American Idol Finale

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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?

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

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

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!

I also have a son...

I've been writing about my daughter so much that I thought I should write about my son a little! Anna is at that age where she is just blossoming and Thomas has already been through that stage. His progression is much slower, even though he still blows me away daily with his knowledge and abilities! For instance, recently he spent his allowance on a Star Wars Lego set. The next day, we took a little break from school and he worked on it a little bit. He started it the night before. He got frustrated for a minute, and then as soon as he asked for my help he saw where he went wrong and corrected it himself. It was then that I realized how much a child really gets out of building, so I decided as long as he stuck with it, that would be his "school." Little did I know that he would not quit! He worked on it for the rest of the day, and when I went to check his progress, I took a look at the box. He was about 75% finished with a set that is meant for 8-12 year-olds. When I showed it to him and explained what it meant, he understood why I had the look of astonishment on my face. Here he was, almost 7, doing a "big boy" project all on his own! Night time came up before he could get it complete, so he finally asked his dad if he wanted to help. They finished it together.

Because Thomas does not typically stick with something this challenging for that long, of course I made a big deal out of it. While his Lego abilities were nurtured over time, his perseverance is still something in the beginning stages of development. He is learning! Here he is with his new "Rogue Shadow."