Thanksgiving At My House

I'm not saying I was busy, hosting thirteen people and cooking a 22# bird or anything, but I didn't take many photos on the day.

Okay... there's the bird.

It was fabulous, and there are lots of leftovers.  Win-win.

Everyone brings part of the meal, everyone gets along, couldn't ask for more, right?

So much to be thankful for!

And one of the many things I'm thankful for?  A young man with a sense of humor about his hearing loss.  Want to know one of the more obscure advantages to cochlear implants?

  You can stick things to the magnets on your head...

... like the little Christmas-tree-ornament-birds that Aunty Tami brought.

That definitely tops hanging spoons from your nose.

Tate, for the win.

From the Mind of Tate

So I've been cleaning out.

I'm good at getting rid of things.  Things I wonder why on earth I ever saved.

Like all the boys' baby teeth.  (Ewwww!)

Here's the funny part - Tate wrote letters to the Tooth Fairy, negotiating for a prize.  Because at our house the Tooth Fairy was pretty much a cheapskate ;D




12-12-07
(Tate lost his first molar and a bigger tooth must be more valuable, right?  Still, best to be subtle.)

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I've always wished they were selling Howitzers the size of my soldiers.
Sincerely, Tate

Ooo, I see what you did there.  You remembered the Store Rule.

I had a rule for the kids when we were shopping:
If you ask for things you Do Not Get Them.
But you can admire them, and then I know what you like ;D

But, yah, the Tooth Fairy couldn't find any little tiny plastic-soldier-size Howitzers, either.




10-17-08
(Spending the night at Aunty Tami's house.)

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I just lost TWO teeth today!  One is at my house, and one is right here.  You could give me BOTH tooth's prizes, or one tonight and one tomorrow.  If you give me both today, be sure to leave a note.
From, Tate

You know, to make sure he got ALL the prizes.




?  2008
(Ooo!  Even more sophisticated!)

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I've been trying to earn money.  Since I know it's just a joke, since my friends say you gave them $20 or $30, I would only prefer $1.
Tate

Oh, that was masterful.  See?  I'm not greedy like Those Other People.  I only want ONE DOLLAR.

Because the usual quarter-a-tooth wasn't getting him to that new Lego kit fast enough. ;D

That Explains Everything

Gunnar and I were out for a walk this week.  Took a trail we hadn't before and ended up on a street we hadn't walked before.  Still, I had a good idea where we were (big picture), and within a couple of minutes we were back on course.

Gunnar told me,

Mom, inside your head there's an organized map with an orderly grid.

Inside Dad's head, it's a Salvador Dali painting.

Happy Fourth of July :D

From my parents' deck

Don't know if I'll take my camera along this time,

so in case I don't,

here are a few from recent Independence Day celebrations :D

You've got to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4,

not with a parade of guns, tanks and soldiers

who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle,

but with family picnics

where kids throw frisbees,

the potato salad gets iffy,

and the flies die from happiness.

You may think you have overeaten,

but it's patriotism.

- Erma Bombeck

That's Educational... Homeschool Moments

It's a rainy Tuesday and it's time for Biology, so what do you do?

Dissect a frog, of course.

While the raindrops stream down the window.

*sigh*

Looks like he's enjoying it.

More rain... 

That's a photinia bush, in case you wondered.

The new leaves are red.

And... we have a female frog.

Those are eggs.

Lots and lots of eggs.

And that's the last dissection of this round of Biology.

He's done an enormous earthworm, a fish, a crawdad,

and now a frog.

Go, Tate, go :D

Yesterday, with the sun shining, I sent him up to the pond to do his Field Study.

Besides his written description, he brought me this fabulous duck picture...

Yes, it's spring, and the males are competing for females ;D

One more week, and then spring break.

Woo-hoo!

And how's your schooling going? 

Cleaning Out...

Cleaning out my office I found some old notes from when I had my tonsils out in 2008.

The boys would've been this age - I think 7, 9, and 12.

So (back in 2008), I was recovering and feeling pretty rotten.  Kerry was stressed and snapping at the kids.  It was pouring and they were stuck inside all day, having too much screen time and not enough fresh air.

It was a bad day.

Wyatt and Tate were playing something on the computer and I heard this:

Taaaaaaate!  (long whine)

This is all your fault!  You made me lose all my coins!  (pause)

I wish I could say a bad word right now.

The Re-Weirds of Parenting

One of Gunnar's writing assignments is to write a very short children's story containing four basic elements.  A main character (or two), a problem the main character has, the solution to the problem, and an ending.  Very basic.  Very formulaic.  Fine.  No problem.  The book (Writing Strands) used an example of a frog whose tongue had lost its stickiness, and suggested the student write about an animal.  (Always a win with little kids.)

Gunnar thought for a moment, looking out the window at the feeder and then said (very innocently),

"I know, Mom, I'll write about The Squirrel Who Lost His Nuts."

Um, Gunnar?  You might want to rethink that.

Found On My Ironing Board

Thank you, Tate, and I'll patch that for you.

Re-weirds of Parenting

Do Not Use A Glass Jar As A Hammer

Statement #68363957 that I never thought I would have to say.

SAHM

Yah, sure I'm a stay-at-home-mom.  (Which makes about as much sense as baby sitter.  Did you ever see anyone taking care of little kids who got to do much sitting?  But I digress...)

Today I'm a SAHM that feels a lot more like little Billy, from Family Circus.

If you could see my footprints today... good grief!  So, for your entertainment, here is a day in the life of a SAHM:

1. Home - good morning!  Finish school (for the year) for Tate and Gunnar by 9am - woo-hoo!
2. Credit Union (bank) - cash check and exchange a pound or two of quarters from homeschool sale last weekend
3. Value Village - drop off two boxes of homeschool sale leftovers that aren't worth the effort of trying to sell and/or ship.
4. Costco - be at the door when they open to avoid the hordes that cross the border to shop here.
5. Walmart - desperately need to replenish a few grocery items and Liquid Fence - a disgusting and pungent aromatic blend, with notes of half-digested garlic, rotten eggs, and foot odor that has thus far managed to protect a few plants from the deer.
6. Home - repackage and freeze two bags of chicken tenders, four pork roasts, and 20# of ground beef.  Clean the counter.  Clean it again.
7. Little Caesar's - two pizza's, ten bucks.  Feeds three hungry, growing boys and two adults.
8. Home - eat.  Brush teeth.  Definitely.
9. Doctor's office - Wyatt passed his flight medical and is the proud possessor of a Class 3 Student Pilot's License.  Woo-hoo!
10. Home - do a few dishes.
11. Lake P Park - Wyatt is meeting his team-mates at the site of next week's triathlon.  They're doing it as a relay and need to scope out the route and strategize.
12. Home.  Breathe in and out :D
13. CAP - deliver boy(s) to CAP.  Pick up SOP for Gunnar so he can begin memory work, preparatory for joining next month.  Next month!
14. Hardware store - Kerry needs a new saw blade.  And apparently a book.
15. Grocery store - I need cabbage and green onions for a salad I'm making for the party this weekend.  And yes, it's my birthday too ;D
16. Home.  For real.  I begged Kerry (actually I didn't have to beg) to pick up the boys at the end of CAP tonight, as I think I'll be in bed before they're home!

And now, to watch an episode of Dirty Jobs with Gunnar, and then TO BED!

In Which the Boys are Thrilled to be Victims

Nope, we're not raising them to be professional whiners.  They were over-the-moon excited to volunteer to pose as victims for a local CERT class' (Community Emergency Response Team) final exam.  Given our location on the Pacific Rim, the scenario is often an earthquake.  The students have a time frame in which they are supposed to locate all the victims, triage them, and treat as many as possible.

Wyatt and Tate have been on the other side of this, with their Search and Rescue training, so it was a lot of fun for them.  And Gunnar was thrilled to be allowed to participate, too.  In fact, they had several kids acting as victims.

So -  warning!  - avert your eyes if you're squeamish!

Don't these guys look kind of happy to be sporting injuries like those?

The students are supposed to triage the victims into four classes.
Green victims have non-life threatening injuries and can wait.  Gunnar was a green victim - scrapes, minor cuts, and bruises.  He got a blanket and a pat on the head (comfort).

Yellow victims have injuries that could become life-threatening if not attended to soon.
Red victims have immediately life-threatening injuries and will die soon, if you don't do something.
I think Wyatt and Tate were both in the red category.  Tate was given a head injury and a concussion and was told to act dazed and disoriented.

Wyatt had a large nail embedded in his chest.

Black victims are either already dead or mortally wounded, and don't get treated.  That sounds cold-hearted, but in an emergency situation with multiple victims, you treat the ones you can help.

The volunteers/students are in green, and are assembling the victims in a safe area outside the disaster zone.  I can see that Tate's head has been bandaged, but I don't see the other boys.  Gunnar was way in the back of the building and one of the last victims found, and Wyatt may be covered up at the far end.

(Gunnar corrected me - Wyatt is on the ground in front of Tate, with a gray blanket, and Gunnar is near the back, sitting up in a chair, with a white blanket.  So now you know.)

Two moulage artists came and applied the (make-up) injuries to the victims.  The boys were a bit surprised by one of them - this girl couldn't have been more than nine or ten, and did an awesome job!  She matter-of-factly presented Wyatt with a large nail and a screwdriver and said, "Which would you prefer to be impaled by?" and proceeded to do him up.  She also used a chicken bone to effectively simulate a compound fracture.  And here she is applying Gunnar's scrapes and bruises.

But what made the whole afternoon and evening  even more fun  (because what could be more fun than looking like you're about to die, right?) was that the boys went straight from the CERT class to...    youthgroup!

Good thing the couple hosting them are calm responders.  (He's an ex-firefighter and she works at the hospital.)

The boys haven't had this much fun for ages ;D

Homeschool Science

What?  It's sunny out, and I thought I was done for the day!

I can't believe you're making me write up the experiment.

Do I really have to write up every single one?

And why are you calling me a predator?

Mom, this is so dorky.

My prey is in there?

Um, I don't eat paper.

Oh!  I'm an M&M predator!

Alrighty, then.

Only thirty seconds?

Maybe mom isn't quite so dorky after all.

And I even found some of the camouflaged (green) ones.

Grasshopper Days

Grasshopper Days

For today, September 3, 2012.
Outside my window...  it's dark!  But we've had a lovely day - warm, breezy, and sunny.  A perfect day for a BBQ up at my parents'.
I am hearing...  good grief.  Why aren't the boys in bed yet?  Am I the only one in this house who can tell time?  It's a SCHOOL NIGHT, for heaven's sake!
I am thinking...  a school night?  All ready?  How on earth did that sneak up on us?
I am praying...  for the boys to grow in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and men.
I am thankful...  Kerry is still busy with work, my mom is making good progress in her recovery (knee replacement), and the boys are healthy and lively.
I am wearing...  capri jeans, blue t-shirt, flip-flops.  Amazing, I know.
I am creating...  plans, plans, plans!!!
I am going...  to love getting back into a more structured routine :D
I am reading...  Tate's science book - Apologia's General Science.
I am learning...  about scientists through history.  It's amazing.  Did you know that most of the early scientists were devout Christians?  It makes perfect sense.  If you believe in a God who is orderly, then you believe in a universe that can be studied, understood, and explained rationally.  If you believe in a multitude of capricious gods (Greeks or Romans, or Hindus) who alternately help or torment humans at their whim, then how could the world make any logical sense?
I am hoping...  for a cheerful, ambitious, bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed start to a new school year.
In the kitchen...  hmmm, I'll think about that tomorrow?
In the learning rooms...  something old (curriculum we've been using and passing down from boy to boy) and something new (some new books for everyone!), something borrowed (Sonlight's Eastern Hemisphere core - thanks Colleen!), and lots of blue (my favorite color, but you knew that).
Around the house...  a bit of neglect - we've been outside so much!
The Mother Load...  oh my word, I'm going to forget it's Tuesday in the morning, and that means
*  CAP in the evening.  Must not forget!  Because it's going to seem like Monday.
*  Must get boys launched into the new school year.
*  Don't tell them (not likely that you would...) but I'm taking them all out for donuts, mid-morning, to celebrate back-to-school.
*  Wyatt is going to go part-time to the local high school - did I mention that before?  So he must be headed for the bus by shortly after 7am.
*  I'm bringing dinner to friends on Wednesday.
*  And we're having my niece for the weekend, arriving on Thursday.  Yes, my two-month-old niece.
*  Which means I need to have everything ready for TWO weeks of school, not just one.  I have the whole year mapped out, but generally prep the little details a week at a time.  But something tells me I may not have much free time this weekend ;D
*  Whew.  At least I don't have to child-proof the house, since she can't get into anything yet.  But I probably won't be online much, since even when I'm not distracted, she'll be sleeping in my office.
*  Anything else?  I must be forgetting something...
Noticing that...  Wyatt seems cool and collected, the night before his first day back to public school.  He laid out some jeans and a t-shirt.  Got his backpack ready.  And showered and shaved.
Something I want to remember for later...  my kids are not perfect, (and neither are their parents!) ;D  But the boys are in a good place right now.  Still in process, but we're reaping some of the rewards of years of training and discipline.  They're pretty fun to be around, y'know?
... and now that I dared to put that in print, they'll probably do something dreadful and awful and embarrassing and humiliating.  (Is that superstitious?)
Something fun to share...  my mom had printed out some pictures of Naomi to share with us, and in one of them she looks very much like Gunnar.  If she can email me the photo I'll post it later.  (I only have a print copy.)
One of my favorite things...  new beginnings.
A Bible verse...  Finally, brothers, 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.        Philippians 4:8
A few plans for the rest of the week...  well, yah, getting into the school groove, and then the baby groove.  Yah, that's all.
A peek into my world...
The boys and I were cleaning out their closet, and found this masterful work of art, produced by Tate (how many???) years ago...

Oh, nooooo!  Godzilla is attacking the city!

For My Brother...

... still a relatively new father.

Sweat. Swim. Repeat.

We've had a little heat wave, here in the Pacific Northwest.

Hold your laughter, my southern friends, because we've been sweltering up here in the 

EIGHTY-SEVEN-SCORCHING-DEGREES-FAHRENHEIT-IN-THE-SHADE

which is just about more than I can bear without submersing myself in cool water.

So that's what we did.

We went to the beach.  Friday.  Saturday.  And again, today.  With friends.

That's Grandpa Grasshopper, snoozing in the lawn chair.  And a couple of our "Wolf pack" friends.

Gunnar absolutely cannot believe that I spent my entire childhood simply opening my eyes underwater. You know, in the clean, clear, fresh water of the lake.

Goggles are clearly The Way To Go.

I'm completely baffled by the purpose of squirt guns when everyone is already soaked from head to toe, but... you know... I'm over 40 and my chromosomes match, so what could I possibly know?

Wyatt wanted a long paddle for his birthday.  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Grasshopper!  We don't have an actual paddle board, but he's making do with Kerry's old windsurfer board.

And doing a fine job of it!  That boy has balance.

It's just so much more fun to go to the lake with a bunch of friends.

(I only see six of the seven heads I kept counting, but that's not bad, right?)

Kai didn't like rough-housing with the bigger boys, but he loved paddling around on the boogie board.

Luke approves :D

Jan is waiting for the canoe, I think.

Gunnar and Rafe. 

I'm so relieved that all my boys are reasonably good swimmers now.

They may not have style, but they can stay afloat and get from here to there.

Because, the thing is, the bottom of the lake slopes gradually to about the end of the dock, and then...

... the abyss.

It's kind of like a fjord.

This part of the lake is over 300 feet deep.

In fact, the lake is about 314 feet above seal level, but 328 feet deep.  Interesting, yah?

So I kind of want the boys to stay up at the surface.

There was a lot of this.

(See the squirt gun?)

And a lot of this.

And possibly even more of this.

 Which is par for the course, with a bunch of boys.

But you know what made the day totally awesome?

(Besides coming home with all the wiggly bodies I left with?)

Look closely.

Tate is wired for sound.

Tate is showing you the completely waterproof magnetic headpiece.

Awesome.

The wimpy little headband that came with his gear (to hold the headpiece on when he does active things, like jump off the dock into the water) wasn't quite up to the task, but this Buff Headband works great.

He wears the processor in an armband, like an ipod.

Isn't it cool looking?

And, did I mention, waterproof?!

And not just waterproof, but submersible?!

Which means that Tate can do all his favorite things...

and hear!

Can you see the huge grin on his face?!

I mean, sure, he always had a great time at the beach, even before he was implanted.

But this time, he was much more connected.

Even it it was hearing his brother threaten him with bodily harm for tipping him over ;D

He's just one of the guys.

Having a great time.