Review: Northern Speech Services

I love doing interesting reviews: the kind that are just very different and something that wasn't even on my radar.  This is one of those reviews. It is Color My Conversation from Northern Speech Services. Many of the products from this company are designed for professional speech-language pathologists. However, this product is one that parents can do at home with very little training! Everything I needed for this program was included in this box:

Here were the things that were included in the box. (I should note that you will need a hand pump to blow up the ball which we actually did not have after our old one broke. You will see in the video that we used another ball we had in our house until I bought a pump!):

I actually did this program with all four of my children who range from 3.5 to almost 9 years old. We were able to do this as a family, and each child had fun with it in different ways. Here is a video I took of one of our moments practicing our Color My Conversation lesson with my very littlest girl, The program is actually designed to start with kindergarten, but you can see that three-year-old Hannah was able to participate quite easily:

In the opening training videos, the author of this program, Rosslyn Delmonico, MA, RSLP, CCC-SLP (who has over 35 years of experience), explains why she thinks this is an important program: "I feel that by establishing strong communication skills early on in life it leaves kids with self confidence and empowers them to engage in life." It is her hope that they can assist children in their "social language development."

And that is exactly what this program is intended to do.

As I just mentioned above, I started utilizing this program by watching about ten minutes of online introductory training videos. These were very easy to watch and did not feel like a burden to me whatsoever. And prior to each lesson I did with my kiddos, I watched a very short training video to prepare for that lesson.

We then did one to two lessons per week during the review period. We are not done with the program, but definitely plan to see this through to the end.

In my family's case, we have a lot of children with very "slight" speech issues. My oldest son is in speech for stuttering and pronunciation issues, and my daughter Abigail was in speech for some pronunciation issues as well. My son Sidge is not in speech but has often struggled with talking too fast and mumbling. And then my little Hannah? Well, she has talked since she emerged from the womb, but she is still learning about language and conversation. She was technically too young for the recommended age of the program, but she did a great job participating and absolutely loved doing what the big kids did.

In addition, while Hannah is obviously not an introvert, Isaac and Abigail definitely are. And we are still waiting to see what happens with Sidge! To be fair, I have always considered myself more of an extrovert, and making conversations has never been an issue for me. But what if it is for your children?

I actually never thought about that!

If you have a child that even slightly struggles meeting people or making friends or talking to others, this is really something to consider for your homeschool environment. In addition, I really think a lot of co-ops could do well with a program like this as well.

Here are the main levels of the program:

• Basic (ages 5-12)
• "Yellow conversation" which is hellos and good byes
• "Short conversation" which is small talk between friends and acquaintances 
• "Long conversation"
• Intermediate (ages 5-12)
• Works to refine what you have learned at the beginner level
• Advanced (ages 8-12)
• Continued refinement
• Expert level (various ages)
• Real-world practice to transfer what you have learned

While seeing the entire box may make you a little overwhelmed, this program was broken down quite easily. After watching the training videos, there was a CD which included a manual. This told me everything I needed to know. There is also a music CD which my kids enjoyed. I think the songs were very appropriate for my aged children, but I think older kids would find them a bit too juvenile. 

Our bulletin board just beginning

This program is a dynamic, multi-sensory social skills program developed by a Speech-Language Pathologist to teach the skills of face-to-face conversations. However, I honestly never thought about practicing with my children the art of conversation. We really focus in our home on making eye contact, shaking hands, speaking confidently, etc., but I never dreamed that there was a program designed to help me with these skills.

But there is! And Color My Conversation from Northern Speech Services is it!

As always, please feel free to reach out to me via email at wkitsteiner@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to know more!

We Bought a Farm: Get them outside

If this doesn't make you think, I'm not sure what will:

Tuesday Truth

Review: Bless Our Pets

In 2008, following the death of his father, their son, Mike, took over writing the books. He has released quite a few that are overtly religious/Christian in nature during the years that followed. This is one of them. This book even mentions the name of Jesus at the end of a prayer which was incredible! 

Bless Our Pets is a paperback book and presents the bears that we all know and love. This time, the pastor of their local church, Preacher Brown, has invited them to bring their pets to church for a blessing -- and cacophony results when the animals all start going after each other. As always Brother, Sister, (and the more recently added Honey bear) are along for the ride. And this time they bring their pets: Little Lady, Gracie, Swish, and Cutsie.

I have to say that I find the idea of a "pet blessing ceremony" a little bit "odd." However, I believe the whole book was simply a fun adventure, and my children just loved seeing all the pets and reading the book together. 

This book is exactly what you'd respect from the Berenstain family: fun, simple, and supposed to leave you feeling good. 

And for just $3.99, it's affordable too!

wwww.booklookbloggers.com provided me with a free copy 

of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Book Review: Thank You, God, for Grandpa

This incredibly sweet book: Thank You, God, for Grandpa was written by Amy Parker. This sweet board book with soft cover reminds everyone that no matter what you call him, there is nothing like the love between a grandpa and his grandchild! With sweet, sing-songy verses, each page is delightfully illustrated. You can't help but finish this book in a good mood.

This book could be given as a gift to a child, to a grandfather, or could just be something that a parent or grandparent keeps in their home to remind a child how much they are treasured by their family.

Amy Parker's children's books have sold more than 800,000 copies and you can tell why when you see this book. It is priced very reasonably at $7.65 and would be a perfect inclusion for your child's easter basket.

www.booklookbloggers.com provided me with a free copy 

of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

We Bought a Farm: What I love (and don't love) right now

• I love my old friends. Joia and her three kiddos came to visit our farm for four days. Oh how wonderful it was to reconnect with her. I will blog more about their visit (when I get pictures from her), but for now may I just say how much I appreciate her. She reached out to me during a very dark point in our infertility journey and she was loyal to me then and now. She has managed to make three rather substantial visits to see me. I appreciate her, and was just in awe that our children fit together so wonderfully. 
• I love our farm. I really do. I am trying each day to not take for granted what is here -- at our fingertips. (Can you see our group setting off on a hike in the picture above?) Seeing it fresh and new through the eyes of visitors is so valuable. It is truly amazing what the Lord has given us and I don't want to ever forget that.
• I love my dogs. I realize I don't blog about them like I did Scrubs, but they are slowly wiggling their way intimately into my heart. Arabelle is incredibly smart. She truly behaves as if she completely speaks English and listens to you without any hesitation. I can take her out with me all over the farm off-leash, and she is listening and not going after ANY animals. Ritter is currently not behaving as well around the animals. (He had a small run-in with a sheep that did not go so well.) I am hoping that I will be able to get him off leash around the farm, but we will see. He is however the most loving and snuggly dog ever. He lets the kids lay all over him, and actually likes it. Against everything I ever said, they have become indoor dogs. They will still probably spend a lot of time outdoors, but they are also spending a lot inside with us because we just love them so. Arabelle just finished her first heat. We plan to breed them during her next heat, sell one litter of puppies, and then get them both fixed. (I've been getting some orders for pups so let me know if you are interested in an Aussie!)
• I love our new life group. We are coming up on two years here on our farm and two years at our wonderful church. I have been very deliberate in the "yes" replies I give to people. I want to make sure what I agree to is right for our family and not too much. We've really wanted to get involved in a small group with our church -- knowing that that community is incredibly important, but have not felt the time was right. However, about a month ago, we were scooped up into an amazing group. All the pieces fell into place perfectly including the time it meets to make this work for us. While JB has yet to be able to attend with me, it is a perfect fit for us. I am blessed. 
• I (do not) love my van. Today while out with my kiddos at the grocery store, I stopped at the bank, rolled down my window, and it would not roll back up. We went to Bible Study, and then stopped by the hospital where JB was able to get it at least stuck in the up position. We have had this van since 2008. It is a 2002 Odyssey. It is quite old, but it is still right around 150,000 miles due to being very sparingly used while we were in Eglin, Turkey, and the Azores. I have always said we will ride it into the ground. Especially after we had an old truck kick the bucket last year and had to buy a truck for JB and the farm. But tonight was the first time I thought: I want a new van! Don't worry. I won't give in. I'll keep driving this thing into the ground. But I have begun to dream slightly. Dangerous territory. 
• I love our WWOOFers. This week we said good bye to the wonderful Amy. Oh man I liked that girl. I really was sad when she left. But just as she left us, Leon, joined us -- another volunteer from Holland. At the same time, I was sad to have a possible Turkish WWOOFer not be able to come due to a work-schedule change, but was ecstatic to hear that Mary Anne, who was with us two and a half months last summer, wants to return to us for a month this fall. I continue to pray and seek the Lord about how this process fits with our family, but God continues to bring us wonderful people. 
• I love (and don't love) John's job. JB is working nights. No one in the family likes when he works nights. But I realized today that we needed a change of attitude. The kids have all started getting seriously SAD when he is doing nights. That is not cool, and rubs off on John too. So we decided we are going to try and start having fun the four to five nights each month he works. We are going to watch an episode of AFV after dinner (the kids love that show and you can pull up old episodes on youtube), we are going to let people sleep in different places, and I'm going to read books to make up for Daddy not being there to do his nightly reading. We may even have a special dessert we only eat when he is gone. I talked to the kids about how great their dad's job is and that no job is perfect. We can start praying for some awesome doctor that wants to do all nights at their hospital so he can do less nights, but otherwise, all the docs have to take a few each month. We need to embrace them instead of dreading them. 
• I love parenthood. But it is HARD. Four children is hard. Four young children is hard. Each stage produces new hardness. Oh they are funny and charming and wonderful, but they are starting to fight with each other a lot and get quite opinionated. I truly feel like there is someone who needs me every single second I am awake, and I struggle to remain happy in the moment. I truly know that this motherhood thing is FLYING by, and before I know it, they won't need me anymore. I mean, the son we waited forEVER to adopt is going to turn NINE next month. But in the minutia of the moments, it can be challenging to remember. 
• I love vacations. We are planning some fun stuff coming up. In May, we are going to take our first "big" trip in our camper up to the Indiana area for my grandfather's memorial weekend. In addition, I am going to take a day to take Isaac to Carowinds for his birthday. We've decided to meet my friends Hershal and Michelle and their oldest son for a rollercoaster extravaganza. And the last HUGE piece of news is that I am going to be taking a CRUISE for my 40th birthday in May with a few girlfriends. It was JB's idea. At this stage in our kids lives, we just really can't leave any grandparent with them for more than two nights. (We are waiting for Hannah to grow up a bit more.) So John suggested I get out of dodge for a few days. I CAN'T WAIT. In addition, JB and I have begun talking about what we should do for our TWENTIETH anniversary June of 2018. (Ideas are welcome!)

We Bought a Farm: The Birder (P.S. It's not me)

My husband posted this on Facebook this past week:

I happened to spot a flash of yellow and gray out the kitchen window this morning. I quickly rushed out of the room.

I'm pretty sure I left my wife at the breakfast table while I was mid sentence. I vaguely remember her sitting there with a confused look on her face and fork frozen halfway to her mouth.

As I opened the door as quietly as possible with binoculars in hand, my wife smirked and rolled her eyes.

Once outside I spotted my first Pine Warbler... ever! Actually, it was a pair, male and female. Beautiful!

(photos from Audubon)

Folks, my husband is addicted to birds. There is nothing else I can say about this. Our dining room has all windows, and it is a great place to see birds. He sits and eats with binoculars around this neck. (I am not making this part up at all.)

We have decided it is not the best place to try to have deep conversations. He is constantly glancing over my shoulder and standing up to look at something, and flipping through his birding book.

(Did you know there is a whole book on WARBLERS?) (JB actually said I bought him this book. I have no recollection of that. It was probably on his Amazon wish list.) (But seriously? One whole book on ONE TYPE of bird?!)

P.S. Abigail is already a birder, and I fear I am losing Sidge. 

(I'm trying to love them. Or at least appreciate them. I really am. I just don't have the same response to a bird.)

Military Moments (with Amanda): He Said, She Said

I am so excited about these weekly Blog post from Amanda -- our chaplain's wife when I lived in Turkey. These"Military Moments" posts allow her to discuss and share ideas and stories from military life. 

Want to know what couples go through when they are separated because of a deployment? The first answer is probably that none of them go through the same things, but the way they choose to stay connected and cope with being apart is something we can all use when we are far away from someone we love.

I asked the same series of questions to couples in different stages of deployments and with different situations they were leaving behind.  I’ll be sharing updates about them here with you. 

Here is how Rachel and Josh (not their real names) are staying connected:

SHE SAID…

Me: Can you give us a little family background and pre-deployment plans for connectivity with your husband?

Rachel: We are a very close knit family of four. Josh and I have been married for 19 years; our daughter is 15 and our son is 11.  My son plays travel hockey and my daughter travel volleyball. My husband and I always kept in touch during previous deployments by letter, email and our two telephone calls a month. Technology has definitely made keeping in touch a lot easier this time around. I opened email addresses for both of my children through Yahoo so that he could send them messages privately. We also all have a telephone so they are able to see their messages from him all day. We had decided that he would video chat with us at the same time each night, which is new for me, but he found a site, TANGO, that allows for this by using Wi-Fi. He gets up to get ready for work and calls us as the kids are getting done for the night and ready for bed. It has worked out wonderful considering the nine and a half hour time difference. We have also been able to dial him in at both of the kids sporting events as long as the building has Wi-Fi too.  It has really helped make them all feel like he is still here sometimes.

 

Me: What has been the hardest thing to adjust to?

Rachel: This is definitely not our first deployment but definitely the toughest. The kids are older and into many activities, which he has missed most of since leaving. I also homeschool my son, so the fact that my husband has been gone for most of the school year has been hard on me. There are not many instances for breaks until my daughter is home. And even after all our other deployments, this is the one that I absolutely miss him the most. We are so close to the end of his career that I worry more about him now than I ever did before.  

Me: Has anything in the house/car broken since he left? 

Rachel: I haven't had any technical problems with the house or car since I do make sure the keep most things up to date. Our home security system went crazy and I had to fight with Cox to get it fixed without having to pay for it. That is usually my bigger stressor -- taking care of all our finances and things that need to be taken care of with the house and kids. The only thing broken is me when I cannot be at both kids’ events at the same time. I hate having to send my older one with another family, but we've been so blessed with help from friends.

Me: Anything specifically working or not working to feel connected?  Technology issues or emotional issues?

Rachel: Our nightly video chats are what keeps us sane. Although I will say that when he doesn't call on time, I do worry about him. I have to remember that his Wi-Fi is not always working and that there are things happening over there that call him away. He usually tries his best to let me know when that happens. Email has been great too. I usually always have a message from him. Snail mail has been more of a problem this time. Things are taking so much longer this deployment than many others. And because he missed so many holidays this time, we do send him quite a few things.  He gets them but most times very late.  

Me: What Resources are you using to help cope?  Military resources or friends/family resources?

Rachel:  The base we are at does not have a lot of programs suited to families.  Our deployment manager has done his best at creating events each month, but because we are a joint base and the bases are quite a distance, we usually only attend the ones that are closest to us, 2 in the last 4 months.  I haven't made a lot of friends this time around either so the fact that I am super busy with the kids has helped make the time feel like it's gone by pretty quickly.  But that does not leave a lot of me time and there really is not much to do here.  We've definitely had much better assignments during other deployments.  I know you have to make it the best that you can, so we definitely do not sit around feeling sorry for ourselves.

Me: Any other Family members' adjustment problems or successes (specifically if you have children)?

Rachel:  My kids definitely miss their daddy, but they are both holding up well considering the circumstances. My daughter is a teen and sometimes she is harder to read. I know she misses him though. She does do her best to fill him in every night about things that have happened during her day. My son on the other hand wears his heart on his sleeve. He has done well with but will be the one to remind me that Dad is calling in seven minutes, or Dad must not be calling us since it's past 8:30. He asks questions about what Dad does all the time and has already began making plans on what he and my husband will be doing once he returns home. I am used to these separations, but it has been a lot harder on me this time around. I get scared when things happen that I know he is involved with. We've been together so long that I just want him to come home as this might be our last deployment time. But I have to get up every day and take care of the responsibilities here and my kids need me until their daddy comes home.

HE SAID . . .

Me: How long have you been there and how much time do you have left before returning home?

Josh: I have been gone for the last 131 days. I am expecting to be here around 60 more days.

Me: What has been the hardest thing to adjust to?

Josh: Missing out on family moments. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, school dances, volleyball games and practices, Hockey games and practices, homework, television on the couch, lunches and dinners.

Me: What is not hard?

Josh: This is my fifth deployment and probably my last so Renee and I have been through this
many times. Our daughter has been through one previous deployment, but our son is getting this for the first time. The hardest thing on this deployment was seeing him cry at the airport when I was leaving knowing that he was going to have to go through this.

Me: Do you feel connected to what is going on back home?

Josh: I feel connected to what my family is doing back home but local news or even national news I really have no clue. I do not spend a lot of time reading about it or watching the television. To be honest I work 12 to 14 hours a day and do an hour or so in the gym followed by a couple of hours of homework per night. I do have contact with my family every day to catch up on what has happened for the day. I have been able to watch a few hockey games and some volleyball games via internet which has been great.

Me:  What resources are you using to stay resilient?  Are those local military resources or friends/family or something else?

Josh:  Am I staying mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally resilient? Yes. We have had some very traumatic experiences on this rotation but the local family (Squadron) have pulled together to support each other. We have some very good fitness accommodations. Our chapel staff comes over at least once every week and is very easy to get in touch with.  Emotionally, I am fine as well. Just miss my family and am ready to head home and see them again.

Thank you both for your service to our country and for sharing with how you stay connected. I pray for a wonderful reunion for this family. Send someone my way if you think they'd like to talk to me about their deployment. I love hearing all the different ways people stay connected, and I'm sure they will help people in future deployments.

Opinions expressed in guest posts are not necessarily those of the station manager (i.e. Wendi!)

We Bought a Farm: Goat Cross Fit

We Bought a Farm: My Six Week Break

I LOVE MY LIFE. 

But my life makes me tired.

And I need breaks.

I have decided that getting out weekly with girlfriends is not always possible.

And a regular date night with my husband isn't either.

But every 6 to 8 weeks, I can get at least one day and hopefully one night off.

I have planned these with special people in my life.

Friendships that I am invested in and want to continue to nurture.

My friend Michelle has been my friend since we were five-years-old.

We were the maid/matron of honor in each other's wedding.

We are connected for life.

I love her.

She now lives just five hours from me.

(That's close in USA distance!)

So we met for a nice and a delightful Bed & Breakfast about 2.5 hours from both of us.

Here is a photo of us at a dinner for just grown-ups:

The only issue was that I had NO idea the country roads I would be traveling were so bad. It wasn't snowing by me. It wasn't snowing where I was going. But apparently it was snowing between here and there:

When I pulled into town, some guy stopped me and asked where I had been. I couldn't figure out why he asked that until I got out and saw the mess of my truck. (I was SO glad I had taken the truck!)

So thankful for my "Tier 1" people.

The women in my life who are in my intimate circle.

They are "my people."

I love them.

While I did get the flu right after this trip ...

It was a BLAST!

Friday Funnies

"Mom! Arabelle is eating the dog treats with no permission!"

*****

I decided to take a different way home so my friend Joia and our new WWOOFer, Leon, could see a new place. Hannah yelled: "Mom, you seriously are going the wrong way."

We Bought a Farm: You can't make up these kind of injuries

On Wednesday Isaac broke his left wrist -- just a few months after breaking his right. He was riding down a big hill on our farm with my friend Joia's son Keenan, and he fell.

(Did I tell you that Joia is in town visiting?! More on that in another post, but it is AWESOME!)

On Thursday Abigail fell walking up the stairs and cut her chin -- time for stitches ... again.

I'd like to say that this is the first time that JB has had to stitch up someone in our family. But that would be a big fat LIE. In addition to stitching himself, he has stitched up Isaac (two times), Abigail (two times), and Sidge (two times). I kid you not. This makes #7.

I have to be honest with you all because, well, that's one of the themes in my blogs ... keepin' it real. When Isaac broke his wrist, I was up taking a hike in the woods with Joia. When I came out and found out what happened, I had a really, really hard cry.

I am not sure if I have ever had a hard cry for completely selfless reasons. I was crying because I simply felt so badly for Isaac. The kid just simple can't get a break (ha ha!) I just feel that he has been through the wringer with illness and injuries over the last year. If you think it, please pray for him -- that he would have an extra set of guardian angels keeping him from cruddy accidents.

I was also sad because the kid just loves to play the piano, and I felt that he was not going to be able to play again.

But I shouldn't have worried too much. The break was incredibly slight, and in a place that does not require a cast. He is just in a brace, and should be fine by his recital on April 18. In fact, check it out, he let me record him as he practiced his recital song. He's doing just fine:

 

Go Grace!!

This is my goddaughter, Grace, in another music video. I am so proud of this young woman for all her hard work. I am also proud that she had her acting debut with me when she was just a tiny girl in our church's Christmas program. She stepped in when another older girl couldn't do the play, and STOLE the show. I think everyone knew at that moment we were watching something crazy happening. So fun!

P.S. Also here is another video that just went up of her in the show Sun Records:

Here are some other links for Grace:

Chris Young -- YOU
Justin Bieber -- One Less Lonely Girl
Grace Wilson -- IMDB
Justin Bieber video article
Runaway Romance trailer

We Bought a Farm: Let's Go Fly a Kite

This might me by my new favorite picture EVER. JB took this with his cameraphone and didn't retouch it at all. Abigail flying her first kite. Grama had bought these for us awhile ago, and we sort of forgot about them. But it was a windy day today, and while I was running an errand, JB got the kites out. I love how GREEN our world is getting. It is so amazing to see spring come to the farm. I JUST LOVE IT!

Below is a video. Hannah is her usual self here, trying to run the world, but you get to see some of our beauty and our kites: