Back to School

Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.
  Lamentations 3:23 NLT

I look forward to the start of each new school year.  A new year.  A fresh start.  A chance to do things better and the opportunity to continue to do the thing I love!  On the family calendar I have it in big letters with a smiley face.  Funny thing is that usually no one else seems to share my excitement!  Madeline even changed my happy face to a sad face last year!  Little stinker!  A typical year starts in July when it’s too hot to go outside anyway.  We get a few weeks under our belts and then take a week off before really settling into the year the first of August.  This year has been different.  We spent our summer travelling to spend time with Brad and our new church family in Rochester, Illinois.  No summer school or even an early start date.  So I have felt behind all this time, but we’re not really.  We’re just not where I’m used to being in our 180 days of school.

We actually started the week everyone else did here locally in Indiana.  It had to have been the best start we’ve ever had in our six years of home schooling!  This year, the kids were more than ready to start and were so happy to begin.  I think we all needed that stability of a routine once more.  I was so amazed at how it all came together. Many of my Facebook friends proudly posted first day of school pictures but for whatever reason I was afraid of jinxing the first week.  Sounds silly I know, but nonetheless, we just kept our noses to the grindstone and kept moving.   Now I have guilt and feel like a bad mom.  Shame on me!  So while I didn't necessarily do a "first day of school" photo...I did get some pictures during our first day/week of school.  I am a little late in sharing, but here they are with an update on each child.

Keyboarding class day one of school.  He learned later this lesson his book needed to be on the right side!

Neil started high school this year.  Many of you have asked if we are planning to home school through high school and yes, unless God directs us otherwise, that is the plan.  We enrolled Neil in the A Beka Academy program this year as independent study which means, he watches via internet streaming his classes from an accredited school and accredited teachers.   We had the DVD option, but I could just see us lose the DVDs or someone step on a DVD or the four year old launch the DVD down the stairs.  I just didn’t think that was a good option for us so internet streaming it was.  The independent study means I do the grading instead of sending it off for them to grade and it gives us a little more flexibility.   It’s been a good year.  I have transitioned from his teacher to his tutor.  It’s a role I really enjoy.   The middle of our first week of school he came up to me and wrapped his arms around me and said, “Thanks for being such a great teacher, mom, and getting me ready for high school!  I understand now why you had me do all those things you did.”  He gave me a big hug and a kiss and walked away.  It was awesome!  It’s something I will treasure for always.

Reading History lesson.  She is studying the Middle Ages this year.

Madeline is in sixth grade this year and she has had a fantastic year so far.  Some of her SID issues can be a challenge for us in school, but so far…she is having a great year.  Math is still not her favorite subject, but we do still try to sweeten things up with a treat at that time.  This year she’s switched from M & M’s to Skittles and Starburst.  She thoroughly enjoys Science and Literature and you can almost always find her in a quiet corner reading, reading, reading or learning facts about animals. Our library trips are a highlight of the week for her.

My precious little first grader!

Sarah is our first grader and she is probably my most challenging student so far.  She has been reading for well over two years.  It’s nothing I’ve done and it’s not that she is gifted.  She just figured it out on her own.  She loves Magic Tree House books and any chapter book.  She reads everything out loud all the time.  It drives Madeline crazy (remember…she likes quiet so this causes some tension in the Ferris household) but I find it amusing to hear her say new words and decode them on her own.  At night now instead of me reading to her, we partner read.  I hope she always loves books so.

Sam working on his Scissor Skills paper at his desk!  He felt so grown up!

Samuel officially started preschool this year.  He is the one that cries when school is over or when he realizes it is Saturday and there is no school.  I’m enjoying this for as long as it lasts.  He loves to have that one on one time with just me and to do his work at his own desk.  His favorite thing is dressing weather bear during our calendar time.

This year we pulled out of our co-op and we miss our friends so much but with our current living arrangements we need to be available when Brad comes to Newburgh to visit and to have the flexibility to be able to leave and visit him when the opportunity arises.  We have been able to make some early connections in Illinois with some homeschooling families and look forward to meeting new people and making new friends once we can get settled there together.

It’s hard to believe a month has passed by already!  It’s been a great start.  Thank you, God for such a wonderful beginning to our school year!  Thank you for the structure of a routine!  Thank you for healthy minds and bodies!  Thank you for your faithfulness!  Thank you for your mercies new each morning!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

The sunrise Sunday, August 19th.  Beautiful reminder to me of God's faithfulness after our first week of school.

 

 

Ferris Funnies, Volume 1

SMILE!

Laughter is the best medicine or so they say.  Maybe that is why I prefer a good comedy over an action or drama movie.  Our family enjoys Christian comedians Tim Hawkins, Jeff Allen, John Branyan, and Bob Smiley.  I love Chonda  Pierce, too.  The family favorite however, hands down, is Tim Hawkins.  The children can quote him word for word and are known at the dinner table especially to break out in their favorite Tim Hawkins comedy routine or one of his infamous songs.  Many times we can’t even understand them because they are already laughing too hard and while the rest of us may not understand any of it, we all join in the laughter because their laughter is contagious.  We love to laugh here at the Ferris household.  Frequently though we are the cause of these outbursts.  I thought I’d share a few today to make you smile.

Several of these occurrences have taken place after picking the children up from their classes at church or at church functions.  Sunday at lunch we ask our children what they learned that day.  When asking Madeline when she was little, she very seriously begins to tell me about how baby Jesus was floating down the river in a basket.   My favorite Samuel retelling was when he told us all about the apostle Peter Pan.  At the close of VBS a few years ago, Sarah got up to pray for the closing.  I was running behind that night and when I turned the corner to head for the big room several people stopped me with great big smiles on their faces and asked if I heard Sarah do the closing prayer that night.  No.   Missed it I hate to say.  However, I won’t forget it.  Was one of those, OH NO…she didn’t moments when I found out what she did.  “Dear God, Thank you for this day.  Help us go to Sea World and Disney World.  Amen.”  No thank you for my parents or Jesus.   No I love my mom and dad.  No eloquent prayers for the missionary like the others did.  Nope.  Sea World.  Disney World.   Ahhhh, yes, the preacher’s kid prayed the most secular prayer of the week!

Where is Sam's hat?

The Sunday Brad’s resignation was announced at FCCN, the children and I came home and I put the for sale sign in the yard and sat Sarah and Samuel down upstairs to tell them we were selling our house.  We waited purposefully so they wouldn’t “spill the beans”.  I explained that Daddy had a new job and was going to be teaching the big people about Jesus.  He was going to do this at the church we visited where Grandpa and Grandma Ferris were a few weeks ago.  They seemed great with it until I said we were going to have to sell our house so we could move closer to that new church.  Their faces grew serious.  Sarah asks, “Can we take all our electronics (meaning her leap pad)?”  I assured her when that time came we would pack all our belongings up in boxes and take them with us.  Samuel was very quiet up to this point and then he says, “Can we take Sarah?”  Yep…Sarah, too! J

Our zoo at the zoo!

For one of Brad’s visits to Newburgh, the girls both baked him special treats as a surprise.  We tried to make a big deal about it and it was supposed to be this big secret.  Samuel was aware of all of this and did a great job of not “spilling the beans” as we say around the house.  Sarah was talking to Brad about her surprise and Sam gets very animated and a little upset and says, “Sarah, don’t!  The beans will fall!”

The latest funny was from Neil.  He’s doesn’t provide as many of these comic relief moments as he used to.  I think that comes with maturity.  He has a favorite song on the radio that has a country twang to it.  While we were driving back home from Evansville a few weeks ago, his song came on the radio and he says something about liking its tangy sound.  TANGY?  That’s a sharp sour taste not a sound!  Once he realized what he did he joined me in laughing so that’s been the joke around here…the tangy song!

Monkeying around at the zoo!

I’ll leave you with a Tim Hawkins comedy skit on girls vs. boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO-QXw4PJ6g and another with Tim Hawkins, Bob Smiley, and John Branyan on teenagers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyOSRTxglA .  The last link is the original Chick fil A song he did that had us hooked!  Hope it brings some laughter to you today!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo

Flip. Flop.

If you look closely you will see the infamous flip flop and the fishing line!

Nothing is ever dull here at the Ferris house.  This week was no different.  Monday was a horrible, awful, terrible, I’m-so-glad-it’s-over kind of a day.  More of the same frustrations we’ve had ever since we decided to follow God’s call to Rochester….things breaking and puppies eating things they shouldn’t.   It was also a week where Brad got to come back to stay with us a few days.  So while it started out icky, it’s really been a good week.  On Wednesday evening,   Neil came in from the outdoors to announce to us that his flip flop was on the roof.   So we ask him the obvious question, “How did your flip flop get up on the roof?”  Simple answer, “I was trying to flip it off my foot into the garage.”  Oh the things teenagers will do for fun.

Brad and I both were thinking Neil meant his flip flop was on the little overhang above the front porch.  Brad instructs Neil to take his fishing rod and “hook” his shoe and pull it down.  So after supper Neil, thinking this was a great idea, returns outdoors to hook his flip flop.  Several minutes go by and Neil returns very upset at this point.  Not only is his flip flop now on the roof, but his fishing lure is stuck as well.  It was at this point I decide maybe I should go out and assess the situation.   Once outside I realize that Neil’s flip flop is actually on the top of our two story house and his fishing lure is now stuck tight, too.  Not really knowing what to do at this point, I ask him what in the world possessed him to do this foolish thing.  He really couldn’t give me any logical reason why.  Just got that sheepish, boyish grin all males have when they are in a situation as this one.

Neil was in the driveway by the sidewalk.  The garage was his target.  Can you see the flip flop on the roof above the set of windows on the left?

So we got Brad and for the next half hour Brad, Neil and I provided passersby and our neighbors with free entertainment.  I don’t think any of the America’s Got Talent acts could have outdone us.  Howard, Sharon, and Howie wouldn’t have buzzed us with our exciting and dangerous feat and America most definitely would have voted us on through to the semi-finals!  Neil tried flipping the lure loose.  When that didn’t work, Brad and I took the screen out of the second story window just under the location of the stuck fishing lure.  Using another six foot fishing pole, we hung out of the window by our waists trying to reach up towards the roof and snag Neil’s fishing line and flip it up and off.  Thankfully no one driving by was injured in the process of gawking at us, but several cars went by very, very slowly.  Thankfully Brad or I didn’t fall out of the window.  Finally realizing that we lacked the resources, we gave up and cut the line.  So now there is not only a flip flop on the roof, but a fishing bait as well.

The window Brad and I were handing out of.  Oh so close but oh so very far away!

This has been a tough lesson for our teenager as these were his favorite shoes.  However, the more I think about this little event, there’s a lesson/reminder for all of us.  We’re all like Neil, aren’t we?  We all do things periodically that at the time seem like a harmless, fun, great idea – FLIPing our shoe into the garage.  In the end however, we –FLOP and end up on the roof.  A, if I knew then what I know now, moment.  Just another great reminder that we cannot be wise in our own eyes and need to be grounded and rooted in God’s word to gain the wisdom and discernment for life’s decisions.  We need to prayerfully consider our choices first before we “Flip our shoe” into the garage.  Only with Godly wisdom can we ensure we won’t FLOP on the roof or worse. 

As I said earlier, nothing is ever dull here.  God uses these daily adventures to illustrate important truths and lessons to me and my family.  I share this particular one to encourage you in your personal relationship with God.  May the flip flop on our roof be a visual reminder for you of our need for Scripture.  We need Scripture to guide our thoughts, because our thoughts or lack of them determine our actions.  I encourage you to read your Bible daily, spend some time in prayer with God, and some time in worship to God.   It is only through this special time that we gain the wisdom we need to make better choices; choices that honor God.  Proverbs 3:13-26; 4:4-13 are scriptures that talk about gaining Godly wisdom.  There are many more in the book of Proverbs and the rest of Scripture.  If you have a favorite one that has been an encouragement to you and your family, please feel free to share them with me.  While this is the first flip flop on the roof, I have a feeling it won’t be the last!

Great little inspirational thought I found on Pinterest this week.  I found it appropriate.

Whose shoes? My shoes.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?  Do you know?  Can you even begin to count them?  I have to confess that I am not a collector of shoes.  I have exactly nine pair of shoes which is the most shoes I’ve had in many, many years.   Usually, I have only four pair of shoes – tennis shoes, sandals, white church shoes and black church shoes.  There are an endless number of types of shoes:  shoes for running, walking, dancing, soccer, baseball, bowling, ballet, golf, and basketball.  There are clogs, water shoes, flip flops, boots, pumps, flats, heels, slippers, boots, moccasins, Mary Janes, Oxfords, penny loafers, rain boots, etc…   There are shoes that match any color outfit of the rainbow.  Shoes can slip on, tie on, Velcro on, strap on, or buckle.  There are shoes that light up, shoes with bedazzles, and even platform shoes to make you taller.  I love the itty bitty shoes you can find for infants.  They are just plain adorable.

Even young children love shoes.  They love to slide their little feet inside their older siblings’ or parents’ shoes and take a walk.  They stagger forward as they struggle to lift those heavy shoes, toddling on the verge of collapsing and even at times wiping out.  It’s hilarious to see our children trying to fill these huge shoes with their little feet; we laugh at the absurdity of them trying to walk in gigantic shoes.  Somewhere I think I have pictures of each of our children at a young age trying to walk in Brad’s bulky tennis shoes.  It reminds me of the saying, “You have big shoes to fill”.  It is an idiom that means someone has to meet high expectations about something/someone that came before.  It can be meant as a compliment or forewarning depending on its context.

The truth of the matter is, as God’s children we are not called to fill someone else’s shoes.  He calls us to walk in our own shoes and follow Jesus.  God has created each of us with unique spiritual gifts, skills, abilities, personalities, and experiences that make us who we are.  The only person we are to imitate or even to try to follow after is His son, Jesus.  It is not hilarious for us to try and slip our feet into someone else’s shoes; it’s absurd.  We toddle on the verge of collapsing and struggle to even lift these bulky shoes, and sometimes we wipe out.  It’s not funny; it’s frustrating.

1 Samuel 17 gives the account of David and Goliath.  David is just a shepherd boy and his father sends him to check up on his older brothers who are serving in King Saul’s army.  While there, he hears Goliath’s challenge and begins asking questions.  David's older brother get upset with him and rebukes him.  Eventually King Saul hears about David and summons him.  David accepts the challenge to defend God and Israel, but King Saul is skeptical that this young man can succeed.  He couldn’t see how David could defeat the giant when his mighty warriors wouldn’t even attempt to fight Goliath.  King Saul has David try on his own armor -- a bronze helmet and a coat of armor.  David puts on the armor and tries it out.  He basically tries to walk in King Saul’s shoes and do it his way, but after a few steps David realizes it is too cumbersome.  He tells the king he can’t use his armor because he is not used to them; he can’t fill King Saul’s shoes because they are too big and bulky.

This is the part I love….David takes off the armor and starts to walk in his own shoes.  He was comfortable with who he was and how God had made him.  He knew he couldn’t be like King Saul, he had to be himself.  So he collects five smooth stones from a stream and then with the power of God, his sling, and stones, David, the shepherd boy, defeats the giant!   Israel had warriors with armor and weapons and skill and experience and this little shepherd boy did what they could not.  Not because he tried to be like them or fill their shoes, but because was himself.  David trusted in God and used his gifts and abilities and past experiences to defeat Goliath.

I challenge you today to walk in your own God given and shaped shoes.  Stop trying to fill someone else’s shoes.  That is not what God intended.  He has a plan for your life (Jeremiah 29:11) and wants to use you to build His kingdom.  He’s created you with a specific purpose, a purpose different than everyone else.  He’s shaped you to fulfill that purpose and has given you what you need to succeed.  It may not be a great voice like your friend in the choir, but he’s given you something and no matter how big or small it is, we are responsible to be obedient and use it while we follow God’s plan for our lives.  At the end of time, God’s opinion is the only one that matters.  We’ll be accountable to Him for our walk.  So if anyone ever tells you that you have big shoes to fill, smile politely and gently remind them that you are not called to fill someone else’s shoes.  God has called you to walk in your own.  I think you’ll find that your own shoes fit and feel better anyway. 

Samuel's Special Day

Spectacular Spiderman Cake!

Today is Samuel's special day. Samuel is now four years old! We celebrated last night with Spiderman Cake and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream while Brad was back in town, a gift in itself! Sam was pleased to wear his new St. Louis Cardinal t-shirt with his favorite player’s number, #23 – David Freese, while playing catch with his new baseball glove and wiffle balls.  Spiderman PJs and a Lightening McQueen shirt rounded off the night.  He was so happy!  Oh...to be four again, you know?!  It was a great night.

Each child has a unique story. Sam is no different. All our children are miracles, but Sam is even more so to me. We knew we wanted another little blessing from God and had it all planned out. Our other three pregnancies were aided with some low dosage fertility medication. All three very planned out. Baby #4 would be no different. We were in control, right? Our niece was going to be born early December and we wanted to wait so she could just be the center of our family’s affections. We wanted to get through the school year and into the summer so if I had any complications the first trimester as in previous pregnancies then it would be during our summer break. I had an appointment all set up in January to discuss our plan with our Dr. and so we went through the holidays enjoying the time with our families and meeting our new niece. We were praying about our family and adding a special baby but in the context of our plan for our family.

Right before Christmas I just didn’t feel right and even told Brad I thought I was pregnant. He laughed me out of town!!  There was no way that could happen to us he told me.  Well, a few days later I took a test and guess what?  We were expecting.  We were amazed at what God had done for us with no help from anyone but God!  He loves to give good gifts to his children.  What a Christmas present that year! We were reminded again of who is in control and once again....it wasn't us. So the first of January instead of talking to the Dr. about a plan for another baby, I went for blood work and our prenatal care visits started. 


I remember singing in the Christmas program early in December that year wearing a black maternity top since it was the only black top I had and the dress code was all black. How funny to think back that I was wearing a maternity top but was unaware I was expecting! God has humor I’m telling you.

His eyes say it all!

Samuel's name has special meaning and kind of tells his story.  Samuel comes from the Old Testament account of Hannah and her desire for a child.  I love this story and can relate to her deep yearning to be a mama.  I can imagine the urgency and deep desire flooding through her fervent prayers to God as she prayed for a child. When we first decided we were ready to have a family, we prayed for a child and it was several years before we realized we had to have fertility medication and were able to have Neil. Each of our pregnancies was a higher risk due to various complications and usually it required some bed rest along the way. We prayed a lot before, during, and even now for each child.  Hannah's story was one I could relate to and I love how the Bible has special meaning for the names given a child.  God heard Hannah's prayers and gave her a son, Samuel.  Samuel means, God heard. God heard our prayers for a child just as He did Hannah's prayers, and in His own special way, He blessed us with our Samuel in His timing and in His plan for our family. I have to admit, it was much better than our ol' plan anyway! The Isaac part came from the story of Abraham and Sarah when God told them they were going to have a baby. Sarah laughed…just like Brad did when I first told him I thought we were expecting. So we put those names together and waited for our Samuel Isaac to arrive.

Samuel Isaac Ferris
August 11, 2008

Fast forward to present time....Samuel is such a blessing! He brings a lot of laughter to our home! At dinner last night he was pumped up about presents and was so excited he couldn't get the words out when he talked.  He looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm ready to eat my presents now!"  He stopped just a second and we all started howling.  He takes his little hand and lightly bonks his forehead and says, "No, I mean I'm ready to OPEN my presents now!"  I'm telling you all that life without him would be dull.    These last four years have been a gift. I look forward to many more birthdays with our little guy!  Celebrating Samuel's special day today with gratefulness for God's gift to our family!

A Detour and a Broken Ear

In a previous blog I shared the Ferris Family was dealing with frustrations.   The last few months have been filled with a steady flow of things breaking or needing repair.  Nothing really bad, but the steady stream has caused us to become weary.  My “favorite” cluster of such occurrences happened during the second lengthy trip to Illinois.  While I couldn’t even begin to smile about it then, I can chuckle about it now.  It all started with a detour and ended with a broken ear.

We were dealing with the van air conditioner not working correctly at this point so we left Newburgh early one Saturday morning to try and beat the 100+ degree heat forcasted for that day.  Things were going well and we made good time.  In Mount Vernon, Illinois there is a stretch of construction and as I was going through it Brad called to check on us.  At this moment I stopped watching the green signs and started watching the GPS.  Long story short….we went 40 miles round trip off course and I arrived an hour later than originally planned. 

We settled into a family’s home that night who had invited us to stay there while they were on vacation.  In the morning we are up getting ready for church and Neil informs me he had a bloody nose in the middle of the night and now we had sheets to deal with.  On our way out the door to load up for breakfast before church Madeline gets caught in this purple princess canopy and hook and all come flying out of the ceiling.  We head to Mello Cream Donuts, the Donut Bank of Springfield.  I have the children get seated and order our breakfast only to hear a huge commotion behind me.  I turn to see Neil holding the centerpiece of the table high over his head and the other three lunging quite loudly trying to get it away from him.  I had to leave the counter to hiss at them through clenched teeth to put it down, sit down, and be quiet.  It was at this point I could have sold them all to the gypsies.

After breakfast we make one last bathroom break before going to Rochester Christian for worship.  The zipper on Sarah’s only church outfit broke.  Sarah is our tomboy and so imagine with me if you will this little one doing her best to hold her skirt together so her pink panties didn’t flash the world.  We leave there and go to Wal-mart where again she had to hold it together so we could buy her a new church outfit.  Finally with a dress in hand we make it to RCC’s bathroom and got her decent.   With everyone in their places, I finally made it to a chair in the Great Room for worship and still had three minutes on the countdown.  For those of you who know me well, please don’t pass out at this point because, yes, I was on time even after all that!!!   I was on time and I was exhausted.  I don’t remember much about the service I hate to say but we made it.

The last few days of our trip, after dealing with a broken CPAP machine, Samuel comes to me and says, “Mom, my ear is broken!”  WHAT?!  He was having an allergic reaction to some mosquito bites he had gotten the night before.  They were blistering and the bite on his ear caused it to swell to twice its normal size.  So off we went to the Dr. and after some medications, all is healed and the ear is its normal size.

Flashback with me now 12 ½ years ago to when Brad and I moved to Newburgh in October of 1999.  I remember those first few weeks as being just as frustrating.  Our first weekend at FCCN, I ran a 102 fever.  Our rental house in Chandler had mice sneaking in where the dryer vent was.  Chandlers 1-3 are now in that great cheese wheel in the sky but they did create some good memories.  Neil fell off our bed and hit his head on the handle of my dresser removing a small chunk of scalp.  Brad crunched the fender of the Lumina.  Then the utility man came to shut off the power at the rental house.  So there I was in a strange place with a two year old and no power.  I remember calling the church office for Brad but he wasn’t there.  Donna Rhoades, the office administrator at that time, answered the phone.  I can’t remember the exact wording but I expressed to her that I wish I still had boxes because I wanted to pack up and go home to Olathe.   Later that day, there was a knock at the door and there stood Cindy Claypool with this little pitiful plant with a sad little ribbon tied around it.  Honestly, it was the most beautiful sight I’d seen and a friendship was born that day and with it came hope and a change in my attitude. 

I knew this journey wouldn’t be easy, but I can tell you truthfully, I didn’t know it would be so difficult.  The bottom line though hasn’t changed.  The Ferris family had two choices many months ago.  Are we going to be comfortable or are we going to be obedient to Christ?  We decided we were going to follow Christ and that hasn’t changed today.  So I have to stay focused on that.  I remind myself how grateful I should be that my husband has a job when so many others don’t. I remind myself how grateful I should be that I and my family have their health as a good friend of ours is battling for her life in a second bone marrow transplant for leukemia.  I remind myself how grateful I should be because I am God’s child and he loves me and even though I can’t see Him, He is working right now for our good to give us a hope and a future.

On the way home from that crazy Springfield trip, Neil shared a new CD he purchased from his Big Stuff trip with the RCC youth group to Panama City, Florida.  It was my "knock at the door" experience from 12 1/2 years prior.  One of the songs was full of praise and adoration for God and who He is.  It talked about how His grace is always enough.  It drove Neil crazy, but I bet I replayed that song three times.  I claimed it that day and when I start to feel frustration and pressure inside, I listen to it.  It is a tool God has given me to help me refocus on who He is and on His power and it gives me hope and helps to change my attitude.  It reminds me that even with detours and broken ears, He is in control and that is enough. 

Here is a link to the song, No One Higher from the album No One Higher by North Point InsideOut.  I you enjoy it as much as I have and that it helps you to refocus this day!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFCBhTe-WYg

Bike Camp Graduation Day

WOW!!!  What a week here at the Ferris household!  Madeline graduated this afternoon from the Lose the Training Wheel Bike Camp hosted by the Evansville Easter Seals.  What an incredible, amazing, wonderful, fantastic program!!!  I highly recommend this camp to anyone.  We are amazed at what has happened.   Today marks a big milestone for Madeline.

We are so very proud of Maddie Grace!  Now she has a skill she can use throughout her life.  I’m not sure if she will be able to drive a car someday, but she can ride her bike and that gives her a mode of transportation and independence.  The confidence she has gained is priceless.  This is a very big accomplishment for her.

Day #4, Thursday:  Learning to stop with coaster brakes.

Day #4, Thursday:  Learning to self start.

Graduation Day:  Riding solo!

1:30 p.m. Session Graduating Class with their bike spotters!

This afternoon she received a certificate and there was a cookie and juice reception afterwards for all campers and their families.  It was really a great way to celebrate.  As promised, we took her to Sonic afterwards for a LARGE (32 oz.) Batter, Batter Blast.   She knew she couldn't eat it all, but there was just something about being able to get a Large....she earned it!  The rest is in the freezer for later!  To top it all off, Brad and Madeline's OT, Ginger Whitler, were there to watch, cheer, and celebrate with us!  It was a great, great day!   

LTTW Camp Coordinators

Madeline and Ms. Ginger

Madeline and her Bike Camp Spotter, Ariel

Madeline has inspired me to want to ride a bike again.  I think maybe I need to go bike shopping so we can ride together and have some mother-daughter bonding!  We've heard there is a great walking/bike path connecting Rochester, Illinois to Springfield, Illinois.  I have hopes of next spring taking a family bike ride.  That of course depends upon the house selling.  Until then though, we will be practicing and focus on Madeline's accomplishment!  Celebrating today!