Stay At Home Child

Usborne Books At Home - Now is the time to join!

2008-07-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

In early June, I signed up with Usborne Books, mostly due to my book addiction and my desire to save some money! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their books. If you are also a book addict, NOW is the time to act if you would like to get 33 popular Usborne books for just $99.50 + $20 s/h + tax. You have until 10 a.m. CT, July 31st, 2008, to get your consultant agreement to the Usborne home office. Learn more at my Usborne sign up page.

Besides the great books you will get at a huge discount, you will have the opportunity to run a great business by hosting parties, attending fairs, or simply selling on the internet. No stock is required, and this is a great business to do with your kids, who will naturally share the books with others. Don't miss this great deal and the opportunity to work from home with your children!

Why can't we all just speak English?

2008-07-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading an article from "Human Events," a national conservative publication on the idea of making English our official language in the US. Some might not care one way or the other, until of course, they learn that their tax dollars fund all the different language government forms and translators for various purposes. Yes, we PAY for that!

Contrary to popular misconception, it's not just Hispanic immigrants who find an issue with the language barrier. People from all over the world now feel it's their right to receive documents in their native tongue. Why is that? Because we have not required immigrants - legal or not - to assimilate to OUR way of doing business. We want to be everything to everyone- or, THEY (government whimps) want to- not US.

When Barack Obama implied recently that it's embarressing that travelers can come to our country and speak English, while we cannot speak the language in France, Germany, Spain, etc. I threw up a little in my mouth. Is he serious? Does that mean that the government is now going to fund all children learning in government schools every language that they might possibly need one day in case they travel to a country speaking a foreign language? Heaven forbid I should take Spanish in high school and have the audacity to travel to France, where I might embarress Senator Obama because I can't speak the language!

Instead of embarressment, Obama should be proud that other countries want to speak OUR language! Why should we want to be like them? Why can't we be leaders instead of followers? Sorry, I missspoke. English is not OUR language- officially anyway. Once we make it our official language, we will not have to fund all those special forms for foreigners who don't want to assimilate.

When my American father brought over his German wife and her German son, as well as myself and my German-born sister, we did not come here expecting to find German forms, German signs, and German neighbors. We were in America! My mother learned English by playing Scrabble. She barely has an accent (I don't hear it, but others do). My brother repeated 1st grade and learned English in school. My sister and I were babies, so we don't remember much German. The point is, if we wanted to speak German, why not stay in Germany? (Where, by the way, they learn English in school, probably better than we do!)

The ironic part of this whole thing is that we have children graduating from school who can barely speak correct English, much less write it, and Obama wants us to learn all these languages?! Yeah, WRITE! ;o)

Why Homeschool in Summer?

2008-07-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've been asking myself that question since Memorial Day...WHAT was I thinking?!

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. After all, ball games and swim meets don't take up the entire day. There's also the swimming for fun, playing with friends, riding bikes, computer games, and anything else we can come up with that we'd rather do than "school!" There are definitely benefits to homeschooling year 'round. I just don't like to think about those when I'd rather do school "tomorrow."

Tomorrow will get here eventually. Really, it will. I know it will. Won't it?!

We've been doing "school light" this summer, which is better than nothing, I guess. But for the past couple of weeks we've just plain been lazy. Admittedly, we have had swim meets to contend with, and when you are at a swim meet all day, the last thing you want to do the next day is crack open the books. So we have used creative play, educational videos, and computer games to help keep brain waves moving at appropriate speed.

While we are finishing up our final work before starting on our new books for fall, I have had a blast checking out the new curricula I've selected for science, history, and Bible. I'm so excited, and can't wait to get going with it. I will share more about the curricula we use when fall approaches. For now, I'm just trying to stay motivated, keep the kids turned on to learning, and enjoying the sunshine while we have the chance. Before long, we will be under a foot of snow for a month, and we'll have plenty of time to learn everything we need to then- I'm sure of it!

Anthony Swim Team Dominates the League!

2008-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

For some reason in our small town of 2,000+, what happened 10, 20, 30+ years ago still makes the paper, but today's news does not! So I am posting here in my blog what SHOULD be getting published in our paper. We live in Anthony, KS, about an hour southwest of Wichita. No one really knows how many people live in Anthony, but the last census showed about 2400. Given that, I think you will be mighty impressed that our swim team boasts around 40 swimmers!

Our first meet got rained out. Just after the warm-up lap, the thunder started. Thankfully, they called it before the bottom fell out, and that "bottom" lasted ALL day. When we finally got to swim in our first meet last Friday, our strength was apparent to our parents, the other teams, and OURSELVES! I think some of the swimmers were really surprised at how well they did. The most impressive swim of the day was Heather Moore's butterfly. She did the entire length of the pool without breathing, which helped clinch her first place finish. As a 14 year-old, this is Heather's first year swimming (or is she hiding something? :o) and I'm amazed that she not only has beautiful strokes, but the speed as well.

I must also praise the following swimmers who have this season discovered the proper breaststroke technique: Brandon Clarke, Bailey Clements, Leslie Struble, Zach Duwe, Hope Clarke, Heather Moore, Elizabeth Francis, Veronica Morris, Estin, and there are a few more on the bubble who just need a bit of tweaking. Most improved definitely goes to Kayleigh Clements, who is improving every day in breaststroke and will definitely be a top breaststroker before long.

Our second swim meet was yesterday, which was the "relay meet" in Kiowa, KS. Basically, the entire meet is done in relays. They swim a backstroke relay, butterfly relay, breaststroke relay, etc. and medley relay. Each swimmer can swim six relays, so some of our 8-and-unders and 9/10 year-olds get moved up to swim with older swimmers. The meet is pretty fun, but also hectic for coaches. Somehow, our entire group of 9/10 girls missed their free relays and they were allowed to swim with the boys. That was interesting, as we had four lanes of Anthony swimmers swimming at the same time!

We have two more meets this week, and then semi-finals and finals next week. So far, we have won team overall both meets. I am announcing to the swimmers this morning some rather shocking news that might change our dominating power. Our swim league has no stroke judging. So you practically have to swim the wrong stroke the whole way or pull on the lane rope to get disqualified. Since the beginning, I have taught the proper legal stroke techniques, but some have not "gotten" it. In the rest of our meets, I will be personally disqualifying any swimmer 9 or above who does not do a legal stroke. This will make our points go down, but it will raise our standard to where it needs to be. There is nothing worse than seeing a really good race, where the winning swimmer is doing an illegal stroke! Not in MY swimming pool!

Story Time Felts

2008-07-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

As if I didn't have enough to do already, I signed up as a consultant for Story Time Felts. I really love the products, and definitely see the benefits of them for children of every skill level and developmental stage. I had ordered the Castle Tales set for my daughter for Christmas, and six months later finally "joined the family" as a consultant.

If you are interested in getting felts as Christmas gifts, we are currently having a "Christmas in July" special that you will want to take part in. All of our Christmas sets and scripture sets are on sale during July!

If you have any questions after visiting my site, please don't hesitate to ask!

"It's JUST t-ball!"

2008-06-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

That's what the rather large, lazy umpire yelled at me after I couldn't let the 5th crappy call go by unnoticed. No offense to the overweight. There are plenty of you out there, and you don't move as slow as this kid behind the plate. I've seen overweight people run around a soccer field, referreeing games. But this guy was just not in the game. At all.

The game was close, and I'm not sure how, as call after call made against us put us seemingly further behind. But it was now the last inning and we could win! The ball was hit, and barely rolled over the "foul" line, which is the line you must hit the ball past in order for it to be "fair." The ball rolled fair, the pitcher picked it up, and the ignorant ump called it foul. I really didn't mean for him to hear me, but I had had enough and could not sit quiet any longer. Three bad calls at first base: two where we were safe, and one where we had gotten their runner out, were all called against us. He also allowed runs to come in after the ball was thrown to the pitcher. I probably wouldn't have noticed these things if it wasn't 100 degrees outside (I exaggerate) with absolutely no breeze. The girls had another game after this and we all wanted out of the heat. The worse he called, the slower he moved, the longer the game.

But when he retorted that, "It's ONLY t-ball!" I was surprised to see no parents bum rush the field. After all, WE were the ones bringing our children to practice twice a week and sitting in the heat. THEY were the ones trying to learn this stupid game. HE just showed up (halfway) and all he had to contribute was, "this game doesn't matter, why do I care?" That is, after all, what he meant.

The girls ended up winning both games. Thankfully, the second game had a different umpire. The girls were SO excited and we celebrated the end of the season with a pool party.

Later that night, we had two more games for my son's team. After the first game (which ended a bit prematurely because the other team was exhausted and wanted to go home) I asked the wife of one of the coaches who won the game. "Well...technically we don't keep score in t-ball...but we won..." To which I wondered why we had kept score all season, and now all of a sudden for the tournament we weren't keeping score? She then went on, "the kids don't care."

I explained to her that the kids DO care, and that she should have seen the girls after winning both of their games earlier that day. "Well, it's not good when the winning team says, 'ha-ha, we won...blah, blah, blah.'" This really perplexed me, and I asked, "if we don't let them win, how will we teach them the right way to win?" I got no answer.

The boys won both of their games as well. And I ended the day more stumped than ever.

If we don't care who wins, why are we playing the game? Why are we driving 30 minutes away at $4 per gallon to play another town just for the fun of it? Why bother buying uniforms if it's "JUST t-ball" and if the umpires are going to crawl out of bed and barely show up to make calls? None of this made sense to me! What are we teaching our kids?

I personally feel like kids are ready for competition if they are playing another team. Why pretend like it's not happening, when everyone knows that it is? Are we afraid of getting better, or realizing that we're getting better, or are we more concerned with the other team feeling like they're not?

Ironically, we aren't supposed to keep score, but the benchmark for coming in to bat is when we get three outs or the other team scores 8 runs. If we aren't keeping score, how do we know when they have scored 8 runs? And if we aren't keeping score, why does each team have a parent keeping books every game?

Does this make sense to anyone out there?

Clothes Pins: Not JUST for Art Projects!

2008-06-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

In May we downsized to a duplex, as I've mentioned in another post. In the backyard is something I've ALWAYS wanted: a clothes line! I know that sounds crazy, but maybe you've never searched for a place to hang 5 wet towels and bathing suits to dry! At our last house, I'd hang them on the fence, but the kids would try to pull them down and snag them, or the wind would take off with them. Not good!

So the other day, I open up the clothes pins that I had bought for craft projects. And inside the wrapper is a little booklet- for craft projects! Don't people buy these things to hang up clothes anymore? Then I started thinking. I wondered if clotheslines were becoming more popular these days with people wanting to save energy. I know "green" people have always utilized the clothesline, but what about "regular" people?

I now take my clothes to a laundromat, as I'd prefer to use the space for storage than a washer and dryer. I spend $20 (or $18 if I can dry the last load at the end of every dryer cycle) every two weeks to wash and dry our clothes. I know it will be more expensive in fall/winter, but by then, my kids will be neater (please, God?) and not require much laundering. I figure I'm not paying for the water, and the dryer isn't heating up the house, so it saves me money there. If the laundromat wasn't 10 miles away, I could hang every load to dry. Well, almost. The other day, I had a couple of hours before the sun went down. I put out some "not quite dry" clothes and checked their progress about an hour later. Almost dry! An hour later, I checked again. The humidity had rolled in and the clothes were as wet as when I first put them out! Defeat! The thing about Kansas is that it can take an hour to line dry just about anything when the wind is blowing, or it can take forever when it's humid. Now I see why clothes dryers are popular...

T-ball is SO Much Fun!

2008-06-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

And SO nerve-wracking! I've got two in t-ball right now, one playing on the boys' team, and one playing on the girls' team. I probably don't need to say what a huge difference the two teams are. But I will. I'll start with the boys. The age range for the boys is barely 5 to almost 7. So you have boys that have been playing for a couple of years who are probably about ready to strangle the first timers who act like- you guessed it- four year-olds! We are about halfway through the season, and I can't tell you how many games we've won- we just don't keep up. But at the start of the season, I was a bit concerned because the coach seemed a little unorganized. But boys being boys, they have (mostly) improved dramatically. Being one of those parents who plays ball with her children almost daily, it's my suspicion that the boys who are improving are getting help and practice at home. At our last game, my son made a great play at 2nd base. He stopped the ground ball, then ran to second base and got the runner out. Sounds simple. But at the beginning of the season, none of the boys could make plays because they fumbled the ball if it came to them. It's hard to make a play when you can't get control of it! At this point, they are actually throwing to their target- and they're CATCHING it! As I cheered for my son after his play, and noticed EVERYONE on our side cheering, I almost cried as he radiated joy on the field. All that practice paid off! I remembered all the great plays I had made as a softball player and how good it felt. I am so glad that he gets to experience it, too! Here he is at a recent game:

The girls' team is a bit of a different story. They have great coaches- a TEAM of coaches, actually- and their practices are very organized. While they are the same ages as the boys, I suspect they are more interested in wearing the uniform than learning the game. It seems that by now there are certain things they should have learned. And they just haven't. I'm not sure what the problem is. My daughter was playing 3rd base, and I could tell that the next batter was going to hit in her direction. There were runners on 1st and 2nd, and I hollered, "Anna, if the ball comes to you, run to 3rd with it!" It took a while for the batter to hit the ball, but when she did, it went right towards Anna. She stopped it beautifully, but then stood up like, "what do I do with the ball?" LOL This would not be so bad if the pitcher, who gets nearly every ball hit to her, also didn't know what to do with the ball almost every single play. And by the end of the game, STILL hadn't figured it out!
Since this is Anna's first year, I was just happy that she stopped the ball! It is hard to teach kids the game at home without having runners and other players. So that will come with time. But I can tell that hardly any (if any at all) of the girls' parents are playing with them at home. I wish they would. It is so rewarding for both parent and child. Getting to see the hard work pay off is something many kids don't appreciate these days because they don't put the work into it! Coincidentally, we are learning this with piano and swimming as well. Practicing a little every day makes a huge difference, and makes a child confident that he or she is able to do well. Anyway, here is Anna in her first game:

Stack and Stick Building Toys

2008-06-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned Stack and Stick Wooden Building Toys (shameless plug) here before, but this is something new. My sister was visiting us in April, and had some fun with the kids. She took a couple of sets (and some extra bases) and built a dollhouse with them. Of course they had to fill it up with furniture! This is a great option for families who don't have a lot of room for various building toys AND a dollhouse. Your daughter can build her own! And your son can build all kinds of forts and places to hide for whatever action figure he's into. Here is a picture of the dollhouse:

Purging and Downsizing

2008-06-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I've been "too busy to blog" is that we moved. After my divorce earlier this year, my kids and I were still in the five bedroom, 2.5 bath home that was just sucking the life out of me! It was too big, too much money, and SUPER inefficient. We were literally using only a few rooms of the whole house, but paying to heat the whole thing! After our $458 gas bill, I quickly turned down the thermostat and we froze the rest of the winter. We used portable electric heaters to warm up the room we were in, but as soon as you walked out it was cold!

I knew I needed a smaller place, and the stress of the money, the wasted resources, and just the STUFF everywhere drove me crazy. We were able to move into a two bedroom- yes a TWO bedroom- duplex at the beginning of May, and we have slowly moved necessities over. Anything that we haven't needed will GO. We've already donated a lot, and sold some at a children's consignment sale. But there is LOTS left. It is so true that no matter the size of your house, if you have room for it, you will buy it and fill up the house.

We are not living a traditional life, but it is working. My kids and I all share a bedroom. The bedroom is also our living room. It houses the one TV we have. The living room is the play/activity room where the kids' toys, books, and tumbling area are. The second bedroom is our computer room which houses my office and a desk which holds their computers. This will also be my daughter's art space once we get the shelves up and her art stuff over here. The kids have really pared down their toys and it's not been difficult deciding which are important and which they can do without. Since their dad is moving back into the house, they still have access to them, but I'm guessing a lot of them will go. As long as I don't have to look at them all over the place, I don't care! :o)

Moving and purging has been very liberating. I am so much more relaxed. When I cooked my first meal, it was so nice that everything was right there; I didn't have to walk across the room twenty times for this or for that. Since rent is MUCH lower, I'm not worried about money. I am able to plan for our future and put money away for my kids' college educations. I am also a better parent. When you are less stressed, you are naturally going to parent in a calmer manner and not "lose it" so much. I think the kids are less stressed, too.

It is sad that we as Americans feel the need for bigger, better, and more. It is sucking the life right out of each and every one of us. I was not actually this way, but was married to someone who was. And I went along for the ride. Truth be told, what we are doing now is preparing us, hopefully, for living on the road. Our goal is to get an RV and travel for part of the year. We are excited about that! And I'm glad we made this move because it has shown us that we CAN do without things and we MUCH prefer fun experiences to "things". Try it yourself, and find a better life for you and your family!

I'm a Sblogger!

2008-06-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

I created a title for myself. It's "Sblogger," short for "Sporadic Blogger!" I find that I get busy and don't have time to blog. I have lots to say, but no time to say it. Then when I have the time, I blog a bunch at one time. I wish I could change this, but being a single mom does not afford the luxury of down time very often. Even better, being busy usually means lots of good stuff going on, whether business is booming, the kids have activities, or our town has something special happening. So I guess I should just deal with being a Sblogger and get used to it. Having kids gives me stuff to write about, but no time to write it. And I'm okay with that!

Look for a ton of posts in the next couple of days as I catch up!

American Idol Finale

2008-05-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

This stay at home family was NOT at home during the American Idol Finale in which David Cook was crowned the Season 7 Idol. So you probably know what that means if you also depended on your DVR to catch the show...they ran over time and the end did not record! For the life of me I cannot figure out how they had TWO hours to get through the show and still ran out of time! Well, like most Americans, my next thought was, "someone will put it on YouTube!" (Isn't that the American way?) And so they did! If you missed the final reaction and final song, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HByINm6Bgbs

Personally, I was SURE that David Archuleta was going to win, simply because teen girls have much more dialing energy than we old folk. That said, this old folk thought that David Archuleta SHOULD have won. Nevertheless, I can't wait to buy his first CD for my children and I to listen to. Finally- a nice, clean cut young man for young boys to listen to! My children are singing in choir and have just started piano. They both are very musically inclined and it is nice to show them a teen who has put in the hard work necessary to get noticed- and give goosebumps. I'm excited to watch Archuleta's career.

Don't get me wrong, David Cook is equally talented and deserving of the title (obviously, since he won!) But I think my problem is that I grew up listening to the "David Cook rock" sound. He has a great voice, nice presence, but I'm ready to move onto something different, maybe. He's not hardly as cute as Archuleta, either! I can definitely see why the young girls are going crazy over him. Poor kid!

Socialization- Again

2008-05-22T07:36:00.001-07:00

This is such a frequent argument to homeschooling that I will share any articles I come across on it. Here is one from Dr. Laura: http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/05/22/home-schooling-does-not-hamper-socialization/

The Perfect Birthday Present for Children

2008-05-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

It just so happened that my son's birthday came just a few days after the Pinewood Derby. For the second year in a row, he was upset because he didn't get a trophy. That's when it dawned on me. Why CAN'T he have a trophy? Why does he have to win the Pinewood Derby to experience the joy that a trophy would bring him? It isn't just any ol' trophy. This trophy is special!

It is made by hand by a good friend of ours and it looks really nice. So I decided to have one custom made for Thomas' seventh birthday. Here it is:

I wanted the trophy to remind him what a great year he had and all the things he is good at. The last two lines that you can't see very well read "Soccer Player" and "Bible Verse Memorizer." The plate has his name and the date. We do a "birthday table" where we put out presents and balloons, and the trophy sat there waiting for Thomas to wake up. When he finaly came down, his eyes just lit up when he saw the trophy. He was so happy! If you would like to give a custom made trophy to your child for any occasion, just contact Troy at Classic Woods. The trophy is made from wood and acrylic (not glass) so it would be easy to ship!

Pinewood Derby 2008

2008-05-14T06:31:00.001-07:00

This year Thomas built a "Bat Mobile" for his Pinewood Derby car and it was a pretty cool looking car if I do say so myself! He found the design online and then his dad used that as an example and made his own version. He did when the award for "Coolest Car" or something like that. All the other boys told him before the voting was even over that he would win. I know he secretly wants to have the fastest car, but for two years in a row he has won for design, so I guess that will have to do for now! I don't have a close-up of his car, but here are some pictures. The second one is Anna and Thomas, when they raced their cars against each other in the Wildcard Races.

Star Wars 7th Birthday

2008-05-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe I'm this far behind! Thomas' birthday was April 22, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share about his birthday- even if it's a bit late! The days leading up to his birthday, Thomas had no idea what I had been going through to get the ONE thing he asked for: a Darth Vader costume. I had ordered it online in plenty of time, but they sent the large size instead of the medium. They corrected- or so I thought- and AGAIN sent a large! As I was dealing with this, he was SURE that I hadn't bought one for him and was obsessive about how he was going to buy one with his birthday money, etc. He would not let it drop! I just sort of laughed at him when he wasn't looking. In the mean time, yet another costume was sent, but it got here after his birthday. Not only did I get my money back, I have THREE Darth Vader costumes! Here is the birthday boy-

Cute, huh? The costume is huge on him, and I'm hoping that he remains a Darth Vader fan until he outgrows them all!

I'd also like to share a couple of things that might give you a good idea for your child's birthday, no matter what theme they choose. First, the cake. I didn't want to spend $25 on a custom cake, so I got a bright idea (if I DO say so myself!) Thomas has plenty of Star Wars Legos and enough "men" to decorate any size cake. So that's what we did! He also had a Lego set with a soccer ball, so I made it look like the Star Wars characters were not battling it out with light sabers, but playing a good ol' game of soccer!

We had the cups, plates, balloons, and of course Darth Vader masks, but my favorite is the cake, of course! It did take me a while to get the frosting out of the little holes at the bottom of their feet, but it was still worth it! A few days after Thomas' birthday, we went to Build-A-Bear when my sister came into town, so hopefully I will have some more birthday pictures to share when she sends me some. In all it was a great birthday, and I'm still in shock that I have a seven year-old!

"Stay At Home Mom" a Misnomer

2008-04-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Whoever called us "stay at home moms" was obviously not one herself. I don't know what the deal is, but I spend more time at music, soccer, MyGym, AWANA, and driving to these places than I do at home. And my kids are only 5 and 7! We were so run down from all of these events, that both of the kids got colds. Thomas got better, Anna got worse. It got so bad that she needed an antibiotic to clear it up and eye drops for pink eye. During this same time, she caught molluscum (a skin virus) which only happens when children's immune systems are shot.

I started wondering if we were doing too much. While I want to allow them to try different things and expose them to varied experiences, I need to recognize our limits. I want them to have time to relax and hang out, or play with the neighbors as well.

I've got so many things to blog about, but with all the running around (and the recovery...) I haven't had the time. So hopefully soon this "Stay at Home Mom" (who is leaving in a few hours for Dallas, TX) will have some time to rest, relax, and blog like a mad woman in a few days.

If you are a stay at home mom, STAY HOME TODAY!!

"Locks of Love" Causes Panic Attack in Mom

2008-04-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe that headline is a slight exaggeration. I was actually so overcome by the fact that my son was turning seven that I accidentally answered, "sure" when my daughter asked if she could get her hair cut short. She had been working on me for months. When I got my hair cut, she thought it would get easier, but I only told her that, "moms have short hair, little girls have long hair." She didn't buy it. She's no dummy!

She's had long hair ever since it could GET long. I beamed with pride when, as a toddler, she would bounce down the hall at church with long, blonde hair with a little flip at the bottom. Older women would "ooooohhh!" and "aaaaahhhhhh!" as she danced by them. She was three before we ever cut it, because I knew it would cut out that precious little curl!

Honestly, I was ready for a change. Change is hard, but man, no more tangles, no more unbrushed, ratty hair. No more ponytails! Why didn't we do this sooner?! Anyway, here is what she looks like now. If Dakota Fanning didn't have a little sister, Anna could play her double!

An Interesting Thing at the Zoo

2008-04-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

We've never seen this before, and this is a great reminder why you should visit the zoo year 'round and not just once (get a pass!) We went in the "Amphibian and Reptile House" to see our favorite giant tortoises. Once, we got to watch them get clean and for some reason my daughter wanted to watch the helper scrub the floor and hose down their habitat. It was a lengthy process! Anyway, just inside the building there is a tank with TONS of turtles. They were shedding!

This is normal, and I googled it just to make sure! I found this: http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/skin.html

You think YOUR kids grow quickly?

2008-04-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

I've got a LOT to share, as I let TEN days go by without blogging. But I just had to share this. We had a beautiful spring day last Wednesday so the kids decided to go to the zoo while we were in Wichita for the day. When they stood by their favorite penguins, I HAD to take a picture, because I remembered that the last time we went to the zoo their heights were even with the penguins. Check them out now...
Before...

and Now...

How much time do you think there was between photos? ONLY SIX MONTHS!!!!!!

Water Experiment

2008-04-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

After discussing how much trash we generate and where it ends up, we also discussed wasting other resources in our home such as electricity and water. This is a huge issue for me, because I have an internal reminder (that probably comes from my mom who grew up in East Germany) that dings every time the water is running for no reason or a light has been left on.

The first thing we did was make "Energy Police" badges. Then we put bright green light switch covers on our most-used switches that read "TURN OFF." Then I asked the kids, "What uses more water, a bath, or a shower?"

They both said, "shower." So Friday I had them both take showers, but we plugged the tub so that the water would collect in the tub. My son went first, and he took a REALLY long shower. The tub filled up, even more than if he had taken a bath. So when it was Anna's turn, I decided to time her shower. Even though we have a fairly low flow with our Showerwise shower filter [shameless plug] I was amazed to see that after only ten minutes, the tub was at the same level that she would normally take a bath.

This was a great way to show the kids how much water is used for showers. Our rule generally is that if you plan on taking a long shower, take a bath. If you just want to get in and get clean, take a shower. We also conserve water by not flushing the toilet every time. This is not on purpose; this is because the kids are afraid it will overflow on them, so they don't flush!

P.S. We did visit our recycling center but I haven't blogged about it because I forgot to bring a camera. When I have pictures to share, I'll write about our visit. This week: How our choices affect things outside our house (we have discussed the water cycle and will be focusing on the rainforests starting tomorrow.)

Easter Funny

2008-04-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

A few days after Easter, my daughter came to me and asked if she could have some of her chocolate bunny. The bunny was solid, dark chocolate, and I didn't think anything of it as I sent her on her way with the bunny in hand. She came to me a few minutes later, bloody tooth in one hand, and her bunny in the other. "My tooth fell out!" she cried. At first I panicked, because she didn't have any loose teeth ready to come out. "Was the bunny that hard?" I wondered. Seeing visions of a toothless child with teeth falling out all over the place, I remembered that she had been complaining about her two bottom teeth hurting. So I checked the other one next to it, and sure enough, it was loose. Since it wasn't to the point of hanging on by a thread, her tooth coming out was a total shock.

I wanted to take a picture to commemorate the "big event" so I put her in front of the window and she showed me her missing tooth. Later when I downloaded pictures, I learned that she and Thomas had taken pictures of each other with their bunnies, as they didn't want to eat them unless they could "preserve" them. So essentially, I have a "before" picture, and an "after" picture. It cracked me up. The pictures are so similar, as if I planned them.

How much trash do we generate per day?

2008-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for school, we calculated how much trash our family of three generates per day. We collected our trash for three days. Since some days have little trash, and other days have more, I wanted to get a better idea of where we stood. (We did discuss "high trash" weeks like birthdays and Christmas when we have boxes and wrapping paper, etc.) But on average, we generate about one pound each day.
My children are 5 (and 5 months) and 6 (and 11 months). I am exact with their ages, because if they were in school, there is NO WAY this problem would be put in front of them. First, I asked how to figure out how much trash we generated in one day if we know how much trash we generated in 3 days. They kind of threw around some close ideas, so I drew an illustration that worked out their thoughts more concretely. "What if I took each piece in the trash and cut it into three equal pieces. I would put each piece into a pile, and have three piles when I'm done. Would you say that I split the trash into three even stacks, representing the three days? And would one stack represent the trash we would generate in one day?" Their eyes began to light up. Since we had already talked about fractions, they quickly recognized that we had split the trash into thirds.
I then drew a circle on a paper and said, "this circle represents the three days worth of trash that we collected. How can I divide the "trash" to help me figure out the amount generated in one day?"
"Divide it into three equal parts."
I tried my best at making "thirds" and it was at least sufficient. I then showed how I can not only divide a circle into thirds, or the trash into thirds, but a number into thirds (division- a new concept). They now know that we generate one pound per day.
"How many do we generate in a week?" To which my FIVE year-old responded, "Seven." Sign her up for MIT, folks!
She new the answer was 7, but did not know how to explain why. So I let her brother think and verbalize. I then explained how you could add 1+1+1+1+1+1+1 to get 7, or you could say "1 TIMES 7." I knew they got it once we needed to know how many pounds we generate in a month, and used "30" as the number of days per month.
When we started working on the number of pounds per year, I first was going to use the result from our monthly figure, but my 6 year old helped me realize something when he said, "figure out how many days there are in a year and times that..." It occurred to me that he was dead on. Since there are not 30 days in every month, you cannot simply multiply that result by 12. You need to go back to the daily amount and multiply it by 365 for the most accurate result.
There was never any reason for them to know how many days there are in a year, but they know now!
This is a great example of the many concepts taught in one activity. And this was part of "science," not math! It also shows that children understand much more than we give them credit for. I've mentioned this often in my blog, but in case you are a new reader, my daughter isn't even supposed to be in kindergarten yet, according to her birthday. And here she is at home, dividing, multiplying, and problem solving!

Earth Day Activities for School- Trash

2008-04-06T18:54:00.001-07:00

During this month, we will be doing Earth Day related studies for science and social studies. I will share what we are doing in hopes that it will motivate you to share some earth-friendly thoughts with your own children!

We started this "unit" last week, with reading The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore). Since we just finished learning about communities and neighborhoods, this was a great follow up story to lead into how we take care of our community. Because it is an easy concept to grasp, we are starting with "trash," and where it goes. This is much easier than starting with wasting electricity or water. Once they get the trash issue, it is easier to transfer their understanding of good stewardship to something that is not as concrete.

So how do you teach about trash? Good question! I remember when I first had a newborn and a toddler in diapers and how much trash it generated every week. One baby's diapers didn't phase me, but two...holy cow! I was moved to start using cloth diapers and life returned to normal. So it only makes sense for the kids to see how much trash we generate as a family. I have a book from The Mailbox called Environment. It is for grades 1-3. In this book, there is an activity called "Tons of Trash." For this activity, you are to collect a day's worth of trash all in one bag. I decided to go three days, and then take an average. Today is the 3rd day. Tomorrow we will complete the graph, showing how much trash we generate each day, how much it would be in a week, and how much for a month. Then we will go through the bag and look at each item, discussing how we could reduce the use or if the item can be recycled. (No food went into the trash).

This week we will also make a visit to our local recycling center. We will bring all our recyclables and talk about what we see there. We have lived here for two years and this is the first visit to the center! This is totally unlike me, but it took this long to find out we even have recycling here. In Georgia they picked it up curbside, so it wasn't much to think about. Next week, we will visit our local landfill. It is only two years old, and my children's dad had a part in helping construct some railings around the landfill offices. We had just moved here when he did the work, and we've never been to see it. Perhaps we will visit each year and see how much it changes!

Come back and see the other ideas I have planned this month!

*Various mom-owned businesses are running Earth Day specials. Check them out!

First Soccer Game of the Season

2008-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that this is Thomas' third year playing soccer! He played his first year right when he turned 5, and he was TERRIFIED! His dad and I ended up helping coach so that he would be more comfortable out on the field. He is one of those kids who doesn't like people watching him, and he didn't really know what was going on yet, so he was very unsure of himself. I was really surprised last year when he said he wanted to play again. He did much better and was actually getting in there and kicking the ball some, even though he isn't very aggressive. This year, he "aged up" to the under-8 team and he is doing VERY well. His first game was Saturday and I was very impressed by his skills and endurance.

Of course, Anna started playing last year at 4 1/2 and had a lot of fun playing alongside her brother. She is still playing in under-6 this year, and her dad is coaching. They had their first practice today and I just know not only is she going to be one of the better players on the field, she will do it all with a big, toothless smile!