It's a Girl!

I had an ultrasound last week and we found out that our new baby is a girl!  Times sure have changed since my first.  Now I get a CD of the pictures instead of heat paper prints that fade with time.

This little girl kept her hand curled up next to her face and wanted to face the camera straight on.  The technician had a hard time getting the profile picture.  Baby Girl must have my nose if she is so shy.  The cutest thing ever was when she opened her mouth like she was practicing her yawn.  Life is precious.

IJ Independent

Subtitled: Dogs and Brothers are Fun

A Baby Brother Trap- By S

I'm slowly, but surely getting the older boys working independently on their schoolwork.  As much as I love the idea of being the one and only person to spoon feed my babies until they are adults...wait a second.  I don't love that idea at all.  Who wants a 40 year old son lying on the couch asking for a sandwich?  Not me.

Sharing the Sunny Spot (with me too)

This second half of the school year, I am focusing on helping IJ achieve scholarly independence.  It started with the chart that I mentioned in this post.  I also bought him some curriculum that is written to the student with notes to the parents in the back.  One might think I'm doing this only because I have my hands full and I can't possibly do it all.  While I can't do it all is true, it is not my only reason.  One of the reasons we've decided to homeschool is so our kids will learn how to learn.  Not only do I not want a 40 year old son lying on the couch asking for a sandwich, I do not want a 40 year old son (or daughter for that matter) that is dependent on hiring an "expert" to solve every problem.

"Are you sure you're allowed to do that?"

While in college, both M and I took a class that was required for our degrees.  We took the class in different years, but the professor and book were the same.  This professor would lecture for an hour, assign some reading from the text book, and test us twice throughout the quarter.  The tests never seemed to have anything to do with the lectures or the reading.  Luckily the professor graded on the curve and my 50/100 points ended up being a B or so.  We (that would be myself and my friends-not M) constantly complained that the tests had nothing to do with the lectures and he was so unfair.  When I met M and we talked about this class, he said this professor was a great professor and he actually made his students think instead of spoon-feeding every test question to the students.  Can you guess who got a real A in that class? I bet the rest of the students in his class hated M for setting the curve so high!  I know I'm glad God waited to bring M and I together and he wasn't in my class.

"Let's see if it really burns. I'll let you know when it gets hot." ~S

One homeschool subject I've needed to be in control of is science experiments.  I've always thought my kids couldn't possibly do any by themselves and there is no way my precious D will let us do anything experiment related.   There are no such things as naps that last long enough to get anything done!  Experiments are often put off for another day and then forgotten.  For a week now I've let IJ follow the directions of this curriculum using this kit himself.  It is sometimes scary.  Like when IJ started asking where I keep the vinegar and baking soda so he could use chemical energy to blow up a balloon.  And when he informed me he was going to convert light energy to heat energy with that magnifying glass.  He even made a fly wheel generator all by himself!  So for the most part, I'm really enjoying watching him create and learn!

Blue and Gold

Tonight was the annual Blue and Gold Celebration where the Cub Scouts celebrate the anniversary of Scouting in America.  Our pack has a potluck and talent show.  We also have a professional photographer come and take portraits of the pack, each den, and individuals if they so choose.  For the last two years, IJ and S have done Taekwondo demonstrations, but since they are no longer taking classes... they had to do something else.

IJ decided that this was a good opportunity to earn the Showman badge.  He and a friend wrote a script, made puppets, and performed their show.  They did a good job!  They each played several roles and remembered to use different voices.  Their show was about two Scouts at a camp out singing songs and telling ghost stories.

S and his friend sang It's A Grand Old Flag.  They did a good job too!  These two boys are the most active in their den.  Ever since they were Tigers, they both have had nearly perfect attendance.  Are they the perfect Scouts? Nope-their parents are involved so the boys are by default.  Friend's mom is our committee chair and our pack would not run without her.  She is awesome!

Each den also performed skits and songs, so the boys and M had a few more parts to play before the night was over...

...here M is trying to get the audience to participate in the classic Boom Chicka Boom song with S on the mic.  (All pictures are extracted from video footage-sorry about the poor quality!)

The hardest part of the night was keeping E and younger happy and quiet at the table until it was time to eat.  As soon as the talent show was over and the pack headed over for their group photo, I headed straight to the food.  After D trashed the table, we cleaned up as quickly as we could and left.  Three hours was way too long to stay in one place!  But I am so proud of IJ and S.  They worked hard and it really showed.

Mardi Gras

I don't know how it happened, but somehow I found out that tonight is Mardi Gras.  It was about...oh...say, dinner time.  And I decided since M was going to be gone late at a meeting, I wanted to have a Mardi Gras party.

First, I had to tell my kids about Mardi Gras; they have never heard of it.  So we ended up having a mini homeschool unit where we learned about Twelfth Night, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and... Pancake Tuesday!  Sorry, IJ.  This wasn't on your chart.  I just have to go with my spontaneity sometimes.  Boy, do I love Wikipedia.  We learned that carnival is from the Latin words carne and vale, which mean meat and goodbye.  And of course we learned that mardi and gras is French for Tuesday and fat.  I showed them Louisiana and New Orleans on the map. We read about how different cultures celebrate Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day and they really liked the story of the woman who was so busy frying pancakes, she forgot to go to church until she heard the bells ringing.  She ran down the street in her apron with a pancake in her frying pan.  To this day, people have pancake flipping races running down the street in housewife gear.

While the kids made sparkly crazy masks (and the school didn't think I could use that collage and glitter kit for a million things this year) for their costume parade, I made New Orleans Banana Flapjacks and smothered them in chocolate sauce (high fructose corn syrup!).  They dressed up as a crazy clown, a clown with a sparkly mask, and a strange monkey thing.  F was a wizard.  IJ tried to be a vampire because I am halfway through the best scary book I've ever read- Dracula-and he wanted to scare me.   Too bad he can't scare me better than I can scare myself.  Every time I woke up last night I covered my neck.  Anyways....my costume was...the pancake flipping housewife.  What else could I be?

And what children's version of Mardi Gras would be complete without a Princess and the Frog movie night? They finally understand the whole parade/Mardi Gras wedding thing now.

As the movie was starting and IJ was still packing away his chocolate banana pancakes (made with white flour and butter-gasp! talk about fat!), I continued the history lessons and placed the movie in its historical context.  When I got to the jazz music, IJ informed me he does not like jazz, only rock n' roll.  "Jazz is the grandfather of rock," I told him.  He doesn't care.  There is no electric guitar or heavy drums in that old-fashioned jazz music.  I must speak to his father about his horrid taste in music!  Or maybe not.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.  I think I may continue this lesson and see if we can give up the sweets for the next 40 days...

February

We are nearing the end of my least favorite month.  The month where we always get sick.  The month where peace and happiness disappear behind a thick layer of clouds.  The month that seems to go on forever...and this year it is one day longer!

Blowing a ping pong ball (white streak)

Besides having the flu, my spirits haven't been as dumpy as they have been in past years.  I owe this all to my vitamin D supplements.  When I stopped taking them after I was sick, my spirits plunged.  When I started taking it again, I'm back to normal.

Bernoulli Principle: Can't blow the ball out of the funnel

And by normal I mean trying to keep up with laundry, making sure the school work gets done (and is interesting-see ping pong ball experiment pictures), taking the kids to their fun activities (wrestling is now over), feeding everyone, and finding joy in my little projects and adventures.

The best way to get schoolwork done: petting a dog by the fire

IJ has reached the age where he is no longer content to take every day as it greets him.  He wants to know what is happening when and how long it will be until we do projects like build rockets, paint, go on field trips, etc.  We've compromised and he watches D for me while I keep a chart of our next 18 weeks of school updated.  Now he knows he will be learning about energy and reading The View from Saturday for the next two weeks while he finishes up his puppet show for the Blue and Gold celebration next Sunday.  After that we will have a unit on poetry and study the 50 states.  We'll field trip to the Puyallup Farm School and the Museum of Flight.  Anyone want to meet us in Seattle?

Standing on Mount Firewood

M and IJ have been busy hauling firewood/storm debris out of the woods before the blackberries and nettles grow over the top of them.  Once the growing over starts, the mowing becomes impossible.  We are happy to report we only burned half our firewood stash this winter, burned very little heating oil, and have secret stacks of firewood curing around the property.

This little guy is a worker.  He cannot be entertained with little toddler toys that flash and play music.  He won't watch TV for very long.  He can't play nicely with his sister.  He wants to work!  With people!  He wants to move laundry into the dryer (whether it is clean or not), put clothes and dishes away (not necessarily where they belong), put movies in the DVD player, and mostly, he just wants to go outside.  Preferably with his dad, "Ee," and his purple boots, "bups."  He has made this school year...challenging.  Both the girls happily colored at the table while their brothers worked.  This one cannot be satisfied.  I can't wait to see what next year brings!

And then there is The Pirate.  After having him for only two months, it seems like he has been here forever.  We were really lucky to get this dog before someone else did.  His bad habits include: barking a high-pitched bark when he wants to go outside, chasing cats, chewing up Barbie, and sleeping on blankets.  Not too shabby for a dog!  Now that the Barbies are chewed up and gone, that is no longer a problem.  The Pathetic Doberman doesn't even chew up stuffed animals now that The Pirate is here.  The high-pitched bark will get Pathetic Doberman howling like someone is playing a musical instrument.  That was funny the first time.  Now I holler, "Let that dog OUT!"  At least he knows to go outside to do his business!  And sleeping on blankets and chasing cats? Who wouldn't want to sleep on the blankets and chase the cats?  The cats can climb trees and we have plenty of those.  They learned right away that The Pirate can climb under the van, so that is no longer a place of refuge. 

What a sweet face!

A question we had was would he wander off our property?  Out here, that can be a big problem because if a dog harasses someones livestock or poultry, he can shoot the dog and no one will ever know.  So far The Pirate only sniffs around the pond.  He likes to be outside and will stay out for long periods of time.  We are not used to that!  We are used to our Pathetic Doberman, who will only stay outside if it is sunny and M or I are there to keep her company.  The Pirate is way more normal.  But when dogs are left outside for long periods of time unattended, they get in trouble.  But that is what the boys are for.  Watching their dog while they watch their brother!  It's a nice little circle: the pit bull guards the boys who keep the pit bull out of trouble while the doberman guards the mom who yells at the doberman when she barks at strangers in the yard.
 
Strangers in the yard...that means the septic system is not finished yet.  We can use it, but the county wants to move the whole drain field over 40 feet.  But that's a post for another day...

Math: Who's Right?

After several days of flu and recovery, the D family is back in business.  Today's business is math: double-digit multiplication, measuring, and earning the Cub Scout belt loop for Mathematics.  S has gotten confused with double-digit multiplication and has earned failing scores on his two last math assignments.  I'm so happy I homeschool, can turn off the computer program we use, and not let his scores count against his grade.  We spent some time working through the algorithm this morning when I came up with a great idea.

I asked, "S, do you know the order of the rainbow colors?"  "Yes, don't you remember teaching it to me?"  No, sorry.  Oh wait a minute, I think we covered it last week in our light and color unit in science.  Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, (indigo-but who counts that?) Purple.  I drew him a picture with colored arrows, showing the order and directions to multiply.  I was so excited that S could see the order of operations!  When M came out for his coffee break, I proudly showed him my creation:

"It's backwards," M says. "This is the way the arrows go," and he goes up.  Now how do you convince either one of us that we are multiplying the wrong direction? There is no way! Not that it matters (thank you commutative property).  "In fact, if I were teaching this, I wouldn't even start with the one's column.  I would start with the tens."  What? I've never heard of that! And because I've never heard of it, it can't be right.  I took just as much math in college as he did.  He may have gotten better grades (I seem to remember telling the calculus professor I only needed a C+ to get into the Environmental Science program and I would never take another math class again, I promise), but I had to prove that I was right about the direction of multiplication.  The first place I checked was S's math book:

Uh-oh. No wonder he was confused.  The book draws arrows one way, the teacher draws them the other way.  Fine.  IJ's book then.  He uses Saxon and Saxon is the King of All Math Curriculum:

No definitive answer because no directional arrows are shown.  So I went to single digit multiplication in Saxon and found that my way it right in Saxon and M and Teaching Textbooks are just left-handed. 

S said, "I'm so glad I have a smart mom."  I love that kid.

Camp Sheppard

IJ and M just got home from Webelos Camp with the Cub Scout pack.  They had fun, of course, and are tired, of course.  What I really love about sending them off to camp is...

 ...having the entire weekend to do whatever I want.  All weekend long.  No cooking, no cleaning...wait, I still have four kids at home, one that needed to go to a wrestling match.  And two that came down with a stomach virus.  So much for not cleaning all weekend.

Seriously, what I love about sending the boys to Webelos camp is all the work they get done while they are there.  The Webelos have several steps to advance through before they get their Arrow of Light award at the end of two years.  They work on Activity Badges, which are actually pins, each badge having several assignments associated with them.  There are 20 activity badges, but you only need to earn eight for Arrow of Light.  IJ has earned 11 badges so far.  Nine of them have been earned at Camps Thunderbird and Sheppard.  IJ's goal is to earn all 20 and earn the Super Achiever award.  He still has one more year as a Webelos, so I'm sure he'll reach his goal.

Because we homeschool, I can incorporate many of the activities into our school day, so the scholarly badges will be easier for IJ than for the other boys who are stuck in a classroom not learning.  I am happy that IJ's advancement has been something that both M and I can work on with him.  M can do all the outdoor, camping, and building projects with him, and I make sure all the box-checking gets done.  And next year, we do it all again with S!

A Different Kind of Princess

That would by my little girl, drinking pickle juice after she ate all the pickles.  Grandad would be so proud!

Great Wolf Lodge

We are one of the last families on the block to visit this awesome place, but oh man, it was worth waiting for.  This is our first vacation.  Ever.  (not counting Cub Scout camping)  Back before we moved to Twin Firs, we visited Twin Firs for all our vacations.  Back then, Grandad would stock the freezer with Hot Pockets and ice cream and make sure there was pop in the bodega.  The kids would always wake up early and he would turn on the TV so they could watch cartoons on PBS.  Now that we live here, there is no Hot Pockets, ice cream, or pop...well, not usually.

The Wave Pool wasn't the best place to introduce D to the water, but he survived.

We visited GWL on the Washington Homeschool Organization discount.  That meant we paid $160 for a room that is normally $279.  Our room had a separate area with a bunk bed and day bed for the older kids, a fold out couch for F and D, and a queen-sized bed for M and I.  We had two TVs in our room!  We brought our own food and packed our fridge/freezer with...Hot Pockets (and other easy food)!  The best part about our room was the ability to turn the heat up when we were cold.  Which never happened because our room was twenty degrees warmer (or more) than what we are used to!  I turned the heat down to 65 degrees.  Our beds were so comfy, which was hilarious because my friend said her bed was like sleeping on rocks.  Our normal bed must be really bad if our hotel beds were awesome!

Grand Mound is a happening spot!

They let people in the water park at 1:00 even though check-in is at 4:00.  Our room was ready for us at 1:30, so we moved in early!  Bonus!  We played at the water park for a few hours, went to our room for dinner, and went back to the water park until bedtime.  I tell you, M had the time of his life!  Our kids are so blessed to have such an awesome dad.  He was all about taking them down the scariest water slide- The Howling Tornado- over and over and over again!  I'm too wimpy pregnant for the big water slides, so I stayed safe in the baby pools with the kids too short to ride.

D Boys and Friend coming out of the Howling Tornado

We thought for sure the kids would crash and burn at bedtime, especially D; he only slept 20 minutes in the van on the way down. They always seem to do the opposite of what we think, don't they?  D and F were up in shifts all night long.  I can't remember the last time I had such a long night.  F woke up crying because she dreamed a wolf was eating her.  When those kids woke me up bright and early, I mumbled, "I have one word for you M-Starbucks!"  Can you believe that he pretended they weren't open when he came back?

Finally, they NAP!

Then the bad news spread...a water pipe was broken in the water boiler and the park wouldn't open on time...if ever!  Management is sending out free day passes or a discounted overnight rate for all who were affected.  But the pool did open and we played for another five hours.  D and F did fall asleep waiting for the older kids and M to get through the River Canyon Run.  By the time they woke up, the rest of the kids were ready to go home (they breathed so much chlorine in 24 hours they couldn't stop coughing).

Now, M and I are anxiously waiting for...bedtime!

Puppet Week

We took a break from regular old boring school work this past week.  Instead, we focused on a unit study on puppets!  The puppet study is also fills requirements for IJ's Showman activity badge for Cub Scouts.  In history (social studies), we covered Punch and Judy, Edgar Bergman and Charlie McCarthy, Sheri Lewis and Lamb Chop, and Jim Henson and the Muppets.  No study would be complete without The Muppets!  We read biographies from the library, watched documentaries, You Tube videos, and Fraggle Rock.  We learned the Latin roots of the word ventriloquism and how the Ancient Greeks (and some other cultures) thought these "stomach voices" were from the other worlds.

For language arts, IJ wrote a script for his puppet show and each kid had to describe the story elements in three different episodes of Fraggle Rock.  E had to identify the beginning, middle, and end.  The boys had to describe main characters, plot, problems, events, and how the problem was solved.  Schools love to hear that students are using graphic organizers, so I made sure we used a few!

In science, we learned about light waves and shadows while experimenting with shadow puppets!  S especially had fun.  They started out making boring shapes, but then the boys started making ghosts and monsters and tried to scare F.  They succeeded.  I loved how IJ thought of using a hole punch and my scrapbooking scissors to add detail.  Other science lessons came from a documentary on how the Muppets were made and operated and what technology they used-like robotic hands to make the Doozers sing and how the puppeteers used monitors to see what their puppets looked like.

Art projects were making the puppets themselves.  IJ still needs to make a few more kinds of puppets for his Showman badge.  He's made a shadow puppet, a glove puppet, and a hand puppet.  Our next experiment will be a rod puppet.  E wants to make a marionette!  And the school district didn't think I could use all those art supplies I ordered.  Shows what they know!

M and I both grew up watching Sesame Street (obvious, isn't it? We're so smart!), so I brought home some Old School Sesame Street from the library.  Seriously, the DVD is called Old School.  At the beginning, there is a message on a computer cartoon that the show is for adult entertainment only (I started to panic-what Sesame Street did I get? Some awful spoof? Will my children see some awful behind the scenes with Bert and Ernie?) and that the content will not meet the educational needs of today's preschoolers (whew!).  At that point, the rolling typewriter cartoon character comes out and unplugs the computer.  Was it a joke?  Is there really a difference between the preschoolers of the 1960's and 1970's and today?  And who really depends on Sesame Street meeting the education needs of preschoolers anyway?  I thought Sesame Street was the babysitter, not the educator!

"Thank you, Mama"

Does that count as a first sentence?  Or is that just a phrase?  I gave D some pretzels tonight and he clearly said, "Thank you, Mama."  A few days ago he said, "Ooo? Mama?" while pointing to my shoe.  I love baby talk.