Michael Phelps and Mexico Monday

The Americans were smokin' in the Aquatic Center. With an exciting night of swimming scheduled we hit the pool for a swim of our own, armed with knowledge we found on this site. The boy tried out the different strokes, while the girl worked on swimming for longer distances.



After our swim practice we splashed and played in the kid pad.
In the evening we cheered on team USA as they were absolutely VICTORIOUS in the pool. Three gold medals, back to back, all in record time. With Americans also taking bronze, bronze and silver in those same events. Since we had taken three hour naps in the afternoon we stayed up LATE watching all the Olympic excitement. Including the USA Men's Gymnastic team win the bronze. And Michael Phelps! Three for three and tying the record for most Olympic golds. I think it is fair to say he will be the sole record owner of the most decorated athlete of the modern Olympics by the end of Beijing. One thing is for certain, we are cheering him on every step of the way.
For dinner we decided to go Mexican. We located Mexico on the map, found their flag in our handy dandy flag book and headed out the door. On our way to the restaurant we tried to remember as much Spanish as we could. We have the basic colors, numbers to 10, hello and good bye. I knew the basic food words; carne, queso, and pollo. As we rounded the corner we saw the sign, Los Tres Amigos, which the kids easily translated. Then made the realization that we ourselves were three friends. Walking in they greeted the waiter with an ola. When ever we could we chose to say things in Spanish, which was very fun. As we waited for our meal we ate salsa, listened to the music and discussed the pictures on the wall. Leading to more cultural discussion, including clay roofs.

For our meal we ordered enchilada, taco, cheese quasadilla, chalupa, tostada, a side of rice and a side of beans.

Everyone loved everything! We seriously cleaned our plates.

For dessert we decided on Sopilla( spiced tortilla) and ice cream.

Our Mexican dining experience was a success.


As we left the restaurant the kids told our waiter, "Adios amigo."
And now I say to you, until next time, "Adios amigos!"

Olympic Link

Need a better way to explain the Olympic sports? Try these mini flash animations.
http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/flash/summer/index_uk.asp#

Keepers of the Pond

While Grandma and Grandpa were away on vacation the kids and I had the responsibility of taking care of their pond. My mom has a beautifully landscaped yard that is home to fish, frogs, a turtle and many, many birds. Each day we came over to bring in the mail, feed the fish, care for the garden and fill the bird feeders. There is a lot of love and care that goes into this yard. Here are some snap shots of this morning, our last day as keepers of the pond.

Fabulous Four

What a stupendous night of Swimming!
I was literally on my feet, jumping up and down those last few strokes of the 4*100 relay. One of those true spirit of the games, moment of triumph. Love it!

Folk Fest 2008

I woke up yesterday morning with no real agenda for the day. During the morning news I learned that the Folk Fest was going on just minutes from our house. The benefits of living near a Huge Big Ten campus. It boasted music from around the world as well as an international food court. For that reason alone we decided to head over and check it out. We were not disappointed. The food court had ethnic dishes from China, Korea, Jamaica, Hawaii, Poland, Ethiopia, Mexico and Native America. After much thought we decided to try the Jamaican food.

We ordered the jerk chicken with a side of grilled pork. It came with vegetables, rice with beans and a sweet corn bread. Rather tasty but much too spicy for the kids. They sampled it like champs trying everything on the plate. The boy devoured the corn bread to help ease the heat. I had no problem cleaning the plate.

The kids were still hungry so we then decided to go for some Hawaiian. A sweet BBQ chicken sandwich on homemade bun, coconut coleslaw (AWESOME) fruit and chips. They really enjoyed this dish.

There was an abundance of music at the Folk Fest. With 5 stages there was lots to choose from. We listened to the some Polka music while we ate. Some of our favorite music were these impromptu set-ups on the side of the road.



The Apprentice tent was a huge hit. Featuring a variety of learned crafts, we got to watch the artist in action. Here is some embroidery...

A wood worker making a unique bird...

Lace work...

Whittling, the process of how it goes from block of wood to a duck.

Not pictured but also observed; birch bark biting, birch baskets, carving stone and braiding.
The kids enjoyed the Children's activity center. Where they made a leather key chain, pounding different shapes into the wet leather.

Here is the boys finished work. He designed a castle with a surrounding path.

Then they made a stain glass picture by cutting out shapes in black paper and filling in the holes with colored tissue paper.

Then they chose to make flowers out of tissue paper. They turned out really good.

Also in the children's area was a platform with jump ropes and hop scotch. The kids loved it. Here little girl is trying to jump rope.

For awhile two grown men were turning a large rope for the kids to run through or practice jumping. The boy had fun doing both. (Also, not pictured)

Our last stop of the festival was the balloon man. DD got a walking dog, the boy a sword and belt. Fencing anyone?

Hope you enjoyed are recap of the Folk Fest.

Olympics Opening Day

Wow! That was the BEST Opening Ceremonies I have ever seen. Every detail of it was AMAZING!

Leading up to the Opening Ceremonies we had a fun day of preparation and exploration.
First we decided what teams we were going to follow during the games. We will all follow USA and China, to make it fair.
To decide on individual teams we looked over some flag stickers I got with my Rainbow Resource order. This helped narrow the selection. We called out different countries we were interested in, discussing who we thought would have the most medals. When the boy decided he wanted the history of the last few games. After a quick Google search we determined that Russia and Germany were two countries with strong Summer game performances in the past three games. With that knowledge, the boy chose Russia and the girl agreed to take Germany. I decided on Japan.


I printed out blank flags of China, USA, Germany and Japan. I had to make Russia, thankfully it is a very simple design. In preparation we colored all the flags, found the countries on the map and colored our maps as well. We talked about the Olympic rings, the torch and found our names in Chinese. Here is my name, I think I will stick with English.

After some errands in the afternoon we found ourselves at the Oriental Mart. Interesting place I tell ya. Live crab, a large variety of fish, squid, octopus and other bizarre things. We decided on a spice pack to make a curry dish and many oriental candies and treats. The ice cream marshmallows were very yummy. We will sample the others throughout the week.

For dinner we went to China King Buffet. All you can eat Chinese food. We passed on the squid but loved the pineapple chicken. Here is my plate, from top right around clock wise. Crab dip, chicken wrap, sweet and sour chicken, lo mien noodles, broccoli, rice, pineapple chicken and terriyaki on a kabob.

The kids did really well with their chop sticks.

Even little girl with the noodles.

After dinner we settled in at home to watch the Opening Ceremonies. As mentioned above, AMAZING! The kids both had ambitions to stay up until midnight. Little girl crashed out at 9pm.

The boy made it a good share through the parade of nations. Finally, exhausted he succumbed to sleep with the request that I wake him up for the torch.

I tried to rise him when the United States team arrived but he did not budge, at all.
I kept my eyes open as long as they would allow but I too drifted off. Only to awaken to the cheers for team China. I acknowledged them and went right back to sleep. Only to wake up again at the finale of the torch lighting. As NBC said "Goodnight." I carried my little ones to their beds and said "good night" as well.
What a swell first day.

Our Olympic School Plans

With the Olympics Opening Ceremonies tomorrow our family is a bit excited about the coming weeks.
I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!
Since there are so many wonderful learning opportunities related to them I decided to start "school" yesterday with learning focused around the Olympics along with Determination from the Konos curriculum.
Here are some things we will be doing:
*Geography
What better way to introduce different countries? As the different countries are announced during the Opening Ceremonies we will find them on the globe and world map. As different athletes are highlighted throughout competition we will locate where they come from.
*Cultures
Especially Chinese culture as different aspects will be covered ongoing throughout all of the Olympics experience. I am also looking forward to the different athlete bios they do, highlighting different athletes, they often take you to their hometown and share their part of the world. Great conversation starters. The kids will also discover their names in Chinese.
*Ethnic Foods
We will be eating Chinese food tomorrow night to kick off the Opening Ceremonies. Then throughout the next couple weeks we will choose foods from all over the world. I hope to have Thia dishes as well as Mediterranean, German, Ethiopian, Italian and whatever else I get brave to try. For some I may need to go to a local restaurant, others I will TRY to make myself.
*Sports
We will read books about different athletes and how they achieved their goals. Learn the basics of as many sports as we can, including trying them out. Next Friday we will have a Track and Field day with a few other families.
*Writing
Making a notebook about all the things we are learning. Including highlights of the different sports. Some things will be dictated. Some will be copy work. Other things will be free writing.
*Reading
I have ordered many books from the library and most I will read to the kids but some such as the Magic Tree House Ancient Olympics will be read by the boy.
*Bible
1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize”.
*Character
Determination will be the underlying theme . These people have definitely worked hard to accomplish a goal.
*Following a Team
We will each pick a team other than the USA to follow and root on. We will learn about the country we choose and follow their athletes; keeping track of their medal counts.
*Math
Learning about the different measurements; meters. Number placements; first, second, third, etc. Following schedule both the days of the week and time of day. Medal counts, may include some graphing.
*Health
Eating healthy, taking care of our bodies and exercise.
*History
Looking at athletes of the past as well as grazing the surface of ancient Olympics.
and most of all we will have fun! I can't wait for the games to begin.

Bright and Early This Morning

The next round of concrete was delivered.
With the construction of the garage complete the concrete floor was laid on Monday.
Today the remainder will be poured, which is the sidewalk and driveway.
On Friday the doors will be hung and the garage will be done!

Hello To My Family

Unable to attend my family reunion this weekend I sent my mom armed with family photos and a link to my blog.
Thanks mom!

So to my dear family, if you are reading this, hello!
I have been blogging here on blogger since November of 2005. This handy dandy little blog contains our world; pictures, stories, ponderings and the happenings of our life. Simply put this little space on the internet is your glimpse into what is going on in our neck of the woods.
Since I was not at the reunion and unable to answer all your questions about what we have been up to, I thought I would give you the opportunity to explore my site and find out for yourself. On the side bar are links to all my post back to the beginning. Simply click on a month and all the posts written that month will magically appear. Have a more specific interest, search the site by typing in keywords in the search box on the top left.
You can also click a tag on the bottom of any post and it will bring up all similar subjects . Such as homeschooling.

If I were to sum up in a few sentences what has been going on in our world I would say this:
We are homeschooling for our third year. The boy (by the way I don't use the kids names or our last name for privacy) is starting second grade and is 7 years old. He loves to climb and is very athletic.

Little girl will be starting Kindergarten as she will be 5 in October. She is very into her babies, webkinz, reading and playing dress-up.

Hubby and I have been married for 10 years and counting. He has traveled his fair share over the last year on business. We are currently working on many home improvements such a garage and other projects are soon to follow.

Life is good and we feel very blessed!

Thanks for stopping in! If you would be so kind please leave a message and let me know you were here. You do not need a blogger account to leave a message simply click Anonymous and sign your name in your message. Also if you are interested in staying on the up and up, feel free to subscribe to my blog, that way you won't miss a thing.

Have a blessed day!

I'm Edemic

or so I was told my my eye doctor as he rattled off horrendously long words to the nurse about my diagnosis.
I made them write down the official diagnosis because of course I knew I would want to blog about it. Here it is... keratitis corneal edema.
Yeah, I didn't know what that meant either. Apparently google or wikipedia are not on the up and up on it as well. Basically, my eyes have a build-up of white blood cells that could erupt and become infected. This means my eyes need time to oxygenate and heal; with the help of a steroid. This also means that I am not allowed to wear my contacts for 5-7 days. Hence the new glasses. Honestly now people, what do you think?

Bestest Ever

While eating breakfast this morning...
DD: Today is the bestest day ever!
ME: Why is that?
DD: Because Daddy is coming home and that makes it the bestest ever.

I agree that makes for a very good day indeed.

Garage Update

The workers have been plugging away and are making some great progress on the garage.
It has walls, and a roof, the windows and side door are in and it looks like a garage. Yeah!
Today they will slap up the shingles and tomorrow they will do all the siding. From there we have concrete and hanging the doors. The electrical well be a few weeks as our electrician is going on a mission trip out of the country. I am more than willing to wait as I know he will be a blessing as he shares the gospel. So it looks like by the end of the week all construction will be complete. and we will have our garage. Yippee!

This is what it looked like as of last night.

He Sent Me Flowers

As a thank you for all my hard work on the house. Aren't they pretty?

They smell incredible.

So Much For No More Cleaning

While the kids and I were at VBS this morning the land prep was completed. Leaving two giant mountains of pure temptation. I let the kids play in the sand pile as no workers were on site and it DID look like fun. Apparently it is a reddish sand that is capable of making a huge mess. Who knew?

In Which I Exhale

This has been the craziest month!
Bids, appraisal, to-do lists, caring for kids, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, pondering on curriculum, preliminary planning for the school year, cooking, talking to contractors, tearing down the old shed, letting go of clutter and the memories that stuff holds, and have I mentioned cleaning!
And now, now I can breathe.
Yesterday was the pivotal point in which the appraisal was completed, materials for the garage were purchased and the building permit was approved. Did I mention that yesterday was also the beginning of VBS in which I am teaching a Kindergarten class? Or that hubby is on a 10 day business trip so I had to do ALL the finalization for the garage? Or that I had a meeting an hour away in the evening? Which meant I was going non-stop from 6am-10pm. Thankfully I had two lovely ladies help me with the kiddos yesterday after VBS and God amazingly worked out all the little details.
So today I am one very grateful person.
Contractors will be here today to begin work. I have nothing more to clean in my house. And I get to enjoy 20 delightful 4 and 5 year olds at VBS.
Here is a before picture...notice the shed is gone!


Praying for safety of my family and the workers as big equipment will be on our property and my kiddos are very curious.

Mt Vernon

The historic estate and gardens of our first president, George Washington. But beyond that it is a mentality. One in which I am trying to apply.
Many years ago, Mindy gave me a book The New Messies Handbook. Because we Messies stick together and try to help each other out. I know I read the book cover to cover back in the day and certain things worked for me. The other day I glanced over at the bookshelf and saw the book staring out at me. I retrieved it from the shelf and thumbed through it, read sections. The chapter that stuck out to me the most on my flip through was Mt Vernon. To maintain the estate of Mt Vernon the housekeeping team starts in one spot and systematically moves through the room until it is complete. When the day is over they put their supplies away and began where the left of on the following day. When they have made their way through the house they begin again. Day after day.
In the handbook I have been instructed to start somewhere, preferably the front door and work through the room, thoroughly cleaning everything along the way. The bin at the door would be completely gone through, throwing away what is broken or destroyed, donating what may be of use to another or put in its proper place in an organized manner if it is to stay in the house. All clutter is in danger of disposal.
These thoughts are roaming around my brain. I want to put them into action but I am struggling with getting started.
My husband has been busting his butt cleaning up the outside of the home. It is looking great. He would love for me to actually begin Mt Vernonizing our home. It would thrill him.
Why am I struggling so much with doing it? I feel like I am set-up to fail. There are not proper places for everything to go. And it seems like the time line is not enough time to get done what needs to be done. Time line? Oh yes, it is next Friday, when my husband has set up an appraisal for our home and property. He feels like everything about our home and life will be under scrutiny and be either the thumbs up or down for getting the appraisal we need to build our new garage.
I do feel order is necessary. I do want my house to be functional. I do want a garage. But at the moment I am feeling so overwhelmed. I am angry that I should be forced to do this during an already busy week. I am frustrated that there is so much to do. I am frustrated that I struggle with housekeeping. Just when I was trying to get a basic weekly routine under control, I am to take on the complete house. Even if I take one room a day for the next week I don't feel like I have the time, energy, resources or capabilities to do it.
My fight or flight mentality has me wanting to run far far away to a place where I do not need to clean. But the reality is something needs to be done. And it won't get done if I do run away. Too bad I don't have the housekeeping team of Mt Vernon to help.

An Animal Kind of a Week

With the boy participating in Zookambi, a summer program at our zoo, we have spent many hours at the zoo checking out the animals. Monday, was his first true experience with mom dropping off somewhere to the complete care of strangers, with mom not needed on site. While I felt confident he would thrive and do fine, the girl and I stayed at the zoo for three hours on the first day. This gave me and DD some time there but also let me get a sense of the staffs competency and care.
While the boy was in class learning about camouflage and handling animals, we were exploring the zoo, spending long periods of time with certain animals watching them carefully, or simply staying out of the rain. We had a great discussion with a volunteer about the baby penguin, who by the way is very cute. During this discussion the lead zoo keeper came by and we made plans to watch him feed the penguins. When the time came he showed us some behind the scenes of penguin rock, we watched as they fed the baby and then the baby waddled over to me and stood on my foot. Very cute. Then we watched him feed the adult penguins by hand.
Yesterday after book discussion we went to the river to see if we could spot the peregrine falcon nesting on the board of water and light building. We knew three of babies had already fledged and the last we knew two were still in the nest preparing to fledge. We were not disappointed, we saw the three fledglings (flying and perched) and one baby falcon flapping it's wings gaining strength for its first flight. You can check out their web cam, here.
From there we went to the zoo and had a picnic and dropped off the boy to his class.
Then my daughter wanted to show her cousin Miley and show her around the Dairy Farm. We went to both the horse farm and the dairy farm. Farmer Bob greeted us kindly as he has every time since the births. Every time we talk I learn something else new about the dairy process or the cows. On average they birth a cow every other day. This past weekend they had a large amount of births so things will be slow for the next couple of weeks. They do birth year round but some months not as many as others.
Then we spent the last hour before picking up the boy walking through the zoo with my niece. We passed the boy at one point as he was checking out an animal exhibit with his class. He had just finished checking out the zoo kitchen were they prepare the food for the animals. Cool stuff.
So for this animal crazy family, it has been a perfect animal kind of a week.

Christian, A Lion that Loved

Gotta love Bloglines. This video was on New Urban Legends this morning. I have watched it four times and cried each time. Mindy this may answer our question about are animals capable of feelings. That lion is expressing love if I ever have seen it.

Christian, the lion, was raised by these two men for a year until they realized he would be too large for them to keep. They ended up relocating him to Kenya Reserve where Christian was acclimated to the wild. Eight years later the men wanted to go see Christian. They were told by the reserve manager that he had not been seen for nine months and the trip would most likely be in vain. They went anyway. Christian arrived at the camp the night before they landed and this video is of their reunion. Very touching.
You can check out the whole story in this Snopes report.

P.S. I Love You!

Awesome...Must See

This video is one of the most creative artistic expressions I have ever seen done. I hope you check it out!

All For an Heir

This has to be one of the craziest things I have heard recently.
70 year old woman gives birth to twins!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7491782.stm

Hello, when I am 70 years old I will delightfully be playing with my grand children's children. Not having any more of my own!

Snippets

Yesterday we had a fabulous Fourth. Our friends invited us out to their hanger for a cook out and a trip up in the plane. There were many little girls and ours was delighted to have so many friends to play with. Super cute.

The boy bowled a 136 at his Summer Camp. This is over 50 points above his average. He got a spare, strike, strike all in a row. Can we say...super excited?

The kids are really into picnics and obstacle courses. Nearly every day this last week, they set up a picnic in the front yard and make up little games to play. Casting into a plastic pool, Frisbee golf, bike races and more, their creativity has been endless. Summer fun and movement, works for me.

I am without a camera ands it makes me very sad.

We went to see Miley on Wednesday. She has moved up to the 2 month old barn. She got her ear tag with her name written on it so know everyone will know who she is. Miley is so friendly, every time we go she comes right up to us and for some reason she loves to lick my arm. Anyone wanting to meet her, we would love to join you on a trip to the Dairy Farm. She is growing so fast and she is still super cute.

We saw the Lansing Peregrine falcons. At least one of the adults both resting and in flight. From the Morris River Park in Lansing look across the way at the building that supports the towers. On the East side is where the nest is, although it itself is pretty tucked away. You can tell the spot by the white poop marks sprayed on the side of the building. They had a successful hatch this year with 5 babies. They should be fledging any day. So if you have some time this next week, head down to the river, you may be able to catch a sight of the babies first flight.

I am attempting to organize my housework, by creating a list of chores for each day of the week. My husband has been recommending this for a long time. I finally made a plan, we will see if I can stick to it. If I can it should help a lot.

Little girl said "thank you" to our pilot friend after the plane ride. It was delayed and took some cajoling but she did it. Celebrating tiny victories along the way.

Today we our working on our laundry room. Completely gutting it, washing all the clothes, building a cabinet to store linens and other supplies. Organizing as we go. This project is LONG overdo.

Hubby was home ALL of June! And he is still home. With only one remaining travel date set we may actually be seeing the end of it. Yippee!

I am reading the book Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. Excellent book. This is also the book that I am doing a book discussion with some other moms from our home school co-op. It has been very helpful. I will have to post more in depth of what all I have been learning and how I plan to use that info.

I guess that's all for now...have a happy and safe weekend. Happy Birthday America!

Exclusive

My dear sweet four year old daughter is completely and totally exclusive. You are either on her list or your not. Who's on the list? Her immediate family, grandparents, aunts, one uncle and a few close friends. You can also tell if your on her A list, if....drum roll please, she talks to you. My first born can talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Little girl however is greatly pained if asked to say a peep to someone she doesn't know. Now, this has worked for her so far. Her cute little face and bashful head bow have been all she needed to get through any awkward moments. She simply hids away behind me or creates her own little bubble of non-communication.

For four and a half years I have allowed her to do so. I ask her to speak at times and sometimes (rarely) she will. Most of the times she gives a half giggle and ducks her head. After doing some learning and personality discussions I have learned that part of this is indeed who she is and how God made her. I however, will not be allowing her to take advantage of it any longer. Personally, I find it rude that she will not talk to people. As far as strangers go, yes I am thankful she is conscience about things. I am talking about other situations. Here are a few of them:
1.Mom introduces her to a new person. New person asks her name. I expect her to say Hello and say her name. If they ask how old she is, I expect her to tell them. They are no longer a stranger, Mom has made an introduction.
2. A waitress brings her meal, I expect her to say thank you.
3. The grocery clerk at the store. Many times little girl will use her own money to make a purchase. On such occasions I expect her to say thank you or have a good day to the clerk.
4. Other kids within her social circle, church or enrichment day, I would expect her to carry on a basic conversation with them.
Am I expecting too much?
For me this is part of character development and manners. I understand she feels shy in new circumstances. I understand she does not want to launch into a LONG conversation with new people. I also know my daughter is a bright, caring person, who once you are on her list she will talk you ear off. Carrying on full discussions about anything and everything. She will sing in front of you or dance. I see a side of her that is so outgoing and then there is the can not say peep if I don't know you.
I have decided that this is one battle I am ready to fight. I have always heard choose your battles wisely and the time has come that I am ready to fight this one.
In preparation we have been doing role playing. We have went through all sorts of scenarios. And one on one with me, she does fine. In real life those same scenarios are met with stone silence. I am done with it. I told her the next time she refused to speak to someone or thank them when mommy her asked to, she was going to have no TV for a couple days.
That day came today. While at the bowling alley watching the boy during summer camp, another mother (whom she has seen repeatedly over the last couple weeks,) gave her a ring from the 25 cent machine. Having only boys she decided to give it to my daughter, very nice of her. Little girl accepted it, with a little giggle and the head bow. I asked her to say thank you, to which she replied under her breathe that she didn't want to. I reminded her of the consequence and she debated. She said she would but when the time came she completely baulked, not once but twice. Then she ran crying out of the bowling alley.
I have stuck to my guns and she will not be watching TV for the next couple of days. I am taking the TV out of her room, this was the most upsetting. And she will not be getting it back until she can show me that she can be polite to others by speaking to them when required. I told her if it takes a year so be it. If it takes until Christmas, however long it takes, I am not backing down.

So, if you should see us in the near future. Please, help us practice speaking to others. Be patient. Be direct. And continue eye contact with her, even as she looks away. Please be gracious. We are really working on this and I know that she can do it. I also know it may take time.

Inexpensive Summer Fun

Summer is in full effect and we are having a great time.
I wanted to pass on a couple of fun activities that we have found. Perhaps your family would enjoy them too.

$1 Movies
Lansing Mall Cinema is having $1 movies at 10:30am every weekday throughout summer. Click on the link above to see what movies will be featured. For those not in the Lansing area, check the site to see if your local theater is participating.

Free Bowling
Sky Lanes Bowling of Lansing has one free game everyday of Summer, with the purchase of rental shoes. So for $2 a person you can enjoy a game of bowling.

Library Summer Reading and Activities
Capital Area District Library has tons of summer fun activities. Magicians, puppets, bugs, bats, theater and more. Something for every age. Check out this events page to see if there is anything in your neck of the woods. Or stop in at your CADL branch for a list of all activities at every location. While you are there sign up for the summer reading program. Fun incentives for youth, teens and adults.

All of the above are indoor and air conditioned. So beat the heat or rainy day blues.

Potter Park Zoo Days
July 15 and 16 9am-7pm. Free parking and admission. In addition to all the animals at the zoo, kids and adults will be treated to mascots & clowns, face art, and free turns in the bounce house! Pick up a free ticket at L&L(no purchase necessary)

Hawk Island
This beautiful park has so much to offer. Hiking trails, playground, picnic areas, guarded beach and the splash pad.
Parking is only collected on weekends and holidays. Weekdays free. There are boat rentals available if interested. Check those and other parks info out here.

Blues on the Square
Thursdays, free. Good music, good food. Downtown Lansing at Washington and Allegan. 6-10pm

• June 12 - Mike Zito
• June 19 - Jimmy Dillon
• June 26 - Ana Popovic
• July 17 - Anthony Gomes
• July 24 - Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials
• July 31 - Larry McCray
• Aug 7 - Deanna Bogart

Be sure to check out Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau for other events.
Here is a listing of music for July.

Stumble
Lastly, there is priceless, mindless entertainment brought to you by way of our friends at Stumble. I found this one this morning, I enjoyed it. Hopefully you will too.
Play


I hope you are enjoying your Summer. If you know of any family fun activities, please be sure to pass them on.
God Bless!

Bumper Crop

of Mosquitoes!
Have you been out lately? I can not go outside without getting TORE UP.
I just read an interesting little article compliments of the National Geographic about this years mosquitoes.
Mosey on over and read it yourself. Time to get the bug spray.

The Sharing of Dreams

Dreams. Some remember them for hours after they dream them. Others they are gone within seconds of their eyes opening. Little girl currently has a thing for dreams. Every morning this last week she has come to me and told me what she dreamed about. I have to say this a very cherished time to me right now. To get glimpses into her mind, her interpretations and her values.
I recently read the book, The Giver, by Loise Lowery. A very thought provoking book! In it the family had a sharing of dreams while eating breakfast every morning. All dreams must be shared, even the most embarrassing. And after the telling the others reply, "Thank you for sharing." In the book the philosophy behind the practice was interesting to say the least but it got me thinking.
Dreams. Fragments of real life. Whirled with fantasy. The working out of emotions. Favorite memories relived. God speaking. Craziness. Sometimes practical.
I loved little girls dream this morning. Even though she told me not that long ago, details are already fading. She was spelling. I was saying words to her and she was spelling. Her brother was involved. Emotionally she was happy, satisfied and proud.
I asked her what word she was spelling and she answered. "Cat."
Then she spelled it for me. Which led to more words and her giving me words to spell.
For fifteen minutes we did words. Spelling them, sounding them out, rhyming them. It was precious.
All because she shared a dream.

With That Done...

We can flee the country.
Well, not really flee. Just take a little trip across the border.
For awhile now, I have been wanting to write up an official custody paper in the event of my death. So yesterday I did just that. I wrote out who would get our kids. With their consent of course. Wouldn't it be rather tragic if you had been willed kids to care for but you never knew it. Thankfully, I have loving friends that are the greatest. They are WILLING to provide to love and care for our kids if we should leave this earth before they are grown.
After writing it up, I then made three copies and had them notarized. So it's official. I will state it here should there ever be any discrepancies. In the event of our death our kids will get all of our property and possessions under the guardianship of Mindy. She will make all decisions regarding their inheritance. She will raise them until age 18. She will welcome family request for visitation. That's the basics of the arrangement.

Now, I may really meander over the border. But don't worry I have every intentions of coming back. Alive.

The Bird Revealed

Melissa, you were right, it is a red-winged black bird. Which was my initial guess before I talked myself out of it.
I sent an email off to some professional ornithologists and then emailed back today. It's official, female red-winged black bird. I did an image Google search and now am completely convinced.

The Dance

After sharing a dinner with Mindy, we headed over to the ball park around the corner from our house to watch her husband play baseball. Sometimes when we go the kids watch the game with great interest, waiting for a foul ball to run after. Other times, such as last night, they play together uninterested in the game. They ran around the perimeter of the ball field a couple times. Then they meandered over the a grove of trees. Together they played, delighted and content. Periodically, I glanced their way. Happy. Sitting in the grass. Laughing and playing.
When it was time to go I stood up and started walking toward them. It was in that moment that I noticed the "grass" was not grass at all. My dear sweet children had been playing in a giant mud puddle. They were dancing about now, their laughter rising and falling as they themselves splashed back into the mud. The boy was one brown mess from his head to his toes. Little girl also one outrageous form of brown. I laughed to myself before I approached them. I fashioned in my mind how they would get home. Just then my husband shows up at the ball park. The kids spot him and shamefully hide behind the trees. That look of "Oh No, Dads here and we are going to be in trouble!"
He calls them out from behind the trees and asks if they had made a good choice. They decide no it was not the best choice. Walking back to the car the kids ask me for forgiveness. Which I do.
Looking them over, I decide there is NO WAY they are entering my vehicle. I decide that they are going to walk home. It's not far, a couple of blocks, they seem excited about the freedom. I creep slowly beside them, the hazard lights blinking. The kids find great fun in running ahead of me. Nearly a race to get home. They are laughing still. Joy on their faces.
Home within minutes, their filthy clothes lay in a pile. Completely brown. The kids take showers and get cleaned up. Then they go off to bed and quickly go to sleep. As for me, I throw the soiled clothes in the washer, praying, they will come clean. Then I curl up with my book and read into the wee hours of the night.
It is now morning. I tell the kids I am all for playing in the mud and getting dirty but there are times and places. Dad chimes in, with a please ask next time. The clothes are in the dryer, clean. Showing no sign of their dance in the mud. I am feeling quite thankful for laundry detergent right about now. It will allow me to let go of a storybook, clean and pressed child. Allowing them to be free to play as they wish. Carefree and full of joy.

Unitentional Learning

It Summer Break in our home and we are loving it.
At first I had these ideas of schooling until the end of June and then I thought about how ridiculous this was. What did I really hope to accomplish by dragging it out? Well, I let it go and I am so thankful I did.
You see my kids are thriving at the moment. I am utterly amazed at how much learning takes place naturally, without any prompting.
Such as, the boy asked if I would play a game of Monopoly with him. With no school to do, of course I agreed. For hours, we counted dice, money, doubled, added, strategized and HAD FUN. I told my dad this and he exclaimed, "Then I had an excellent education playing canasta, monopoly and chess through the years!" I agree.
Then there is the toad. While playing in the yard, the boy found a toad. He brought it in, startling me as he held it out over my bed. He was thoroughly pleased and asked if he could keep it. We brought up the critter cage, a 10 gallon aquarium with a screen top. I had purchased last Summer while we were observing the caterpillars. I told myself that it would serve as a home to any critter the kids wanted to house. So currently, it home to George the toad and two others, still unnamed. We went to the pet store and purchased crickets by the dozen. Turns out that toads love crickets and can eat them by the dozens. Their sticky tongues lashing out like a sticky hand you may get out of a 25cent machine. We have learned that toads only eat what moves. A cricket can be perfectly still in front of its nose and be unharmed but the moment it moves, even the tiniest bit, it is goggled up. They are also very good at burying themselves completely under the gravel. I thought my husband had taken one back outside, which hubby declared he had not. So after looking and looking, I lifted the aquarium and found him completely covered. Pretty cool, these toads. We will watch them for a few more weeks and then release them back in the yard.
Another sighting of unintentional learning, yesterday at breakfast. Little girl chose an apple for her fresh fruit. I cut it into slices and placed them on a plate. Then on her own she decided to make fruit kabobs. She got a banana and a kabob stick. Carefully cutting with a plastic knife she cut the banana and apples into small chunks. Then she placed them on the stick, apple, banana, apple, banana. "Look mom at my pattern," she said. Sounds like learning to me.
So many cool things like this are happening in my home. It thrills me. What really tickles me pink is what happened yesterday afternoon. I was curled up on the couch with a good book and the kids were playing quietly in their rooms. Then the boy came out and found me reading. "Mom, I will be quiet. Can I sit in the chair and read books?" Of course! So he sat down and read. 5 Books! For nearly an hour! This is unheard of in our home. He proudly colored in three of his circles on the Summer reading card and smiled at his accomplishment.
I think this Summer is going to turn out just fine! Alive with learning.

Ebay is My Friend

After much deliberation on my part, I have decided my curriculum for the Fall. Believe me this is half the battle. Knowing what I want to teach my kids. You see I have these thoughts in my head of what I want our home school to be like. Things like what subjects, how much seat work, how much hands-on, field trips and reading real books. I also have ideas about what I want their heart towards learning to look like. I want them to love learning, seek out interesting things in their world, taking pride and ownership in their education. Developing Godly character. I want them to be observant of their world not tuning it out. So many of these factors I weighed and reweighed as I selected what was going to be best for MY kids. For MY second grader. For MY little girl entering Kindergarten.
Here is what I have decided-
Phonics and English- I am not against seat work for Language Arts. I feel some repetition is necessary. I feel sitting down to get key concepts of language is acceptable. For that reason I have chose BJU.
K- BJU Beginnings K5 Phonics and Reading.
2- BJU English 2
The BJU Beginnings K5 I found on Ebay as a lot and I WON! Granted I had to set my alarm and get out of bed as it closed in the wee hours of the morning. I got it for a third of the price. Woohoo!
Reading- For the boy we will be choosing together age appropriate books and literature that he will read. I am not using a formal reading for him. This approach is working fabulously for us. He has come alive in his reading, asking to read before bed and also first thing in the morning. He excitedly picks up a book and reads it. Gone the days of hating to read. Woohoo!
Science, History, Music and Social- I think it was here that I debated the most. No curriculum at all, notebooking, Mystery of History, Science Readers, experiments... My thoughts on these subjects, well, I think young learners want to get their hands dirty and naturally gravitate towards learning these subjects. I feel that strict (often boring) curriculum killed that natural curiosity. So I decided early on I was NOT going to do a set textbook. I debated about what to do. Random subjects of interest. Simple Science Readers(we are going to use these as readers for reading. ) Nature Hikes. Notebooking. I have to say until the end of this school year, Notebooking was a foreign concept to me. Yet at the core of it I feel it can be a huge blessing to ones schooling. I know we will use this in the Fall, not yet sure to what degree, but it will be included. Also, Narration. Narration is also a new concept for me but I love the reinforcement it produces. It too struck a cord of YES! This too will be used. But as for the overall package I finally found that when my friend placed in my hands a Konos Character book- Volume One. It is exactly what I was looking for.
Science, History, Music, Social, Arts, Bible, Character Development, Living Books and Field Trips mesh together for a hands-on, exciting and interesting learning experience. Another bonus, a couple of other families will be joining us on our learning adventures. As there are co-op activities, we will do some of these together. Building life-long relationships and memories. I found all three Konos volumes along with helps on Ebay as a lot. I'm telling you Ebay is my friend. I got a really great deal. Another great bonus, the seller of the Konos Lot has taken me under her wing. Answering my questions and encouraging me to boot.
Math- We will use Saxon 2 for the boy. We used K and 1 previously and Saxon works for him. I have Saxon on my Ebay watch list, I'm waiting for a deal. Little girl will be using BJU Math K5. She completed Saxon K this past year and I do not want to move her ahead to Saxon 1. I know how intense it can be so we will wait until next year to use Saxon 1 with her. I feel the BJU K5 will engage her and challenge her without going overboard.

Needless to say, I am excited about the upcoming school year. Now I just need to be patient as I await the arrival of my Ebay steals. They are on their way....Woohoo!

Oh yeah, lastly, I will be going through Educating the Whole Hearted Child, as a study with other moms over the Summer.

Birdhouse Gourds

Yesterday, we rode bikes over to my parents. The boy on the tag-along. Which was nice as he did most of the peddling since I am just a bit sore from the Tri.
The kids painted gourds that were dried and made into birdhouses. DD- painted hers pink with glitter and orange dots. DS- Orange with glitter dots and a green bottom. Last minute details still need to be made and then later in the week they will be sealed. I will have to post finished pictures.

Here is little girl painting hers.

Stanley Cup Marathon Game

Donned in red my son, husband and I settled in for a highly anticipated 5th game.
The boy took a nap in the afternoon so that he would be able to stay up for the whole game. Little did we know that the whole game would go into the next day and beyond.
Halfway through the first overtime the boy excused himself to bed. He fought so hard to stay up, stretching out on the couch and glancing up every now and then to watch the action.
At the end of the first overtime, my husband and I were both fading fast. He looks at me and said, "Wake me up when play is back on." I woke up myself halfway through the second overtime. My contacts were beginning to gum up and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I finished watching 2 OT and then resumed my catnap status. Start of the 3rd OT I did my best to keep my eyes open. The game was great. The result disappointing. As the Pittsburgh Penguins scored on a Power Play. Which I was awake to see. I woke hubby up with the score. He disappointedly gathered his stuff and made it to bed.
I am one tired girl this morning.

Let's Go Redwings!

Hawk I 2008

Well, I did it!
I completed the Hawk I Tri 2008.
400meter Swim, 16K Bike and 5K Run.

The last 2 months have been really difficult for me to train. With hubby gone as much as he has been, it was hard to get out to bike and run. So this year, I was simply thrilled to finish. I kept moving and didn't stop. My time was nothing spectacular. I may have even been last for my age group. The funny thing is that I am not discouraged by this. Training has merit and I will do my best to train properly in the future.
But for now, I simply revel in the fact that I finished.