It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd just give a quick update on what's been going on around the Finch home. We've unfortunately had a lot of sickness in the house over the past two weeks. Adam woke up two weeks ago with a fever and had to miss almost a full week of school before it went away. As soon as Adam got rid of it, Anna and Lizzy both picked it up. They were running fevers off and on until mid-week of this past week. That's when Ben managed to get it. He, being so little, seemed to have it worst of all. He developed a pretty bad cough and congestion. For a while it was pretty hard for him to breathe and that would get him frustrated and so he would try to cry, but crying hurt too much so he would mostly just whimper. It was a sad time while he was sick. Now the kids are mostly over it (still some minor coughs) but Tammy woke up this morning with the fever, sore throat, etc so on we go. I'm the only one so far that's been able to avoid the illness - I'm sure my turn is coming. Hopefully, we're all activating our immune systems so that we'll have an illness free winter!
During all those days of sickness, we did enjoy a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Ebbert. They were here from Thursday to Wednesday of this past week. With all the sickness we weren't able to get out much, but did enjoy time visiting. We also very much appreciate all the work they did around our house. Tammy kept Grandpa busy with lots of house projects that I've been neglecting since we've moved here. He even helped hang some pictures - something we've been meaning to do for weeks. Thank you Grandpa!
Given all the natural disasters of the past few weeks, we decided we needed to take a more serious look at our own preparedness, so we had declared today to be our preparedness day. We spent the day teaching the kids about different kinds of disasters that could get us here and what to do for each. We also refilled all of our water storage containers (which have been empty since we moved) and started to think about getting 72-hour kits together. We still have a long way to go in the preparedness category, but having a little something done feels pretty good. The kids were all very interested in what we were doing and each worked hard to help out. It was a fun day together (except that mom wasn't feeling real well!).
One last note - this is some news I learned yesterday that was pretty exciting for me. Several years ago during my last couple of years at BYU, I worked for a non-profit organization called the Waterford Institute. The goal of the Waterford Institute is to create educational software to help young children learn basic skills such as reading, writing, and math. We were basically making computer games that helped kids to learn these skills. The project I worked on the whole time I was there was the first grade reading program - I did the programming work for maybe 1/5 or so of the product. We had just finished the product when I left Waterford to move out here.
I've always kind of wished that my kids could benefit from the Waterford programs, but never really expected that. They're designed for school classrooms and are only sold to schools, so we couldn't exactly buy them for home. Given the large amount of educational software on the market these days, I never thought that it would actually end up in my kids schools.
Well, we just found out yesterday that Pleasant View Elementary has recently purchased the Waterford Early Reading Program. Beginning in a week or so, Adam will be using the first grade reading program (the one that I worked on) for 20 minutes or so each day. I was so excited when I learned that! It's really neat for me to know that he'll be using something that I had spent so much time on long before he was even born. While I don't expect him to gain a whole lot from it (his reading skills are well above anything we taught in that program), I still hope he will enjoy some of the games. I expect the program will still be around when Anna arrives at first grade and I do expect that it will be a benefit to her - I think she'll be at a more normal first grade level and I think they are the kinds of activities she will absolutely love.
5 comments:
I'm so sorry everyone has been sick! I am so grateful Kathryn hasn't been sick yet, and I haven't really been sick since having her... but I'm terrified of the day we do get sick. That's great about the reading program, for some reason, I just recently heard about it and I can't remember why I just remember the name. Anyway, that's really neat.
Hopefully Tammy will recover quickly and Greg will miraculously miss the bug. I will have to check around for the Waterford stuff. It would be fun to see what Greg helped make. Our school doesn't use computers to help, yet, but I am sure it is the kind of thing our parents would love. We miss you!
We had an absolutely wonderful visit. We enjoyed all of you very much. I always enjoy tinkering so the fix-it projects were fun. I've had an on and off fever and aches and pains for a couple of days. A tickle in my throat but doesn't hurt. Last night we needed a "fix" and played the videos we took of the kids. They are so fun. We enjoyed staying a night in Bellevue. Stayed in a motel right next to the chapel we attended. We didn't recognize very much on the base or around. We went thru the housing area but couldn't remember just which house was ours. We think we got pretty close. It will be so neat to have Adam using your program, Greg. Hope you all get over the "stuff" soon. Tylenol seems to keep my problems in control. We love you all very much.
I'm sorry that you've all been sick. That's never fun, and it's always especially difficult when Mom gets sick. It's really hard for me to give as much sympathy and support to my children when I feel so crummy myself.
How neat, Greg, about the computer program. I'm sure that will be really fun for Adam even if it's below his level.
WOW, Greg! How cool about the Waterford program. I remember when you were working on it! I agree with Deanna, I think Adam will get a kick out of the fact that you helped write it even if it is below his level of reading.
I hope you are feeling better today, Tammy. What an ordeal to have "the bug" go clear through the whole family that way. You were probably pretty worn down just from trying to take care of all the sickies when it got you!
I just have to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. It is so much fun keeping up with your family this way. We don't talk on the telephone nearly enough so this is WAY cool!
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