We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto...

Yes, it's a shock for your eyes. I'm branching out.

I'll probably be back to my "happy color" - blue - before you know it, but I'm really in a Fall mood. Leaves are swirling, my pumpkin spice candle is sending a warm, cozy smell through the house, and my crock-pot is in frequent use again :0)

Not that anyone is hanging on MY every word, but... I probably won't be posting much of anything in the next week or so. Friday is "Tonsil Day" and I'm told I'll probably be, well, a wreck for awhile. Please pray that all will go well and my recovery will be quick!

Many thanks...

Julie

DI-GES-TION!

We've been studying the Human Body, this month, in science. Just an overview (or, as Tate would say, "an interview".)

Believe me, at the rate we've been going - covering a major body system each DAY (skeletal, muscular, respiratory, etc.) - we're not exactly ready for medical school. My goal was to introduce several of the systems to the boys, and for them to begin to appreciate how complex their bodies are.

We certainly take our health for granted!

I think the highlight, for the boys anyway, was our brief look at the digestive system. Of course, with three boys, anything that includes the word "feces" is immediately interesting and wildly funny. Throw Tate's hearing loss into the mix, and we've had some minor "crossed wires" between the aforementioned, and our discussions of Martin Luther and the 95 THESES, but I digest...


The highlight... that's what I was talking about...

We measured our digestive systems (don't you wonder HOW?) and made models of them. In the top picture, the boys are each holding their own model, straightened out, to show the lengths. The various colors of yarn represent the different parts of the digestive tract. The first (small) red section is the mouth, the blue is the esophagus, the yellow is the stomach, the green is the small intestine, and the last red is the large intestine.

Not content just to extend their models and look at the length, the boys decided to "shape" their models like the real thing. Wyatt decided to stretch out next to his, for a comparison, but Tate and Gunnar thought it would be even better to "model" their models!

Shiny purple hair

Happily celebrating the end of the soccer season...

Fictionary #9

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who
doesn't get it.

*sigh*

To FM or not to FM... #7

It's another soccer Saturday - our LAST week of outdoor soccer until Spring... Hallelujah!

When Tate was younger we used his FM at every soccer game. Let's face it, he can't hear the coach calling in instructions, he often can't hear his teammates calling to each other, he certainly can't hear me cheering for him, and even the ref's whistle (blown softly, because there are so many fields so close together) may not hit his radar.

But as Tate has grown older he's more likely to prefer NOT to wear his FM for soccer. He will, sometimes. You can see it in the pics :0)


I watch him play, and he is constantly checking on the location of other players, always watching where the ball is in play, and usually aware of the referee. I think, just perhaps, he is tired of me distracting him. (I'm not micro-coaching... really!)

And he's had some funny FM experiences...


At one point, when he was still at public school, his teacher mentioned to me that he had been turning his FM off. She took it as defiance - as "I don't want to listen to you." And, to be fair, he has done that to me.... just glared at me and clicked his HA off. But when I asked Tate about it, he told me that he got tired of hearing her talk to other kids. I think she was forgetting to turn her end off when the class was working quietly and she was circulating.

She was also forgetting to turn it off at other times... she would drop the class off in the library and sometimes would forget to hand it off. Tate would be trying to listen to the librarian read a story, and his teacher would head to the bathroom, and then the teacher's lounge! "Mom, I hear her talking to other grown-ups!"

Oops.

Fictionary #8

Because it seemed to go along with the post below...

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

Where the little people live

Does something seem wrong here?

Very wrong.

Bad design. Bad, bad, design.

I'm not just saying this because my husband is an architect... but really, people, sometimes you need to hire a professional to help you!

If you need a laugh, just spend a moment over at the "It's Lovely, I'll Take It" blog... this woman has collected a pictures that actually appeared on real estate listings. Some are bad design, some are just bad photos. Pretty interesting, what's out there.

Did they really think this picture would make anyone want to buy this place?

Handsome, or what?!

Just a day in the life, people... just a day in the life...

We were invited to a fancy-schmancy lunch in Seattle, last Saturday - a wedding reception for my uncle. The boys decided that they WANTED to wear ties... I suppose it's a novelty, since we don't make them dress up to that extent for church.







We met their cousins, also decked out in their loveliest :0), and all five of them on their best behavior, at this adult affair. I'm really proud of them!

They mingled with a roomful of adult strangers, ate a nice lunch without getting any of it on their shirts or ties (or dresses), and played fairly quietly on the enclosed deck during a long stretch of speeches. There WAS a momentary "lapse of judgment" at one point, involving a large outdoor propane heater and some long ornamental grasses, which I won't go into, but Mike put a quick stop to THAT, and all went on peacefully.


Uncle Dave with Wyatt... who was intrigued with the "Open Bar" concept, and the possiblity of taking advantage of a seemingly unlimited supply of caffeinated beverages. But mean old mom put a limit on his intake :0)

Mr. Tate was also in fine form!



















Gunnar is such a charmer. This picture really doesn't do him justice. My cousin and I were just cracking up, watching him so completely enjoy a bowl of ice cream, while taking great care not to get any on his shirt or tie. Way to go, my little gentleman!

More from the Locks

More pics... just because I like these handsome guys :0)



Here are the boys, at the Locks. looking like they are all behaving...


but look closer...

So typical!












In the next pic, Kerry managed to get a picture of Wyatt and Tate, BEFORE Tate could make a funny face. Wyatt looks a bit mischievous, but Tate looks like quite the young man!









I was on the other side, with Tate, when Kerry took this picture of Gunnar. WHAT WAS HE THINKING? Is that MY BABY leaning through the railing, over the water, draining from the Locks?! Aaaaaarrrrgh!

Here we are, coming out of the viewing room, for the fish ladder, with the spillway behind us.

The Locks

While we were in Seattle last Sunday we decided to stop at the Locks - the Hiram Chittenden Locks. Bonus round... it's a field trip!

We saw a full cycle of moving boats up and down through the locks. Lake Washington is about 20 feet above sea level... well, depends on the tide, I suppose, but it's a significant difference. We were amazed at the quantity of water and how quickly they managed to fill and empty the locks.


These first three pictures show the boats entering from the higher lake side. The green slime line on the wall shows the high-water mark.

In this second picture you can see the water level has dropped almost to it's lowest.







Then in this third picture, the boats are exiting the locks, heading out for Puget Sound.

There is also a fish ladder... we didn't get any good pics. Not many fish there, anyway. Most of the salmon came through more than a month ago. We saw just 4 or 5 Coho that were probably not the sharpest tacks in the box...

Not only were the locks themselves interesting, directly downstream is a train trestle that is a drawbridge. While we were there it had to be lowered for the Amtrak and then a freight train to pass, but raised for a tall ship to come through and enter the Locks. Very cool!

Soccer Saturday... again

I haven't posted many pictures... haven't gotten organized enough to sort through the really great ones my dad and sister have taken. But here is a sample of Kerry's (point and shoot), until I get more motivated... or more free time, whichever comes first. *sigh*

Here is Wyatt, nicknamed "The Wrecking Ball" by his coach, because he can swing from one side of the field to the other and "destroy" the other team's "attacks" before they can build. That kid is FAST! He has probably just stolen the ball from the boy in orange and is outrunning him, to turn the ball and send it back upfield. Wyatt usually plays defense. He takes it very personally if anyone gets by him, and is highly motivated to keep the ball out of the goal... sometimes even away from the goalie.



What Tate lacks in speed, he makes up in momentum. And actually, he has picked up a LOT of speed and stamina in the last year. He said to me, "Mom, before, when a player got by me with the ball, I used to just stop running and hope that the goalie, or someone else would stop him. But now I keep chasing him and get the ball away from him." No kidding! Tate likes to play defense or "mid" - which allows him to range over almost the entire field. Though his speed and agility have improved, he still plays a pretty physical game. Tate is a force to be reckoned with!








Gunnar has probably shown the most improvement this season, of my three boys. Of course, he has the farthest to go... We have been thrilled to see him actually going for the ball, even when an opponent has control of it (!), and following the play, rather than just kicking it and letting it go. He has been much more confident this year about getting right into the fray. Like his brothers, he is a dedicated defensive player. Although they don't really have goalies at this level (BU7), he likes to play defense, and does pretty well at it! Still, Gunnar primarily likes to play just because he likes to play... with his friends. You'll often see him cheering for his teammates and running up for a high five, or even a hug, after a good play. :0)

Frenzied moments...

That's how this week and the last have felt... like frenzied moments. Not the way I like things to be! We are winding up our fall soccer season, with a sigh of relief. The boys LOVE to play. And I love that they love to play, and I love watching them. But I also really kind of like it, when it all stops! We have SEVEN practices this week, three end-of-season parties, (two of which I was in charge of), the class at church on Tuesday evening, AWANA on Wednesday evening, my (once a month) book club, and - of course - homeschooling, grocery shopping, and the other normal miscellany of life.

I'm am feeling a bit pressured to get a lot done before I have my tonsils out. I don't want to be a big baby about this, but I've heard some rather unpleasant personal experiences. I'm trying to be "stocked up", and get everything planned out like I did when I was going to have a baby!

Overkill? Maybe...

At any rate, here is my littlest cutie-pie, all decked out for "Blue Night" at AWANA. It was HIS idea to spray his hair blue. You probably can't see the glittery sparkles in the picture. The blue washed out of his hair pretty easily, but the sparkles lingered...

Sunday School Kids #5

How do we find out what God wants us to do?

Pray, or take (talk) to him.
Read the Bible and ask him.
We can pray about it.
You can talk to God by praying
Ask him.
Praying
See ten commandments

(That last one is my favorite answer... right to the point!)

This is not a political blog...

I. Voted. Today.


For me, at least, "it is finished". While I greatly appreciate the right to vote (!!!), I am heartily sick of the whole election process. That said, my mom and I would like to suggest a plan. (Mom, I added a couple of items...)


* Each politician running for office gets a spending cap, that corresponds to the level of government they are trying to achieve (ie the presidential candidates get to spend more than the prospective mayor of Podunk-ville).

* The candidates get TWO MONTHS to run their campaigns. They can advertise, bicker, put up yard signs, and kiss babies to their hearts' content, in September and October ONLY.

* All phone calls on behalf of candidates will be clearly identified as such on Caller ID.

* There will be a (political) media blackout for the first few days of November, to let the people reflect, and sift what they have heard.

* Then we vote.

* Each party gets TWO DAYS to scurry around taking down all the signs and billboards. They get fined for any they miss. A LOT.

But in other news...

Yeah, the Doctor appointment I mentioned?

The ENT and I have a date...

I will be relieved of my disgusting, constantly infected, and painful tonsils on

HALLOWEEN.

Prayers are gratefully accepted. More than that... I'm begging. Please pray for me.

This week...

What a WEEK! I know, this means much less to you than to me, but I'm tempted to list, here, the events of the week, because it's a whopper. How about one DAY, then? Tuesday...

7am The boys have been up and going for almost half an hour, and we all eat breakfast together.
7:30 I get all the school stuff ready for the day, and make a few copies of the skeletal system to label.
8am Or something like it... we start school. We are trying to get all our work done (Bible, grammar, handwriting, journals, math, reading and science) before lunch, because that's when things start to spin...
1pm We have a late lunch, and then
1:30 Tate and I zip up to the school for Sign Language class
2:00 Tate wants to walk home alone (big boy!) which is great because I have to get to a...
2:30 Dr. appointment, with the ENT (more later), and the grocery store, and get home in time for
4:30 Tate practices on one field, and Gunnar practices at a different location, until...
5:30 We rush home, get all the sweaty boys showered and dressed, then (a treat!)
6pm We leave the house, and eat dinner OUT (!) at Arby's, on our way to
7pm Church, for a 5-week class we are taking. The kids get to play games with a bunch of other kids. This gets done at
8:15... or 8:30 And the boys are wound up, and it's a 20 minute drive home to get the boys calmed, teeth-brushed, jammied, and IN BED!

That is NOT how I normally choose to live life!

And here's the irony... I was asked to speak at a MOPS group this morning (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), and the topic had to do with lies we believe. One of them being, "There's not enough time to do all the things I need to do". So I had been mulling this over, for the last few days, because I constantly feel like this. (I want a secretary! Ha ha ha....) But the TRUTH is, there is always enough time for what GOD wants me to do today. There may NOT be enough time for things that I think I should do, or that other people think I should do, but there's enough time for HIS plan.

So, frankly, Tuesday alarmed me. But guess what? It went great :0) His agenda.

Sunday School Kids #4

If you died today, and God met you at the entrance to heaven and said, “Why should I let you in?” What would you say?

Because I am a cristien.
Because I am a chritan
I don’t deserve it.
I am a Christian and I should get Eturnall life in heaven because many, many years ago you said so!
You should chose! Becase you are the hevanly farther! But I am a Christian and I think, I think yes, but I know I don’t diserve it. Sordove!

The thankful list... #6

Tate is normal. And he is very, very Hard of Hearing.

Some of my new friends, with much littler HoH kiddos, have left questions or comments about how he does in activities, school, or sports with regular hearing kids.

In a word, great :0)

I was pretty naive when he got diagnosed, and didn't worry about a lot of things that might have caused me alarm. I just assumed he would be able to do well at whatever he wanted. There have been challenges, to be sure, but he's a trooper! Of course, as a mom I'm always second-guessing. Am I pushing too hard? Am I giving him too much slack? Are my expectations fair? Am I babying him? But then, Tate being the middle boy is a good thing, because he's right in there with his brothers :0)

It helps that his favorite sport is soccer, which (at least with little boys) doesn't involve a lot of communication on the field! And it helps that he has two brothers who don't treat him any differently than anyone else. And it really helps that he is so, well, Tate. He's just one of my boys :0) This is what I wrote, a few weeks ago, to one of the moms...


Yes, Tate and his brothers are pretty normal... whatever that is. ;-)

They think burping is a competitive sport, make it their mission in life to dismantle my living room and my sanity, and 'work' in dirt the way some artists work in oils. They all play soccer, avoid vegetables, and wiggle and squirm in church, when they don't fall asleep on my shoulder. They think that 3 or 4 hours a day of homeschool is cruel and unusual punishment, but the 18 hours of daylight in summer is impossibly short ("Mom, the day just went by in a whizz-buzz!")

For the most part, Tate does it all just fine. But sometimes he needs a little more support. Mostly it's me that needs to not take for granted that he is "getting" everything, and to be patient with repeating and explaining.

Little things make all the difference. Like waiting until the squeaky screen door finishes closing before I say whatever I need to say. Or repeating things in a different way, rather than just saying the same thing he didn't get the first time.

And here's one you might not realize yet - making sure that he 'gets' even the language that is NOT directed at him. That's how we learn a LOT of our language and vocabulary - by overhearing things that are not always said TO us. If the other kids can overhear it, Tate deserves to be able to hear it too. The hardest time for this is in the car. My husband and I will be in the front talking to each other, and the other boys can hear us (but don't care). And Tate can tell we're talking but can't make out what we're saying because of all the road noise, and gets really frustrated.

Oh my, I have really developed a "projecting" voice! And enunciating my words clearly! (Okay, really, I'm getting to have a voice like a foghorn sometimes and have to remember who I'm with and where I am!)

Oh, I too am VERY thankful for the technology of this day and age! Woo-hoo! I LOVE Tate's HA! Probably not as much as he does :0)

Also, the school provided an FM for use there, and we have a personal FM (at home) as well. Don't use it much now that we are home-schooling, but on outings it's a huge benefit. Bike rides can be scary because with the wind whistling in his HA and the helmet buffering traffic sounds I really worry - so we use the FM. Or if we're in a big crowded space (like visiting the Science Center) I can get his attention from across the room. And soccer! Tate couldn't hear the coach or the referee, so we started using the FM for soccer. Now I have to discipline myself not to 'micro-coach' him!

Tate has been losing hearing since we discovered his loss. There were clues earlier - disinterested in me reading to him (too quiet) and videos (because I always kept the volume low), but really he was coping so well, we couldn't tell he had hearing loss until I realized he couldn't talk (hear!) on the phone.

Also, he was a wanderer. Not that he would run away from me (defiance) but he would just launch out. Who knows if that's just his confident personality or due to not being engaged in what was going on because he wasn't hearing it well enough.

We use a combination of WHATEVER WORKS for communication. I guess there can be REALLY strong opinions out in the deaf community regarding communication choices, but my 'm.o.' is WHATEVER IS WORKING!

We had actually been doing a little bit of signing long before we realized Tate was HoH. I had a friend who did it with her kids, and it just eliminated a whole lot of whining and pointing. Worked for my kids too. They could sign "more" or "milk" or "all done" long before they could say those things. I think we used: please, thank you, water, milk, sorry, more, all done, and just 3 or 4 more, really. But it helped.

What we do isn't really ASL or SEE, but more of "sign supported speech". Tate does really well with his HA in a quiet environment. Of course, he is lip- and face-reading a LOT. But in a noisy environment or at a distance we try to throw some signs in there with the words to give him more clues. When your kiddo hears English word order, it's confusing to do ASL word order. But I don't use all the SEE sign word modifiers.

We were camping last weekend and he was running around in big clunky (cracked and leaky!) rain boots. I was trying to call to him to come get his shoes but he had no idea. If you say "shoe", "you", "too", "do", "chew"... your face looks about the same. But all I had to do was sign "come" and "shoes" with the words, and he was right there.

Things I am REALLY thankful for:

* Tate doesn't seem to have any self-consciousness about his HA or hearing loss.

* I haven't known about any instances of him being teased. There have been some children who were less than tactful in asking about the HA and what's going on, but they weren't really mean-spirited, just clueless.

* When he first got HA's (he used to wear two) I was worried that he would randomly take them out and lose them. Apparently some kids do. But once he got used to them he NEVER wanted them out!

* And - Bonus Round! - he's my best sleeper. Take the HA out and turn the lights off and Tate is just gone. He slept through a four hour electrical storm, the likes of which I have never seen before in this state!

* Though it took awhile, (later than my first child), Tate has become an excellent reader. This is HUGE for HoH/Deaf kids because it keeps them exposed to good language, vocabulary, grammar, etc. I read recently that the average reading level for deaf ADULTS in America is third grade. Not good. And even for graduates of Gallaudet, the average was a seventh grade reading level. Still not very good. We REALLY do a lot of reading :0) I prayed and prayed for him to learn to read, because he struggled with it. Don't know if that is a 'deaf' issue with him, or - again - just a Tate issue.

* Tate is one of the most persistent, persevering, hard-working people I have ever known. Well, darn it, he's just plain stubborn and bull-headed sometimes (!) but I'm looking at the bright side.

* And I love his sense of humor. Gets us all through rough spots.

But oh my, the NOISE. Tate is a boy of noise. He truly believes that making all sorts of sound-effect noises is a gift, straight from God. At least Tate is never hard to find. You can nearly always hear him.

You will have an interesting life :0)

God bless,

Julie




It also helps that Tate embraces life with uncontainable exuberance!

Susannah Wesley

On one of the blogs I check in with at times there was a conversation about child discipline. I left a comment which mentioned dealing differently with childish foolishness and mistakes, as opposed to defiance. So, anyone not in on that conversation (and not interested!) can pass this right by, but for anyone who cares, the ideas was expressed by Susannah Wesley (mother of SEVENTEEN - including John and Charles Wesley) like this:


In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will, and bring them into an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must with children proceed by slow degrees as they are able to bear it; but the subjecting of the will is a thing which must be done at once, and the sooner the better!

For by neglecting timely correction, they will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy, which is hardly ever after conquered, and never without using such severity as would be painful to me as to the children. In the esteem of the world, those who withhold timely correction would pass for kind and indulgent parents, whom I call cruel parents, who permit their children to get habits, which they know must afterward be broken. Nay, some are so stupidly fond as in sport to teach their children to do things, which in the after while, they must severely beat them for doing.

Whenever a child is corrected it must be conquered; and this will be no hard matter to do, if it be not grown headstrong by too much indulgence. And, if the will of a child is totally subdued, and if it be brought to revere and stand in awe of the parents, then a great many childish follies and inadvertencies may be passed by. Some should be overlooked and taken no notice of, and others mildly reproved. But no willful transgressions ought ever to be forgiven children, without chastisement, more or less as the nature and circumstances of the offense shall require.

I cannot dismiss this subject. As self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after wretchedness and faithlessness. Whatever checks and mortifies, promotes their future happiness and piety. This is still more evident if we further consider that Christianity is nothing less than doing the will of God, and not our own; that the one grand impediment to our temporal and eternal happiness being this self-will. No indulgence of it can be trivial, no denial unprofitable.


Not exactly anything like what you'll hear at most parenting classes or forums today!

Soccer Saturday

As usual, for our family at this time of year, all the boys played soccer on Saturday. Of course, sign ups are in balmy, lovely, sunny July. The boys are excited, we look forward to cheering our kids on, chatting with the other parents, and picnicking between games, out at the soccer fields.

We must be delusional.

Because what we most often get is rain. Or wind. Or both. We huddle under umbrellas when it's not too windy to use them, proudly wear our "team color" underneath our raincoats, and try to dry out our soggy feet in the car, while we eat lukewarm macaroni and cheese from a thermos between games.

Let me just clarify that these pictures were NOT taken yesterday. Bringing a camera was the last thing on my mind yesterday.

I thought I would be smart and just send Kerry with Wyatt because he had an early game. For whatever reason, it always seems to be 10 degrees colder at the soccer field than it is at my house.

But the weather was just fine! Okay, cloudy, but no wind or rain. Wyatt's team lost, which is frustrating for reasons I won't go into, but we're focusing on being gracious winners and gracious losers, so it's a good training opportunity and he seemed to handle it well.

Gunnar and Tate's games were much later, and back to back. And the wind was rising. Gunnar's team actually plays four mini-games rather than one hour-long game. The "home" team gets to stay put, but the "away" team has to rotate from field to field. We were the "away" team. The funny thing is that the "home" teams get to choose which end of the field they want to play, and not one of the four teams we played had figured out that kicking INTO the wind is a disadvantage. Oh well, whoever said 7-year-olds were big on strategy? We'll take whatever help we can get!

Gunnar did really well - played where he was supposed to play, paid attention to where the ball was, kicked it more than once at a time (!), and even had "breakaway" and would've scored... if yet another teammate hadn't enthusiastically "helped" him. *sigh* But he didn't complain :0) Nobody officially keeps score at this level, but I'm pretty sure they won 3 and either tied or won the 4th. I was a little distracted.

We went right from Gunnar's game over to Tate's field. They were playing a team that beat them two weeks ago. (Tate's team had a double-header, and played this team second.)

The wind came up, the rain came down, and it was - dare I say it - MISERY! But I think Tate's team, the "Jaguars", may actually play their finest under rotten conditions. It was raining so hard, and blowing so hard, it actually felt like hail. It was hard to look into the wind. Tate never even subbed out. I'm sure he was tired, but all that running kept him warm. I've never seen him play better, and told him so :0)

They managed to finish their game, in spite of two dads having to hold down the goal the other team was defending, after it blew over twice (!), and won :0) Again, winning isn't everything, but it was fun to beat a team we had lost to, and even more fun to see the boys really playing a fine game.


Kerry managed to get a parking space right next to the field. When the rain began, we bundled Wyatt and Gunnar into the 4Runner.

By the second half of the game, Kerry joined them.


Therefore, I am presenting myself, and all the other soccer moms (including the one who wore FLIP FLOPS - you know who you are) this prestigious award:

Sunday School Kids #3

God is always… (give me three things)

Powrfle, strong, and unbtebl
He’s all powerful, He died on the cross
Right, omnipotent, omnipresent
God is always good, truthful, true
Loving, kind, caring
Listening, waching, working, loving, magnefaset, powerfull.
Kind, forgiveing, loving, careing
Almity and wonderful

Hearry Maids are cool... #5

If Tate has been teased about HA's or his hearing loss, I'm not aware of it. I haven't seen it happen and he has never mentioned it to me. I guess, if he HAS been teased he either isn't aware of it, or it was just water off a duck's back. There was a girl in Wyatt's kindergarten class that asked him repeatedly why he wore those blue "earrings"... ironically, a girl who wore glasses, but couldn't make the connection. But she wasn't mean - just not terribly bright or tactful.


I'm thankful that once Tate adjusted to the HA's, there was no turning back. We didn't have to put cords and clips on them, because he didn't WANT to take them out, and he was old enough not to chew on them :0)

In fact, at our house, "Hearry Maids" are COOL. And if you don't have your own, we'll make you some!

Listen to the birds and bees...

I mentioned this in an earlier post, and went looking and found the link. If you are interested in trying to identify birds or bugs you have heard, or want to know what a particular one sounds like, or just want to listen to some interesting nature sounds, try these:

Bird Songs

Bugs, Birds, and other assorted noises

Orca whales

Learn to recognize different pods



Have fun :0)

Cute....

It was Weird Hair Night at AWANA.

Yes, Gunnar got a point.

He's now also sporting a "Hiker" patch and a silver crown with a jewel. (And, yes, still wearing his cast/brace, for one more week.)

Yeaaaa, Gunnar!

More spiders...

Yes, the boys are STILL all about spiders. I thought we were done, but apparently, they didn't. Especially since Kerry saw one of those frighteningly huge (but probably harmless) Giant House Spiders on the wall of his office. He quickly called the official spider catcher: Tate.

After catching it, the boys decided they needed a crane fly, to feed to the spider. Now, there are two spiders in the jar, who are trying very hard to avoid each other, and the remains of the crane fly. Yuck.

Trouble is, the Giant House Spider (harmless) and the Hobo Spider (less common, but not so harmless) look very much alike to mere mortals, like me. Yikes.

BUT, here's the saving grace to this...

We are also reading about Japan, for our history, this week. So the boys have composed these Haiku. About spiders.

Huge hairy spider
He pounces, he bites, he eats
A gruesome display.

The boys all wrote that one together, with Wyatt contributing the last line. He then declared that line "copyrighted" and wrote another Haiku, on his own:

"Jumping Spider"
He stalks a crane fly
He lunges, then he lunches
A gruesome display.

Wyatt also wrote this one:

"Brown Spider"
It seems he's tired
He doesn't move very much
Except when he's scared.

And the boys, together, (mostly Tate) wrote:

Big furry spider
Lying in wait on the wall,
Now caught in my jar.