Quilts and Sewing

We are having another sewing lesson with Amy today.  We had a field trip last week to pick out our quilt backs, batting and quilting thread.  I learned a lot just on that trip.  I learned about the different types of batting that are available, and I learned that there are different types of thread available and that to quilt we needed "machine quilting thread." I was amazed that there were so many different types of thread and that they all had a specific purpose. 

Here are pictures of the finished quilt tops and the quilt backs.  The girls picked everything out themselves.  The picture quality isn't good because it was cloudy outside and I had an awful lamp for lighting.

Sami's quilt is very colorful.  The picture doesn't do the bright colors justice, and several colors can't be seen in the picture.  I will retake the picture later when it's not in the back of the car and I'm not in my bathrobe.     

Megan's quilt is still colorful, but is more muted.

And here is mine.

I want to make a quilt for my bed, but it's hard to figure out what to make that is dog and cat hair proof.  It seems silly to make a home-made quilt that will be covered in hair and will need to be washed constantly.  I suppose I could make one out of burlap and dye it.

Crafty Days

We've been working on bead jewelry again this week. 

This is what Megan made.  She chose glass mushroom beads to make a bracelet and matching earrings.  The earrings are a little heavy, so she wants to save those for special occasions. 

This is what Sami is working on.  She chose Swarovski crystals in red, simple beads in clear and blue, and eventually she will add a clear and blue heart pendant.  Sami is very meticulous and is taking her time finishing her project.  I can't wait to show her finished project.   

I used multi-colored beads, but I'm not sure what they are made of...I just thought they were pretty.  Polymer, maybe?  I added some odd and end glass beads in between.

Beading is a fun project, but can quickly turn expensive if one isn't disciplined when picking out beads.  I had a couple of tools left over from years ago when I wanted to do beading (but never got around to it), and we now have the metal thingies (pins?) to connect the beads.  Now the only expense is buying the beads and being careful not to buy too many.

She Touched the Toilet! :)

How many parents can say that they are proud that their daughter touched the toilet?  Not only that, but she stuck her hand IN THE WATER? 

Apparently Sami's OCD made her use way too much toilet paper after going #1.  She flushed, and it clogged the toilet.  Sami didn't want it to overflow and she was too embarrassed to ask for help, so all by herself she STUCK HER HAND IN THE TOILET WATER AND PULLED OUT THE CLOGGED PAPER. 

She told me afterwards and I whooped for joy!  We were both very happy that she was able to kick those OCD germ phobias to the curb for just a few moments and do something that non-OCD people would avoid.  She was so proud that she told her grandma and called the other grandma to tell her, too. 

How strange is that?  Bragging to the grandmothers about sticking her hand in the toilet water?  I don't care.  We had a real good moment and we were happy. 

Forget the Snow Days

Forget the Snow Days.  We close down school when it's nice outside!  It's the opposite of public schools, where they have school when the weather is decent and close when it's nasty outside.  I only knew of one other homeschooling family that did this until I read The Juggling Payne's Blog about the same thing.  Surely there must be more. 

We snuggle up inside when the weather is bad.  We read, do school work, we do unschool work, make crafts, cook food, and draw.   

When it's warm and beautiful outside, we drop school and enjoy the day outside.  Of course, learning is still happening.  The girls don't always know it's happening, but it does.  We've been known to take a good book and have read-aloud time together in swing set fort (it's big enough for the three of us, the pug and various cats).  They make crafts with natural elements, they run, they pretend, and swing, and they explore. 

The bonus is that it helps Sami's OCD.  She does better when she is outside in nice weather, and the outside germs just don't bother her as much when she is outside playing (as opposed to being inside and worrying about the outside germs that we carry inside). 

Last Friday, the weather was gorgeous and we were going to meet some friends for a park play date.  After getting a late start because of an OCD meltdown, we finally got on the way.  Sami was worried the whole drive over and was having OCD moments the whole trip.  After we got there, it was if OCD had never been there.  After a couple of hours of play, Sami didn't want to leave.  As Sami put it, "I had two glorious OCD free hours!"

Jewelry Making and Library Time

The girls had library story time yesterday.  For the last couple of weeks, the kids have been coming up with various ways of reporting on inventions.  Some have made things and some have done power point presentations.  Some have had hands-on demonstrations.  Each homeschool kids did their own thing. 

Megan talked about the history of Lego bricks.  Who knew that Lego's were originally called "automatic binding bricks"?  When she was preparing her report, she wanted to sit at the computer and type it herself.  She's always been a natural speller, but it still surprised me when she sat down and just started typing away without needing spell check.  She was scared to talk in front of the kids, but she did it and was proud of herself.

Sami struggled for three weeks on what to do.  She is such a perfectionist that she convinced herself that she needed to make an original invention that worked for her report.  I finally got her focused after two weeks of struggling, so she ended up making a solar panel windmill from a kit.  Sami was very scared to talk in front of the other kids also, but she showed her windmill in a show-and-tell fashion.  We were both pleased that she was able to do this after all that she's been through in the last few weeks.

That afternoon, the library had a bead class where we got to make our own bracelets.  The hardest part was choosing what beads to use.  After the beads were chosen, the rest kinda fell into place.  Sami, in her perfectionist way, took over an hour to choose her beads and then another hour putting it together and taking it apart to try and make it perfect.  She was so frustrated, but she stuck with it and finished it.  I'm using my 40%off coupons at Hobby Lobby today and get the girls some more beads so that they can make some more jewelry at home.

 

Mine is on top, Sami's is in the middle, and Megan's is on the bottom.  Megan got done early and had time to make a pair of matching earrings.  

Strep Test Results

The doctor's office called today.  Sami has no strep.  I'm glad about that because at least she doesn't have any need for antibiotics.  That means that it isn't strep that is causing Sami's OCD flare up. 

Sami is still fighting the battles, and still winning a lot.  Her hands are raw and red from washing, but I'm thankful that she willingly lets me put a soothing, healing lotion on her hands at night.

We are still waning from the very worst days of the last two weeks.  I wish I knew why because I would certainly like to keep the waning going.  I've made a huge effort to keep us at home a lot more, as that seems to keep her calmer.  We did go out on Tuesday to go clothes shopping, quilt piece shopping, and visit with my sister; that did produce a lot of "hiccups" as expected, but she did quite well in fighting OCD. 

The extended family has been supportive, but it's obvious that they have no clue what OCD means.  She's my daughter, and I'm still struggling with what it means.  I am blessed that they try to understand and are doing their best to help, but only Sami can know what it really feels like.  They are finally picking up on the fact that no amount of reasoning or cajolling about "there aren't any germs on the toy," will convince OCD otherwise and can actually make OCD worse. 

We did get some more homeschooling done yesterday.  Both girls built solar projects from a kit and had a great time making them work on our first really sunny day in a long time.  Sami is going to talk about her solar project at the library today.  Megan worked on a report about the history of LEGOs so she could talk about it in the library; since Megan is a natural speller and fast on the keyboard, she typed it all herself (but I did help with dictation). 

We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the 60+ degree weather.  I cleaned up the garden area and burned off some dried flower, tomato and herb stems.  Megan got covered in mud (thankfully she was wearing old clothes for once).  Here's the neat part:  Sami played BAREFOOTED OUTSIDE.  I was happy that she was barefooted with the outside germs and mud, but I was sad because she thinks that shoes are the germiest things in the world and she hates shoe germs.  I'll take every little win we get.

It's nice to get some smoother sailing and it's nice to go in a positive direction.

Today's Accomplishments

I am happy to say that we all got some meat-and-potatoes homeschool work done yesterday.  Sami couldn't sit at the kitchen table while doing her math and other written work, but she did do her work. 

Megan fussed about doing her math at first, but she sat down, zipped right through, and (here's the funny part) ASKED FOR MORE.  Megan said that she LIKED IT.  I am writing in caps because it was that shocking to me.  She has never once before mentioned liking math.  I am hoping that it is because of my superior parenting skills (*cue crickets chirping*).  Seriously, I have been constantly telling her how good she is at it and that she's a natural and how fun math was for me as a kid because it's like solving puzzles...maybe some of that sunk in.  I'm just delighted, whatever the reason. 

I read out loud about OCD in front of Sami and Meg.  Up to this point, Sami wanted to keep it to herself because she was embarrassed, but now she is accepting that Meg is part of the team and it's okay to talk about it in front of her.  Never mind that Megan was reading, "Pencil of Doom" by Andy Griffiths at the same time.  I didn't stop Megan because I was happy that Sami was including her in the same room. 

We had several OCD hiccups today.  Sami was able to win some OCD battles today, such as touching the Nintendo DS, sitting on my lap, and calming herself through several episodes of OCD nagging her.  She seems to be getting stronger at telling OCD to back off while she delays, changes, or stops the rituals.  It's a good start to the CBT, and I'm hoping that the momentum sticks.  Even though we've only targeted the smaller of the OCD triggers, she's been working on her least favorite bigger triggers by delaying the rituals.  As long as she is happy with her progress and it isn't impossible to keep trying, I think we can bypass any medications.