I'm an Unschooling mom in Las Vegas, NV. I have all boys! A 14 yr old, a 6 yr old, a 1 yr old and 2 teenage stepsons.
4 of the 5 have some special need or another, and the 5th would be termed "gifted" if he was in school. They all have their own interests and abilities.
Join me as I blog about our Christ-led learning approach..things that work, things that don't, and the antics of family life!
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Little Lovely has decided he needs a Blankie when he's tired. Sometimes he drags it around with him. It's too cute! It's actually one of my living room lap quilts....he goes up to the recliner and drags it down when he's tired....it's so so so cute! Binkie and blankie....sure signs it's nap time! (Jene, sometimes it's your blankie! )
Yes, I've finally uploads some of the millions of photos I've taken.....here we are at a field trip to Tandy Leather Factory. It was pretty cool. The store smelled wonderful!! They showed us all sorts of different hides, and belts, and accessories. Then the children each got to pound their own designs into a piece of leather. Finally, they each made a magic wallet, also pounded with whatever they chose. It was very unique!
Here's Elias spraying the leather with water to slightly dampen it before creating his masterpiece.
Well, Brian would deem this is a very appropriate picture..not of his face!
Amazingly, this was our first time doing this fieldtrip. It was a good experience. Always on the lookout for neat things.
My oldest son is into photography. He has been for awhile now. Last year he tried an Alternative Photography co-op class. While he liked the teacher, the class was more artsy-fartsy, doing altered books etc. He just wanted to take pictures and learn how to take better ones and "cooler" ones.
This year, the same teacher offered a Photo Club..and it's way more his speed!
This kid of mine....he's incredible. He gets "into" things with a passion. He started off with a cheap $10 manual film camera from Ebay. Then he got a Lomo Supersampler, then he got the monster wazoo SLR, Canon EOS A2 (which takes film) and he's been saving for a digital SLR.
With his birthday and Christmas both coming up, he's been asking for just money. Today Amazon had a great sale on the camera he wanted and he bought the Canon EOS 40D. He can't wait till it gets here. He's so cute. He runs around with these different cameras for different things.
But, more than just picture taking, he's into lomography and lo-fi techniques (or as I say "weird techiniques"). He buys all sorts of expired film, does cross processing, red scale film and more that I don't even know about!
Here is a sample of some of his recent photos:
Red Scale
Look at Little Lovely!! It's very 70's looking, but I love it!
From the Lomo. I thought it was upside down, but I stand corrected, he's "just looking up"!
I know nothing about photography, so I am amazed by it all!
Since Sebastian was born I have been teaching him the sign language signs for Daddy and Mommy. In the last 6 months we've really beefed up doing some various signs, as he has a speech delay. He got "Daddy" right away. He'd also say something that started with a "D" and do the sign for Daddy, over and over and over and over.
For months now, he's been able to sign Daddy, and we know he does it with intent. He does it when someone says Daddy on TV, or if we call Daddy, or when Daddy walks in the room. He does it very well. But no Mommy.
It's gotten to the point where I think he doesn't say Mommy out of being stubborn!!! I've waited patiently. I've watched Baby Einstein's Baby's First Signs with him more times than I can count. I've watched him sign and say Daddy at least 5 x a day! Where's my "Mommy"?!?!?!
Finally, last night, I did my normal routine of doing the sign myself, and saying Mommy. He moved his hand to his mouth and said MAMA. Was it a fluke? Did he mean it?! He did it again, with the perfect sign and MAMA!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course, noone was around.
This morning we wake up and my husband says to him, Say Mama. Of course, he's laughing, because he doesn't think Sebastian will do it. Lo and behold, hand comes to the chin and he says MAMA.
I am soooooooo happyyyyyyyyyy. I love this little munchkin sooooo much! I've waited 2 years to hear MAMA. I couldn't be more excited!
Note: I did try to take a picture of him doing it, but he's at the stage where HE wants the camera and isn't letting me get good shots unless he doesn't know. It made for a pretty ugly fit! Sorry!
OK, I know we all feel this way, but it's true! I am the luckiest mom and the luckiest wife in the world!!!
I have gorgeous boys, all so different, all so special, all so able to bring a smile to me.
While not one of them is perfect (teenage attitude, 2 yr old tantrums, 7 yr old stubborness) they are mine and I KNOW I am blessed.
(Note to readers, while I am writing this one is calling for "help" wiping and one is off grunting in the corner...yet I still am overwhelmed with love!!)
I am also the luckiest wife. Today is my birthday and my husband, Mr Unsentimental, found an incredible card for me, describing our marriage, as it is today. I am very grateful for the words expressed in that card, and in our marriage.
Finally! Man, I wish I could post every day! I have so much to say, so many cool things we're doing, but just not enough time to upload photos, and sit down and write it out. When baby's awake he's forever hitting SLEEP on my keyboard, and when I try to wait till he goes to bed, I'm too tired!!!
So, the main purpose of our trip to FL was my husband's participation in The Fl Ironman 2008. It is held annually in Panama City Beach. While Chris has always been a runner, biking came later in life...and swimming, truthfully was on the backburner. He did his first Ironman in 2005. That was also his first triathlon, and also his first race, since we've been married! Talk about jumping into something!
That year at Panama City he looked like he had died, afterward. He probably wished he had. Gray doesn't look very good as a skin color! But. he finished the race, just over 14 hours. Yes, 14 HOURS, you swim, then bike ride, then run, consecutively, till you are done with the course. There are cut offs..he was 3 hrs under the final cut off, so by far not the first, but also not the last!
He skipped 2006, but signed back up for the same Ironman FL race for 2007. That race went really well! He shaved more than 3 hrs off his time! He signed up for the 2008 race the next day.
The 2008 race should have gone better than it did, but 10 weeks out Chris got a leg injury. Luckily he found this great Dr. (Thanks Dr. Nick!!) and he really worked with him to get through it. Happily, Chris was recovered enough to participate!
So....we start race morning off early. Chris woke up way before us, getting his transition bags ready and to their checkpoints, and just being all -around nervous. Then he woke me up...come hell or high water I need breakfast! So I ate quick and dressed warm! As a point of reference...we were plenty nervous, not just about the sheer length of the race, but because for 2 consecutive years someone has died on this very course, in the swim part. What's Chris' weakest part? Yup, the swim. Of course, neither one of us is speaking about this, but we're both thinking it.
Oh, this picture....I couldn't determine where it should go, so here it is...This is from the day before the race, Elias was running up the "swim chute". You're supposed to run FROM the water UP the chute towards the bikes, he's going the wrong way. Oh well, he was "pretending to be an Ironman". He was so thrilled and so looking forward to this race. He loves finishing the race with Daddy..it's "their thing".
So, here's Chris in his wetsuit and goggles. No, he's not Chinese, everyone looks Chinese cause those goggles stick on tight and pull all the air away!
At 7am the Announcer sends this giant pack of crazy insane people into the water. Like about 3,000 people! All fighting to get in first. I couldnt get a good shot, you need to see the arial shots that pros take....it's pack mentality. Chris says it's like being thrown into a washing machine. One of his buddies got a busted nose. Someone in front of Chris kicked Chris' wrist and stopped his stopwatch (a big UHOH for racers!!) People literally get seasick swimming because of all the swimmers churning the water. Here's a bunch of them out there.
So the idea for the swim is, it's a total 2.4 mile swim...you go out for a 1ish mile swim, come back to shore, cross the timing mat, walk/slosh/run through the water towards the deeper water where you can restart swimming your 2nd loop. That's what these folks below are doing. These are random people..not Chris. They all look alike at this point!'
After they finish the swim part, they run up that chute, there's an area with volunteers who help yank their wet suits off, then they go up to the transition tent to change into their biking gear. They retrieve their bikes and off they go for a 112 mile bike ride. Chris finished his swim in 1h 30 minutes. He expected his bike to take about 5 hrs 15 min. (It took 5:24)
What do me and the kids do while he's racing? Well, they slept in this time for the swim part..it's brutally cold and early! I went up after he got on the bike, and we went out to the beach for awhile, then came back and ate lunch, then went down to wait for Chris to come in off the bike. Here're the cuties waiting for a glimpse of Daddy. We all were wearing our "Ironman shirts".
We caught sight of him after he exited the transition tent (from bike to run). Here he is, after a 5 + hr bike ride, on his way to a 26.2 mile run
We let the baby nap for a bit, then ran down to meet him at the 1/2 way mark of the run. Conveniently it's right in front of our hotel! Here he is during the run. He had a pretty rough 2nd half. He was hurting.
Then we ate dinner quick and went back out to the finish line. Total run time was 4 hrs 36 minutes. He made it! He did it slightly over what he had hoped for, but still beating his own Personal Record. Elias ran the finish line with him..what a great moment!! 11 Hours, 42 Minutes!!!
Here's his attempt at smiling, through the pain. His first year this picture is HILARIOUS, because he was so not with it. This is at least a decent attempt at a smile!
And here he is, walking to the Medical Tent. He needed some salt and some rest. After a few bowls of chicken broth he was ready to get moving.
And this year, he signed up for next year, the day BEFORE the race. Can you say CUCKOO CUCKOO?!?!?!
While I don't always willingly give him the time he needs to practice, over the years we have come to a great understanding that if he uses his time wisely I will b*%^$ less. Give us equal time to training and it won't be a problem. Over the past year he's done GREAT spreading himself around.
I'm so proud of my husband. His sheer will and determination won't let him quit. He's made up his mind on several things in the last couple of years and there is nothing that will stop him once he's decided. While choosing to do an Ironman is slightly nuts, other life changes he's made and stuck to, are fabulous. Way to go Chris! Looking forward to 2009!
As an unschooling family, I feel strongly that I need to show my kids all sorts of experiences/places/things to see what might create a lasting (or fleeting) interest. Whenever we go out of town we look online for neat things to do/see. We look for anything and everything cool, from touristy stuff to historical stuff to off-the-beaten path stuff.
Since we had been to this destination before (Panama City Beach, FL) we had an idea of what was available close by. 3 years ago we did a full day consisting of an air boat tour, and a bi plane (sea plane) tour. 3 years ago Elias was 4! He loved it then, but didn't really remember it now.
So, we decided that's what we'd do this time. We also had our teen friend with us, and we wanted her to experience some neat sights also...these fit the bill!
We headed out for the "Wild Thang" tour. Here's the air boat we rode.
Here's Elias with his headphones on. It was kinda loud.
This is the type of beautiful scenery we saw. We started off in fresh water and ended up in salt water (with brackish in between). The little hidden "alleys" and coves made it an exciting trip. The tour guides gave us all sorts of educational information.
Even though it was starting to get cool, we still got to see an alligator. The guides told us that alligators are cold-blooded and over the winter they don't hibernate, but they go dormant. Everything slows down in their bodies and they just rest. This little guy sure wasn't moving very fast! He just watched us approach, stayed still for a bit and then took off.
He's slowly swimming to the other side. It's amazing how camouflaged they are both in and out of the water. I am always struck anew at God's foresight for all creatures.
After we finished that tour, we took an airplane tour. This wasn't JUST an airplane, it's a Seaplane ! That means we took off and also landed, in water! This was a 4 person little plane. Let me tell you, the things we do for our kids! I used to love to fly in small planes. I dreamed of getting my pilot's license. Now...um...not so much.
Here's the shadow of the plane on the water we just took off from! This tour took us over the marshes and bay we had just toured in the air boat....down across to the bay where we buzzed our condo! It was definitely cool!
So...look around for local places when you visit out of town....there's always likely to be something educational and maybe even once-in-a-lifetime!
Here are some of the "highly anticipated" vacation pics! I am separating them into various posts by topic....one, because it takes awhile to upload all these pics, and two, because then I can recall them by topics (ie, Halloween, beach, Ironman race, etc)
So...that being said....below you will find some beach pictures! We are very blessed to get a wonderful condo right on the beach. This time of year tourists are mostly gone and we have the beach to ourselves! What a treat! The first few days were very windy and chilly...didn't hold the kids back though! The end of the week was picture perfect.
We hit the beach 1-2 times a day..being that it was a quick elevator ride down and direct access, it made it easy to go up and eat lunch, etc.
I have this exact shot year after year with an increasingly bigger Elias. I love how he contemplates the water!
This is the way Elias spent much of his time on the beach this year...buried. Now, we don't do the bury in the ground, we do bury above ground, always with head out for safety reasons. He loved this position so much, we made him a headrest and he sat there for an hour or so each day! He's got a super brown little face now!
Yup, he likes it there! See that smile?
We brought along a teenage friend to help us with the kids during the various aspects of the race. Here she is being a mermaid! She was a wonderful help and is such a kind spirit...we enjoyed her a lot this week!
Playing in the water.....
This is one of two shots I got of Little Lovely at the beach. Why? Because he HATED it. Not dislike, but flat out screaming, wouldn't let me put him down HATED it. He lasted about 5 minutes out there total. Very sad as Daddy, especially, had looked so forward to his little toddler face lighting up and playing in the sand....oh well, he's still tiny and we're already booked to go back next year!
Here's some of Elias' seashell collection. OK, he's not a very discriminate collector! But he enjoys each and every one.
Look at this view. It's beautiful.
More to come........
Well, our week here in FL is drawing to a close. I know posts with pics are cool, so I'm just sending a brief update now, and when I get home I will upload various pics and events from our week.
For now, suffice it to say, we're all happy! I'm tan, kids are good, husband finished his race in a pretty decent time, we've spent a lot of time together, did some cool field trips...what more can you ask for?
Looking forward to going home and getting back to our "stuff". ie scouts, soccer, Awanas, book club, co-op etc etc Well, priorities will be sleep, unpack, VOTE, soccer , then eventually update here!!
This week we're in the FL Panhandle for an Ironman race. My husband is a Triathlete-to-the-extreme. This will be his 3rd Ironman race. We make a week of it...taking in local sights and just hanging at the beach.
We had a rough time getting here...baby is teething and cranky, and snotting....we had a red-eye flight, but he didn't sleep much. Add teething and snot and no sleep, well, we ended up with a very cranky, very sick to his stomach baby. JOY.
After a good nights rest, things are looking much better!
We just bought a new camera, I'm getting the hang of taking pics with it and all of its amazing capabilities...not sure if I'll get to upload any while we're here, but I'll share when I get back home!
For now....we're here, we've shopped, the kids have played in the water, we're relaxing!
I am being so bad about blogging!! It's really tough with Sebastian right now...as soon as I sit down at the computer he's at the tower hitting the hibernate button, or going to the sleep button on the keyboard....CONSTANTLY!!!!! He is totally into cause and effect and if it's a button and it does something, he loves it! Especially if the "something" is mom yelling. UGHHHHHHH So, sorry about the inconsistent blogging, I love it and always think about what I will write, when I have time! That being said......
Awhile ago my parents came for a visit and I decided it was time to get family pictures taken. My sister-in-law had found this great photographer who meets you outdoors at your choice of locations, and for a flat fee, takes photos for about an hour, hour and a half. We got shots of me & Chris, Me & Chris with the boys, the Boys alone, Individual shots, shots with my parents, shots of my parents alone....some funny shots...it was great!
The spot we chose was The Valley of Fire. It was perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold. We packed a picnic lunch and spent the day there. It always amazes me, coming from the East Coast, now out here in the desert, to see God's GLORY in the beautiful red rocks. The formations are so stunning.
We made many stops within the park, taking time to climb some of the amazing rocks. There are also petroglyphs inside the park....lots of history!
Here's the group picture
Here's me and my Honey...aren't the colors of the rocks stunning?
And here are the silly shots:
No babies were harmed in the making of this photo! See, he's laughing!
And, here's Mr. Goofball, accompanied by Mini Goofball!
We were recently invited to a friend's birthday party...theme...luau! Here's Little Lovely ready to go...check out his sunglasses ....too cute!!!!
Oh man, I love this kid!!
On, off, on, off....and repeat!
Great idea to incorporate into your studies of history, culture or even specific people.....dress up and have fun with it! We have bits and pieces of cool things in all sorts of sizes, from firemen helmets, to darth vader masks, to karate robes, to pirate eye patches.....it doesn't have to be expensive either! Goodwill etc often have cheap costumes or bits and pieces of things to use.
Recently we went and saw Signing Time Rachel at a local outdoor Ampitheater. I've been excited about going because I love the idea of signing with my children and Elias likes her show. Of course, it's easier to like the idea, then to carry through with it. Truthfully, I don't even watch the show that often, I tend to use it more as a babysitter .
Anyway, I was truly impressed. I was impressed by her voice, her enthusiasm, her approachability but most of all, by her story!
Maybe you all know this...but (paraphrased and forgive me if I misrepresent any facts...I had a baby and an active boy running around while she was relaying all of this!) she's just a mom. Her first daughter was born deaf. Wow...that's rough. But then her 2nd daughter was born...with Spina Bifida & Cerebral Palsy. Man, can anyone be dealt more of a raw deal?!?
But this chick was determined that her children would be able to communicate not only within the world, but with each other.
Her and her sister came up with the idea to make a video teaching deaf children some signs to kid friendly songs. Rachel said it just took off. Now they are about to release their 30?th DVD!
Her songs are so funny and fun...and some are sad when you listen to the words...she writes them..and often they are about her children. Very touching. Her songs and videos often include her children, and apparently the show has her daughter and nephew in it. (Signing Time, on PBS).
I am going to watch this more! I'm also going to buy their Baby Signs DVD...I have the Baby Einstein one, but this is all to music....think it's just a different approach.
Anyway, if you've never heard of the show, check it out...it's cool!
Saturday was Elias' first soccer game. Ever. He got up in the morning, excited but "nervous"...he's so funny. His team, The Green Goblins, are a 5 & 6 yr olds team. Elias is 7, but because he's a tiny little thing, and has had overall delays, he's put in with this age group. There are actually 2 kids on the team taller than him; he fits right in! There are no scores "given" , it's playing just "for fun". No pressure.
I didn't know what to expect. First of all, past experiences with older kids have shown that our kids aren't too sports savy...although this kid is all boy, and all energy. Add to it, it was a sweltering 96 degrees, and the game was at high noon with no shade to be found.
The kid took off! He was on the field first (they play 4 on 4). He was amazing! He got in there, kicked the ball, was always running, he did great!
He's such a ham though. My husband always swears if he was in school he'd be the class clown. He asked me 1/2 way through if I was routing for his team. And he asked loudly enough that the 2 moms sitting next to me started laughing.
Then, he scored a goal! he had tried a couple of times, but missed, and he did it!! When he got called out, he told me "It was about time I scored one". What?!?! goofball, it's your FIRST GAME! He scored the 2nd goal of the game!! He's so funny!!
He had a blast! I'm so proud!
Look how cute! He's #5
Here he is, just out there getting it!
And here's The Goal! I can't believe I got this shot!
No, not real tigers....tiger cubs! Cub Scouts!! Elias has wanted to do boys scouts for a long time, and I told him this year we'd do it. Over the summer he told everyone he saw , "I'm going to be a boy scout!". Well, the pressure was on! Find a nice pack.
My friend Angela and I used to lead cub scouts, way back when our teens were little. Then my son got out of it, and hers kept going, so I looked to her for advice on packs. You know, you want a fun pack, but one that's homeschool friendly...an organized pack that does cool stuff, and has nice leaders...lots of things could make or break the little guy's first experience!
So, Angela pointed me to 2 packs. 1 large, but super fun, super nice, but did I mention large? 1, newer, much smaller, but also fun and organized. Anyone guess which one we tried first?!? Yes, the smaller one!
So we went Monday night to our first meeting, and he LOVED it. They played games, they worked on activities, and the coolest thing..they are working towards the Presidential Physical Fitness Badge. The leader explained that every day they have to write down some activity they've done, and then at the end of 6 weeks, she gives it all to the President, and he will send back a certificate and a badge! Boy, was he excited!!! Man, this pack has it going on!
Not only did the pack work for Elias, but also for me and Sebastian! As a mom of a Tiger, you are required to stay. Staying with a 2 year old, especially one with special needs.....not always the most fun idea. But, the leader has 2 special needs foster babies/toddlers. There are actually quite a few kids with various needs in this pack. And the kids are SOOO loving with the babies!! I have never seen so many boys want to play with or hold babies. It was amazing. Everyone looked after the babies/toddlers, they weren't seen to be a problem when they cried, or when they ran all over..it was fabulous!
So, no need to try the other pack, we're very happy here!
So, that was Monday. This pack goes year-round, so they had just started their popcorn sales and they also let us know the Space Derby was on Friday. Yes, as in, 4 days from then, Friday.
We got our Popcorn Sales stuff, and our Space Derby kit and got to working on it all.
The next morning, Elias jumps up, does his "exercises" and puts on his uniform to go sell popcorn! Man was he raring to go! Ok, so by 10am on a Tue morning we're out selling popcorn to our neighbors. Good thing they all know we homeschool! The minimum "requirement" was $75, the kid sold $230 in half an hour! He was so cute, "Hi, I'm Elias and I'm a Tiger. Would you like to buy some popcorn?" He had scripted it all out with me before we left the house, had play acted it out a bunch of ways. He was so cute!!!! We need to get back out and sell some more, but the Space Derby started to take precendence.
So, we started on our Space Derby Kit. Sanded it all down, then got to spray painting it. Primer of white, then color blue. I had to ask Angela's kids to help me figure out the directions ( it takes a strong person to ask a kid for help!) and we got the pieces all glued into place.
Here's a picture of Elias before the event, holding up his Space Rocket.
Here's the rocket right before it launches.
Now, if you don't know anything about space derby....well, it's fun but its llloooonnngggg. Have to keep disqualifying rockets after giving them a bunch of turns. By the end the kids had even lost track and were playing around. Eventually everyone got given certificates of achievement and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were left. Elias was one of them! He got 3rd place! It was so cute! Here's that pic.
He's so enjoying scouts. What a great way to start off in the program!
We got to Awanas last night, after being absent last week, and found out it was Crazy Hair Night. Another mom asked if we wanted to use her green hair spray, and so...The Incredible Hulk was born!
Here it is, starting to wear off...can you believe it?
Here's the top of his head...you shoulda seen his pillow this morning! Acchh! It's going to take a few washings!
This was Elias' first experience with colored hair spray. He LOVED it! I'm surprised I got him to shower tonight! I'm sure you'll eventually see more colored hair pictures .
Well, I am guilty...I let time slip away and day after day passed without blogging. The problem with this is,I stop taking so many pics and my family doesn't always know the cute little day to day things we're doing. So....I'm back!
I figure this will be a short post...I've thought about getting back to blogging for a long time now, but cataloging all the missed events was too overwhelming. So....I'm not going to even try! I might sprinkle in some things we did over the past few months, but I'm not going to try for one long post describing everything...can't happen! Starting here and now, with the here and now!
I'll give you a quick tease/summary about the things we're up to this year...and pics and descriptions will follow in the days and months to come!
Brian this year is back to his fascination of Japanese. We've got a wonderful tutor coming in to the home, conducting a small class of homeschoolers, 1x a week, for 2 hours. It's very intense and he loves it! He's also taking biology with lab and apologetics, at a local homeschool group. Of course, his main love is still computers! Well, add to that, texting. He has a gaggle of friends, mostly girls (sorry, camm and matt, no offense!). He's active in our new church...it's small but has a heart for outreach and love! That's Brian in a nutshell...which of course isn't the whole story..remember, just a teaser!!
Elias is cuter than cute. He's so wonderful! Growing up so quickly, but still in some areas a mommas boy..and so loving and compassionate. He's learning to read, is on his 2nd year of math-u-see, just became a Tiger cub last night , is in his 2nd book of Sparks (Awanas Program) and doing soccer (as he'd say, finally! ). He also does speech at the local school...and is just all around ACTIVE!! Oh! And we started a book club..based on the Magic Tree House series...it's super cool and he's enjoying that!
Sebastian...well..I don't know if a 2 yr old could be any cuter! Little Lovely is now running all over the place, doing some signs...still doesnt have any real words down, but is repeating a lot of sounds and sound repititions. He's in great over-all health, very chunky! He's still keeping me busy with various appointments, mostly now through our state Early Intervention program. He's been without the G-Tube since May...gastro is pleased with his growth, and ability to eat, and his diet, and healing...so..we only need to go back on an as needed basis. It's nice to slow down all the dr. appointments!
I often say times are a season. Sometimes it's rough, sometimes time flies by, sometimes it's easy...but it's all a quickly changing season. We have had our share of rough and time-consuming seasons. This year the focus is back on kids, and learning experiences, instead of doctors! YEAH!! Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, that's it for now...I will keep things updated more often, and with pics soon too!
Living in Las Vegas, we still live pretty far from "The Strip", and don't choose to frequent it much. But the one place we love, over and over, is The Bellagio Conservatory. It's a big glass roofed ...Conservatory! And they change the theme every few months. It's always spectacular..and exotic and wildly expensive to build/maintain, but free to go to!
I'm not sure what the theme is right now, maybe Americana?!?! There was Mount Rushmore,
bald eagles, trains, and a mini Bellagio, complete with the outdoor fountains!
It's always exciting to see what they will incorporate into it, and the details!
Right around the corner, still in the Bellagio, is The World's Tallest and Largest Chocolate Fountain. We can never leave the building without looking at it.
So, my oldest is part of a local Improv group. He is an "agent" and discusses possible plans and gatherings with other like-minded souls.
The group decided they would do a gathering where they would all freeze, in a public setting, for 5 minutes...causing mass confusion. This idea was patterned after the Frozen Grand Central Station Operation.
They decided they would do it at Freemont Street Experience...a covered street that's pedestrian only, with shops, and artists and a light show shown on the inside of the covering every few hours during the night.
The details of the "mission" apparently got leaked on a local radio show and they had massive amounts of people show up to partake.
My son is not shown in the video below...but this is it! He was "frozen" high-fiving his friend. He had a blast! They are gearing up for their next mission, details to remain secret. It won't be another "freeze" they do all sorts of things! Check it out, it's good clean fun!
So, one of my parents projects this visit was to paint Elias' room. Last visit they did Brian's room (now a lovely shade of neon green, with black and gray furnishings and rugs). Elias made it clear he wanted a Spiderman room. For Christmas he got Spiderman border and peel & stick figurines. We picked out the room colors to match! (I'm just lucky he didn't go for red and black) Now, keep in mind, this room was white and bubble gum pink, with a beautiful Ballerina border. Poor boy! He's lived with it for a long time. This is much better!
Here's the border...part red Spidey part Black Spidey
The peel & stick things are cool cause you can add them anywhere! Closets and nightstand both got some.
And here's a new comforter and pillow Elias' grandmother made him. Now both beds have Spidey bedding!
It was a lot of work, but he's SO excited! And he adores his new curtains! Before a street light was coming in through the blinds..now he can sleep like a baby (or so I hope!)
He's been showing everyone the room today...even the baby's speech therapist! He's too cute!
According to the temperature reader in my van, today was 105. That's HOT! We spent the morning at my parent's hotel pool, swimming and relaxing. It was the perfect temp! This was Sebastian's first time swimming this season...and he loved it! He tried to get away from me on the beach entry. Then he kicked his little legs a lot while I was holding him.
Here's Nanny holding up Sebastian, and Elias peeking through. It was rough trying to get good pics without getting splashed!
I always say I don't get pics of myself, well, my mom got one of me! Here I am with little lovely.
He played himself to sleep. Literally. He fell asleep in my arms, in the water and stayed that way for about 1/2 an hour. I love little snuggly creatures! (Even if they do get heavy and leave weird tan marks on you....)
Elias meanwhile was having a blast being thrown by my dad, towards my mom, who would then "get them" by splashing them! He did it over and over and over and over...my dad got tired before he did!
We're going out again tomorrow morning. It should be another hot day!
Finally, I have pics and a report! Brian went to 2 local teen formals last weekend. I only have pics of the 1st night, but that's ok, he wore the same outfit the 2nd night.
The first night the group went to a local Japanese Steakhouse, where they cook the meal in front of you. What fun! Brian loves these types of places, and the food!
After dinner they went back to one of the mom's houses. She had set up a dance floor in her backyard, and linen-covered tables, and desserts. All of the kids got a photo taken, and the girls got a long-stemmed rose. AWWWW!!
Surprise of surprises, Brian got out on the dance floor! Some of the kids had taken a dance class earlier in the month, but it was during Brian's Japanese class. (They did offer a 2nd class, and Brian did get to take that...but it was after the dance!)
Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was very well planned and everyone behaved wonderfully.
The next night a different local group went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. It was also very nice, but a little....long. The kids could only order 1 of 3 items; (manicotti, lasangna or ravioli) poor Brian isn't a huge Italian food lover, or pasta lover. Then there was quite a while in between courses, or quite awhile by kid standards anyway. And then a speaker. He just didn't have as much fun. For the experience, though, it was nice.
Brian
Brian, Ruben, Devlin & CJ (aren't they dashing?!?!)
Doing some sort of line dance....
Wow, he's out there! I can't believe it!
We are looking forward to next year's formals! (Well, at least I am!!!)
The premise is you send them your old wedding gown, prom dress, or otherwise beautiful garment and they transform it into a burial outfit for babies who have died.
Involve your kids...let them know about pain in the world, and inspire them to be empathetic and helpful. I am inspired to go Goodwill shopping, yard saleing and to spread the word. What a difference WE can make! Especially during such a hard time in someone's life.
Lately I've really been coming across a lot of blogs of families who have had children with Trisomy 18. Many of these children die soon after entering the world. Their impact is felt though, their lives touch ours....mine, and my children...even though we don't know them. I watch the videos these families create, read their blogs, and cry for them. But I am also moved by how much love they have and how awesome Gos is....these kids truly rest in Jesus' arms now....how much more wonderful can it get?
And here's the most amazing video of a family's journey with their special son.
Faith ~99 Balloons
How hard is it not to be so grateful for our own kids at this point? Be they terrible 2's, be they hormonal teens...they're here. But these parents are just as grateful for the short time they've had their children.
I am truly moved by their grace and by their faith.
Small recap, he was failure to thrive (after thriving for many months) and ended up not taking anything by mouth (oral aversion) for a loooonnnngggg time. So adverse that he even stopped nursing. He has had a G-Tube since Sept. 2007 and was solely fed through it for a long time. Slowly but surely he started feeling better and acting like a "normal baby", exploring with things in his mouth etc. As he started trying more and more foods, we decreased his G-tube feedings.
Our last dr visit I told our GI dr that I think we'll be done with it by the time you see us next! He still hadn't mastered drinking well and was still getting supplemental feeds, but now, 2 months later, he's totally been off the tube at home for close to 2 months! I was very hopeful that today would be the day!
Our Dr is so cool. Plus, he knows me, he knows I've been through this before, he tends to let me do a lot on my own...which is great (usually). He trusts my opinion, trusts my knowledge, and totally partners with me...but today he forgot my "little" problem with stomach contents! He asked me if I just wanted to take the G-tube out at home myself. HECK NO I DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost didn't even want to be in the same room! I sure didn't look! I dread changing that pad.....ewwwwwww. But, now it's done!
See the smiley baby? Bandaged up but no more tubey to play with!
It's actually an exciting time because my parents are coming in to town tomorrow and this will be their first time seeing him since they were here last Sept (during his hospitalization). He's looking so perky and alert and happy...it will be great for them to see him with no tubes!!!
A local (off-strip) Casino was having a Cinco de Mayo festival in their parking lot today. Not that Elias knows/understands/cares about Cinco de Mayo...but a it was a family event, with jump houses, merry-go-round, mariachi bands, etc., so we went with our neighbors.
It was borderline too hot, but there was a breeze here and there, plus some shady spots. The kids had a blast...and that's why we went! So it was worth it. Of course, I lucked out...Brian wasn't interested in going, so I left the baby home for his naptime with big brother! This meant I didn't have to drag a cranky baby around in the heat for something that didn't interest him! YEAH! Plus it was nice for Elias to have me take just him.
Look at this beautiful boy! What a mischievous little smile he is wearing! He was weaving in and out of the palm trees, but I caught him! This was a big slide...he loved it.
Here's Elias and our neighbor friend...they are inseparable. I caught him mid-air..he says this picture is "awesome!!"
My little sweaty angel. They had a soccer team doing face paintings..he wanted Spiderman but that was a little too complicated..they gave him a spider. He went back later on and got another one on the other cheek. They're cute!
I'm never in pictures! I'm always the picture taker! My neighbor grabbed my camera and got this one...ok, I'll post it, you may never see another one!
Fun couple of hours, then back home for air conditioning and ice-cream!
Look, I made a widget!!! I don't really know what one does with it? I guess others can add it to their blogs etc? I was looking for cool things to add to my blog, but made this instead! COOL! I think you can get it from this link: Christian Unschooling Widget
On Friday my husband was able to go with us to a local park and help Elias with his Rocket Fishing Rod ! Elias was very excited to finally get to try it out.
Well, the short and long of it is....my husband was NOT impressed, but Elias thought it was cool. Well, that's what really matters isn't it? When you're 7 you want to watch it ZING out with a loud pop! Elias didn't care if he caught a fish, or if it worked well, it was just cool to play with!
Here are the boys throwing rocks in the lake, The baby totally loved this game! His aim is...well...he can throw with force, but not always in the direction he means to...so DUCK if he's around! Seriously!
It was a beautiful day, just lounging, enjoying the air, running around, feeding geese. Loving the in between cold and hotter-than-you-know-what, weather!
Well, in my last entry I thought the week was crazy, little did I know it was just picking up!
While the big boys got through the stomach bug relatively quickly, poor Sebastian did not. Add the fact that he has a metabolic disorder, and we ended up in the hospital.
It was very ugly. Poor guy wasn't hydrated enough for them to find a good vein, multiple pokes later they finally got one. He was becoming acidodic, a condition they need to keep on top of with kids with metabolic disorders, as it can rapidly spin out of control.
On top of all of this you've got me...previously when my kids were hospitalized, I'm right there, taking notes, doing research, advocating etc. This time...it was a throw up thing...when I say I have a throw up phobia, I don't just mean I don't like it..I mean full blown panic attacks, massive anxiety, heart racing, no eating, etc etc etc. I had dealt with Sebastian and Elias all weekend being sick, by the time we got to the hospital I was no good to anyone. It's rather embarrasing to even admit it, because it's sooo dang irrational. I ended up in the ER our 2nd night there, from so much stress that I ended up throwing up. A nice few drugs later, life looked a little better.
Sadly, now, the stomach bug is hitting just about every family we know...so I am constantly being bombarded with the topic, and some families who don't believe in staying home with sick kids (?!?!) I'm even getting to witness it! It's truly too much in my fragile emotional state. I'm about ready to stay indoors for the next few weeks. It's affecting every aspect of my life right now, all my kids are tired of hearing about it, and I'm tired of thinking about it. ACHHH!!! Frustration!!!!!
If I can get a couple of weeks without the topic, without seeing it, hearing about it, witnessing it, I should be able to tone down the anxiety...so, if you know me, and you have sick kids, keep them home! We don't want more germs and I can't handle the topic anymore!!
So, that's where we are..recovering nicely, but not wanting to get re-infected. I'll try to write more soon!
I haven't been blogging much this week..seems life was hectic for one reason or another!
I was to host a yard sale for our Statewide Homeschool Advocacy Organization, Nevada Homeschool Network, today. So, all week we've been collecting donations. It's very exciting to see all the stuff come in!
We've had our normal therapies...speech 4x a week for Elias, speech for baby, state Early Intervention speech, nutritionist and PT (for baby)...
Played at a friend's house...Brian messed around on her computer (he should come with a warning..."I'll help you but I'll also indoctrinate you on the hazards of Microsoft and Windows"..he's so funny!).
Brian started attending a new local Japanese class...which he loved. Hopefully the mom will run the class longer...this is a short introduction try-out.
Elias had his last gymnastics class....for the moment. Because of his birthday he can not sign up for the class we've been taking any longer....too old! But all of the other classes are in the evenings...ewwww!!! He's debating signing up for a HipHop class (his love is street dancing!) or boy scouts. We'll see. We're going to take a break for a little while...Nanny and Pop Pop are coming in May for the month, so it's a good time to rest!
Had 2 parents meetings for different groups...I lead the mentoring at both which I LOVE but the meetings both in the same week is sometimes good (get it over) but sometimes bad (being gone 2 nights in one week!).
Dealt with major allergies...mostly me, at the beginning of the week.
And then the little guys got sick Thursday night..not sure if food poisening or a tummy bug, but it was not fun. We're still recovering from that!
Needless to say, I had to postpone our yard sale...so I can collect more donations! We'll do that next weekend!
I'm not big on allowing my kids to do sleepovers, but Elias just did his first one. It was so cute! He went to one of his friend's birthday party, and when I got there to pick him up he had big crocodile tears. Some of the boys were sleeping over, could he? Oh, way to break my heart! OK! I am like 1 block away, and the mom is my friend, she knows I don't want my baby crying (if he were to cry!)
About an hour later, my friend calls me, to tell me he "peed himself" and needs new undies. Ok, here's the deal with Elias. He doesn't like water. He never has. He didn't even get INTO a bath tub until he was like 5! IF a drop of water gets on his shirt, he HAS to change, immediately. It's so weird! So, his friends got him laughing so hard he must have dribbled. My friend checked and didnt feel ANYTHING, but he is so hyper sensitive, he might have even THOUGHT he dribbled. LOL! So, she ran over and got a new pair of undies! So funny!
He made it overnight just fine...in fact, maybe a little too fine! I got up in the morning, and because I leave my AIM running all the time, there was an Instant Message from my friend, labeled 1:21 AM, "They're still up"
OMG!!! The day's going to be a wash! That's alright, he was having so much fun!!
Then around lunch time my friend calls me, she went out to run an errand, and left the kids with her husband at home. She says, "Call the house and talk to your son." I'm thinking, crap, what'd he do!?! She assured me nothing was wrong, but I was still nervous!!!
So I call, and he had lost a tooth! We didn't even know it was loose!! He bit into an apple and it started coming out! Then he asked the dad to pull it out! For the record, that's major. He has only let his Daddy pull out ONE tooth! Once, he let this one front tooth HANG for so long, it was all crooked and nasty, we were calling him "Snaggle-tooth". It was horrific! Truly.
What a big adventure. Now he wants to sleep over every night! Too funny. My baby/big boy! He's so wonderful.
In case you didn't notice...we're playing with a new look! Allison, over at Mission Field Designs is helping me create "a look" ! Very exciting! While I know old style HTML, the newer CSS and others are beyond my scope. And, Brian knows them well, but hates fiddling with images. Oh, I'm so excited to have a cohesive look, matching header, and more !Yeah! Keep coming back to check it out, hopefully you'll love it too!
I happened upon this Blog Post and thought it SOOOO thought- provoking and so Where I Am (or, where I try to be, and need to be!!), that I had to share! Hope it is meaningful to you.
n the spirit of that great theologian, Jeff Foxworthy, I present to you some rambling thoughts in my head, all completed by the phrase “you might be misrepresenting God”…
If your message is not filled with hope, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you tell people that they need to come to you to understand the message of scripture, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that “being real” means talking more about the wind and waves in your life than about the One who calms the storm, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that people who don’t attend a Sunday morning meeting are outside of God’s covering and protection, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that sickness, financial problems, hurricanes, broken bones, auto accidents, and terrorist attacks are all tools of God “to teach you something”, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that a person can’t live above their circumstances and walk in peace and victory, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that someone is not being real unless they tell you they’re struggling with some huge temptation, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that the only legitimate types of prayer for a Christian are prayers of lament, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you tell someone who is experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord to “hang on, your turn is coming”, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that only “properly authorized leaders” are capable of serving communion or baptizing others, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that Christianity is best represented by a set of propositional statements and/or a systematic theology, you might be misrepresenting God.
If your message does not lead to freedom, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that the Father doesn’t speak to his children in various ways, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that America is “God’s chosen country” and that everything America’s foreign policy represents is ordained by God, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that the Republican party is “God’s party, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that religion and Christianity are compatible, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that you can only “cooperate” in ministry and missions with people who have been baptized by a pastor in your same denomination, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that true Christianity is only represented by a particular denomination or systematic theology, you might be misrepresenting God.
If your belief in Christ does not manifest itself in living the life that Christ commanded us to live, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that you are more capable of articulating what someone else believes than that very person is capable of doing, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, freedom to the captives, and walking to the lame were only for first-century “verification of the message”, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that the only legitimate way to articulate one’s belief in God is found in a 4th-century statement, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that our main responsibility in relationship to God is to study the Bible, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that “everyone needs to have a pastor”, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that leaving the institutional church is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he wrote, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together”, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that a relationship with God means that you will accept or reject certain styles of music, certain hairstyles, certain beverages, or hanging out with certain people, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you think that Jesus turned water into mere grape juice, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that a particular translation of the bible is the only inspired version, you might be misrepresenting God.
If you believe that one’s beliefs about baptism, bible translation, rapture timing, tongues, or a particular interpretation of Genesis 1-2 are absolute essentials to salvation and/or fellowship, you might be misrepresenting God.
I'm thinking, WHAT DID THAT KID DO TO MY COMPUTER?!?!
Ok, I restart my computer. Everything will be fine.
My mouse won't work! Why wont it move?!?! Darn thing, whole computer's falling apart!
I pick up my mouse and notice a piece of post it is stuck on the bottom, un-enabling it to move. Ok..my desk is sort of paperfilled, stupid cats must have gotten on my desk (they're not supposed to, but overnight who KNOWS what they do!) NOW it'll work.
But it's still not...it's moving, but very weird, like with a trail of arrows falling it. And nothing I click on is working. I have to like double click on hit Open In A New Window. What the heck did the boy do to my computer? What program did he have to download on MY computer now? He's never allowed on my computer again! WHy is he on mine anyway, he's got his own!
Restart stupid thing, see if it's any better.
SOMEHOW I get to my mail, but like half the letters are missing in my titles and subject lines. And I still cant open a message without opening a new window.
I give up, someone better go get that boy out of bed to tell me what silly program he downloaded and get it OFF MY COMPUTER!
Of course, the whole time I'm screaming WHAT THE HECK?!?! WHAT?!?! MAN! WHAT THE HECKKKKKKKKKK.
These are all my thoughts through this very frustrating 15/20 minutes of wasted time! I HATE wasting time!
Dear beautiful son walks in with a smile, very unlike a child who has just been hauled out of bed and knows he has done something wrong....sits at my computer and basically says, "it's a screensaver, April Fool's".
Little S*&^ !!! Duh! It never crossed my mind! He is a prankster of the uber kind! Look at what all he did!!
switched the mouse button preferences
turned on mouse trails
switched keyboard layout to Dvorak (so anything I type, its the wrong letters!)
Added the Total Confusion Combo Pack firefox extenstion (ohmygosh you have to read what all this does! It's INCREDIBLE! You still have time today to add it to your loved one's computer!! I didn't keep it installed long enough to think I was crazy, thankfully!
Elias had his heart set on going to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday. Well, I'm not up for the crowds of the weekend...and since we homeschool and so do most of our friends...we decided to go on a Tuesday even though his birthday was today. (Daddy has off on tuesdays!)
We had the place to ourselves! I didn't reserve a party, we just brought our own cake and plates, favors etc and bought tokens and pizza for everyone. It was SOOOO DEAD, it was beautiful!! The kids had a blast
Even the babies had fun!
Just as we were leaving they turned on all of the "noisy stuff" and the kids had a blast looking at "Chuck E."
Then his real birthday was today. We knew it was going to be quiet..Daddy had to work, so he just invited over a friend. Grandma called this morning and wanted to take him to a movie, she ended up taking Elias and his friend! It worked great for Elias. Then his friend came back and we sang Happy Birthday, opened a couple of presents from family back East, and played his new video games!
What a goof!
The hardest toy to find in stock right now! Good job Uncle Dougie!
All in all he's had a great birthday experience this year! What a lovely boy he is!
This week a tragedy struck a friend's family...her mother in law had a heart attack, followed by her husband having a heart attack, followed by his father suddenly dying that same night, followed by a triple bypass surgery the next day for the husband. Can you say WHEW?!?
One of my gifts is organization and the ability to DO. I can easily take action, I can lead, I see what needs to get done and I do it. We have another friend who is much the same, so she and I have "taken charge". We've sat with our friend during the surgery, we've put out calls for donations for various needs the family has, we're coordinating all the donations and kids getting places, and just being there for our friend.
I'm a DOER.
One of our other friends was lamenting to me the fact that I'm such a DOER and shes not. God knows I love her, but its the truth, she's a dawdler, a talker, a hugger, a s--l-o-w----p-o---k--e with little to no organizational skills. She'll admit it!That's not the point though.
She was sad and feeling not as useful as me. In her self esteem of not feeling adequate, she builds me up to HIGH places, when I'm just HUMAN! I'm just being me and DOING, because that's me!
So, in a conversation with her today she suggested that I do something, which I quickly dismissed as not my business, not really necessary etc etc.
Lo and behold, not a half an hour later it was made evident to me through a hysterical phone conversation with our friend who's family is being so affected, that I need to BRING UP doing what was suggested AND DO IT.
And I DID.
But let me tell you. I'm not a fast thinker on my feet. I need things planned out. I need plans a, b and c, and options to choose from if one does not work.
On my own I would NOT have suggested what I did. It just wouldn't have even come to me!
But, God used my friend who was feeling low to bring it to me when she did and I could use it accordingly.
I called my friend up and told her I felt God had used her, but maybe it wasn't the way she had been hoping. I think we all have gifts, but if we're so busy looking at other people's gifts, and lamenting that they aren't our gift, we might not SEE our own gifts!
If you're one of these people, know that God uses you how HE wants to. It may not be how YOU want to, but He will use you if you are open to it!
I always have to laugh when someone new to my house automatically assumes the trash is under the sink and goes to open the cupboard door. There is no opening the door! Not even a crack!
You know how most child proof locks you can stick your finger down in there and release it?!? Not with the sweet ones I have on!
They are magnetic..you have to screw them on, and once the door is shut, you cannot open it until you place the magnet on the outer door. I have them on all my bathroom cabinets and my under the sink kitchen cabinets where cleaners are stored.
For me, I find it easiest to keep the Magnetic Opener ALWAYS to the left of the sink, in each room. It's it's home. When everything has a home, you can find it! We've never lost an opener. Yuo grab it, sweep it over the inside (and you get to where you magically KNOW where it is, even though you can;t see it!) and then you put it right back!
I LOVE them!!! They are slightly more expensive than the little plastic guys...but they are un-cheatable! Lowes carries them, maybe Home Depot too, I haven't looked there. Also Babies R Us.
It makes it so I know the kitchen area is safe for the baby (who's now a toddler) to play in!
Man, the days are flying by!! Last week I spoke at 2 local support group meetings, met Tirzah and family, had a field trip, all in addition to Seb's and Elias' therapies!
This week it's been juts as crazy!
Tuesday we had a Resurrection Party with one support group. They did a nice job, included the teens this year. Sometimes it's hard with kids of all different age ranges to find ONE event that fits them all, but this one was AOK!
Then Wed we had a Egg Hunt/Picnic with our other support group. This was just a fun time at a neat state park...fishing lake, lots of trees and picnic tables, we even saw folks horseback riding! Beautiful day of just free play!
I'd show pics but we can't find the camera right now?!?! This is what happens when your teen is always experimenting with taking interesting photos to then mess around with their images....
Anyway....today Chris and I had to run a bunch of errands. We took the baby with us and stopped at Payless and got him a pair of sneakers. He's walking so well now and the few little hand me down pairs I have are getting too small. Now he has LIGHT-UP CARS shoes like Elias!! He's so cute in them!!
Tomorrow is city-wide homeschool skating..at a horrible hour of 9:30am, so we'll be gone much of the day for that. Kids love it though.
And, we're trying to spend as much time outdoors right now as possible..it's that in between weather where it's not too hot and not too cold!
As soon as baby wakes up, out we'll go! Elias will practice bike riding..after the winter, he needs to practice some more in preparation for taking off his training wheels!
So one of my "friends" here at HSB is Tirzah, over at Yearnin 4 Some Learnin . Recently she let me know she'd be coming to Vegas (where I live) and wanted to hook up! I LOVE meeting other homeschoolers!! If you're ever traveling near by, let me know!
So, I invited her to meet us at a field trip, to a local all you can eat pizza buffet and school tour of their kitchen.
Here are Brian and one of her daughters. They hit it off right away. Brian is such a ladies man!
Here's the youngest of both our clans...how cute!!!
She got there before me and I am proud to say some of the other group members welcomed her and introduced themselves. We have a GREAT GROUP! Very friendly and inclusive.
We had a grand time. Every ate, everyone got along, it was fun! Afterwards they came over to my house...it turns out her mom lives LITERALLY a street up from me. How fun!
Brian and her 2 oldest clicked and just gabbed and laughed all afternoon long. Elias and her 2 youngest went back and forth between playing outside and playing inside...having a grand old time! That left Tirzah and I to chat. What a neat lady, and what a love for The Lord.
Hey, here's hoping to her trip being so awesome they decide they just HAVE to move here!
Just some cute pics of the boys doing what they do best, and loving it!
Here's Little Lovely slamming cupboard doors. It's his favorite pass-time...that and taking all the tupperware out and throwing it on the floor!
Now this one has a story behind it...a couple actually!
Story #1. These were Brian's pajamas when he was little. This is the first year that Elias has been able to wear anything of Brian's. ( I started saving the big boys clothes when I found out I was pregnant with Elias..so size 6 and up) He loves finding out who's clothes they were. Now he wants every day to be "Pajama Day" Too cute!
Which leads me to Story #2. For the 2nd day in a week Elias HAD declared it Pajama Day. He went to speech, came home, put his pajamas back on. When Daddy saw that he made it very clear we are to get dressed during the day, not be wearing pajamas. I had to DIE LAUGHING and he didn't know why.
See...people change. They don't sometimes know they are, but ideas and habits change. When I first married my husband his boys were 5 and barely 6. Brian was 6. I was HORRIFIED coming into this home, finding 3 males who sat around in their tighty-whities all day, watching tv on the couch. What is THIS!?!?! I was used to getting up, getting Brian ready every day for our day, and doing it DRESSED.
I promptly changed this habit, and now dear husband doesn't even remember it. Just like a man.
That brings me to, even though Brian's starting to look like a man, he's just a big boy! He's been waiting for the new Super Smash Brothers game to come out. Here he is playing it.
I had to show Brian these pictures...it's his computer! We told him some little elf got into his desk!
"Who me? I'm not doing anything....well nothing a baby shouldn't anyway! Just dropping some slobber all over, fiddling with keys...oh! What's that sound? I'm downloading something?!?! COOL!! Wait till Big Brother sees what I've done! Playing with the computer IS fun!!"
So, the other morning I'm reading our local paper and start spluttering! The article is about how the school district has already spent 35 MILLLLLLIIIOOONNN DOLLARRRSSS (the exaggeration is not in the amount itself, but that it COST so much!!!) for their upgrading of their computers, and yet it's not enough. The project needs to be put on HOLD until they can get another 12 MILLLIIIOOOONNNNN (no joke!) By which time the system may be outdated, leaving them with a bigger mess. Yeah, I'd say so. Here's the link to the article: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/mar/06/school-district-has-one-bear-computer-system-its-h/
So, I shove the paper over to Brian (techy son) and he wisely proclaims that most of that is probably licensing and program fees, shame, considering so much free stuff is available (like his beloved Linux, and Open Source applications like Open Office, etc).
I say we should write them and let them know of this option. Maybe their high paid consultants don't know, or maybe the district doesn't know of this option. Regardless, the PUBLIC should know of this option and that the school district has naysayed it! And frivolously spent millions of dollars.
Oh, my son. His knowledge astounds me. He starts rattling off how various school districts across the nation already use linux. And all the benefits of using linux. And that there's a version especially MADE for schools, called EduBuntu.
Now I'm fired up, so we sit down and I start typing, while he sends me links in IM from his computer, and on a 3rd computer he's downloading the EduBuntu version to show me how cool it is, and easy to use.
After I finished the document with all of his incredible knowledge, he edited it for technicalities of which I know NOTHING! I didn't write everything just so in computer lingo.
After those finishing touches, we sent it off. To the original Newspaper reporter, to various school district administrators listed in the article, and to the school board trustees.
Today, in my InBox, the reporter sent an email , "Very Interesting. I will be looking into this." WOW!! COOL!
If you want to learn more about EduBuntu, or just for the heck of it, below is the text of his letter
RE: CCSD Computer System March 6, 2008
Mr. Bradford,
It was with interest (and dismay) that I read the March 6th SUN article regarding the school district’s computer system.
You see, my son is a computer geek. Through him my computer education has gone so far! I now know there are Open Source applications widely available that are free parallels to big name brand programs.
We wondered, upon dissecting this article, if your big financial output was due to licensing of Vista etc?
We’d additionally love to know if your computer consultants have researched the possibility of using Linux based computers and/or Open Source applications, versus Windows based computers and programs, thus saving an enormous amount of money?
Presuming that not everyone understands the difference, I’ll briefly try to explain how this could benefit CCSD.
Each computer that uses Windows must have its own license. That costs $. Linux is an alternative to Windows, developed by companies and volunteers alike who don’t want everything to cost so much. There is no fee. Linux is not only for Desktops, but is widely used for servers because of it's stability and security. Many people already use Open Source programs without even being aware of it.
Looking to the future, IT schools already offer classes in Linux certification; it would behoove the students to understand its abilities. As for administrators who would also be using the system, Linux is not hard to learn.
There is a version of Linux called Edubuntu, built for schools. Whether you chose to use that version or one of the many others, the results would be similar….no cost and more crossover in the technical realm for students who might be headed in that way as a career choice. There are already schools across the nation using Edubuntu and Linux.
Whether using Linux, or sticking with Windows, using Open Source applications like Open Office versus Microsoft Office would save a bundle! 200 computers= approx. $12,000 (based on $60each/Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, discount) That’s a LOT of $! And we KNOW there are more than 200 computers in the district.
Some points to also consider:
· Linux runs easier on older hardware…saving the constant upgrading of machines
· Edubuntu has a long term support release that will be available mid April and be valid through 2011 with continuous updates. After that, an upgrade to the next version will be available, also for free.
· Optional upgrades for Edubuntu come every 6 mo, once in April, once in October
· Linux can easily be installed on existing computers via a CD
· Linux is secure, built from the ground up with that purpose in mind
We’ll attach some links for your perusal:
Edubuntu: http://edubuntu.com/
Using Edubuntu: http://www.edubuntu.org/UsingEdubuntu
An article about Edubuntu: http://www.linux.com/feature/60357
Open Office: http://www.openoffice.org/
We sincerely hope you will give this idea some time and research.
Many thanks to my son who has downloaded Edubuntu and walked me through it and who is helping me write this. He’s a dedicated Linux user!
Sebastian is walking like crazy! Not running yet, but walking for sustained amounts of time. Its so cute!!!!!
Brian decided to chart how many grams of sugar he ate in one day, because I accuse him of eating to much. He presented me with his findings at the end of the day. I stand corrected. At least for THAT day!!!!
Elias....oh Elias!! He had his first appointment with the dentist. Our old insurance didn't cover them until they were 6, so I never worried about taking him in. It's time though! I found a great dentist, my neighbor uses him for her children. A pediatric dentist, you're allowed back with them, they do not restrain....
My poor boy. He was scared going in..understandable. It was a fabulously fun place, video games, etc. But, then the "torture" started. They tried to do XRays. Apparently he's "a gagger". It was not pleasant. They stopped.
Then they moved on to cleaning. It was going ok, until she squirted the water in...laying down, squirting in water...yup, he started gagging. He was hysterically crying. It was so sad. He just wanted to leave and I had to make him stay. They didnt do any more work on him, but we did have to meet with the dentist and determine if there were any cavities. There were a couple small ones. Luckily he calmed down, we watched another little boy get an exam, and then we stayed in the waiting room playing video games for a bit. He's still alive!
The dentist thinks he has subconscious issues from when he was a baby and sick..feeding tube down the nose/throat, lots of throwing up, oral issues...bottom line....and let me preface this with..we don't really medicate our kids. We try to go homeopathic as often as possible, and just avoid all sorts of things, but he's going to be sedated to get through the procedure. It's either that or hospitalize him. Well, I can understand anxiety and how you can't always control it...in this instance I'm ok with it...wish it didn't have to be this way, but it is. So...we'll try, hopefully he'll be able to make it through!
In funnier matters...every morning I have to give Sebastian some prune juice (no, he doesn't drink it, it's through his feeding tube!) He's been very constipated since he started eating real food. Elias saw me doing it and asked me "What's that poop juice called?" HAHAHAH Poop Juice! New name!!
So, today Brian came back from Dare2Share. It's a teen event...has a concert, speakers, skits. It's all about learning to be firm in your faith and to share it with the unsaved. It was held in Phoenix, AZ..a 5 hr bus ride. They left Friday morning and got back late late last night. This year's topic was Revelations. Very heavy!
I am so SOOOO stinkin proud of my son! This event sounds so awesome! They had hands on activities.....the kids went out to evangelize in surrounding neighborhoods. They had to call someone they believe needs Jesus and share with them. What an incredible time.
The leader called me this morning to tell me how much she enjoys Brian and how he is welcome on any of her trips. She called him a Warrior for God. That makes my heart sing. If I do nothing else right in this world, God, please let me teach my children about You so that they can choose You!
Brian and his friend Matt
Look at these kids!!!!
Seriously, if your kids ever have the chance to go..it's lifechanging!
In other news...After the kids baths tonight, Sebastian was sitting on my bed and he grabbed the comb. Then he put the comb to his head and started moving his hand back and forth! He KNEW it was for his hair! He's so smart! I just love him!!
Elias said something super cute today and when he did it I thought, I have to blog that...and now I can't remember. Man, mommy-brain...it's like a sieve
Today we went on a field trip with Daddy!! We didn't go with a group, just as a family, it was a very nice treat! Poor Elias almost couldn't comprehend it. On the way there, he asked what time the zoo opened, and I said 10. It was close to 11 by then, and he said "Oh no! We're going to miss our tour!!" ROFL!!!
Our poor zoo gets a bad rap...it's very small, not a lot of "big" animals, no glitz and glamour. But, it serves a purpose. It takes in a lot of abused, neglected and hurt animals. It's actually a nice little day out, if you don't go with the attitude that you're going to like the San Diego Zoo or something.
They sell cups of goat food and bird food for $1 each. I think we bought 4 or 5 cups! Feeding the birds is so much fun for a 6 yr old! They flock to you!
We had a nice time looking at the lions playing with their barrels and balls, the baby chicks just roaming free with their mommas...until we picked one up!
My husband is always goofy....he was trying to torture Elias thinking he'd eat the baby chick!
We also saw the river otters swimming...oh, and the Chimpanzee. My husband is still laughing at me. The darn thing was such a MALE! He was just laying on his hammock with his hand...well...Al Bundy style if you know what I mean. Then he started....um....YOU KNOW!!! It was like a car wreck, you don't want to look, but you do. It was so funny to see him...pulling it!!! I'm dying laughing now! My husband had to take me away laughing. He's laughing at me now writing this! It was so..funny!!! And gross! And funny!
Here's Little Lovely eating...and the birds hanging around waiting for crumbs!
And, Brian holding a new "friend". Aww, she loved him!
Here're the boys on the Elephant Statue
It was a nice day, and beautiful weather to boot! Shame, with all these birds around, that I had already defrosted a CHICKEN to roast for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, today was a busy but good day. Lots of interesting things going on!
My husband's work gives out trips every year to the 3 drivers who book the most hours. 2 years ago Chris won the top prize, a trip to Hawaii. It was a great trip, wrong timing!
Last year, he also won the top prize, another trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, if we thought timing was "off" on the first trip, this trip saw us through health issues for me, and the baby, and the beginnings of a reparation of our marriage. Definitely not the best time to go away. We asked his boss if we could hold onto it for awhile, and he graciously agreed. We are scheduled to go in June, and very much looking forward to it.
Today was the "meeting" day, with announcements of who won what, this year. Now, this year, Chris has been home A LOT, but he's also still working quite a bit. It was a pleasant surprise to hear he placed 2ND!! Now, in addition to our upcoming Hawaii trip (airfare and hotel paid for), we have a trip to Puerto Vallarta!!! I've never been there, but boy oh boy are we feeling blessed today!!! What a "reward" for spending his time on better things (family & exercise) . Wow!!!!!
In other news...this is...interesting...and I understand it's not for everyone....but I'm pleased that it worked out....get to the point I know! To put it plainly, today, a local high school class got to see me "in all my glory", giving birth to Elias. The teacher was looking for realistic home videos of births, and a local mom put the call out for help...and I responded.
Very in your..substitute face for other body part... style footage. Let me tell you, that was probably the LONGEST 9 minutes of those kids lives!!!!!! 9 minutes of ALL NATURAL, no drugs, pushing a baby out of something that shouldn't be stretched that big!!
It was very realistic, not all quiet and edited. Very full of me saying "I can't do this anymore", small episiotomy, blood, etc etc. Another plus was it showed my birth plan in action. Baby placed immediately on my chest. Waiting to cut the cord. Immediate nursing. Bonding with the baby for an hour before taking him to nursery for weigh in.
I don't know why I was led to respond and allow this. I sure am not a public nudity person, didn't really want many people in the delivery room...but I guess it goes towards my beliefs....educate people on what they're getting into, show them realistically so they can make informed decisions, and advocate for kids/parents (use of birth plan, breastfeeding, etc etc). All in all, I am super pleased I was able to do it.
Can anyone guess what Elias has been watching over and over again in the ensuing day? He LOVES to watch the video of him being born. He loves The Baby Story, loves all things baby, and just loves this video. It's crazy/cool/weird/loving all at once.
I love my kids :)
But I don't want to give birth ever again. EVER. My oldest keeps laughing cause I keep saying this.
Amy, over at Raising Arrows needs our prayers. Her baby just died. It's truly a heart-wrenching story. You can read her blog and keep updated.
One of her friends has set up an account to help with medical expenses and funeral expenses...if we all chipped in $5, $10, $20, whatever we can come up with, it will show our support and love during this horrible time.
You can see that blog entry at HERE, or at paypal, enter the email address: medicalbills4emily@sbcglobal.net
If you have a blog and want to post this information, the more people we can get it out there to, the better! Let's get together and help this family!
Did I tell you all that the other night the baby took 6 steps?!?! He's amazing. He's coming so far, so fast! He is also into mimicking sounds. Chris has a cough and baby keeps "coughing" too. It's hilarious!!!
In Elias news, he learned how to swing today! As in, not needing a push, being able to pump himself! He was so proud! We have a swingset in the backyard and the weather this week has just been GREAT! He's spent hours out there! (we've been out weeding too...not as much fun)
More Elias news...he loves mazes. One day I bought him this little maze workbook at the teacher store, he did all 42 pages in ONE sitting. This is part of my philosophy of learning. I'm not going to STOP him from something he enjoys. He spent much of that day doing mazes. Sadly, it's hard to find maze BOOKS. Well, hello Internet! I found the coolest site tonight Printable Mazes. I spent quite awhile printing off all the Alphabet ones. They have mazes in each letter, lower case and capitol case. Plus many more. They are harder than EASY but not too hard. On average they are taking 2 minutes or less, and a couple of tries.
I love watching their brains spin. You can almost follow what they are thinking.."no, not that way, it dead ends...oh, don't go that way, it stops too....oh, back up, back up,.....YESS here we go!!!!"
Brian update...he is busy fixing an old computer of ours up for a friend, who's computer is mega slow. He's putting xubuntu, a linux operating system, on it, to speed it up, and configuring it to look like Windows, as our friend is a tad computer illiterate...it needs to run like how she's used to! What the boy can't do!!
Technology is a wonderful thing! Thanks to my son who is always finding cool, weird, often intriguing and sometimes introspective website and sharing them with me. Now we play this game where we Instant Message each other with cool sites. Always learning!!
The 13th century is boom time for the wool trade. With three sheep to every man, woman and child, wool is our biggest export. But nobody likes stiff and itchy cloth that falls to pieces, so we have several openings for fullers.
As a fuller, you are expected to walk up and down all day in huge vats of stinking stale urine. The ammonia produced by the rotten wee may make your eyes water, but it creates the softest cloth by drawing out the grease (lanolin) from the wool. If you can dance up to your knees in urine for around two hours per length of cloth, you'll succeed in closing the fibres of the wool and interlocking them to produce cloth that is kind to the skin. You will be doing your part, along with the weavers, dyers and merchants, in making it a world-beating export.
You may stink and regularly have to fight back the urge to throw up, but you are guaranteed very clean toenails.
===============
or Tudor Times:
Attention all ambitious noblemen! Following the untimely death of Sir Henry Norris, a new groom of the stool is required by Henry VIII. The primary duty of the groom is to see 'the house of easement be sweet and clear' or, more plainly, to clean the royal rear and privy.
It's always interesting to look at your own stool but imagine looking at the king's and laying it in a dish. As for wiping – with the hands: there is no toilet paper at the Tudor court – just try not to think of the meat-heavy diet of the big man.
This is a challenging position for someone looking for exciting openings, for whom no job is to too big or small. Light relief may be provided by regular enema and laxative administrations. It's a coveted position – no one else will be so often alone with His Royal Highness, so although you will be dealing with number twos, you will be number one in the privy chamber. (And, later, the eminent historian David Starkey will write about you in his doctoral thesis.)
=====================
They're not all gross...some are HARD!!
VIctorian Times
This is one of the toughest jobs for anybody, let alone a child, to carry out. Hurriers are all about six to eight years old. You'll be equipped with a wide leather 'gurl' belt with a swivel chain attached. After harnessing yourself into this, you'll attach the free end of the chain to a sled. Then, for over a mile underground, you'll make your way through the small tight passages of the mine, so small that you can't stand up.
Once you reach the coal face, you'll have to fend for yourself among the adult miners as these tough men load your sled with chunks and slabs of coal. Then you'll have to scrabble and crawl back to the surface pulling your load. This must be completed many times during a 12-hour shift. If you're lucky, you might get an even younger child to act as your 'thruster' and shove the sled from behind.
Danger waits around every corner in this sorry and thankless endeavour.
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You ever have one of those days where, out of your control, the "plan" changes like 3 times BEFORE 10AM?!?! That was us today!
I had to get Brian to his First Aid certification class by 9:15. That meant we all had to be eaten, dressed, chores done etc by 9ish, because immediately upon arriving home, Elias was to be picked up by a friend to go to Roller Skating, and at 10, Sebastian had his Physical Therapy.
In order for the baby to have his G-Tube feeding done in time, he had to start no later than 8:20, to be done by 8:50. Except the feeding pump spazzed and went into Error mode and ended up not being able to change functions!! ACHH!!!! So, the Home Health Care Company had to send someone out with a new pump. Meanwhile, I had to physically push in, S-L-O-W-L-Y, the formula. BUT!!! I had other kids to get ready!! NOOO!! Oh well, so we did it.
Get out the door, drop Brian off, come home to vacuum quick before PT gets there, and in the middle of vacuuming she calls and had to cancel. Okkkkkkk......
So, we waited for the new pump, which came very promptly, and the funny thing is..it all worked out! I ended up being able to go to Skating with the kids, had a clean house to boot, and a new pump! Wasn't how I planned it...but it worked out great!!!
Any symbolism there?!?! Of course there is!
So, Brian finished his First Aid course. Got his certification, now he can save us if we choke, or stop breathing. I am actually very proud of him for choosing to do this class. Emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere, and the ability to KNOW what to do could prove to be lifesaving.
He got a kick out of some parts of the class...I guess the instructor was cool...and his friends were there...Did you know that when giving Chest Compressions, if you break a rib, you are to keep going?!?! Things like that, as awful/funny as they sound, could be really helpful to remember if the situation arose!
Hopefully we won't have to put him to the test, but I think he'd do awesome if he had to.
Small Sebastian Update:
I'll update on his health later, but had to share...I've been working on "How big is Sebastian?!" , "So Big!!" for weeks now. And I get a blank stare, maybe a laugh.
Today, Elias said it to him, and Seb's hands flew up in the air. At first I thought it was coincidental, but then he did it again!! I grabbed the camera, and called Chris, screaming to him that Sebastian finally got it!!!! YEAH!! Big boy! Here are some pics. Gosh, I love that boy!!!
We had our annual Valentine's Day party with one of our support groups today and had decent weather and a great time! I say one of our support groups as I belong to quite a few. This happens to be the Inclusive group that I started with 2 other friends, with activities centered on our side of town! It's member-run, very loose, very informal.
I always encourage families to join a couple of support groups....see which ones fit, and what they all offer. Two of the groups I belong to offer parents meetings. Those are sometimes nice to go to! One offers a day of teen academic classes, and the other offers a day of elementary academic classes. The 3rd group, "my group", is where we do most of our field trips and park days.
Joining more than one group can come with hazards though....overload of stuff to do, and too many commitments to help. You don't have to sign up for EVERYTHING! And, instead of being "assigned" to help somewhere, sometime, think on what your gifts are, and offer them!
My main role in all my groups is one of political liason. I let them all know what's going on, when, and where we need help! I also love being a contact for "newbies" so I lead mentoring for the 2 groups that have parent's meetings. I'm always available outside of the meetings though if anyone wants to gab homeschooling! It's my passion!
So, back to V's Day Party....nice weather, a little windy (A preview of tonight when they had to shut down our airport ...constant gustings over over 40-60 mph). All the kids brought V's day cards to exchange, lined up their baskets and went down the line dropping in their goodies. What excitement looking at all their candy and cards!
Plus, being homeschoolers, we got to do it at a park, complete with a potluck, and just enjoy the nice weather! A few hours of playing, food, and fun, and we headed home.
We have more V's Day festivities tomorrow! Tomorrow is actually going to have a few back to back events, which I generally HATE doing, but couldnt get around it without missing something.
Elias will go to speech at 12:30, be picked up at 12:50. In between there, my friend Angela will pick up Brian and drop off her daughter. Then I'll take her daughter and Sebastian to pick up Elias and go straight to gymnastics at 1pm. Gymnastics is fun, they really have a good time. Sadly, this is baby's nap time, and he's usually either left home with Daddy (who's working tomorrow) or with Brian (who will be going to Teen Bunko, which overlaps the elementary stuff, so Im running the littles, and Angela's running the Bigs.)
After gymnastics ends (2pm) we will hoof it to our other support group's V's Party (starts at 2) which will be different than todays...more games and activities, versus free play at the park.
Writing this reminds me that this is as far planned as Angela and I have gotten! Am I taking her daughter home after the party? Or am I going to take them all to the teen bunko activity?!?! Details to iron out. Luckily, I am surrounded by people that I implicitly trust my kids with. If I dont make it somewhere, she'll have them, they'll eventually get home, and they'll be AOK meanwhile! Then, after the teen party, there's ANOTHER teen activity at night..an ice cream social. So, we'll be running around for that too.
Hopefully everyone will have fun and the few moments of running will be worth it!
Baths...most often loved by small children, fraught with splishing and splashing...but it wasn't that way for Elias. Elias has ALWAYS hated baths. I have a picture of him (it's not on the computer or I'd load it here, it's SO funny - well, in hindsight...) where he is 2 mo old SCREAMING and PURPLE from screaming during a bath.
Then, to make him hate baths more, Elias was in the hospital for 6 straight weeks when he was about 1 1/2, they only let you sponge bathe there..so he got used to that, and even tolerated it! So, when we came home, I had to stand him at the edge of the tub and sponge bathe him..fast, simple and it worked. Except he NEVER Stepped foot IN the tub.
Fast forward till age 4 1/2. My sister-in-law and family (5 kids) moved in for 6 months while they were building their house. What a neat time that was...my house can hold 8 kids without a problem, it was a little loud for my husband's tastes, but suited me PERFECTLY! I can totally see myself living a communal lifestyle..everyone taking turns watching the kids, grocery shopping, cooking, it's for me!
Anyway.....her 2 youngest would always shower together (I have a huge walk-in handicapped shower), and Elias was finally brave enough to try it. It soon became a nightly ritual for the 3 of them to shower together. What fun and what cute memories!!!
Bath time was reserved for one night a week...where they got lots of play time! Soon, Elias tried that too, and loved it!!! Finally!
Now, Elias is the Big Brother. Sebastian just started being able to sit up on his own for a sustained amount of time...long enough to try the bathtub! Unlike his brother, Sebastian LOVES water, loves slapping it, playing with toys, even getting his hair washed! So...we threw them in the tub together and watched the fun begin!
I couldn't even get a picture of a smile, he was too busy playing...but he is smiling while he plays!
To each his own...sponge baths for a few years, shower for awhile, then blossom on and be able to teach someone else how to play in the bathtub...it's kind of like life! Each of us moving at our own rates and eventually mastering it, and being lucky enough to model it for those under us.
It's always interesting around here. Brian's been wanting a record player (another tangent that only Brian can explain!). Folks, you heard it here first...Brian SWEARS records are "coming back in". We'll see :)
We posted the desire for a free or cheap one on Freecycle, Craigslist and our local homeschool loops. Most of the responses were older models that needed needles. Then a local homeschool mom called me from Goodwill's 50% off day and said they had one there!! She picked it up for us.
It's a Crosley, 4-in-1 player. The CD part doesn't work (who cares, we have cd players) and it needed a needle. But, the needle part # was listed in the booklet that came with it, so easy to find and buy!
The needle came in the mail yesterday (which we didn't get until today!) so we've been busy playing with the record player ever since!
I had a box of old 45's that were my moms. I LOVED them when I was little. I'd carry the box around with me with my old Fisher Price record player and listen to them over and over.
Breaking open that box today....they SMELL OLD! They smelled old when I listened to them. I love that smell!!
I made Brian listen first to the one I remember best...Dee Dee Sharp "To Know Him is to Love Him"...and I called my mom! What a trip down memory lane!!!
We have so many oldies...the original Witch Doctor, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson etc etc. I even had in the box some of my old books with records! What a find!
Maybe this will bring back some memories for you too!
While I wasn't about to brave the IRL concert, the movie sounded like an ok deal! My sis-in-law asked to take Elias with them, leaving her 2 littles with me. Worked great for everyone! Here they are after the movie with their "cool" 3-D glasses on.
Sebastian got some quality time with the cousins more his age, while the bigger kids watched the movie.
Sebastian is routinely thrilling us with his new "tricks". This week he learned to let go of us for a few seconds. Then he threw in clapping while balancing. That's the below pic. Today, he decided to be super big-boy and stand up and balance on his own, like in the middle of the floor...not holding onto anything! Wow, he'll be walking soon! And to think, a few months ago he was sooooo sick.
After a weekend of lots of snow at the higher elevations, we took off for sledding fun! It's always amazing to me, living in the desert, that within 45 minutes we have a ski "resort" and snow play area!
We got up there and it was 18 degrees. Now, when I lived in NJ that wouldnt have phased me....after 8 years here, 18 is UNHEARD of!!!! Even my teen was WHINING!! It was brutal! But, there was snow!
Can you tell who was unhappy and cold? Oh, yeah, and whose boots didn't fit so they kept slipping off?
He ended up being "sent" to the car with Brian for warmth and a much needed nap!
Well, at least this one's having fun! Elias is in the red.
Well, all in all, it was a cold but fun time! Just glad we don't have to live with all the slush and scraping windshields, and COLD anymore!! Viva Las Vegas!
I can truly tell you that following a child's lead (and of course my belief is that those interests are God-placed) can take you places you never would have dreamed of.
Brian...my never been to school, never traditionally schooled child...has always led me to things that are certainly not on any scope and sequence..and yet, at 14, he still sometimes surprises me!
Brian assigned ME a challenge! He asked me to read a book he had just read. What!!
Brian's reading style and mine...are...umm...POLAR OPPOSITES!!! He's into sci-fi and fantasy, LOVES Harry Potter...I've never cracked a HP book open! I'd rather whilst away my time on Christian Fiction, or parenting books, or even non-fiction on topics I'm interested in....
I started silently praying and contemplating my choices. Geesh, if I say no what kind of mom am I? But if I say yes I have to read the book! What to do, what to do?!?!?!
Ok, it can't be that bad, it came from the "religious" section at Borders..not like it's sci-fi....that's in its favor....plus, I'll get to see what it is he's reading.....another plus...maybe give us something meaty to talk about...
Let me run down for you some background info, including how he found this book.
He loves to read. He has never been made to read any certain book, never done a book report. EVER. I see no clear reason to make a child do a book report. If you want to know if they've truly read it, talk to them about it! If you want to know if they can write a report, well, that's a different topic altogether! Why mix it in with reading when most people want their kids to love reading! I do have a standing rule that everyone in the house reads an hour a day, and I don't care what it is, as long as its reading. I have one who was pulled from ps who hated reading and for his hour, he'd read Nintendo Power magazine and Game Cheat magazines...I don't care! If you're reading and enjoying it, that's what matters.
Brian loves music...recently a member of a band he likes, Hawthorne Heights, died, and on their website they asked people to learn about an organization that the person supported, called To Write Love on Her Arms.
Since then he's become attached to the organization, wearing their t-shirts, explaining their mission, surfing their website etc.
The founder of the organization Jamie Tworkowski has a myspace page, Jamie, and recommends some various books there. One of them is Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
So, that's the story of how HE found the book. Following his interests, and various bunny trails.
And, yes, I accepted his challenge and read it! I am super impressed not only by the book (check back later for my review) but that MY SON found it, and read it, and could discuss it with me. MY BABY! It is so profound and so deep and so....incredible, all about God and finding meaning in life and relationships with Jesus and LOVE.
In a million years I could never have found this book, and then made him read it. And, if I had, he probably wouldn't have gotten out of it what he did on his own.
I was feeling so blessed, reading so many of your blogs who had sick kids over Christmas...well, it couldn't stay away forever, but we were healthy for Christmas!
The beginning of the week had Brian with a head cold. It wasn't too bad except he got a crazy rash on his neck and above his eyes. So he spent a day passed out from Benadryl. Then it was mostly an irritating runny nose. He's much recovered now.
Friday night baby was very restless about 3 am. He also had a slightly runny nose so I figured he couldn't breath well...that is, until he threw up.
Now, if you know me, you know I am severely phobic about throw up. Not, "I don't like it" but, "My heart races, my palms get sweaty, I get physically ill thinking about it" etc etc
My poor husband....baby's throwing up, and crying..hate to see the poor little guys who don't understand what's happening just crying. I'm crying because baby's crying, then I'm crying because I'm exhausted and can't sleep in between episodes because I'm totally panicked. What a night!
Luckily for all parties, I remembered that since baby has a G-tube (tube that goes straight to his stomach for feedings) I can open it up and allow it to drain, and then he won't have to physically throw up anymore! You could still tell when pains were hitting him, but it went much easier.
Little lovely woke up around 9 and seemed much recovered stomach wise, but he had a slight fever that left him not really wanting to do much. We just hung in bed for most of the day, playing with toys and trying to keep germs away from everyone else. Hopefully it works!
Everyone did ok overnight, and back to eating regularly today!
My poor little toothless Elias! For one support group's yearbook pictures he was missing his 1st top tooth. For the next support group's yearbook pictures, a month later, he had lost his 2nd top tooth. Conveniently, this was also right before Christmas, so he got a lot of stares and people singing "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth"!
Today, he lost the 3rd in a row...and the other 2 aren't even pushing through yet! He could pass...well..a LOT through that gap. He's so cute though and so excited!!!
In other news..Brian is battling a head cold, and Sebastian is still being Lovely!
You can tell an awful lot about a person by their magazine subscriptions. Here're mine:
Scrapbook Trends This is by far the best scrapbook magazine. So much of it is my style! It also comes with a hefty cover price, buying it as a subscription is still pricey but not nearly as bad.
Every Day by Rachel Ray . I'm a big Rachel Ray fan.Love the idea of a quick meal and LOVE her flare for cheese and flavor. My kids, sadly, don't appreciate anything she makes and groan when I say "it's a Rachel Ray recipe!"
Martha Stewart Living. Sadly, this magazine was not what I thought it was. I think I was thinking of maybe another one she publishes, like "simple" or something...this was was all fancy smantzy, with ads for Ralph Lauren clothing etc...way too high end for me! Secretly, I'm a Martha Stewart semi-wannabe, but with less fuss and less money spent!
The Old Schoolhouse Finally! I've read it before, but finally subscribed! Got my first issue the other day! YEAH!
What do your magazines tell others about you?!?! Do you have expensive tastes? Do you want to be environmentally friendly? What are your subscriptions?! Or dream subscriptions?!?!
I talk about this all the time, so I think it's worthy of its own entry!
Some homeschoolers can get caught up in the day to day scheduling and lesson plans and "being behind" and "did they learn anything" and "maybe this isn't right for me" etc etc.
Whether you're just starting out, or been homeschooling for awhile, a good thing to do is examine WHY you're homeschooling. Ok, maybe not so much the reasons like: freedom, tailoring education, traveling, following interests, hugging your kids whenever you like...but the BIG reasons...the GOALS. What do you want to achieve at the END?
In my home, the MACRO (or BIG) Goals are simple!
1. A love of God
2. A love of learning
3. Knowledge of how/where to find info
4. A career that they love.
We can dissect these....
1.Love of God To be honest, NOTHING else matters, not whether they finish their assignment on Tuesday, not whether they wanted to learn japanese, not even if they're "advanced". NOTHING matters in the end if they go to hell. Now...that's not for us to decide, but the Bible is pretty clear that it's for us to share, show, model and train. When you've had a rough week, or are having a rough week...STOP and work on a love of God...sing, play, recite some Bible verses, talk about God's unending love for us. Anything we can do to help them accept Christ, as a permanent part of their lives!
2. Love of Learning You can force feed them information, you can follow a textbook scope and sequence, but when it's all said and done, if they don't LOVE learning, they will become stagnant, staying in the same old same old, not expanding their horizons, not being inquisitive, because they don't care and you can't make them! It's inborn, it's something they HAVE, but sometimes it can get squashed by our very best efforts. It's not that hard to foster a love of learning...make it fun! Make it about them! Something I always say, is "It's THEIR education, not ours!" harsh words, but it's true. Just because that curriculum works great for you, it also needs to work great for THEM!
3. Know how/where to find info If they can't find information, they'll have to look to someone else for it. I want to raise children who can succeed in a career..if their boss asks them to do X, Y or Z I want them to be able to figure out how to do it. If the boss knows they aren't the one for the job, they won't be in the POSITION to be asked! And, chances are, they won't be THE BOSS. On a personal level, interests are great, but you have to do something with them. If you have this overwhelming interest in...let's say...Calligraphy...the pens aren't going to fall into your lap. A handwriting manual will not simply appear on your doorstep. Where would you go to get these? Back to a career, if your boss says, "Jim, I need to send you to Japan next month to handle an important client, hone up on your Japanese" will "Jim" (ie your grown child) KNOW how to find resources to learn Japanese?!?!
4. A career that they love I don't want my my kids to get a JOB. JOBS are a dime a dozen...open up your local paper and I'm sure you will find pages of JOBS. You could flit around, be receptionist here, burger flipper there, waitress for awhile, maybe even a nanny....and if those are your GOALS, great!! But if they aren't.....then not so great. I want my kids to have a love of a (or many) fields that they could look for fullfilling careers. If you LOVE politics you could make that your career....working in a local politician's office, or help run a campaign office, run for senate, mayor or town council, be a lobbyist, run a political organization, etc. Maybe you love restoring things. You could become a restoration expert, sit on your city's Historical Preservation Society Board, own an antique store, be an interior designer for historical buildings, etc etc. The love of a field could allow for a move to Florida, or North Dakota, or wherever, and still be able to find something to do with your passion. And, if it's a passion, it won't be just a j-oooo-bbbb. It will be fun, it will be rewarding.
So, on to Micro Goals. These are smaller goals. They can be whatever you like...daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly. You can include anything you like...chores, personal hygiene, education etc.
The thing to remember with Micro goals is not to let them overwhelm you. A goal for every 15 minutes might not get met...then that leads to frustration. A goal is more of an overview so you might say:
3 months from now: Finish 2 classic books as a family, do Bible studies together at least 1x a week, clean out garage, do a fun family outing, have children trained in one new chore
or you might say by the end of this year: have better manners, be proficient at the alphabet (saying, writing and recognizing), establish a bed-time routine that is easily followed etc etc etc
Now, reality speaks...life happens...maybe you get really sick and need months of therapy...you wonder, would they be better off in school? I can tell you, through the years we've had a few years of craziness! They would NOT be better off in school....keep in mind your MACRO goals!! When all else fails and your micro goals aren't met, are you still striving towards your macro goals?
Hopefully this will help you not only prioritize, but de-stress! Be blessed!
Ugh so this year Nevada is doing a caucus instead of a primary. What you may ask, is a caucus? Well, today is the day and most of us still don't get it either!
Essentially, instead of being able to go down and vote at any time, everyone goes at the same time (it's assigned) you register, then go in and attend a meeting type thing, trying to sway people over to your candidate. Then either you cast a ballot or get counted for proportionate purposes. But, it's not binding! And, you can be "undecided"
Well, most of us homeschool moms, while we would love to be involved, just aren't willing to sit there for an hour to 2 "discussing" candidate positions WITH OUR KIDS IN TOW!!!
This whole thing seems like it's not very...representative...the rules are crazy, some people don't count , if your precinct needs, lets say 20 votes for John Edwards for 1 delegate, and 2 people are there, they essentially don't matter! Versus a cumulation over the day where every vote is a true vote....
Totally crazy! Well, it's been a good learning lesson...
And, since politics are oft discussed in our house...my son was surfing and found this..I thought it was hilarious and decided to share it with you....it's a HILLBILLY!!!!! HAHAHAHH
We had a good day here...woke up early to watch the neighbor's kids while they went to a Parent-Teacher conference. They got to learn how their Kindergartener did on the No Child Left Behind tests ughhhhhhh.
Then we left and went to Homeschool Skating. This is always a blast. My teen goes out and skates with his friends, and Elias (6) takes a few turns around the rink, but mostly skates all over the carpeted table area with his friends, gaining confidence and speed! Baby got passed from person to person...it's an all around nice time! Because it's city-wide we get to see people from across town that we generally only see at skating!
After skating Brian and a few other teens went to hang out at one of their houses. Later they went and saw Cloverfield (opening day, son has been WAITING!! for this movie..he's so unlike me. I close my eyes at scary commercials!!)
Meanwhile Elias had 3 little friends over (and I had their mommy over!) We had a nice lunch and lots of play time. In between occasional fights its always so nice to see children PLAYING! Using their imagination, coming up with strategies and terms...love it!!!
Hours later, friends left, baby took a very late and very needed nap while Elias and I snuggled on the couch. The off to get Brian.
After a discourse on the pros and cons of this movie (sounds a LOT like Blair Witch project...which I've never seen, nor ever will) he floors me with this little diddy, "I wish I could read my books faster so I can get through them, I have so many on my "to read" list"
Ok, maybe he is my son after all!!
I truly love my children! I love watching them play, love watching their wheels turn as they figure things out, and love the things they come up with! Never doubt, or doubt little, they learn!!
Thought I'd give a brief look into our current interests and happenings...
Brian (14) likes anything computer-related. If one of my friends is having computer problems, until he fixes it, that's all I hear about...when can I go over, when can I go over, when can I go over....And when he does go over, he fixes it!
He likes learning about website building, but he says he hates graphics work. Now, I hear him say that, but I also see him creating some cool things...and learning all sorts of programs with graphics....so....I dunno! He also likes the hardware aspect, building, re-building, tearing apart, adding..etc. He's also MEGA into operating systems, running Windows (which he hates) Linux which he LOVES and something else which I forget because I've never heard of it before! Now he's starting to get into programming....who knows where this will go...but it's so amazing to be on this ride! He truly is an amazing child!
In between all that, he reads a LOT. Classics, science fiction, religious non-fiction, computer books, religious fiction, The Bible.
That's pretty much Brian these days..computer,books, oh, iPod and cell phone!
Now, Elias is a totally different story. He's SO energetic. He loves to move! He's very smart, but corralled in a totally different way.
Elias currently loves:
gymnastics class
AWANAS
Me! And his baby brother, and even his big brother...and the idea of a family..he holds it very dear!
Playing Go Fish
Watching Signing Time
Playing with friends
DANCING. Since he's been little he has loved dancing! Like, movement dancing, not formal, but more like hip hop. When High School Musical came out, he was in "heaven". Then Jump In came out...now he incorporates jumping into his dances! It's so cute! But, it's been YEARS of this. The other day I asked him if I found him a dance class, would he like it. Today he reminded me..and I hopped to it! Got some great recommendations for some breakdance and hip hop classes. I think they will be right up his alley! Watch for him in a few years!
Sebastian. He's so happy. He loves moving around, and he loves music. His favorite thing, any time he gets crying, or needs to calm down, is to watch Baby Einstein movies. They captivate him. Santa brought him some new good ones! He also of course loves to be held, and a new fave is BATHTIME! Splashing is fabulous!
Now I'll get into us adults! My husband and I have some pretty cool and diverse interests.
My husband....he used to be a runner. Now he's ...drumroll please...an Ironman. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means he's certifiably crazy, cuockoo, loco, stubborn, and resilient. It also means he swam over 2 miles, then biked like 112, AND THEN ran a full marathon (26? miles) all in under 11 hours. CRAZY!!
This is only a "hobby". He's really a limo driver, 1/2 owner of a local triathlon store, and real-estate investor wannabe. The Hobby does seem to take up a lot of time though! He's very good about including us though....he'll run around the park we're at, or he'll run home from an event, we travel as a family to all of his races...it's manageable!
Me....my interests can come and go too! Long term interests, of course, Kids, God, education....I also love to scrapbook, read! READ!!! I love to read! A lot of christian fiction, some non-fictions. I love advocating for homeschooling rights. Never dreamed I'd be where I am today, that's for sure! I love helping new homeschooling families. I love to travel! I LOVE to see sights, to learn all about places, I love History...I love research! Google is my best friend
Well, maybe that gives you a small insight into us. We truly follow the interests of the moment, and sometimes that moment lasts 5 minutes, sometimes 5 years. (Small hint, make sure the length of time correlates to money spent! Meaning, don't go buy flying lessons for the next year because your child pointed to an airplane in the sky!! Make sure it's a longish term interest before heavily investing!)
Hope this has been fun to read...some day I'll detail some of the weird and wacky interests we've followed through the years....I wonder what the future holds for us!!
An Expensive, no I mean Electronics, no really, I mean expensive, kinda day!
For weeks Brian, my computer geek, has been moaning about his monitor. Apparently there's something wrong with it, but nothing that would affect what you or I do with a computer! But, it affects him.
Last night we went to Borders and one of his books of choice was on Python...never heard of it...LOVE following his lead...because where he goes only he knows! Apparently it's for programming...which is what he wants to get into.
In the Sunday ads he found a great monitor at Best Buy, and since then has been heavily researching it and also contemplating using his stash of money. I made it very clear that since I considered the current monitor more than usable that I wouldn't be purchasing a new one. Need vs Want, tough lesson to learn!
So, today he decided he needed to wait to delve into his Python book until his new monitor, so off we went to purchase it. What a happy camper!
But the day didn't end there.
I've been contemplating buying him a cell phone. Please understand, I've been adverse to this idea, in theory, for years. But this year has really brought about some more independence and quite frankly, I want that connection to him! Buying him a cell phone is NOT for him to gab, NOT for him to be cool, It's about ME!!! Call me paranoid, whatever, but I've lost a kid before in a public place, and it's TERRIFYING! I need that assurance that while he's off "hanging with his friends" that he's not really been kidnapped and 1/2 way to Alaska, or that when we separate in the mall that I can then again connect with him.
Our current cell plan is EXCELLENT, and sadly, not offered anymore, so to add a line, we'd have to change plans...not happening! I had mentioned to my parents months ago that I was thinking about this. At the time they were looking at changing their provider and were going to get back to me with the new plan's add-a-line deal. BUT they went with a basic plan, like 350 minutes a month, I would hate to have my son foul them up!
Tonight, out of the blue, my sister "remembers" to mention that she's been paying for an extra line on her plan for more than a year (broke up with her boyfriend and just didnt cancel the line) and if we bought the phone Brian could use that line. Well, hello!!!!!!! $10/month is what she's paying for that line..unlimited Verizon to Verizon calls, unlimited texting on her plan (need to make sure that carries over to his phone) and she barely uses any of her 1500 minutes.
So, now, guess where we headed off to. Yup, Verizon store.
Here's a pic of him with new phone:
We came home and I was feeling sick to my stomach! So much money spent in one day! I'm used to being pretty frugal, this was a LOT! Heck. the kid got a better phone than MINE!
Sorry for the blurry pic, but it showcases the KEYBOARD!!!
Well, I have to say, Brian saves and saves and saves his money. For him to put out $ means it was very important to him. He put in half of his savings towards the phone and bought the entire monitor himself ($209!!!)
All's well that ends well, and today ended pretty well for him!
Now I better see lots of Python-y stuff happening soon! (Would I know it if it hit me?!?!?!)
My oldest's main interest is computers. It has been for about the past 3 years..and the things he knows are astounding!
Years ago I taught myself html in order to make a website. I write straight html, no editing programs, no Dreamweaver. I do pretty good....I THOUGHT!!!!
Here's a snapshot of a website I built for our statewide group, Nevada Homeschool Network.
The background did get to be a little "much" over the years, but it worked and served it's purpose!
Brian made his first website when he was about 8, just a very simple one on AOL with their editor..it said "I Love God" That's it! Too cute. I later pointed him towards yahoo/geocities where I built some other websites, and a really good website which teaches you how to write codes Lyssa Explains It All.
Soon, the kid was taking off! About a year ago I handed off all my "updates" to him, he has more time! The trade-off for that was I had to hear him moan and groan about the old html (versus xml I guess?) and how I built the website with frames and frames are stupid and can take some computers too long to load etc etc.
He started "validating my codes" dunno really what that means, but it made him happy!
Meanwhile I found homeschoolblogger! He's been very instrumental in showing me where I can change what and how to do things...his breadth of knowledge has so far surpassed mine that I am a baby in comparison!!
We also realized we needed a simpler, more updated look for NHN's website, so he was instrumental in the building of that also. He knows how to do graphics stuff which I don't. I can change colors, or fonts, but start messing with even borders, much less images and I'm out!
Here's the snapshot of the new NHN website, built "the right way" according to him! You can see more of it at NHN .
The boy is a true treasure..teenage angst and all. Watching his brain work has thrilled me from day one...and now knowing how far he has surpassed me..really makes me appreciate how much he really does know!
Lest my recent post , A Small Vere, make you believe my children don't know history, let me remind you that we live an educational lifestyle. This lifestyle is fraught with field trips and traveling, educational tv, magazines, etc etc. We don't sit back and wait for things to find us..we go out! We play! We watch! We read! We travel a lot, especially back East where I am from...which is full of great learning opportunities. And, most importantly, we learn!
A lot of our history is Early American & Civil War. Here are some examples of cool history related things we've done, which you can also do!!
Philadelphia (Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross house, Ben Franklin, WW2 Ducks, Independence Hall, etc etc)
This is all Early American History learned in a hands on totally fun way!
Now, this doesn't include the wacky things we've done learning about Ancient and Middle Ages....from mummifying a chicken (that doesn't work well..too fatty) to mummifying a fish (works VERY well! but smells worse at the end) or having Medieval Feasts, going to the Renaissance Faire, etc. etc
These are all life things we do...that we learn from! We use community resources, ranger led talks, movies, magazines, whatever captures our interests.
As much of the learning as possible in our house is done hands on and FUN! Sometimes I forget how much fun our "every day things" are, until I hear about them later from a neighbor or friend. When I was growing up...and I have all these for my kids too...our "toys" were tangrams, geoboards,base ten blocks and Cuisenaire rods and weights. I love that my kids love these things too!
My neighbor just called me and told me her daughter asked for a "money box" like Elias' for Christmas!!! HAHAHA!! This is an old old simple play cashbox, not even a cash register, just the drawer part, with fake bills and coins in it.
I play "McDonald's" with the kids. The game gets more advanced as they get older. At first it's number recognition, we play with just one bill, so everything would be $5, or $20 etc. Then it's coin recognition, everything is a quarter, or a dime. Then everything is simple, $5.25 so exact change is given back. That's where we are now. Eventually we'll get to more complicated change giving. For now it's cool that the kids enjoy playing and know what fronts and backs of coins look like and how much they're worth.
We all take turn being the order taker and the customer..it's fun, especially when you order 25 cheeseburgers, 10 fries and 10 drinks, and your "total" is $1 ! Well, we'll worry about reality vs imagination some other time!!
For number recognition we also play Go Fish (all the time) , War and Bingo.
Our nick name for Sebastian. We finally got his 1 year pics done today (even though he's 16 mo!!) We missed his birthday because he was sick, and then I was tired of "sick" pics and wanted to wait till he looked better. He certainly looks healthy here!
For 14 years I have been pretty confident about my son and his education. Literally...since he's been little I have loved helping him learn, seeing the spark of interest, watching "the wheels spin" and watching him "get it".
I haven't had many bumps in our Unschooling journey, yet recently we hit a mom-made crater. I'll admit it, it was my fault. I vered for a moment. I'm glad we're out of that hole now! It wasn't very pretty and cast all sorts of ugly doubts.
So...to recap...one of our homeschool groups offers teen co-op classes. This year I decided (do you already see the problem?) to sign Brian up for 2 of them that sounded cool, photography and history. Ok, he likes photography and he's always loved history..what could go wrong?!?!?
Before I go any further, both teachers are beyond excellent, and wonderful women, besides! This has nothing to do with them, nor their teaching styles. It has to do with the fact that I decided something and then didn't "listen" to my son....something he's not used to.
So..photography class was more about art and art expression....poor Brian..he's not very artistic. He had to do an altered book, using various techniques shown in class. He would sit there for hours looking at all his "stuff" spread out over the table, try this and try that, and end up with NOTHING. It was driving me CRAZY! I'm a scrapbooker. I love altered books. I admit, sometimes I get no vision, it takes some time to get going, but this poor kid sat there day after day staring at these things like they were vipers, and all the while MY frustration level was growing! Just slap something on and move on to the next page already!!!!
This struggle between him and his lack of ability to DO it, and between me and him for not JUST DOING IT became crazy!
Meanwhile he was simultaneously taking the history class, which is a fun, hands-on class, with tons of homework, papers and class presentations.
While I could get over the art thing, the history thing left me with doubts. AM I doing him wrong by not MAKING him do reports? He can't even handle doing this?!? Do I make him persevere and stick the class out because he's already in it? He did learn a lot. More, doubts, more doubts.
On his end, he was left feeling pretty stupid and with a quickly deteriorating relationship with me. No wonder we had awhile of tears and overly emotional behavior!
I pulled him from Art first, thinking "he doesn't really need this". A few more weeks of History went by and things were off and on again ugly.
Finally, one night my husband called me from work (Husband who has not always been supportive of homeschooling) and told me he thought I needed to pull Brian from the History class. He said, "This is not his interest, all these years you've let him go according to his interest, he's GREAT at computers, and now you're making him do something he doesn't want, why? He doesn't NEED history" Why indeed?!?! This is my husband speaking to me! This is a big deal!
Needless to say, I immediately drafted an email to his history teacher, thinking all the while, she's going to think "Those unschoolers...don't they know he NEEDS history?!?!"
Below are our emails:
----------------------------------------------------------------- It is with utmost sadness that my family has come to the conclusion that Brian needs to be taken out of History class. My husband and I had a long talk last night and it was the first time he's truly embraced my Unschooling Philosophy, encouraging Brian in the things he is interested in instead of conforming and taking classes "because he needs to".
While Brian loves the class, he doesn't love the topic. It's become somewhat a source of frustration between him and I that I'd started to move away from my convictions to unschool him, trusting God to lay interests on his heart, that I can then follow up on within the community or just within our own home. Instead, I saw this class and thought it'd be cool...in reality it'd be cool for ME! Id love to take it! I'd ace it :) I'd learn and I'd love it..because it's of interest to me.
This is in no way a reflection on you. It's just our family returning to our ingrained beliefs.
Thanks for understanding..
Elissa Wahl
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Elissa,
While I am deeply saddened to be losing such a brilliant student, I do respect your decision and his interests. It is refreshing to see parents so concerned about their student and I know that this concern will show in his future endeavors. My hope is that what I was able to teach him will stick with him and maybe one day he'll find some part of history that interests him. Brian is a wonderful young man and it has been my utmost honor to teach him; please let him know that he will be truly missed.
Brian IS extremely intelligent, and given the reign over his education, he steers towards computers. All of my friends call him for tech support, he has torn apart and rebuilt 3 of our computers, he is SO knowledgable and always learning more....why did I question the need for history?!?!?! Why did I allow doubts into my beautiful son's head about his own intelligence?
If, at some later point, he decided he isn't going to enter a computer field (Fat chance) , he will then do what is necessary to learn what he needs.
While he "can't" do an altered book, he can run GIMP and play with his tablet pen and alter digital images using layer after layer and technique after technique until he creates these beautiful images.
While he struggled over writing a report on James Madison, he can research various operating systems, take notes on them (in whatever computer language it is...doesn't look like English to me!) and then install the alternative operating systems AND then make them work!
I had a brief moment of worry, but seeing the outcome of it was worse than the worry! It's gone now, done, hopefully forever! Cast the fears and doubts aside and live happily!
While most people think of living in Las Vegas as living in "Sin City", we know there is so much more to it than that! We have some of the prettiest sights within an hour's drive! We are always out and about looking at nature, and while it may not all be green grass and trees, it's beautiful in it's own way.
Most of the cool places also have either Jr Ranger programs, and/or ranger led educational programs you can avail yourself of. And we do!
Red Rock Canyon ( And here's it's more official website..both have great info Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area) is known throughout the world for its spectacular rock climbing. For those of us who are lucky to live close by, it's well worth the $20 yearly car pass! There are great hikes with Petroglyphs and pictographs, waterfalls, caves, birding, you name it, they have it! Their Ranges also do Educational Programs, which homeschoolers can set up! So, we do!
We did a recent trip on "What's A Desert?" While it was geared for K-2nd grades, Red Rock, like most places, understood we don't always "do" grades, and that there are often older and sometimes younger, siblings along.
This educational program was about the 5 senses. Their website quote is, " Through multi-sensory activities, students will learn about desert animals , plants and rocks."...and they did!
They got to TOUCH all sorts of animals and pelts (below is an owl)
They got to HEAR all sorts of animal sounds.
They got to SEE many animals and plants on a scavenger hunt around the Visitor's Center
They learned about TASTE, what desert plants are edible and what tastes BAD
And they got to SMELL a very cool plant, a Creosotebush, which smells like rain when you breath on it!
It was a fun hands-on class, and the Ranger was great with the kids!
After the class, many of us caravaned out to various scenic points. Here's Elias out in the beauty of nature!
We ate lunch at a neat little picnic area, complete with a cave that you have to climb to....and climb we all did...repeatedly! That spot is always a hit! Not too hard, not too easy and just high enough to get a spectacular view (or scare mom's socks off when you get close to the edge of the ledge!)
Then a couple of families took a nice hike. before heading home. Remember the TOUCH/FEEL part of the lesson? What else can one TOUCH or FEEL in the desert? You got it, a CACTUS! And my 6 yr old sure FELT it when he barreled down a trail and ran right past a cactus, inserting about 20 quill like needles into his knee! Luckily a well-prepared dad had tweezers with him and "operated"
Much better after that rough patch! I'm sure Elias will always remember his impromptu "surgery" while on a hike!
It was a beautiful day, perfect autumn weather and lots of fun and learning!
We have many beautiful areas around us, Red Rock is one of many that we frequent. Check some of these out if you are ever in our area...and if you live here..be sure to set up some educational field trips (and invite us along!)
I am "transcribing" my handwritten journal from my experiences in Africa as a teen, onto the computer. It is so amazing to go back and read and re-live the experience! I haven't done this in forever! I haven't even viewed my tons of pictures in over 15 years, as they are all slides, not photos. I need to get them onto a cd.
When I was 17 I was part of a missions trip, from the United Methodist Church, to Zaire. The purpose of our trip was to view different living situations and come back to the States and report on how our donations and how the UNICEF money was being spent.
I learned so much! We stayed in Lubumbashi, Mulunguishi, Kafabumba Pastor's School, Luena, Mulongo, Malemba, towns in between...(I haven't finished my notes yet for all the names) We stayed in bush villages, in cities, on a river barge, visiting villages that had never before seen a white person.
We visited a TB clinic, a leper colony. We traveled a bush pastor's church circuit, we swam in the river, caged off to protect us from Crocodiles, we had to take pills to ward off malaria.
Everything was foreign to my existence in middle class, suburban America. Not just the surface things like language, but foods, ways of life, cultural differences and overwhelming poverty and sickness.
I saw black children with yellowed hair from malnutrition, so many distended bellies from kwashiorker, held a premature baby that weighed less than 2 lbs.
Yet, everywhere we went, we were met with SINGING! Masses of natives would meet us as we landed, or arrived by car, at each destination. And they would sing to us for more than an hour, joyously.
The love of the Lord, as expressed by the missionaries and also through the natives, was astounding. These people lived solely by faith for provisions, for health, for everything...even the missionaries!
Looking back on my trip, I may not have been the best ambassador of the information upon my arrival home. But I assure you, that trip helped create the person I am today.
I would encourage you, if you want to "adopt" a missionary, do a "good deed", support missions, etc, that these long term missionaries are THE REAL DEAL. Their work has touched thousands of lives directly, and by influence hundreds of thousands.
1st I must say, I LOVE BLOGGING!! I've sent all my family back east the link..it's cool to be able to include pics and funnies throughout our days....like the one below....
We were recently at Homeschool Skating and I did the most embarrassing crazy "mom" thing!
You know how you'll be at the grocery store, "rocking" your cart, or swaying while you're standing somewhere, JUST BECAUSE?!?! Those types of mom things are automatic. For me, I have an additional one, plugging the binky in the baby's mouth!
Sebastian has an oral sensitivity. He puts very little in his mouth but he LOVES his binky! HE sucks on it all the time and if he ever starts to fuss, it's automatic to just shove it in and he calms down.
So, I had Sebastian's binky in my hand, he was sitting in his stroller next to me, and I was talking to a group of moms. Elias comes up to me all excited about skating and starts interrupting and talking. I initially told him to wait, and put my hand on him to stop him, while still trying to give the other moms my attention. He kept going. Now, this is all happening really fast, and just instinctively I reached the binky towards his mouth while still concentrating on the other moms. Yes, you read that right, I aimed the binky at my 6 yr old!! He pipes up, "Mom, I'm not a baby!!!". ACHH!!!! How embarrassing! I just wanted to quiet him down! Guess we need to work on interrupting so I don't embarrass myself anymore!
In this season of remembering Christ's birth I thought I'd re-share the meaning of the fish symbol from my first issue of Seedling.
The fish has been a symbol of Christianity for a very long time. We must look to the Greek language for the explanation. In Greek, the words "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior" look very different than they do in English. The first letter of each Greek word was taken (a game called acrostic) and the letters formed the word "fish", or "ichthys"in Greek.
You can look to the book of Acts to find some times in the Christian church where it was unsafe to openly proclaim a belief in Jesus. As such, the symbol of the fish took on an important job of identifying other Christians. If you were to meet someone, u could just nonchalantly swipe 1/2 the fish, an arch, in the sand.....if the other party were also a Christian, they could finish
it off. If not, no harm..the other person would not recognize it!!
On the way home from our lovely time in Boulder City, riding the Santa train (see previous entry) and eating greasy food, we had to take a highway, a very highly traveled highway. I am not one for speed, nor switching lanes like a lunatic, I really want to continue to live...know what I mean? It was a beautiful day, nice weather, and lots of motorcycles out there coming back from Boulder City, just like us.
Anyone guess what's coming? Uh-huh, the reason for my title.
All of a sudden I see lots of brake lights...cars swerving into shoulders trying to avoid hitting those in front of them, and pieces of debris on the roadway. A few car lengths in front of me a motorcycle was down, and so was its rider. I let some cars merge in front of me from that lane, and by the time I got to the accident I was hysterical. Yes, not the most "mommy" thing to do, but I couldn't seem to help it.
Mr. Motorcycle man was laying in the arms of his friends, while pieces of his bike were all over the road. His bike was quite a good ways up ahead of him..leaving it to the wild imagination what a fly through the air would have been like.
I was already praying aloud in between sobs, "Please God, let the ambulance get here soon, please let his friends be peaceful and helpful, please help this man know You if he doesn't already, please help his family as they deal with whatever is happening or going to happen...."
UGH! Even as I write this it makes me shaky. Yes, I know we are all going to die..I would just prefer if it was all in natural order, like grow old, get sick (or not) and die peacefully...not die on the side of the road after a beautiful day out with friends while still young enough and cool enough to ride a motorcycle.
Anyway....so this led to the topic of Motorcycles being more in danger due to their small size, fitting right into a blind spot, and the propensity for ER docs to call them "donorcycles". Which, of course led into a discussion on organ donation.
For the record, I am EXTREMELY PRO organ donation. Please take anything of mine that you can use and if, God forbid anything happens to my kids, I've already made it known (Ha, and now even more publicly) what my wishes are. Elias still doesn't grasp the concept, Brian is another story.
When Brian was very young, about a year old, there was a young boy who was shot in Italy, and his parents donated his organs. You may remember, the Nicholas Green story. Brian was a very empathetic child, and one day, he must have been 5, maybe just about 6, the story was re-airing..I don't know why, another organ donation story, an anniversary, anyway...Brian heard it and wanted to totally delve into this topic. So we did. After a lot of talking about it, BRIAN decided he wanted to do that if he ever died.
I am always glad to revisit topics we once learned about. I love to relearn things later, maybe more deeply than the first time, maybe from a different perspective this time. Sorry for Mr. Motorcycle man and his tragedy, but he will always be remembered by our family as Mr Donorcycle. Maybe that was a purpose of his life...to revisit this conversation in my family, and maybe now in yours. Donating doesn't hurt the dead, but NOT donating hurts those who are barely living on a waiting list.
Elias LOVES trains! We do as many train related activities in our travels as we can. One year we went to the Train museum in Balboa park, while in NJ we rode the Black River and Western train, both the Christmas Train and their Great Train Robbery, and recently we saw the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. This year we finally made plans to ride the Santa Train in Boulder City!
We caravaned out with our neighbors (6,2 and infant) and had a nice time! Luckily we had planned to go early in the day, because the later it got, the sooner the next train and even the following train, were selling out! We had perfect timing. We got the tickets for the next train, departing 50 minutes from then and found out they had a little engine ride! So we got in line and did that! It was short and sweet, but still neat!
Then we got in line for the loading of the Santa Train. Boy, did they pack the people in! It was a good thing we only paid $2 a ticket because it was WARM in there, but the kids didn't seem to mind.
We were finally on our way, listening to Christmas Music. The train goes up maybe 7 miles and then switches and goes back to the station. As we were heading back Santa finally made it to our carriage. Again, good thing this wasn't an overpriced ride, because Santa really didn't have much time to be personal with everyone due to the MANY people on board! But, the kids still had fun seeing him.
After we got off, we made our way over to a steam engine. The owner, just a regular ole private person, brought it down to display for this busy season. This was REALLY cool! The owner had built a few hundred feet of wooden tracks so we could see it move and poof out the steam! First we had to watch the men gather the wood, then stoke the engine, and then we had to back up FAR FAR away because the steam came billowing out. It was something I hadn't seen before, and the kids were as enthralled as I was.
To make the day even better, we stopped at A & W for lunch, got rootbeer floats and chili fries, YUMMMMM, good greasy food!
I have a progressive eye disease called Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia It's an annoyance that has me often at the eye dr's office. Recently I was getting up and ready for an appointment and Elias asked me, "What's in an eye?" I knew 2 things, 1) I was in a rush and 2) amidst all my STUFF I have a model eye kit. So I told him, "I'll show you later."
With Unschooling....the kids really do ask all sorts of things and I help them find the answers. Sometimes that interest may last 5 seconds, sometimes 5 years. Maybe this could be the start of him wanting to be an eye dr..who knows?!?!
Sometimes though, life gets hectic and I forget all the millions of things they ask. So, 2 mornings later I was hit with, "Remember mom, you're going to show me what's in an eye!!"
So, our impromptu mini lesson on an eye begins. I find our eye kit and we begin assembling it. Keeping in mind he's 6 the conversation wasn't too in depth. He really wanted to know what hurt on ME and why. So I showed him the cornea and also the muscles surrounding the eyes.
All in all he thought it was pretty gross...holding and throwing the eyeball, looking through the model's pupil, but now he knows what hurts on Mommy!
I'm pretty sure this will be one of those 5 second interests, but you know what, he learned something! He didn't need a textbook, or a scope and sequence, he was interested, we grabbed the moment (well, he reminded me this time, but you know what I mean) and he learned! That's what our Unschooling lives are all about. Accumulated learning, on their timeframe, and when God lays that interest on their heart.
Yesterday we participated in one of our local homeschool group's Christmas Party. This one was actually hosted at our house! Every year a group of us gather and have the kids make Christmas crafts. This year we thought we'd incorporate that into the party!
So, for the party we :
Ate of course! What's a party without a Potluck?!?
Played!
Did a Santa Shopping Day...all the parents brought some items $5 or under and the kids all got to shop for mom and dad. An older sibling helped them each wrap their items for a beautiful and special gift giving!
Did Christmas crafts!
Elias making a glittery Christmas Ball ornament
First, you have to play with GLUE! And get MESSY!! What fun!
We had a good mix of teens and "littles". The teens even got into craft making
Brian's Christmas Tree
Elias and Cassandra making snowmen ornaments
Even little fellow was happy! All dressed in Christmas gear!
Brian won't ever knowingly look into a camera! Here's side view!
Our Christmas crafts aren't expensive and they certainly aren't fancy, but each year the kids have a blast! And, it makes it fun while we're decorating the tree to go back and look at the ones we've done over the years.
Here's a cool link: DLTK's Crafts for Kids. It has not only cool crafts, but coloring pages, recipes and worksheets!
And, where would we be without Enchanted Learning's website? With all their knowledge on every topic, the Christmas Crafts for Kids is always awesome!
I'm so bad about sitting down and blogging...although I love writing! So, I'll try better. I also need to get the hang of how to add cool features here. I want to add some pics to this entry...if you see them it means I did it!! If you don't, well, I tried :( My techy son is at a friend's house, when he gets home he can teach me!
So, this entry came to mind because of something my 6 yr old innocently said. In our house I am the primary "homeschooler" , while my husband works crazy hours. Often when he is home he is sleeping or watching tv, or playing with the kids. I'll tell him what I need done so he can help out, "Honey, can you take out the kitchen trash", "Honey, bring this upstairs", you get the idea.
Well, one day I must have been busy and so I said, "Elias, have Daddy read you your Bible story."
My child looks at me with wide eyes and says, "Mommy, Daddy can't read."
I was flabbergasted! What was he talking about?! I read a LOT, but Daddy, well he reads 2x as much as me! Just look at all these bookcases!
We have 18 bookshelves WITH books on them, throughout the house!
Well, when I thought about it, yup, we have lots of bookshelves, but where does Daddy read? At work. He's a limo driver and in between jobs, or when he's sitting outside an event waiting for his clients, he reads! He reads so much at work that he never reads at home. He doesn't read TO the kids and he doesn't read IN FRONT of the kids. This major oversight was pointed out very innocently (and very quietly) to me.
So, food for thought, not only what ARE you modeling for your children, but what AREN'T you modeling for your children?
No babies were harmed in the making of this photo! See, he's laughing!
Look at this beautiful boy! What a mischievous little smile he is wearing! He was weaving in and out of the palm trees, but I caught him! This was a big slide...he loved it.
Here's Elias and our neighbor friend...they are inseparable. I caught him mid-air..he says this picture is "awesome!!"
My little sweaty angel. They had a soccer team doing face paintings..he wanted Spiderman but that was a little too complicated..they gave him a spider. He went back later on and got another one on the other cheek. They're cute!
I'm never in pictures! I'm always the picture taker! My neighbor grabbed my camera and got this one...ok, I'll post it, you may never see another one! 
n the spirit of that great theologian, Jeff Foxworthy, I present to you some rambling thoughts in my head, all completed by the phrase “you might be misrepresenting God”…
