Posted in Ramblings

 The week is off to a crazy start already. Maddy has still been a bit sick, so we kept the kids home from Sunday School. Ted had a rehearsal all afternoon for the Christmas program, though. He is in the chorus, along with all the other younger children (all the older ones have speaking parts), so mostly they got to play while the big kids practiced. And they had a pizza party. It sounds like he had a really good time. They’ll be taking off this coming weekend because of the holiday, and then the next weekend is show time!

We also took off from Scouts, since they had just done the Regatta and it’s a hectic week. I was glad; the break was nice.

We’ve jumbled up our school work a bit, to try to get a good week’s work in without being overloaded. Science is easy to double up on, since it’s mostly reading right now. We’re taking the week off of handwriting. Math and phonics still proceed at a page a day.

We’re reading a whole bunch of good Thanksgiving books this week. Goody O’Grumpity by Carol Ryrie Brink is our main story. We had a lot of fun just looking at the pictures and finding all the things that were different in their daily lives, as compared to now. (For those who like to cook, this one comes with a spice cake recipe that sounds yummy!) We’ve also read The Magic School Bus at the First Thanksgiving, which is one of their leveled readers. We also got to watch the video made of Jean Fritz’s book Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock? which I found more interesting than the kids did, but it’s very good. Now I need to get the book. I had no idea they had dropped and broken the rock during the moving process not once, but twice! All of her historical stories are interesting, and worth purchasing.

Storytime was a no-go for us this week; I didn’t want to expose all the other kids to sniffly, snuffly Maddy right now. She’s doing better, but just in case there are germs… better safe than sorry 

The holiday will be a bit simpler this year, as we’re just having Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner, no big extended family or trying to squeeze two meals into one day. I’m kind of looking forward to it, though it’s nice to see everyone too. This is, of course, assuming everyone is well by then … Lysle has been sick, too, and working overtime, so it’s been pretty rough.

If I should actually get this posted on time for once, everyone be sure to check out the Black Friday sales by TOS. They’re supposed to be marking down a year’s subscription, which will make an awesome gift for friends. (Note: I am not posting this on time, but they’ve had other nice deals this December.)

And this is the countdown to finishing up writing, for National Novel Writing Month. A shout-out of congratulations to DeniseR from the FIAR forums, who has already crossed the finish line! Watching her has kept me motivated to keep trying (though I really should have quit this year; it’s been pretty awful going!). That winner icon looks really cool … I must get one! LOL. We still need to let Ted finish his story, too. He crossed the halfway mark early in the month, on his goal of two thousand words, and we never got back to it. It’s been so busy!

Madeline is already looking forward to her birthday; she can’t quite grasp that it’s a month away. Pink will be the order of the day, and I’ve already stocked up on streamers and balloons. I’ve even (shh! don’t tell!) gotten a shiny birthday crown for our little princess to wear. I’m trying to decide which of her princess-themed gifts should be for her birthday, and which for Christmas. One she’s getting is the God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible… she’s been borrowing (and ruffling the pages of) Ted’s big boy Bible (from church) and she won’t have anything to do with our toddler-friendly Bibles like The Beginner’s Bible anymore. So I ordered this one from CBD, and I must say, it looks great. I like the story format and the little introductions and fun ideas that accompany each one. I think it will be fun to read to her, and that we might enjoy it together. We shall see.

Thanksgiving: All our food was a hit! Mom and I both took this opportunity to try out new recipes. Mom tried a stuffed chicken breast, and a spinach mashed o which even the kids liked. I tried a Buckeye Bars recipe from, I think, the Kraft magazine. They did not come out exactly like the picture (they show chocolate much darker than is the actual result) but it was very yummy.

The kids watched the Macy’s parade while playing all morning, and enjoyed it. First year they could both really sit through it. They loved seeing the balloons of their favorite characters, and of course, Santa at the end.

Maddy got tired and laid down on the sofa at one point during the meal, and fell asleep … it was very cute. She woke up (well, I made her wake up) when it was time for Mom and Glenn to leave. She played with me and Ted and nibbled at her dessert before bedtime (and then didn’t want to go to sleep, as is usual these days when she naps, especially such a late nap).

Ted’s activity today (besides watching the parade, which he loved) was making what he calls ‘room’ boxes and what I think of as Christmas boxes, since that is always the season we seem to do them. He got Daddy to trim the flaps off of all the small (book shipping size) boxes that we had handy, and also to cut doors and windows into them (which is more than Mommy ever does). We also got out lots of catalogs (hence the Christmas box designation, since this is when we get the most and best catalogs for cutting up) and we cut out paper dolls and pictures. He gave Maddy the tiniest box, but she and I had fun decorating it with a Ruthie cut out from the American Girl magazine, and decorations from AG and Current, and miscellaneous other bits. Ted was cutting out all things red from the Rainbow Resource catalog, but hasn’t pasted anything down. I spotted a cutout of cutlery and other things in his pile, and I found a red wreath in the Current catalog for him to use. So now we have a pile of boxes and catalogs on the floor of the family room, while we work on this project. It’s a fun activity and simple enough. When I first started doing them with Kelley’s kids, as a babysitting activity when Elisha was about Ted’s age or even younger, it was all paper dolls from the AG catalog, and any Christmas goodies we could find in the others. Ted uses the rooms for his Webkinz dolls, which is fun too. We also like to cut out treats from the sweets catalogs like Aplets and Cotlets, and Swiss Colony.

On Sunday we got out our tree and decorations, since it was the First Sunday of Advent. It went pretty fast, actually … many hands make quick work, if not necessarily light. And speaking of lights, the kids talked Lysle into adding a string of colored lights on top of the prewired white ones our tree came with. It sort of works … not the look I was going for, but the kids love it, so who am I to fuss?

Posted in Ramblings

 This was combined with a pack meeting, where the boys were awarded any other patches and badges and loops they had earned. Ted received his popcorn sales patch, the regatta patch, and a water gun prize for selling popcorn. They also practiced the actual flag ceremony, which I hope means they get to count that as one of their achievements toward the Tiger badge. One little boy, who has been the lone Bear while the others were involved in soccer, earned his Bear badge … he was quite proud! Then we had snacks, mostly popcorn (our contribution) and cookies, though one mom had made stuffed potato halves with sails stuck in them … very cute potato boats!

It was fun to see the variety in the boats the children put together. Some were simple painted affairs, like Madeline’s, and one was a three-masted boat with all sorts of figurines on it. Ted’s fell somewhere in the middle as far as detail … it wasn’t a fancy shape or anything, but he and Daddy did a thorough sanding and painting and assembly job, and they did some basic decorations too (some painted and some decal). It was one of the few that didn’t topple over on its first journey down the gutter track. (After some minor adjustments with glue, most of the others managed not to topple over either.) The boys had fun practicing blowing their boats down the track, using straws, but by the time they were ready for the ‘real’ race, most of them had wandered off to the playground. They had had enough fun already. So the official race was just cancelled … it was only for the boys anyway, and not to advance further in some competition.

Back home again, Ted and Daddy are playing World of Goo on the computer – a truly odd game by the guy who wrote Crayon Physics. Aunt Tammy and family came by to bring a belated birthday gift for Ted: a set of simple wooden model kits to put together, and a Card Works building kit, which is really cool. (I can't find a good link but you can search it on Amazon.) We ended up ordering pizza for dinner because everyone is feeling more or less sick, and neither one of us felt like cooking or even facing leftovers.

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 We actually did just a little bit of work, to catch up on a couple of workbook pages, but not too much. J We spent a lot of time on Legos too! On Tuesday we got to participate in the local election and have our school picture day. The kids went out to dinner at Ryan’s with Daddy, to celebrate a relative’s birthday. 

The election part was pretty interesting, actually, though it was a simple one. But one of the volunteers was friendly and chatty, and distracted me as I was marking my ballot. (I don’t use the booths, I prefer to kneel down where the kids can see the process, so it leaves me open to distraction.) I marked the wrong candidate, and had to ask about getting a replacement ballot. It’s not that simple … they have to official destroy my ballot by tearing it, and sealing it in a special envelope, before they can hand over a new one. It was quite embarrassing, especially since our neighbor is one of the poll workers, but also quite educational. 

Friday we got together with several friends, and Saturday was a Lowe’s day.

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If you haven't already signed up for the Friday Freebies newsletter that TOS puts out, you're missing a treat. There's something for everyone, some total freebies and some with purchase.

This week they're having a giveaway for a set of books that looks really intriguing. To enter, you only have to post this paragraph:

Enter to win the complete set of
Terrestria Chronicles
on the HSB Company Porch!

if I read the instructions correctly, and then leave a comment for them. I'm always up for new books, so let's see!

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Here it is, the new school year, and I'm behind with this blog already.

Ted is officially in Kindergarten this year. We chose a cover school over the summer; there've been some paperwork mix-ups but so far everyone I've talked to seems very nice, so I think it's a good choice. We chose our curriculum ... FIAR, of course, with Horizons Math 1 and Explode the Code phonics. We're finishing book 2 of that and ready to move to book 3. Slow but steady.

We have finished three weeks so far. It's been a pretty panicky time for me, but Ted seems to be enjoying our work, and Maddy loves playing along. The first week we simply got into our routine, doing our math and phonics and handwriting. It seems that morning is best for us, right after morning cartoons ... the kids get to play a bit first, and I get to ease into the day, prepping the house by starting laundry or thawing dinner or the like.

The second week we did our old favorite The Story about Ping, and had lots of fun. We even made stir-fry and rice one night, and tried chopsticks. Ted gave up quickly but Maddy struggled valiantly onward. I tried to videotape it ... I hope it worked!

The Saturday before, we went to the art museum to see the exhibits of medieval armor and whimsical sculptures, and got to see the ducks in the park... a nice lead-in. Afterwards Ted got to sign up for his very own library card, at the library.

Friday night was Ted's pajama party ... he likes to pick one night a month to stay up super-late, watch movies and play games with us, and sleep overnight on the sofa bed. Those are usually fun. Then over the weekend we used a Crayola cooking kit to making colorful sugar cookies ... lots and lots of edible art fun.

Last week we read Amber on the Mountain, which was good but not quite as big a hit. At the end of the week we tried sculpting with Sculpey (in lieu of real clay), and got to bake our creations. We scorched a couple but it was fun. Saturday Teddy and Lysle went to Lowe's for another Build & Grow workshop together.

That's a brief, hasty, overview of our last few weeks! Now I need to work on uploading some pictures...

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Wow, we haven't blogged since April! What have we been up to?

Still working on our math and phonics workbooks. We didn't quite get them done yet. With math that's fine, since he knows most of the concepts already and it will all be reintroduced in the next level. With phonics ... we're going to go ahead and finish (it's Explode the Code book 2) before we move on. We're really looking forward to our offical Kindergarten year!

We've stopped going to storytime in the last few weeks. Our favorite librarian retired (she'd been storyteller since I was tiny) and the kids just don't enjoy the others as much. Plus the summer reading program was less exciting than in previous years, so it became more hassle than it was worth to attend. Maybe later in the year we will try again.

We are still playing with our webkinz, and I've joined www.webkinzinsider.com ... they have lots of tips and information (no cheats! not that sort of site.) and I get to help moderate. It went from about 2,000 members in May when I joined to over 14,000 members this July. Crazy. But fun.

Both kids have grown by leaps and bounds. Maddy has a full vocabulary now, and has impressed us with how much knowledge she's picked up ... all her colors and shapes, her letters and their sounds, and counting to ten. Pretty cool for a 2.5 year old. She's also into plenty of mischief ... this week I caught her using the glue stick to adhere dominoes to our hardwood floor. And anything Ted can do, she thinks she can do too.

Ted is excited about school, or rather homeschool. He was miffed when we went school supply shopping because I wouldn't let him use his new red binder yet. We'll be using Horizons Math 1, Explode the Code 3 & 4 (when we finish 2), and Five in a Row. Plus a little handwriting workbook, because I want it to be a separate skill. I help him write in the ETC books when he needs it, so that his handwriting won't hold back his reading. He still doesn't read independently but can sound out simple readers and does well with words when he wants to. Just hasn't clicked yet, for fluency.

At the end of the school year, Ted got to participate in the Mother's Day Out program's preschool graduation. It was very cute, though more hassle than it should have been. It was decided at the last minute that we would need to have Ted show up three times a week for rehearsal, even though we only attended one day. Oh well. He did enjoy it. We wrapped up the school year there, and I had my last teaching day. Actually, I think I missed my last teaching day ... somebody or other got sick. We won't be going back this year, unless having Maddy around while we do lessons becomes a problem. I don't think it will.

I'm sure there's more, but that will have to do for now. :)

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We've gotten caught up in the latest toy craze without even realizing it. LOL. Have you heard of Webkinz? They're little stuffed animals, collectible like Beanie Babies only with less variety so far, but they have a bonus ... a code that you enter online to join the virtual Webkinz world. You get to 'adopt' your pet and decorate a home for them. There are arcade games and trivia and all sorts of ways to earn 'money' to spend on your animal's needs ... food, toys, etc. You have to keep them happy, healthy, and well-fed. Hamburgers are okay but vegetables fill them up better ... that sort of thing. Lots of fun. The site is www.webkinz.com and you can take a tour there.

We got Ted a Webkinz kitty for Easter. Actually, I had to try all four Hallmark stores to find anything that wasn't a frog ... which Ted didn't want. That was my first realization that they were a craze. The second store employee actually called the last two stores for me, which at least saved some driving. There are other stores that carry them, but I don't know where they are yet (smaller stores, not chains). Anyway, I managed to find a kitty. We set up Ted's account on Easter evening, and we've been hooked ever since.

At 5, Ted is a bit young for some of the games, but he has a blast with the daily special acitivities and the simpler games. With a bit of adult guidance to teach them the ropes, non-readers can do quite well with this, but I do think 5 is about the youngest I'd go. There is a chat feature, but it's completely controlled by choosing from pre-selected phrases that relate to whatever game you're engaged in at the time. You can even invite other pets to play in your pet's room ... and if they become a nuisance, there's a "Send Home" button to get rid of them.

It was so much fun that I went out that Monday to find one for me ... and realized how big a craze this is. Almost all the stores were sold out, even though they were due to get a shipment in right before Easter (after I purchased Ted's kitty)! I did find a cute panda bear, and was glad. Now Ted and I can interact, send each other mail (again with pre-selected phrases) and even packages (there's a limit of one to a person per day, so even that is nicely controlled). I like the package option, because I rack up points on the games quicker than Ted can, so I can help him out with furnishing his rooms.

The account is good for one year, at which point (so far) the only renewal option is to add another animal to your account. I'm hoping they change that, though.

This has been fun for us because we all like playing the arcade-style games at places like www.Pogo.com, but Pogo and Yahoo Games have ads ... and uncensored chats. Ted can't fully read yet, but I'm glad we've found a safe option ahead of time.

It's also been good for character lessons ... perseverance in a game, saving up for something you want (the bigger items cost more KinzCash than the smaller things like food), and good sportsmanship. I haven't played too many online interactive games with other players ... when we've played Spades or something online, it's always been prearranges with IRL friends. So this has been new for me, playing against total strangers. And I've learned something ... we need to teach kids good sportsmanship online as well as in real life. I've had several (presumably) kids quit near the end of a game that they were losing, thereby depriving the winner (myself) of the hard-earned winnings. And themselves, too, as Webkinz splits the winnings among the winner and loser, proportionally. Everyone wins in their games. It's very frustrating to have that happen, and I want to teach Ted not to cheat someone else just because he's angry about losing.

Plus there are safety lessons. This is about the safest site I've ever seen for kids, so any buddies Ted meets there are probably okay ... and even if not, there's no way to share personal information. But I've had several opponents ask to be my buddy. I've turned them down, and hoped I haven't hurt their feelings. But I'm an adult, and I wouldn't want some strange adult buddying MY child, so I don't want to be the source of some other parent's worry. And I will teach Ted how to choose buddies carefully, and to always ask permission first. (This site is for adults too, but it's geared for the kids ... and I know lots of other parents who've become hooked on Webkinz too!)

Someone said it sounds like Neopets. I'm not familiar enough with the actual electronic Neopet gizmos, but I've browsed their online site (free) and I suppose there are similarities. I can see differences though ... the art looks more anime-ish, there are ads everywhere (and not just for Neopet gear) and the chats appear to be uncensored (or so I gather from reading the rules about what all is forbidden ... they want it to be safe and police it when complaints are made, but there must not be filters to block it in the first place). Plus it looks like you can lose your online Neopets due to neglect.... Webkinz pets will get lonely but will still be there when you return, at least until your account expires.

If you go looking for a Webkinz ... try to find one locally. The larger animal runs around $12 here, and the smaller ones are about $9, but online they cost much more, especially if it's a retired animal. Ebay has some reasonably priced ones, if you're lucky, but the Amazon prices run to $30 and more. Yikes! So be warned before you get sticker shock. LOL. The stores can't keep them in stock, so it's a seller's market there.

So this is our new favorite activity ... just had to share!

Posted in Ramblings

I am a couple weeks behind again but wanted to quickly post and share this. There's a nifty project called the National Day Diary Project, jointly sponsored by Colgate and This Day in the Life, which is apparently a series of books about the day to day details of women's lives. This year they had a contest for an entry in the book due out 2008. It was interesting to try to jot down the details for just one day. I did submit an entry, and you can read it here: http://www.colgate.com/app/LSS247/US/EN/ReadDayDiaries/DiaryDetail.wsp?e=501&ps=1&cl=0

The main website can be most easily reached by going to http://www.thisdayinthelife.com or www.my247life.com (Colgate's prjoect site).

The end of NaNoEdMo is approaching and I am barely on schedule with my editing hours. Made a new friend who's local but who I haven't met in real life yet. Tore my manuscript to shreds and am still trying to find salvageable bits. And learning all sorts of stuff in the process. I've been doing the B&N online Writing Science Fiction class ... participation seems to be dropping off, which I suppose is to be expected in a free class that actually requires effort ... but it's been a good learning experience for me.

We had spring break and read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. And something else the week before, which I am forgetting. Those are the ones I need to catch up on with my blogging. But gotta run now!

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March 1st is the one-year anniversary of Missey's passing. For those who didn't get a chance to know her, Missey Gray was a homeschool mother with an incredibly active online presence. She passed away after a complication during a C-section.

Missey was known for her enthusiasm and good cheer, and her resources and ideas. Here's the link to her blog:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HeartSchooling/

and here's a link to an article that was written about her:

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/How_To_Homeschool/articles/melissa_missey_gray.php

This is the Basically Beechick yahoo group, where she was very active:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BasicallyBeechick/

March 1st is going to be Heartschooling Day ... make an effort to do something special and cuddly with your children in honor of families everywhere, and in memory of Missey and her family. Make some special memories with your children. And if you blog, share with everyone what you did.

Cherish those children! Not just this Wednesday, but every day.

Editing to say: Oops, I meant Thursday!

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So far we're kind of on track for the week.

How's that for vague? LOL. I was using this week to get us back into the FIAR mindset, after all that time off for the Westward Ho project. We are reading The Big Green Pocketbook from Before FIAR this week, and playing the matching game from the new Fold-n-Learn download that they've got. The kids enjoyed it. We didn't make the little felt purses because I had purchased some at a store some months back ... I think it was a Target dollar item.

We also enjoyed Pancake Day (Mardi Gras) by having pancakes for dinner on Tuesday. We didn't make it to IHOP's freebie, so Lysle cooked for us ... they were delicious! He even heated up all sorts of fruits for toppings. We read Eric Carle's Pancakes Pancakes as we ate.

For Ash Wednesday, Ted and I went to the evening service at church. I was expecting a short 30 minute service, but it ended up being over an hour! In spite of that, he behaved reasonably well. I couldn't think of a good story to read, though next year we ought to read the Creation and Fall, to tie in with the ashes and dust themes. We did read the appropriate section out of Come Worship With Me by Ruth Boling.

So now we're officially in Lent. Next month is National Novel Editing Month, which goes nicely along with the Lenten disciplines of fasting and self-examination. That's going to make a pretty busy month. In our Sunday School class we're reading a Max Lucado study on the Lord's Prayer, which goes along with his book The Great House of God. The ladies' group is reading How to Have a Mary Heart in a Martha World, which has been fantastic so far. I haven't been able to attend the discussions but I am enjoying the book very much. I also recently read Shine by the Newsboys, which had a fantastic prayer by Thomas Merton in it. Now I've got to read books by him. And so my list piles up!

Here's the prayer:

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following you does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen."

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It's December now! Lysle and I both finished our books for November, or rather we hit our word count goals. Still some work left to do though!

Ted's still doing his math and phonics and having fun, and we're all up at the preschool one day a week. The computer class is going well ... we've just got internet access, which will greatly expand the possibilities.

We've taken the month off of FIAR to read lots of Christmas stories and do activities between illnesses. We even visited Santa one time. It's a bit goofy of a grin, but he did have fun.

Maddy loves to play with the Nativity sets and point out the mommies, daddies, and babies. She's getting very good at scribbling ... she loves to draw circles within circles and scribble like she's writing. She loves to sing along with the Laurie Berkner DVD, and dance too. Teddy has astounded us with his sudden ability to multiply small numbers. Where did that come from? We knew he'd memorized a few facts, but had no idea he actually understood the concept. We were quizzing him over dinner (he loves math games) and Ted told us 3x3=9. Later we asked about 4x3 and Ted wanted to know if he could just take 9+3 instead. Then he borrowed extra hands so he could count out 9+3. It was so cute! But it kind of makes that kindergarten math workbook look a bit silly. Well, he still has to work on telling time and on money, and he does love to do the problems.

We're still having fun with www.popularfront.com/snowdays and also with Jan Brett's gingerbread house at http://janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_baby_house.htm. Plus we've tried out RainForest Maths at www.rainforestmaths.com. Ted really likes that one. I can't wait to try it out with my computer class. The snowflakes site runs too slow in that lab for a class, but they might like the math ones.

Merry Christmas to all! And to all, more up-to-date blogging!

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Here they are, better late than never!

 

For our annual Halloween party with our friends this year, we used How To Host a Mystery's Star Trek mystery. It was pretty good ... a bit cheesy, but fun. Here are Lysle and I in our Star Trek costumes, made by my sister. (Thanks, Kelley!)

 

 

This was a grown-up party, but the kids got to play in the other room, and watch movies, and share in all our yummy treats. I think everybody had a good time.

 

For Halloween itself, Teddy was determined to dress as Spiderman, so we got him a costume at Wal-Mart. Maddy always loves to dress up, especially if it involves a hat or a cape. So we found the perfect outfit for her ... Little Red Riding Hood! Isn't she cute? :)

 

The kids only went around to a few houses, escorted by Daddy, but they sure brought in a ton of candy! We're still eating it.

 

For those who enjoyed the online snowflake-making activity back in the winter, somebody on the FIAR forums found a similar one for carving pumpkins. Check it out! http://www.coasttocoastam.com/timages/page/pumpkin_sim.html

 

We're also behind on posting our stories and activities. This month we're focusing on Thanksgiving and Pilgrim stories, starting with one called Three Young Pilgrims. We also downloaded a lot of good activity pages from www.learningpages.com, including a math activity for coloring the flag (Veteran's Day), an election word search, and some fun Thanksgiving pages. They have a lot of good theme sets over there. You have to register, but it is free. Worth checking out! And we've added a label to our map. The FIAR map is getting pretty crowded, since we don't take off the story disks after each week. Ted likes to be able to review what we've read and where all the characters live. After watching Mulan yet again, he insisted we add a tag for that, right next to Ping the duck, in China.

 

Also catching up ... we've done weeks with Caps for Sale and with Night of the Moonjellies. With Caps, we always have to play Barrel of Monkeys. Maddy enjoyed that! With Moonjellies, we had fun reading the story and learning about jellyfish. There is a fantastic website that, now I'm trying to post it, I seem to have lost. It had interactive games and all sorts of information. Ted loved it.

And the other current FIAR rage ... Live webcams in Africa! There's one at National Geographic, featuring a watering hole in Botswana, http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/, and one at this site, http://www.wavelit.com/index.asp?ch=Wildlife&sh=africam, in South Africa. Pretty neat to watch! So far we've seen elephants, kudus, and big bugs at the Botswana one. We've added a sticker on our world map (to go along with our book labels) so Ted will know what we're watching.

 

Lysle and I are both still writing for NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org). It's not too late to sign up! We're doing pretty well, and it's been a lot more fun to work with someone, to have someone to chat with, race with, and commiserate with. Ted has started a story too ... we need to get back to that.

 

Gee, I think that almost gets us caught up! Holidays, here we come! :)

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It's that time again! Registration for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2006 has begun! If you've ever wanted to spend one month typing furiously in an attempt to reach 50,000 words, now is the time. Go on over to www.nanowrimo.org and sign up. The insanity begins on November 1st.

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Here are a couple pictures from our visit to the Botanical Gardens.

 

 

Here are Aden, Maddy, Ted, and Micah, all eagerly watching the model train go by.

 

Here is Maddy, with Ted and Aden, playing in the giant Sunflower Maze. The petals are all moveable, so the kids can design their own mazes. They had a blast with this!

 

They had other mazes too ... a low labyrinth of monkey grass, a tall maze of something with wire staking the plants together to define the paths, and maybe something else I missed. All sorts of neat things, and all in the childrens' garden!

Posted in Ramblings

The FIAR conference was great. I had a lot of panic attacks, but don't want to dwell on that here. I appreciate the prayers, everyone, and special thanks to those ladies who spent so long in the prayer room with me ... Barb, Kendall, Cindy, and Rebecca.

 

The theme was "Home is where your story begins" and the first event was a gift ... we all received a gorgeous journal to take notes and ponder thoughts in throughout the conference. Each 'chapter' of the conference had a great theme ... thinking about your Setting, your Characters, unexpexted Plot Twists, and so on. Wonderful way to tie everything together! Lysle and I have enjoyed comparing notes and insights on some of the questions. Lots of notes have been posted over at the "Conference" forum on www.fiveinarow.com, so go take a look!

 

It was also so wonderful to get to meet everyone there, message board users and staff and the Lamberts themselves, plus Amanda Bennett! So nice to have faces to put to names of online friends.

 

This is a really inadequate blog entry, but I am still processing the whole weekend!

 

Sunday Lysle and I headed for home, and did the whole twelve hours in one day. We were tired but happy to be home. Monday morning we went to pick up our sweeties, and we all just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Posted in Ramblings

 

Here's a buffalo from the museum at the Arch. It was smaller than I expected. They're built up so much in books that I think I was expecting something more along the size of an elephant. I'm glad I got to see one for real.

 

This is a sculpture that was in the parking lot of (I think) the Chamber of Commerce in Mount Vernon, Illinois, where we stopped for that first night. Pretty nifty! Definitely required a double take.

 

On the trip I decided to 'collect' rivers, since we crossed so many famous ones. Here's the sign from one of the points where we crossed the Missouri River. We also crossed the Tennesse, Ohio, and Cumberland rivers and I have lots of blurry pictures of bridges to prove it. LOL. Unfortunately, the only one I got the sign from was the Missouri. Oh, and I learned that the Mississippi, which flows through our own Tennesse Valley, is the river at the base of the Arch. Pretty cool.

Posted in Ramblings

 

I'm going to be posting about the conference and everything since in installments, because there are just too many cool things for one entry, and I've got to get it all sorted out in my head!

 

My dear sister kept Teddy and Madeline for the duration, while also packing boxes and getting work done on their house ... they will be relocating soon. Thank you sis!

 

Lysle and I had a rough trip the first day, and nearly just gave up. The panic attacks struck pretty badly and lasted for most of our trip. We persevered, however, and the second day of travel was much better than the first. (Thanks to all the FIAR ladies who prayed me there!) We stopped off in St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. It was somehow both bigger and smaller than I expected. The security was also a surprise. I guess since it's a national monument, that they have to keep up with tightened security. I know things have changed in the last five years, and I know the airplane regs have gotten tighter even in the last couple months. I just didn't expect to encounter it while we were travelling, somehow. Very sheltered, I am. I had to throw away my water bottle and we had to totally empty our pockets and even remove our belts. It took me a few tries to get through the metal detector, and the only thing I carry in MY pockets is Kleenex!

 

The Arch has the coolest history museum in the complex under its base. It has a nifty timeline covering westward expansion, and lots of really neat displays. Well worth seeing! Then Lysle was ready to go to the top of the Arch. I am terrified of heights but didn't want him to go without me, so we bought our tickets and waited in line for the little (I mean LITTLE!) tram cars to come for us. It takes four or five minutes to reach the top, and it's a narrow but long room when you do get there. The floor is arched too! The windows are small and set into the walls, so they're not so frightening as they could be. We didn't stay up too long though.

 

After this wonderful stop we continued on to Lee's Summit, near Kansas City, and got to our hotel in time to join everyone else for dinner at the BBQ place. I was too shy to talk to very many people, but it was heartwarming to hear the round of applause when they found out I'd made it after all. That was so sweet, ladies!

 

After dinner we crashed in our hotel room, eagerly awaiting the first day of the conference...

Posted in Ramblings

After my post on the kimonos, we showed Daddy our efforts when he got home from work. The kids had moved on to other projects but were glad to show off their designs. Teddy put his on, bowed respectfully to Daddy, then promptly tore it off and went to play with something else. It was so unexpectedly cute! We didn't talk about bowing as a sign of respect, but it did come up in the Big Bird movie ... which we only watched the one time. They really do pick things up when you're not paying attention!

 

On Friday we went to our co-op's science fair. It was a blast! Even though neither kid napped beforehand, and we'd had a hectic morning, they did well.

 

We (I) decided we'd do something with magnets for our exhibit. Ted's been enjoying magnets lately, ever since a children's minute in church where Susan (our children's ministry coordinator) talked about rebelling and repenting and used magnets to demonstrate. So on Friday, Ted and Maddy and I went to the local teacher supply store to find some more impressive magnets. We ended up with marble magnets, a couple of magnets in big plastic wands (nice and safe for Maddy!) and a kit with all sorts of nifty types of magnets in it.

 

Then Ted and Maddy went all around the house trying to find what the magnets would cling to. We typed up a list of all the items they tried and marked "Yes" or "No", and then added some photos of the kids testing the magnets. Printed up, with a coloring page for the cover, and we now have Ted's first science report! We also took all our favorite magnetic toys to play with, including a MagnaDoodle, and some nifty science books with neat experiments.

 

Somehow a few magnets disappeared in between this work and time to go, as I was preparing our snack to take. We ended up leaving a bit late. So...

 

On to Chickfila for lunch and playtime before heading to the fair. This was pretty fun. It wasn't too crowded for a Friday noon ... wow!

 

When we got to the science fair, I discovered our snack was still at home. Sigh. We set up our table and browsed around to see what the others had done. There were experiments on buoyancy, airplanes, bubble gum, and animals. Someone even built a Lego robot to try out. Lots of neat ideas! The others seemed to enjoy our magnets ... everyone loves magnets! I was glad, because I got to talk to the other moms, something that I don't always get to do when I'm chasing after my kids. This time everyone came to us. :)

 

After browsing and snack time, the kids got to go outside for a couple special demonstrations. The hit of the day .. making your own ice cream in a baggie! Us moms ended up doing a lot of the work, but the kids had a lot of fun and enjoyed a sweet treat. Here's Ted working at his:

 

 

After an exciting afternoon, we headed home for naps. We showed Daddy all our hard work, including the one experiment that failed. We tried one from an Usborne book, Science With Magnets, called Flying Butterfly. You put a paper clip on a paper butterfly, tape a string to the butterfly and then to the table, and use a magnet to make it 'fly' ... but none of us had steady enough hands to make it work. However, Daddy gave it a try and it worked!

 

Way to go Daddy!

 

Tomorrow we'll be back at our Mother's Day Out. My computer classes will be playing with Dr. Seuss' ABC, which is the book turned into a computer game. It's time to move on from just moving the mouse (Reader Rabbit Toddler) to deliberately clicking for results. This one's a nice transition game. In our library class I think we'll be reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt and acting it out before we check out our books. Hopefully on Tuesday I'll get to help my sister with some sewing (working on costumes for Halloween), and then Wednesday it's off to the FIAR conference! Hooray!