Co-op Lunch Room

Most boring blog entry ever. Seriously, don't read it.

I'm writing because I'm forcing myself to write. I don't have any motivation, I don't have a topic, but I'm going to write anyway. Why? Because if I have some time to write, and if I decide not to write because I don't have a stellar blog entry, I'll quickly become trapped in perfectionism. Those of you who know me well may at this point be laughing at the thought of me being a perfectionist. And you're right, I'm not a perfectionist. But I am always at risk for being a defeatist. There is always, always the risk of falling prey to the mindset that my efforts/ability isn't very good, so why try? One of the ways that I combat that, at least when it comes to writing, is to give myself permission to write poorly anyway. (And then inflict my poor, rambling writing on the rest of the blogosphere).

Random thoughts--

--I'm sitting in the co-op lunch room. Hence the thrilling title. I'm free fourth period, for now, and I've finished the Bible study I brought to work on, so here I am with some free time and a netbook. Go me and my netbook.

--Toa of Boy tale. Yesterday I called the children into the kitchen to check out how the snow had melted on excatly half of the front lawn, which is on the north side of the house. The shadow of the roof line made a sharp edge of demarcation between the green grass and the white snow. I was just so impressed by the clear difference between the sun and the shade. Toa of Boy's comment, "So, we can go bikeriding?"

--Crazy Love. I'm going to love this book. I watched a video segment on the website "the awe factor of God" and it was, in fact,  awesome. I tried to pull the video segment up on the flatscreen tv in the living room (which is run through a media center pc), but I wasn't quite the techno geek for the task. I'm going to give The Songwriter all sorts of grief next Tuesday for not liking the video segment.

--Sweetling. Sweetling no longer makes apperances in my blog entries and facebook updates because many of her peers are on Facebook. I don't think Sweetling would appreciate her Mommy sharing "cute Sweetling stories" that are visible by the entire church youth group. Still, I feel guitly that I share about Toa and am silent in regards to Sweetling.

--Three pounds. No, this isn't at all like Seven Pounds. Only that between the middle of December and the middle of January, I've gained back three of the four pounds I lost when I spent several weeks carefully counting calories last August and September. Two months to take off four pounds, one month to put almost all of it back on. And yeah, I know three to four pounds isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but darnit, I worked hard to lose those four pounds. I really don't want to go back to knowing how many calories are in two measly peanut M&Ms, so I'm looking into The Belly Fat Cure instead.

--Sewing. I can do it, I don't like it. It's like cleaning....I can do it, I don't like it. I tend to procrastinate any sort of sewing project. I know you are all shocked by this. Yesterday, the Jedi asked me, again, if I could please mend one of our waterbed sheet sets when I got the chance. I realized later that whenever the family needs anything, the Jedi prioritizes the task and gets it done no matter how unpleasant it is, how grueling it is, how frustrating it is, or how tired or stressed he is. None of that matters. What matters is that something needs done, and he does it. I'm ashamed at how immature and selfish I am by comparison.

--Water. The water in the co-op school building tastes yucky. I bring two waterbottle with me to co-op each week. Today, I had drunk both of them by the end of lunch. Now I have no water and I'm thirsty. Ok, no good water.

--Stampede. Co-op is ending. I hear the echoing stampede of feet on the stairs.

Draw Near

I'm working through an excellent Bible study which I downloaded, all by myself, in e-book form. Currently, I cannot reveal the name of the ebook or the site where I found it, but as soon as I finish it, I shall do so. My secrecy will make sense at that time.

I've been doing most of the writing assignments and written responses in my little spiral bound devotion journal rather than on-line. (Cause its a secret for now, right?) However, I want to remember the lesson from today's devotions. Occasionally I do go back and reread my blog. I rarely go back and reread my devotion journal. Sad, but true. So, that said, here is the scripture and the question and answers from today's devotions:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy --think about such things.

Phillipians 4:8

1. Please list several “achievements” from your life – these are things you have worked hard to accomplish, over time, and have (whether known to you at the time or not) received God’s help in accomplishing them. Some examples might include finishing your degree after having kids, training an assistance animal, starting a Bible study in your neighborhood, raising a child, finishing your first quilt, etc. If you have difficulty in coming up with 3 of them, ask your husband, a sister, a good friend and God for direction on which 3 you should pick from your life and list them here:

--homeschooling
--being a foster mom
--being an adoptive mom

2. Prayerfully consider each of the above achievements. Circle the one you sense God was most involved in for you.

--being an adoptive mom

3. Fully remember the details surrounding all the aspects of this achievement. Prayerfully make some notes about what was most important during this time. Think in terms of how you thought about challenges you faced, how you overcame them, what your thought patterns were like, etc.

(While I could write a book on the process we went through for our international adoption I limited my 'thoughts of note' to the following:)

--God's selection of Toa of Boy that I can now answer his question of "who picked me out?"
--waiting on the process
        --> faith in God's sovereignty
       --> image of the Israelites following the pillar
--God's sovereignty even in out illness that allowed Sweetling to be reassured of her part and importance in the family

4. What do you sense God wants you to know about yourself, based upon this achievement?

--God will lead me in walking by faith if I seek him in my circumstances.

5. What do you sense God wants you to know about Him, based upon this achievement?

--see above ;)

6. What do you sense now that you didn’t know when you were in the midst of the achievement?

-- It isn't that God wasn't as involved with me in other parts of life or in other acheivements,  it's that I wasn't as involved with God.

Draw  near to God and he will draw near to you.

--James 4:8

I had that verse on a golden key chain that someone I worked with gave to me. I subsequently lost the key chain, along with the keys that were on it of course, but I remembered that verse. I haven't always applied it in my life as much as I would like, but I want to begin applying it now. K-Love this morning was talking about picking a "word" for yourself for 2010, presumeably a key word that would bring to mind a certain scripture verse. I think my words will be "draw near". Yes, I know that's two words, but you know how much I like to break the rules of any assignment.

7. In terms of achievement, how are you viewing your progress in doing [name of book]? Go back to the “Understand This First” section at the beginning of the book and evaluate how you are doing in each of those areas. Do you need to make any adjustments? If you are in a small group, how is your group doing?

The "Understand This First" section included a fairly extensive self-evaluation and reflection section. At the end of that section the book asked me to go back over my responses and pick two key aspects that I felt led to really focus on over the course of the study. My two areas of focus were to be:
--prayer, and
--a spirit of power, love, and self-control
To be bluntly honest, I had completely forgotten about the exercise of picking two key areas of focus. However, I feel that, once again, God is orchestrating the details of my life to bring me what I need. At church we are beginning a season of focus on prayer and fasting. Also, today was the first day of a  reinstituted women's Bible study in which we will be reading and discussing the book Crazy Love. And now I'm being drawn back to the "draw near" verse.

Autobiography

Toa of Boy is my name. I like playing wii. I like to eat dinner. I like to play in the rain. I lik to play in snow. I like io play in Sharon Woods. I like to swim. I like KirBy. I write this.

Condition Stable

Dad's condition seems to be stablizing. It's still going to be a very long, slow recovery, but the doctors are talking about long-term treatment options whereas before they were rather pessimistic about him pulling through.

So today, the first thing I am thankful for is:

<3 Bapa's health
<3 Deb's safe flight in from California
<3 soft tacos for dinner
<3 snuggles with kids in the big arm chair
<3 completed school lessons yesterday
<3 working with Sweetling on algebra
<3 lots of hot chocolate

Readings: GENESIS 18:1-21:7  and some thoughts--

--how many hours did it take to prepare the food Abraham served to his guests?
--when did Abraham realize who was sitting in the shade of the tree, enjoying his hospitality?
--I can almost hear God's small, patient smile in his reply to Abraham's plea bargaining
--why doesn't Lot return to Abraham after Lot left Zoar instead of going to live in the mountains by himself?
--Abraham's second 'prostitution' of Sarah, and again, he profits by it. I wonder how bitter and heartbroken it made Sarah feel. Did she cling to the fact that God protected her even when her husband would use her?

Forgot my Devotion Journal

My devotional journal is at home. I am not. Therefore, once again, you few readers get another exciting glimpse into my devotional time.

thankful for--
<3 a SAFE trip last night
<3 being here for the Jedi's mom
<3 the Jedi is visiting with his dad right now
<3 kids are heading out to play in the snow
<3 well heated van
<3 reading the Love & Respect book with the Jedi
<3 a good night's sleep

Readings: GENESIS 15:1-17:27 and thoughts:
--Abram counted as righteous because of his faith, always one of my favorite concepts
--the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction...during Abram's time, their were priests of the Most High God among some of the people in the land. Yet, all the people would eventually become so vile, they would warrant their own destruction.
--Sarai gets a bad rap. God's first promise was just to Abram. Sarai wasn't included in that promise, so I don't think she acts in disobedience, or with a lack of faith, when she presents Hagar to Abram.
--The God who Sees Me.

In other news, lessons I'm learning in my mother-in-laws kitchen:
--boxes of spaghetti in the cabinet above the stove might be open. Be careful how you remove them when your rumaging for cereal in the morning.
--not all plastic stirring spatulas are heat resistant.
--step stools are your friend
--toasters must be plugged in before they will actually toast bread

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today, Monday, Jan 4, 10:42 pm.

Outside my window...its a whole new world of cold out there. I opened the patio door a little after seven this morning to toss some crackers out for the squirrels and every joule of heat in the air around me was immediately sucked away. There is no snow to speak off, only tiny little flecks that have not really formed far enough past the basic ice crystal state to qualify has a snowflake. There is just enough of them in the air to swirl around in the bitter wind to sting eyes and face. I was outside for a second time this morning to carry library books to the car for Mama. I looked up once to see a swarm of snow's more sinister cousin come swirling off my neighbor's roof during a gust of wind. I hustled my shivering body back inside.

I am thinking....we're likely driving back up to Canton today. The Jedi's mother was going to give us a call this morning with an update on Dad's condition. Here's what needs done today:
--pack clothes for me and the kids.
--pack the bathroom bag?
--pack Toa's school books
--pack Sweetling's school books
--make a list of easy menus I can cook up in Canton
--make a grocery list and check Meijer's sale flier for the groceries I need
--go to Meijer and/or Walmart to get some of the shopping done before the drive
Sweetling has just finished her math for the day, and Toa is just now finishing up phonics. The laundry is done and folded, so we're off to a good start.

I am thankful for...a good and gracious God who hears our prayers.

Toa is finished with his phonics worksheets. I'm off to start packing.

Reaching the Children

I have a tossed salad of thoughts to write about today. However, I shall group my thoughts and subtitle each section, cause you all know I'm an organizational goddess.

Interview with Toa of Boy

(Disclaimer: Toa of Boy loves church. Always. Well, disclaimer to the disclaimer, he always loves children's church. He groans about having to sit with Mommy and Daddy once a month on family Sunday. But children's church you can't keep him home from. Combine his eagerness to go to church with lessons that he really understands and talks about later AND many memorized scripture verses and you get a picture of an extremely effective children's program. So, the disclaimer is that the amusing antedote I'm about to share is an exception to the norm.)

"Mommy," says Toa of Boy, "We started a new program at church today."

"Oh," says Mommy, quickly remembering that they had wrapped up the previous curriculum just before Christmas. "What's the new program?"

Toa of Boy shrugs.

"What did you do?" asked the Mommy who knew he just needed a little help clarifying his thoughts.

Toa of Boy grins and declares, "We yelled a lot of things loudly!"

"What sorts of things did you yell?" was the perfect, teacher-type follow-up question. So the Mommy asked it.

"One team, the home team yelled, 'We want to win!' And the other people yelled, 'We are superstars!"

This wasn't the Biblical truths the Mommy was expecting, and she must have looked confused, becasue Toa of Boy went on to explain, "Some people were the home team and the other people were the visiting team and Miss Bethann was the coach and when she said 'visitors' then the visitors had to yell and you had to yell the loudest and the home team was the loudest by a little bit I think."

At least, I think that's what he said. Sometimes following Toa of Boy's explanations can be a bit challenging. I do know what that Mommy said next. Not to be detered from having a beautiful and meaningful teachable moment to follow up and reinforce the deep spiritual insight he had surely experienced at church, the Mommy asked, "So, what was the lesson?"

"I don't know," says an unphased Toa. "She talked a lot of words so I don't remember them."

School Attendance

I haven't logged my school attendance hours since November 30th. Now, for the actuall school days, we have spiral-bound notebooks that we write down start and end times for each subect. (In theory.  That lovely record keeping theoretically happens every school day.)

However, the last month being the month of December and a little busy, our record keeping left a little to be desired. Plus, on many days we were doing educational activities, but just not our regular curriculum. For those of you unfamilar with how attendance works in a virtual school, each day (ha ha) the parent or primary instructor is to log into the on-line system and log the amount of time each student spent in each separate subject. I, being the unschooler that I am at heart, often have difficulty figuring out under which subject to log our extra-curricular activities. Building fairy houses? I take the total time and divide it evenly among art, language arts (for the story-telling), and science (for the nature hike portion of the expedition.)

So, I'm an old hand at deciding how to log worth-while, educational, enriching activites that just don't fit in the regular mold. However, I struggled with a few of our Christmas activities. I was going to post these on Facebook for opinions, but there were too many.

Three hours of work at the food pantry at church? Health, since it builds character.
Helping to make 90 some Ojos de Dios and hand-colored envelopes to hold them? Art, of course.
Zombies card game? Technology (for strategy decisions) and language arts (for the cleverly written carrds).
What about, really really wanting to pet the cow on Uncle Tommy's farm but accidentally spooking the cow multiple times, cause we were too excited to approach it carefully? Science, for animal behavior.
Attempting to ride an old tractor hubcab down a steep hill in the pasture? Um, physical education.
Making a small folding chair out of cardstock to stick on our Christmas tree after watch Curious George's A Very Monkey Christmas? Art.
Making a snowball to put in the freezer because someone else we know has a snowball named Frederickson living in their freezer? Science, annoying science, but science.
Building a 14 inch tall Lego Ogre Warrior who lived only long enough to get his picture taken and then do battle against the Bionicles, whereupon the Legos were gathered up and reassembled over the course of several days, with several rebuilds, to make a red dragon with moveable limbs, a multijointed tail, and a nearly two foot wingspan? Technology.
Backgammon at Mrs Ria's? Algebra.
Mythbuster marathon? Science.
Man Vs Food? History. That's pure American culture right there.

Tagged

To Nora, ttptptptptptptptp. You are such a bad influence. How many questions are there? Way the heck too many. That's work is what that is. What, do you think I like to write or something?

Prayer Request

Last, but far from least, please keep the Jedi's father in your prayers. He's back in the hospital, in ICU, in critical condition. Things are not looking good for him. We are traveling back up to Canton, likely tomorrow.

I'll update later with more specifics.

Crabapples in Tupperware

I found a link to this article on To Love, Honor, and Vacuum.

There is the question of why I want to write. I don't have a specific goal in mind. I don't have a burning, driving desire to be a novelist. I don't have a specific story or message that God has laid on my heart to share with others. I just like to write. I have this delusion that I'm occasionally good at it, and I want to practice and hone that ability.

That being said, I didn't write much today. I did read a few blogs. I failed to add The Starr Blog to my list. I accidentally deleted a story thread from my g-mail account. (But Christopher Robin is going to rescue me, cause she has the story thread and is going to resend it to me. After rolling her eyes of course.) And I came up with the oh so clever comparison that if a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver, then my words were more often like crab apples in tupperware. (By the way, Holly, I didn't mean to imply that I only directed my temper tantrums at God. My friends and family members also receive some fall out, though the Jedi gets the hysterical tears part more often than the temper tantrum part of my little emotional meltdowns.)

And now, Toa of Boy is snuggled into bed, so I can't play Zelda. No, that doesn't have anything to do with writing, The "and now" was a topic transition. Anyway, Toa of Boy is my cheerleader, commentator, and advisor while I'm playing Zelda. So, I can't continue on through the Water Temple without him, because the Zelda game has become nearly a team effort. I think I'll go play Sims Racing instead.

The Problem with On-line Bibles...

The problem with on-line Bibles is that they are online. As is Facebook, my blog, and a host of other distractions. Day Two of the New Year leads me to "Take Three" on my resolutions. Today I was nearly sabotaged by the online aspect of the chronological Bible. I opened my netbook while I was making my breakfast, with the intention of sitting down and doing my devotions while I ate. Somewhere between the sitting down and the devotions, I had become sidetracked on-line.

But I'm here now, doing devotions. And, as stated yesterday, the devotions will not become a regular part of the blog, so Facebook buddies needing go hiding all my updates just yet.

<3 Saturday morning snuggles
<3 family pictures on the flatscreen tv
<3 Sweetling's smile
<3 a clean an empty sink
<3 Christmas reflections book
<3 Zelda time yesterday
<3 God lets me sniffle on his shoulder when I need it

GENESIS 4:1-5:32;
1 CHRONICLES 1:1-4
GENESIS 6:1-22
 
--universality of God's warning to Cain. If you do what is right, you will accepted. But if you refuse to do what is right, watch out! Sin is crouching at your door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master. Too often we think the choice is between being obedient to God versus doing whatever we want. In reality, refusing to do what is right allows sin to control and enslave us.
--I can't read about the mark of Cain without immediately thinking, "vampire". Just being honest here.
--When I was a little girl, I always loved the Bible story of Enoch. I had a picture Bible that showed an illustration of a path winding around a group of flowing plants and shrubs. I wanted to be just like Enoch, walking closely with God.
--meaning of Noah's name is rather ironic. The father received what he wished for, a release from the toil of working the ground, but not in the way he expected.
--

New Year's Resolutions, Take Two

That's right; it's 10:23 am on New Year's Day, and I'm already on take two of my New Year's Resolutions.

See, I made my breakfast (well, ok, the Jedi made my breakfast), and I was planning on sitting down with my breakfast and my One Year Chronological Bible, which I loaned to mother a couple years ago. So, Mama, with perfect timing, walked into the kitchen, and I asked her for the Bible....having already spoken to her about my intent to read through the Bible again this year.

And that's where take two comes in. She might have left it in a car that died and got junked. She might have loaned it to someone at work. She meant to buy me another one so that I would never know, but she forgot.

No biggie. I just hoped on my cool new netbook, and did a search for an on-line chronological Bible, and voila.... this one is even cooler because you don't have to start on Jan 1. You can set your default start date on any day you choose. So, someone in April can still commit to reading the Bible in One Year, and not feel like they are starting out "behind" and, even better, still be able to read through it chronologically.

So, rather than get up and go fetch my pink pen and devotion notebook, I'm just doing today's devotion online.

I always start with seven specific things I'm thankful for.
<3 I'm still so proud of my kids' attitude, manners, and patience when we spent several hours of Christmas day visiting Bapa in the hospital.
<3 I'm glad Sweetling has a Jedi who cares for her so deeply and understands and connects with her.
<3 We got to spend almost the whole week at home with no outside obligations, commimtments, or appointments.
<3 I love my new penguin blanket and my new netbook.
<3 The Jedi tells me daily, daily, many times a day, how much he loves me and cherishes me.
<3 We got to see Tommy and family over Christmas.
<3 I love spending time with the Jedi, and I'm grateful for all the evenings we have had together this week.

And today's reading is Gen 1:1-3:24. Some thoughts as I read--
--I wasn't really motivated to read Genesis. I felt like, yeah, I know this part already.
--Why do you think God puts in so many references to "each one after its own kind."? He emphasizes that with regards to the plants, the fish, the birds, and the animals.
--Adam and Eve were vegetartians.
--The garden of Eden is always depicted as a "jungle". But the Bible says the "Lord God *planted* a garden..."  I want to see the garden design!
--the NLT version doesn't contain the reference to God placing man in the garden "to work it". Nevermind. It's in verse 15 "to tend it and watch over it."
--How many days, how much time passed between the creation of Eve and the day the serpent came to her? How much time did she have to live in and enjoy paradise before she and her husband sinned and were cast out of the garden?
--Wonder if the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple had any artwork that symbolized the cherubim and the flashing sword that guarded the way back to the garden and the tree of life.Ah yes, Gen 26:31....the cherubim  are there, but not the sword. Though the ark itself was protect by God's glory, so perhaps the Glory of the Lord *was* the sword?

Don't expect this every day. Most days I'm lucky if I manage seven short blessings jotted in my notebook and a few verses read in the midst of breakfast and Toa interruptions.

Blog Year in Review

Forty-five minutes after the ball has dropped, Toa of Boy and Mama are in bed. Sweetling is on her compter giggling at HomeStar Runner. The Jedi is on his computer searching for a PC version of an old Commadore game. And I'm on my new netbook under my new penguin blanket bloggiing.

This is how this works. For each month of last year, post the first sentence written on your blog for each month. Then post here, and let me know so I can come read too :) I forget whose blog I saw this on first. Maybe tomorrow I'll search and see if I can find it.

January
Why are resolutions yucky?

February
I think I'm supposed to be sharing this Sunday in the women's Bible study.

March
I am thinking... that the Jedi and I have scared three of the youth boys into eternal bachelorhood after last night's class about marriage and communication.

April
I feel like I should start by saying that I'm not at all a Bible scholar.

May
Because I just did math with Honey Bunny.

June
I just need to stop visiting Nora's blog.
 
July
At Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, they do a thing called week in review.
 
August
It's August already.

September
I am....sitting at the park.

October
Simple Woman's Daybook....cause I need to get back into blogging.

Novembeer
Toa of Boy likes to look at artwork produced by other young children.

December
Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then tag your friends (including me).


In other happenings....
New Year's Resolutions
 
1. Read therough the Bible in a year. (I've successfully done this before using The One Year Chronological Bible,)
 
2. Write 250 words a day, except Sundays. Doesn't matter what or where I write. Some of it can be on my blog, some of it can be for Associated Content, some of it can be in a word program. Just write. (Or, alternatively, I can also take a day to revise anything I have written.)

So Proud

I haven't been writing much this fall. I think its because I somehow got it in my head that my blog should mean something, have a point, or a purpose. Something other than me whining about laundry or relating the most recent kids' tale.

Know what? Neener neener. My blog. I keep forgeting this. My point when I started this blog a few years ago was just to give me a chance to reflect and chronocle my life. (And why doesn't blogspot have a spellcheck as I type? hmmm? For that matter, why doesn't it have a spell check at all?)

The point of this blog entry is just for me to brag on my babies.

Every year at Christmas, we drive up to Canton to visit with family and friends up in the frozen north. We stay with the Jedi's parents, and spend the rest of the time squeezing in as many visits with others as we can. This year, the Jedi's father (no, that doesn't make Dad a Sith Lord, thanks for asking), this year Dad went into the hospital right before Thanksgiving. After a worrisome week, he was diagnosed with AFib. After another week or so, they finally got medications to even out his heart. He was sent home on oxygen and with a host of meds. He had just started to regain his strength and begin slowly creeping back up towards a healthy weight when he went back into the ER on Monday, four days before Christmas. He had a kidney infection, but his body just didn't have any reserves left to fight off any kind of illness, and the infection just knocked him flat. When Mom called and first described sequence of events and the symptoms, I was worried he must have had a stroke. The doctors put him on antibiotics, but even standing and making it two steps to a portable potty chair sitting beside his hospital bed was a major accomplishment for him on Tuesday afternoon. He wasn't going to be discharged by Christmas, and likely, not even by the end of our stay in Canton.

On the drive up to Canton on Wednesday the 23rd, we weren't yet aware of how long his hospital stay was going to be. I knew how much it meant to Dad to get to see the kids open their presents on Christmas morning. The thought of him not being there for that made me all choked up and teary eyed. We held a family meeting in the van and it was agreed upon (with just a little strong arming by the Mommy), that Christmas morning was not happening until Bapa was there to share it with us, even if that meant we might have to wait until another weekend when we could drive back up to Canton after Bapa was back home and feeling better.

Christmas Eve morning we went to the hospital to see Bapa. Mom got special clearance for the kids to be permitted to go up to visit him (since normal flu season precautions prohibbited minors under the age of 18 from visiting). The kids each made him a drawing to hang in his room. (At one point during the visit, the kids and I had to leave the room because OT had arrived. We headed to the visitor lobby on that floor and worked a puzzle together. We also shared the lobby with a very large extended Amish family, and so were surrounded by gentle German speech as we put our puzzle together.) We grabbed KFC to eat for lunch back at the house, and a plan was hatched to bring Christmas to Bapa the next morning.

Christmas Eve held a party with Mama Mad's family, which was a great deal of fun. The Brunswick elves and all their kin are kind, generous, and funny, and I feel more and more at home with them every time we get together. I would love to relay the "science" quote of the evening, but have been forbidden to do so by Sweetling. The kids slept in the car on the way home from the party. After the Jedi had carried them each into the house and tucked them in bed, we helped Mom wrap gifts and stuff stockings.

On Christmas morning, both children already knew the plan to take Christmas to Bapa. Neither child once asked about opening presents or checking the stockings. (Though Toa of Boy did go stand by the tree and make a visual survey of the gifts.) We all had breakfast and the kids got dressed and ready for the day and then waited patiently for three grown-ups to get showered, dressed, and ready. We put all four stockings in one bag and we put the kids' gifts in another bag (they each had one gift each from Nana and Bapa, so it wasn't like trying to load their entire Christmas haul.) We put on our Santa hats and headed up to the hospital.

In Bapa's room, Christmas greetings were exchanged, and the kids settled into a chair to check out their stockings first. They had each dug out their treasures, when OT arrived again. Dad was very disappointed. He asked, couldn't he please do his OT later? But no, the therapist was going home for Christmas soon, so it was now or never. I told Dad not to worry, we weren't going anywhere and we'd come right back in the room after OT. So, I took the kids, and we headed out.

Neither child expressed the slightest bit of disappointment whatsoever about the interuption. Out in the hallway, I suggested we go check on the puzzle we started yesterday, to see if anyone else had put more of it together. Both children were excited about this idea, and Toa of Boy had to be reminded not to go running off down the hall. The Jedi joined us, and we sat contentedly in the lobby clicking puzzle pieces together. We finished the puzzle and took a picture, and the Jedi went back to check on how Dad was doing. Dad's lunch tray had arrived, so the Jedi suggested the four of us head down to the cafeteria to get something for us to eat as well.

As we sat at the square table on Christmas day with our plastic trays of hospital cafeteria food and bowed our heads to say grace, both children, without any prompting, gave thanks for "seeing Bapa" and "this wonderful Christmas together". Once again, Mommy was all choked up and teary eyed. We put together a chicken salad from the salad bar for Nana, and headed back up to the room. Bapa had saved two cookie packs from his lunch and yesterday's lunch, so that he would have a treat to give to each of the kids. Cookies were happily consumed, and then presents were opened, thanks said, hugs given. Happy children hung out in an arm chair recliner while grown ups visited for a little while longer.

It meant so much to Dad that we came and shared Christmas with him. It meant so much to me that my children did so with patience, kindness, gratitude and selfliness. I think we all came closer to the heart of Christmas this year than we have on any other year.

Cleaning Truisms

If you read my overly wordy post this weekend, you'll know we've been busy. Another way you might be able to tell we've been busy would have been to walk into my house. After three weeks of non-stop projects and activities, my house was beginning to look like a candidate for a "Clean House" episode.

The only reason we've had clean dishes to eat off of for the past week or more is that the Jedi quietly took over dish duty. The Jedi hates clutter, but he knows the Xuan loves Christmas, so he's been suffering in silence while chaos reigns around him.

Last night I announced that Monday would be a house cleaning day. Nothing else was getting done until the house was clean. I think the Jedi felt like cheering. He didn't. He just calmly affirmed me by reminding the kids that this meant no computer, no ds, and no wii till they helped Mommy get the house clean.

So, last night, I wrote a list for each of us on the whiteboard in the kitchen. It was a simple list that, for the kids, read like this...
1. put away laundry
2. clean bedroom
3. clean living room
4. clean school room
5. dust living room and bedroom
6. sort laundry
7. shower and get dressed

My list was similar and went like this
1. Empty and reload dishwasher and water plants
2. Clean kitchen (table, counters, stove, floor) and hang up new Christmas cards
3. clean living room
4. clean downstairs (schoolroom and master bedroom)
5. vacuum
6. sort laundry and start laundry
7. clean bathroom, scrub tub, shower and get dressed.

This morning, I announced that we would set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes and at the end of each 15 minute segment, I would check on everybody's progress. When the kids got one item done on their list, they could either move on to the next item, or they could have a few minutes of free time until I was ready to move onto the next item on my list. It was a good system. It kept everyone on track and broke the work into bite sized chunks.

We got all the cleaning done by 12:40. As we worked, I discovered a few fundamental truths that I felt worth sharing.

• Any product that claims it "cuts through kitchen grease" is a bold face liar. I personally believe that the bricks which hold up the gates of hell are mortared together with kitchen grime because its nigh industructable.

• Extraverted 6 year olds are incapable of working independently for 15 minutes without interrupting their mother at least twice.
• "Put it away or I will throw it away," is a great motivational phrase.
• It is possible for a pre-teen girl to clean her bedroom without turning the proceedure into a soap opera.
• Questioning whether one's mother is in danger of violating child labor laws might just get you assigned to a research report on the history of child labor laws. Just saying.
• An aspiring young artist can quickly accumulate a pile of papers in his bedroom that could be pieced together into enough blankets to supply the entire homeless population of a small city.
• You probably don't want to know what the large clunking object was which your vacuum cleaner just sucked up. The important thing to know is that the machine is still working.

Grown-Ups Make the Rules

It's good to be the grown-up in the house, cause you get to make the rules. (Some of my readers might want to debate the fact that I count as a grown-up. However, by the above definition, I am indeed a grown-up, cause I get to make the rules. Whether the rules that I make represent mature decisions is an entirely different debate.)

We had planned to open our family Christmas presents this morning. We aren't in town on Christmas itself, so we have always had a separate day for a family gift exchange, several days in advance of leaving for Canton so that children had a few days to enjoy and play with their new gifts at home.

The kids have been counting down to this Saturday morning gift exchange for a couple of weeks now. On Wednesday, the Jedi decided Saturday was too far away. Grown-ups make the rules, right? Without telling the children, we decided to bump up the gift exchange to Friday evening and surprise the kids with opening presents a day early.

Let me step back a few days and ramble about all the Christmas preparations that we have been engaged in. First, it was my year to chose how to decorate the tree. (In our family, we take turns chossing the tree decorations each year. The person whose turn it is has complete autonomy and authority in deciding what goes on the tree and how it goes on.) I decided we would have a Jesse tree this year. We've had a Jesse tree before, when it was the Jedi's turn to choose the tree decorations. Our co-op did a Jesse tree ornament exchange last year. Each family picked one day, one ornament, and made enough of that one ornament to give to every other family at the exchange. Each family went home with 24 different homemade ornaments. So, we participated in the Jesse tree ornament exchange this year. There weren't as many participants this year, so each family made two ornaments. We made a whale (from Jonah) and a embroidered heart to represent Ruth's devotion to Naomi.

Twenty-four homemade Jesse tree ornaments, plus a few extra to give to grandparents, was the first extra Christmas project. Additionally, in co-op the sixth grade science teacher had to step out of co-op, and I temporarily took over her class in addition to the 6th grade comp class. And of course, for the last day of co-op, cookies and rice krispie treats needed to be made and goodie bags assembled for the sixth and first grades.

Despite my multiple proclamations that I was NOT doing my usual mass holiday baking, I caved on Wednesday and started baking cookies and treats to go to the adult Tae Kwon Do class and to neighbors. After a baking disaster which had me contemplated throwing away my cookie sheets and buying new ones rather than trying to chisel the ruined mess off of them, I got 10 containers of assorted baked goods ready to go to class with the Jedi Thursday. I still have a batch of snickerdoodles to make today to finish off the containers for neighbors.

While I was baking on Wednesday afternoon, Sweetling put together a cinnamon crumb cake to take to the white elephant exchange at youth group. It was a hot commodity. She was rightly pleased with her efforts and results. The cake went through many hands, despite the ruling that gifts could only be stolen once.

The Saturday before that --last Saturday, time travel with me-- had been the junior high girls' party at Telephone's house. We had a white elephant exchange there as well, where toe socks were present in abundance. The girls also made snowman sugar cookies...which quickly became making sugar cookie representations of the Seasame Street characters.

Because the socks were so popular, Telephone and I went shopping together during the week, after we had spent the morning at church working on one of the dances for the Christmas program. We purchased little gifts to give to each of our junior high girls. The first thing we bought was cool toe socks. Then I found little charm bracelets and earing for my bags and Telephone found lip gloss for her bags and both sets of bags were finished off with candy.

So, Christmas parties, cookies, homemade ornaments, and extra dance practices weren't enough on our holiday plate. I also wanted to do something in place of Christmas cards. So, the kids, Mom, and I made around 90 small Ojo de Dios. We still need to finish coloring the little gift envelopes for each of them so they can all go to church with us tomorrow morning.

Thursday (we're almost back to the proper space-time continuum, hang in there), Thursday we went to Tia Missy's house for a gift exchange. Sweetling got the new Mario Brothers Wii and Toa of Boy got a lego set which builds a oriental dragon, a european red dragon, or a large ogre warrior. He has been busy putting it together since Thursday.

Friday, (see, told you, we are so back on track now), we spent most of the day at church sorting, organizing, and packiing up loads of food for our food pantry to give away. The kids were an amazing help and I am ever so proud of their efforts. We worked from 10 in the morning through lunch till 2 in the afternoon. To reward everyone's efforts, the Jedi got us some Panda Garden for a late lunch, early dinner.

Which brings us all the way back around to the family gift exchange. Let me say that the kids have been counting down the days till present time....but they were JUST AS EXCITED to have others open the presents they bought with their own money as they were to receive presents themselves. As often as they mentioned how many days it was till present time, they also would say things like "You're going to love my present Mommy!" and "I can't wait till (insert name here) opens my present!" So, I'm also very proud of them for being eagr to give gifts, carefully purchased out of their own allowance, for others. (And, in addition to gifts for the family which they bought on their own, they also each bought gifts for our giving tree at church).

So, Friday evening we read the Jesse tree scriptures and put the Jesse tree ornament up, and then the Jedi made the announncement that we would be opening gifts one day early. This news was eagerly received by two children. Mama had told us about an old German custom called "hide the pickle." On Christmas Eve, after children had gone to bed, a green, wooden pickle ornament was hidden on the tree or among the presents. The first person to find the pickle on Christmas morning got to open the first present. We didn't have a pickle ornament, but I had hidden one of our Ojo de Dios ornaments on the tree. Toa found it first, so he got to open the first present.

His first present turned out to be a remote control plane and a remote control helicopter that Mama got for him. The helicopter claims it can be flown indoors. Joy. He also got a couple of DS games, a DS case, a puffle, a loud talking mouse, a Very Monkey Christmsas movie, art supplies, and from Sweetling...a Mario t-shirt and a new bionicle.

Sweetling received a fashion design clothing decorator, a couple ds games, a ds case, a set of hammer bro bling to decorate her ds with, a set of chipmunk jammies, Wii speak, and from Toa she got Merry Madagaskar jammies and Kowalski slipper socks.

Now, for my presents, cause that's what Christmas is all about. Well, that and foot tall lego ogre warriors. I got my netbook from the Jedi the night before the last co-op, so I could take it to co-op with me. My present to the Jedi was to get my hair straightened. Both presents were much appreciated. (The Jedi also appreciated the sweater dress which I received from Smurf.) From Mama I got two more decorated birdhouses to hang in my kitchen and a blokus game, which I've been itching to play again ever since the women's retreat. From Toa, I got a Webkinz guinea pig, which shall be named Giggles. And from Sweetling I got a webkinz reindeer charm AND a fleece penguin blanket which she MADE for me. She bought the fleece with her own money, she brought it home, she measured it and cut it and tied all the tassels and made me this awesome penguin blanket.

Really, this whole long rambling post's sole purpose was for me to say, my Sweetling made me an awesome penguin blanket.

Algebra and Son of Algebra

As promised on Facebook, here are some of our current algebra problems. Some humor was also promised, but there is little funny about algebra on a Saturday morning. I shall leave it to Mensley to supply the humor.

We have been factoring polynomials, learning the differences of two squares, how to factor a perfect square trinomial, how to factor ax²+bx+c, and how to factor out the greatest possible monomial.

Our strategy for factoring ax²+bx+c was summed up with a King Julien quote, "Now start pulling things out of other things and putting them into new things and it should fix my smoothie maker."

The last lesson we did was titled "factoring completely" and combined lots of factoring techniques. We did the sample problems together, and then attempted the assessment problems independently...which is our standard algebra approach.

Here are the problems, for those of you who'd like to work them. I'd also suggest a 12 step program for those same people, but I really, really need their help with #46. So, don't go looking for a cure for yourselves yet.

#10. 3xy² - 27x³

#20. 180x²y -108xy² -75x³

#28. a² - b² + ac - bc

#36. 8a³ + 4a²b - 2ab² - b³

#38. 3x⁵ + 15x³ - 108x

#46. (x-2)(x²-1)-6x-6

And here are my solutions. My answers line up with the teacher guide answer key, so I know they are correct. (Or the text is also wrong, one of those two outcomes.)

#10. 3xy² - 27x³

That's easy. we just factor out a 3x and are left with the difference of two squares, which we further factor tp get
3x(y-3x)(y+3x)

#20. 180x²y -108xy² -75x³

Again, we factor out a -3x and then are left with a perfect square trinomial to factor down for a final
-3x(5x-6y)²

#28. a² - b² + ac - bc

The first two terms in this are the difference of two squares, so we factor down those and then factor out a c from the last two terms.
That leaves us with (a-b)(a+b)+c(a-b)
and from that we factor out (a-b) and get
(a-b)(a+b+c)

#36. 8a³ + 4a²b - 2ab² - b³

I had to make three attempts at this one. Eventually, I rearranged the terms to 8z³ - 2ab² + 4a²b - b³
Then I factored a 2a from the first two terms and a b from the last two terms. So,
2a(4a²-b²) + b(4a² - b²)
Which can be written as (2a + b)(4a² - b²)
And since the second factor is the difference of two squares, our final factoring is (2a+b)(2a-b)(2a+b) or (2a+b)²(2a-b)

#38. 3x⁵ + 15x³ - 108x

We factor out a 3x and then factor the remaining trinomial to get
3x(x²+9)(x²-4)
The last factor is the difference between two squares, so the final factoring is 3x(x²+9)(x+2)(x-2)

Which leads me to my nemisis. I was rather hoping that the solution would magically occur to me as I was typing in the other problems. Especially since I was using html tags for my superscripts. Using html tags should automatically boost my brain power, right?

Alas, the html brain vitamins failed me.

#46. (x-2)(x²-1)-6x-6

And in a final flashback to highschool, please show your work. (Cause I know what the answer is supposed to be, I just can't figure how to get there.)

Monday Morning in December

Just a few observations:

--We're on a homeschooling snow delay. This means that although the weather in no way interfers with our schooling, the first dusting of snow is on the ground outside and it must be stomped in before it melts away for the day. There is nowhere near enough snow to make snowballs to throw, yet the children are out there giving that their best efforts. I'm watching through the kitchen window.

--Flatscreens, despite their slim appearance, are surprisingly heavy for their size.

--No, I didn't drop it.

--The actual computer box is even heavier. Plus, my computer box isn't a tower, it lays down. It lays down so flat that it was near impossible to try to wiggle my fingers under it to pick it up.

--Plastic tablecloths, no matter how bright and cheery, are not a good option to use under a computer. Computers get warm, you see, so even when you finally manage to get your fingers under the computer to pick it up, the plastic table cloth will have partially melted and become glued to the bottom of the computer, making it impossible to easily move from one spot on the table to another.

--After putting one edge of the computer down and tearing the tablecloth away from its bottom, you get to repeat the step before last.

--Not one, but two school buses have gone past with small children longily looking out of bus windows at my children happily playing in the snow.

--Through the kitchen window, I called yellow car on both the first school bus and the yellow salt truck. Sweetling may or may not have been amused, you never can tell with bees.

--I decided, much earlier this morning, that I never want to sit at my school computer to write or work, because I don't have any desk space to the left of my keyboard to put notebooks, snacks, grocery fliers, or other needed items. Now my computer, despite its bond with the tablecloth, sits happily in the middle of the table, leaving me a nice work space on the left to quickly clutter up.

--I think my computer might finally be close to recognizing my authority. When I put the flat screen back on top of the box, the flat screen was very politely displaying a window titled "Help and Support Center". I think it was the machine's deferential way of suggesting I might have sought some help in this tiny relocation project.

--Yes, I moved it when the computer was on. I don't know if that's good for the machine or not, so let's not tell the Jedi. But really, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to just move the system 18 inches to the right.

--To demonstrate my new dominance over the computer, I uploaded some snow play photos from my camera. Take that technology.

 

--Lastly, a second cup of hot chocolate is 150 calories. According to CalorieCount, if I weighed 150 lbs, which I don't, I could burn off those calories by vacuuming for 40 minutes. Hmmm... so...if I vacuum my house and switch my loads of laundry, I can totally justify a second cup of hot chocolate? I love the internet.

Research Paper--Special Option

The next unit we will be working on in 6th grade composition is the research paper. Since over half the class wrote a traditional research paper in co-op last year, I wanted to provide a slightly different option for the research paper unit this year. I tried to make it perfectly clear to the class that they were more than welcome to write a standard research paper if they were more comfortable with that. OR, they could take what was behind door number two, and participate in a special assignment.

Here are the basic instructions for this optional alternative to the basic reseach paper.

Imagine if there were a national family magizine hosting a contest open to junior high students. Imagine if the grand prize of the contest was an all expense paid family vacation of your design and choosing plus the opportunity to have your family vacation chronicled and then featured as a major cover story for the magazine. To enter this contest, the stundent must research, plan, and budget a family vacation and submit a written proposal of the vacation's iternerary and budget.

Here is what each student should do, (if they choose to participate in this option):

Research, plan, and budget a family vacation using the following guidelines--

1. The vacation should have a unique theme or approach, something that sets their proposed vacation apart from other entries in the contest. The theme could be historical, educational, scientific, "all-American," or it could pertain to the family's unique past and history (such as tracing the path and places great-great-grandparents lived when first arriving in America.)

2. The vacation may take place anywhere in the 50 U.S. states (including Washington D.C.). Multiple sites may be visited, or the vacation can center around one locale.

3. The vacation must stay within a budget of $2000 per family member. This budget should include all costs of the trip such as lodging; transportation (including gas money roughly calculated by mileage, cost of rental cars if applicable, plane or train tickets if applicable); food (for every meal and snacks for every person); and any additional fees such as admission to museums or parks, or any special supplies or equipment needed to be rented or purchased, such as camping gear, scrapbooks, cameras, etc, if the family does not already possess the specific items needed.

4. The vacation may be as long or as short as desired, provided that the vacation stays within the budget allowed.

5. The student may research destinations, restaurants, costs, etc on the internet and may receive help from a parent or other older person in determining reasonable cost estimates for food and gas. The student may also write to tourism and travel bureaus and request brochures or pamphlets to help them plan the vacation.

Due Dates:

Dec 10 --Have topic for traditional paper chosen, or have vacation theme and some destinations in mind. (Or at least have topic or vacation narrowed down to one or two possibilites). In class we will be learning about finding infomation, bibliography cards, and note taking (Unit 5: lssns 3-5).

Note, if your student chooses to write a traditional paper, lesson 2 should be completed at home.

During Christmas Break--Be doing research on topic or on vacation. Complete all notecards and bibliography cards.

Jan 14 -- Notecards due!!! Bring completed notecards back to co-op. The bulk of reasearch should now be complete! In class we will be learning about making outlines (Unit 5: lssn 8-9).

Jan 21 -- Outilines due! (just one copy is needed) In class we will be covering Unit 5: lssns 10-12

Jan 28 -- Rough draft of introductory paragraph(s) are due. Just one copy is needed and can be shared aloud with the class. In class we will cover Unit 5: lssns 13-16.

Feb 4--Research Reports Due! Please bring 10 hole-punched copies of the final report to be shared with the class.

Format for the Vacation Proposal

If your student chooses to research and plan a vacation instead of completing a standard research paper, the final paper would look something like this:

Snappy Title of Vacation

The first few paragraphs of the vacation proposal will be introductory paragraphs. These paragraphs will include a hook to grab the readers attention, an brief description of where the student plans to go on vacation, and an explanation of why this vacation was chosen and what makes this vacation unique.

Day One

A brief description of day one, which should start with leaving the home. Include where the family will be stopping to eat, or a menu if a picnic lunch and dinner are packed for traveling. Under the description will be a list, with or without bullet points, for the costs of each stop during day one. Include any weblinks where applicable If the family is traveling in the family car, it might look like so:

• Gas: $x for the day. Car gets n miles per gallon and we will be traveling y miles in the first day.
  
• Lunch: $x total, with $z per family member at McDonald's or other fast food off  highway exit.
  
• Snacks: $x total: Pillsbury cookies baked ahead of time and apple slices.
  
• Dinner: $x total, with $z per family member at Mia Pizza Ria in City, State. www.miapizza.com
  
• Lodging: $0 We are staying with Aunt Pat, who lives in City, State and visiting with our cousins since they are on our way to our final destination.
  

Day Two

Here will be a brief overview of the vacation day two. A description of any stops the family will be making and why those stops have been chosen should go in here. Again, a cost break down of the day and any relevant weblinks should be included. Like so

• Breakfast: $0 We will be having breakfast at Aunt Pat's.
  
• Gas: $x for the day. Car gets n miles per gallon and we will be traveling y miles in the second day.
  
• Lunch: $ ....
  
• State Park/National Monument/Museum/Zoo: $x total, with admission at $ per adult and $ per child. www.website.com
  
  
• Snacks: $ total for $ per person spent at Zoo
  
  
• Dinner: $.....
  
• Lodging $ for night stay at Named Hotel.
  

Day Etc

Follow the same format of a paragraph of description for each day and a cost breakdown for each day.

Back at Home (or whatever you wish to title your conclusion section)

In the concluding paragraph(s) of the proposal, the student should explain what he or she hopes to learn or gain from the experience. Also, think of and describe a way to record what you experienced. Finally, answer the question of why you think these experiences will make a life long impression, or difference, to you. Will a trip like this matter 10, 20, 30 or more years from now?

Bucket List, or, Watch Me Fail at Tagging People Despite the Built-in Instructions

Bucket ListShare
Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then tag your friends (including me).


And--If you're copying this list from Xuan, you should also delete my comments from the list items.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, do the list and tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) If you don't see the Tag people in the upper right hand corner you are in the wrong place.)

Things you have done during your lifetime:
(X ) Gone on a blind date
(X ) Donated Blood
(X) Skipped school
(X) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico --technically no, but I flew over Mexico on our way to Guatemala, so I think I should get partial credit.
(X) Been to Florida
(  ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost --Dude, I should get bonus points.
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
( ) Hugged a homeless person
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays
( ) Been sailing in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Ran a marathon
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X ) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
( X) Paid for a meal with coins only
(X) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
( ) Seen the Northern Lights
( ) Been Parasailing
( ) Been on TV
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) Fed an elephant
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Fired a gun
(X ) Danced in the rain
(X ) Been to the Opera
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X ) Serenaded someone --define "serenade". Does it have to be done outside someone's window at night? I sing at people all the time....though annoying jingles left on voice mail might not count as serenading them. Neither do my happy good morning songs I bet. I've *been* serenaded though, so I'm giving myself the point.
( ) Seen a U.S.President in person
(  ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( X) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Driven a race car
(X) Been to a National Museum
( ) Been to a Wax Museum --creepy. I have no desire to go. Of course, I don't really desire to swim with stingrays either, but I'm guessing the original writer of this list meant manta rays on that earlier item.
( ) Eaten caviar
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
(X ) Lived in more than one country --France when I was three. Now you all know.
(X ) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( ) Seen the Grand Canyon
(  ) Seen the Statue of Liberty
(  ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(  ) Been on a cruise
( X) Traveled by train
( ) Traveled by motorcycle--getting a ride around the block on my cousin's motorcycle when I was 13 prolly doesn't count as travel.
(X) Traveled by Greyhound bus
(X) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(X ) Been to Niagara Falls --booya!
( ) Ridden on an elephant --camel at the Festival of Lights, no elephant.
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X ) Been water-skiing --though I fell off every time I had to try to cross the wake of the boat.
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
(  ) Been to the Louvre --technically, this should be a yes, but I don't remember it at all, so I'm counting it as a no.
( X) Went up on the Eiffel Tower --if the Louvre and the Seattle Space Needle and the St Louis Arch all get spots, so does the Eiffel Tower. And I do remember it, so its going on the list.

( ) Saw the Great Pyramids
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Swam with sharks --no, but I touched them at the Newport Aquarium's touch tank.
( ) Been White Water Rafting
( ) Written a book or screen play--I am a sad and sorry NaNo drop-out.
( ) Ridden on a paddleboat down a river
( ) Gotten a tatoo
( ) Climbed a mountain

Squirrel, Balloon Research

Only a six year old boy looks out the van window, sees a squirrel running down a tree truck and asks, "Mommy, how many balloons would it take to lift a squirrel?"

First, we need to know how much a squirrel weighs. I think we have grey squirrels around our house, which Wikipedia says have an average weight between 400 and 600 grams.

Next, we need to know how much a regular helium balloon can lift. How Stuff Works says that a typical amusement style balloon can lift 14 grams, if you ignore the weight of the balloon and the string. 

So, for a small squirrel, you would need 400 / 14 = 29 balloons, (plus several balloons to account for the strings). For a large squirrel, you would need 600 / 14 = 43 balloons (plus several more ballooons to account for the strings.)

And now we all know.

Simple Woman's Daybook, Monday, November 9th

FOR TODAY
(Monday, November 9th, 9:58 pm)...

Outside my window...once again, it is dark. I can tell you that most, but not all of the leaves have been raked off of the back patio. They were combined with many leaves raked together from the lawn in order to form a big pile for jumping in. The big pile is still sitting out there. It will probably sit there until spring. No, I'm not worried about my lawn. It is not a delicate lawn. Its a wild lawn of any green plant matter that wants to volunteer for duty out there. It's very durable that way.

I am thinking... isn't it about time for another weekend? How can it possibly be only Monday? Plus, why does my cursor jump to the very bottom of my post every time I hit enter, instead of just going down one line?

I am thankful for...the health of my family. As much as I moaned and complained and bellyached about having the flu the week before last, really, we've been very blessed with good health overall. And no one came down with a severe case of the flu either.

From the learning rooms...we have officially lost the head start we had by beginning school in August. Between the days off for the Buffalo/Niagra trip (totally awesome) and the week or more that we missed for illness, we are no longer ahead. I'm not sure that we're behind yet....but I don't think we'll be hitting 50% completion before Christmas, as I was originally hoping for.

On a way cool note, we have started two new traditions. At nine o'clock (or thereabouts), we start the school day with chess puzzles and pawn games. Both children are enjoying this. After lunch, we come back together for a read-aloud chapter book. Its a good way to transition from "recess" back to school.

From the kitchen...I tried two new recipes recently. Both were a "breakfast for dinner" menu. One was for peanut butter french toast, which was very filling and well-liked by the kids, but not so kindly received by the Jedi. (I used what was on hand, which was wheat bread, 2% milk, no yogurt, and Total cereal. I also halved the amount of eggs and milk called for, and the lesser amount worked very well.) The second recipe was for fluffy pancakes, which was one of the best and quickest pancake recipes I've ever made.

From the garden... we planted bulbs on Sunday, raked leaves to jump in, and then piled leaves on each of the kids for photo shoots. (Before we went outside, Toa of Boy was begging, "Please may I rake leaves, Mommy? Please?"  I felt like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.) Then we mulched our flower beds with leaves to protect them from the upcoming winter. Yes, i know I'm supposed to shred the leaves first, but I figured being thoroughly jumped on by my 6 and 11 year olds was almost like shredding them.

I am wearing...the Phillip Island t-shirt which the Jedi gave me as a birthday present, like seventeen years ago or so. I remember I wore it to Gingerbread during my first year or two of teaching. Everyone asked me if I had gone to Australia. I said no, my husband knew I really like penguins, and found a way to order this t-shirt from a gift shop in Australia over the computer. Everyone was amazed that such a thing could be done. It seems strange now to think that on-line shopping was so completely novel not too many years ago. (I think I've just found the topic for the compare/contrast essay I'm writing with the 6th graders at co-op.)

I am creating...or failing to create, choreography for the worship dances in our Christmas Reflections program at church. Normally, I feel pretty good about my contributions to this creative effort. Tonight though, I had zilch. Nada. Nothing.

I am going...to give up on ever being able to breathe through my nose again. My nose's new purpose is simply to hold up my glasses.

I am reading...just finished a Terry Prachett Discworld trilogy, Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and, Wintersmith. The first two books were outstanding. Many times, I was literally laughing out loud while reading A Hat Full of Sky. The third in the triology was good, but not great. I think perhaps because many of the Mac Freegle stunts that had me laughing so hard in the first two books had already been done by the third book. Plus, I was really hoping to see more done with the character of Roland. The Baron's son started to turn into an interesting character in the last book, rather than just a blank foil for Tiffany, and I would have loved to see more attention on him. (See what a jaded, nitt-picky reader I've become? This is comletely Stephanie Meyer's fault.)

I am hoping...that our Children's Ministry continues to grow and be strong. I cannot keep Toa of Boy home from church without tears. He is broken-hearted if he doesn't get to go to church. Granted, he tells me about the games they played first, but then he also remembers the lessons. He's learning and singing worship songs and memorizing Scriptures...and loving it all.

I am hearing...the dryer buzz. The Jedi is turning in for the night, the children and Mama have long since been in bed. Its just me at my computer.

Around the house...laundry, laundry, laundry.

One of my favorite things...is not laundry.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
 School, school, more school. Also Tuesday Tae Kwon Do; Wednesday groceries, Awana, and the Brink;  Thursday Co-op, library, and Tae Kwon Do; Friday---hooray for the weekend!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...