Enjoying the New Year with Snow

We're spending time up in the mountains with Todd and Kellie and their kids.  It's nice to see some snow!  Todd and Mike are going kayaking today, and maybe the rest of us will mess around in Leavenworth.  We're also doing a lot of eating, reading, gathering around the wood stove, and playing Rook.  Oh, and Kellie and I got a chick flick:  The Help.

Happy New Year!

Visit

Man, we had so much fun with Jason and Kris last night.  We sat in the living room and talked and laughed for six hours straight.  We also ate tiramisu and drank caffeinated coffee, which is maybe why is was one in the morning before we realized how late it was.  lol  Jason and Kris are the kind of friends where it can be years between visits, but as soon as they walk in the door it feels like no time has passed at all.

I don't remember everything we talked about, but I know at one point we discussed how gross the word "moist" is, and I laughed so hard no sound was coming out, just squeaks and tears.  And at another we talked about ghosts and I got scared, even though I don't believe in them.

I just love those guys...Jason and Kris, I mean.  Not ghosts.

Old Friends

One of the reasons why I loved working at David's House Ministries, the Christian adult foster care home for 10 mentally and/or physically disabled men where Mike and I were full-time houseparents (Yes, I did just fit all that into one appositive.), was that Mike and I were able to develop relationships with the part-time houseparents.  See, we were "on" 4 days and nights, and then the part-time couple would come on and do the other 3.  We worked with a few different couples over the years, and in some cases we got to be really good friends with them.

One of the couples we got to know very well was Jason and Kris.  We love them.  Jason's the kind of guy who makes you laugh until you cry, and Kris is a complete sweetheart.  Even though we worked together in Michigan, Jason's parents live out here in Seattle, so they've been visiting this Christmas break and tonight they're coming over to see us.  It's gonna be fun.

And because I'm talking about it, the other couple we got to know and love is Josh and Amy.  He's American and she's Indian.  That is, she came from India to go to a Christian college in America, and that's where she met Josh.  They were so great to work with.  I miss them a lot.  I have a couple stand-out memories of them:

One time Amy was cooking something that smelled delicious, so I asked her what it was.  "Fish stew," she replied.  "It's an Indian recipe."

"Mmm, smells good.  I wanna eat with you guys tonight."  I walked over to the pot to sniff and stir, and as I stirred an actual fish head popped to the surface.  "Amy!  What the heck?!  Did you put the whole fish in there?"

"Yes, of course.  The head is where all the flavor is."

I didn't eat with them that night after all.

Another memory is the time it snowed a huge amount...like 3 or 4 feet in one day.  It was crazy.  Josh went up onto the roof to shovel some of the weight off, but after awhile he came in completely caked with snow (think Abominable Snowman) and looking sort of dazed.  We asked him what happened and he said he accidentally slid down the roof like he was skiing, got the toes of his boots caught in the gutter, and then, because he couldn't stop himself and because his feet were stuck, ended up doing a perfect swan dive off the edge and into a snowbank.  Luckily it was a one-story building.

Edited to Add:

In case you're wondering how we could get to know each other so well, I should add that we all actually lived on-site.  We had a beautiful 3-bedroom apartment attached to the group home, and the part-time couple had an attached 2-bedroom apartment.

Oh My Goodness

I blog for a few reasons.  It's somewhat therapeutic.  It's fun.  It's a way to keep in touch with family and friends who don't live nearby.  Mostly, though, I blog because it's a living scrapbook, a diary, and a photo album all wrapped up into one.

Today I was putting off cleaning the house, and I found this from almost three years ago.  It made me smile and laugh and just love that kid.

http://ourlittlecorner2.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-thoroughly-enjoy-this-child.html

Gravitropism

Drew and I have been doing an experiment over the last several weeks which demonstrates gravitropism:  The fact that plants respond to gravity by always growing upward and never into the ground.  You don't have to make sure to place a seed into the dirt right-side-up, in other words.  We planted a lima bean in a cup with wet paper towels, and then tilted the cup.  It stayed tilted through the entire growth of the plant.

Do you see how the plant grew straight up, despite the tilt?  That's gravitropism.

It looks kinda funny when it's not tilted.

And because you may feel you need more in a post than just a science experiment, I'll tell you a true story.

One day about four years ago Mike was visiting a customer in a part of Seattle called Capitol Hill.  He parked his truck at the end of a road in a nice neighborhood, which happened to look out over another street one level down, almost like a terraced effect.  Immediately upon getting out of the truck Mike heard a very loud, very angry, "Hey!" coming from that street.  He looked over and there was a middle-aged woman on the balcony of an apartment complex, eye level with Mike, and maybe 100 feet away.  She wasn't shouting at him, though; she was calling to a man getting into a van on the street below.  The man looked up at her and she lifted her shirt and flashed him.  "This is the last time you're ever going to see these!" she screamed.  I guess the man was leaving her forever, and she wanted him to know.

Seattle is weird.

The End

Merry Christmas!

Highlights:

• presents
• brunch
• messing around and relaxing
• strong wind
• a big piece of our fence blew over
• lasagna

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Christmas Eve

• house is clean
• food for tomorrow is made
• stupid Christmas wreath cookie baking disaster is thrown in the trash
• last gift is wrapped
• waiting for Patty
• gonna watch a movie in jammies

PMS

How come as soon as it's understood that PMS may have been involved, husbands always get a knowing look?  Listen, sometimes annoyed is just annoyed.  It doesn't have anything to do with hormones.

Me:  Oh, you probably think this explains everything, huh?

Mike:  [grins]

Me:  'Cause it doesn't.  I would've been irritated regardless.

Mike:  [keeps grinning]

Me:  In fact, I would've been irritated IRregardless!  That's how strongly I feel about it.

Mike: [grins some more, but stays strangely silent, probably in awe of my new and exciting use of bad grammar]

Me:  So there.

Bullets

• Drew is spending the day in Leavenworth with the Junior high youth group.  They're having pizza and going tubing and drinking hot chocolate and then, on the way home, they're stopping at a diner.  Good times.  Zach will go next week with the Senior high youth group.  The only time we get to experience any significant snow (or possibly any snow at all this winter) is when we go to Leavenworth. 
• We've had Grace over this afternoon and the girls made "moon cake."  Another name for it is "crazy chocolate cake."  I know I made this once before when Zach was just a little preschool guy doing a homeschool unit on outer space, but I don't remember it smelling this weird.  Huh.  Hope it tastes okay.

• Tomorrow we're celebrating Christmas with Mike's stepdad, Danny.  That'll be fun.  Hopefully we'll play Mille Bornes.  I LOVE that game.
• I'm slowly but surely getting ready for our own Christmas here at home.  I'm deep(er than normal, but not, like, crazy deep) cleaning the house a little every day, just because.  Baylee and I will do some baking, too, in the next couple days. 

LOL

Mike emailed me a link to this today, and he said, "Hi Honey! I thought of you when I saw this. Of course, not everything, but some things for sure! I love you!"

I should probably be all, "Tsk!" but the truth is it's pretty funny and...well...accurate in a lot of ways.

(It has a bad word in the title, but it's fine on the inside.)

Not A Lot Going On

Tonight I went to the Pioneer Girls Leaders Christmas party.  I love those women.  I've never worked in a ministry where I've enjoyed the people I work with as much as this one.

Other than that I cleaned the house, did some baking, let Drew's guitar teacher in to give a lesson, and took a video of the cat climbing the ladder to the top bunk.  (Yes, he really does that, and it's not even an angled ladder.)

To make up for this lame post:

A picture of the best staircase ever...

And a bear...

Christmas Break!

This video expresses the true depth of my joy.  I love teaching, but I love taking breaks from it, too.



PS:  Don't give up on the video right away; keep watching.  He dances!  He does a thing with his eyebrow!

PPS:  I like this Romanian song so much that awhile back I bought it on iTunes.  Does that make me weird?

To be honest, Drew and Baylee started out the break bickering quite a bit, but Mike came up with the idea that every time they fight, they both have to do schoolwork, regardless of whose fault it is.  Suddenly it's very peaceful around here!

Baylee and Rachel are wrapping our bin of wooden blocks that we've had since Zach was a toddler, to give as a gift to the little boy down the street.  I'm a little sad about it.  I think that might be the very last toy we have left, besides a few stuffed animals and dolls that Baylee won't part with, even though she doesn't play with them anymore.

Drew is frying Spam and eggs.  For real.  We went grocery shopping earlier today, and he begged to buy Spam, because his friend Kian, who used to live in Hawaii (where apparently they eat a lot of Spam) has really talked it up.  I said Spam a lot just then.  Spam Spam Spam. 

And Zach slept in and is thoroughly enjoying his time off, although he and I decided he's going to use part of the break to work in a couple school subjects.  We'll see how that goes.

Misc.

This morning I was carrying coffee through our dark bedroom, and I remembered something.  Back when I was in college I was in a play that had a bunch of blind characters, including mine.

 That's me playing a blind chick.

One day the director had a guest, a woman who was really blind, come and talk to us to help us get a feel for how to act the part.  I have no memory of anything she told us, except for one thing:  She said blind people don't carry bowls of hot soup, because it's almost impossible for them to do it without spilling.  I guess it's a (lack of) eye-hand coordination thing?  I don't know.  I just know she said her husband always carried her soup for her.

Homework Assignment:  Make some soup, put it in a bowl, close your eyes, and then walk around your house with it.  Report back.

Here's another memory I had today:  When I was a freshman in college I was bridesmaid in a wedding where the bride was extremely sick with mono.   I mean, you should've seen the girl.  She was as white as a sheet and couldn't stand for long periods.  Despite all odds, the family decided to go through with the wedding.   At one point during the ceremony the bride signaled the minister, he quickly told the congregation to bow their heads, and while he prayed she vomited into a bag.  When she finished puking she hid the bag in a potted plant and the pastor said "Amen."  They got through the wedding, but something tells me they didn't have a very fun honeymoon.

One of the gifts we got for Christmas this year was a 50-inch plasma TV.   It was an amazing, incredible surprise, and we're almost speechless with thanks.  None of us can quite believe it.  It's not something we would've ever gotten for ourselves and it makes me feel a bit like this...

...but it's been a ton of fun so far.  Watching TV almost feels like going to the movie theater!  We gave our old TV to some friends of ours from church, so happiness all around!

PS:  That bottom picture was the cover on the 1986 White Heart album, Don't Wait for the Movie.  Remember that Christian group?  Remember that album?  I loved it and had every song memorized. 

Christmas Program

A couple weeks ago one of the directors of the adult choir asked Baylee if she would do a solo part during their Christmas program.  I guess they wanted a child's voice.  Anyway, at first Baylee said, "Will my brother be playing the guitar?" and when they told her that they only needed a singer this time, she planned to refuse them on the grounds that she's too nervous to get up there without Drew.  But then I secretly offered her ten bucks.  (Yeah, I really did.  What can I say.)  After that she agreed, and we spent a little part of the last week and a half or so getting her ready.


She did a nice job and I'm proud of her.  I'm especially proud because she had to sit in the front row all by herself and keep track of the program so she knew when to go up there.  That's a lot to ask from a kid, but she handled herself just fine.  The only problem was a slight wardrobe malfunction with her new dress.  The skirt got sort of caught in a strange way so it looks almost like she's wearing misshapen shorts.  LOL  Darn it.  Oh well.

Crazy Morning, Calm Afternoon

I woke up with really bad lower back pain, kinda lodged in one of my hips.  Ugh.  I HATE when my back or neck hurts, because it's so hard to carry on with what you had planned.  It affects everything.  Luckily Mike was here today and was able to help a ton.  Both Drew and Baylee had a basketball clinic today where they had to do different basketbally things while being assessed.  Now they'll be put on teams according to ability.  (The people in charge like to spread ability as evenly as possible, so no one team dominates.)  Mike was able to do most of the driving for that.  Meanwhile, I took a lot of Ibuprofen and went to Target to buy Baylee a new Christmas dress for something she's doing in church tomorrow.

The late afternoon was pretty slow and nice, though.  I finally gave up trying to walk around anymore and just took a nap.  Mike watched football.  Zach played video games.  Drew, Baylee, and Rachel played Monopoly and laughed a lot.

 

Oh, another thing the kids have been doing today is guessing what their presents might be.  They sit in front of the tree together and look and wonder.  It's cute.  We've had a rule ever since...forever...that they're not allowed to touch any of the presents.  It makes it so that things stay a surprise, it keeps gifts safe from being broken, and it reduces gift counting.  That is, because of things being stacked, they can't tell exactly how many gifts are under there or who they're for.  Not that the kids have an entitlement attitude.  They don't and I'm very thankful for that.  I think it's partly because they've been raised to be grateful and happy, and partly because we've never had the money to foster bad, you-owe-me, how-come-I-didn't-get-what-I-asked-for attitudes.  We do try to get them fun gifts that they want, but sometimes we can't and that's totally fine.  It's what they know.

Best Friend

There are certain things at which we don't work well together.  One of them is paddling a canoe.  Another, apparently, is wrapping presents.

"Hey, you wanna help me wrap all these?" I asked him last night.

"Sure," he replied, sitting down on the floor across from me.  He watched me struggling to find a gift to fit a piece of paper I accidentally cut  too short, until he couldn't stand it anymore.  "No, go the long way, like this.  Turn it.  Here, honey, look..."

"Okay, go away now."  I said it with a smile in my voice, but I was completely serious.  We both laughed.  It's okay.

One thing we're great at, though, is working together to buy the presents.  We each bring something to the table:  I bring a hatred of shopping a certain sense of speed and efficiency, and he brings thoughtfulness.  It worked well for us last night.  We went on a date together, first getting all (and I do mean all) of our Christmas shopping for the kids done in a bit over an hour (we went with a plan), then going out for dinner, then seeing the new movie, Sherlock Holmes 2.  It was so much fun that we decided to make it our new tradition.

Stuff

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Drew let me take that video of him practicing in his room yesterday evening.  Now this morning all 3 kids are diligently working.  Or at least working.

Christmas break starts in a few hours!

Countdown

Last night the Pioneer Girls went caroling at a nursing home.  Afterward, Mike asked Baylee how it went.  "Good!" she replied.  "I think the six of them who were awake really enjoyed it!"

One more day until Christmas break.

Lessons

It's two more days until Christmas break and the natives are getting restless.  Today one of the teens was doing a math problem and he messed up one section, so everything after that was just wrong.  I tried to help, but he refused to admit there was a mistake, and then he did admit it, but he was surly about it.  One thing led to another, and it became behavior that we needed to stop everything to address.  (Not everything is, in my opinion.  Sometimes I make a comment like, "Wow, you're not being kind right now," but we move forward.  This was beyond that.)  I told him he was being rude and disrespectful, and that there was no sense going on with the school day, because I couldn't work with him under those conditions.  I said he could sit where he was until he was willing to acknowledge and  apologize for his behavior.  It took about 15 or 20 minutes and two false starts ("Fine!  I'm sorry!"), but finally he did tell me he was sorry in a genuinely humble way.  He even went on to let me know he really understood why I was upset.

So.  He still might not completely understand the math problem, but that's okay.  Sometimes lessons are learned that have nothing to do with what's in the teacher's manuals.

Around lunchtime Baylee and I went to the grocery store to pick out little things for a couple white elephant gift exchanges that are happening tonight at church.  We got what we needed, I used a debit card to pay for it, and then I got out a little extra money just to have on me.  Immediately upon leaving the store we were stopped by an older man in a wheelchair wanting to give us a balloon animal that he made. Of course, it wasn't quite like that, because he went on to ask if we would give him one or two dollars so he could buy himself something to eat for lunch.  I looked at him, thought of the two five dollar bills I had in my purse, and said, "I'm sorry.  I don't have one or two dollars on me."  Which...I didn't.  I was telling the truth.  He still held out the balloon animal for us to have, though, and my heart just about broke.  I told him to keep it to give to someone else who had the money to pay for it, then I walked away with Baylee.  We got halfway across the parking lot before I stopped, dug a five out, and gave it to Baylee to run back and give him.  When she returned to me she said, "That was a really nice thing you did, Mom."  Sigh.  Deep down I know that my initial reaction is often to be selfish.

But in a way that's okay, too, because sometimes doing a good thing, even late and somewhat (secretly) begrudgingly, can teach a sweet 10 year old about kindness.

There are lessons all around us, and hardly any of them have to do with our curriculum.   

Tired Thoughts at the End of the Day

The kids and I have been sneaking spare moments today to watch a reality show I recently discovered called World's Strictest Parents.  It's not an American show; it's put out by the BBC, so the best place I've found to watch it is YouTube.  The show takes British teens and places them in homes all over the world.  The catch is that the teens are troubled, and they're placed with strict parents.  It sounds like a recipe for disaster (ie Wife Swap.  Ugh.), but it's not.  It's amazing, because the "foster" parents genuinely care and want the kids to succeed, so what starts out looking completely hopeless ends up being life-changing.  (I especially recommend the Jamaica episode.  I cried at the end.)  Anyway, we're hooked over here.  I sit at the computer and start an episode, and soon our three kids start trickling into the room and sprawling across the bed or pulling up dining room chairs.  Sometimes we discuss things.  It's been a good learning tool.  (PS:  Be aware there's bad language and a lot of gritty reality.)

I love our tree at night when the house is clean and calm and everything is peaceful.

Only 3 more days until Christmas break!

Health Lesson

The other day I was trying to cut through really hard, crusty bread, but instead of using a bread knife I just grabbed the first thing I saw in the drawer, which was a steak knife.  It ended up not working very well on the bread, but working like a charm on my finger.  I gashed myself.  Over the next two or three days I kept putting bandaids on it, because it really did need to be covered as it was gaping a little bit, but the bandaids kept getting wet from showering and cleaning and whatnot, and then falling off.

Finally a friend gave me the idea to super glue the edges of the cut together.  Mike helped me.  I pinched the edges together and he put a line of super glue down it.  It worked!  It's healing now, no more bandaid necessary.

 Please try to ignore the dry crocodile skin.

They actually have stuff just for this purpose, though.  It's like super glue, but it's made for skin and it's anti-bacterial.  It probably comes with directions, too, like, "Wait until wound has stopped bleeding," and "Don't try reattaching limbs."  You should use that real stuff, not super glue, if you're going to try it.

Right about now Mike's dad, Wayne, is probably saying, "I bought these people a new camera for this???"  So to make up for it, I'll also post a nice picture of the cat wrapped in a scarf.

Words Fail Me.

You know, we actually had a gerbil die of old age, so it is possible in our home.  I just feel like I need to say that.

Drew's hamster, Sanchez, was killed by the cat last night.  So that's it, the last straw.  I'm done forever with rodents of any kind.  Never, ever again.  If you own a cat, you just can't have a hamster as a pet, unless you have it in an enclosed aquarium-style cage.  Period.  If the past 3 months were a science experiment and that was our theory, I think we've proved it enough times for it go straight to scientific law.

In a big way, this last death (and the one before it, which we couldn't figure out at the time, but now we know what must've happened) is the fault of Pet Smart.  They TOLD us that the big, wire cage was safe and cat-proof.  I mean, Mike explained to the guy that we have a cat and so the cage needs to be one where the hamster can't get out and the cat can't, under any circumstances, get in.  "No problem," the employee said.  "This is the cage you want, right here.  This giant, really expensive one."  (He said something like that, anyway.  I wasn't there.)  He was so very wrong.

Last night, Sanchez, who spent his life wanting to fight and, I think, kill everybody (For real.  If you came near, the little thing would climb the bars to reach and bite you.) met his match.  He must've reached out the VERY CLOSE TOGETHER (about a centimeter apart?  Maybe less?) bars and tried to bite the cat, who must've been watching him.  And the cat must've grabbed him with his teeth, and then pulled him through the bars.  Because that's how I found the hamster this morning:  pulled three quarters of the way through an impossibly small space.

Why am I always the one to find these things?  Mike wasn't even home at the time; he had left for church really early to run sound.  Here's the series of text messages that went back and forth between us:

Me:  Cat killed Drew's hamster.  Pulled it almost completely out of the cage.  I'm sure now that it killed Baylee's 2nd hamster, too.

Him:  Ugh!  Will you bring a couple Sudafed and Ibuprofen for me?

Me:  Yeah.  Pulled it through the bars in case your mental picture isn't clear.

Him:  Yeah, I got it.

Anyway.  All that to say, I'm never going to be the same.  I'm damaged goods now.

Gingerbread House

We've had a revolving door of kids around here this weekend.  Yesterday evening Kian came over to spend the night with Zach and Drew, and he didn't leave until this afternoon.  Meanwhile, this morning Baylee's friend Katie came over and we babysat her all day.  And at around 3:30 or so another friend of Baylee's named Lily came over to spend the night.  It's been a little crazy, but we've been keeping things pretty low key and relaxed.

I bought a gingerbread house kit for the girls to put together this evening.  I didn't read the part of the instructions where it says, "Don't cut too large of an opening in the icing bag!" until after I'd cut too large of an opening in the icing bag.   That made putting the walls and roof together a bit...challenging.

 

And here's the finished product.

It has a few structural problems.

But oh well!  The girls had fun.

Bendy Bone

Okay, three disclaimers:

1.  Zach did this experiment a couple years ago, so this is a repeat here on the blog.

2.  I'm still learning how to use the new camera, especially the video part of it.  That becomes very obvious as you watch this.  At the end I didn't realize the camera was still on for a few seconds, then I couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

3.  I got a little annoyed with Drew at one point.  That part makes me feel cringy.   I apologized to him later and he was like, "Huh?  I don't remember that.  You were fine, Mom."  *shrug*  That's...good?  I guess?


All that to say, we're a real poster family for homeschooling!  Or not.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Stuff That Makes Me Laugh

This is just so wrong, but so funny.

Last night at Pioneer Girls the girls got to go to "PG Store," which is where they spend the "PG Bucks" they earned over the last few weeks on prizes.  The special thing about the store yesterday was that, besides the usual stuff little girls like, it also had things the kids could buy as gifts for their moms for Christmas.  There were dish towels, little kitchen gadgets, general knick-knacks, etc.  The leaders also had a gift wrapping station set up.  It was nice.  Anyway, on the white board behind the presents-for-mom section was written:

Little Mom Gifts:  $1
Big Mom Gifts:  $3

I saw one of the little girls turn to her friend, point to the board, and say really seriously, "That's not very nice."

Back to the Parlor Trick Drawing Board

Today on Facebook one of my friends posted a link to this video:


Watch More Christian Videos on GodVine.com

Hey, I thought, Gibbs could do that!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Turns out he can't.  Darn!  That would've been a fun way to impress visitors.

So Excited!

Mike's dad, Wayne, gave us a new, really awesome camera for Christmas!  It came in the mail yesterday, Mike studied the book that came with it and stuff online last night, and this morning he gave me the "New Camera for Dummies" version of what he learned.  (I'm a total "adult learner" when it comes to technology.  That is, I only take time to learn what interests me or what I need to know on pain of death.  And if I do choose to learn, I want it drastically condensed.)  Anyway!  Mike taught me to use the camera and I messed with it for awhile today.  It has really cool special effects settings.  Look!  I stood in the living room and took basically the same shot, but with different special effects settings.

This one is just regular.

Here's fish eye.

This is called miniature.  I think it works better on landscapes, though.  I saw a video done with this setting and it truly looked like the guy was videoing a tiny toy village.

This is called toy camera.  It looks a lot like when Mike and I took pictures with that cheap underwater camera in the Bahamas.  Everything is sort of tinted.

Here's monochrome.

This is vivid color.

And here's poster.

Isn't that cool?!  And there are other things I didn't even experiment with yet.  Thank you, Wayne!!!

This and That

Grace spent most of the weekend over here...two days and two nights.  It was a girl-fest and, I admit, it tired me out.  A lot.  How can two girls make that big of a mess in one bedroom?  I don't get it.  Baylee had a great time, though.  I'm so glad she has really good friends like Grace.

Mike took them to the mall (Better him than me.  I told him he earned at least two jewels in his crown for doing that.) so they could spend some of the money they worked hard to earn over the last few weeks.  They bought matching outfits and matching Build-a-Bears.

Hamster Take Three is still living!  Look at how weird it is when it stuffs its cheeks with seeds.  Did you have any idea its cheeks went that far back into its body?  It's like having space in your shoulders for a chicken dinner.

 

"I'm gonna eat all this later; don't worry about it.  Pass the mashed potatoes."

Oh, one more thing.  The other night Mike and I were in bed sleeping, and the cat jumped up onto my pillow.  I wouldn't have minded much, except it just walked back and forth trying to get attention.  Finally, half asleep, I took the cat and sort of gently tossed it in Mike's general direction so it would leave me alone.  Suddenly Mike sat straight up in bed.  "What?!  What was that?!  Something fell from the ceiling!  An animal!"  He told me later that he dreamed a squirrel jumped on his head.  (This still makes me laugh and it's been days.)  I played dumb.  "I don't know, honey.  Maybe it was the cat..."

Peer Group

Peer group was fun today.  It was "Peer Group Sunday," which happens the first Sunday of every month.  There are no adult Sunday school classes; instead we stay with our peer group, eat a brunch potluck together, talk, laugh, pray, and maybe play a get-to-know-you game.  This morning we played one of those games and I came in second place, which was awesome because the first prize was a poinsettia, but the second prize was a box of chocolates!

Oh, speaking of peer group, once a month we all try to get together for some sort of activity, like a game night or something.  I agreed to head up February's activity, because it was my idea.  Here it is...drumroll...:  Sardines in the church at night!  Is that not the best idea ever???  The Children's Minister at our church in Michigan used to organize games of Sardines with the adults involved in children's ministry once a year or so.  We would meet at the church, eat a dessert and visit until it got really dark out, then we'd play a few rounds.  It's one of those ideas that sounds weird, but is actually a ton of fun and a great way to get to know people better.  I can't wait.  I hope lots of people come.

That Ignore Button is Looking Good Right Now

I've got a new pet peeve:  Christians who have walked away from God, and who are now really smug about it.  Or maybe "smug" isn't the right word.  Hmm.  No, it is.  It's like they're saying, "All of you are idiots for not seeing the world as I've learned to see it."

Today on Facebook one of my friends linked to this article and she said something like, "Come on, Christians.  Please tell me you don't agree with this."  Really???  Didn't we go to the same Bible college for four years?  Don't you know me?  Do you honestly even have to ask?

How insulting.

Beautiful

 

 

 

That Annoying Buzzing Noise

No amount of my jerry-rigging with tape and yarn was working anymore, so Mike tried to fix it himself.

"Okay, perfect!  Now just stay there and hold it exactly like that..."

Can you believe Mike didn't want to lie under the desk and keep the speaker cord in place so it stopped making that buzzing sound?  Man, where's his servant's heart?  *grin*

He got me a new cord first thing this morning.

5th Grade at Our House

I guess it's time I talk about the last grade this year at our house:  5th.  I let Baylee have complete control over the order in which she watches her BJUP online classes, but over time she's fallen into a predictable pattern.  She always works from the longest and/or hardest class to the shortest and/or easiest.

Math:  A couple weeks ago I finally let Baylee talk me into being her teacher for math instead of Mrs. Frank.  The reason I gave in is that Baylee would watch the lesson, which would take at least a half an hour, and then she'd often still need to come to me to have it retaught.  Argh.  Oh well.  Today she and I discussed long division with money and then she did a page of problems.

Reading:  This is a favorite class of Baylee's...maybe the favorite class.  Mrs. Walker is such a great teacher, and she openly admits that reading is her favorite subject to teach and 5th grade is her favorite grade.  That makes for a lively, fun lesson!  Today Baylee read and then Mrs. Walker talked about a story called "Ma and Muffin," and then Baylee did a worksheet on imagery.

Another fun thing that Baylee does for this class is a reading chart.  For every 100 pages she reads on her own, she gets to fill in a footprint on the chart, and at different places she wins little prizes.  Every few days Mrs. Walker, who's racing Baylee with her own chart, mentions how many pages she's read so far.  Baylee will tell me, "Oh no!  Mrs. Walker is ahead of me now!  I have to read a lot tonight!"  It's great motivation.

Heritage Studies (History):   Mrs. Walker teaches this one, too.  Right now Baylee is learning about all the different regions of the United States.  Today they talked about the Pacific region, including our own state of Washington.  Baylee always has one or two pages of written work in this class.

Science:  Baylee was excited to do science today.  She told me at lunch time, "I can't wait for science!  We're going to the Science Lab today with Mrs. Hinsley!"  The lab is the place they go to do experiments, and Mrs. Hinsley is the "helper," as Baylee put it.  Mrs. Dunn is the regular teacher.  Today's experiment was on insulation.  I have to admit, I'm completely happy to let the video do all the experiments.  If Baylee really wanted to try this stuff at home, I would, but since she's content to watch her teachers do it...great!

Bible: Baylee just finished a 3-day "Thanksgiving" unit in Bible....er...after Thanksgiving, but who's counting?  It was just a fun time of learning about thankfulness and doing little crafts.  Normally her Bible class is fairly rigorous.  She's learning hymns and Bible verses, Bible stories and concepts.  She keeps a timeline on our fridge, and she has tests and quizzes.  Right now, in addition to everything else, her class is reading a novel called Songbird.  Baylee is assigned chapters to read for homework, and then during the class Mrs. Overly ties in the novel with whatever they're learning from the Bible.  Here's Baylee reciting this unit's verse this afternoon.  She taught it to herself using all kinds of weird motions and tricks.

English:  Baylee had a test on verbs today and she got a 92%.  That's not bad considering it involved diagramming.  Tomorrow she gets to start a new chapter on "writing a diamante and a sense poem."  This class alternates grammar chapters with writing chapters.  It's nice, because just when you get sick of one, you get to do the other.

Spelling:  This is the first year Baylee has had to do any studying of spelling words.  Always before she's coasted, but now she's finding that if she doesn't go over her list she might not get an A.  This week's list includes lots of "tion" and "sion" words.  Today, after listening to the lesson, Baylee did a crossword puzzle with her spelling words.

Handwriting:  Handwriting is always last, because it's the quickest and easiest.  This year the teacher, Mrs. Overly, is insisting that the students do all their work in cursive and in pen.  It's often not pretty.

And that's a typical day for Baylee!  Her school day usually takes her about 4 or 5 hours.  Most days she saves part of the written work (usually just one subject's worth of work) to do in the evening as "homework."  That helps her day not bog down.

I should also mention that I have a "Schedule of Lessons" for every subject, and it's a lifesaver.  The schedules tell me briefly what Baylee will be learning for the day, what she'll need when it comes to supplies, what her assignment is, and what my obligation is as far as grading.  It's all very organized and, once you get the hang of it, user-friendly.

And speaking of virtual stuff, Baylee discovered Skyping.  Tonight she and Grace had a fun time with it.

She does get to play with friends quite often in real life, too, though.