook combo folders.  I forced myself not to get fancy and refused to have to have it be “perfect”.   When I was done, I was happy.  So was Julia!

Today is day four of notebooking and school has changed – along with Julia’s attitude & work schedule.  She is now actually excited to open her drawers and complete her work.  At first, I don’t think she really knew what to do.  I noticed that a lot of her writing was just copywork from the book.   On day 2 , I explained that I was interested in her words – not what the book said, but what she “learned”.  On day 3, her work exploded; not only in her notebooks, but in our conversations.  She was telling me so much about the things she was learning.  WOW- what an eye opener!  I think Notebooking is here to stay for a while!!!

At the beginning of the school year, I knew I wanted Hope to do a type of "Workbox" system.  But right now, the biggest challenge is to get her to come to the table and work on a task. 

Today she was able to accomplish 2 activities at the table.  I was very happy.

After Hope completed  each activity, she hung them on the refrigerator.   

She added some glue. 

I thought she did a great job. 

Disney Countdown:  9 Days

Disney may be 9 days away, but this week is a full school week.  I will admit that the everyone's focus level is not the best, but work needs to get done.  Overall, it was a pretty good day. 

While the girls were working on independent stuff, I was able to sneak upstairs and get some packing done.  We are flying Jet Blue which allows each one of us to have one checked item fly free.  So we will have 4 suitcases total.

Suitcase number one holds all of out toiletries.  I put all the items in Ziplock bags just in case anything leaks. 

At the top are my Purex laundry sheets.  They are great to do laundry with.  

Suitcase number 2 holds all of our swim gear and bedding items.  Hope will not sleep in hotel beds - she hates them.  So we have to set her up on the floor.  She prefers the floor even at home sometimes.  So I have her pillows, blanket and comforter. 

Suitcase number 3 has our snacks, diapers & wipes and also Julia's and Hope's clothes.  Yes - this one is massive! 
When my husband weighed it, it registered 49 pounds.  Since you are only allowed up to 50 pounds before being charged, I needed to move a couple things around.  Just to be
on the safe side!

Finally, the last suitcase will hold my husband's and my clothes and any last minute "I forgot...". 

Carry-on's and outfits for travel day are the only packing I have left! 

Cinderella was the movie of the day - it played on the Disney Channel.

Countdown To Disney:  10 Days

Well, with 10 days to go, I've been checking the height requirements for Splash Mountain and Soarin.  Both have a height requirement of 40 inches.  I have been trying to measure Hope to see if she will make it.  It is so close, I can't tell!  I think Disney will have to make the call.   

I pre-ordered Photopass+ for our trip.  Last year was the first time I splurged and bought it.  I was really happy I did.  The pre-purchase price is $149.00.  They send you a certificate to redeem at WDW for the Photopass+ card and also a code to order the photo CD when you return home.  In addition to having all the photos taken in the parks by Disney Photographers, you can also have all your ride photos added (where applicable).  Plus if you are eating at any meal that offers a photo package - like Chef Mickey's, those are included too - as well as the photos added to the card.!   

Since I am the family photographer, I also enjoy being able to "be" in the pictures.

We have also begun our family Disney Movie Marathon.  I have read on other people's blogs how they watch their favorite Disney Movies before leaving for their trip.  I have never done it before but it seems like fun so I thought I would give it a try. 

One of our family's top favorite ride experience is Splash Mountain. 

Julia always asks about the characters - Brer Fox & Brer Rabbit.  I told her about the movie "Song of The South" and Uncle Remus.  I remember watching the movie as a child in theaters.   But since the movie is not available in the U.S., she has never seen it.  Well,  I managed to find a copy!  We watched it today.  She recognized not only the songs, but the characters and  scenes from Splash Mountain.   

As we spoke about the controversy of the movie it also brought up the topic of the Civil War.  So I know what our next history unit will be on. 

As a rule, I do not watch very much T.V.  - OK it's true, you will catch me watching Dance Moms now and then.  However I did hear about a documentary called, This Is Autism, that was going to air on Discovery Fit & Health Channel and obviously it caught my interest.  So I sat down and watched. 

Please note - the following is my opinion only.

It was the most depressing view on Autism that I have seen.  Had I had viewed this in the days or weeks after Hope was diagnosed, I think I might still be in bed crying.

The documentary by Louis Theroux followed the lives of three families with Autistic children.  It showed what I believe to be very severe cases of Autism.  Yet, it gave the impression that this is Autism in general.  That is what bothered me the most. 

It never discussed at what age each of the children were diagnosed, what kind of early intervention they received early in life and the extent of their therapy now in relation to their home life.  . 

One boy, who was older was prone to violent outbursts.  When they occurred, he had to be physically restrained by mom or dad, or the school staff.  It showed mom actually lying on top of him until he settled down. She wanted it to be filmed so "the world" could see what the moms of Autistic children go through - again very generalized. 

My heart went out to her.  But at the same time, I wondered, what self regulation strategies  were implemented when this boy was 2 or 3?  In other words, did his early therapists work with him and his family to teach him how to calm down by himself and re-group?  This is something we are focused on with Hope right now.   

I think most of the children in the film attended a
private school for Autism in the state of New Jersey.  They seemed to all be making progress at school, but at home, they seemed not connected with anything.  The parents didn't seem to know how they should fit in. 

Yet again, I see the beauty of homeschooling. I can't imagine putting Hope on a bus in the morning, her spending all day in an artificial atmosphere and then getting off the bus and me expecting her to function in her life at home. How is that possible?  

Most of the parents who were interviewed sounded and appeared "beaten" down.  In one instance, Theroux asked one mother, "Does Autism define you and your family"?  Without hesitation, her answer was emphatically "Yes".     I thought that was really sad.    

Towards the end of the show, one of the mom's admitted her fear that her son would end up in a residential home.  She said that inevitably, this was to be the outcome for all of "these" children.   

I appreciate the families who made this documentary possible.  I feel their pain because I walk the same journey.  However, I hope that other parents who view this film do not think that this is nessesarily the outcome for their children.  It does not have to be.   I would tell them to read the works of Temple Granden.

For the record, I do not feel that Autism defines me or my husband, or my daughter Julia or even Hope for that matter.  Rather, I believe that it is our family and how we function with the challenges of Autism in our lives that enables us to define a single snapshot of Autism. 

Most of the field trips we attended this year have focused on Julia.  So when a friend of ours booked a field trip to the Museum of the Hudson Highlands for the wee ones, it was something I was really looking forward to.  The theme was pond life.  

Up until this year, I actually avoided field trips for Hope.  It was just too difficult.   But she has grown so much in the past year, I really wanted to make our debut.

Usually, when we go on a field trip, I rely on the stroller.  However, when we got to the museum, I soon realized that the path we were going on was not very "stroller friendly".  So I decided that we would give it a go without it.  

At first, Hope did fantastic!       

When we arrived at the pond study area, Hope did not want anything to do with it.

We walked around a little bit and of course - that's when things went array.  Hope wanted to walk further towards an observation deck.  But it was too far away from our group so I told her "no".  And that brought on a meltdown.

I was blessed that we had a homeschool dad with us who was ready to lead a hand - in this case two arms and some muscles.   He kindly carried my little Hope back for me. 

After some lunch and a lot of water, we were all able to regroup and had to the playgroup - Grasshopper Grove. A very beautiful and unique type of playgroup.  Needless to say, the kids had a blast! 

I was hoping the day would have gone better.  But I have to remember the successes of the day.  A year ago I would not have even went on the field trip.  And even if I did, I would not have even contemplated letting Hope out of her stroller.   I know I have to bring Hope back soon.  I think it's so important for her to have another go at it. 

The Workbox System was really popular a couple of years ago.  Designed by Sue Patrick,  they seemed like a homeschooler’s dream. I know many homeschoolers that dedicated their blogs to how they implemented the system.  I gave them a try, however; I couldn’t make it work.  It was too time consuming for me.  

However, now I seem to be revisiting the idea - but I think I will tweak it a bit, which is really not recommended.  I realize that Hope works well with routine and structure and I think that a workbox system will be a good fit for her.  I am also considering a version for Julia as I really need to get her to be more independent when it comes time for schoolwork.