Laughing and Learning

Matthew 18:15-35

2012-01-16T00:25:00.002-06:00

The title passage is one that is probably familiar to most Christians. It's the "forgiveness" passage. It talks about how to deal with it if you have a personal issue with another Christian.

This was the text for the Pastor's message at church today. And he had a totally different take on it than I have EVER heard. I have always heard it used as justification for calling someone else on the carpet for some perceived wrong-doing, possibly in their own personal life and not even affecting the one pushing the issue.

Pastor John said that is NOT the intent here. It's purpose is to restore a relationship when one person feels hurt, and the other person may not even know that there IS an issue. We've all been there. A friend makes an offhand comment, or maybe forgets a promise made, and we feel put out or insulted. Maybe we can blow it off and easily forgive, but maybe we stew over it or take it too seriously. If we can forgive and forget, that's wonderful! But if we can't, the above passage is how we go about clearing the air between self and the other party. The further steps should not even be needed between two Christians but exist for the extreme situations.

This all has a great deal of meaning for me, because of a situation that happened a few years ago. Two friends of mine fought with a third mutual friend, and it tore our group apart. The passage above (vs. 13-19) was used by the 2 to attempt to force a desired outcome from the third friend. It did NOT sit right with me, and I distanced myself from the whole situation. I have done my best to maintain my friendships with everyone, though the friendship between the others has been severed.

Ever since, the two friends have repeatedly commented that if we have an issue with each other, it MUST be aired and "dealt" with. They seem to think that there is no space for processing, forgiving and forgetting without making a big deal out of it. That does not sit well with me, because I made a conscious decision years ago to NOT take offense at stupid comments. I am usually fully capable of choosing a friendship over my "right" to be offended.

I also have an extended family member that seem to choose to be offended whenever the possibility arises, and another that does not seem to be able to "forgive and forget" without forcing the other party to agree with their point of view. Both of these people have influenced my choice to not be offended. (And maybe both of these people have matured since the last incidents that I was aware of.)

I found a quote recently that sums this up very well:

"Apologizing does not always mean you're wrong and the other person was right. It just means that you value the relationship more than your ego."

Square Dancing

2011-11-11T23:50:00.009-06:00

Have you ever gone square dancing? Gym class in school does NOT count! Although there have been many years when we did not actively dance, I can't remember a time when square dancing was not at least on my radar. Regardless of how "square" the activity sounds, it truly is lots of fun.

Square Dancing is the folk dance of the United States. The actual moves are the same as the ballroom dancing of Victorian England. At that time, they learned complete sequences of moves for particular dances, and no "calling" was done. In American square dancing, the moves can be in any order, and you have to listen carefully! The same moves can be found in multiple other types of dancing, too.

My parents square danced when I was little. When I was 4 and we lived in the Philippines, My parents danced regularly. All the kids would play outside or just sit and watch. I loved all the twirly skirts! So many colors! I have a picture of my mom and sister and I all in our dresses. I'm pretty sure they also danced after we moved to NC, but then there was a long dry spell.

At age 14, my sister and I spent the summer in Okinawa with my dad and stepmom. Dad and Cathy were very active in the dance club on Kadena Air Base. During that summer, Wanda and I took lessons for Mainstream (the most popular level of accomplishment), Plus (advanced), and attended a weekly dance. And we got all the paraphernalia- dresses, petticoats, shoes. Back to the states, and once again no dancing.

At 17 I joined the Air Force myself and got stationed in ND. One of the first things I did was seek out the local square dance club. When I met Sid, our first date was to a dance; he asked me out, and I told him I had plans but he was welcome to come along! After we were married, he took lessons and we danced consistently for about 5yrs. Now my own daughter had dresses to match Sid's and my outfits.

Then we transferred to Cheyenne. There was a club there, but for some reason we never went. Back to ND 6yrs later, and the club there had folded. :o(

When we moved here to Buffalo, we found a club in Monti, and decided to do lessons again to refresh our memories. We soon found that it just didn't work well with 3 kids and all their activities. One more night out of the house was not something we needed. I think we attended 1 actual dance during this time. Back to no dancing.

Over the last few years, the homeschool community has embraced square dancing. Each winter there are several "barn dances" hosted by one or another homeschool group. These dances are designed for non-dancers, with teaching of basic moves, and a few other fun dances thrown in, like the Chicken Dance, Popcorn, and Virginia Reel. I've attended a few of these with kids and friends but could not get Sid to come.

This fall, our own church hosted a barn dance, and we found out that several other couples at church are now square dancing and Sid was convinced to start lessons again. This time the boys are going too. And they are enjoying it! There is at least one other homeschooling family who attend lessons, and several other teens, so boys are not the only kids there.

I have dug out all my costume stuff. My shoes are long gone- after 3 kids, they were too small. Petticoats fit no matter what, though I had to replace the elastic. Needed new "pettipants" which go under to prevent embarrassment, and we both need new clothes. Our matching outfits are long gone also, the victims of middle-age spread. I do have skirts and one top.

I had kept one skirt that I made with an elastic waist while preggo with Virginia, my two dresses that dated back to Okinawa, and one skirt and top that were made in 2000 to match Sid's only western shirt for that one dance 10yrs ago. My dresses had been butchered and the skirts kept but the bodices disposed of. These got fitted with waistbands to become skirts. This week, I took apart the blouse that matches Sid's shirt and redesigned/refitted it. I made new pettipants.

Next on my list is a new petticoat(and when budget allows, new shoes). My petticoat is WAY out of fashion. No-one wears such wide ones anymore. And it's been way too squished out of shape by spending most of the last 20+ years stuffed into a laundry bag for storage. Cheap petticoats are a reasonable price, but I have cheap and would like to upgrade. Problem is, not-cheap petticoats are very much a NOT-cheap price. I scoured the 'net and found instructions for chiffon petticoats instead of tulle (net). Lo and behold, our Walmart actually had the fabric and only $1 a yard! I currently have a half-done petticoat down by my sewing machine. We shall see how it comes out!

Tonight Sid and I attended a dance. The boys do not yet know enough and stayed home. Sid and I knew there would be plenty we would not remember, but dove in anyway. It definitely makes a difference how experienced the rest of the square is! I don't know that we completed a single tip without messing up at some point, but we did better than some of the dancers! The Caller tonight liked FAST calls. He was always a step or two ahead of the dancers, which was hard for everyone to keep up with, not just us. He did some unique and creative calling. LOTS of fun! SOOO glad we went!

I do not like the turn that square dance fashions have taken. I suppose budget is one cause, since all the paraphernalia can be expensive, especially if one does not know how to sew. Many of the ladies wear longer western-style skirts instead of the traditional full-circle skirts. Those that were wearing traditional skirts are wearing them longer, and the petticoats have calmed down a lot. Not nearly so poofy. I DO like this particular change, except that I was the only person in a poofy one! Most couples in matching outfits, so that hasn't changed.

Next week at lessons were are to wear costumes for the benefit of the students. We also may take any items we want to sell or give away. I'm going to take my stack of patterns and a sign and price list for sewing skirts. Maybe I can drum up some income.

I'm very excited to be back into square dancing. Hopefully we'll be able to stick with it now! It's great that the boys are learning. It's a nice social activity when they move on. John intends to join the AF himself, and there are nearly always Clubs near bases. Call me "square" if you like, but it's just so. much. FUN!

Guest post by Raggedy Ann

2011-10-15T21:23:00.004-05:00

Today was a special day. I got to have an outing, the first in MANY years! I dearly love my girl, but she hasn't taken me out much since she grew up. (I must ask that you please overlook any typos you find- it's very tricky to hit all the right keys when your hands are shaped like mittens!)

Today was a one-day retreat at Wendy's church. The theme was "The work of our hands" and all the attendees were to bring something that someone else made for them. I was Wendy's "something"!

The day started with a change of clothes. I was still wearing my Christmas outfit from last year! Since that outfit was made by Wendy, she changed me back into the outfit that her mommy made for me so long ago. I then got a bit of cosmetic surgery on my face to repair an eyebrow that was coming unstitched.

For the morning, I got to sit next to Wendy in the sanctuary. The speaker was very good. The title of the first session was "Oops! How I attempted to beautify the world by making stuff." The speaker spoke of her attempts at learning to sew and do other handcrafts, and how she realized that God had given her other "gifts" to use for His glory. She was a very funny lady, and I had great fun listening to her speak.

Then Wendy left me sitting for a while. I think she was in another room doing some kind of project. The room I was in got very noisy with sewing machines and ladies chattering as they made some fabric coasters. After the craft time, the ladies all went to quiet corners to work independently on a Bible study, so I just sat and prayed. They didn't give me a Bible and lesson to work on.

Lunch was next, then all the ladies gathered in a large circle. Most of the ladies had some kind of item in their possession that someone else had made as a gift for them. The microphone traveled around the circle as each lady told the story of their item. *I* was Wendy's item. I got to hear all about how I came to be. Did you know I was made in the Philippines with material that was bought in MN? Wendy's mommy made me (and Andy) for her Christmas present when she was 5. I can't remember THAT far back. When I try to think about things that long ago, my head just feels like it's full of cotton!

After Wendy told my story I was placed on a table with all the other ladies' gifts. The Hostess was very considerate and placed me next to a beautiful doll made from an embroidered pillowcase. She had been a pillowcase much longer than she had been a doll, so didn't have many memories to share, but we had a nice visit anyway. Now I was seated where I could watch all the comings and goings as the ladies moved around and visited.

Next they all went back to their seats for another session from the speaker. This time the topic was "A parable for perfectionists and others". She read bits from a book about how people carry all their mistakes and flaws around like baggage until they let Christ take the load and turn all their clumsy doings into works that are perfect in Him.

Another craft time came next. This time Wendy was in the big room with me. I could mostly see her from where I was sitting. She made 3 of the coasters (she's a fast seamstress!) but she said they would just be clutter in our house and let someone else keep them. (I don't know WHY she was worried about clutter- it's not like a bit more would make much difference!)

Everyone came back to the big circle of chairs and read a poem together about hands. About the difference between people hands and God's hands. God's hands are so much more loving than people hands!

Then it was time to go home. I said good-bye to my new friend, and Wendy claimed a couple things that she had made that were on display for others to see. One was a pretty little dress that looked like it might fit me, but I didn't get to try it on. Wendy said it was a special dress that HER little girl wore when she was a baby.

All in all it was a VERY good day. I hope I get to go on more outings soon! Now I'll go back down to the sewing room and tell Andy all about today. HE didn't get to go 'cause it was a LADIES' retreat, and Andy is NO lady!

Camping

2011-08-10T23:56:00.017-05:00

This is the third year in a row that we have spent time on a camping trip with some great friends. It's just moms and kids, no dads. The last two years John had other plans but this year he was finally able to join us. My friend also has two boys, ages 14 and 15, and they are good friends with John and Tim, now ages 17 and 12.

Our trip this year took us to Duluth, MN. This was a request from John, after our first choice fell through for reasons beyond our control. It was a VERY welcome choice for me, as I have never spent time in Duluth for the purpose of having fun, but it is an area that EVERYONE visits at least once, so everyone has stories of their visits here, and their list of must-see locations.

Duluth is a popular destination for Minnesotans. Lake Superior is an obvious draw, with a large variety of touristy and historical destinations in the area. Our list of plans included Canal Park (an area that contains a long list of its own), Leif Erikson Park, Split Rock Lighthouse, Gooseberry Falls, a historical logging camp, Two Harbors, Skyline Drive, Spirit Mountain, and hiking around the park where we were actually camping. That's a LOT to pack into 3 days, but we did it!

Day 1: It's Sunday, so we can't leave until after church due to responsibilities there. My family arrives at our friends' house around 2:30 where we have to reload all our stuff into their van. My friend and I had both followed a similar packing procedure: start a pile 2 days in advance and add to it as we remember stuff. As we got loaded, she asked her boys were they SURE they had brought out everything in the pile- the car seemed emptier than previous years, yet we had an additional kid. They assured her that it was all in there.

We headed out, armed with maps and directions compliments of GoogleMaps (note to selves: GoogleMaps plus Isanti County is a BAD combination!! Apparently this county does not like to waste money on minor things like road signs.) We missed a turn that was not marked with the same designations that GM had used on the maps. Not a big deal. Easy enough to compensate for. About 2 hours from home, Friend realized that they had not loaded sleeping bags and pillows!! A VERY big deal!

We arrived at camp in good time. Our choice of campground was a state park in Wisconsin, about 15 miles from Duluth. Upon checking in we are greeted with the news that the swimming beach and several hiking trails are closed due to extremely high water (a condition very common in the two states this summer). We proceeded to our reserved campsite and discovered that it did NOT have room for my huge tent. It's a 15yo cabin tent that sleeps 8, and takes up a LOT of room. So, back to the Ranger Station to determine a better alternative. Armed with a list of available sites, we checked them out and found one that would work. We set up and started to cook supper and discovered that the fire ring was NOT intended for cooking. The ring was about 8" deep, and the only grating was a very rough strip welded to one edge. Too low to get good fire under it, and too irregular to cook anything not in a pan. We made do, and got everyone fed. Time for a trip into town. NOT a usual way to start a camping trip! New sleeping bags and pillows for Friend, and portable cooking grate for me. LATE bed for all.

Day 2: Up early, and off to Duluth. Today was spent in town, starting at Canal Park. First stop was the Maritime Museum. Duluth is a major shipping port, and the museum is dedicated to the related history and technology. Very interesting things for everyone. Next was the park outside. The kids went out to climb on the rocks while Friend and I were still inside, and there were plenty to climb on. The shore is lined with HUGE rocks to prevent erosion. Next was a walk out on the canal borders. Two long cement structures that create the canal for entry into the actual port area. At the inner end is the Lift Bridge, Duluth's best-known landmark. We got to watch it lift for a sailboat while walking here.

Next up, lunch, a picnic near a cool fountain along the sidewalks. We then walked over to the Irvin, a retired freighter that the older boys wanted to tour. While they toured, the rest of us window shopped in the unique shoppes populating the area. After reuniting, we headed up to the Skywalks. Skywalks are a MN solution to the winter climate. They are glass walkways that join buildings at the second floor level, basically turning multiple city blocks into a combination shopping mall/hamster village. My boys have never been in these, since we rarely have reason to venture into the downtown areas of the Twin Cities. I had some idea of how to get around since I traversed them multiple times while at the MACHE conference last spring. We found a variety of interesting shops here, and some really cool buildings, including a very old one with a spiral stairway that offered a unique photo-op.

Back to the car and off to Leif Erikson Park. This park is the home of a restored Viking Ship. It was built in the early 20th century and sailed from Norway to North America. It has been restored in recent years, and we found it covered in shrink-wrap while awaiting a new building to protect it. We explored other areas of the park and the kids gravitated back to the shore and the rocks. Friend and I followed slowly and the GPS indicated a nearby GeoCache which I attempted to find. No luck, but we came to a very old no-longer-in-use pedestrian tunnel that was home to a creek and lots of artistic graffiti.

We then headed back to camp for a late supper. As we traveled, dark clouds gave us reason to be concerned. While cooking, it appeared as if the storm would miss us, but we prepared to eat under the tent porch awning just in case. We ate during a sprinkle, but had to retreat into the tent as a full-blown storm finally hit. Our tent has weathered many storms, and though it leaks a bit at certain seams, it does pretty well. The worst was over before bedtime, but light rain/dripping trees continued all night. The morning tally was one wet pillow, and many wet towels, a pretty low count considering that any sleeping bags that contact the tent sides will absorb the moisture, and the boys filled their "room" literally wall-to-wall.

Day 3: We woke to more clouds, but they cleared out before we reached our destination. We headed off up the North Shore. Ultimate destination was the Split Rock Lighthouse, but we allotted several hours for a 45mi drive to allow for stops along the way. First stop was a tourist info booth, where we were recommended to follow the old highway that was now the scenic route, advice we gladly chose to follow. We moms came out of the building to find that our kids had vacated the car to once again climb on the rocky shore. So we moved the car, and hid to watch their reaction at finding the car gone!

After gawking at the gorgeous scenery, we arrived at the Logging Camp. It was a very touristy-trap type of place, but nicely done and very interesting.

Next stop was Two Harbors. This town was the end of the scenic route, and is the home of a major iron-ore loading facility. There is a jetty that goes WAY out into the harbor, which Friend and walked out on while the boys, once again!, played on the rocks. Our first attempt ended in a mad dash to the gift shop to escape a sudden and cold rain shower, but it quickly moved off, and the rest of the day was beautiful.

We then headed for Split Rock State Park. We had a deadline for arrival, as we were being met here by a friend of John's who recently moved to this area. The Split Rock Lighthouse was one of the few that was built for navigational purposes, not warning for a dangerous location, and as such it was decommissioned many years ago and is now a historical landmark. It was very interesting to tour, and the views were INCREDIBLE.

Our next stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park, just a few miles back toward Duluth. This park is the home to a series of waterfalls where the boys had a great time once again climbing on rocks, this time with the added attraction of water. The area below the falls is very shallow, and many people were enjoying the cool water. The boys all later declared this to be the best part of the whole trip.

After considerable time at the Falls, we finally headed back to camp. As we reached the upper edge of Duluth, we chose to take another scenic route and follow the Skyline Parkway. This is a designated route along various city streets that roughly follows the ridge above the city. Duluth is built between a very tall bluff and the water, with downtown streets literally rising a full story of building for every block traveled, making for very steep streets and GORGEOUS views from the top. The width of some of the streets and the design of the homes attested to the age of the city.

Our final night in camp was enjoyed with lots of S'mores, a game by the kids that combined flashlight tag and capture the flag, and perfect sleeping weather. At some point during the night, I heard voices saying "I think there's an animal in camp!" Nobody got up to investigate. We awoke to scattered wrappers of various kinds, trash from supper, and a total lack of graham crackers, marshmallows, and bread! I guess that's what we get for being too tired to remember to put food in the car. The boys were especially dismayed at the absence of marshmallows.

Day 4: After breakfast and cleaning up, we headed off to check out the falls in our resident camp. Due to the closed trails, we had to drive to the falls. The river that runs through the park is unique in that the water is brown, the result of tannic acid from the trees in the area. Tannic acid is what is used to "tan" skins to make leather. The falls, with the foam of churning water, looked like root beer! Back to camp to fix lunch, load up, then off to our final destination, which was on the way home.

Spirit Mountain is a ski area that is expanding its offerings to include summer activities. Our purpose here was the Alpine Coaster and the Zipline. John opted out of both rides, which was why he got to tour the ship instead. The Alpine Coaster is a roller-coaster-type track with individual carts. The rider has a brake lever to control the speed, which can reach a high of 26mph. The 3 boys that rode enjoyed the Coaster, with Tim liking it very much, and Friend's boys declaring it OK, but not exciting. The Zipline is a cable run down the mountain on a 2-person seat resembling a ski-lift chair. It reaches speeds of up to 30mph. All the boys declared this one NOT worth the wait. And it was a LONG wait. There is only ONE seat, and it goes down face-first and then is pulled up backwards, using a total of about 2-3min per run including the time spent changing passengers. Added to that was a large family group in front of the boys that kept growing as more members kept coming and joining the people already there instead of getting at the back of the line! The boys stood in line for about an hour, and that line was not all that long. We finished our visit with ice cream bars, and got back on the road.

We stopped for a supper of take-out pizza eaten in a small local park. At the other end of the park was a band playing Christian music for what appeared to be a youth group gathering, giving a festive air to our little picnic. Getting back on the road, we once again had problems with the GoogleMaps/Isanti County combination. We kept heading in the correct directions and finally arrived at Friend's house, but not on the roads designated on the maps.

Thus ends another camping trip.

Foraging

2011-07-22T13:20:00.002-05:00

Every day Ollie and I take a long walk. Our favorite walking place is along the bike path near our house. Our neighborhood borders a large natural area that is owned by the neighboring high school. It contains several wet-land areas, at least 3 ponds, and lots of long grass with various areas that are gradually growing up with trees. The school keeps several long winding paths mowed through the grass. I don't know that there is any summer reason for these paths, but during the winter they are groomed for the cross-country ski team. A paved bike path also winds through here, connecting our neighborhood and the neighborhood on the far side of the field with the high school. The mowed paths are wonderful for walking the dog. There is usually no-one else back there, and I can let Ollie off-leash with no worries of him bothering other walkers.

A few days ago I spotted a patch of black raspberries along one of the grass paths. They were small, but yummy. Unfortunately the patch was only big enough to yield a handful. Yesterday I decided to keep my eyes open as we walked and see if I could find other patches. I found 4 more patches, all under deciduous trees, and all very small patches. Today I got more adventurous and went trail-blazing through the grasses to tree stands that were less accessible. I have found a grand total of 7 patches, all of which together do not provide enough berries to be worth taking a bucket out. I plan to take the GPS with me next week and mark all the patches so I can find them again next year. Hopefully they will spread.

Another food growing out there is wild grapes. There are grapevines everywhere, but most of them appear to be fruitless. I did find several vines that were heavily loaded, so I'll watch them until the fruit ripens. I hope they'll be big enough to be worth gathering.

I also found a large patch of nettles, which was the one thing that made me turn back and find another path. One berry patch looked like it had already been foraged by something a LOT bigger than me. That surprised me in this area. I suppose it might have just been kids.

I wonder if there are any other edible wild plants out there?

Pictures from Utah

2011-07-04T11:29:00.007-05:00

These pictures were taken last year when I was in Utah. They are all taken from a scenic overlook in Snow Valley State Park. They are a panoramic series. If you look closely, you can see the places where they overlap at the ends. I had these printed at 11x14 and framed them for the living room wall.

This valley is unique in that it is the joining of three separate deserts. One of red sandstone, one of white sandstone, both of which are in the distance, and the third of black volcanic rock, which is in the foreground of both end pictures and is what we were standing on.

It's Garden Time Again

2011-06-10T18:07:00.002-05:00

Once again it's time to get a garden in the ground. I get a bit frustrated in early spring, when other on-line friends have started their gardens months ago and it's not warm enough here to even consider it yet. But, now it's time, so I get to play in the dirt.

This spring has been horrible weather for gardening, or farming. It was so cold and wet for so long. It's mid-JUNE and many farmers don't have their crops in the ground yet! The snow was gone in early April, but our yard was not totally dry until this week. We've had a puddle-turned-swamp down the middle of the yard- John claims he pulled out some cat-tails last time he mowed. Today he was finally able to mow the last bit of swamp into oblivion. Now we have a bunch of lawn repair needed where the grass was drowned out. However, the non-drowned areas are so thick you can barely get the mower through it.

This past Tuesday we hit *103 degrees* (!!) with a strong south wind that felt like a blast furnace. It dried up the yard-swamp, and tried to dry up my garden. I watered twice that day. The next day the faucet at the gardens broke and everything went without water for two days. I was able to water again today, and was surprised to see that everything survived. Thankfully those 2 days were very mild and cloudy.

The garden is once again behind our church. That spot is high enough to dry out quickly. My garden has again doubled in size. One half is the same area I had last year, and the other half had someone else's potatoes in it last year but was never weeded, so the wild grass took over. This area is going to be a BEAR to keep weeded. Every time I turn my back it's covered with baby grass plants (the legal grass, not the kind that could pay for college).

I am once again doing a "square-foot" style garden. I recently bought a copy of the revised "Square Foot Gardening" and according to the author square plots do NOT a square-foot-garden make. But it's as close as I'm going to get in this location. I do like the layout of squares better than rows.

My crops this year.

Peas: last year I didn't realize that sugar snap peas were meant to be eaten as pods. I let them grow until harvesting for the peas inside. This year I planted the sugar snaps again for summer snacking, and planted a separate plot of regular peas for shelling and freezing. I need to get my climbing frames up REALLY soon.

Okra: Yuck. Sid's request for making gumbo. Yum!

Beans: Bush beans again, but 2.5 times as much as last year. I stagger the planting of these for continuous harvesting, but the first planting mostly didn't come up, so that section will be replanted, slowing down my first harvest.

Tomatoes: also twice as much as last year. 16 plants- 1 grape tomatoes for Sid's lunch salads, 8 regular tomatoes and 7 Roma for Salsa, roasting and canning. I thought I lost one of the plants to the heat a few days ago, but it's now putting out new leaves.

Zucchini and Summer Squash: Same as last year. One hill of each which is PLENTY for a family. VERY prolific producers.

Radishes: more than last year, and planted where they will be shaded by the squashes. Hopefully they will produce better with shade in the heat of mid-summer.

Mixed salad lettuces: Don't seem to be off to a good start. They came up well, but growth slowed WAY down. We had a very hot few days so maybe now that it's cooled a bit they'll pick up.

Onions: a new thing to try, and a request of John. They came up slowly, and don't seem off to a good start either. They are in the part that was all grass last year, and the onions shaded by the most grass seem to be doing the best, so I've not been really conscientious about keeping them weeded.

Peppers: 4 jalapeno plants, and 12 green peppers. These will be diced and frozen for recipes.

Cucumbers: planned on 4 hills, only 2 are planted. These are in the grassy part, and the other two spaces are not fully weeded yet. I had to eradicate a HUGE anthill in this spot, and have yet to go back and finish weeding it. Of the two plants that are in, one almost died in our short hot-spell, but it does seem to be recovering.

Potatoes: Last year I attempted to grow some from the potatoes in my pantry. They never came up and I learned later that they are often sprayed with stuff to keep them from sprouting in the pantry. (Is there no end to the kinds of chemicals they can dream up to poison our food?) This year I bought seed potatoes which were already sprouting. I've got 3/4 of them in the ground and coming up, one more section left to weed- more of that grassy space.

I've got 3 empty half-squares and carrot seed to go in them, but right now it's so hard to keep up with the weeding that they are WAY down on my priority list.

What are we going to do with all this extra produce? Good question. Last year the salsa I made took up enough pantry space to make it a bit crowded. My solution, which so far is still just an idea, is to convert a basement room into a "cold room". What was originally Sid's office is in the corner beneath the front steps. A couple years ago some chipmunks tunneled in under the steps and let all the rain water flow down to the basement walls. New gutters have taken care of the water, and new dog has taken care of the chipmunks. Now we have a room with no insulation ('cause it all got soaked). I want to use this space to turn into storage for my produce- and for empty jars, which I have no room for elsewhere. Sid still has bunches of office stuff in there, but I think we can figure out a way to share the space and make it work.

Fabric Happy Dance

2011-05-19T14:41:00.002-05:00

I have a blouse that I haven't been able to wear in at least 15 yrs that I have refused to get rid of. It was my absolute favorite blouse for many years, and I totally wore it out. Frayed seams, color faded out. It's a simple cotton shirt with no frills and a polo-style knit collar. I've kept it with the intent of using it for a pattern when I found a suitable fabric.

I've never found any. Why do "they" not make permanent-press fabrics for home sewing? Cotton fabric is AWFUL for blouses. They always require way too much ironing, and all our shirts end up hanging in the laundry room for months because I never get the ironing done. Because I want this blouse to be one I'll love as much as the original, I've been holding out for a great fabric.

This week while cruising sewing blogs, I found one with a dress that had been made from a SHEET! Genius!! A good quality sheet is nice and soft, and NO IRONING! Then today while garage saling I found a cute sheet in a green stripe. Very soft and comfy feeling. Not totally thrilled with the colors; not ugly by any means, just not the colors I usually choose. But it feels so good, and that's what I'm after.

I dug down into the depths of my sewing room and found the old blouse. Tried it on, and I'm going to have to trim it down a size or two (insert happy dance here!). No source locally for the knit collar, so I need to come up with an excuse to head to a bigger city, or look online. I expect shipping will cost considerably less than gas money!

Our Agility Adventure

2011-04-30T20:07:00.002-05:00

Tim and I headed out on an adventure this morning. I'm going to (try to) train Ollie for Agility, and we went to check out a competition in St Cloud. It did not turn out the be the kind of day expected!

It's been raining regularly for the last month. Never more than a day or two without precipitation of some sort. Therefore the ground has yet to dry out since the spring thaw. Everything is soggy. The meet involved 3 days worth of events, and according to the weatherman, this afternoon was the best chance of not getting rained on. We timed our trip well, and arrived at the meet right as the rain stopped.

The "facility", and that's REALLY stretching the use of the word, was a grass field in on the edge of the city. "Soggy" does not begin to describe this field. It was located along a highway, but the only access was through the parking lot of a neighboring business, and along a mud driveway between the business and the road. We looked at the 6in deep ruts of wet mud, and had second thoughts. I drove to the far end of the building where it was obvious that others had driven around that end, over the grass, to avoid the mud pit. I considered this route, but as it was obviously not intended as a driveway, I decided against it. We made it down the mud driveway, and as soon as possible drove onto the grass, thinking that would be more solid. Ten feet from the driveway, all forward motion ceased. It was totally slick.

I looked around and realized many cars were parked in rather odd locations. Hmmm, not a good sign. An orange minivan was directly in front of me, about 15ft away, with the owner in the process of getting her dog from the car. I got out and asked if the competition was over as there was nothing going on in the rings, and she assured me it wasn't. I said we were stuck, and she said "So's everyone else, you might as well come and watch." So we did. No sense in worrying about the car until we were ready to go.

Apparently a large number of the registered competitors had opted out of the rainy mess. There were many instances of names called with responses of "They're not here!" But there was enough going on to give us some interesting things to watch. There was a large variety of dogs. About half were either border collie or Aussie, with the other half being a real variety. They ranged from something that looked like a basset hound mix with practically no legs who looked hilarious going over the jumps, to some furry brown thing the size of small pony. There was one tiny white dog that had the look of a very young puppy, but the discipline and ability of a fully mature dog.

There were two courses set up. The one I watched most had about 10 jumps, 3 tunnels, and one each of weave poles, A-frame, bridge, tire jump, and seesaw. Winning depends on time as well as ability, so I was surprised to see that many of the dogs were trained to stop after certain obstacles- the wooden obstacles all require the dog to set foot on the end of them, so presumably training the dog to stop at these points keeps them from leaping off too early.

Part of what I watched was Novice level, and those dogs had many mistakes, but the scoring is set up so that certain types of mistakes do not count against the novice competitors. It was nice to hear the other owners congratulating the novice owners on their run, and reminding them that mistakes were expected. Other dogs had totally clean runs, which were great fun to watch. One dog (the huge hairy one) had a totally clean run, and as he went over the final jump, the owner cheered his success, which caused him to try to look at her mid-jump, and resulted in him knocking the bars down!

The majority of the dogs were well rewarded and praised after their runs. The one exception was a man that I saw run dogs on both courses. After each run, he was berating his dog for his poor performance. On the second one, he asked the dog "Don't you care if you get your championship ribbon?" I spoke up and said "I don't think he does care". To which he responded, "Well, he's going to care- he's not getting any treats!" I felt very sorry for that dog.

As we were watching and listening, I heard someone point out the deputy that was talking with the owner of the neighboring business. They were looking at the damage done to the grass at the far end of the building. Apparently the man had called the police to complain about the agility competitors damaging his grass. The deputy came over to talk to the club officers, and tell them they would have to fix/pay for the damage. When he was out of earshot, someone commented that they had asked the man for permission to use his parking lot and he refused, so it was his own fault if people had damaged the ground. I do agree that the agility club should fix the damage, but I also agree he brought it on himself. And it's a patch of grass behind an industrial building, not a beautiful lawn.

Eventually we were ready to leave, but I was unsure about what to do. The car wasn't going anywhere, but it seemed silly to call a tow truck for an inch of mud on grass. I think a few men and good push could easily have gotten most of the cars going again. The problem was solved when the owner of the orange car called a tow, and mine had to be moved before they could reach hers. The tow truck was sitting in the 6in of mud, and I don't know if he was stuck himself, or just couldn't get enough traction to be able to tow someone else. Either way, he had a second truck come in which stayed on the solid parking lot. The first truck hooked up to my car, the second truck hooked on to him, and we got pulled out by a truck that was himself getting towed! As we got started, the tow driver told me to steer carefully so that the car stayed in the mud and did not get onto the grass near the building. The business owner and the deputy were both there watching everything. Apparently the owner was still making a stink over that whole mess.

Everyone that I heard in the discussion over towing claimed membership in one or another roadside service. I'm guessing the tow company made a good day's profit, and very few people were out any cash.

We had intended to make a few other stops while in the city, but Tim had run alongside the car as it was towed, and now his previously white shoes were totally brown, and NOT suitable for going anywhere. And the car wasn't any better. First stop- my daughter's apartment about 10min away so we could clean our shoes (mine were just muddy around the edges), followed by a stop at the car wash. Then our errands, then home.

There are a number of other agility events coming up within a reasonable distance. Hopefully the next one will be dryer.

MACHE

2011-04-17T19:05:00.002-05:00

Last night I got home from the annual MACHE conference. MACHE stands for "Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators". They are the statewide support group. Their role is to foster the development of an effective homeschool environment by educating parents of the homeschool law and the foundations of homeschooling, educating state lawmakers on how non-homeschooling education laws can have unintended consequences for homeschoolers and pushing for homeschool friendly laws, and providing support for the local support group leaders.

The annual conference is the homeschooler's equivalent of a professional continuing education conference. It is three days of seminars and motivational speakers, a HUGE vendors hall of every kind of curriculum and educational service you can imagine, and a large used curriculum sale (think garage sale for schoolbooks). Many parents make it a mom-&-dad weekend away from the kids, but others, me included, make it a weekend with friends sharing a room and enjoying some girl-time.

The conference rotates between Rochester, St. Paul, and Duluth. This year it was in Duluth. Like the other larger cities in MN, Duluth has Skywalks. For the warm-weather readers, Skywalks are glass-enclosed walkways that cross the streets at the second-floor level throughout the downtown area. SOOO nice for getting around in nasty weather. Often, regardless of the purpose of the building, the 2nd level is comprised of restaurants and shops catering to the tourists and the building's employees. Walking through the buildings is like walking through a mall.

The Duluth conference center is at one end of the skywalk system, perched right on the shore of the shipping port of Lake Superior. Our hotel, the Holiday Inn, was right in the middle of the skywalk system, and our room on the 15th floor faced the lake, giving us a wonderful view of the water. High winds this weekend created HUGE waves which were fun to watch. Just like being at the ocean. The weather was also cold and damp, so it was great to be able to walk to the conference each day without having to venture outside. We also discovered several restaurants that gave us options other than the conference center cafeteria, which we knew from past experience is better avoided!

I've lost count of how many conferences I've attended in my 17yrs of homeschooling. I don't go every year, but I think I've attended at least 6 of the 10 years since we moved to MN, and a couple more while we lived in Grand Forks. This year had several rather bittersweet moments. While shopping I realized this is the first year when I had NO reason to buy picture books. I have a special love for children's picture books, and they have played such a huge part in both our homeschooling journey (especially through the Five in a Row curriculum) and in my relationship with my kids. Reading aloud has ALWAYS been an important part of our lives. I also realized while roaming the vendors hall that the excitement is gone. I've gone so many times, and the vendors don't change much from year to year, that there wasn't much to see that made that fun spark of discovery. Don't get me wrong, I DID find lots of things to fill our needs, things I would not have ordered if I didn't see them first-hand, so it was still worth going. But that spark was gone.

I don't know how many seminars is "normal" at other types of conferences, but MACHE is one of the larger homeschool conferences in the country. This year was the third year of special sessions on Thursday for new homeschoolers and for those planning for high school. The regular conference was on its usual days of Friday and Saturday. Each day consisted of 3 seminar sessions, each session offering a choice of 9 speakers and 7 vendor workshops, for a grand total of 96 different choices for improving your teaching. This year, I had a hard time choosing, and arrived at the conference with my choices narrowed down to "only" 2-4 options per session. Final decisions were made after conferring with friends and splitting up sessions to go to different ones so we could later share info and recommend which should be purchased on CD.

I was very happy with the seminars I attended. Some years I have walked out a session that was not as applicable to my family as the blurb sounded like it would be. Other years I spent half the sessions chatting with friends or shopping when the vendors hall was less crowded.

My roommates this year were my daughter, a friend I have roomed with for the last several years, and another friend of hers that is planning to homeschool her now-preschool-aged kids. (Virgina is teaching in the public schools, and came along mostly for the book sales, but she also found several seminars that were pertinent to her teaching.) All of them are under 30, and on several occasions I ended up feeling "old". It was rather strange as I'm 6yrs younger than Sid, and usually feel like the "young" one, or at least no different, in any group of our friends.

It was a good conference, and I'm glad I went. Next year is back in St. Paul. That one is within easy driving distance of home, so no hotel needed, and only lunch to buy. I miss the fun of a weekend away, but better for the budget.

Look what I did!!

2010-12-29T20:00:00.013-06:00

I've done more DIY home improvements than I can possibly list. I'm just a naturally crafty person, and have yet to meet the project that I won't at least consider. I think I may have met my match.

It started with a greasy kitchen, the natural result of actually cooking real meals most nights. Add one homemaker who loves the MAKING, not the CLEANING of the home. Then throw in two boxes of tile found at the thrift shop for a price NOT to be walked away from!

For years, every time I have to scrub the wall above the stove, I have dreamed of a tile back-splash. AAAHHH...to merely wipe the mess off an impervious surface! When I spotted two full boxes of plain white tile, I had to do the math. Hmmm..22sq.ft. of back-splash space, approx 200 4x4 tiles...throw in a few tiles of some color for an accent...this is do-able! I waited a week for the sale cycle at the thrift shop to drop the tiles to half price, and paid a grand total of $10 for the lot! That's 5 cents per tile!

They sat in the corner of the kitchen for a few weeks. This was not a project to try to cram into an hour or so a day of "free" time. The week between Christmas and New Year is a perfect opportunity.

Have I EVER done tile before? NO. Have I ever seen someone else do it? NO (unless watching HGTV counts). Have I ever even talked to someone who does tile. Well, yes, a friend has done the bathrooms in their new addition, but we've never actually talked TILE. IRRELEVANT!! I can do anything!!

Tools needed: (total cost- many times more than the tile itself) special cleaners for de-greasing the wall, and for de-gunking the tiles when finished; three kinds of goop- mastic, grout, and caulk; nippers; various paddle-type things for the various goops, spacers, tile-cutter (but the book says they CAN be broken by hand with just a glass cutter and a dowel to break them over- and that's much cheaper); wet power saw for tricky cuts highly recommended but not essential, can be rented.

OK, get real. This is MN in Dec, a wet saw used outdoors just IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Note to self: when power tools are highly recommended, there's a REASON for that!

Did I mention that the back-splash area has *7* light switches/outlets?? And each one has 4 corners. And a tile has to be cut to fit around EVERY SINGLE CORNER? Did I actually claim to have thought this through before starting? Even worse, I had two books at hand that were supposedly complete with everything you need to know about tile. NEITHER of them gave ANY advice on doing outlets!

Kitchen has 3 sections of back-splash. I decided to start with the smallest area and work my way around, ending with the large area over the stove, where I planned to put a pretty design of some sort, and hopefully I'll know what I'm doing by the time I get there. Yeah.

Day One, Monday. Empty counter-tops. Put down (extremely cheap you-get-what-you-pay-for feels-like-saran-wrap) drop-cloth. Scrub wall. Start measuring tiles. First switch/outlet. Since I don't have a fancy wet saw, it must be cut one nip at a time. I discover that inside corners are NOT an easy thing to cut. One side of the needed piece breaks off every single time. (Elmer's glue is now my best friend!) It takes a LONG time to figure out how to go about it, and successfully complete all four pieces need to surround the switch. Next, the top row needs only half-tiles. OK, just score it with the glass cutter and snap over the dowel like the book said. Right. Maybe for a body builder!! Hmmm, maybe I'd better reconsider that tile-cutter. Back to Menards. Hey! didn't Kara say she had a cutter? Quick call: nope. She DOES have a small hand-held cutter that might work. Trip out to Kara's to borrow. (Also borrow her oldest son to play with Tim.) Try the cutter. NOPE-tiles too thick. But it DOES have a scoring wheel that is much better than the little glass cutter. Sid is home by now, and *HE* manages to split the tiles, but it's not easy. It takes a whopper of a whack. How can something so brittle be so hard to break? Once cut, they go up on the wall very quickly. I luck out when I reach the second outlet, and the tiles on one side are flush with the opening, requiring cutting for only two corners. Finally get them all stuck to the wall and quit for the night. Clean up, decide drop cloth was more trouble than it was worth since I was tripping over it all day and the goop wipes up easily, and cook an easy supper.

Day 2, Tuesday. Must grout. Look at bag for mixing instructions. When purchased, there were two choices- 1-lb tubs, and 10-lb bags. One pound tub will definitely NOT be enough, and two tubs cost more than the 10-lb bag, so I bought the bag. Now I discover it only has instructions for mixing the entire 10 pounds! Can't do small batches. How is THAT supposed to work for a 3-stage project?? Back to Menards. Finally find ONE tub of pre-mixed grout, on clearance, in the right color, and it's plenty for the project. YES! And it doesn't require sealing later like the regular stuff does. Back home. Now I have limited time to work before we are due to meet a friend for lunch in a neighboring town where I need to go to buy my accent tiles. Smear it all on, let it dry. Must wash the excess off the tiles before we leave, but it's not drying fast enough. Call friend and push back time by half an hour. Finish job and arrive right on time. We meet at Lowe's so I can get my tile, and then go to lunch. We both have our boys, and as we haven't seen each other in a couple months, lunch lasts more than 2 hours as we catch up. Back home. Put everything back where it belongs, fix supper, and start on section 2. Tonight I only clear off this area of counter-top, and scrub the walls, ready to get a quick start in the morning. Then I sit down with my new accent tiles, and play with arrangements for the focal point design. My accent tiles are a 3x3 tile with a pretty design that looks like growing crystals that were sliced into tiles. They have several shades of blue "crystal" with a pale blue background. I also have one blue glass venetian tile that is 1x6 which I picked up at Menards. It's a perfect match for color, so tomorrow I'll get the rest that I need to complete the pattern.

Day 3, Wednesday. Quick start? Yeah, right! Outlets. 3 of them. No lucky breaks on tile placement this time. To the contrary, one outlet is placed so that TWO tiles will each have to be cut into a "U" shape to fit around it. And the other outlet and switch are separate, but so near each other that I must cut two tiles into a "T" shape to go between them. NOT EASY!! Sid had suggested I try the hack saw for cutting one side before nipping the other side, and this works reasonably well. It's not easy to saw ceramic tile, but I manage to cut corners without breaking the tiles. And the outlets on this side are GFCI and the fixture does not mount the same as the others, so I'm not sure how close to cut the tiles. I do my best, but only tape these ones when I stick all the rest, so Sid can check them before I attach them permanently. Mid-day I take a break to deliver Tim to his best friend for a sleepover, and stop at Menards for a new hack saw blade and the remaining blue glass tiles. ARGH!! What I thought was 4 boxes of what I needed, is actually 4 boxes of turquoise blue, with only a few of my blue mixed in! I need to buy 9, but can only find 8. I also buy a few of the turquoise so I have some to practice on because I'm sure these will not cut the same way the flat ceramic tiles do. Hopefully when I cut the blue to fit the design, I will be able to make only 9 tiles work. The turquoise does NOT match, so I can't use them in the design at all. Supper tonight is Dominoes. I'm wiped out! Tomorrow I have to adjust a few tiles around the outlets, adhere them, and grout. And hopefully start on the final wall.

Day 4, Thursday. Did I mention I was wiped out? Slept 10 hours. Not feeling particularly froggy today. I finished trimming and setting the tiles around the outlets. Had to totally redo one that was cut too much so the space around the outlet showed. Then had to take Tim to a Cub Scouts activity. Never got back to it all. I did spend a few minutes practicing cutting the Venetian tile. I REALLY hope they cooperate for me when I do the pattern! Also laid out tiles on the table to figure out what size spacers I need to use to make the various size tiles work together, and figured out which tiles should be cut where to give me the simplest cuts possible when I put it all together. Tomorrow I'll grout part 2, and start on part 3.

Ufda. Not on the computer much the past 3 days. Hopefully I can get the rest of this reasonably accurate!

Day 5, Friday. Started in on part 3. The design comes first, as that has to be centered, and everything else will be aligned with it. Also, I do better with measure-as-I-go instead of measure-everything-first so I have to do the work in an order that will allow for this. The white border comes first, then the design begins in the middle. The 4 white tiles in the center were an EASY cut. The tile actually WANTS to break on the diagonal. Next came the complete blue tiles, then the glass bars, then the cut blue tiles. The blue tiles are considerably thinner than the white and glass ones. Another issue that the books never even mention. I should probably use wood to build up wall behind them, but opt to use lots of goop instead. The tiny corner pieces are very tricky to get aligned correctly in all the goop, and the final end is VERY messy looking due to goop being EVERYWHERE. Only get the bottom half done today.

Day 6, Saturday. Washed the glop off the bottom half. Time for the top half of the design. Goes a bit smoother than yesterday. Still looks very gloppy when done. Did all the white tile on the remainder of this wall. Had a problem due to the builder's carelessness. The small cabinet to the left of the stove is 1/4 inch lower than the rest of the cabinets! With the tiles all in line, I'm left with a gap between the bottom row, and the top edge of the counter-top. Have yet to figure out what to do with that. I'll have to find a DIY message board and ask questions. Left it all to dry, for grouting tomorrow.

Day 7, Sunday. The extreme cold kept us home from church. The car is becoming very UNdependable in the cold, so it's safer to stay home and keep it garaged. We didn't want to leave it stranded at church. Went to grout. Had to clean out lots of excess mastic from between the tiles, and found that because I used such a heavy layer, much of it was not dry yet. A couple of the tiny blue corners fell out. Had to dig out the dry(ish) mastic and re-do. Let it all continue to dry, squeezing in a trip to the grocery store while it did so. Finally got to grout it all around supper time. Had to finish before putting the stove back in place to fix supper. Supper was LATE! A deli chicken, sides prepared at home, and not on the table until almost 8!

Day 8, Monday. NEVER thought it would take *8* days! Had to add a bit more grout in a couple spots, but that was a quicky job. Still need to caulk all the edges, and figure out what to do for the gap on the left cabinet. But all the hard work is DONE!!! Enjoy the pics!

This corner was where I started.

The wall on the right came next. Then the stove wall. If you look closely you can see the gap on the left-hand side where the counter was too low.

The design. Not fancy, but hard enough! Those Venetian glass tiles were NOT easy to cut nicely.

Meet Ollie

2010-10-03T22:11:00.005-05:00

Our family has been dog-less for about 4 years, since Sheila died. We have discussed another dog, but have put it off due to thoughts of moving, and not wanting to deal with a dog during a move if we could avoid it. However, we now know we are definitely not moving in the near future, so I went on a dog hunt.

I have been extremely disgusted with the non-availability of dogs in the local area. Apparently there is no such thing as a MUTT in the Metro area. If you can find someone with puppies, they have given them fancy mixed names and still want several hundred bucks for them. I understand why some people will pay that for a pure-bred, but for a mutt?? Even the shelters and pounds want a minimum of $200 for an adoption fee.

So, I started camping out on Craig's List. All local listings were as above, so I started looking on lists from further out-state. Our first choice of breed was Australian Shepherd mix. Mix because they can have a few hard-to-handle traits, and hopefully in a mix they would be a little less intense. From a town several hours away, I found Ollie.

He's 3/4 Aussie, and 1/4 lab and he's about 5.5mo. The reason the previous owner gave for giving him up was that they had to move and could not take him. She was willing to meet us half-way, and included all his equipment, all at no charge.

He's a real sweetie, but definitely has those Aussie traits! Now that we've had him for a couple weeks, I wonder if these traits were just too much for her to handle, or were not wanted with a preschooler in the house. He's a quick learner though, and has come a long way in two weeks.

Aussies are a herding breed, and in keeping with that, they have tendency to nip and grab, and to body slam, to "direct" their people where the dog thinks they should go. Most annoying has been when we're in the living room, and he puts his front feet up into our laps and tries to grab our hands. It's been hard to convince him that this is NOT acceptable. When you push him off he thinks you're playing and tries harder! The only way to get him to stop is to get up and see what he wants, which just rewards him, so it's been slow going. He's improving though, and the last few days has not been nearly as insistent on grabbing, and a couple times tonight got down when I told him "off". A couple days ago it occurred to me that when he does this, someone ELSE needs to get up to take care of him, so we'll see if that helps.

We've been working on teaching him to ring the bell hanging from the doorknob when he wants to go out, as an alternative to the grabbing. With Sheila we had to teach her to bark to go out. Apparently Aussies are not a very vocal breed- a very good thing in our opinion! He's rung it a couple times, but doesn't seem real convinced that this is a good thing. We're also working on all the basics: come, sit, lie down, shake, and heel. He does VERY well in training sessions, less so in actual life.

I was originally told that he was "mostly" house trained, but he has had NO "accidents". We've only had to teach him to use the dog yard, not the rest of the yard, and to use the dog door.

Like all puppies, he enjoys rawhide chews. We bought some of the sticks that are pencil-sized, and he really likes these. The downside to this is that now he thinks all the pencils are for chewing. I understand this when he finds them on the floor, or otherwise within reach, but he wants the ones that are IN USE and does some serious grabbing to try to take possession of them.

Even though the boys, especially Tim, were very much in favor of a new dog, they had no real concept of what being a "puppy" means! They have had a hard time dealing with the nipping and grabbing, and did not realize what "high energy" actually means. They can only remember Sheila as an old dog, she was 15 when she died, and simply could not envision what a poorly trained puppy would be like. Now that he's settling down and behaving better, they are enjoying him more.

Aussies need a job to do, and Tim and I want to try doing agility training with him. I've found instructions for the equipment online, and if we need it later, there is a training facility in a nearby town. We can't start the jumping training until he's a year old, but some of the other things we can work on this winter. One agility event is a tunnel. We still have the kids plastic play tunnel, so I'm going to replace the thin plastic with fabric so it can survive puppy claws. The rest of the equipment can be built of PVC pipe or plywood. I think it will be fun.

Do-it-myself Project #2

2010-09-15T23:38:00.016-05:00

Last weekend we FINALLY got gutters on the front of the house. Sid and John spent Sat. and Sun. afternoons putting them up. One section ended on the end of the house, the other on the front edge of the garage, destined to run down the driveway. The rock area here is lower than the driveway, and we want the water to get all the way to the sidewalk so it does not fill the rock garden (a rather ostentatious name for an empty flower bed full of rocks).
We decided a splash block was the solution. A plastic one won't work here as this is the side of the house that catches all the wind. The only cement one we could find was very ugly. This is a high-visibility spot; I do NOT want ugly. So, I decided to make one.
We have a pile of scrap wood that was left behind when the neighbor's house went into foreclosure. We laid claim to it to use in the fire pit. I used some for the bench seat, and this was a good time to use a few more pieces. Here's what I started with.

I cut the curves with a lovely ancient scroll saw I found at a garage sale for $5. It works fine.

Sid came home while the paint was drying, and after a long day of deep thought, said he decided to go with THIS solution. I need to figure out a way to disguise it.

So, what did I do with MY splash block? it ended up at the end of the house, where it's NOT visible, but it does the job.

See what I made!

2010-09-15T22:02:00.020-05:00

Lately I've been following several blogs about recycling furniture and other items into usable pieces. One of my favorites that Ive come across is a bench made from old bed head/foot boards. Then Sid commented on his desire for a better seat on the front porch. He had an old folding chair there, which besides being uncomfortable, wasn't exactly an attractive item for the front porch. I decided to go thrift shop hunting. Here's what I found:

They're the head and foot of a top bunk. Whopping $10 for the pair.

Step one: saw one in half to become the arms.

Is that perfect halves or what!?

Step two: attach the arms to the back. They started out the same height, but I wanted the back taller than the arms, so I built up the back legs to make that piece taller. I made a rectangle of scrap wood for a seat support.

First coat of paint. I really liked the streaky look of the single coat of paint. I planned to leave it this way, but when I got it on the porch it looked much lighter than the door. They're the same color paint, but they sure didn't match.

Finished bench! A second coat of paint and a cushion to make it comfy. The cushion was on sale, and still cost more than the bench.

Scouts

2010-05-24T22:01:00.003-05:00

I WANT to like Cub/Boy Scouts. I've tried really hard to do so. We've had one or both boys in Scouts for 8 years now. We've been involved with 2 different BS Troops and 2 different CS Packs. The boys have had fun, for the most part. I love the idea of Scouts. It's the leadership that comes up lacking EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I know the "pat" answer. "If you don't like the leadership, get involved yourself." Yeah. Right. Some people are joiners. They'll happily get involved in everything their kids do. We're not those people. We ARE involved with some things with the kids. But neither of us "plays well with others" especially when most of the "others" repeatedly prove themselves to be less than leadership material. Call us spoiled by our military background. And we are NOT die-hard Scout people and Scouts is one of those things that will SUCK YOU IN and want you to do more and more.

The most recent incident was this past weekend. Tim went to a HUGE camp-out with his Cub Scout Pack and the corresponding Boy Scout Troop. This was the District Festival for the 100th anniversary of Scouting. 6000+ overnight campers, and another 4000 that came for just Saturday. The boys tramped all over the campgrounds to various activities. And this is a HUGE facility, 1200 acres, not your local 10 acre park.

This morning I asked Tim if he had spent his money that he took. There was supposed to be an opportunity to buy souvenirs, so I sent some cash with him.

Tim: I have one dollar left.
me: What did you buy?
Tim: My lunch on Saturday
me: Why did you have to BUY your lunch?
Tim: When we were walking to another activity, I got separated from the group, so I found my way back to our campsite. Someone else was carrying my lunch so I found my money and went and bought some.
me: Ummm what happened to the "buddy system"? Didn't your buddy notice you were missing?
Tim: We didn't have buddies. They decided we didn't need to.
me:!?!?!?!?!

I dropped it there. He was obviously fine. I was proud of him for dealing with it calmly and competently. But I am seriously upset at the leadership! And not very happy that THEY didn't bother to tell me about it! They dropped Tim off at the driveway and never even spoke to us.

Tim wants to finish Cub Scouts; one more year. John dropped Boy Scouts last fall. When Tim is done with Cubs, we're done. They'll both move on to Civil Air Patrol, or nothing.

Follow-up:
After posting last night, I sent off an e-mail to Tim's den leader. No fair griping about it and not talking to the leaders. He called me back today. He apologized for the incident several times. Said he had intended to talk to me but didn't know how to broach the subject and wanted to "gather his thoughts" first.

Apparently the boys WERE supposed to be "buddied up". No telling why that part failed. Ten y/o boys en masse is probably enough reason. Also, their group split in two at some point and both thought Tim was with the other half. Mix in the HUGE mass of people, all with rain ponchos on, all traveling the same criss-crossing trails in various directions, and I'm sure he's not the only kid that lost his group at some point during the weekend. The leader agreed that they SHOULD have had some kind of plan in place and discussed with the boys in case someone got separated. He admitted that they had dropped the ball on that one. Next camp-out we'll see if they learned from their mistake. He also told me that there was an adult back at the camp, and as soon as Tim showed up there, that person called the others to let them know. Still not sure why he had to buy his lunch. Supposedly there was plenty of food in camp, and with an adult there to help he shouldn't have had to spend his money.

No harm done. Hopefully a lesson learned.

My newest venture

2010-05-22T00:03:00.008-05:00

Since our homeschool co-op folded a couple years ago, we've been at pretty loose ends for fellowship and enrichment classes. In some ways I have welcomed the break, but I've also missed the regular fellowship, and so have the kids. I've NOT missed the pressures of running a co-op.

Shortly after we moved here I tried to start a monthly mom's night. In a year, not one person ever showed up.

About 2 years ago I tried to get a youth group up and running. I think 2 people responded to that. Not enough to get off the ground.

But, in spite of all that, I've decided to venture to start another group. It's NOT a co-op. I'm attempting to start a newsletter-based support group, similar to what we had in Cheyenne and Grand Forks. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

In both places, the local "support group" was a loosely organized group consisting of a newsletter and a monthly meeting. If someone wanted to teach a class, they put it in the newsletter, and whoever wanted to came. Same with field trips. Everyone was welcome, and no-one would ever have been excluded because their oldest wasn't in first grade yet, or because they used the "wrong" curriculum, or because they attended a different type of church, all which I have seen locally (and two of which I was required to enforce in our co-op).

I see a need for this for several reasons:

One, accessibility. With co-ops, new and potential homeschoolers are pretty much out of luck. Co-ops often have waiting lists, or require that there be at least one child that is officially "school age". There is no support at all for those who are considering homeschooling and want to get connected to explore the idea.

Two, expense. Co-ops can get expensive. SALT was $10/mo per kid, with a free child for each teacher/leadership position that a mom held. (After the first year, I either paid for one kid or none). SALT was an exception in the cost department. I have looked into other co-ops. They require up-front payment of about $100 per kid per semester. I simply can't do that. I can't imagine how a mom with 3 or more kids does it.

Three, workload. My main reason for attending would be fellowship for me and the kids. The high school level classes in co-ops generally are pretty demanding. I don't need the hassle of co-ops with homework, and I'm not looking for sources of high school credits. I've talked to other moms with the same opinion. Often they are willing to put up with it in order to get the fellowship. I'm not.

Four, time demands. A co-op requires a half-day. There is no flexibility in time or day. If there is only one co-op locally, and that day won't work, you're out of luck.

Five, proximity to opportunities. There are many individual classes offered in the cities, and up toward Elk River, but nothing locally. If I wanted to put my kids in anything, I would have to drive at least 30 min. If I can get this newsletter going, hopefully we can drive some incentive to plan local classes.

My first attempt at beginning my newsletter was to mail a mock-up of a newsletter explaining the idea to every homeschooler I had an address for. Copies were also posted at the library and churches, and a stack sent with a friend to the one co-op still meeting in Buffalo. I asked for $10/year to cover printing and postage for monthly editions. Five people responded very enthusiastically. Two or three declined the opportunity. Not exactly a huge response.

The declining responses baffled me. One mom told me "We're too busy to add another thing to participate in." Another said "The west-metro youth group fills our needs." HUH?? Nobody's saying you have to participate in anything. Just get a newsletter and you might find something in it that appeals to you. What part of this concept do they not understand?? And I've never HEARD of a "West Metro Youth Group". Spreading the word about the existence of such things is part of what I want to do.

After that failed attempt, I decided to try a free e-version instead. It will be an attachment of a document e-mailed monthly, and also a website where all the info can be available at any time. My site is set up and ready to go. I need to pin down a date for a class that Sid and I will teach, then I will get it sent out into cyber-space. I will also put it in the library, and I made up "business cards" to pass out to new acquaintances and to put a stack at the library.

In all honesty, I don't have high hopes. I think one issue will be the "inclusive" policy. Maybe it's just the particular people I know, but it seems that many are almost paranoid of their kids meeting people whose doctrine might vary slightly from their own. I think that also people might be willing to teach, but only if they choose and invite particular kids, not if it's open to whoever might want to come. I think another issue will be an attitude we ran into with SALT- that of wanting someone else to do all the work. We may get plenty of people willing to sign up for something someone else offers, but not willing to offer anything themselves. Any of these in small percentages won't be a problem. All of them in significant amounts will ruin it.

I have to confess that a large part of my motivation is selfish. I miss the fellowship of SALT, and this past winter, after the Hen's Club was destroyed by internal conflict, has been even worse. I want more opportunities to get together with others. Also, I tend to stay on the fringes of things, and often am clueless of what others are planning. Maybe it's just my own insecurities, but it sometimes seems like others plan things and don't include me. This would put me on the front lines of all the news.

If it doesn't work out, at least I'll be able to say I tried. And that will be the end of my trying. I have no other ideas left.

Garden: round 2

2010-05-16T20:49:00.002-05:00

Today I finished planting this years garden. Once again planted in the plots at church. I had planted several things early for transplant, and the last couple weeks the seedlings have started looking very stressed in their tiny pots, but we had two weeks of rain with intermittent frost warnings so getting things in the ground was not an option.

Friday the sun returned, bringing with it 70+ temps instead of 40's. Saturday, Tim and I got the first half planted, and today John helped me finish the job. It was very nice having a day with each of the boys while planting. John was much more useful than Tim, and we had a great visit while we worked. Both boys enjoyed getting into the dirt.

This year I planted exactly double the space as last year. I have 12 4x4' squares.

This years crops are:

Tomatoes, 3 varieties: grape, Roma, and "regular" size. Total of 8 plants. Hopefully I'll have enough to do a full year's worth of salsa (last year's salsa ran out about a month ago).

Green beans: same amount as last year, which was just enough to keep us fed all summer.

Summer squash and zucchini: one hill each same as last year.

Garlic: a few more than last year, but started early indoors. We got usable bulbs last year but they were very tiny. Hopefully this year it will have time to mature. I read halfway through the last season that garlic needed to winter to get good bulbs, and some of mine did, so I'll get to compare when I dig it up this fall.

Peppers: lat year I did one plant each of bell, habanero and banana. I had no idea how much I would get from each plant. Not much. This year it's 4 each of bell and jalapeno.

Celery: same as last year, 4 bunches. Hopefully this year it will mature in time. If not I think I'll transplant indoors in the fall. It was usable last year, but so small it didn't go very far.

Cabbage: same as last year, 4 heads.

Cukes: same as last year, 2 plants, but bought seedlings instead of seeds.

Strawberries: did nothing to protect them through the winter, but they survived the winter AND getting disked by the farmer that lives next to the church and preps the area each year. The ones Shannon planted last year also survived and look much better than mine. No one is gardening her spot this year, so I staked off the area to keep them from getting trampled.

New this year: watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, peas.

Also new, and planted at home:

Two bunches of rhubarb which have so far barely survived one mowing (I figure it's cosmic pay-back for mowing down my mom's rose bush when I was a kid.)

Two weigela shrubs under the front window.

Plans to put in raspberries next to the garage.

Morning Glories on my mailbox, and morning glories and sweet peas in the back yard. The ones out back have a job to do. We have a bike path behind the house, and across the bike path is outside city limits. The neighbor there has an old boxcar that at some time was used as a storage shed. Now it's just a rusty falling down mess. There are several trees that have grown up that hid the boxcar, but last fall the city cut off all the branches that hung down blocking the bike path. Unfortunately, it totally exposed the boxcar. The flowers are intended to hide the monstrosity.

Someday maybe I'll get ambitious enough to grow enough for canning and freezing. For now I'll stick with learning what I'm doing and keeping it to a manageable amount. I'm really enjoying the journey.

Mom-only vacation

2010-04-07T12:32:00.011-05:00

Last week I got my very first mom-only vacation. After nearly 24 years of motherhood, I think I was long overdue! I have had church ladies retreats, and homeschool conferences, but those are "business" not pleasure, even if they do include some downtime. Family vacations never quite count as "vacation" for mom; there are still all the requirements of mom-hood, just in a different location.

My cousin Joyce has spent the last 6 months at The Biggest Loser resort at Fitness Ridge in St. George, Utah. In that time she has had several family members come out and join her for a week. She was ready to come home, so my visit included a plane ride out, and we drove back together.

The plane ride was great fun. As a child and teen I flew almost yearly, including 4 trips across the Pacific. But as an adult, I had not flown since 1985. Some things have certainly changed: security protocols, seat size (or maybe it was the size of MY seat), and airports now look more like shopping malls. But the routines of flying really haven't changed much at all. It all felt very familiar. I was really looking forward to the trip over the Rockies, as I have never flown that route that I can remember. I wasn't disappointed. The view was incredible, with just enough snow on the mountains to really show off the terrain. I spent the whole flight being a true "tourist" with my nose glued to the window.

After landing, I took a shuttle from Las Vegas to St. George. This was my first visit to the Southwest, and the scenery was very brown and in this area pretty boring. Flying in, the only green places visible were golf courses and baseball fields. I don't think I would enjoy living in that area.

It was an AWESOME week. Yes, it included killer exercise, but it was amazing what I was actually capable of that I never would have attempted otherwise. The program consists of a daily 2hr hike, 4 exercise classes of 45min each, and 2 daily lectures on nutrition, diet, and cooking. We are fed an all-natural diet of only 1200 calories, and the food is all fancied up like "haute cuisine". Most of it was yummy, and I found a few new wheat-free bread products that I liked.

Several different hikes are offered each day of varying difficulty levels, with lengths of about 3-6 miles. I mostly chose "intermediate" hikes which were either short but strenuous, or longer but fairly level. Most hikes took place in nearby Snow Canyon State Park, with some in other nearby public lands. All the hikes were beautiful. The mountains are incredible. The valley where Fitness Ridge is located is the junction of 3 different deserts: one of red sand, one of white sand, and one of volcanic rock. There is no actual volcano. A nearby mountain is North America's largest NON-erupting volcano. It just oozed, and the remains are everywhere.

The exercise classes were all different. There are 3 venues for class: pool, aerobics room, or gym (exercise and aerobic equipment). After the hike, we had a choice of pool or gym, or we were assigned to Stretch class. After lunch we had one class in each venue.

When I had the choice, I chose pool most days. This was not just swimming laps, but was water aerobics. In the week, I think I took a total of 8 pool classes, and they were all different. Although there were a couple repeats, for the most part there was a different instructor for each one, and apparently they all put together their own routines to follow. We used either Noodles or foam dumbbells for resistance, and also had some swimming of laps. I have never considered myself a strong swimmer, but after comparing myself to the group, I think my only problem is one of endurance, not skill. I hope to get a set of the dumbbells and do some of the exercises when at the beach this summer.

The daily gym class was either circuit training or some type of aerobic training routine. I enjoy circuit training in general, that's what Curves is, but did not like the rush-rush of the routine here. I never had an opportunity to really familiarize myself with the machines, so didn't enjoy the hurry-up aspect of it. The aerobic training was simpler, but was definitely intended to produce some serious results. The trainers are VERY good at motivating and encouraging, and by the end of the week I was running on the treadmill, something I never would have thought I could/would do. One of the things FR has in the works is audio downloads of the trainers to be posted on the website, and those will be a welcome addition to my future workouts.

The Aerobics room quickly became the "torture chamber" in my mind. The first few classes in there were toning/strength/endurance classes in various disguises such as step aerobics. This is the one area where I think the trainers seriously overestimate the abilities of the class. These classes were PAINFUL! I also nearly passed out on Tuesday as I had not taken any electrolytes. I was glad to have a few minutes to rest, and joined back in for the cool-down. Later in the week we had kick-boxing (less painful but not high on my list), and "Cardio Disco Jam" which was FUN. Supposedly the trainer that led that one will be doing a video, and I will definitely buy it.

Fitness Ridge also offers complete Spa services. I was treated to my first professional massage, first pedicure, and a new hair-do. They have a LONG list of other options also. I could get used to that!

The trip home was a two-day drive from St.George to MN. The first day we went north to I-70, then turned east to cross the Rockies. The terrain varied widely from beautiful round mountains to almost moon-like desert with incredible cliffs and contours.

Once we crossed into Colorado the views improved with more greenery and steeper inclines. We drove past Vail and Aspen, both very pretty little towns, through Glenwood Canyon which was gorgeous even this early in the year. I'd love to go through it again when everything is green. Then we passed UNDER the Continental divide at about 11,000 feet. I was disappointed that the road went through a tunnel instead of over the top, but that was one steep peak! We made it to Sterling,CO that night, and the following day was "normal" mid-western terrain the rest of the way home.

I left Fitness Ridge 7lbs lighter and 12" thinner than I arrived. (The inches is a total of 6 different body parts, not just around my tummy.) I am good and motivated to continue exercising this summer, and Joyce and I will be joining a local gym together. I have definitely increased my endurance, and also plan to get the kids out on some serious hiking this year. I also literally killed a brand new pair of sneakers. I guess that's what I get for buying the cheap ones.

Before leaving, I was doing some Leslie Sansone walking videos that I liked. I was doing fairly easy ones and felt like that was enough. When I got back, a more strenuous video was waiting for me at at the library, and that one felt too easy!

It feels good to once again be motivated to exercise. I need to be in better shape. It FEELS so much better when I am. I'm looking forward to a wonderfully active summer.

They grow up too fast!

2010-02-13T01:34:00.002-06:00

The last year has contained several stark reminders of how fast they grow. I'm not sure I like it very much! In some ways I look forward to the time when I'm not homeschooling, not playing taxi-driver, and have freedom to do what *I* want, when I want to do it. Then something happens that emphasizes the speed at which they are growing up, and I just want to scream "NO! STOP! It's too soon!!"

Last summer Tim turned 10. My youngest is now in double-digits. That just seems so OLD. I miss the little boy, the smell of play-doh, the sounds of joyful squealing on the jungle gym.

This past Christmas, the "magic" was gone. Tim refused to even PRETEND that he believed in Santa. No one really cared about Advent stories, or who got to open the first present. No one got excited about Christmas specials on TV.

Tonight John attended the Valentines dance at the high school. Also on his schedule was a sleep-over at church for the Awana Bible Quiz team. John and a couple of his friends are coaching the younger kids, so after the dance I had to pick them all up at school and deliver them to church. The friends happened to be girls, and John opened the car door for them as they approached. At the church, he again held the car door for the girls, and then held the church door as they entered. So gentlemanly! With not a single suggestion from anyone at any time.

Virginia is now a college grad with a real job, in a real school, with real adults as friends, and a real apartment she got all by herself. There is no way I can claim 3 nestlings in my nest as she is truly flying on her own.

I'm sure the upcoming years will contain many exciting moments as they reach various milestones, but I kinda want to go back a few years and put the brakes on HARD.

Pinewood Derby

2010-01-19T23:02:00.007-06:00

Last Saturday was Tim's Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. He placed 1st in his rank, and tonight at his Pack meeting we learned that he also place 3rd for the entire Pack (about 50 cars). (The Pack finals are held in "secret" after all the ranked races.) Next he gets to move on to the Regionals, for the third year in a row.

If you are not familiar with Pinewood Derby, here's a explanation. It starts with a kit containing a block of wood cut to specific dimensions (approx 6"x2"x2"), with pre-drilled axle holes, and includes a set of wheels and axles. The child and a parent or other adult design, shape, and paint the car. The race is on a downhill track.

We first became acquainted with the Derby through Awana. Ginny participated in several races while in Sparks (usually it's only for the older kids, but that particular church allowed Sparks to participate.) Total: 4 cars.

When John reached Cub Scout age, his racing career started. He repeatedly placed in 1st and 2nd place for his rank and Pack. Although he qualified for Regionals, he was never able to attend the race because during those years they were held on the far side of the cities, so we never made the trek. At 3rd grade he also started doing races in Awana, giving him two cars and races per year. Total: 8 cars.

Tim is on year 3 of Cub Scouts, and year 2 for Awana races. He has placed first in his class every year, first in his Pack for two years. This year we changed to a larger Pack, and the competition is tougher. He has attended Regionals the last two years, but has not placed there. This year the Regionals are right here in our town, so he will once again be in attendance.

What's really odd, is that in all these cars, we have NEVER won an Awana race. Don't have a clue why.

We also have never won a Design trophy, but since our kids paint their own cars, and they never attempt the kinds of unique designs that win, that's not surprising. The only year we have had a unique car was when Sid was working 2 jobs, and the work fell to me. That year John had a block painted to look like a Bible and called the "Holy Roller". Most of the design winners, and a lot of the race winners, look like the kids have never even touched the car. We think if the kid is going to "own" the car, the kid should do as much work as possible, which is usually everything but running the power tools

The kids get all the glory and the trophies, but the real credit belongs to Sid. He certainly has perfected all the tricks for making a speedy car. We counted, and by the time Tim is done with Scouts and Awana, Sid will have made about 20 cars!

Update: Regional finals: Tim placed 14th out of 16 cars.

Thoughts about Church

2010-01-01T22:50:00.004-06:00

In the past few weeks, I have read two books that have caused me to seriously consider what aspects of my Faith are just human tradition/interpretation/construct, and what aspects are truly God-breathed.

The first book is "So You Don't Want to go to Church Anymore" by Jake Colsen. It explores the difference between GOING to church, and BEING the church, a distinction that our current status quo definitely blurs. The book points out that when a "church" becomes an organization with a building and official leaders, that creates a situation where the people now have to be concerned with job security, financial obligations, body counts, and programs instead of simply concentrating on their relationships with God and each other. It gives a picture of an alternate life where the people simply enjoy their time together in fellowship, and learn from each other in conversation and short term commitments to studies and other experiences.

In many ways this picture reflects what my friends and I have shared for several years in our own circle. We have done several Bible and book studies, spent a lot of time simply enjoying each others company, and had countless conversations in which we discussed every aspect of our lives, including spiritual things. We have commented many times that we were our own "small group" (a structure our church encourages, but which their offerings of have always seemed very artificial to me).

Another thing that this book has brought to mind is our own history with church. When in Grand Forks, we had an AWESOME pastor, and every pastor we have had since is compared to him. Our current church has gone through several pastors in the 9 years we have been here, and we have yet to have one that we feel teaches on the level of that previous pastor. As a result, I long ago determined that my personal growth was not going to come from a pastor in a weekly service, but needed to come from my own seeking out of voices and relationships with people outside the pulpit. The book has reinforced that opinion.

I don't see this as a "failing" of the local church, but more of a result of the church structure. They have to try to meet the needs of a wide variety of people, and I don't think I have ever been within the "average" of any group. This has forced me to consider WHY we attend church if it does not meet the need of providing spiritual growth.

I have come up with several reasons to be a part of an organized body:

It is a meeting place where we can find like-minded people from which to build our smaller circle of relationships.
It provides a weekly gathering where we can touch base with others.
It is an information source for learning about opportunities in the larger community.
It is a source for learning about the needs of others who are outside our small circle.
It provides opportunities for our kids to be a part of activities that add to their own growth, such as Awana and Youth group.
It provides a physical place for things such as Awana and VBS, as well as homeschool co-ops, gym space for mid-winter energy-burning, a library of Christian books. All of these have value, and would be difficult to fill these needs otherwise.
It provides a larger network of other Christians to be a part of our kids lives; Sunday School Teachers, youth leaders, music leaders, these are all people who can and will contribute to the persons our children will become. Children can only benefit from a wide circle of Christian adults to learn from.

This has also reinforced my own feelings against changing churches, something Sid and I have considered several times. Membership in a body where both the adults and children can develop long-term relationships gives us the freedom to explore other short-term relationships without losing the stability that we all need.

As the cohesiveness of my own circle of friends seems to be faltering, this book has given me a "bigger picture" of how relationships can change but still have value. That maybe our circle SHOULD change as there is benefit in learning from different people. I tend to have tight little circles of friends and not reach beyond them. Maybe it's time for me to reach further and wider.

Family Life Update

2009-10-28T23:00:00.003-05:00

I figured it was time to give a general update on life in the Walker household.

Last week Sid and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary. Ginny volunteered to take the boys for the weekend so we could enjoy a weekend alone. No big celebration, but we went bowling, rented a couple movies, and enjoyed some WONDERFUL steaks from a real butcher shop instead of the grocery store. God blessed us with sunshine that day and Sid grilled them outside.

Sid has been putting a lot of time and dedication into starting a local chapter of the Christian Motorcyclist's Association. He has been enjoying riding with a chapter from another town, but would love to start one here. He needs 10 committed people to officially open it, and is at about 7 people right now. He and John attended the State CMA Rally this summer and had a great time. Next year we'll all go.

Sid's job has been on very lean hours for the last year. Thankfully he was NOT one of those who got laid off. Last year he was getting about 10-15 hrs/wk of overtime, and for most of this year he has been working only a 32hr/wk. But things are finally picking up again. Last month they went back to full-time hours, and hired back some layoffs. This week they have OVERTIME! Not regular you-can-count-on-em OT hours, but at least something.

My life has quieted down this year. Since our homeschool co-op folded after 8 years, and we have not joined another, that is one less thing on my plate. School is going smoothly this year, and is less stressful than many years have been. I've been working on a paid sewing project that turned out to ALMOST be a bigger bite than I could chew, but it's almost finished now. Then I have a growing pile of small projects and mending to finally catch up on. I'm still working in Awana, running the "store" where the kids purchase their prizes.

A possible move back to Cheyenne is still on the radar. There hasn't been much progress toward that end, but it's still a possibility.

Virginia was hired by the public schools in a near-by city. She's teaching 7th grade remedial math and remedial language arts. She's enjoying the work, and is tickled to have her own apartment with no college roommates.

John discovered this weekend that he has finally surpassed Ginny in height. He passed me long ago! He now is about 5'11"! and he needs jeans about 26 waist and 34 inseam. Don't know where we'll ever find them, but a shopping trip is definitely needed! Such a string bean; he sure didn't get that from me.

John has dropped Boy Scouts. He's helping in Awana Cubbies just for their weekly puppet show, coaching a Bible Quiz team, and attending Youth Group. A local homeschooling family hosted monthly teen nights this summer that he has enjoyed. He's doing well with his schoolwork, and enjoying Biology at the high school.

Tim is still in Cub Scouts, but currently between troops. I need to get him transferred into another Pack. The first one was extremely small, and since part of the draw to that one was the same location and time as John's Boy Scout troop, I decided to switch him to the bigger pack for Webelos. Now I just need to actually do it. Tim attends Awana, and is in the second T&T book.

In his schoolwork this year, Tim has made the jump to working much more independently, freeing up my attention. I still need to stay close though, or he follows me to where ever I am. It has felt odd to me. I've been SO needed for so many years, that I never expected to be at such loose ends this year.

We are thoroughly enjoying the TruthQuest History curriculum. Tim is keeping up with what John and I are covering, and they have both been enjoying the topics and projects. I need to add more FIAR-type books for Tim. I've been disgusted with the lack of decent picture books about this era of history, and we haven't had many to choose from. I just ordered EVERY one I could get from our library system, a grand total of 5! Not very promising. We've been working our way through D'Aulaires Greek Myths as his read-aloud.

That sums us all up. No earth-shattering news. Just life.

The Big Reveal

2009-10-10T18:42:00.002-05:00

Being at the "reveal" yesterday was very interesting. I'm not a particularly emotional person, and I don't know the family, so I wasn't really caught up in the emotion of the whole thing. When the family was there, in some ways I felt like I was intruding. And I REALLY felt like the cameras were. I know that's part of the deal when you agree to do such a show, but when they saw the house, and turned around to hug friends/family in the crowd behind them, the camera men reminded me VERY much of a pack of vultures. The camera men (at least 3 cameras) circled in and were only 1-2 feet away from the family members.

One the technical side of things, it was fun to watch the filming process. I was surprised at how many things were filmed out of sequence. When I arrived, I was told to stand with the rest of the general crowd. I had a spot almost directly across from the house, about 3 people back from the curb.

Do you know the part in an episode when they finish the house, and Ty hollers "We got the keys!" and they start moving in the furniture? They filmed that with a fully furnished house behind them! I don't know if this is the usual time for it, or if it was because Ty spent the week commuting back and forth between this project and one in New Hampshire, so they didn't have a chance earlier.

Next they got the crowd all stirred up and filmed us chanting "Move that bus". There was no bus, just the cameras and a producer talking to us. They gave us instructions that any footage that included: 1. people taking pictures, 2. people looking directly at the camera, or 3. people acting a fool in front of the camera, would NOT be on TV. They did several "takes" of all of us chanting.

Next they had everyone in volunteer shirts move across the street and stand in the driveway. I hoped they would do the shot with all the volunteers coming down the street in pack, but I guess they did that one earlier in the week. The next part was filming the bus driving away, with no yelling, revealing the house and all the volunteers.

So, I am in two places at once. In the crowd chanting, then in front of the house when the bus moves.

Then came the Limo, with no passengers, and footage of THAT driving away.

When the family did arrive, I couldn't see them from the back side of the bus. After the bus moved, they spent a fair amount of time hugging friends and family before heading up the steps. They went running up to the door, and it was locked! Then they had to stand around and wait while the camera crew went around through the back door and set up their cameras.

After the family went inside, I left, but on the news 3 hours later, they did a live report and people were still there.

If I get the opportunity to do this again, I'll make sure to take my camera. I didn't this time because I knew my cousins would have pics, and because I simply wanted to watch it all "for real" NOT through a viewfinder.

Overall, this week was a great experience, and I am SO glad I volunteered to do it.

The House

2009-10-10T00:22:00.003-05:00

When we delivered the pillows on Thursday night, we got to look around. It's a beautiful house, as I expected it would be.

It's a much smaller house than many they build. I heard someone say it was the smallest lot that EM:HE has ever had to build on. The finished house is 2800sq.ft. It's 3 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs. Basic open living/dining/kitchen with a separate office. And a large day-care room with its own small kitchen space and bathroom. We didn't see the basement, but I assume it's unfinished.

I didn't look very hard at the living spaces. They were very nice, but not to my taste, with dark colors and large-graphic wallpaper. Very dark woods.

The interesting part of the downstairs was the day care room. One entire wall was white shelving units. The opposite wall was painted in a continuous picture of city and landscape, which also was painted on the window blinds. In the center of the room was a large table with several small tables. The large one was a standard height circle, painted to look like a globe. Around it were many small tables in arch shapes that fit around the large one. These were all child-height, and each was painted like a different country's flag. One was the MN state flag.

The day-care area has a separate entryway, and can be totally closed off from the family spaces. There is a mud room with cubbies for all the kids, and very cute new back-packs hanging above a row of costumes. A bathroom opens off the entry, with 2 commodes. There is also a small kitchen with full size fridge for lunches and snacks.

The bedrooms are very cool. The girl's is VERY girly. The two features I like best are a metal chandelier painted lime green, and a fake fireplace. The fireplace is sized like the small Victorian coal fireplaces, but where the fire-box should be is a mosaic of small glass tiles. There is a mantle for displaying objet d'art, and a large mirror over it.

The boy's room is the WOW room for the house. One item donated was a $4200 football simulator. The bed is a Murphy bed, so he has space to actually play the simulator. The carpet is astro-turf, and he also has a small couch covered in vinyl that looks like grass with a 50-yard-line.

The mom's room was not put together yet, but from the plans I saw it also was not to my tastes. The bed has a ceiling mounted canopy, with hot-pink curtains all around. The master bath, however, was incredible. It has a glass vessel-style sink, soaking tub, and large shower.

The backyard is very small, but they managed to squeeze in a new garage with an upstairs room, and a new play-ground for the day care.

I'll post more later about the Reveal. It was an interesting experience.

Boy Pillows

2009-10-09T23:57:00.003-05:00

For the most part, the boy's pillows were MUCH simpler than the girl's. And it's a good thing they were, or we never would have finished.

The boy's room is a football theme, and his favorite team is the Chicago Bears. The fabrics we were given are: orange sport-jersey (the stuff full of little holes); heavy green woven that looks a lot like grass; heavy navy blue woven; blue cotton with a pattern of small circles that look like moon phases; green cotton with tiny green polka-dots.

1 & 2. Two large pillows made of orange jersey fabric, with blue ribbon stripes at the opposite corners. The designer requested that we use the fabric to make a pillow that actually looked like a Bears jersey. However, the Bears' jerseys are either blue for home games, or white for away games. So the orange became squares. Quick and easy. Our first project completed.

3. Jersey-looking pillow. We used the solid blue cut to a shirt-shape, and appliqued it onto a white fleece, which only showed at the armpits and the neck. Dee used her machine to embroider the boy's name across the shoulders, and we added ribbon stripes to the "sleeves". For the backing, we found a Bears-logo fleece. This is the other "front and center" pillow that the designer chose.

4 & 5. Two square pillows of concentric blue and green squares. One was blue-green-blue of the heavier fabrics. The other was green-blue-green of the dotted fabrics. Both were pieced in a log-cabin type assembly.

6. A bolster of the grassy green fabric, with end buttons covered with the orange jersey.

7. Another bolster, made to look like a football. We found a dark brown micro-fiber in Dee's fabric stash, and used white shoelaces to make the lacing and stripes. As we were making this Dee commented that it WOULD get thrown by the boy. This was verified when MY son found it. There was less than 3 seconds between the rattling of the bag, and the words "Hey, Tim, CATCH!" Followed immediately by "DON'T throw that!!" from Mom.

8. Large floor-pillow size square with a pieced design of all 4 blue and green fabrics.

It was probably WAY more pillows than any boy wants to deal with in his room, but designers are pillow-crazy. I expect they will mostly end up as floor pillows either in his room or in the family room. But I'm sure they looked good for the presentation.

Girl Pillows

2009-10-09T23:52:00.004-05:00

Since the reveal is done, I'll assume it's now OK to tell about the projects. For those who are interested, I'll describe the pillows. Others may feel free to skip this part.

The girl received 9 pillows. The fabrics were: dark purple plaid, hot pink satin, a green silk somewhere between celery and lime, a silver silk that reversed to a pink/silver blend, a beaded white satin, and a plain white satin, and a kind of abstract green leafy print. The room design includes touches of both Victorian and Moroccan.

1: The first one was a PAIN. My cousin's daughter, Kaylee, designed it and claimed it as her project. It was very fancy, with a machine-embroidered initial in the middle of a hot-pink diamond, green silk triangles on the corners, and lace trim. I think that one had at least 5 start-overs. It was one of the first ones started and one of the last finished. It was the victim of: embroidery machine malfunctions; inexperienced sewer issues; inaccurate measuring; had to buy more fabric (result of previous mess-ups). I think that one pillow took at least 20% of our total sewing time. By the last night, Kaylee had had ENOUGH, and I ended up putting it together. Not a single piece of fabric she started with ended up in the final product.

2. The designer requested a white satin bolster the width of the double bed. We had to sew together 4 small bolsters to get the length, then cover them. The result didn't look too good- you could see the individual bolsters. Then Dee had the idea to wrap the whole thing in quilt batting and re-insert into the cover. Looked MUCH better!

3. Dee embarked on another very fancy pillow. It was a Victorian-looking one. Outside border in hot pick satin, next a border of shirred white satin with pearl beads on it, center a square of the green silk with rows of pin-tucks. The pearl-covered satin gave her fits. Due to the way they were already attached, she had to remove and/or replace a large number of them, and the fabric did not take well to being shirred. This was another that took large amounts of time, but the finished product was beautiful.

4 & 5. Two "huggable" pillows of black and purple woven fabric. These were a request of the designer. The fabric she gave us was extremely soft, and was a very loose weave of very thick yarns. We had to sew it to the lining before cutting, or it would have fallen apart. These were very basic rectangles, with one cut along the lines of plaid, and one cut on the diagonal.

6. Hot pink bolster with white satin music notes appliqued on it. Another designer request. We had told the designer that the notes could easily be embroidered by machine, but Dee discovered she had NO music notes in her library of embroidery designs. Although she has computer software to design patterns, it would have taken more time than we could spare. We decided to make it plain, and look for pre-made appliques. While searching unsuccessfully for appliques at Walmart, I had the idea to make our own. Since I had time to do this at home on Thursday afternoon, I made a few (out of scraps from my wedding dress!), and Dee hand-sewed them on. This was the FINAL thing we completed.

7. A basic round pillow with a huge button in the middle, made out of the leafy print.

8. This one was my design, and one the designer said would be front and center. The pillow was a square. The design was a Moroccan-looking "square" of curves and corners, applied on the diagonal. The background was green silk, the outline shape was white satin, and the center was the leaf print.

9. One more of Kaylee's design, with a Moroccan flavor. A rectangular pillow, background of the silver silk. Large diamonds of the pink flip-side, with purple ribbons outlining the diamonds, and large purple buttons on the intersections.

Despite all the problems with some of them, I decided I REALLY like making pillows. They are quick, and have lots of room for creativity.

What a BUSY week!

2009-10-09T22:41:00.002-05:00

This week gave me taste of a full-time job type schedule, and I SO glad I'm a stay-at-home mom! Here's what my week looked like:

Monday: Tim had no PE/Music class, so we skipped speech therapy and headed to my cousin's for a day of sewing. John stayed home to get himself to/from Biology. My cousin, her daughter, her sister, and I all sewed from about 10am to about 5. I called Sid with supper instructions and headed home. Brought home 4 pillows to work on. Completed 2, did parts of other 2.

Tuesday: Had to get Tim to Music, so couldn't leave as early. Picked him up from class at 11, then dropped him at a friend's house for the afternoon. Sewed from 12:30pm till 1:30am! Had told Sid earlier that I'd probably be home around midnight, but didn't arrive till 2:30. VERY worried hubby! SORRY!

Wednesday: My cousin's and my schedules both too full to get together, but worked on pillows at home.

Thursday: Back at her house at 4pm. Had previously been told we should have the pillows at the Makeover house around 8pm. Arrived at cousin's house to the news that now they want them around 6pm! NOT gonna make it! We finally left Dee's house about 8:30. The designer loved the pillows. She picked two that she said would be front-and-center on the beds, and both I had sewn, one I designed.

Total: approx. 24 hrs of sewing for me, plus about 6hrs driving, total of nearly 100 man-hours of sewing time for all three of us together.

Friday: Today I went back at noonish for the reveal. It didn't actually happen until about 3. LONG time standing around on concrete. Stuck in traffic going home. The drive that took 1 hr going took 2 hours getting home. YUCK.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'll be at our regional Awana Leader's Conference. If the church hadn't already paid for it, I'd bow out. Would MUCH rather stay home and veg! (I'd have to pay the church back if I didn't go)

Sunday will truly be a day of well-earned REST!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2009-10-04T22:50:00.003-05:00

Guess what I'm doing this week!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is doing a house in St. Paul this week. My cousin Steve is on the construction crew, and my cousin Deanne contacted them to volunteer as a seamstress. I offered to help her out. So Dee, her daughter Kaylee, and I went to the site today to meet with the designers about what needs doing.

We met 3 designers, but I didn't recognize them, and none of them are ones that are listed on the show's website, so I don't know what their hierarchy is for that. I guess the ones that actually get face-time on camera are too big to meet with lowly volunteers. We got to see the designs for all three bedrooms, and the floor plans and outside drawings for the house.

Another team of volunteers is doing the sewing for the master bedroom- Ty's "secret room". We saw the plans though, and got to offer our opinions and ideas.

Our team will be making pillows for both kid's bedrooms. We were given fabric samples and pillow forms, told to figure out how much fabric we needed, and where to go get it. It's all being donated by the fabric store. We were told a few detail ideas that the designer wants us to use, but mostly we get free reign on designing the pillows.

After leaving the site, we went back to Dee's house to start brainstorming. We came up with the designs for nearly 20 pillows. Tomorrow (Monday) we start sewing. Dee's sister Joyce will be joining us, too. We have to have them all ready for delivery by Thursday night, but our own schedules require us to be mostly done by Tuesday night. Thursday is the "moving in", and Friday is "Move That Bus!" I don't know yet if we will get to see the inside of the house on Thursday night, or if we will be there for the reveal on Friday.

Today was tear-down day. While there we saw them taking away the last of the debris, and later starting to dig for the new foundation. The footings and foundation were supposed get poured this afternoon and evening. Tomorrow the entire shell will go up, with a roof on by tomorrow night. I've watched enough houses go up in our own neighborhood to be EXTREMELY impressed by that schedule!

You can read all about the project and the family here.

I have been a faithful watcher of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for several years, so this is a HUGE thrill for me. I've thought for years that it would be fun to help with one, but never thought I actually WOULD get to!

This month in our school: Egypt and Greece

2009-09-21T15:42:00.003-05:00

Since this blog is titled "laughing and LEARNING", I'm going to try to put more entries about what we are doing in school. This year in History we are covering the Ancient Civilizations. We are starting with Egypt, and then moving on to Greece.

Tim gets a full month of Egypt. We are "rowing" 4 books, and studying a different part of the culture with each book.

First was "Zekmet the Stone Carver" by Mary Stolz. That week Tim learned where Egypt is, and about the Sphinx and other stone monuments (Egyptian and otherwise). We measured out the size of the Sphinx on the road in front of our house and compared it to the size of Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. He also learned about the Egyptian style of drawing.

Last week our book was "The Great Wonder" by Annabelle Howard. Tim learned about the pyramids, their construction, and about hieroglyphics.

This week our book is "Muti's Necklace" by Rebecca Guay. We will study various aspects of the daily culture: dress, jewelry, games, food.

Our last book will be "Cat Mummies" by Kelly Tremble. We will study (bet you didn't guess!) mummies. The first week of school we started an uncooked chicken through the mummifying process, and this week we will finish the job.

Because John needs to cover a LOT of history in the next 3 years, he only got an overview of Egypt for two weeks. He had several books, and parts of books, to read to give him an understanding of their place in the ancient world, and what they believed. This week he will start on Greece, which will be MUCH more in depth. He will begin with the origins of Greece, and what the connection was between late Egypt and early Greece.

High School

2009-09-14T20:35:00.003-05:00

The massive specter of the infamous "High School" is often viewed as an insurmountable challenge by homeschool moms. It starts rearing its intimidating head when the eldest child is about 6th grade, and gets bigger and scarier as 9th grade approaches.

John is my first student to have high school at home. Ginny chose to attend the public school (and with the moods her raging hormones were producing I was VERY willing to see her go!!). None of us were thrilled with her experience there, but overall I guess it wasn't too bad. It helped that she's one of those smart kids that will learn anywhere, regardless of what the school is like.

So last year I approached John's freshman year with some trepidation, but still confident that I could provide him with a better education than the school would. My worries were less about the actual "school" part and more about the "transcript" part. HOW on earth do you calculate credits? or a GPA? What kinds of things can qualify as a "class"? I kind of muddled through last year with only a vague idea of what was needed as far as paperwork.

This summer I finally got my hands on a copy of "SENIOR HIGH: A HOME-DESIGNED FORM+U+LA" by Barb Shelton. This book is a WEALTH of info. The writer seems to have some serious ADD tendencies, as she tends to ramble through various topics, but the book is written in a friendly, chatty voice, and is not difficult to read, though it should be taken in small chunks. A local homeschool guru at the homeschool supply store says this book is for the "Type B" moms. Those with "Type A" personalities will probably be happier with a different book. (She recommended one, but since I am definitely a "B" I didn't pay attention to that one!)

[**Type A: wants everything laid out in advance with a specific plan to follow
Type B: Wants to "go with the flow", and document it all afterward]

The majority of the book is a huge selection of forms and templates for keeping records. She explains how to lay out an overall plan, and how to customize your own class plans. How to keep records of what you DID do, and later turn that into an outline that would make sense to any authority that wanted to view it- like a college admissions officer. It also answers those questions I mentioned above.

So, our high school journey is all laid out in a nice neat notebook. Each planned subject has its own page of what will be covered, and what the expectations are for receiving an A, B, or C as a final grade. There are multiple forms for recording the basic required info for each class, to prove that certain material was covered. Since this is based on material covered, NOT textbooks completed, we can use any resources that fill the need, and not be limited to specific books. Since we prefer "living books" to textbooks, like to use a variety of sources, and prefer to use the library as much as possible, this is a very good method for us.

A second item that I have found very useful is the local high school course catalog. It gives descriptions of each course offered, providing valuable insight into what they consider to be credit-worthy. For example, where I would have lumped all the language arts subjects into "10th grade English" it has "writing" and "grammar" as separate courses with separate credit. Knowing this makes it MUCH easier to fill in those required numbers of credits- what I would have given only one credit is actually worth 1.5 credits. Also, seeing the types of courses they offer as electives really opens up the possibilities for customizing electives to suit the student's interests. The catalog also lays out the local requirements for graduation, and the usual requirements for college admission. Although MN does not require homeschoolers to meet the public school requirements, it does help as a basic guideline for knowing if we are in the same general ballpark with what is expected for a high school graduate to have attained.

One thing we have chosen to do differently this year is to put some of John's at-home subjects on a "block schedule" like our local school uses. This type of schedule uses longer class periods with only 4 classes per quarter. The student completes an entire credit worth of info in only 2 quarters instead of 4. John's History and Government, Bible, and some of the LA are full-year courses. His math, some LA, and his at-school subjects are divided between various quarters. This makes his day more manageable, with less things to keep track of daily.

What do I mean by "at-school" subjects? MN allows homeschool students to selectively register for classes to attend at school. We have chosen to have John take all his Science courses at school. (I do NOT want to tackle Biology and Chemistry!) He is also taking some electives, which this year is Art I, a prerequisite for any other artsy classes he might choose to take later. This year we chose to schedule his classes during third period, which includes lunch, so he can have some "hang-out" time with his school friends.

Two things that I think are a MUST for any homeschooling high schooler are an ability to be responsible for their own learning, and a desire to continue learning at home. It is NOT possible to teach a student who would rather be anywhere but home, and it is not possible for a parent to spoon-feed a high school education. There is WAY too much to be covered for a parent to learn and then teach it all; the student must take on the task for himself. Last year, I had serious doubts about John's ability and motivation to do this at home, but after getting a plan in place, and getting his thumbs-up on it, we both can approach it with a much better idea of what is needed. So far this year he has proven himself much more responsible for staying on top of his own work, so I think we're going to do all right.

As we start to dive into some meaty Biblical world-view topics, I think we are going to have some interesting discussions, and now instead of fearing the next few years I'm looking forward to them.

A new year...

2009-09-14T15:13:00.002-05:00

Once again a new school year begins.
Once again we make a change in our curriculum.

We have dropped Weaver. Although I have no complaints with the curriculum itself, it wasn't going to fill our needs for the next few years. We need to cover a LOT of history in the next 3 years until John graduates, and though Weaver eventually covers it all, it is a piece at a time, with other topics between, and not in chronological order. We spend far too much time chasing "rabbit trails" of interesting stuff to be able to cover all the history we need to in 3 years. Also, John is taking his high school sciences at the public school, and Weaver's LA doesn't work for us, so we don't need the full unit study format.

Our history will be covered by TruthQuest. John will be doing a whirlwind tour through their 3-year plan, with only a skim over the eras we have previously covered. John will be doing a LOT of independent reading.

We are returning to Five in a Row. Tim has never had the fun of FIAR, and I don't want him to miss out. I'll choose FIAR books that go with whatever eras John is studying, and where FIAR doesn't offer corresponding books, we will "row" non-FIAR books that do correspond. This will cover Tim's science as well. Although FIAR is designed for up to age 8, with chapter book versions for up to age 12, I won't have any trouble expanding it to fit his needs.

Most of our other work will remain the same as last year with some changes to meet high school requirements, which I'll discuss in another post.

The case FOR Homeschooling, Part 2

2009-09-14T12:51:00.004-05:00

Today I ran across a blog by a high school student that also gives responses to the moron's arguments against homeschooling (see earlier post here). I thought it was interesting to read the thoughts of a public school student on this topic.

Coincidence blog post

What to do with all the garden goodies?

2009-08-27T09:26:00.002-05:00

Now that harvest season is in full swing, the question becomes "What do you do with it all?" For my tomatoes, the answer was "SALSA!"

I spent yesterday at a friend's house learning how to make salsa and can it for future use. We started with a jar of our family's favorite brand, and used the ingredient list from the label as a starting point. This was an important step, because we have eaten some homemade salsas that were REALLY bad! There is a WIDE variety of tastes in the world of salsa!

It was a much LONGER process than I expected. When a canner only holds up to 6 jars, and it takes a minimum of 40 min per batch, 17 jars of salsa and diced tomatoes can take a large part of the day. Add to that the time to cook the salsa itself, experiment with the recipe, and mix in the care of 4 kids (mine and hers) and one husband who was working from home (hers), and it turns into a very long day. (Supper last night was a pizza picked up on the way home.)

The end product was left at her house overnight, because she said the jars should not be moved until they were fully cooled. I did bring home a small sample and Sid gave it a try. His opinion: "It tastes like salsa!" I'll take that as high praise!

GRRRR

2009-07-23T11:44:00.001-05:00

Have to come up with a new name for my game. I googled the name I've been using and it's already in use for someone's on-line game. I don't see any indications of copyright there, but why go asking for trouble?

Now I'll have to change everything on the website, including the picture.

Entrepreneurship making progress

2009-07-23T00:25:00.002-05:00

My game is on it's way to becoming a reality! Being a History game, it lends itself to several versions for different eras. I have two versions ready to go- United States History, and Ancient History, and several more in mind.

Sid has helped me produce the card holders needed and was very clever about making a system for the jig-saw so that we can make many all the same. He also has used his computer expertise to make it much easier to create the cards with a uniform appearance.

I've been working on a website to promote it. So far I'm just using a site on a blog host, and that is functional, but not very professional looking, so I'll have to find out how to do a "real" website rather than a blog.

Here's a link if you'd like to take a look. It's not truly "ready to go", some of the details for ordering are not yet in place, but you can get an idea of what it will be like.

Garden Update

2009-06-14T21:32:00.003-05:00

Figured it was time to give an update on my garden. It IS still alive, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. A few days after planting we had a light frost and some things were frostbitten, but all survived.

I have been harvesting the first planting of radishes. I'm glad SOMETHING grows fast enough to enjoy already! Every couple days when I go to water I harvest another handful. (I like that word- harvest- it sounds so...successful!) I have 3 "squares" of radishes planted about 10 days apart. The second square doesn't seem to have sprouted well- I was sick for a few days and wasn't able to keep them watered. The 3rd square is just today pushing through the dirt, and looks like it will be a good result.

I've also picked a few strawberries, but they've been very small- smaller than a dime, but SO sweet. The few that are ripening now are bigger, about nickle-size. The plants all survived their slight frostbite, but I think it slowed them down. The frostbitten leaves all died, and they have had to grow new ones.

My tomatoes are growing well. The cherry tomato plant has blossoms on it, but the Roma tomatoes don't yet.

My beans were also planted at different times. The third square of those has not sprouted yet. When it does, I'll plant the 4th and last square.

I planted 3 squares of garlic. I got only 3 plants sprouting out of about 20 cloves planted. Those 3 are nearly a foot tall, and in the last couple days about 10 more have finally appeared.

I think my potatoes are a failure. Rather than buy seed potatoes, I figured that if a potato will sprout in my pantry, it ought to do just fine in the garden. That way I would have the type of potatoes I like. But no signs of life from them. It's been several weeks, and I finally dug one up a few days ago, and it looks just like it did when I planted it. I replanted it. Maybe it will decide to produce after all.

I'm not sure yet what will become of my cukes. I planted 2 hills. One sprouted 4 plants, the other has had no signs of life. I needed to thin them, so I transplanted 2 of the plants into the other hill. I'm not sure they'll survive. They look pretty sad, and the plants are still so tiny, I have doubts that I will get anything off them before fall.

All the rest of my crops are at least growing. The other things I am attempting to grow are: zucchini, summer squash, peppers (green, hot and REALLY hot), cilantro, celery, and cabbage.

School's Out!

2009-06-09T15:39:00.002-05:00

School's out! School's out!
Teacher let the monkeys out!
One went east, one went west,
.....

And I need to come up with an alternative last line, because the one I learned is NOT one I want my kids to learn!

Public school was officially out last Friday. Our homeschool won't be truly out for a couple more weeks, but we've cut it down to the have-to-finish subjects. For Tim that's about 6 more math lessons, and 8 more chapters in "Maniac Magee". For John, about a dozen math lessons, 4 spelling lessons, a month of writing, and almost the whole summer of sign language. The last 2 are entirely due to his slacking off and avoidance techniques, so he's just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it. John also has some PE requirements to work on, but those are more fun and less work.

This has not been one of our most successful years. Both boys have made GREAT strides in academic subjects. John has (I believe and hope I'm not proven wrong) made great strides in personal responsibility. But from my point of view it's been one of the most boring years. We started out doing a study of the continents, with a missionary biography for each one, and some exploration of the varying cultures. A schedule change for John in the 2nd quarter of public school threw a monkey wrench in our day and we never got back into that study. Since that was the base for the "fun" stuff like craft projects and notebooking, the rest of the year has mostly been just grinding through the 3R's.

Next year I think I'll change our History program. We've been using Weaver Unit Studies, which incorporate the history, social studies and science into a chronological study of the Bible. I REALLY like it, but we have reached a point where it no longer meets our needs, and has become a burden instead of a joy. With Johnny taking science at school, and the slow pace at which we have been moving through the Weaver volumes, we need to make a change. I'm looking at TruthQuest History. It will allow us to cover all the history eras I want to before John graduates, and leave us room so that I can also (hopefully) go back and do some Five in a Row with Tim.

I've been REALLY missing the FIAR. John and I had so much fun with it, and Tim missed out. Although he is technically too old for it, I think we will still find lots to explore from it. It will definitely be different than when John did it, but it will be fun. I may move on to the Beyond FIAR which is right at Tim's age, but heavier on the Language Arts (not Tim's strong point) so we'll have to see.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer. I love our long days hanging out at the lake. I actually get time to catch up on some projects around the house. And I do lots of prep work for next year- much of it while sitting in the shade while the boys swim. The garden ought to provide some diversion. And we do lots of biking around town. John wants to work on his bicycling merit badge, which requires him (and me) to work up to a 50 mile bike trip!

The case FOR Homeschooling

2009-05-30T15:58:00.004-05:00

I have several education-oriented blogs that I subscribe to. Most of them are not homeschooling blogs, but have a lot to think about on education issues. Today I read one by a public school teacher that was titled "The Case Against Homeschooling". This one screams for a rebuttal, so here goes. Italics are the original post, regular text mine.

Here are my top ten reasons why homeschooling parents are doing the wrong thing:

10. “You were totally home schooled” is an insult college kids use when mocking the geeky kid in the dorm (whether or not the offender was home schooled or not). And… say what you will… but it doesn’t feel nice to be considered an outsider, a natural outcropping of being homeschooled.

10. I attended both public (K-9) and private (10-12) schools. I was a geek in both places. And I never minded being called one, because in my opinion those who were the antithesis of geek-dom were generally shallow, immature, and often cruel. I'd rather NOT be included in their exclusive popularity club, and am perfectly content that my children aren't either. Being dependent on the group opinion is a result of peer-dependency and a lack of self-confidence. Peer-dependent children and teens will attack ANY quality that is different from the accepted "norm", whether it's school background, religious differences, or choice of clothing. I would consider the above "insult" as a compliment.

9. Call me old-fashioned, but a students’ classroom shouldn’t also be where they eat Fruit Loops and meat loaf (not at the same time I hope). It also shouldn’t be where the family gathers to watch American Idol or to play Wii. Students–from little ones to teens–deserve a learning-focused place to study. In modern society, we call them schools.

9. Why not?? Why should "education" be an exclusive act instead of a natural part of our day? We are capable of learning in any place and at any time, and the BEST learning takes place in settings that do NOT include rows of desks and uninterested classmates. Just for the record, our family DOES have a separate schoolroom, but it's mostly a dedicated storage area so I can have easy access to all our paraphernalia. We use the desks there so the dining room table stays cleared off, not because the kids learn "better" in a specified area.

8. Homeschooling is selfish. According to this article in USA Today, students who get homeschooled are increasingly from wealthy and well-educated families. To take these (I’m assuming) high achieving students out of our schools is a disservice to our less fortunate public school kids. Poorer students with less literate parents are more reliant on peer support and motivation, and they greatly benefit from the focus and commitment of their richer and higher achieving classmates.

8. Three points to argue in this one.

A) How is it selfish to want the best for my kids? We all make choices that are intended to give our kids every advantage possible- be it where we buy our homes, what foods we buy, or what sports programs we enroll them in. That's what parents are FOR- to ensure the success of our children. I'd argue that the parents who DON'T make such choices are the negligent ones.

B) By this logic we should all send our kids to the worst school district just so they can encourage those who are less fortunate. From what I have read about inner city schools, and remember from my own public school experience, those "less-fortunate" kids tend to ATTACK those among them who excel academically, so how is putting my kid in that environment going to help anybody?

C) You are assuming that only the BEST students are being homeschooled. A large percentage of homeschoolers are dealing with learning disabilities, or are simply very active little boys. The schools do NOT do these kids much good. The kids who learn differently are stigmatized, left behind, and often quit school before graduation because it is totally pointless for them to be there. I'd much rather teach my kids through their strengths and give them an education that can truly benefit them, than let them flounder in a system that does not know how to handle them and thinks the best way to teach an active little boy is to drug him.

7. God hates homeschooling. The study, done by the National Center for Education Statistics, notes that the most common reason parents gave as the most important was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction. To the homeschooling Believers out there, didn’t God say “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”? Didn’t he command, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me”? From my side, to take your faithful children out of schools is to miss an opportunity to spread the grace, power and beauty of the Lord to the common people. (Personally I’m agnostic, but I’m just saying…)

7. That a self-proclaimed agnostic claims to understand God's desires for MY kids is the ultimate in arrogance. Those verses you quote were given to ADULT believers. More appropriate quotes:
Mark 10:14 "But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." If anything, the public schools definitely "forbid" the teachings of Christ.
Deuteronomy 6:6-8 "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." This verse is one that many families take as their primary reason for homeschooling. How can we possibly teach our children to live Godly lives when they spend the majority of their day in a very UNGodly environment. Statistics show that the majority of kids from Christian families that attend public school abandon their faith as adults. My children will be very well-grounded in what they believe, and therefore better able, when they are adults, to follow the commands to witness.

6. Homeschooling parent/teachers are arrogant to the point of lunacy. For real! My qualifications to teach English include a double major in English and education, two master’s degrees (education and journalism), a student teaching semester and multiple internship terms, real world experience as a writer, and years in the classroom dealing with different learning styles. So, first of all, homeschooling parent, you think you can teach English as well as me? Well, maybe you can. I’ll give you that. But there’s no way that you can teach English as well as me, and biology as well as a trained professional, and history… and Spanish… and art… and counsel for college as well as a school’s guidance counselor… and… and…

6. You're right...to a point. But very few homeschoolers even attempt to be the authority in all these areas. There are MANY options for teaching the advanced subjects other than Mom attempting to do so. There are video and on-line courses, community colleges (who happily take homeschooled high-schoolers), co-operative classes, private tutors, and in many states we can pick-and-choose classes at the local public schools. I would also argue that not all students need highly-trained teachers for all subject areas. Homeschooled students are usually taught to seek out resources and learn for themselves from the best they can find. Motivated learners do not NEED a "trained professional" to force-feed them in a subject they enjoy.

5. As a teacher, homeschooling kind of pisses me off. (That’s good enough for #5.)

5. Lots of things in this world piss me off too, but that doesn't give me the right to condemn other's rights to choose that option.

4. Homeschooling could breed intolerance, and maybe even racism. Unless the student is being homeschooled at the MTV Real World house, there’s probably only one race/sexuality/background in the room. How can a young person learn to appreciate other cultures if he or she doesn’t live among them?

4. In many parts of the country, the schools are just as segregated as the homes. The schools reflect the population of the community, and many communities are pretty homogeneous. Personally, I have lived in at least 8 states and 2 foreign countries. Only ONE school district I lived in was anything near "multi-cultural". And that district had the MOST racially prejudiced population. My kids will grow up to be less prejudiced in a home where they are frequently reminded that skin color is irrelevant, than they would in a school where racial divisions are evident in the lunchroom and where the social pressure of the various "cliques" forbids the inter-mixing of the students.

3. And don’t give me this “they still participate in activities with public school kids” garbage. Socialization in our grand multi-cultural experiment we call America is a process that takes more than an hour a day, a few times a week. Homeschooling, undoubtedly, leaves the child unprepared socially.

3. How do you define social preparedness? My kids are empathetic, friendly, able to converse with anyone. They are the kid on the playground who is helping the injured toddler, or including the "social outcast" in their game. My daughter just graduated from college, and on more than one occasion her stating that she was homeschooled resulted in "Really? but you seem so normal!" (or something to that effect). Obviously homeschooling didn't hamper HER social development. My own experience with the snobby, cliquey, hurtful, social hierarchies of public school is more than enough to convince me that school is NOT the place to learn the KIND of socialization I want my kids to learn.

2. Homeschooling parents are arrogant, Part 2. According to Henry Cate, who runs the Why Homeschool blog, many highly educated, high-income parents are “probably people who are a little bit more comfortable in taking risks” in choosing a college or line of work. “The attributes that facilitate that might also facilitate them being more comfortable with home-schooling.”

More comfortable taking risks with their child’s education? Gamble on, I don’t know, the Superbowl, not your child’s future.

2. Though that quote might apply to some homeschoolers, it certainly does not apply to all of them. For starters, I don't know ANY homeschoolers that qualify as "high-income". Most are one-income households who clothe their kids from garage sales and thrift shops. Our budget for school books is generally in the "hundreds" for the entire year. Many homeschoolers would choose a private school if they could afford it. As for risk-taking, we generally feel that to homeschool is LESS of a risk to our kids future than putting them in the hands of the public school. We ARE less afraid of public opinion, which is NOT the same thing.

1. And finally… have you met someone homeschooled? Not to hate, but they do tend to be pretty geeky***.

*** Please see the comments for thoughts on the word ‘geeky.’ But, in general, to be geeky connotes a certain inability to integrate and communicate in diverse social situations. Which, I would argue, is a likely result of being educated in an environment without peers. It’s hard to get by in such a diverse world as ours! And the more people you can hang out with the more likely you are to succeed, both in work life and real life.

1. I refer you back to reason #10. This is hardly an insult in my book. Homeschoolers may be less able to "integrate and communicate" in the world of popular (Hollywood) culture, but they will be more able to carry on a coherent conversation on history, or politics, or other subjects of REAL significance. They WILL be naive in subjects that kids SHOULD be naive in. (What idiot decided that kindergarteners should understand homosexuality???) Homeschoolers are proving themselves to be valuable assets to colleges and businesses, who like their self-sufficiency and their work-ethic. THESE are much better goals than knowing who is dating who, and what happened last night on the current R-rated TV show. Public schools turn out their own fair share of geeks. This is largely genetic, NOT taught!

Gardens

2009-05-15T00:13:00.003-05:00

I have a brown thumb. Probably closer to black. I have two plants in my house; one is an aloe, the other is silk. It has taken me nine years to get my yard totally covered in actual grass. And today I planted a garden. With real vegetables.

Several friends and I have a slightly pessimistic view of the current state of our country, and we figure learning to garden would not be a bad thing. Our church offered garden plots in a back corner of the property, and we decided to learn together. One friend researched "square foot gardening" and we decided that sounded like a good way to go.

So, today I headed off to the local nursery and bought starter plants and seeds. (In Mn, some of the slower-growing veggies don't have enough time in our short growing season, so started plants are a necessity.) I now have 6 4x4 squares planted. It was actually kind of fun.

The church had a neighboring farmer plow the garden area, but we still had to till, rake, and level it. My arms are still sore from arm-wrestling the tiller. We all took turns with it. Our first crop, of course, was rocks. Plenty of those in MN dirt. Then we had to stake out all the squares- we're not doing the recommneded raised beds, just staked them out and used string to mark the edge.

My part of the garden now contains: tomatoes (roma and cherry), potatoes, green beans, strawberries, radishes, celery, garlic, cucumbers, peppers (bell, hot, and REALLY hot), cabbage, yellow summer squash, and zucchini. My choices were driven by two things: what I know we will eat fresh, and what I want to learn to make. With a possible move in the future, I did not want a huge supply of preserved veggies. The tomatoes and peppers are because I'm going to try my hand at some salsa, which our family eats lots of. The cukes are because I want to learn to do Bread and Butter pickles. My step-mom made those one year, and they were yummy. Celery and green peppers will be chopped and frozen for recipes. Garlic will keep. Potatoes I plan to enjoy as "new" potatoes and will also keep well. The rest I plan to eat fresh.

A couple of the ladies are doing all the vine crops as climbers: tomatoes, beans, squashes, cucumbers. Did you know that even melons can grow UP and the fruit will stay on the vine until it's ripe? The melons don't even have to be supported- though it's wise to support them before they ripen or they will fall off and probably split upon impact. You can put a lot more plants in your garden space this way. Since I didn't want to plant more than I can handle, and I opted not to pay for materials for climbing frames, I'm just letting my squashes crawl around the old-fashioned way, and bought bush varieties of the beans and tomatoes.

I wanted to get the boys involved in the planting, but Tim was sick today, and John stayed home with him. They WILL get to learn what weeding is all about though!

Graduation Day

2009-05-09T19:29:00.005-05:00

GRADUATION DAY!

Virginia is graduating from St Cloud State University. She has earned *2* degrees in 4 years- the first in Special Education, with certification in Emotional-Behavioral Disorders, the second in Spanish. Although her announcements proclaim she is Magna Cum Laude, her final semester grades squeaked her over the line to SUMMA CUM LAUDE!!!

We are supremely PROUD of our girl!!!

She's not even technically done yet, but yesterday she started grad school already! She is taking the summer to get a second certification, this one in Learning Disabilities. When she called today she was all giddy because she gets to take part in a study this summer. So, she will be "published" in an academic work that will eventually count toward her Masters or Doctorate.

My little girl is all grown up. (How can it be possible to be so happy and so sad at the same time?) She should still be about 4 feet tall, with curly ponytails. Where did all the years go?

Me? an entrepreneur?

2009-05-03T00:12:00.002-05:00

I'm a firm believer in small business. I just never really planned to be an entrepreneur myself. I'm still not sure that I will be. But sometimes God throws opportunity and a challenge in our laps, and I think I'd be fool not to take Him up on it.

At MACHE last month, while a friend and I were shopping in the exhibit hall, she challenged me to come up with a History game that was worth playing. (It wasn't truly challenge, just a comment, but I decided to rise to the occasion.) We play a LOT of games as part of our school day, but history is an area where the games fall short of usefulness. Either they are built around a history theme but are woefully lacking in educational value; or they are question/answer overkill, basically a worksheet in disguise, and woefully lacking in fun.

So, I put my imagination to work and came up with a game. I invited aforementioned friend over to play, and she loved it. She requested a copy, and started talking marketing! (Actually, I had already had thoughts in that direction, and the encouragement was affirming.) Two days later, she called and said she had been at the homeschool store, and had "sold" several more copies to other customers!

So, on to the process of actually producing it! Easier said than done. Lots of steps to the process, and I'm not real strong on follow-through. But the process is started, and we'll just have to see what happens!

Half a Century

2009-04-28T13:31:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Sid!!

Today Sid turns 50!!!

Tonight it has been exactly 25 years since Sid proposed to me, which means I have loved him for more than half his life.

Spring Break

2009-03-31T13:05:00.007-05:00

For the first time ever, we took a trip for Spring Break. It was the boys' first family vacation. We went to Cheyenne, Wy. Although this trip had ulterior motives, it was still a good vacation. John was born there, but has no memories of it, so he was glad to finally get a look at it.

This was definitely a trip done on a budget. We had a cheap motel with a kitchenette, so we did not have to eat in restaurants all week. Definition of "cheap": you don't wanna know! Suffice it to say, there were no bugs, and the essential things were clean. You get what you pay for, and we didn't pay much! And, NO, I would NOT recommend this place to our friends!

We spent one day in the mountains at Vedauwoo Recreation Area. This was one of our favorite places when we lived there, and it quickly became a favorite spot for the boys. We hiked up to the overlook, and Tim earned a new nickname of "Billy", short for Billy Goat. He was all over the rocks, loving every minute of it, and I don't think he rested for even 5 seconds the entire time we were there.

We also looked up several old friends. Some were Sid's old co-workers who stayed in the area. One was a friend that goes way back to our first tour in Grand Forks- she's the girl that introduced Sid and I. Another was a good friend of mine from when we lived there. We also ran into another friend when we visited a local church Sunday morning. The boys and I even made new friends of the wife and son of one of the old co-workers.

The weather there was NOT very vacation-like. We arrived on Friday night; Saturday and Sunday were beautiful. We saw a weather report and took advantage of the good days. Monday-Thursday were highlighted by not one, but TWO blizzards that decided to welcome us back to the area. WAY too much time cooped up in the motel room! When we got stir-crazy the boys and I ventured out to check out the local museums, but they were all closed due to the weather.

The drive went well for the most part. When we lived out there, the speed limit was still 55, and it was a 2-day trip to MN. Now, it's 75 all the way across Nebraska, and 70 in the other states, so it was only a one-day drive. One very long 14-hr day, but still do-able. Going across Nebraska, though it LOOKS flat, it's actually a very gradual climb from about 1000 feet altitude to 6000 feet in Cheyenne. The trip took 3 tanks of gas going, and only 2 coming back!

The boys did great on their first long road trip. John tends to get car-sick if he tries to read, so that really limited his activities. But they took a CD player with Narnia CDs to listen to, and I made up a scavenger hunt list of things to watch for. So they both survived without killing each other, or making us want to kill them, so that qualifies as successful.

I'll add some pictures when I get them downloaded from the camera.

Changes on the Horizon

2009-03-31T12:23:00.004-05:00

We are facing a huge change in our lives. We are planning a move back to Cheyenne, Wy.

Why would any sane person leave lovely, green MN to go to dry, windy Wyoming?

For starters, cost of living. We would be returning to a military town, where we would have access to the commissary, BX and gym. The food bill alone would drop by about 30%. Gas is about 30 c/gal cheaper, phone and utilities are cheaper. We have checked out property values, and we can build a new house on ACREAGE for approximately the cost of our current home. Acreage in MN is NOT affordable.

Second, taxes. Wy has NO personal or corporate income tax, so that would be about another $100/per month in our pockets. Our years in MN we have had to PAY state taxes out of pocket every spring. This is partly due to his retirement pay and problems getting the taxes deducted from THAT. In some years it been due to having 3+ sources of income, which when combined give us a higher tax bracket than what they deduct for from each individual job. No matter how many time Sid changes his deductions, we STILL end up paying. Currently, his deductions are set at 0, and even though we got a huge return from Uncle Sam, we STILL had to pay MN. We're sick of it.

Third, Military mindset. MN employers have NO understanding of or respect for Military experience. Most of the general population has no concept of what military service entails, and when military topics come up in conversation, they just don't "get it". After returning from Wy last week, Sid said that it was so nice while on base to be shown the respect that he earned. He's finally on the receiving end, after 21+ years of giving that respect to others.

Fourth, Nanny State. MN is getting worse for intrusive laws. Even the ones that I benefit from, like no-smoking laws, I don't think the government has the right to make. Wy, though not perfect, is much less nanny-ish.

Last, but not least, JOB. Sid's job here has reduced his hours to 32/wk. That's down from 55/wk. With the loss of overtime pay, that's almost a 50% loss of pay. Mn currently has an unemployment rate of about 8%. Finding a different job is next to impossible. Wy's unemployment rate is 3.7%. The LOWEST in the country! Cheyenne is the state capital, and has the Air Base, so the job market is likely to stay good. We were assured by several others that the employers there KNOW what it means to have military experience. They know that if you did X job, then you have X skills, and what civilian training that equates to. They understand that if you were an NCOIC of a section, then you have real management experience. These are factors that the employers in MN seem to be clueless about. Here, without a civilian degree, the experience is worthless.

Do I want to move? Not really. I LOVE my life here. I have the best friends I've ever had. I love the lakes and trees. I like being near my family. But the constant stress of the financial worries, and the #*$% Sid has to put up with at work, and his unhappiness, and the desire to get out of suburbia, outweigh the other factors. I'm a military brat. I spent 35 years of my life under that "umbrella". I see moving as an adventure, not an upheaval. Whatever changes this brings, I'll adjust. And we're not moving to a new place, we're moving back to old friends, and familiar territory.

When will this happen? Good question. The first thing is for Sid to get a job lined up. The second is to sell our house. NOT an easy thing in MN these days. So, only God knows how this will unfold. All we can do is pray and prepare.

Winter Doldrums

2009-03-13T22:00:00.002-05:00

Every year we get into a winter slump with school work. We're tired of being cooped up indoors, we've had MORE than enough time to get tired of our routine, and we are all SOOOO ready for spring break. I need to come up with something to liven things up a bit.

We had a "game day" today. Just us, though, no friends. Of all the games we played, the big hit was "Wheel of Fortune"! Last year I found a home version at a thrift store. I made sets of puzzles for all the states and capitals, and all the presidents, but since Tim hasn't learned those yet, we were just playing with the original cards. It's good spelling practice for both boys. They each solved 2 puzzles, so it ended happily for all.

Another game we played was "Don't Quote Me" from Time Magazine for Kids. It's a trivia game with lots of questions from history and popular culture. Each question includes a quote that applies to the topic of the question. Some silly questions, but a lot of history and current events too.

We played a memory game with cards of American Birds. BEAUTIFUL pictures. You can see it here put there's not a photo that does justice to the quality of the game. The cards are about 3" square, on VERY heavy cardboard. We also have the National Parks version that's shown on the same page.

We played several other things too, but those were the highlights.

I'm currently working on making a time line book for us. I like time lines, but they take up a horrendous amount of wall space. Last year I found a very versatile book version, and am putting together a similar one for us.

This year we have done very little of our usual unit studies. Both boys take certain classes at the public schools, and the schedule we are dealing with this year, has pushed our unit studies out of the way. I need to find a way to squeeze that back in. That's the FUN part of school.

Both boys had their annual progress testing last month, and we received John's scores in the mail yesterday (we already had Tim's). Both boys did extremely well this year, with the only low spots being exactly what I expected them to be: spelling and grammar. No surprises there.

Anybody have any interesting ideas for late winter excitement?

Just what season IS it anyway!

2009-03-13T21:41:00.003-05:00

Our state apparently can't make up it's mind what season it wants to be in right now. Last week we were getting up into the 30's, then this week we were back down to the NEGATIVE numbers, with wind chills of 20 below! In MARCH! Today we crept back up to about 30, with promises of hitting 50 next week. This is just really bizarre. Today the kids and I went ice skating to take advantage of the sunshine. Won't be too many of those chances left.

Our daughter is enjoying 80+ in Florida, where she's visiting a friend. I'm sure she'll do her best to rub it in when she gets back.

January Thaw

2009-01-31T18:00:00.009-06:00

Every year, we can pretty much count on a January Thaw to give us a brief reprieve from the ravages of a Minnesota winter. This year it just BARELY squeaked into existence, waiting until the 31st to show up. It got up to about 40 today, making us all escape the house and enjoy the outdoors. We got a lot of the hard packed ice off the driveway, which was melting nicely all afternoon. The boys began a snowman which was abandoned with only one ball. John started carving out a fort in the piles by the driveway, but we really haven't had much snow this year, so the pile wasn't very big. Tim tried to sled down the skimpy incline of the front yard, with limited success. I then sent the boys across the pond to an empty lot that has a decent slope, where they had better luck. We're supposed to have another beautiful day tomorrow, but then next week is back to winter with highs around 10.

Dripping Eaves! A wonderful sight!

Running water in the gutter. It will take more than just one nice day to get rid of that icepack.

The boys across the pond.

Sid can't let a day like this go by without getting out the bike. He said he got a lot of smiles, waves, and horn-honks while he was out.

I'm seeing Yellow!

2009-01-31T17:51:00.002-06:00

Last summer the boys started taking Tae Kwon Do. This is not at a "real" martial arts school, but a ministry that is run by some friends. It's called "Christ First" and is based in Memphis, where our friends moved here from. It is non-profit and designed as an outreach- though there don't seem to be many in the class that are not homeschoolers. The class schedule can be erratic as they are held in a public community room, and since our class uses the space for free, whenever someone else wants it for some other purpose, and is paying the rental fee, our class gets bumped. Oh well, the price is right for our budget, the kids enjoy it, and I REALLY like that they get Christian teaching not unknown Eastern mysticism or whatever.

On Thursday, both boys tested for their Yellow Belts, which is the first level above the starting belt of white. Here they are getting their belts.

It's Derby Time Again!

2009-01-31T17:44:00.003-06:00

Once again the season for Pinewood Derby has arrived. Tim is now our only one of racing age. He's in Cub Scouts, and this year moved up to T&T in Awana, so he gets to race twice, with new cars for both. The Cub Scout Derby was last week. Here's the result:
Another First Place win!!

In John's years of Cub Scouts, he repeatedly came in second- always losing to the same kid.

We counted up this year, and figured that between 3 kids, with Scouts and Awana, we have done at least 14 cars. Funny thing is, though we always at least place in Scouts, we have NEVER had a winning car at Awana.

Our "new" schoolroom

2008-12-06T19:31:00.019-06:00

Today I FINALLY downloaded the pics from our camera, so now I can blog about our new schoolroom. When we finished our basement last winter, a schoolroom was part of the project. We have had school down here most of the time we have spent in this house, but it was with a mish-mash of old furniture that didn't really fit the space. Also, we only had one desk which was a problem when Tim reached school age.

Our house is a split-level, and this space is the "3rd level". It's the size of the 3 bedrooms and 2 baths that are on the floor above, so it's a good size space. One corner of the room contains a bathroom, leaving an L-shaped space. One "arm" of the L became our schoolroom, with the rest being a large family room. We actually started using it after Christmas last year, but I didn't get it truly organized until summer, and took these pics the night before we started school this fall. It will probably never be this clean again!

This is the entrance to our schoolroom. The small bookcases on the right hold all my "teacher" books, including curriculum we're not using right now, and other large-format publications. The old baby dresser holds craft supplies, some manipulatives, and various teacher supplies. This row of shelves and cabinet forms the wall between the school and family rooms.

Moving to the left, you can see our desk. It runs the full length of the wall, about 13 feet. It was specifically sized to allow for the file cabinet and storage carts to fit under it. The boys are at opposite ends, and I get the middle. I can easily roll back and forth between them as needed, and they can't make faces, kick or otherwise disrupt each other. The rather wobbly-looking bookcase is one of two I made many years ago. The upper 2 shelves hold Tim's books, our file-folder games, and manipulatives that get frequent use. Way up near the ceiling is storage for bulky items that get less frequent use.

Continuing around the room, here is John's end. His daily-use items are on his bookshelf, and my daily-use things are stacked between him and I. The next bookcase is a random collection of fiction and non-fiction in the smaller size format. The fellow sitting on the window ledge is a 3D body for learning anatomy; he has a full collection of removable guts.

Next is a very large bookcase that holds the biggest share of our books. The upper portion is shelves that are open to the family room on the other side, giving us additional wall space on this side for posters.

Here's a close-up of our book collection. The top shelf is all the Five In a Row books, with neon green stickers numbered according to volume and orange for go-alongs. The next shelf is red stickers for non-life science, and green for life science topics. Bottom shelf is yellow for world history and blue for American history. I had to color code them all when Tim got big enough to want to look at them all, but was incapable of putting them back where they came from.

Scrapbooking Space

2008-12-06T10:28:00.018-06:00

As promised on a message board, here are some pics of my scrapbooking /crafting space. Those of you that truly know me, know that my space is NEVER this clean. The table usually contains a huge pile of miscellaneous overflow from my sewing table and other projects. That pile is now blocking the sewing machine and will probably return to this space shortly as I have a sewing project to complete.

This is the "store-bought" portion of my storage. These hold my punches, stamps, pre-cut borders, and scraps that my kids are allowed to use.

This is the homemade caddy I made. It's made from cardboard covered with fabric, and put together with ample use of craft glue. I sorted out what I wanted in it, and how wanted to store it, and built it accordingly.

Here's my paper storage. Two boxes take up the end of my table.

A close-up of the paper storage. They are built from "bankers boxes" from the office section at walmart and "square dowels" from the craft section. Shelves are just cardboard squares glued to the supports. The cardboard pieces that are included in packages of paper work great. The supports are glued at a slight angle to keep the paper from sliding out.

Zoe

2008-11-15T01:55:00.002-06:00

Well, we met Zoe tonight. She is a very nice dog. She's smaller than Sheila was by a few inches and at least 20 lbs. All black, with a white blaze on her chest. Shorter hair than Sheila, which is a plus, but still with the pretty "feathering" along her legs and hindquarters. Floppy curly ears and very big feet.

She was very hyper when they first arrived, which we expected. She started checking out the living room with her nose, and took immediate interest in Tobias, (Virginia's cockatiel) who responded by falling off his perch, and squawking loudly. She eventually settled down, and minded her manners all evening.

Timmy took a shine to her and enjoyed playing tug of war with her with one of Sheila's old ropes. Then they settled down and Zoe got some good tummy rubbing.

Although she behaved very well tonight, according to her owners she does have a few "behaviors" such as not coming very well when called, and a tendency to stray when off-leash. Sid's not too sure he want's to deal with that particular problem, but I would take that one over destroying things, or stealing food.

So, we haven't decided for sure yet if we will take her, or when. They did NOT intend to leave her tonight after all, that was a miscommunication. Her owner meant that we can have her any time between now and next spring. Waiting until spring would be my preference, so we don't have to walk this ball of energy all winter. We would then be able to spend the summer on some obedience training.

It was nice to have a dog in the house again.

New addition??

2008-11-13T09:05:00.003-06:00

Three years ago, we lost the best friend any family could ask for. Sheila was a wonderful dog, and left a huge hole in our family.

Since that time, Tim has been asking regularly for a new dog. He never knew Sheila as a young dog. By the time Tim came along, Sheila was well into middle age. By the time Tim was old enough to have any real memories of her, she was just plain old. And he REALLY likes dogs. But I didn't want to go back to fighting dog hair, and the expense of vet bills. Sid simply wasn't ready to replace Sheila.

This summer I started looking around for puppies. I was VERY disappointed to find that even the shelters wanted upwards of $150 for a mutt. And I've never seen free puppies being given away on a corner. Posters in the stores are always for either pure-breds, or mutts with designer names. Sorry, but in my book a mutt is still a mutt even if you do give them a fancy mixed breed name like "Labradoodle", and I'm NOT paying you $300 for it!

Once again God proves that He DOES care about the little things. This week, a co-worker of Sid's told him they are looking for a new home for their dog. They will be moving in the spring into student housing, and will not be able to take the dog. She is 3 yrs old; a Springer/Black Lab mix named Zoe. Supposedly well-behaved. Tomorrow we'll find out. The couple is coming over for supper, and bringing the dog with. We'll see how the dog and boys get along, and how well she takes to us.

We made the dinner date with the belief that they would keep her until spring, and we would get her when they moved. That would suit me fine, to not have to deal with a dog over the winter. Nope. He told Sid yesterday that they planned to LEAVE her with us tomorrow night if all goes well. Sid will talk to the man today and tell him we need a little time to do a few basic things like repair the dog door, which is currently falling out of the wall and blocked off by boxes, and fix a hole in the kennel fence. We also had planned to do one of those invisible fence wires around the yard, and that will have to wait until spring.

So, in another week or so, we might have a new addition to the family. Now I'll have someone to keep the kitchen floors clean for me!

Connections

2008-10-31T01:44:00.003-05:00

Our current studies have us in the story of David and Goliath. The topics we are learning about include the continents, and giants. Our Curriculum directs us to a study of the "Giants of the Faith", those individuals that have a have been used by God to produce much Fruit for Him.

I decided to spend a week on each continent, and during that week to read aloud a biography of a missionary that served on that continent. A friend has a large collection of missionary stories, and we have borrowed from her. We started in Antarctica, then moved on to North America. Since Antarctica has no missionaries, for that week we read a story about the Labrador Coast of Canada, and this week a story centered in Mexico. Two VERY different regions of our huge continent.

Our book this week was about Cam Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators. In reading this book, I was struck with how LITTLE I know about the History of my own Faith.

I was brought up in church, and attended a Christian boarding school (which was originally started specifically for missionary kids) for grades 10-12. Our family has attended church for all but about the first 3 years of my marriage. My kids have always been taught from Christian curricula, with (I thought) a lot of mention of Christian "giants". This book showed me how LITTLE I know about my own heritage.

I have never had much personal interest in Missions. In school, there were "missionary prayer groups" every Friday. I never attended a single one (mostly because I was afraid they'd MAKE me pray out loud- one of my biggest phobias). Many of my friends at school were from missionary families, and my own stepfather was a "missionary kid". I believe it was his parents that introduced us to the school I attended. I guess because I was always aware of the existence and general works of missionaries, I thought I had a good understanding of the "big picture".

This book we have read this week sure has opened my eyes to a much BIGGER picture. Both to the need and to my own connectedness to it.

The aforementioned stepfather's parents were missionaries with Wycliffe. They spent many years in Bolivia. I don't know the exact years, but since my stepfather was raised there, I figure it must have been in the 50's. I grew up with the knowledge of what Wycliffe does, and never gave a thought to when/how it began.

Through the course of the book, there were a few mentions of Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University) which is the "parent" of my school- Ben Lippen School (previously in Ashville, NC, now in Columbia, SC). I thought it was kind of fun to see their name in print. Later in the book, it was mentioned that Cam Townsend's son was attending "Ben Lippen, a boarding high school". I literally squealed when I read it! I have NEVER seen ANY mention of my school ANYWHERE other than alumni mailings and websites. When questioned by my kids, I figured out that this boy was there only 10-12 years before me.

This was when it really hit me how close I was to the events in the book. I had felt like Wycliffe was one of those organizations that has "always" been there. In reading the story and looking at Wycliffe's website, I realized that there is SO MUCH that has been accomplished just within my lifetime. My stepfather's family was among the EARLY groups sent out by Wycliffe- within 20 years of it's founding. There are also mentions in the book of other "giants", such as the founder of Mission Aviation Fellowship, which we'll be reading about in another book. The whole scope of missions has become much more real to me.

For the first time in my life, I'm excited to learn about missions. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the books we'll read aloud, and will probably read a bunch more to myself. It will be fun to see more connections between the various people we're going to "meet".

Grumble! GRRRR! ARRGH!

2008-10-31T01:36:00.004-05:00

Tuesday night I completed my first sweater. Complete with raglan sleeves, ribbed neck and cuffs. I knit and UN-knit the neck *7* times to get it right. Although I could find plenty of little mistakes, overall it looked pretty good.

Then I tried it on.

Sid rather liked the fit, but told our son to look the other way! It was just a WEEEE bit too tight!

Now I have 7 balls of yarn. It unraveled MUCH faster than it went together!

Feed My Starving Children

2008-10-15T13:46:00.004-05:00

I have never participated in an "event" for the blog community, but a cyber-friend posted that today is "Blog Action Day" and the topic to write about is world poverty. We had an experience this week that fits the topic, and since I was planning to blog it anyway, this is a good reason to go ahead and get it written.

A friend invited us to go along on a service project that her homeschool co-op was doing. This was to an organization that I was familiar with, but our family had never gone.

Feed My Starving Children is a group based here in the Twin Cities. They pack meals that are sent to other parts of the world to provide food for families that are literally starving. The "meal" is a mixture that was designed to be highly nutritious, inexpensive, acceptable to all cultures, and needs only water to prepare it. We got to taste some, and it reminded me of the "goulash" that my stepfather used to make.

The "service project" is in the packing. Their facility consists of their offices, a packing room, and a warehouse where they store all the ingredients which are purchased in bulk. (Ever seen a 1-ton bag of rice?) In the packing room they have set up 8 stations where the ingredients are packed into meal-size bags, each bag holding 6 servings. At each station there are 4 spots to scoop up the individual ingredients, 2 spots to bag and weigh, 1 spot to seal the bags, and 1 spot to pack them into boxes. So, 8 people to fully man each station, and if the volunteers are kids, an extra adult or two is needed to help supervise.

The process is finely honed for maximum productivity in minimal time. We were packing bags for about 1.5 hrs, and 7 stations managed to pack over 1500 meals! A full crew of adults that have a bit of experience could do much more.

It appears that the packing is done ENTIRELY by volunteers. They schedule any kind of group that is interested. The day we were there, there was also a group from an area middle school sharing the space with us. It would be a great service project for a Scout Troop, too. They have 3 facilities in the Twin Cities, one in Chicago, and a mobile unit that will go anywhere in the country if you organize enough volunteers to make it worth the trip.

Take a look at their website here. There are some videos that are truly heart-wrenching, and lots of other info. If you live near a facility, it's well worth your effort to spend a bit of time helping out.

Legos

2008-10-07T15:06:00.004-05:00

I have come to the conclusion that my boys own WAAAY too many Legos! They play with them constantly, and since most have been either presents or from garage sales, I can't really complain about the $ investment. But I CAN complain about the MESS.

Tim's room has for some time been literally carpeted in Legos. I REALLY need to get in there and help him him purge all the rest of the stuff that has collected, and exchange out his seasonal clothes, but it has been literally impossible to enter his room. So for the last week or so, he has been asked several times to get the legos picked up. Two nights ago, he was sent upstairs about 30 min before bedtime with explicit instruction to PICK UP THE LEGOS. At bedtime I went up to check. NOTHING had been picked up, and he was sitting there BUILDING with them.

He claimed he had been "sorting" them (as he has been claiming for several weeks now). All the bins were in plain sight, and there was no sign of anything having been "sorted"- unless he has a REALLY strange system. All were nothing but a jumbled mess.

This is a pic found on the web, but add some dirty socks, papers, and random toys around the edge, and it's pretty close to what Tim's room looked like!

I "had a cow" (as we used to claim our mothers would). I grabbed a paper sack and started filling it. He was told to help. It took 30 MINUTES to get them all picked up! Just grabbing and dumping. At this point I decided he had enough to supply a store. (HMMM, maybe a supply for the Awana store I run) All bins and bags were transferred to Virginia's room, where they will stay until he has cleaned the rest of the room. He is also forbidden from playing with the Legos in John's room, and from the Lego board games which contain pieces.

So, what's he playing with now?? The giant lego-brick-style boxes that diaper wipes came in when both boys were little.

Knitting

2008-09-13T12:23:00.004-05:00

I'm always in the process of learning something new. Lately it's been knitting. Years ago I attempted to learn, but, though I could do it, it never felt comfortable and familiar like crocheting does. I always felt klutzy at it, and had to think about every stitch.

Last spring a friend showed me how to knit "continental style". This is an alternative way of holding the yarn, so you can "scoop" it off your finger with the needle instead of lifting the hand to wrap the needle. It feels more like crocheting, and with the use of circular needles instead of straight, the long sticks that get in the way are eliminated.

So, I've been playing with it for a few months. I've figured out how to "purl", increase, decrease, and make a few designs, all just in flat pieces that were then unraveled. I recently decided to attempt an actual sweater, and remembered that Guideposts magazine does a charity thing where they collect children's sweaters to give to those who need them. They provide a very simple pattern, and I decided that was a good place to start.

This is where the "self-taught" aspect becomes a disadvantage. I had a friend explain a few small questions about the pattern, then after I got home, realized that I had not asked a very important question. So I headed to the web, that all-knowing sage. I found a VERY neat site, with videos and message boards for all things knitting-related. http://www.knittinghelp.com/

After reading a few posts about "backwards" knitting, and left-handed knitting, I discovered that several of the things I had figured out were totally different from the "norm". I think MY way is much easier, but apparently it's going to be a problem when I have to actually read instructions.

I have been knitting across, then simply knitting back the opposite direction. Apparently the "normal" method is to knit across, the turn the whole thing around and PURL across in the SAME direction. Since a Knit stitch is much simpler this seems silly to me, but the pattern directions are all written this way, so I'm either going to have to adjust all patterns, or learn to conform to the status quo.

Another aspect that will apparently be problematic is that I figured out that which direction you "scoop", or wrap, the yarn affects the orientation of the loop in the finished row. Do it the wrong direction, and either it looks twisted, or it's oriented wrong to pick it up easily on the next row. I figured out which way to wrap according to what the NEXT row will be. So, I can knit and purl in BOTH directions, and wrap the yarn either way for either stitch- that gives me a total of 8 stitches to work with. The patterns are written for 2: knit, and purl, with only one way to wrap, and if that wrap will end up wrong, special instructions for flipping the loop before knitting the next row- an additional 2 steps for every stitch. Since I haven't exactly done many patterns, I may be totally wrong on my analysis, but at this point in time, that's how it appears to me.

I guess learning two stitches IS easier than learning 8, but knowing 8 makes the knitting easier, at least in MY mind. But then, my mind is one of those backwards, twisted, left-handed and right-brained ones, so maybe what I think is irrelevant to everyone else.

End of an Era

2008-08-30T14:50:00.003-05:00

Or at least of a phase or our lives. Our homeschool co-op, which we have been members of for the 8 years we have lived here, is disbanding.

We only had 14 families at our largest, last year there was only 12, and half of them withdrew. The remaining 6 was not enough moms to provide all the teachers we need and still supply moms with some social support. Some of the leaving families were simply getting too busy as their kids grew, and Co-op was the thing that had to give. Others moved on to a co-op that offers classes for the older kids- ours only went to 6th grade.

In some ways I'm glad. I've been Chair for 3 of the last 4 years. It was one of my first forays into leadership of any type. Although I learned a lot, I'm glad to be done with it.

In other ways, I'm really going to miss it. Most of my best friends are among those who withdrew. Now, getting together with them will require some actual planning.

For this year, I'm glad to have Fridays free. We can actually plan on a 5-day school week. We also have added Tae Kwon Do to the boys schedule, and I'm working on starting a social group for the local homeschooled teens. So, I think we'll manage to stay pretty busy.

Stress Diet

2008-08-27T11:23:00.002-05:00

I recently found this in my files from many years ago, and decided it was worth posting. If only it were true!

Stress Diet This humorous diet is designed to help you cope with the stress that builds up during the day.

BREAKFAST:
1/2 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
8 oz. skim milk

LUNCH:
4 oz. lean broiled chicken breast
1 cup steamed spinach
1 cup herb tea
1 Oreo cookie

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK:
The rest of Oreos in the package

2 pints Rocky Road ice cream, nuts, cherries and whipped cream

1 jar hot fudge sauce

DINNER:
2 loaves garlic bread
4 cans or 1 large pitcher Coke
1 large sausage, mushroom and cheese pizza
3 Snickers bars

LATE EVENING NEWS:
Entire frozen Sara Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from freezer)

RULES FOR THIS DIET:

1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the diet soda cancels out the calories in the candy bar.

3. When you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you do not eat more than they do.

4. Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER counts, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast and Sara Lee Cheesecake.

5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.

6. Movie related foods do not have additional calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel. (Examples: Milk Duds, buttered popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots and Tootsie Rolls.)

7. Cookie pieces contain no calories. The process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

8. Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something.

9. Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. (Examples: spinach and pistachio ice cream; mushrooms and mashed potatoes.)

10. Chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color.

11. Anything consumed while standing has no calories. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

12. Anything consumed from someone else's plate has no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to his/her plate. (We ALL know how calories like to cling!)

Remember, "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts."

Back to School

2008-08-26T14:45:00.002-05:00

It's that time again. In some ways this is my favorite time of year. Lots of plans for all the fun stuff we'll do, untarnished by reality.

I realized as I did my planning that this is a transition year. No more "easy" school. Tim is 3rd grade, and finally reading well, so time to move on to more independent work. I'll be more "supervisor" and less "participant". In planning our daily schedule, I list their work according to whether or not the subject requires my direct assistance, and this year the No's outnumber the Yes's.

John is in 9th grade this year. That's HIGH SCHOOL, (how did he get THAT old?!) and for me totally uncharted territory. Ginny went to school for HS, but John wants to stay home. His dad and I decided that he will take all his Science courses at school, and this year he'll have that in 3rd and 4th quarters. Second quarter John's taking "Strength and Conditioning", basically weightlifting. For 1st quarter, he's taking a class called "Energy, Power and Transportation". We were at the open house last night, and after hearing the course description, and seeing last year's projects on display, the boys decided it was actually "Pinewood Derby on Steroids"! They will do model cars, boats, rockets, and planes, all with a focus on the aerodynamics and power sources. The teacher does extremely limited book work, so this will be right up John's alley.

Tim is once again taking PE and Music at the elem. school. Today we went over to meet the teacher and see who is in the class. We only found one name Tim recognized, and that's a good friend, so he's happy with that.

Our homeschool co-op looks like it will disband this year. That will be another post. I will miss it, but it will be nice to actually have 5-day weeks every week. Don't know if we'll decide to join some other co-op next year, but this year I intend to enjoy NOT having the related hassles. The Hen's Club will have to put some serious effort into planning regular get-togethers, or our kids will rebel.

Another health book

2008-08-19T10:39:00.002-05:00

To go along with the book recommended below, I have also recently finished "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Anthony Colpo. It is similar to "Good Calories, Bad Calories" in that it also reviews the many years worth of studies. However it is more "readable" and less repetitive. It also covers what must be EVERY possible blood test that has ever been tracked in relation to heart disease. If you have ever been on statin drugs, or they have been recommended to you, you MUST read this book. There is another book with the same title by a different author. I have not read that one.

Maturity?

2008-08-19T00:40:00.002-05:00

Last week as we're walking through Target, John tells me: "I can tell I'm more mature now than I used to be."
"Oh, Really? How can you tell?"
"I used to only care about what toys I wanted to look at. Now I care more about cool shirts and stuff. I think about what clothes I want to wear."
We walk past the boys clothes department.
"Like THAT shirt- that's really cool!"
The shirt in question? A t-shirt with a picture of some blue hairy guy- kind of a blue "Cousin It"- that is a logo for a current Target designer.
Yep. Really mature tastes!

Party! Party! Party! #2

2008-08-18T12:53:00.002-05:00

My b-day finally arrived! I always feel like it gets kind of "lost" behind two kid b-days. Paydays have a hard time stretching to handle 3 b-days in 2 weeks. This year, I had a party for myself!

Growing up, I had a total of *1* "friend party". We often were around cousins and grandparents at b-day times, which was fun, but not the same. My kids have "friend parties" nearly every year. I, on the other hand, have not had a b-day party since I turned 6! However, I HAVE had friends that remember and acknowledge it, so I've not been "forgotten" either.

Last winter when we working on the family room, I decided to have a slumber party as a "room-warming". It had to wait until nice enough weather for Sid to take the kids camping that night, and then we had to find a night when all my friends were available. It just happened to fall on my B-day!

Of the 8 people invited, 3 stayed all night, 2 came for the evening, and one came for breakfast. Two were unable to come. (You were missed!)

We truly lived up to "slumber" party expectations! That means NO slumber! We played games until 5a.m.! Then one of us decided to attempt to sleep, three of us decided that at that point a few hours of sleep would do more harm than good, so we went upstairs and put on a movie. I'm not sure any of us saw the entire movie. But we were all conscious when another friend called and said she was on her way for breakfast.

After eating, all but one headed home. The last friend and I headed to the craft fair our town was hosting that day. That was a lot of fun. Lots of ideas. That was followed by garage-saling, and we didn't get back to my house until around 3pm. By that time we were EXHAUSTED.

I napped in my chair while supper cooked, went to bed by 10:00, and took a 4-hour nap after church on Sunday. I THINK I'm caught up on my sleep now!

Party! Party! Party! #1

2008-08-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

Our family has 3 birthdays within 2 weeks. Last weekend was Tim's 9th. The "friend party" happened mid-week at a local beach.

We originally scheduled it for Tuesday, then the weatherman "promised" rain and thunderstorms. We woke up that morning to lots of clouds and since the weather channel claimed that our odds were better on Wed, we decided to postpone by one day. So, instead, on Tuesday we headed down to a friends house about 10 miles south of us to teach them some school games. While we were there a rather powerful storm blew through, so we were glad we had postponed. Later, when we talked to other friends, we found out that it didn't hit our town at all.

Wednesday, we woke up to a beautiful day. Weatherman said "scattered thunderstorms, 30% chance of rain". Party was scheduled for 2pm. At 12:30, our beautiful day is beginning to look a little cloudy. Check the weather channel, and it's a small storm that should blow over in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, there's a larger one not too far behind it. At 1:00, it starts raining.Within 5 minutes there are 3 phone calls from other moms. Yes, the party is still on. I'm hoping the second storm doesn't actually hit us, as most storms manage to blow around us.

By 1:30 the rain has stopped and we head for the park. The picnic shelter is wet around the edges, but dry in the middle. We rearrange tables so that if it DOES rain again, we'll hopefully keep dry. The ground is wet, but since the boys are in swimsuits, it doesn't really matter, and we play our games anyway. After cake and presents, we head for the beach. Here we play another game. One of Mom's "bright ideas" that didn't work out so well!

The idea was to divide the boys into teams, have one team bury "land mines" in the sand, and the other team has to find them. Then trade jobs and repeat. Whoever finds the most wins. We had 11 "mines" and marked off a circle about 10 feet wide for a mine field. The first lookers only found 6, which surprised me. I really didn't think they'd be that hard to find. Reburied them. The other team only found 2! Wow, much harder to find then I expected. I watched them all get buried, and they weren't even all that deep.

We ended up with me, then the "big boys"- John and a friend- digging up the entire mine field. We ultimately found a total of 9. I was REALLY glad I had designated a specific area, or they NEVER would have been found. Lesson learned by mom on the dangers of burying things in the sand!

While the boys were swimming, it did rain again, but only a sprinkle, and no lightning. At one point the boys had to point out the fact, to which we responded "So what! you're already wet!"

All in all a successful party, and with the weather we had the beach almost entirely to ourselves.

Proud Mama

2008-08-05T00:38:00.003-05:00

Last night when when VBS was over I was helping clean up in the kitchen. John was hanging around being silly. He went outside and was making faces at me through the window every time my back was turned. (That's not the part I'm proud of!)

Two young girls (12 or 13yo) came up to the serving counter, and asked if that was my son. I hesitantly confessed that it is. One of the girls told me that last year when she hurt her foot, he was one of her biggest helpers. They continued with discussion of John and Tim, and how they are both such nice boys. They know another set of brothers the same ages, that look like my boys, and they said it was like a set good-twin-bad-twins. My boys are the good twins.

On the way home I asked John about what the girl said about her foot. He said that one day on his way out of gym class, which is on the lower level of the school, he saw her at the top of the stairs, afraid to go down on her sore foot. He walked with her to the office and got permission for her to use the elevator.

I'm proud of him that he noticed this poor girl standing there, and cared to find out why. Empathy is NOT a quality that shows up at home! It baffles me how a kid who can be such a brat to his brother can be so nice to others. But it sure is nice to hear about!

Pitter-Patter

2008-08-04T12:52:00.002-05:00

You know that scene in "The Sound of Music" where Maria is about to get introduced to the children? The Captain blows his whistle, and you hear feet coming from upstairs. Not exactly pitter-patters with all those teen size kids, but more of a thump-thump.

I'm in the basement of our (4-level-split) house, and when I hollered for John for the phone, that's what it sounded like. How can one kid make so much noise without even opening his mouth?

VBS

2008-08-02T16:02:00.002-05:00

Every year, after VBS week, I promise myself I will NOT volunteer again. Then every summer when I get that phone call, I say yes. At least I have the sense not to teach or "herd" kids anymore. The last several years I have helped with decorating before-hand, and in the kitchen during the week. Three more years to go after this one, then all my kids will be too old for VBS, and I'll be GLAD!

Our church seems to have a problem with doing things in any fashion that might be considered "tame", "understated", or whatever antonym for OVER THE TOP you can come up with. Each year is a theme, and EVERYTHING must fit the theme.

I can remember VBS in the church we attended when Ginny was little. Each teacher was responsible for decorating their own classroom, and it was all pretty basic, the main part of the church was untouched. Now we have a "decorating team" and we have to decorate EVERYTHING. Each classroom represents some aspect of the theme, the halls match, the sanctuary matches, with a usually very substantial stage set for the daily skit that's included in the curriculum.

This year the theme is "Flight School" (We've also done all the others on this site in past years, except the Truerassic Park one which will be next year). Our decorations include: One room as the interior of a passenger plane, one room containing a cockpit at the front and a baggage claim at the back, one room is the maintenence hanger. The floors in the sanctuary and hallways are taped off to look like runways, the support columns in the foyer are control towers, and every inch of ceiling contains suspended paper airplanes and clouds. There are two hand-drawn-from-overhead-projector-and-then-colored posters which are about 4 feet across, three lifesize cardboard cutouts of the characters which were handpainted, and a stage set that includes the front of the airplane hanger built out of plywood and made to look like sheet metal. Three 4-foot, cardboard model planes grace the entryway. All the paper planes and clouds hanging from the ceiling required 2 printed copies (mirror images) that were cut out, glued together, hole-punched, and hung with fishing line.

Did I mention the Decorating "team" consisted of the VBS Director, me, and two other ladies? Between the 4 of us, we did ALL of that ahead of time, except the stage set which the custodian built. Last night and today we have been getting it all in place. There was a meeting this morning of all the VBS workers, after which everyone was supppossed to stay and help get all the decorations up. Only 3 people hung around to help us. I was at church from 7-11 last night, and 11-4 today. I'm TIRED!

VBS starts tomorrow evening. The kitchen is a pretty easy job, with a lot of standing around yakking as we prepare the food. Even our snacks all match the theme. I learned a few years ago that since I "have" to duplicate all those food-colored snacks with real food, it was easier to just work in the kitchen.

My kids thoroughly enjoy VBS, so I guess it's worth the trouble, but I'm glad it's just once a year.

Health "advice"

2008-07-25T12:53:00.006-05:00

I read a LOT. In the last few years I have especially read a lot of health-related books. I'll warn you up-front, that I generally don't read books that re-enforce the status-quo of modern health advice. The majority of my reading has been in the realm of natural medicine, and non-mainstream ideas.

I firmly believe that God created our bodies to be self-sustaining, and that in a ideal world we would not have the health issues so prevalent today. However, trying to recreate that "ideal" in a society so infused with non-food "foods" and so far removed from the natural world is not an easy or easily-affordable proposition. I also believe that modern medicine has made the whole situation worse with it's tendency to want to throw a pill at every problem, and if that causes "side-effects", well, we'll just throw another pill at those, too!

Natural "medicine" has it's own drawbacks. Most things are "treated" with various vitamin supplements, which can also result in some very big budgets. I believe our food supply is not as nutritious as it should/could be, for various reason, but popping vitamin pills isn't the answer either. At the very least, trying to figure out which ones to take, because you can't possibly afford them all, is an overwhelming task. However, there are some very good ideas out there, many of which deserve a harder look from the "establishment", not just a blow-off due to their being "natural".

I consider my Dad to be victim of modern medicine. He had diabetes and heart disease, and tried to follow the official advice. It didn't do him much good. I have other family members who are dealing with severe medical issues. I myself have fought with my body for decades in attempts to fix my weight and avoid those same problems.

I believe there MUST be a way to put our bodies into the kind of balance that God intended. We were not intended to fuss and worry over everything we eat (Matthew 6:25-26). I don't think that over-processed, genetically altered, fortified, and hormone/antibiotic laden foods, served up according to the current "recommendations" is what will give us that healthy balance.

Just in case you are thinking "Well, she goes to Curves and has lost 50 lbs, so obviously the advice is working". I lost 40lbs before I ever went near Curves, and it was the result of figuring out a major food allergy. It came off in two 20lb chunks, both after elimination of the offending food, and both with no efforts to lose weight. The final 10 lbs has taken me 6 months of daily workouts. So, no, I don't consider my weight loss to be a "success" of modern advice. I consider it to be a "success" of my own investigation into what's wrong with MY body.

This book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, has been a huge eye-opener. Whether or not you agree with the final conclusion, the analysis of the route that science followed to arrive at the current low-fat recommendation is enough to make you want to throw the book at the scientists and government entities involved. The explanation of how the metabolism works is extremly enlightening, and not nearly as cut-and-dried as we have been led to believe.

This is NOT an "easy read". It is very heavy, very detailed, and often repetative. But it's well worth your time.

Week-long Whirl-wind

2008-07-23T12:12:00.004-05:00

Last week was such a whirlwind of things, that I'm not even sure where to start. So, I guess I'll begin when the whirlwind did.

Saturday night, Sid received an e-mail from his dad that a favorite aunt was in the hospital, and things were not looking good. Sunday after church, Sid phoned his cousin, and learned that Aunt Jo had just died. We immediately began making plans for him to take a trip to the funeral in central Mississippi.

Just a week previously, Sid and I had discussed taking the family to Mississippi, but a good look at the gas prices vs. the budget put the kibosh on that. We had already determined that the motorcycle would be only half the cost, but you can't put the family on that. Sid has done many cross-country bike trips, but I never have, and his bike can do a passenger OR luggage, but not both. Sid called a friend to have him handle some business while he went to the funeral, and the friends immediate reaction was "Take my Gold Wing, then Wendy can go too"!!

So, Monday was spent with my ear glued to the phone, as I had to make arrangements for the kids. John had left for Boy Scout Camp on Sunday, so he was covered until Saturday, but I had to make sure someone could get him home from the drop-off point upon his return, and that someone would be at the house. At 14, he COULD have been dropped off to an empty house, but to me, the idea of coming home from camp to find that your parents are out of town, with no one to greet and hug and tell your stories to, is a HORRIBLE welcome home! We did phone camp and let them know what was going on, but we were not able to actually talk to John and give him details.

Tim required a lot of juggling, but my friends did most of the ball-throwing. THANK YOU, LORD for wonderful friends! Tim was turned over to his best friend's family, who handled the juggling of activities and the passing around to several homes. At various points he spent time with at least 3 families. The week included a b-day party too, so we had to have that shopping done before departure also. Tim loved every minute of it.

Since Ginny is taking summer classes, and just started a new job, she was not available for the week. She did come home on Saturday, and was here when John arrived. Tim was also dropped off with her on Sat. She ruled the roost through the weekend, and when we arrived home on Sunday afternoon, she had supper in the crock pot and the house clean. THANK YOU, SWEETIE!

Now the parental adventure. We hit the road at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Our first stop was at the grocery store for sunscreen as our only bottle went to camp with John, and it's a necessity for a cycle trip. Perched on the passenger seat, I realized that I had enough room between Sid and I that I COULD have brought some crocheting. I envisioned dropping the yarn and it bouncing down the road behind us. I told this idea to Sid at the store, and he looked disgusted. He claimed I would RUIN the image of bikers everywhere.

Since it was rush hour on a workday, we took a scenic route around the Cities, and picked up I-35 at the split. From that point on, we had 4 lane divided hwys until only a few miles from Aunt Jo's house. Talk about BORING! At one point in Iowa, I leaned up to Sid and said "I spy something green". EVERYTHING was green, as there was nothing in sight but cornfields. I did find that I was able to read with a book propped against Sid's back. I completed 3 books on the trip, with hands cramping as I fought the 70 mi/hr wind. We took frequent stops for gas and water, but Sid was determined to arrive as soon as possible, and we did not stop for the night until 10:30, in the SE corner of MO. The only truly interesting sight of the day was the signs of flooding in NE Missouri. For a while the hwy was near the Miss. river, and we could see fields that were still flooded, and trees in the distance that bore signs of having been at least 6 feet deep in water.

The next morning we were on the road again by 6:30. We stopped at a truck stop for breakfast and they had a buffet that looked good. It wasn't. Though there was visible steam rising from the tables, the food was luke-warm with cold spots. I figure they had taken the leftovers from the previous day out of the fridge, and they had not had time to warm through yet. Worst truck stop meal we've ever had. We made it to Memphis mid-morning, and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam. Memphis has a horrible stretch of road nick-named Malfunction Junction, where they merged 3 2-lane roads into ONE 2-lane road. This trip they did it one better, and had the road further condensed into ONE lane while they did road work. VERY hot sitting in traffic on a cycle.

We finally made it to Aunt Jo's house at lunch time. I'll skip all the funeral details, but we were definitely a topic of conversation after riding a motorcycle to come. We stayed here until Friday morning. It was fun seeing Sid's cousin's kids, who have changed I LOT since I last saw them 12 years ago. The rest of the family has not changed much.

From here, we headed to the property where Sid's grandfather grew up. We rode along the Natchez Trace Parkway, which follows the path of an indian and early settlers trade route. It was a VERY nice ride, low speed limit, with lots of trees, and several stops at historical markers. The property we were going to is 360 acres, surrounded by national forest. This is where we had hoped to bring the kids to. There is a large old house, a "newer" trailer where Sid and his cousin used to stay, and lots and lots of trees. We wanted to take a look around, as the family has had some hardwood trees harvested, lots of pine planted, and work done on the old house.

The primary impression made on me during this visit was all about the bugs. Sid has a phobia of spider webs, which of course were everywhere in the woods. I'll spare him the publication of the details, but I'll be laughing about it for a long time! I got introduced to "red wasps", one of which attacked me without provocation. According to Sid, these paper wasps are very aggressive and very territorial. The sting wasn't awful, just surprising, and I didn't have a very bad immediate reaction. Within an hour all signs of the sting were gone. We also got numerous bites from unidentifed bugs all over our legs. Little red itchy welts. After arriving home, I looked up the wasps on-line, where it said they are "non-aggressive" and the stings are "mild". They never met the ones we did. Though the sting seemed to disappear quickly, on the way home two days later, I realized the reddened warm area on my arm was NOT sunburn, but the results of the bee sting. As I write this, it's 5 days after the sting, and it's still red, warm and itchy.

We headed up to Memphis, had a nice visit with Sid's parents, and spent the night. The next morning Sid promised me an "easier" trip home than the mad dash down. I should have asked him to define "easier". Breakfast at Shoney's with Sid's dad, at a GOOD buffet, put us on the road around 8:30. We rode, and rode, and rode. No "easier" in sight yet. The temp was warmer than it had been coming down, and the ride was HOT. Plenty of breaks, but just fill up, get a drink and keep going. I finally asked Sid what he meant by "easier" because it wasn't. Starting late and stopping earlier was his definition. Sorry, to me that's NOT "easier". Easier would be riding during the COOL parts of the day, NOT the hottest. He did agree to a detour across the river into Illinois. We followed a road that went right along the river, with only park between. That was a very nice shady ride, and we had a snack in the park. The road took us to Nauvoo, which is where the Mormans settled before moving on to Utah. I have a series of fictional books about this bit of history, so it was neat to see the restored buildings and settlement, though we arrived after they closed for the day.

Back to the highway and on toward home. Sid turned the radio to a weather station, and we heard reports of thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches. We looked around, but could see nothing but haze in the distance. Certainly could not see anything that looked like storms. We didn't know the area, so the radio naming the affected counties was meaningless. As the sun went down, about an hour above the horizon, it suddenly dropped behind a cloud bank that had been invisible in the haze. We kept watch as it approached and steadily turned darker. We finally spotted a decent hotel in Iowa City as the wind began to pick up and the clouds arrived.

We attempted to get a room, only to find that we were still within the areas that had been affected by the flooding. ALL rooms are full, not just here, but at every hotel within about 50 miles. There was a list on the counter of all the hotels, and each name had been crossed out as the hotels filled for the night. The receptionist said ONE hotel still had an open room as of about half an hour ago, and she called them. The room was still available, and Sid reserved it for us. It was about 12 miles up the highway.

Back on the road, looming clouds, night settling, wind picking up. About halfway there, Sid pulls off into a rest stop. I'm wondering why he can't wait until we reach the hotel to take care of THAT business, but I'm wrong. He grabs the wet-weather gear out of the saddlebag, and helps me into his duster. We're back on the road in just a couple minutes. We're only 2 miles from the exit when the storm catches up to us. It's one of those fronts that goes from nothing to downpour in about 2-tenths of a second. Suddenly, Sid can't see anything! I'm wearing the full-face helmet, Sid is wearing a "skull cap" style with goggles. NO visibility for him. NOT a good thing at highway speed! He's following the tail-lights in front of us, but has no way of knowing where the exit is. I'm able to get him off at the right exit, and at the bottom stoplight he puts his foot down into ankle deep water. We turn the wrong way, but I see the hotel in the other direction as we turn. He pulls up into a parking lot to turn around, and a car follows us. The driver offers to let us sit out the worst of it in his car, but we thank him and let him know we are almost to our destination.

As we head toward the hotel, there is a burst of lighting RIGHT in front of us. It's bright enough to put out the streetlights, and Sid is blinded by it. Thankfully we didn't have far to go, and I was able to tell him how to get into the parking lot and up to the door. We run in looking like a couple of drowned rats, and become the entertainment for the full lobby. Apparently, these people have been camped at this hotel long enough to consider the lobby as their living room, and we are more entertainment than they have had in a long time.

We get settled into our room, and though it was more expensive than we had planned on, those higher prices DO come with benefits, in this case the blow drier. Our clothes did not dry overnight, and we had to blow dry our jeans and shoes before hitting the road in the morning. This day was totally non-eventful. We stopped at both the Iowa and Mn Welcome Centers at the border, and both were worth stopping at. We got home mid-afternoon. It was nice to arrive home from a trip to a house that was MUCH cleaner than I had left it, and supper cooking.

Would I take another motorcycle trip? YES, but hopefully it won't be soon!

Milestone!

2008-07-12T20:41:00.002-05:00

Had a Dr's appointment this week. Weighed in at Curves the day before. Both scales gave me the same weight, which was 7 lbs less than my scale at home claimed.

I have now lost a total of 50 lbs!!!!!

And my scale will be replaced. According to it, I have not lost any weight in several months. After the other two scales agreed on a number, I decided to adjust my scale to match. I dialed it down by 7 lbs, stepped back on it, and it STILL said the same weight. I guess after 15 years of telling me my weight, even IT couldn't believe I had lost so much and was refusing to tell me I had.

In celebration, while in the city for my appointment, I visited a couple thrift stores and bought 3 pair of shorts and 4 shirts, including one shirt from Curves. "New" clothes are always fun, and these all look brand new. I guess someone else "grew" or "shrank" out of them, cause they sure didn't wear them out. My closet is looking very empty and is in great need of replenishment.
Last month I cleaned it out of all of the now-too-big items. I had 3 garbage bags full of clothes that I gave to Goodwill. Some of them were favorite things, and I didn't really want to get rid of them, but putting them on and looking in the mirror was enough push to get them out of here. They were all baggy and loose. Now, instead, I'm wearing dresses that I haven't been able to wear in many years. I like those MUCH better! They are all ones that I liked well enough to hold onto in spite of them not fitting, so it's a nice reward to get to wear them again.

15 more pounds to go, and I will be at a weight I have not seen since I had Ginny!

Skinned knees

2008-07-12T20:10:00.002-05:00

Remember getting skinned knees? I sure do. I think during my early elementary summers, I skinned my knees almost weekly! My memory probably is exaggerating the frequency, but I DO know what it felt like to scrape all the skin off my kneecaps. Those old metal clamp-on roller skates did a great job at making me fall down!

Today Tim came inside in tears. He, wearing his Heelys, was trying to keep up with John and a neighbor boy, who were on bikes. It didn't work. He skinned one knee and both elbows. Good thing I thought to stock up on the giant band-aids for the summer. We used 4 of them. With all the whining, you'd think he took off every inch of skin, but they didn't come close to the skinnings I remember.

My kids have never gotten anywhere near the knee-skinnings that I did. They've probably only had about 2-3 skinned knees each, and never bad enough to have the entire knee-cap covered in scab. (Can you remember SLOWLY peeling off those giant scabs?) I'm not sure if it's just because they play outside less than we did, or because they have better equipment. Roller blades work MUCH better than those old skates did! They also don't have a long flight of sidewalk stairs to go down on bikes and skates like we tried to do. That probably wasn't the most intelligent use we ever made of our "wheels". I don't think any of them have ever stubbed their toes either, another injury I remember frequently receiving. But then, my kids have never had cheap rubber flip-flops, which were our usual summer wear and often the cause of my toe-stubbings, which is why I don't buy them.

My kids have gotten surprisingly few injuires. Tim's worst was stepping on a nail last summer that went right through his sandal and a half-inch into his foot. He now likes to talk about playing in the wheelchair at the dr's office. No mention of nail in his foot, or the tetanus shot that followed, but that wheelchair was REALLY cool!

John's worst was getting his hand caught in Grandpa's treadmill as a toddler. That one yeilded x-rays, one stitch, and lots of bruising and bandages for a week. Ginny's worst has been one sprained arm, and one sprained ankle.

When Sid was a kid, by the time he was 5, all the ER staff knew him by name, so I've always expected more injuries from my kids. I guess surburbia is not as dangerous as farm life.

It's MY party....

2008-06-25T00:52:00.002-05:00

and I DON'T plan on crying! I'm throwing myself a birthday/new-family-room-warming party. It's going to be a slumber party! Why should the little girls have all the fun?

I decided months ago that my new family room needs to be initiated with a party. It took several attempts and a postponement, but I found a date when all the Hen's Club is available and it just happens to be on my b-day :o)

Sid's taking the boys camping that night. I asked him if he would, and his response was that they were NOT going to stick around for THAT!

Rain, Rain

2008-06-11T23:42:00.002-05:00

Rain, Rain go away
Come again some other day
Little Johnny (and Timmy) wants to play.

And MOM wants to be able to kick them out of the house more than one day a week!

Honestly though, except for the occasional spat, they are MUCH quieter than they used to be. But I REALLY miss SUNSHINE! I NEED sunshine. Many eons ago I worked on a hospital ward where the only windows were in patient rooms. I would take quick "mental health breaks" and simply stand in the window of an unoccupied room, watching the birds or clouds. These endless gray days are really depressing.

Yesterday there was a Christian concert at one of the parks in town. We were brave and rode our bikes across town to attend. We did get sprinkled on, but that's all. Today I chose to take the car to Curves (I've been biking when possible) and was VERY glad I had driven. When I came out it was pouring. That would have been a miserable ride home. Actually it would have been an extended visit with the owner, cause I wouldn't have ridden home in that cloudburst.

Our weatherman tonight gave his prediction for the summer outlook. He said below-average temps and rain until mid-JULY, and possibly zero above-90 days (average is 13). I don't think we'll spend too much time this year wishing we had AC. This global warming sure is a bummer!

Schools out! Sorta.

2008-06-04T21:08:00.002-05:00

Ah! The lovely freedom of summer vacation is upon us again! (not that it FEELS like summer with highs in the 50's yesterday)

The joys of no schoolwork (or at least less schoolwork).

The freedom of (mostly) unplanned days.

I think I'm always as happy as the kids when summer arrives. Then I'm happy when the new school year begins, also. I guess it's just the change that feels so good when the routine of life becomes stale and boring. We also get a new routine after Christmas when I generally switch gears on some subjects and shake up our schedule a bit.

Our summers never quite fulfill my grandiose plans that I start with. Either I plan a trip that never happens. Or I never actually get around to doing whatever organizing or cleaning I intend to. Or when the opportunities I hoped for actually present themselves I'm not motivated to take advantage of them.

I usually start each summer with plans for some amount of summer school. There are generally nature studies of some sort that we can't really do in the winter. And with all the struggles the boys have with the written word, I try to keep SOMETHING going with that all summer. This year our tentative schedule includes: for John- finish his math and spelling that he slacked off on almost all year, continue some therapy that requires about 6mo to make it "stick", and pick up the speech therapy that the school dumped him from last fall. For Tim- daily reading out loud, daily math game, same therapy as John, and also work on speech. Most years I manage to keep it up until John goes to camp. Then the summer lassitude takes over.

I'm excited about the speech work we will be doing. Both boys have been in speech therapy since preschool. Both now have corrected most problems except for the "r" sound. John had 2 years with the middle school therapist during which he made NO progress, then she dropped him last fall due to "lack of motivation". Since I was never particularly impressed with her, and there was no other therapist at the middle school, I didn't dispute it. However, I have already contacted the therapist at the high school about having him re-evaluated this coming fall. Tim has done really well the past year, and I want to keep that progress going.

I ordered some materials to use that arrived today. It takes a different approach to the "R" sound than traditional therapy, and I REALLY hope it will make a difference. I have spent this afternoon with the manual, basically getting a crash course in speech remediation. But that's only the beginning. I now have to do an evaluation on each boy to see exactly what needs working on, then put together a plan, then make the needed materials. "Make?" you ask, "I thought you ordered stuff to use!" Well, I did and I didn't. The books I ordered break the "r" sound down into 21 different sounds, based on vowel influences and position in the word. And every one of those variables has separate books and games available to use. There's no way I could buy all that! So I ordered the necessary resources to evaluate which sounds they each can do and which ones to work on first. I also ordered items that will facilitate the making of my own games and other items for drill which will be customized for each of them. That's my project for the next week.

Other summer plans for me include putting the finishing touches on the family room, getting my craft room back into a functional condition, and spending lots of time on the bike when possible instead of the car. Other summer plans for the boys includes lots of war games with the neighborhood kids, camping with Sid, Scout Camp for John, and lots of days at the beach.

Only time will tell which plans actually stick THIS summer.

Results?

2008-05-20T00:38:00.006-05:00

(I hope this post is readable for you. For some reason
the formatting is not working right, and though I've
tweaked it so it now looks right to ME, it might not
to you.)

I'm reluctant to post this, because I'm afraid I might
"jinx" it, but I refuse to be controlled by stupid
superstition, so here goes. :o)

Our family started the regimen for the yeast issues
about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday a friend asked if we'd
seen any results in the boys' behavior yet. At the
time I could not readily say yes, though John has
been more "on top" of his schoolwork lately. Today
I saw a DEFINITE difference.

Our playroom is normally in a state of total chaos.
It's generally carpeted in legos or other
construction toys, liberally sprinkled with various
other items. All efforts at getting it cleaned up
require direct parental supervision and direction,
and/or major threats of bodily harm. Today, I
SUGGESTED to John that he spend some time working
on it in preparation for some expected company next
week. About half an hour later, Tim joined him in
the playroom (doing this job together is usually a
recipe for fights). Before supper they came up and
got me to come look. Although there is plenty of
detail work undone, they picked up ALL toys, washed
the layer of dust off the fooseball table, carried in
my "new" table which had to be taken apart to get
it down the stairs (and DIDN'T ding the walls in the
process), brought in extra chairs from the garage to
go around it, and arranged the daybed with a blanket
cover and neatly lined up pillows.

Add to that another incident. Tim put on rubber boots
in order to gather some plants from the pond for
Cub Scouts tonight. He inadvertently tracked mud
down the basement stairs when he ran downstairs to
get something. He immediately NOTICED (practically
unheard of!) and said he would clean it up when he
came in. A few minutes later, mission completed, he
came in and with NO reminding from me, asked what
to use to get the mud up. Since it was dried clumps
I told him to use the vacuum. He proceeded to vacuum
not only the required dirt, but BOTH flights of stairs
and the upstairs hall (the complete job is worth cash,
so it was not totally altruistic, but it was totally
on his initiative.)

I think I'm in shock! And I LIKE it!

Pieces coming together

2008-04-22T15:04:00.002-05:00

I spent the weekend at MACHE, the Mn state homeschooling conference. I originally did not plan to go this year, then I found out that Dianne Craft was going to be speaking. Dianne works with kids with learning disabilities, and has a protocol for "healing" the brain to overcome the problems. She gave 6 workshops at the conference, and I attended 5 of them.

I know, I know, this sound like a scam (and Sid jokingly calls her a "witch doctor"). It's not. She has a long list of successes under her belt. She works with school districts, and with individual families.

I have been familiar with her work since 1995, and been familiar with her name and website for about 3 years, but until last year did not realize that the materials I had from way back then were from her. She has since then expanded and refined her treatments, as well as learning about the nutritional aspects and incorporating that.

Here's where the puzzle pieces all come together: she attributes many problems, (learning, behavioral, and food allergies) to an overgrowth of yeast in the gut. Listening to her speak and draw all the connections, it makes SO much sense, for my boys and for me. Our whole family will be starting on a regimen of a few supplements and a diet change to re-build the health of our systems.

The yeast is what leads to the "leaky gut" I talked about in an earlier post. It also disrupts the production of serotonin, which is at the root of the problems we see in the boys (kept in control by the Feingold program). I have seen SO many different potential solutions to both of these, most of which call for a very expensive and never-ending series of supplements or drugs, and they've all been beyond our budget and/or ability. Dianne Craft's regimen takes about 3 months, with only a few supplements. Occasional returns to it may be necessary in the future, but for the most part, it should make life much easier in the long run. It will also allow us to relax our diligence with the Feingold program, there-by allowing more freedom in the boys social life.

If you are interested in learning more, here are the articles she has written on the subject. The first 1, and the last 4 in the list together cover most aspects of this. Here is a cd that explains the steps to take.

This should be an interesting summer.

Will Winter Never End!?!?

2008-04-12T16:22:00.003-05:00

This is the snow that never ends! (sung to the tune of "the song that never ends") It's the MIDDLE of APRIL and we have more snow! This time we were hit with a very heavy blustery storm that plopped several inches of very WET snow on our town. We got off easy- Duluth was under Blizzard warnings.

This storm threw several monkey wrenches into plans.

First, we did NOT make it to the concert. The roads here were bad enough to be dangerous, and supposed to be worse where we wanted to go. Major bummer for the boys, and Ginny was disappointed, too, but at least she got to go to the concert. I didn't mind missing the drive, but missed the 2 hours I had planned to spend in Barnes and Noble.

At first look on Friday morning, school was supposed to be a 2-hour late start. (So if we had gone to the concert, John still would have made it to PE) Later they canceled school. The back roads were apparently too slippery and slushy for safe bus rides.

When school is closed, so are all Community Ed activities. That meant John's play. It got postponed till today, with a full practice in the a.m. and performance after lunch. More on that later, but it was GREAT!

Overall, this has been one of the longest winters in my memory, and that includes about 12 spent in North Dakota. At least central MN winters are not as brutal as ND winters are. I'm just getting so tired of it being winter. We keep getting teasers of spring, then it goes away again. Now they are telling us it will get close to 70 next week, but I'm not sure I believe them! Gotta love this "global warming" they keep trying to convince us of!

Curves and Food update

2008-04-11T11:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my Measurements day at Curves. I've been going 2 months now. I have lost 6 lbs and 10 inches. Not too bad. My newer "skinny jeans" are now falling off. Time for skinnier ones.

Had a Dr. appointment two weeks ago. He said that since I was having a problem with everything I tried to test, that the issue was most likely a "leaky gut", not actual allergies. He didn't elaborate, which, when I thought about it later, seemed strange. Since I was familiar with the term, and I THOUGHT it was a fairly simple fix, I didn't question him about it at the time. Now that I've had a chance to do some research on-line, I have mostly become more confused. There seems to be a variety of different treatment options, but no way to determine the "right" one. All of them require expensive supplements of some sort.

I'm trying to find the supplements I need, taking what I have found, and holding on to hope that my diet WILL return to "normal" at some point in time.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2008-04-09T10:21:00.006-05:00

One of the activities offered by our local Community Ed. is the Prairie Fire Children's Theater. This is a group that comes to town for one week. They take a large group of kids, about 60, grades K-8, and in one week of intense practices they put on an awesome play.

This week John is working with them to do "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Although loosely based on Shakespeare's work, I'm not so sure he would recognize it! The group definitely takes a few liberties in writing a play that includes 60 kids. John has the part of "Flute" an actor in the troupe that includes Bottom. John's not overly thrilled with the part. This particular "actor" is assigned the part of a girl in the play THEY perform within the larger play. Are you thoroughly confused now?

The practice schedule is brutal. Thankfully it's only a week. I can't imagine how the public school kids keep up with their homework at the same time. Monday was tryouts, a 3 hour session. Tuesday was broken into 2 groups with each doing 2 hours. Wednesday and Thursday are more than 4 hrs each for everybody, and Friday is practice from 3:30 till the performance which starts at 7. I expect John will sleep all day Saturday!

To add to the "fun", John has the opportunity to attend a Newsboys concert on Thursday night which his sister got free tickets for. This is one of John's favorite bands, and we'll be going straight from play practice to the concert. It will be a VERY late night, and I expect John will miss his PE class the next day. I don't think getting him out of bed for an 8am class will be very easy.

Ladies Retreat

2008-04-09T09:58:00.004-05:00

I know you are all just dying with curiosity about how my presentation at Ladies Retreat went, so rather than kill off my friends, I'll fill you in.

The retreat as a whole was awesome. One of the best I've ever attended. The process of being on the planning team resulted in some friendships being developed, with ladies I never would have spent time with otherwise. We can always use more friends. (Well, not USE our friends!, but you know what I mean!)

At one of our meetings beforehand, we were supposed to have ready all our handouts for the retreat so the copies could be made and the folders compiled. I was the only one that actually had them done. My thoughts: "Oh Great!, 40+ years old and STILL the straight-A teacher's pet!! " I guess some things will never change.

My presentation was OK. I got some good feedback. But I felt awkward, and it didn't "flow" like I wanted. It just felt like I was going down a list, which I was. I think in the future I'll stick to WRITTEN work, I do much better when I can put my words in print than when I try to SAY them.

This coming week is our follow-up meeting to figure out what worked and what didn't, so we can improve on it next year. One thing our Ladies Ministries has to do is totally recreate the whole ministry from the ground up. The previous leadership all left the church, and nothing was written down as far as the best logistics for doing all the the things Ladies Ministries does. We're having to re-invent the wheel, and that's always a lot of work. A few of the areas have kept moving along under their own steam, but now it all has to be pulled back together.

On the Spiritual side of things (and that IS the whole purpose of a retreat), God made it clear to me a few things I need to work on. Things that I have been avoiding facing. The details won't be made public; suffice it to say I've got some hard work ahead. But all the work we do to better ourselves is always time well spent.

Bikes and a non-eventful day

2008-04-05T14:14:00.005-05:00

What a beautiful day! Since I was up and out to Curves early, I saw what a pretty day it was, and determined not to spend it indoors. I started by getting my bike out.

Now, this is NOT as simple a task as one might assume. I have a husband who insists on hanging my bike for the winter. I have no objections to this. It certainly doesn't need to sit around in the way all winter when we have to have garage space for the cars. No, the problem is that they are hung over the "storage" area of the garage. Translated into wife-speak that would be the JUNK area. Nearly every year we attempt to clean up and organize the garage. We keep it pretty well all summer. Then in the fall, Sid decides it's time to make room for the cars again. If we did this when it was still reasonably warm we could do this in an organized fashion, but he usually waits until it's cold enough to be uncomfortable, and then does as quick a job as possible. This results in a huge pile of summer stuff where no-one can find anything. It also usually blocks all the winter stuff, so when we need something, we have to spend too much time in the cold moving the whole pile in order to get what we need. (Last summer, when we finally got storage shelves built, I put the Christmas boxes in an easily accessible spot- at least I won't have to dig for those anymore)

So, in order to get my bike, I have to climb over and around a very precarious pile. The bike is hung by both tires, and I can just barely reach it- the garage ceiling is at least 10ft high. After moving a few items to where I can actually get some leverage to lift it from the hooks, I realize that there is no where to put it down TO. It SURE can't land directly under it's hanging spot! It would break several things in the landing. I carefully evaluate possible landing positions, and then go call John. I tell him where to stand and tell him to "catch". He really has no option other than catching- unless he wants a bike to fall on his head! I'm standing under the rear tire, John is behind me and to the side, the bike is positioned in front of me. I manage to lift the front tire from its hook, so now its hanging straight down in front of me. I push it forward so the center of gravity will make the rear end fall toward me (actually directly ON me if I don't duck fast enough!) I lift the back tire off its hook, and give a sideways shove so it falls straight at John. He catches it, with only a minor injury on a finger caught between the spokes and frame. Then we carry it to the empty side of the garage.

All that so I can have it NOW. Sid will be home in an hour, and we're not going anywhere before then, but I don't even consider waiting till he gets home and can easily lift it down. Sometimes I have driving need to do things myself, just to prove I CAN; help from a child doesn't count.

Now that my bike is down, tires and brakes checked, the kids and I are going to ride to the Thrift Shop. I 'm looking for jeans. With hopes that any I buy will only fit for a few months, I don't really want to pay for new. We get going, and I realize about half a mile later that this is EASY, my time at Curves is obviously having an effect. (A few little niggles of pride showing their heads.) We reach the thrift shop 2 miles later, and I'm not even winded. I decide that I'm going to enjoy riding around town this summer. (A few more niggles popping up.) When we leave the shop and head home, I discover that now we have a head wind the WHOLE way home. Not much of one, just a consistent breeze, but enough to have made our initial journey much easier, and make me realize that my enthusiasm was premature. (Those little niggles start to crash and burn.) When we do get home, I'm slightly winded, but not tired, so I guess it is doing me some good after all.

As for thrift store finds, I didn't find any jeans, but we found a pair of Heely's look-alikes for Tim for only $5, so it was a successful forage into the re-sale jungle. He is currently attempting to gain control of his shoes in the room directly over my head. This learning period will be extremely limited!

SPRING has Sprung!!

2008-04-05T02:11:00.003-05:00

FINALLY!! It looks like spring has actually arrived. After our Co-op today, we headed for a local park instead of MickyD's. We moms sat there for a couple hours while the kids played, and didn't even get cold. Oh Glorious SUNSHINE, which finally has WARMTH!

While there, our boys discovered that it's possible to climb from a picnic table up into the rafters of the picnic shelter. (The shelter was empty so they weren't disturbing anyone.) They had a grand time stepping across the rafters, and just generally being above it all. They had been up there for a fair amount of time, when we spot an unknown Mom coming straight toward us. My friend and I both have the same reaction: "Oh, man, our kids aren't hurting anything, but someone just has to butt into other people's business." We fully expected her to reprimand us for our "juvenile delinquents". She approached, and asked if we were homeschoolers . (It's during school hours, so our kids do kind of stand out) Our thoughts: "Oh, great, not only are we bad moms, but we get to give homeschooling a bad rap too!" But, a pleasant surprise. She's new homeschooler, and hoping to find info about local co-ops! We obliged.

After she moved on, we had a discussion about people who like to butt into other's business. Seems like too many people have succumbed to the "takes a village" mindset when everything is harmless, but why don't they step in when it actually MATTERS? (Like the incident this week in the cities, where someone attempted to grab a young girl off a public street, and NOBODY even called 911, much less tried to help her! She managed to escape on her own.) It seems that everyone wants to step in if kids do something harmless like climb trees. My friend and I both have been reprimanded for allowing that activity in a public park. OH! HORRORS! Boys in Trees! Whatever is this world coming to?! Next time they might actually do something dangerous like cross the street! There is one park in town that has trees that practically beg to be climbed. Every time we went there last year, the picnic tables had been pulled close to the trees to allow access for some adventurous youngster. This year, there is ONE table in the park, and it is on the far side of a pond, nowhere near the playground, and as heavy as they are, it's not likely to get moved that far. This is what all the sue-happy nuts have done to us. Created a world where boys aren't even allowed to climb trees for fear that the city might get sued.

Oh, well, enough of THAT. I'd rather think about the happy noises of boys enjoying a gorgeous spring day. (Noises that were far away, not in the next room, a BIG advantage!) Boys might have "cooties", (remember "cootie shots"?) but they DO make life fun! They all arrived home with dirty jeans, dirty faces, and heads full of the adventures of life among the rafters, and memories of throwing rocks through the remaining ice. I'll take my tree-climbers over someone else's couch potato any day!

Progress Report

2008-03-11T08:26:00.003-05:00

I figured it was time for an update on all things health-wise.

After a month at the local non-Curves ladies' gym, they went out of business! Would have been nice to know that before I joined. The upside to that is that all the other gym-type businesses in town offered special deals to lure the members. Curves offered no sign-up fee, and their $100 fee was one of the big reasons I went with the other gym in the first place. So, I've now been at Curves for one month.

One thing Curves does is monthly weigh-ins and measurements. Today I got measured. In the last month, working out 4-5 times a week, I have lost ONE POUND!?!? Talk about depressing! I've also toned up about 4.5 inches, combined from 5 different measurements, and dropped 0.7% body fat. At least those are SOMETHING. I've dropped one pants size, which is fun.

I really thought the weight would come off faster. I have noticed however, that when I'm totally avoiding ANY possible allergens, the weight will come off, but when I'm testing foods, it bounces back up and refuses to move until I've eliminated them again. I don't understand the biology at work here, but SOMETHING is definitely connected.

As for the foods, my list of no-no's now includes: milk, almonds, wheat, eggs, chocolate, and I'm currently testing corn. When I tested chocolate, I ate a LOT of chocolate, and eventually reacted, but not badly, so that one's staying in, at least for once-a-month medicinal purposes! Corn I'm not so sure about. It's hard to find corn products that don't also contain other allergens. I made teriyake stir fry, and used corn starch for the thickener, and reacted to that. I reacted to some frozen "taquitos" made with corn tortillas. But I've also eaten straight corn and Fritos, with no reaction. The items I reacted to also contained some form of soy, so maybe that's the culprit there. Further and more accurate testing is obviously required. And corn syrup in ANY amount will make me crave munchies in the evening. NOT a good thing.

I've discovered that Smarties candy do not contain ANY allergens! They do contain food coloring but, oh well! (That may have some bearing on the not losing weight, so I probably should eliminate those as well. But I gotta have SOME treats!)

Warmer weather is beginning to taunt us, and I'm looking forward to getting outside this year. I know I'll be much more active than in past years. I FEEL so much better this year. One day last week I headed upstairs and ran up them two-at-a-time. I can't remember the last time I had done THAT! My bike is calling to me. The walking path beckons. I want to get out in the parks and do some hiking. Even my rollerblades are starting to needle the edges of my consciousness. This has been one of the longest winters in recent memory, and I can't wait for it to be DONE.

An All-too-typical Day

2008-02-27T16:55:00.003-06:00

I wish that just ONCE a day would flow along perfectly, with no interruptions or glitches. I don't know that I've EVER had a day of homeschooling that did! Today was typical. Here's how our day has gone so far:

5:20- got up to take Sid to work. (This is a new addition to the schedule as of last week. Oh the joys of being a one-car family in a MN winter!)
6:20- arrived at Curves after dropping Sid off. (This is the only good thing about playing taxi- I can get my workout done early.)
7:15- back home. wake up boys.
8:00- take John to PE at middle school. Come home and fix breakfast for Tim and I.
9:10-pick John up
9:30- go lay down with my book while the boys eat and (supposedly) do chores.
10:20-wake up and realize I had fallen asleep on my book. I guess going to bed at 1, and getting up at 5 two nights in a row wasn't such a great idea!
11:15-wake up again, and this time I actually GET up and get school started with our read-alouds. Chores were NOT done.
12:00-someone arrives to drop something off, she visits for a while, and my boys stay busy with what she brought- a worthy pursuit, but it's not schoolwork.
12:30-fix lunch.
1:00- FINALLY make it to the schoolroom to start book-work.
2:30- Tim's finished, John has done some of his independent work, and we start on the stuff that requires me.
3:15- I'm done, and John gets back to his independent work. I start the dishes that didn't get done last night (or the night before!) Tim goes outside to play.
4:00- Sid arrives home. Supper is in progress (a VERY RARE event this early) and smells yummy.
Still ahead of us tonight is an early supper, Awana, and an EARLY bedtime for me!

Believe it or not, this was an EASY day. We had no outside appointments, and it was one of the rare days when Tim did not have to be at the school for PE, music OR speech.

Here's what I WISH a day of homeschooling would look like:
9:00- wake up to find that my boys are up and dressed, chores done, and breakfast waiting for me.
10:00-start school. The boys would be willing workers, not argue over seats, not waste time between subjects.
12:00- school would be done, and all written work would be neat and legible.
1:00-eat lunch, play time outside, good attitudes and willing helpers.
4:00-Sid arrive home, supper cooking and house clean.
An entire evening ahead of us with no commitments anywhere.

Oh, well, we can all dream can't we?

Valentines Day, and young "love"

2008-02-16T09:42:00.008-06:00

It was interesting to observe this year the differences between "young love" and "old love".

Sid and I have been married for 23 years, my sis and her dh for 24 years. None of us have any doubts that we are loved, and none of us make any big deal about V-Day. In fact, my SIS and I spent the afternoon taking care of some errands in the City and had supper together, while our Dh's held down their respective forts! My sis said she and her hubby never do anything special for V-day, while Sid and I just exchanged a simple gift without even wrapping them. (I did however wake up to find a new Teddy Bear tucked in bed with me, a new "tradition" that Sid has done each year that we have lived here. Romance DOES still exist among us "Old" folks!)

On the other end of the spectrum is a story I heard yesterday at our homeschool co-op. A friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend has an 11yo son who has a new "girlfriend" for whom he spent (or more likely his parents spent) $30 on roses!!! And the girlfriend's parents took this young "couple" along on a V-Day dinner at a nice restaurant. This whole thing totally baffles me! How on earth do these parents think they are doing their kids any favors by encouraging a boy-girl relationship in **11 year olds**??

Relationships set up expectations, and I can guarantee that little girl (and 11 IS still a LITTLE girl!) is going to have HUGE expectations of any boy she dates in the future, and the overwhelming majority of those boys are NOT going to meet those expectations. Most of them won't have a clue to what those expectations even are- young boys aren't exactly into the romance side of things. For the girl this will mean a repeatedly "broken heart" as she searches for a boy who will provide the love and romance she thinks she needs.

And it works the other way too. If kids are being told at 11 that it's acceptable to "date" and they learn from watching older kids that "dating" means getting physical, the holding hands and maybe a goodnight kiss that these clueless parents think is "cute" now, is going to escalate very quickly, and that poor girl is also going to soon be up against expectations that she is not prepared to meet. And if she IS up for those expectations, that's even worse for the poor girl!

That little girl should be getting "romanced" by her Daddy. HE should be treating her like a princess, and teaching her by example what she should expect in the FUTURE, not encouraging her to be in a "relationship" at such a tender age. Daddy needs to put his foot down and point out that Little Girls are NOT little women, and be the protector that she needs. Maybe not a physical protection AT THIS POINT, but certainly a protection of her heart.

Some people who read this will probably call me old-fashioned, and narrow minded, and a few other select words. But one good look into the lives of our current batch of kids should be enough to scare the living *$#@& out of us!! When Statistics like this are a national average, something is obviously wrong.

10% of all 15-19 year old females become pregnant each year.
80% of pregnant girls under age 17 who give birth and keep their babies end up on welfare, costing society a staggering $21 billion a year.
3 million new cases of STDs among teens are reported each year.
30% of sexually active adolescent girls have been found to be infected with Chlamydia.
taken from http://www.whosincharge.org/statistics-35/

One "theory" that I have read, (don't ask me where- it's been way too long ago) suggests that by having numerous relationships throughout their teen years, kids are actually being "trained" for divorce. That the biggest thing they learn from the experience is that relationships are by their nature short-term, and meant to be ended when things no longer are perfect. That commitment is irrelevant, and working things out just isn't worth the effort required. No wonder the divorce rate is so high, and that marriage rates are falling. It may sound good now to these young people, but they will have a different opinion when they reach middle age and have no-one with whom to share their life.

Among homeschooling families, and probably others also, there is a trend to avoid this whole mess by following a "courtship" tradition instead of dating. The teens are not encouraged to spend time alone in any circumstance. They spend time in groups, or with each other's families, and always in supervised situations. They become well-known by the prospective spouse's entire family, not just by one person who is probably wearing rose-colored glasses. I think that improves the odds of avoiding a bad relationship.

I'm sure there are those who would scream about a "lack of trust" in the teens, but the statistics above show where that "trust" has gotten our society. Trust is earned, not automatic, and I think most of us can look back to our own teen years and find some occasions where better supervision would have saved us from a mountain of grief.

Although I do not totally agree with all that is involved in a strict courtship model, I DO see many merits in it. My boys are/will be taught that relationships can wait, school and profession come first. That girls' hearts are to be protected, not conquered, and part of that protection is in avoiding temptation. That marriage is intended to be permanent and requires work not just good feelings. Only time will tell how it all shapes up in the future, but it will be bathed in prayer along the way. And that's the best protection of all.

What have I gotten myself into?

2008-02-01T01:35:00.000-06:00

God is stretching me again, and it hurts!

Last month I was invited to attend a preliminary planning meeting for Ladies Retreat. The call surprised me, as I have never really been involved in the Ladies' Ministries of our church. (I'm heavily involved in the children's ministries, and don't exactly have unlimited time.) I went, mostly because of who called me. Found out that there had been a total change in the leadership of this Ministry (a good thing- it was way past time for new blood to take over), and I agreed to be on the Planning Committee for the retreat.

This alone was a stretch for me. But God wasn't done with me yet. I (GULP!!) VOLUNTEERED to teach one of the sessions at the retreat! This is NOT normal for me! I HATE being the center of attention! Currently, I lead our homeschool co-op, which is more than enough "leadership" for me. It has made me more comfortable being in the front of the room, but it's still not something I would ever call "enjoyable".

But even more than a simple dislike of attention, I have realized that I have some major pedestal-smashing to do. I have always had this mental image of Ministry "leaders" being on some higher level than the rest of us "regular" people. I know that we are all sinners, that none of us is perfect, but I have always felt that "leadership" is a lot closer to it than *I* am. To me, being a "teacher" at the retreat is definitely in that higher category. I feel like I am a huge impostor and I have no right to put myself in that position. I have some good friends who have pointed out that such pedestals are NOT a good thing, and they have absolute faith in my ability to do this, but I'm not convinced yet.

So, wanna know what wisdom I shall impart? The theme of the retreat is "Pajama Party- Getting cozy with God and each other". My topic is "Friendship". I'm not sure just what angle this will take. I can think of lots of possibilities, but nothing has hit me yet as a must-have direction. I've been asking friends what they would like to hear about, and so far I have not gotten the same answer from any two people. I have a bunch of books that I need to dig through. I'd like to take a day to escape the house, find a place where I can sit without interruptions, and go through all of them with a notebook at hand so I can start making a real plan. Not exactly great odds of THAT happening! I'm also not sure what format this will take. I'd like to to be a "cozy" discussion, not a "class", but currently do not have a CLUE how to pull that off!

Keep me in your prayers. I'm sure gonna need them!

Add wheat to the list

2008-02-01T01:28:00.000-06:00

The list of things I can't have, that is. I'm testing chocolate next. I'm in serious need of comfort food! Thankfully, when I've been off things for a while a single infraction does not result in a reaction. It takes a few days to build up to one. This makes it possible for me to still eat out or at other's homes once in a while. It will be a REAL blessing when I'm at our church's Ladies Retreat next month. I can just imagine the cook's reaction if I sent in my registration listing milk, eggs and wheat. He'd probably be tempted to tell me to stay home!

Allergies, part 2

2008-01-22T23:44:00.000-06:00

Now that I've been on the elimination diet for more than a month, the Dr. said to go ahead and start testing foods. I have to choose ONE food at a time, and eat it twice a day for at least 4 days. It was a tough choice what to start with. Wheat has been the most missed, but wheat alone is rather difficult to test, as most baked goods also contain milk and eggs. Milk is definitely a no-no.

I decided to start with eggs as they are easy to test, and I could use more variety at breakfast. I'm now on day 3, and I'm pretty sure the eggs will NOT be making a return to my diet. Had eggs for breakfast the last 2 days, and spent a good part of this afternoon all wheezy and coughing again. Bummer. I'll give it a couple more days, but it doesn't look good.

Next on my list I think will be wheat. An actual sandwich on real bread sounds pretty darn good. Behind that will be either corn or chocolate.

I identified one allergen while I was supposedly not eating anything that would be problematic. Almonds. I bought almond milk to use in my smoothies. One time, at least 15 years ago, I broke out in hives after eating cookies containing almond extract. Three days later it happened again after eating some more. I avoided almonds for a few years, but have eaten them occasionally since with no problems. I guess daily doses of almond milk was too much for my body to handle.

I found an AWESOME book on allergies called "Allergy Free- Naturally" that is a wealth of information on all forms of allergies. It covers both "regular" and natural methods of treatment, and gives a wonderful explanation of what is going wrong in the body when allergies strike. And- what really took me by surprise- a full page about how those little ladybug corpses ARE an allergen. I guess I wasn't way off-base after all. I got the book at the library, but it's well worth paying for.

Also in my Dr's "prescription" was EXERCISE. No surprise there. I haven't exactly been the most active person. My options are rather limited around here. Can't do anything outside in this weather (current highs are around 5 degrees). Even if it wasn't quite so frigid, my asthma limits me to exercising indoors if the temp is below 40. Last year I checked out the local "health club" and THAT won't be happening, even if I could afford it. When I told them I would not be joining, they literally hounded me by phone for days, even after I specifically told them not to call again. I considered just doing some exercise videos, but I know from past experience that I won't stick with that very well. So I checked out the local "Curves" and a similar but non-franchised local club called B-Fit 24/7. After some close looking at the budget, we decided to go with the local club. I really like it. It's quick, and the place is frequented by other middle-aged overweight women, instead of buff jocks and anorexic beauty queens. I've only been going for a week so far, but I can already feel a difference in my energy levels, and my blood pressure has improved noticeably.

The "bonus" in all these changes is my weight. Last year when I gave up milk the first time, I dropped 20 lbs without any effort whatsoever. This fall when I gave up the goats milk another 10 fell off. Since starting the elimination diet, I've lost almost 10 more. That adds up to a lot of pounds with no effort at all. I don't know what the connection is between weight and food allergies, but there's obviously one there somewhere. One thing I have noticed is I have absolutely NO CRAVINGS. No urges in the evenings to find that bag of chips, or go looking for cookies. The Dr. said that if I start eating junk again the cravings will return. That's a pretty good incentive to behave myself.

I've been looking into options for finding more veggies. Organic produce during a MN winter is NOT an easy thing to come by. The limited selection available at the grocery store is not very enticing, and IS very expensive. A friend has given me info on a "buying club" that provides organic produce at non-organic grocery store prices, and I'm going to give that a try. The down-side to it is that the pick-up location is about 10 miles away, and I'll have to take a chunk out of our school day twice a month to do it. I've also looked into a CSA, which is an arrangement where you pay a rather substantial chunk of money up front, then get weekly baskets of organic veggies all summer. There are 2 of these within easy driving distance, but the chunk of money isn't an option right now.

Overall, I've been feeling really good lately. The elimination diet was a blessing in disguise, and although it's a pain to learn to cook all over again, it's been well worth it.

Space- The Final Frontier

2008-01-22T23:18:00.000-06:00

What's a subject nearly guaranteed to pique the interest of any Air Force Boy-Brat? (That's Brat as in "Air Force Brat" NOT an insult of my boys!) In my house SPACE comes pretty close to the top of the list. Our current unit focuses on space and space exploration, and the boys are eating it up. Our read-aloud chapter book is a young-people's biography of Albert Einstein and the boys are really enjoying that, too. I never would have guessed that John would beg for one more chapter of a book that spends pages describing the Theory of Relativity! Today we got to the part of Albert's life where his career in Physics is taking off while his marriage is falling apart, and Tim was truly sympathetic that Albert is now all alone without his family.

Tim and I have read numerous picture books about various missions of the space program. John is working his way through a large volume that gives a complete history of space exploration, with lots of cool pictures. This unit offers some great movies to go along with it. Tonight we watched the second half of "Apollo 13". We skipped all the boring first half, and started at the explosion, with parental comments inserted as needed to bring the boys up to speed on the story. I also have "The Right Stuff" on order at the library, but will have to pre-watch it as I don't remember how suitable it is for kids.

God even gave me an extra little bonus this week. We have a local show called "On the Road" that each week visits people and places of interest in MN. This week they met with various Minnesotans that are involved in the Space Program. There were (all MN natives) two astronauts and a mission control specialist at NASA in Houston, TX, students at UND in Grand Forks who are in the Aerospace Program and working on designing and building space suits for future missions to Mars, and students learning how to operate the space capsules that will eventually replace the Shuttles. John has now decided that "Astronaut" beats out "pilot" or "jet mechanic" as a career goal.

I'd love to put some astronomy into the unit also, but with night-time temps currently around -10, I don't think anyone is in much of a hurry to go look at the stars! I guess that will have to wait until a summer camping trip.

Allergies

2008-01-05T12:03:00.001-06:00

Allergies...one of those horrible little facts of my life. I have lived with this minor inconvenience for as long as I can remember. Though it has taken various forms, until recently it has not been a big deal. A runny nose in the summer and fall, and always easily remedied with those wonderful antihistamines.

This last year it has taken a turn I do NOT appreciate. Two turns actually. One is that my asthma has become more active, the other is that instead of just nasal allergies, I have entered the world of food allergies.

The asthma has been gradually worsening ever since we moved here 7 years ago. Since adolescence I have had only two triggers, both easily avoided, therefore any attacks were few and far between- YEARS between. About a year after we moved here, I started having attacks whenever I stirred things up in our basement family room. My first thought was that it was the dust- unfinished room, NOT at the top of my cleaning list, and a collection spot for just about everything. But, when I stirred up other dusty spots I did not trigger an attack. I eventually came to wonder if it could be the lady-bugs that crawled in in large numbers each fall through our unfinished walls and ceiling, and decomposed on the ledges, but could not find any literature that gave that idea any validity. It gradually worsened, but my only solution was to use my over-the-counter inhaler, and avoid the problem. (Those that know me well know I had NO trouble avoiding cleaning!!)

The summer of '06 my asthma became almost constant, and I was having sneezing fits that literally went to ten-plus sneezes and were so non-stop that I got dizzy from the lack of time to take a full breath between. Since I do not NOT want to end up on daily drugs, I started looking for other solutions. My first attempt was to try giving up milk, based only on other's experience and "old wives' tales". The results were amazing! My last milk was at breakfast, by bedtime the sneezing fits had stopped, and the the next morning I woke up breathing freely for the first time in months. I waited a few days, then started testing. Any milk- and I mean TINY amounts like the milk powder used in a Tootsie Roll- sent me right into an asthma attack. So, that was the end of the milk. Eventually I was able to handle more, as long as it was not frequent. Even more amazing to me was the other problems that disappeared- eczema/psoriasis on my hands, flaky forehead, ridiculously scaly dandruff- all of which I had been dealing with for YEARS and could not pinpoint a cause of.

So we spent the winter with milk-less meals. Not so much fun in a family that eats a lot of casseroles and cheese (OH, how I MISS the cheese!!) In the spring I started buying fresh goats milk from an acquaintance, and was pleased to not have a problem. But, by the end of summer, problems were returning, and by mid-fall the asthma was back in full swing. To make things more fun, the OTC inhaler had been taken off the market, resulting in a few attacks that were downright scary! I refused to believe it was the goats milk- I really didn't want to give milk up again- and wasted time trying to find another reason, but the milk it was. Either it took those many months for it to build up to levels my body could not handle, or as long as it was not a huge daily intake my immune system was handling it. (I was starting to use more goats cheese and twiddling recipes to work, so by fall I was eating quite a bit.) Or it really was OK to start with, but my system got sensitized to it, too. Either way, bye-bye milk again.

Just to make things more fun, we are in the process of finishing our basement, and the combination of stirring up all the dust that is there, plus adding drywall and "mud" dust to the mix, also turned out to be a major trigger for me, one that is not nearly so easy to avoid as the milk.

Now I realized I HAD to make a Dr. appointment. I have avoided Dr's, because I really prefer to use more natural methods when possible, and there have been so many reports of unsafe meds being taken off the market, and so many side effects of many meds, and I just generally feel that there HAS to be a better way than pumping our bodies full of chemicals. A friend told me about a clinic in a near-by city that uses natural methods as much as possible, but unlike most natural "medicine" practitioners, they are real Dr's and insurance will cover it- a HUGE factor on a limited budget. So, off I went.

I really like the Dr and the clinic. Not so sure I like the "plan". I did get a script for an inhaler, but also got a "script" for an elimination diet to see if there are more things in my diet giving me trouble. And it eliminates seemingly EVERYTHING that is yummy or omnipresent. Items eliminated include: wheat- that means flour and therefore all baked goods; corn-which includes corn syrup which is in everything on the market, and corn starch which is the easiest alternative to flour for thickening gravy and casseroles; Chocolate- which is just plain cruel; Eggs- there goes most of my breakfast choices; Soy- which I generally avoid anyway, but when you shop in the natural food aisles to avoid the corn syrup, the "healthy" versions all seem to use soy ingredients, and this also includes MSG which is in everything and often hidden under aliases. That is by no means a complete list, but it is the major things.

So, what CAN I eat? Lots of fruit and veggies, rice, beans. I'm supposed to buy only organic, especially the meats, but there is no way we can afford to make that change in mid-winter. I am looking into my alternatives for next summer, and hopefully we will be buying a whole organic cow to fill the freezer when we have enough money saved up. I'm learning to cook all over again, and making lots of smoothies for breakfast. Baked goods appear to be a lost cause. Rice "bread" is just plain disgusting, as are most of the other rice-based items. I am limited to puffed rice and oatmeal for breakfast cereal, hence the many smoothies.

I'm supposed to keep this up for a month, then I can start testing different foods to see what does cause a problem. I guess only time will tell.

More fun lessons

2007-12-11T01:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can add some interesting activities to our school. Today's lesson was on brain cells- the structure and operation there-of. Thanks to last year's VBS, John was able to draw a neuron before our lesson. However there was LOTS more to our lesson than that, and we read a very interesting chapter on how the brain functions. We started off with making brain cells from pipe cleaners (found on-line), learned the parts, and how they work, then moved on to how we learn. To demonstrate this, we had a brand new 24 pc puzzle, which each boy worked repeatedly, using a timer to show how much faster it gets with repeated completions. It was interesting watching the two boy's different methods of working at it. John would grab whatever piece was under his hand, and put it in the correct area, linking them when possible. Tim sorted them out for main features, then would look for specific pieces to go into particular spots. John's method was faster, but his fastest time was still only about 30 seconds faster than Tim's. (Then I tried it and clobbered them both! Finally a good use for the skills learned from decades of doing puzzles)

Last week we had a lesson on protecting the brain, and why we wear bike helmets. Our experiment for that was to create "helmets" for raw eggs and drop them over the stair railing to see if we could prevent them from breaking on impact. John managed to keep 2 intact, Tim succeeded with 1, all of mine "died". The boys love it when they can out-do me.

Tomorrow's lesson will also involve breaking eggs, but this time it will be by shaking in a bowl, with and without a "cushion" of water, to illustrate how the cerebral-spinal fluid helps protect the brain (another on-line find).

We're on our final chapter of Weaver before we break for Christmas. Our break will begin as soon as the chapter is completed. The boys (of course) feel we should just stop right now. They love to be able to brag to friends about being on vacation while the other kids are still stuck in school. But unfortunately that doesn't seem to translate into a motivation to do more work per day in order to get that vacation started. Work done sooner just doesn't have the same appeal as work totally avoided!

Turkey Day - a different perspective

2007-11-23T21:10:00.000-06:00

As mentioned waaay down in my first post, Virginia is currently spending a semester in Chile. Here is what she had to say about HER Thanksgiving day. She has told us before that they do not have the same products there that we here are so used to using, so it sounds like cooking a turkey dinner was quite an undertaking.

We did our own Thanksgiving day here. I actually cooked- like got the ingredients and everything. ...none of it was hard stuff but still. On my own I made fruit salad with whipped cream (that I had to whip lol), potato salad, and regular salad. Then I helped with the apple pie and made the crust for the cream cheese cake. Then we had turkey (not a whole one, a massive pile of turkey parts lol), stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole (which didn't turn out because we couldn't find the exact stuff here, and the substitutes didn't work well together), corn, strawberry sauce salad, apple cider, mashed potatoes..and I think that's it.

It's more impressive than it sounds though, because NOTHING was pre-made. And we made enough food for 20+ people. Like we peeled 4 kilos of potatoes (with a knife, not peelers), and 16 apples. There were "candied almonds" in the strawberry salad, so we diced almonds and fried them in sugar. For the salad we had to wash and cut Everything, lettuce, spinach, carrots tomato, etc. For the stuffing we toasted (in the oven, no toaster) 3 full loaves of sliced bread and then cubed it. In the fruit salad I had (all fresh) strawberries, peaches, pineapple, apple, banana, and then chopped up marshmallow (they didn't sell small ones). The apple cider was actually apple and spices, and for the cinnamon, we could only find sticks of it, so we had to grind it with the mortar and pestle thing to use for the cider and the apple pie. For the pie, even the crust was handmade. They don't eat pie here, so we couldn't get pre-made crust, or a pie tin lol.

The turkey got cooked by piling it on a pan, sticking garlic and I'm not sure what else all over it, and sticking it in the oven. One oven was gas, and didn't have temperature control, and the other was an old wood burning stove. So basically we stuck the turkey in and guessed when it looked right lol. We had 30lbs of Turkey overall... because Sean said you need 1.5lbs per person. We realized later that that includes bone weight, and the turkey bits we had were boneless...so basically we had a TON of turkey left over. Not to mention potatoes and stuffing. We ended up with about 18 people eating the meal, because only half of our group of gringos came, and then a couple of their families.

It took us about 5 hours to cook and prepare everything. .... Most of it was grunt work of cubing bread and peeling/mashing potatoes lol.

But everything (except the green bean casserole) turned out SO good. It was amazing.

But yeah...so that was our Turkey Day. :-) The Chilean families that came liked the food too. They were really confused about what gravy is for, so Jim demonstrated how you make a hole in the potatoes lol.

Cleaning up took us forever too, and we had had someone cleaning as we went. We had to keep reusing the bowls and spoons while we were cooking, because there weren't that many in the house lol.

But overall, it was way fun. :-)

Walls

2007-11-16T01:27:00.000-06:00

Some days, the most boring-sounding lessons turn into the greatest conversations. Today, still on the theme of the Wall of Jericho, we talked about the Berlin Wall. We ended up spending **2 HOURS** on the subject. I read aloud bits and pieces from a book about the history of the wall. Why it was built, the different political ideologies, the reactions of the people and how it affected their lives. The boys' favorite part was a series of accounts of people's attempts to escape from East Berlin. When I stopped reading to eat lunch, I actually received protests, and had to continue reading between bites!

A few accounts that stuck in my mind: One family sewed themselves a hot-air balloon and floated to freedom. On at least one occasion, the guards on the West Berlin side saw an attempt in progress and engaged the Eastern guards as a distraction to give the escapees success. People tried jumping out of 3rd and 4th story windows next to the wall in order to land on the West side, throwing mattresses out first to land on. One family drove a low-slung sports car UNDER the gate (must have been a fairly high gate). On one occasion a guard "chased" an escaping woman and actually escaped himself. Did you know the wall was painted white so that it would be easier to see and shoot those attempting to escape?

Though I grew up during the height of the Cold War, I never knew the whole history of the Wall. I do remember occasional stories of people defecting from various Soviet Bloc countries, and certainly remember when the wall came down, but it was never a huge impact on my daily life. Reading the accounts of the escape attempts impressed on me the huge blessing that we have in the United States. We take our freedom for granted, with barely an inkling of how great a gift it is. In light of current goings-on, a quote from one of our Founding Fathers has been on my mind a lot. Since I'm horrible about names I don't remember who said it. "Those who would give up Freedom for Security deserve neither." I'm probably mangling the actual quote, but that's the gist of it. Many people through the last 2+ centuries have fought and died so WE can live free. Are we going to retain that freedom for the next generation, or let it slip away one little bit at a time? Not all battles are fought in other lands. Some must be fought in our own halls of government.

Our Freedom in Christ is another huge blessing. Freedom from the captivity of sin- the strength to break free from the bad influences in our lives. Freedom from the worries and cares of life- not that the negative things cease to exist (I wish!) but that he helps us bear them, and gives us peace of mind. Freedom from the fear of what lies beyond this life. Jesus made a way through the wall that separated us from God. He said "I am the way". Though we tend to think of this verse as referring to a path to follow ( the "narrow way") our Bible lesson today pointed out that the word translated as "way" can also mean "gate". Jesus is our gate through that wall of sin, and we have no guards with machine guns blocking our way. All we have to do is walk right through.

Guess what I did this weekend?

2007-11-10T22:45:00.000-06:00

I can only do one thing really well. You pick.....Homeschool the kids, or clean the house!

I found the above quote on-line on a t-shirt today. It's VERY appropriate for this house. But today I strayed from my norm and deep-cleaned the living room. Now, for most of my life, dust and I have had an understanding. If I don't bother it, it won't bother me. As I have been allergic to dust my whole life, this has been a very important facet of my house (non)cleaning. Every time I dust I stir up an allergy attack, so I avoid dusting like the plague. However, we have now been in this house for much longer than any other home, and since there is no move in sight which would force me to do a thorough cleaning, and since my asthma has gotten increasingly worse this fall, I decided that maybe chasing out all those dust mites might be to my advantage.

So, I started the day by removing everything from the living room except the wall unit and TV (too heavy). Sid got home from work at lunch time with plans to spend a couple hours relaxing in front of the tv, then getting to work on the playroom. Instead he was asked to move the tv and volunteered to move the wall unit, and then we decided that since we had everything out, why not rearrange the room? I suggested that while the walls were all accessible that we should paint, but that didn't happen- and I really didn't expect it to. In the process of moving all the furniture back, Sid also fixed my recliner and the broken board in the couch. Tomorrow I have to buy some more carpet cleaner foam. That can did NOT clean anywhere near the area it was supposed to- and it didn't clean that very well either.

I wish I could say I have it all put back together, but I don't. All the furniture is back, and we all like the new arrangement. But all the STUFF is piled in the dining room. Nothing will go back in until it is sorted and decided that it is something we WANT to have in there. I wanted to get it done today, but the dust eventually got the better of me and my asthma flared up, so it has to wait until tomorrow. And there is plenty to sort through. My collection of homeschooling catalogs, which by now probably has duplicate if not triplicate copies of most of them. The stack of magazines that I was planning to "someday" pull out the interesting articles from. The collection of Sid's assorted mail that collects in the magazine rack. The leftovers from umpteen little projects. The piles of miscellaneous stuff that simply gets acquired from various sources and we never quite know what to do with. The trash man probably won't be very happy with me next week. But, I really don't care what HE thinks!

And next weekend I'll pick another room and start all over.

Bits and Pieces of life

2007-10-31T00:36:00.000-05:00

Life the last few weeks have involved nothing special, hence the lack of posts.

Today was a GORGEOUS "last hurrah" of the season. Temps around 70 with sunny skies. A friend invited us to a park to soak it up, and she and I had a wonderful visit. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse, and this time of year the chances for more warm days drastically diminish. We capped off the day with a stop for pumpkins and spent the evening carving our Jack-o-lanterns for tomorrow.

We parents all know how much we hate to hear our kids tell us "I know" because it's often said with such attitude. Today those words were wonderful to hear from Tim. His math lesson was to introduce the +9's with the method of "taking one away" from the other addend and adding it to the 9 to make 10. As soon as I said what we were going to do, he spoke up "I already know how to do that. Last week I didn't, but now I do." So of course I had him explain what he thought he knew. And HE WAS RIGHT! We went through the lesson quickly, and it included more advanced problems such as 34+9 and 59+6, which put the +9 into a more complicated form, and he did just fine. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this curriculum really teaches the beauty and connectedness of numbers, something which I have always loved about math but have never seen taught. His understanding of numbers goes way beyond the lessons. Now if he could just remember the WORDS that go with the concepts, he'd be a genius!

Last night at Cub Scouts the boys had an informal Halloween party. We contributed to the group trail mix, but also brought an all-natural mix for Tim to eat. At the end of the evening, there was just the Den mom, one other mom, and myself still there. The Den mom offered Tim some leftover candy bars which he refused with the comment that he "can't have those". The Den mom told me that she could not remember what it was that he could not have. "Artificial additives" I told her. The other mom said "What does that leave??" REAL FOOD maybe! I wish there was a greater understanding in the general populous on what all that junk does to kids. At least now there have been some well-publicized studies to back up what Feingold families already know. Halloween is always one of the holidays I really HATE to deal with. I have to buy candy to pass out, AND buy good "REAL" candy for my boys to eat. They enjoy trick-or-treating, but then we pass on the junk to others and replace it with stuff that the boys can eat. This year the Feingold website has info cards to print out and include with the candy we are passing out, so our neighbors can get a bit of education with their treats.

Our family room is gradually progressing. The first third is now painted, with the ceiling textured and painted also. We have started moving the pile to get to work on the next section. At this rate it will be next summer before we're finished! But it's fun to see it get done, however slowly. I decided that a new room MUST be celebrated and invited my friends for slumber party when it's done. Sid said he's leaving the house if I do have one. For some reason a houseful of my "Hen's Club" just doesn't thrill him! Maybe we are a BIT old for a slumber party, but so what. Why should kids get all the fun? A bit of female bonding over chocolate and chick-flicks certainly never hurt anyone.

The "Hen's Club" is what Sid has named my group of friends, because, according to him, we sit around and cluck! So we have adopted the name. This group of friends is the BEST friends I have ever had. There's a LOT to be said for actually living in one place long enough to form solid friendships.

Job hazzards

2007-10-19T09:01:00.000-05:00

Some days I really hate that Sid works in manufacturing, and this is why. Over the last five years he has received at least 3 nasty injuries. This one was Wednesday. This innocent looking sliver is an aluminum shaving from a pipe that became COMPLETELY embedded in Sid's hand! He merely felt that a sliver had gone in, and had to dig for the end of it. It left an inch-long scrape on it's way, which you can barely see in the pic. The worst injury he's gotten was a 2-inch gash from a cutting blade that fell on his arm, requiring stitches. He enjoys the work he does, but his desk jobs were much better for MY peace of mind!

Stix

2007-10-13T00:17:00.000-05:00

Who would ever think that tongue depressor sticks would be a major part of every school day? They get daily use in our house, but not for their usual application. We use sticks as a method of choosing activities for our daily drill work.

Through the years, I have amassed a huge collection of supplemental activities. Board games, file folder games, activities, etc. that all offer fun ways to practice boring things like math facts and grammar basics. About 3 years ago I got sick of having all this stuff that never got used. I always wanted to make sure the "real" work got done before "fun" stuff, and the once the kids were done with the "real" work, they didn't want to do any more, even if it was supposed to be fun. So, I created Stix.

Each child has a can filled with Stix. They have several categories, color-coded with paint on one end. Currently our categories are: language arts skills, math operations, and math supplements. The last couple years, Tim's have worked up from "learning letters, ABC order, & learning numbers" through "consonant sounds, vowel sounds, simple words, & counting" and now up to the same categories as John. Each day, the boys pull one stick of each color from their can, and have to do the activity written on the other end.

The kinds of activities are varied. There are file folder games, board games, card games, puzzles. All take only about 10 minutes, and most are 1-on-1 with Mom, but a few are independent. Our games that take longer are reserved for days when we have friends over for "game days".

We use these for covering all the basics that need continuous drill. Currently John's cover Greek and Latin roots, parts of speech, spelling games, Math Card Games, & various games for applying math skills. Tim's cover practice of his reading words, telling time, money, basic addition. In planning stages are games for states & capitals, and presidents. These will require another color of stick for Social Studies. Periodically, I go though their cans and remove mastered skills and add new ones.

As Stix are done each day, they are put back in the can colored-end-down. When all Stix of one color have been used, they are turned back over to start again. If there is any activity that the child really dislikes, it is removed from the can if possible. It's supposed to be fun, and this is one area where I try to avoid any dissension.

Our Stix are one of the highlights of each day. This is one task where the BOYS make sure it gets done, instead of me hounding them about it.

Small news, BIG joy!

2007-10-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

Today, Tim sat and read the first "story" in Dr. Seuss's "Fox in Socks". Most people would not consider this to be a big deal for an 8yo, but reading has been a HUGE struggle for both my boys. At the close of last year, and all summer, Tim's attitude regarding reading has been "NO! I don't want to do reading!". Despite starting phonics at age 5, he had to work hard to decipher even 3-letter short-vowel words. Phonetic readers were a struggle, and reading a REAL book was way beyond his ability.

This summer I discovered a book called "At Last- A Reading Method for Every Child" by Mary Pecci. I got it from a nearby library, and kept it through all allowable renewals. When my time was up, my own ordered copy had not yet arrived, so I refused to take it back and happily paid the fines. I was NOT going to let this book go!

I started teaching Tim with this in Sept when we began our school year. Within a week he was CHOOSING to do reading. Within 2, he was reading his Pathway Readers primer with little struggle. Now, after about 6 weeks, he can pick up a REAL book and READ IT! Yes, he still stumbles. Yes, he needed help on a few unfamiliar words. BUT HE READ IT! Though his lessons are centered on the words used in his primer, he is able to take that info and apply it to unfamiliar words. His whole attitude has changed and his confidence has soared.

I wish I had known about this book way back when I started teaching John. It would have made a huge difference. Now, I'm taking the advice in the remedial portion of the book, and going back to re-teach some things. This is one of the books that will NEVER leave my collection.

A horse and several bridges

2007-10-11T16:12:00.001-05:00

This is the Trojan Horse Tim built from popsicle sticks. It even has space for Lego men to ride inside. Sorry it's sideways. For some reason, probably operator idiocy, I couldn't get it to rotate.

We built several bridges of different styles with K-Nex to test and compare the load limits. The first was a simple single-beam. Load: 1 VHS tape.

Next, a simple span bridge with trusses. Limit: 8 tapes.

Third, a suspension bridge. John thought this would be the winner. Load: 20 tapes.

Last, an arch bridge, or as close as we could get with K-nex. This one took several tries. On our first try, John counted 30 tapes, but it collapsed so suddenly we didn't get a picture. Second try, it fell at around 20 tapes and we realized we had a couple connections that had not been fixed after the first fall. Third try, Tim bumped a chair and down it came again. Fourth try, 25 tapes AND a picture, so we quit while we were ahead! As we took everything apart to put away, we noticed a few more connections that were not secure, so it probably would have held closer to the original 30 if we had looked it over more carefully- a first-hand lesson at the importance of inspecting our bridges!