Simple Woman #17

FOR TODAY May 4, 2009

Outside My Window... Our two dogwood trees - one pink and one white - are just about ready to pop. In the front of the yard we have a beautiful tree... but I'm not sure what it is. Must be some sort of ornamental, as it doesn't get any noticeable fruit. Maybe an ornamental plum? It blooms at the same time as the cherries and apples, but is a much deeper pink.

The boys are funny. They know I'm not a pink person, but we all agree that pink is pretty in nature, where God put it! It's as if they have to remind me (or themselves?) that it's okay to like our pink tree.

I almost asked Kerry to cut down this particular tree, as it has not looked very healthy for the last couple of years - meager blossoms, and dropping most of its leaves in the late summer - but it's gorgeous this year :0)

I am thinking... that I don't want to be obsessed about it, but I'm am intrigued by the locations that pop up in my "Feedjit" box. People I don't actually know read this blog, and that amazes me. People from the USA, people from Canada. Okay, some of those people I know :0) But someone from India reads. And someone from the Netherlands. And the U.K. And Slovenia. And Turkey.

Wow.

I don't even know you, and I wonder if you found what you were looking for. I hope you're not disappointed :0)

I am thankful for... the praying moms in 'my' MITI group, boys who make their own fun, Wyatt practicing the piano without too much coaxing, Tate's delight in tree frogs, Gunnar's compassionate heart, a little bit of work that came in for Kerry, and church friends who invite us over for lunch and expect us to stay all afternoon until evening church.

From the learning rooms... light at the end of the tunnel. No, I don't quite like the way that sounds - as if we've just been enduring until the end of the school year. Not so :0) But we're still looking forward to shifting gears for summer!

From the kitchen... nothing. We had an early Cinco de Mayo party with our MITI group this afternoon with a big Mexican lunch so I'm just making soup and sandwiches for dinner.

I am wearing... jeans, t-shirt, sweater. It may be spring, but it's not very warm today.

I am creating... don't ask. I feel guilty.

I am going... to get my office under control. Really. This week. I'm either going to start the quilt I've been sketching, or clean up all the material and sewing stuff and put it completely away. I've had the ironing board next to my computer since before Christmas. Ugh.

I am reading... What He Must Be, by Voddie Baucham.

I am hoping... Really, really, really hoping Kerry gets some more work.

I am hearing... Wyatt plinking away, Kerry showering, and birds chirping.

Around the house... the boys and I cleaned their bedroom over the weekend and I got out the spring sheets :0) It's been such a cold spring that here it is, May already, and I still had our big down comforter on the bed!

One of my favorite things... the sight of Gunnar, flopped down on his stomach in the grass on a sunny day, happily trying to knock over little plastic soldiers with his squirt gun.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: thankfully, not many. The kids finished their swim lessons, Gunnar has just one more AWANA, and I'm happy to be home more this week.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

The Tree. It's actually deeper pink, but you get the idea.
Lots of blossoms!

Sunday Morning Testosterzone

Why are boys compelled to do these things? Why would any of my sons...

* Whack his brother over the head with his Bible? (We're not one of those "slain in the Spirit" families...)

* Wail and shriek and scream bloody murder while I remove the sliver (about which he's in a panic) until my last nerve is about to snap. Then, as I finally, gently slide the sliver out, snap back to normal and say, in a perfectly calm and reasonable voice, "Oh - did you get it out?"

* Wait to decide he needs to poo until the moment we're walking out the door?

* Walk the 10 feet from the back door to the van wearing big, muddy, dirty boots and carrying his church shoes in his hands? ("Don't worry Mom, I'll change in the van.")

* When told to use deodorant, apply it to his armpits and then to his hands, and then rub those hands on Gunnar's cheeks? (Well, I thought he smelled like aftershave. Not bad, but a little odd for a seven year old.)

Why, why, why?????

Sunday Morning Testosterzone - P.S.

At least - and, truly, I'm thankful - they behaved themselves in church.

I've mentioned before that all the kids at church are encouraged to take notes. (And the pastor facilitates thise by preaching from an organized outline and emphasizing and repeating his main points.) The kids write their notes on 5x7 cards and leave them, stuck to the fridge in the kitchen, for the pastor. Then, next Sunday, he acknowledges those kids by name from the pulpit. The littlest kids draw pictures, some kids obviously get help from mom or dad, and even the older "kids" - like high school and college age - will sometimes leave their notes on the fridge.

Okay, honestly, I'm probably missing some of the richness in the sermons myself because I'm repeating things for Tate (who can't hear a lot of what is said), but it's so, so very worth it to have the kids engaged in the message. This is how it plays out for us.

Wyatt, at 12, doesn't need any help to get the text and the main points, though we're working on getting him to listen and write down sub-points, or supporting details and references.

Tate, at 10 (and with his hearing impairment), is expected to get the text and main points with my help. He often likes to draw a picture on the back of his notes of something from the text that came up in the sermon.

Gunnar, at 7, hears the main points just fine, but can't write fast enough (or spell well enough) to get them down on his own. So I simplify them and fingerspell them to him, (because he loves it) and he writes them on his paper. He's much more interested in drawing a picture for Pastor Bert. He doesn't always have the discernment to draw a picture of the main point, but it's always somehow related. Like the Sunday he happened to hear the figure of speech ("the pecking order") in the sermon and drew a flock of chickens. (Wish I had that picture!)

It just boggles my mind that they can go from what you see in the post above, to what you see here in the span of an hour. That is the grace of God :0)

Fictionary #15

Oh my, I have totally neglected these, so I'm going to toss out the last three together.

Enjoy.

Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

Guiltar: A musical instrument whose strings are pulled by your mother.

But not my mother :0)

Anybody using Jacobs Math?

Is anybody using Jacobs Math?

Wyatt is a 6th grader, whizzing through Saxon 6/7 (or is it 7/6?). I've heard that a lot of folks like Jacobs, and switch over at upper level math.

Good idea? Where would he start? I mean - which Jacobs book would follow Saxon 7/6?

Is it "consumable" or reusable?

Does it need a lot of explanation or is it all there in the text?

I've liked the "lay-out" of Saxon and not having to buy a separate teacher-text.

Thoughts?

Hmmm...

I just got this in an email and I'm wondering if I should be worried.


The statistics on sanity say that one out of every four people is suffering from some sort of mental illness.

Think of your three best friends.

If they're okay, then it's you.


Just in case you wondered.

More boy words

As I left to take Gunnar to AWANA last night, Wyatt and Tate were plotting in Dino-opolis.

I heard something about "besieging him with a huge army", and gave them the raised eyebrows. Tate was happy to explain.

"Mom! We're going to have a decisive battle against (neighbor/friend) and his Evil Pine-cone Minions."

Alrighty.

Wars and rumors of wars

Yesterday, as I was making dinner, the boys came rushing in from the yard, ran through the kitchen and as they thundered upstairs yelled down to me, "We're gonna write a book, okay Mom?"

Gee, let me think for a minute... yeah, okay.

In the school room, this morning, I found a title-page and chapter titles. The book will be called, (are you ready?):

Great Battles of Dino-opolis

Yep.

And the chapter titles (all by Tate, with original spelling), are as follows:

threats

scurmishis

small battls

magier battls

decisev batls

civl wars

Wars

Just in case you wondered.

Oh, and the picture at the bottom shows a giant mushroom cloud.

And Here's Why... (from below)

Let's look, for just a minute, at our new Secretary of Education - Arne Duncan.

Under his 'stellar' guidance the Chicago Public Schools managed to reach these lofty educational heights:

83% Below grade level in Reading

87% Below grade level in Math

77% Below grade level in Writing

84% Below grade level in Science

And you get all this for the bargain price of $10,550 per student.

I guess his "Green for Grade$" program ($50 for an A, $35 for a B, and $20 for a C) didn't end up costing very much.

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm...."

From the conference...

Nationwide studies (and census data) show that:

Public school teachers are more than twice as likely to have their kids in private school than the rest of the population.


Just think about it.


In other words, they are willing to pay money not to use their own product for free.