Fun Field Trip!

Elijah is currently studying astronomy in school, so we took a little field trip yesterday to the Oklahoma Science Museum.  The museum has, among many other things, a planetarium.  Since we were the only two in the planetarium, we were able to as as many questions as we wanted and answer all of them we wanted as well.  Elijah even stumped the head of the planetarium for a few moments with one of his questions!

In the planetarium

Now that's a tree, at least for Oklahoma!

We had loads of fun, but as we made our way to the car, we saw an unwelcome sight.  There was a large grass fire burning in Northeast OKC.  Today it was still a problem.  We are even able to smell it at the house.  We sure could use a lot of rain!

Two mornings later and it's still going.

Just a LIttle Bored

I suppose I could have folded the one (yes, only one) load of laundry that I needed to fold, or I could have washed the few dishes by the sink, but no.  Instead I made something fun!  Tabitha has found a blog about moustaches and there was a set of pillows on there that, when put together, formed a moustache.  So I made her some pillows.  The dishes and laundry can wait until tomorrow.

School's in Session

We started school last Monday and we are now well into the swing of things.  We are doing the old standards; reading, writing, 'ritmetic, as well as a couple of new things.  One of the new things is Hebrew!  Yikes, what was I thinking?! Okay, it really is going to be fun.  We are learning it together, so that makes it even better.  And if we ever get to go to Jerusalem, it will come in handy. 

We are taking a different approach to PE as well.  We will do our Crossfit, but we are going to add a little extra to it.  I'm thinking Parkour.  We'll just start out with some things at home and if he still wants to do it, we'll add to it later.

I am learning a little extra as well.  i finally bit the bullet and am taking OTS online.  Tabitha is actually taking it this year at AC and since she is a "good girl" I see her on the videos sitting at the front of the class.  I told her that the bad kids sit in back.  It is going to be a lot of reading these first few weeks, but after that it will taper off quite a bit.  At least that is what the instructor has said.  I think the hardest part will be setting aside 1 1/2 hours at one sitting to just watch the video.  The reading I can get in anytime, I think.

Since it is just the beginning of the year, we have not had many projects, but we did create the solar system.  In construction paper at least.  Since we are studying the universe right now, we are planning a trip to the science museum and planetarium next week.  that should be fun!




The Solar System, (Not to scale)

 

Take a Hike

Well, I finally got them organized, our vacation pics. Our trip to Colorado and New Mexico was a great time for our family. Tabitha had a few days off from AC and landscaping and was able to go along with us. We're not sure how many more times we'll head off as the four of us, so it was really nice to have her along.

Colorado Gators was really fun. We happened to be there during their yearly Gator Rodeo. People from all over the country come to wrestle the alligators. They take a three hour course to learn how, then they go in with the owners of the farm and catch gators. This actually serves a purpose. Once an alligator is caught, they are measured and checked for injuries. Then, if needed, they are treated for any injuries they may have. One of the females that was caught while we were there had recently lost a toe, so they took care of that while they had her out of the water. It is not as dangerous as it sounds and in 14 years they have never had a wrestler injured by a gator.

After the gator farm we headed about 30 miles south to the Conejos River area to begin our hike. It was later named The Death March, but I digress. We were headed to Ruybalid Trail and No Name Lake.  2 1/2 miles of switchbacks rising 2,100 feet. To say it was strenuous would be putting it pretty mildly. Then there is another 2.5 miles to the lake! It took 9 hours and at one point we weren't sure if we were ever going to find the lake because the trail map and the guide book didn't match up. But we persevered and had a great night's sleep with no sign of civilization around us except for the occasional jet flying overhead. It was beautiful, tranquil, quite millennial in fact, except for the fact that there were no fish in the lake. There was even a sign at the lake, not anywhere before, that let us know this. We just used the day we spent there to rest and relax. (Yes, 9 hour to hike in and we spent one day.)  Something we all needed even before the hike. The next day we hiked out, in a third of the time, and without rests. While it was much easier coming down, physically it was more difficult in the days that followed. I felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my calves and hips. I'll have to find a way to train for that.

After we left the trail we headed for our favorite snowboarding spot, Sipapu, NM. This time of year the slopes are covered in green grass and flowers. While we have seen lots of snow fall there in the winter, we got to experience a thunderstorm this time. While not as powerful as the one that had just happened back in Oklahoma, that we had no clue about, it was spectacular. We stayed a couple of days and fished where we could actually see the fish. Just a little more time to relax before we headed home.

By that time we had heard about the storm back home. Jeff's dad had checked on the house for us and only a tree and a few limbs were lost. Nothing happened to the house or shops. For that we were very grateful. It was a great and relaxing, even if exhausting, trip!

Gator Wrestling and Hiking

Did you know that you don't have to go to the southern US in order to both? Hopefully that peaked your interest a little. I have a lot of pictures that Tabitha and I took on our family vacation that I hope to get organized and posted on here soon. Until then, here are just a few.

This little guy cracked us up!

Wild strawberries-for comparison, they are in Elijah's hand.

The beginning of what would become know as "The Death March".

After 5 hours of uphill hiking, our first flat spot.  There were 4 more hours after this.

Three Things

It's getting to be that time of year again.  Well, normally for us it tends to be a year round thing, not 365 days year round, just not a complete stoppage because it is summer.  School is about to start up again!  I am ready for it too!  Not because I'm going to have some adult time to myself or because Elijah is about to drive me insane (he is), but because we are ready for home school to start.  I read this blog today and have to agree wholeheartedly with it.  So, while I finish getting my year planned out, I can rest assured that I am far from the only home school mom to feel inadequate, over-worked, tired, and insane.  I can also feel that I am doing what God expects of me, teaching my child in the way he should go.  Oh, and I can also be assured that no matter how much planning I do, it will change at least weekly.  So much for planning.

3 Things Never to Say to a Homeschooling Mom

Rebecca Capuano

It’s not easy. Homeschooling, that is. We homeschoolers are forever going against the flow, paddling upstream against the current of tradition in an effort to give our children the values and education we deem important. Some days are great; some days are…well, not so great. But either way, we persevere in commitment along the homeschooling journey because we believe we are doing what is best for our children and our families. But it’s often a challenge to do things “differently”; to choose a path that is contrary to the “norm”. Add to that challenge the tremendous responsibility for your child’s educational development, and it’s not surprising that most homeschoolers are in need of a bit of encouragement!




For those non-homeschoolers (mother-in-laws included!) who seek to be a support for home educating moms, there are a lot of ways to lighten the load and provide encouragement. Making a meal, providing free childcare, or helping with transportation are just a few of the things that come to mind. But sometimes the best support can come from what you don’t say. Even well-meaning non-homeschoolers can stick a pin into the home educator’s balloon of optimism with a few uninformed comments. When a homeschool mom is feeling unsure, stressed, inadequate, or just downright exhausted about the homeschooling experience, the last thing she needs is to have her chosen path questioned. Here are 3 of the top things guaranteed to transform a typically unflappable homeschool super-mom into a crazy madwoman:



1. Aren’t you afraid that you won’t be able to give your kids everything they need educationally?



The simple answer? Yes. It’s a question many of us homeschool moms wrestle with every day, stay up late agonizing over at night, and feverishly work to combat during schooling hours. We often struggle with a sense of being overwhelmed that we cannot do it all, and we sacrifice time and money on a daily basis to make sure we are covering all the bases. But we also know that we have a higher investment in our own children than anyone else on the planet does, and that we have the freedom to individualize our instruction to the personal needs of each child, rather than fitting the child to a curriculum. And we recognize that we are not doing it alone; we have support networks, co-ops, online teachers, community college classes and endless resources at our disposal to help us give our kids what they need.



So what we need is to not be questioned about whether or not we can do it all. We need to be commended for the educational efforts we do provide every day, and directed toward and encouraged to use the resources available to us, so that we do not feel like we have to do it all.



2. Are you concerned about your children’s socialization?



Aren’t you? (Oh wait – did I say that out loud?)



Homeschoolers don’t generally have time to ponder this question, with all of the transportation to homeschool soccer leagues, piano lessons, co-op meetings, part-time job, church activities, choir, art classes, summer camp, mission projects, dance practice, swim team, service activities, family business responsibilities, and volunteer projects. As we participate in all of these engagements, our kids are surrounded by people of all different ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds, which helps to prepare them to live in the real world (one where people are not segregated according to age and geographical locale) and know how to interact with individuals from all walks of life. By the way, with the statistics on bullying and school violence being what they are, many of us also question the wisdom that the optimal socialization experience for a group of 12-year-olds is another group of 12-year-olds. I’d like to give a longer answer to this question, but we are going by our local nursing home to play the piano for some patients, and then we have baseball practice and violin lessons after that. You’re welcome to come, if you’d like to see our children’s socialization in action.



3. If homeschooling isn’t working out, you can always just put them in public (or private) school.



We are homeschooling because we believe it is what is best for our family. It is sometimes difficult, and sometimes does not go well. But we do not want to be encouraged to give it up; we want encouragement to keep going. We want you to respect our choice to homeschool as the right decision for us, and not deter us from that path. Just as a family who has chosen public school for their children does not want to be told “Well, you should just take him out and homeschool him” when their child struggles in school, homeschoolers do not want to be told to throw in the towel when times get hard. Homeschooling is a long journey, and moms need support in seeing the big picture instead of getting bogged down by the small details and frustrations along the way. If you hear, “I don’t think I can do this anymore” from us, think of it not as a desire to abandon the homeschooling journey, but a cry for encouragement and support along the path we’ve already chosen. Point out how great a job we’re doing, offer to watch the kids for awhile, give us a night out on the town with friends or our spouse, and let us know that you believe in us. And then tomorrow we’ll wake up with renewed energy to tackle the most exciting, challenging, amazing task ever put before us – homeschooling our kids.

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It RAINED Last Night!!

What I wouldn't give for this right now.  Scenes from last summer.  The first week of July, 2010 was when we received our last significant rain fall.  It was downright cool on July 4th with a threat of fireworks displays being rained out!  Up to that point, we had gotten some record amounts.  Nothing like that this year.  I'd like to talk to all those who were complaining last year, but it wouldn't be very nice, what I have to say.