Visiting Columbus. I mean Marysville.

Old E and Ann invited us to their house for my cousin Alex’s high school graduation party.  I always enjoy Old E and Ann.  They are very easy to talk to, fun, and the kids have a great time because Old E gets all goofy with them.  He gets all goofy with everyone. 

Phillip and Archie had to stay home because Archie had a ball game that day.  (Yeah, I’m blogging June on the third of August…so what of it???!!!)   I decided that the little ones would do better on an overnighter trip rather than a there-and-back-again in the same day. 

Since the last blog entry Old E read before my visit was me griping about having to plan things all the time (the great Mother’s Day Post), he and Ann took the reigns and planned the evening.  Grilling out, Dairy Queen, then fire pit and beverages!  Yeah!  That’s my kind of evening! 

The next day was the party, which was to take place at the ex-wife’s home.  We arrived pretty early so Old E could help with the set up.  I haven’t seen this portion of the ex-family in years, so it was, um…awkward.  And weird.  And that is all I have to publicly say about that. 

The ex was nice enough to get Lawrence and Lydia some sidewalk chalk so the kids would have something to do before the party started.  Lawrence repaid that kindness by drawing a chalk outline of a body on the sidewalk near the door.   I might have helped a little, but only because he asked me.  

 When something got said about Lawrence's chalk outline, I asked him to draw some short pants and a shirt on it so it would look more person-like rather than crime scene-ish in order to make it a little less…bizarre décor for a graduation party. 

Lawrence and Lydia were delighted by my cousin Andrew’s goats he was raising for 4H.  Lawrence would disappear from time to time and could be found chit-chatting away with the goats at the goat pen.    He had quite a lot to say to those goats.

I was happy to see the van full of Logsdons show up from Detroit!  It was great to visit with them again!  Here is my cousin Andrew showing our Uncle Tom the goats.  The skinny goat was going through some sort of illness, which is why it is skinny.

 The ex’s family lives on a farm.  It was very picturesque.  Here are the little ones sitting on the stoop of a shed.  The first one was unposed--they just chose to sit there and rest together.  And of course, the second one I had them give me a big 'ole cheese!  

Ann and Uncle Hugh playing Cornhole.

An action shot of Uncle Tom’s cornhole throw.  And he says he never makes the blog…*tisk*.

Lawrence really enjoyed talking with my cousin Mark.  I was hoping he would have brought his kids (his son is only a few days younger than Lawrence) but his kids apparently don’t travel well.  I guess it was just as well because Lawrence was thoroughly entertained by Mark and they had deep conversations about Spiderman and Batman and such.  I would be willing to bet that Mark was exhausted from all Lawrence’s chatter by the time they left.  To Mark’s credit, he sat in that glider and chatted right back at him all afternoon.  I don’t think I could have stuck with it as long as he did!

Lawrence and Lydia are sharing a vegetable plate here.  Lawrence is one of the more picky eaters I have ever had the misfortune to cook for.  And here he is eating *and loving*…celery!  He calls them ‘tall green things’.  Who knew?  The most boring and tasteless of all the vegetables and he loves them!

Thank you to whoever thought to take a picture with me in it.  Otherwise, we’d never know I was there!

 Here is a Logsdon mostly-man picture.  My cousin Alex The Graduate—only Logsdon girl in the picture is in the dress in the middle. 

 As awkward as the party was in the beginning, I ended up having a fantastic time.  I love hanging with my Logsdon Uncles, Aunties and Cousins!  We should do that again, but just not at someone’s ex-wife’s house, yes?  

Some of My Random Thoughts Lately

Since I have posted more to Facebook than here, I will save some of my posts for posterity here.  Some random thoughts that have been swirling about in my head lately, beginning with tonight's post:


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Dear Friday Night: 


What happened? You used to be full of so much possibility! Now you consist of scraping the soap scum off of the soap dish in the tub and cleaning a pee puddle off of the living room floor because Lydia just couldn't bear to stop what she was doing to go to the toilet.


Much love,


Me.
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Apparently I have a 'she probably will be cool with Welfare Fraud' kind of look today. I was approached by two different people at the grocery store asking if I would like to "buy" their food stamps. Didn't our family buy them in the first place when we paid our taxes? Why should I buy them again? I just love watching our tax dollars at 'work'.
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Nice yarn haul at St. Vincent's today. And happened upon some fill to stuff Crochet Bob The Tomato!


~My Bob The Tomato is going swimmingly, by the way.  All the parts and pieces are complete, but the thought of actually using a needle and thread to sew on the crocheted eyes, eyelids, nose, and top leaf is intimidating.  So he is sitting on my tea table in pieces waiting for the day for me to get over my fear of the needle and thread already.  ~
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Making some curriculum decisions...I am excited. :-)


~Doing Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings.  It goes through the whole series of books for an introduction to literary analysis, literary devices and such.  My end game with this direction is that we will have improved writing skills and hopefully an ability to begin to see beneath the text of a book.  LOTR is such a great series...I get a little something new out of it every time I re-read.  I don't know why it isn't assigned in schools.  This is a middle to highschool course, but we are doing the reading aloud instead of independently to make sure he has an understanding of what is going on and who is who.  Archie is stoked.  

He will also complete a typing course (because keyboarding is more important at an earlier age, it seems) and Mapping The World By Heart (a geography curriculum, of course!).  Math and Science I am leaving up to Daddy, so I have no idea what he has in store.  

And we will finish up our stuff from Sonlight that we didn't complete yet.  American History.  ~

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Heading to the drive-in shortly. The Amazing Spiderman, Snow White and the Huntsman, and hopefully, if the kiddos fall asleep, Men In Black, whatever the next consecutive MIB is. Three, I think.

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copious amounts of Raspberry-Strawberry freezer jam made today. And I still have lots of frozen raspberries left to do SOMETHING with.

decided on Fruit leather for the remaining raspberries.

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The park was great until it began to storm. We waited out the rain at Dairy Queen, much to the kids' delight. Then we found a raspberry farm. We were waiting over an hour while eating our raspberries in the gazebo outside the plant Phillip is working at today. Suddenly, like a shining beacon in the darkness... The Library!!!! It was right across the street the whole time! Mind you, Phillip was supposed to be done by noon. I love the library. All libraries. Especially when they pop up juuuuust at the right moment! — at Mogadore Branch Library

~Traveling with Phillip is great, until the last day.  We have to check out of the hotel oh, um, right about naptime for the little ones, and then we must find something to occupy crabby kids until Phillip is done.  And sometimes he has to work over. And over.  And over.  We thought we'd only need to occupy ourselves for an hour, but it turned into seven hours. And I had to remain in cell phone range, which wasn't easy.  If we had known it would be seven hours from the get-go, I would have planned something that takes seven hours to do.  There was a state park close by and we would have gone swimming.  But every time I talked to him, he thought he was *almost* done--like less than an hour.  I think around four o'clock he said something like, "I have no idea."  But the indoor water park at the hotel we stayed at made it all worthwhile.  And while the last day was long, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  We ended up having a lovely day after it was all said and done.  No one had poop running down their legs in the McDonald's Play area, which happened on that unpredictable last day during our last trip with Phillip.~

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Lately...

I am sorry I left such a negative post up for so long without burying it with something new and positive.  I have not been idle and wallowing in self-pity as my previous post about Mother's Day might suggest.  We have had family visit, we have visited family in Michigan, we have visited family in Columbus, plus various other projects I have been working on lately.

One such project is trying to be a bit more organized and decluttered at home.  I actually read from front to back, a book about living minimally…The Joy of Less by Francine Jay.  The completion of this book is a feat in and of itself, due to the difficulty I am having maintaining my attention span lately.  It has been a long while since I have read from start to finish, a real book for adults.  I am ashamed to say how long, but suffice it to say, it has been a looong time.  I read quite often, but the only reading I have been able to get through and comprehend afterward is articles from The Smithsonian, CNN on my Ipod, and perhaps the backs of cereal boxes in the morning.  The daily devotional I was making time for every day has been inconsistent at best.  I really wish I could read something more than fluff pieces and magazine articles. 

I don’t know why I am having so much trouble with this, because I love to read.  This has been such a problem for me that I got a book at the homeschool convention about how to read literature!  In other words, a book about how to read a book!  I am still slogging through it, taking notes as I go.  

Anyway, decluttering.  The book didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know in my heart, but it did inspire me enough to go through my home room by room and cull through some stuff.  There were some interesting ideas in the book on how to begin and how to maintain a mostly clutter-free home.  The best advice, perhaps, was the recycle can located beside our mail table.  Holy cow!  Since April, there has been only about five envelopes on the mail table at one time, instead of the huge, falling-over pile which dominated the entry-way for years, even at our previous homes! 

I am in love with my new craft closet, with all my stuff in its various pods for various activities.  I have been doing very well keeping all my flat surfaces clear and am feeling much better about how crowded our home is NOT!  I have been able to find things for our activities immediately and consistently and even have a clean, cleared off table on which to do them! 

I don’t know which of my Facebook friends recommended that book, but I am so appreciative of the motivation it stirred. 

Since I have had flat surfaces and could find all of my things because they were all in one location, I have completed a crochet project I am quite proud of. 

Instead of trying a bunch of different patterns for crochet, I decided to master one thing.  I have trouble with patterns and am finding that I am not really getting good at any project or stitch because the work changes too quickly.  Jack of all trades and master of none, perhaps.  The motif I chose to work on until I was great at it was the Blooming Granny Square.  I didn’t know what I was going to do with all these squares when I felt I was ‘done’, but I didn’t really consider that when I began. 

I chose the Blooming Granny because I also wanted to learn a popcorn stitch and I really enjoyed the 3D effect of the motif.  So here is how I began:

I made lots of these squares in various colours, using my St. Vincent De Paul Yarns I got at quite a steal on multiple visits.  I had a few ‘sparkle’ yarns and used those for the flowers themselves.  Pretty soon, I found myself cranking out Blooming Granny Squares everywhere…baseball practices, watching tv, and car rides. 

After making a bunch of them and feeling like ‘I got this down’ I had to decide what to do with them.  Ultimately, I decided on a messenger bag, modeled on a small one Sara gave me a while back that she got from Peru.  So I had to choose how these squares were going together, and what I was going to have to do for the bag to come together. 

I determined that the yellow background needed another colour to break it up, so I chose the fuzzy textured green to make it look rather ‘Springy’ (as in the season).  I crocheted the lines ‘up’ so the squares are essentially little windows and the whole thing is very textured.  The flower petals pop, as do the green dividers.  The second picture doesn’t show the texture very well, which is a shame because that is my very favourite thing about this bag. 

I put the whole project away for a while, because the part that was coming next was very intimidating to me.  Sewing in the lining.  I am not good at sewing, and have a difficult time knowing where to begin.  Especially when I am designing without a real pattern or instructions!  Fortunately my Mom came to the rescue and helped me with the lining and gave me a good idea on the strap. 

The end result is below.  I photographed a corner of the over-flap up so you could see the lining.   

Done yesterday!  I am so pleased!  I am considering embellishments such as a button for the center of the over-flap or perhaps some beaded fringe for the flap, but I don't know.  I really like it as-is.  I haven’t decided what my next motif to master will be yet, but I have to admit that I am quite in love with the Granny Square in all of its various forms! 

I am toying with the idea of entering it into the community faire we have in September.  We shall see.  

Mother's Day, Schmother's Day: A Day Just Like Every Other Dadgum Day of The Year

As a mother, the most exhausting activity I do every. single. day. is planning ahead.  I can hardly sleep at night because the constant planning and anticipation in my head just keeps on 24 hours a day.  I have found (especially with two kids under 5) that the key to a successful outing, successful at-home day, successful anything is anticipation of all the things that can and will go wrong.

Better bring ice water and snacks to every baseball practice and game, otherwise we're stuck with whiny kids begging us to shell out money for crappy ball park food.  I have forgotten before and paid the price.  Literally and mentally.  This would occur even if we had a six course meal just before we came.  Bringing our own snacks insures that Phillip won't buckle under the pressure!

Better bring quiet toys along with the ice water and snacks to the hour and a half long writing club, otherwise I have 2 little kids running amuck in the library after only forty-five minutes and disturbing the other patrons.

Lydia can do great at using the potty for days, then when I forget the backpack full of wipes when we go somewhere, she poops in her underpants. Not just poop, but POOP!  There it is running out the top of the underpants and down the legs.  And if I didn't have any wipes, I darn sure didn't have any extra pants.  Happy day.

My brain is constantly whirring and whirring all the time trying to anticipate what is going to go wrong and planning ahead accordingly.  I would love for someone else to pack lunches, pack useful things in the family backpack, bring drinks, plan and time meals, etc.

Knowing the energy I put into what should be a simple outing (like taking Archie to baseball practice), perhaps one can imagine how I might enjoy a break planning for my own birthday or Mother's Day.  Two days out of the whole year, I want to just be along for the ride, kind of like everyone else in my family is for the entire year.

Knowing the above, one could probably guess that holidays around our house are a one-woman deal.  Surprise, my children!  I can only imagine the shock on your faces reading this in the yearbook as adults.  Christmas traditions happen only because I work to make them happen.  The fancy breakfast, the tree, the decorations, the presents, the dinner, everything.  Without my planning and preparations, we'd all get up, rosy-cheeked and shining eyes in excited anticipation on Christmas morning and... go work on our cars or some other garage-type greasy endeavor.

This past Easter, the Easter presents were only distributed because I planned ahead of the camping trip and was prepared. Phillip would have probably preferred taking a nap to filling and hiding eggs, but I required his help because we had been camping all weekend.  Colouring Easter eggs?  Me.  Birthdays?  Me.  Phillip actually picked the place for Archie's birthday last year, but there would have been no food for his guests, no cake, and no family birthday gifts if I hadn't anticipated and planned for all that.

I didn't plan anything for my own birthday this past September (because I thought someone else should), so we sat around and did...nothing.  My family was visiting, and we sat around and talked.  He pulled it out at the last minute by picking up five or six mystery dishes at J Gumbo's and bringing them home.  It was fun to try to figure out what we were eating.  I hadn't eaten at that establishment before, and I really enjoyed the adventure in food.

I spoke to Phillip a week before about Mother's Day.  I will do this essay style:

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WHAT I WANT TO DO FOR MOTHER'S DAY

What I want to do for Mother's Day is go to Old Time Pottery and pick out a few containers for a container garden on the day before Mother's Day.  Then, I'd like to go to a place which sells plants and pick out some plants and get some potting soil and mulch. On the Big Day, I'd like to plant my container garden all day with my children.  And grill out at home for dinner.  I wouldn't really care to go out to dinner because the restaurants will all be very crowded.  Except White Castle.  And we all know how I feel about White Castle.  The end.
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The day before Mother's Day went swimmingly.  Went to the baseball game, went to the Old Time Pottery, and I got plants.  Even though the plants, soil and pots came out of my own bank account (I bought my own presents), I was still unfazed.  It wasn't the present itself I was anticipating (well, mostly not--I was rather excited to pick out pots and plants!) but I was really, really looking forward to planting them together with the children.

On the Big Day, we went to church and I really enjoyed the kids' Mother's Day programs.

Here is Lawrence and Lydia when we were dropping Lawrence in his classroom so he could get ready to sing with the Cherub Choir:

The Cherubs are so cute!  The little blonde girl Lawrence is standing beside (he is front and center) is one of "his girls".  There is a family of three of the cutest little blonde girls, and he always refers to them as "my girls".  In typical monkey-see, monkey-do fashion, now so does Lydia.  

Here is a video of the Cherub kids singing:  "I jump, jump, jump and I praise the Lord" and then Stomp, then Wiggle, etc.

Archie sang with the Jubilee Choir as well!  I was fortunate to get a little snippet on video where he thanks me in the song for helping him with his magic!  I loved it!  

We came home and I asked Phillip to take a picture of me with the kids.

After church is when it all turned downhill.  Wouldn't you know, it rained.  After days of gorgeous weather, it didn't just rain a little bit that you could work around, it was an all-day-crummy type of day.  No planting container gardens with the children.  Because we were so busy on Saturday with baseball and plant stuff and kids' naps, I had to go grocery shopping after church since we had no food in the house.  Blech.

Phillip, meanwhile, took not one nap, but TWO naps!  I wished him a happy Father's Day after the second one.  During his naps, the kitchen sink problem we have was spilling out under the cabinet, so I had to empty out and bail water.  Which made me have to sweep and mop the floor.  Because it was raining, we couldn't grill, which meant I had to come up with Plan B for dinner and cook it.  I thought the kids would enjoy having something special for dessert (since it was Mother's Day) so I got some strawberries, homemade whipping cream stuff and pound cake materials while I was at the grocery store so they could make me a surprise strawberry shortcake.  Which I had to supervise being made because Phillip was busy napping.  Surprise!

The kids wanted to give me a Mother's Day present.  Of course Phillip hadn't anticipated anything like that (I don't know why...he had a week's notice from me that Mother's Day was upcoming) so they were scrambling to make chore coupons.  I have already enjoyed the lawn work and car cleaning ones.  The car cleaning one was particularly helpful.  And it is remaining relatively clutter-free, even though it has been almost a month since he cleaned it out!

I called my Mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day, and it turned out she was having a day similar to mine.  Ah, commiseration.  Thank goodness for that.

That evening, while checking my Facebook page, I noticed all of my friends' happy posts about how their husband and children showered them with much love and affection.  All of which I pointed out to a very well-rested Phillip.

First-Second Car Show of the Season

Okay, I'm digging into the very end of April, here at the very end of May, but it's been a busy month.

This isn't the very first car show, because Phillip went to the kick-off for the season in Sharonville the week or two before by himself.  I am quite literally a fair-weather car show person.  The weather was either cold or drizzly or both, so I was excused from that one, as were the kids.

The second one at the Harvest Home Fairgrounds is just up the street from our house, so we were to head on over to meet Phillip after church.  Church was difficult because both little kids woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Grumpy and Grouchy.  After we got home from church, it just got worse.  The kids were demanding and grouchy, which made me really grouchy.  Phillip had called to ask me to bring his lawn chairs that he forgot to include in the extremely spacious trunk of the Camaro, for whatever reason.  So not only was I to bring the kids, the backpack with our 'stuff' in it, the sling for Miss Lydia to ride so it wouldn't take all day to walk to the event from the car, and some water because of the heat, but I had to tote two chairs as well.

It turned out that this event was extremely well attended, much moreso than when he did this one two years ago.  I had to park several blocks away and trudge with the baby in the sling, the backpack on my back, two chairs and a whiny three year old who didn't want to walk.  Archie carried the water.  By the time we found Phillip, I was beyond done with whiny kids.  Fortunately they immediately detached themselves from my leg and hip and onto Phillip's!

I made sure they ate beforehand because I didn't want to have to purchase junky, overpriced food at the show.  Of course, the moment we arrived, the kids started grumbling about being hungry!  I don't know what it is about going somewhere besides home which makes them hungry, nay starving, even if they have just eaten!  The PB&J's that I forced them to eat before we came would have to sustain them.  More whining ensues.

It turned out I really, really enjoyed walking around and looking at the cars unencumbered.  It lifted my spirits almost immediately.  I always learn something new at events like these and I find it fascinating the stuff people spend actual money on.  Probably the same could be said for things in which I am interested, but it's way more fun to make judgments on the spending habits of others than reflect on my own!  :-)

After we looked at the cars, we went to the playground so the kids could run, jump and climb some of their grouchy away.  

Lydia's favourite activity ever is swinging!  She loves it and could do it for hours!

Phillip even took some pictures of his car in its spot.  He somehow snagged the sweet spot on the perimeter of the park underneath the trees.  The shade was nice, because it was pretty hot out there!

After the playground, I took everyone home and put them to bed.  Then I put up our screen room on the back porch, got out my chair, blended some ice for a frosty mudslide and put my feet up for the rest of the afternoon.  It was fabulous!  Phillip came home about an hour after us and we both dozed in chairs in the shade out back until everyone woke up from their naps.  The day turned out pretty darned great after all!

3..2..1..BLASTOFF!! Mission to Mars

One of the advantages of finding other homeschooling friends and acquaintances is the group field trip.  Ones that cost is prohibitive or it just isn't possible on an individual family basis.  I've stated in previous posts how we have been out of the field trip loop for the past few years.  This was another 'dipping our toes back in' type of trip.  I almost didn't have Archie participate, but the whole entire writing club was going and someone else in the community cancelled.  Boy, am I glad Archie went on this one!

The trip took place at the Challenger Space Center in Dayton, OH.  A Mission to Mars!  An exploration of what would one need, or what difficulties would one encounter to put a team on Mars.  There was lots of preparation work beforehand.  Experiments defining life, communication exercises, type of protective gear needed, hydroponics (because one would need to grow food), normal bodily functions (blood pressure, etc.), among others.  Archie watched much Nova about space exploration and other themed documentaries on Netflix.  He did most of the prep work before the writing club on Mondays.  I am thankful for being able to hitchhike on some of the planning of the other Mamas, because Archie got so much out of the preparation.  It made for long Mondays for about a month--one hour for Mars Prep and an hour and a half for writing class--but it was so worth it!  

Another bonus was that I was able to send Archie to the field trip itself with his partner-navigator for the field trip, Brian.  Meaning I didn't have to lug the little kids with me and keep them quiet and still at the appropriate times.  Archie was thrilled to be able to ride with Brian's family and they took a bonus trip to the Wright Brothers' Flying Field--Huffman Prairie.  Yes, the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, but this is where they perfected and flew the Wright Flyer III after their very first flights in Kitty Hawk.  Also, they operated their Wright School of Aviation at Huffman Prairie.

Here is Archie and Brian in action on the Mission to Mars...I blurred out Brian's face, because I wasn't sure if his Mom was okay with me posting on the web.  But he has defined facial features in real life.  Really.  It was just such a great action shot of Archie that I really wanted to include it.

Archie and Brian got an extra 'kudos' from the educator facilitating the Mission...They completed their part of the mission in record time.  The Navigator Position is typically done by kids in middle school.  Archie is 10 and Brian is 8.  They impressed the facilitator by their teamwork...they worked so well together and had great communication.  The facilitator said that most kids aren't able to complete that portion of the mission in the time allowed.  

Since I wasn't going with him, I made sure Archie brought his camera on the trip and told him to take pictures that I could use on the blog.  He took numerous pictures.  Numerous.  Mostly pictures of other pictures on the wall.  Posters which decorated the Space Center.  Pictures of empty rooms, and what have you.  Perhaps only three or so with people actually in them.  And those were tops of heads and such.  Thankfully, the adults he was with got me some usable pictures!  And don't get me started on the extra-long videos Archie took of planes flying overhead at the Wright Brothers Field.  I'm sure it was really cool experiencing it there, but the multiple videos of a plane flying overhead were...well...not as exciting as it probably had been in person.  

This is the work station as they were leaving.

The Challenger Space Center got a 'thumbs up' from Archie!

The below pictures were taken at the Wright Brothers' Flying Field.  This is totally an 'Archie' kind of picture.  That's a lot of poop running down that sign!

Archie was very impressed with these sling shot apparatuses which helped propel the Wright Brothers' planes using the weights in the center.

It was a fantastic trip for Archie.  I knew he loved it because he kept coming down after he was supposed to be in bed that evening to tell me some other nugget of information he gleaned from the trip.  It was also good for him to have 'guy bonding time' with someone outside the family.  Brian is a great kid and I am happy that Archie has a new friend. 

Something Gross: Wa-HOO!

The gross item promised to Archie was a little purchase I made at the dissection booth at the homeschool convention.  They had some really neat things available for take home dissection fun:  worms, crawfish, crickets (gigantic, mutant icky black ones!) sharks, fetal pigs and I believe a cow's heart as well.  We're not yet set up for that extensive of a dissection project.  No scalpel or trays with the rubber bottoms, nor pins to hold open the 'cavity'.  We'll work on getting set up for dissection in the next couple of years, or if there is a strong interest sooner.   A 'schoolish' purchase I'd love to make first is a really good microscope, but I need to do some research on that.  

The gross item I purchased for Archie was a couple of owl pellets.  Owl pellets are a regurgitation substance from owls (commonly found under trees they inhabit) which consist of fur and bones and other 'undigestables' from the animals the owl eats.  The pellets were wrapped in foil, oblong in shape--a bit like an egg-shaped golf ball.  Archie quickly decided that he'd dislike being an owl if he had to hack up something like that every day!

We couldn't figure out how to get into it at first.  We tried gently stabbing it with a chop stick, but started hearing popping, like the sound of cracking bones.  Finally we just grabbed it with both hands and broke it in half.  The thing was a huge mass of fur and bones!  Once I got it started, Archie was ready to take over.  

I was able to be 'off duty' the whole afternoon because he was so busy with the pellet.  He looked online at various mammal skeletons to try to figure out what he was dealing with.  He tried reconstructing part of a skeleton, but there was so much stuff in there, it was difficult to tell what he was dealing with.  He found three skulls.  One was most definitely a mousy-type or moley-type rodent due to the prominent front teeth.  The other two skulls were difficult to tell.  A few bones were rather mysterious at first, and after some online research, Archie figured out that they were the wing bones of a bat.  The rapid way the bats in our backyard dart around, I can only imagine how difficult or lucky an owl would have to be to catch one! Archie enjoyed actually experiencing how ball and socket joints work together (and how tiny they were).  

There was grey fur.  Lots and lots and lots of grey fur.  The whole golf-ball-egg was held together by the tons of fur that the pellet consisted of.  Our kitchen table was slap full of bones and fur.  

Every so often, while I was doing my own thing that afternoon, I'd hear "WOW!!!  Look at THIS!!!  This is AWESOME!!".  It was definitely a good school day!

One of the skulls close up.  This is not the rat-toothed one.  

Here is Archie's attempt at skeleton reconstruction.

We have one more pellet to examine, which we will save for a rainy day.  It will be exciting to see what's in that one!

 

I Love A Good Homeschool Convention

Homeschool Convention time came April 19-21 this year.  I attended my very first huge convention in Atlanta when Archie was three and I was ‘looking into’ this whole homeschooling idea.  I stayed at my brother-in-law’s house in Atlanta.  My first glimpse of the vendor hall was very similar to this one.  This is what the vendor hall in Cincinnati looks like.  I took this photo on one of the upstairs walkways where there was a window looking out over the hall.  There are no mirrors.  It goes on and on and on, like it appears in the picture.  There are even more booths all the way to the left under those eaves and to the right.  The one in Atlanta was almost identical to this one. 

When I was in Atlanta that first year, I almost turned around and drove home!  Yikes!  Over-overwhelming was what went through my mind.  I had no idea that this was what to expect and I had come with no ‘plan’ whatsoever.  I stayed at my brother-in-law’s home in Atlanta and I remember being absolutely wiped-out-exhausted every night. 

I went again the following year (in Atlanta) and got lots more out of it, since I had an idea of what to expect.  I had some idea which seminars I would get more information out of and which ones were merely selling their product and/or preaching and nothing more.  

Fast forward to this, the year of 2012.  This huge convention comes to Cincinnati every year.  We’ve lived here for five years now.  This is the very first year I have been able to participate in the whole convention.   And I still had to negotiate and side-step Phillip’s out of town work, despite my putting in my reservation of this weekend months in advance!  I managed to get in three hours at the convention last year with which to peruse the entire vendor’s hall and attended zero seminars.  I had a baby hanging from my shoulder... um, I mean I had a baby in the sling.  From the picture above, you can imagine how much I got to see in three hours, with a baby hanging on me.  Not much.  The year previous, I attended for two hours, because I didn’t realize that that the vendor hall closed when it did.  Also with a baby hanging on my shoulder and Archie with me too.  We were continually at odds on what booths we wanted to stop at and chat up the vendor, so nothing much got seen that year either.  Before that, I didn’t get to attend at all due to sickness of husband and/or kids, out-of-town working, etc. 

This was to be the year I get to attend the convention.  All of it.  Every single day, the whole day, and without kids.  The entire vendor hall, all the seminars, everything!  Of course, Phillip was out of town during the two weeks before and up until the afternoon of the first day of the convention.  I had to be rather crafty and creative to get the kids covered during the first afternoon, but I was able to get to the seminar I wanted to attend. 

My only issue with this particular brand of homeschool convention is that it is religious in nature.  I don’t have any problem with the religion part, I am a take-what-you-like-and-leave-the-rest kind of girl.  But I have a problem with the exclusion of speakers who are of different theology.  The conference powers-that-be are strictly Young Earth, Creationist people and if you mention anything to the contrary, they ban you from speaking at the conference.  Absolutely zero topics on pro-evolution or Old Earth theorists.  I mean, come on…it’s a theory!  Why do Young Earth Creationists brand of Christians fear a theory?  

As for me, I am a mixed bag person.  I believe the world was created by God. (Could He take the form of a Big Bang?  Perhaps.  I don’t know.)  I believe in an Old Earth.  I believe that God created it.  I believe that the six day creation took place not as literal days, but as ages or periods of indeterminate time.  I feel like God’s time is not necessarily dictated by how many rotations the Earth makes.  I don’t think He can be limited in that fashion; He is more vast and mysterious than my comprehension allows.  In the end, I don’t know how it happened.  I wasn’t there.  It doesn’t matter in my day-to-day life, it is merely something fun on which to ponder every once in a while.  

Determining which seminars have minimal religious spouting (and product-selling) is difficult.  I feel like I already have a good handle on who can help me with moral or faith questions and it is usually someone who is present in my every-day life with whom I feel it is appropriate to ask. Not strangers with an obvious agenda (to sell a product). 

Sometimes the seminars are a crapshoot.  I lucked out and thoroughly enjoyed all but two that I had chosen.  Two more I left early because they weren’t what I thought they would be, so I slipped into my 'second choices' seminars that should have been first choices as it turned out.  There were a few seminars that really helped to inspire me and make me feel renewed in this crazy way of life called homeschooling.  

I have noticed my writing has been sub-par lo these past three or so years.  I went to a few seminars on writing purely for myself, under the guise of “yeah, my student needs help writing!” Who can say whether it will help, but I learned a few things I didn't already know, so that's something.  Hopefully I will improve, but it will be gradual.  I went to a few seminars on literary analysis, as I would love to be able to read something more in depth than the CNN and Smithsonian articles which are my usual fare since being a mom of three kids.  I purchased cd’s of seminars I didn't get to see and am in the process of listening to those during work-out times at the Y. 

The was particularly fun this year, because I ran into my friend Susie and her family, who let me tag along with them to lunch during both of the full days.  It was great eating Indian food again, because I so rarely get to eat it (I don’t know that Phillip particularly enjoys Indian food) and with friends to boot!  I was happy to be there with no responsibilities, except to enjoy myself and learn or relearn some concepts and get ideas.  I had no children hanging around my neck or attached to my breast this year.  It was so wonderful to move about freely, not worrying about the comfort of anyone but me. 

I got some neat ideas from the seminars and the vendors.  For instance, I would love to have a wall timeline.             Like all around our whole playroom or maybe on the diningroom wall.  A timeline which combines Biblical and Secular history in order to have a complete visual of history and when it took place.  Some visual reference, for example, that shows which Pharaoh of Egypt was the same one who wouldn’t let the Isrealites go during Moses’ time.  Bringing together the two kinds of school and making them one:  Sunday and Regular.  

I 'take notes' with my camera, so this is my note on the timeline concept for future reference. 

I also thought this was a neat timeline book, but it only used Biblical history and had no secular history in it.  Again, that’s the problem with this convention.  But I took a picture to see if I could find something similar (which includes secular history as well as Biblical history) online or something. 

Surely there are other people who think similarly and would enjoy products like that!  I can’t be the only one! 

I called home as I was leaving the convention on the last evening to check in.  Archie answered the phone and asked me if I brought anything for him.  I told him that I brought him something gross and that's all I would say about it.  He could think about it until I got home.  "Wa-HOO!!!" was what me and the others who were within the vicinity could hear over my phone.   I took that exclamation for excitement.  More on that soon.  He was not disappointed!

Happy Non-Traditional Easter pt. 2

We saved our Easter stuff to do after we got home from the camping trip.  We did everything backward.  First I presented everyone with their Easter basket.  Since we re-use the baskets year after year, Archie got stuck with the large pink-bowed one that Morgan had received from her grandmother several years ago.  It is huge and completely surrounded with a pink tu-tu type ribbon.  His was the largest gift, (a tie-dye kit) so he got the giant girly one.  Lawrence got Krebbles (Pebbles) Cereal with a chocolate / peanut butter bunny and gummy worms.  Lydia got a white chocolate cross with gummy worms.  Archie got a white chocolate bunny, a t-shirt (for the tie-dye kit) and the kit itself.  They had to hunt for their candy-filled eggs later in the evening.

We had our egg hunt late in the afternoon.  During the kids' naptime, Phillip and I filled and hid eggs in the back yard.  After everyone woke up, we had our egg hunt.  This was one of our first Cincinnati Easters that it wasn't snowing or raining outside.  

I notice here that Archie is so embarrassed by his big pink-ribboned basket, that he didn't hunt eggs with it. He used a nondescript grocery bag.  Even though he would only be seen by our family!  Ha!  I was wondering when that would start!  

We hid eggs on our neighbour's play set.

Lawrence was stoked to find the Spiderman egg!

Everyone inspecting their loot and counting found eggs.  

Lastly, we coloured Easter eggs.  It was fortuitous that Miss Lydia happened to strip down for the occasion.  While colouring the very first egg, she dumped the cup full of green all over herself and the floor.  

Here is the ill-fated green cup, just before it took its tumble.  Sadly, this whittled down our workable colours to four, because they gave us two blue tablets in the package.  Stupid Paas.  

  

There were complaints that Lawrence was hogging all of the colours.  Not possible!

This picture was taken toward the end.  She had squished a number of eggs in her fists by now and was in desperate need of a bath.  Unfortunately, most of the eggs turned out a dark brownish-blackish colour because she kept dumping them back into various colours upon completion.  Everyone's eggs.  Not just her's.  Archie was most unhappy about that!