I Made It

It's the last day of January and I made it through my challenge.  I only missed two days this month and I am pretty proud of myself.

I went from posting about 3 or 4 times a month to 29 days.  I haven't decided if I am going to keep this going through the month of February but I might just try and keep it up.  After all, I still have a month of wrestling before little league and soccer start. 

Flood Waters

Remember this picture.  They are laughing because they are standing on a frozen river.  It's not a shallow river and it moves pretty fast.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  But look at how much fun they are having.



Look at the power pole on this side of the river.  Now look across the river right along this pole you can just make out a picnic table in the water.  Between that table and the one further left we had a snow ball fight that day.  See that fast moving water, yes in the middle of the river is where the above picture was taken.



This is what happens when you have had lots of snow followed by lots of rain.



These last two pictures is the road going toward our favorite hiking spot.

My Soap Box

It's been a long time since I pulled out my soap box, but lucky for you it's coming out today.

First off, this post is not directed at anyone person.  Because it has happened more then once.

Email, test message and facebook are not the way to deliver bad news.  And by bad news I mean a death in the family.  A couple of years ago, someone emailed me about a very close family member who had passed away.  They were just trying to keep me posted.  I had already heard about it an hour before, but what if I hadn't.  Is this really the way you want to hear that kind of news.

Last night a post went out on facebook about a cousin who passed away.  My Mom hadn't had a chance to get a hold of my brother or myself.  I don't want to point the finger of blame on the person who made the post, she didn't know.  And I am sure she didn't know our relationship.  And she didn't know that this is the second person that found out passed away on facebook. Let's face it, everything about peoples lives are out there on facebook.


Today I am just very sad.  I hadn't seen this cousin who passed in a few years.  As a kid, I spent a lot of time on her families farm.  She was older then I am but she always took to time to do things with me and was always super nice.  I will forever remember her beautiful smile and bubbly personality.  I always looked up to her and was excited when I knew she was going to be around.  Today I am praying for her family who is dealing with this tragedy.

That's it, putting away the soap box. 

Just a Picture

Because that is all I can do tonight.  I has been a long and busy day.  I just never got around to getting a post done.  Plus, I got some new software for my peter and I was playing with that.



This is what Anthony's birthday morning looked like.  It is 6:00am and we got up to sing happy birthday and give him his presents before he was off to wrestling.  Megan is curled up in the blanket.  Want to see my great wrapping job.  If you look under the couch that Anthony is laying on, you can see the snow board under the couch. HeHeHe  Oh well, he liked it. 

Ops!!!

I didn't get a post up yesterday.  I had one all figured out and I think it was a one too.  As I sat down to start typing, Megan walked in and started to describe a stomach pain she was having.

She has not been feeling to hot for a couple of days, not eating right the usual for this time of year.  But last night she came in holding her stomach and describing a pain that hurts like nothing she had ever felt before.  A quick check on the Internet and sure enough the spot she is pointing to is were her appendix are.

I decided not to take a chance and ran her to the E.R. 11pm.  She had some tests done and it was not her appendix.  However, when the doctor pushed on her stomach, it hurts right were the appendix are. 

She was to funny, because she had no idea what the appendix were.  She texted her friend and told her what was going on.  Her friend says, "Did it burst?"  Megan looks at me and yelled, "it can burst??"  She wouldn't believe me when I told her the cure is surgery.  She ended up talking to the doctor about treatments.  She wasn't crazy about the idea of surgery until she found out how much school she will miss.

To bad for her, she went to school today.  No surgery but she gets to wear the wrist ID bands to school today.  I guess this is a big deal at school.

So anyway, I am back to posting.

Another Picture

I have lots to say today, but just don't feel like typing it.  I know, kind of sad.

Anyway, here is a picture from Thanksgiving.  Steve's Mom, aunt, cousin and his boys all made the trip here.  It was a lot of fun to have a full house.


Now I am off to a wrestling match.

My Oldest

He got a kick out of the football picture that I posted for his birthday.  So, I thought, why not post another one.

Only this time it is going to be wrestling.  These pictures are from 7th grade. hehehe





Of course, you have seen these before.  He might be wrestling again tomorrow night so lucky you I will have more pictures.  I found some of Megan playing soccer for the first time.  I am so glad I have started scrap booking again.





It amazes me just how fast they grow up.

One of those Days

Today was one of those days.  Sunny outside and we haven't see the sun for weeks.  We decided to go out and enjoy it for awhile. 

Sad, but that is all I have to say today.  Go out and enjoy the weather if it is nice were you are.

17 !!!!

There is no way I am old enough for a 17 year old son!!!!!

Happy Birthday Anthony.  It is hard to believe that you are 17 already.  It seems like just yesterday we were arguing about how far down the block you could ride your bike.  Now we are arguing about how long you can have the car. You are a good kid and we couldn't be more proud of you.  Good luck today.

He is spending his birthday in Idaho at a wrestling tournament.  We will be meeting up with him tomorrow.  Last night he asked what time he was born.  Of course, not wondering why he would ask, I told him 3:16am.  He woke me up at 3:16 this morning to ask if he can open his presents.


In the above picture (9 years old) he is smiling because he caught an interception.  Below he is smiling because they are going to the playoffs. Taken this year.




Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

ackkkkk

Not much to post today.  We have been dealing with having colds and trying to teach. 

We will be celebrating Anthony's 17th birthday tomorrow.  Which means that 17 years ago today, at this time, I was in the hospital in labor.  It was a loooooong one.  Anthony won't be here with us tomorrow because he will be away at another wrestling tournament.  We will meet up with him in Idaho on Saturday to watch the 2nd day. 

We decided not to go and stay this weekend because it looks like there will be a few hotel stays in the next couple of months.  Megan is going to Yakima again for soccer and I will be joining her.  Anthony will be competing in regionals for wrestling and then hopefully state.  He is also going to be traveling to Reno for a World wrestling tournament.  We, of course, will not be missing that one.  We are also hoping that the family from Ca will be joining us as well. 

So, that's it for today.  I will defiantly be posting tomorrow. 

Make It Easy

The people around me make it easy to take pictures.

She's not used to me being in her face with the camera but I try anyway.  She to likes photography but leans toward landscapes.  She has taken some beautiful pictures. Not sure that she will be pleased when she sees her picture here. 

Pictures and more Pictures

I have spent the last couple of days going through hundreds of pictures.  I am trying to get 2010 off my computer and on dvd's.  Eventually get some off to the printers.  I started doing some scrap booking today and came across some old wrestling pics I will have to post later in the month.  Too funny.

Anyway, here is a picture from our Boise trip last summer.  We had gone to the birds of prey center and then off to the Boise Zoo.  Here is Steve doing his eagle impression.  I really wish I had it on video, cracks me up every time they do it.

Every Day for a Month

I thought this would be an easy challenge, but I have found out it really isn't.  Even I don't have that much to say.  So instead I am going to post a picture I took today.

I think it says it all.



and yes, that is our garbage can on the counter.  Don't ask.

A Homeschool Post

I found this blog post on another website and really liked it.  I am often asked these same questions about Jason.  People will ask me, isn't it tough being around the kids all day and never having a break.  No, I think it is kind of fun.  Plus, I am learning along with him.  We didn't do this for religious reasons.  We did it because we were told "He doesn't understand anything and I don't know how to teach him."  A quote from his second grade teacher.  We starting thinking of classroom time at the school was a waste of Jason's time.  My only regret is that I didn't do this for the other two.

Where else can you turn in this kind of work and not get into trouble.


or take a spelling test in shaving cream.



Any way here is the post.

I Was Homeschooled: What it Taught Me That a Classroom Never Could

Posted Jan 11th 2011 at 5:30PM by Kate Fridkis

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I didn't go to preschool. And then I didn't go to kindergarten. And after that I didn't go to elementary school. Or middle school. Or high school, even. I was homeschooled.

I say "unschooled" sometimes, to differentiate myself from the 80% of homeschoolers who educate at home for religious reasons. I was unschooled, and I felt really lucky.

People always ask me, "Which one of your parents taught you?"

That's still the way everyone thinks about learning. There's a teacher and a bunch of students. There's an adult who knows more, and some kids who know less. And the adult stands there and tells the kids things. And the kids learn.

Neither one of my parents taught me, and, of course, they both did. Just as everyone's parents teach them things about being alive. And skills for navigating the world. And to cover their mouths when they yawn. I learned how fun it is to sit and gossip for hours from my dad. From my mom, I learned the value of occasional ritualistic formality (requesting that everyone share something they'd like to improve about the world at a holiday gathering. Or having the gathering in the first place).

I learned how to make wildly creative sandwiches. I learned how to write thank-you notes. But most of the, "Can you tell me what six times seven is" type of instruction stopped when I was ten or so. After that, my mother's role in my education was more like that of a guidance counselor. I checked in with her. We worked on various curricula that I mostly didn't follow, because I had so many other books I wanted to read, and so many of my own, critically time-sensitive projects to complete.

People stopped me constantly, along the way, to ask me what my family did for lab. How did we get the equipment? It would've been a lot easier if I could've just said, "We don't. We don't do lab." I mean, we looked at strands of our hair through a microscope and read biology books, so I probably could've, but I felt like the world might not be ready. So I said things about auditing college classes and local community-based opportunities.

You know, the community science lab, where little unschoolers can clock in all the hours they need with a genuine cow's eyeball and a scalpel. There was a homeschooling resources catalogue that sold cows' eyes. I said absolutely not. Absolutely, absolutely not. Mom thought it might be fun. She thought everything might be fun.

People stopped me to ask about socialization. That's the big one. Can you talk to other people? Do you have friends? How weird are you? (Educated guess, their expressions said: probably pretty weird.) I especially loved it when they asked me if I could talk to other people when I had already been talking to them for fifteen minutes.

Here's the good and bad news: I'm sort of normal. I spent a lot of time when I was younger pretending to be exceptional. It felt like the only way to justify my abnormal upbringing. I put on a show for every adult in sight, trying to prove that homeschoolers weren't just socially capable, we were all geniuses.

College was not something it occurred to me to care terribly about. I already had this complete life. I was working, teaching regularly, writing terrible fantasy novels, and writing music. I didn't have any interest in picking a single career path, and I didn't see the point in sitting in a classroom, after all those years of avoiding just that.

But I went. It was almost as though my parents weren't sure what happened at eighteen, other than college. They'd enabled me to come this far, on my own, but there was no question about me joining the schooled world eventually.

In college, I learned how to be bored for the first time. I know I'm supposed to talk about how enlightening the experience was. College always opens the world up for everyone. That's practically its tagline: College: Opening Up The World.

I guess my world was too open already. I learned how stressful being good at something was. You have to stay ahead constantly. I learned how to doodle. Before then, I'd painted and sketched. But now I was doodling endless circles and swirls and stacks of bricks in the margins of notebook after notebook. And I forgot how to think that I could do more than one thing. I forgot how to be a homeschooler. And after a while, when I realized that, I missed it.

When they find out that I was homeschooled, people ask me, "Did you like it?"

It's such a simple question. Like, so, you had a forty-year career as a statistician. Did you like it? You walked on the moon, did you like it?

But then, some things are a lot simpler than they should be. When I asked my mom why she decided to homeschool my brothers and I, she said, "I liked being around you." People expect a massive critique of society, which she can also do, when she feels like it. But underneath that is something much more straightforward.

I think that people want homeschooling to be incredibly complicated because school has become incredibly complicated. Education has become a messy, chaotic topic that we, as a nation, can't stop talking about. "Waiting for Superman", budget cuts, teen suicides, charter schools, healthier school lunches, colleges flooded with applications, student debt, student loans that go forever, elite preschools, KIPP, abstinence only sex ed, gay kids at prom, no child left behind, teachers' unions, rubber rooms, standardized testing, teacher suicides, cutting music and art classes, where it all is going, what we might be able to do, whether we should do it, and if it really works at all.

And then there are the people who drop out. The people who don't start in the first place. People like me. We're still a tiny minority -- about 3% of the population, according to some studies (the exact numbers are never really clear). But we have a lot to say about education. And even when we don't say anything at all, our lives speak for us.

When people ask if I liked it, I always say yes. Of course I liked it! I got to sleep until ten! What's not to like? I didn't get graded! I didn't take any standardized tests before the SAT. I didn't ever have to raise my hand. I wore ridiculous outfits, and no one told me they were ridiculous. I thought I was beautiful. I learned about things just because I was interested in them. Everyone should try it!

I, for one, am planning on unschooling my own kids if/when I have them.

It's not a simple world. Not everyone who wants to has the economic ability to homeschool, especially not with very young children. And sometimes, when I'm being very mature and serious, or moping, or feeling insecure, or feeling like a total realist, I think that it's not clear to me exactly what parts of myself I gained from school (college, grad school) and what I gained from unschooling. It's all mixed together now.

I do know though, with completely certainty, that I liked myself a lot more as an unschooler. I thought I had more potential. I thought I could do anything, and I was excited about it. Maybe learning that you can't do anything is just a part of growing up. But maybe it's not. Maybe it's a part of being schooled.


Kate Fridkis blogs about body image at Eat the Damn Cake and education at Un-schooled. She also writes for The Huffington Post. She lives in Manhattan, but can't seem to ever dress very fashionably. She is also, somewhat randomly, the cantor at a synagogue in central NJ.

Crabs

I have mentioned before that Jason's best friend Joey and his family are moving.  His older brother Tim had a fish tank that needed to go to a good home.  We were that good home.

The fish tank itself is not a problem.  Steve and I have had one before.  Megan added her fish to the tank and they all live happily together.

Until Megan went to Walmart and bought these.


Crabs.  They are very cool to look at, but what we didn't know is that they can and do escape.

Now ours haven't officially gotten out of the tank.  They have just found their way up and into the filter.  Every once in a while, one of the kids will open up the filter and put them back into the tank.  Other times the filter itself just shoots them back in.  I am waiting for one to get completely out and end up on the floor.  It would be my luck to be the one who step's on it.

Here is one of this guy:  He posed for the picture, so here he is.

A Field Trip

There is a lot of concern that home schooled kids don't get a lot of social interaction.  We wanted to make sure this didn't happen so I joined a home school group.  We have field trips, library days and lots of park days.  We are also very lucky that Jason's best friend lives across the street and is also home schooled.
Even without all things extra things, Jason has no problem being social.

Here are some pictures of a field trip we took last September.

Repost

Here are a couple of pictures from the past.

These are from a trip to Sacramento back in 2007.  We were there to help my uncle celebrate his 90th birthday.  I just cracked up when I saw these pictures and how young they look.



and one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

A Sigh of Relief

It's a long story really, but tonight Steve and I are breathing a sigh of relief.  All I really want to say is, it is a bad day when adults act worse then the kids.  But it's the kids who get dragged down in the nastiness.

We have worked really hard at teaching our kids to try to do the right thing and take responsibility when you mess up.  And no matter what hold you head high, because it will all work out in the end.

Tonight it worked out and things are going to be a little brighter.

Weekend Storm

We were only suppose to get a an inch of snow.  Instead we got about 6 inches.  So, today our weather reports say to prepare for blizzard conditions starting Wednesday.  I am headed out to go grocery shopping just in case.  And, I haven't done any serious shopping since Christmas.  The kids are starting to look in the refrigerator and say "ummmm, Mom????"

Here is a picture of what down town looked like Sunday morning.  This was just the beginning of our little storm.  The law says you can't text while driving, it doesn't say anything about picture taking.  :)

Youth Group Sledding Trip

Yesterday we had a youth group meeting with all the Catholic youth groups in our county.  The couple who headed up this meeting did a great job.  We talked about peer pressure.  It was very interesting to hear what the kids had to say about it.

After the talk we headed up to our host's house to do some sledding.  I didn't sled but took pictures and I took about 250 of them.  So I will be spending today going through those.

We were supposed to get about an inch of snow today but ended up with about 6 and it is still snowing.  I love the snow but not crazy about driving in it.  The kids and some adults did the sledding and then headed into the house for hot chocolate and pizza.  Yummmmmm

I wasn't going to go.  I was going to stay home and get caught up around here.  But I am so glad I did go.  I never laughed so hard at these kids.  I am surprised no one broke anything.  I loved getting a chance to take their pictures.  The girls all looked away from the camera, but the boys wanted to make sure I caught their crashes.  We needed a video camera out there.

Here are a couple of my kids.

My favorite of Anthony.  He found this cat and was cuddling it.  This is the face I know and love.  He is such a sweet and good natured kid.



The girls, mine is in the middle.  I didn't realize it was her because her hat wasn't the right color.   Her hat is really dark brown, but you can't tell.  This is after they crashed and rolled down the hill.  Megan ended up hurting her tail bone again.  I have a feeling that is going to bother her for awhile.



Jason looks upset in this picture but he's not.  He is helping another little boy out with his sled.  We joked that he looked like he was saying "why do I always have to carry the sleds?"  He was just concerned about another kid who had just come down the hill.  All we could see was a cloud of snow. 



If anyone learned anything from today it would be me.  The laundry and dishes will wait.  Get out there and have some fun with the kids.

Prayers

My thoughts are prayers go out to the victims and their families in yesterdays shootings in Arizona.  It was such a sad day and can not begin to imagine what those families are going through.

What is That???

Is just what I said when I got out of the car the other night.  We have had snow/ice on the ground for the last couple of weeks.  In fact it's snowing now.  As I got out of the car I noticed some animal tracks by our trailer.  We woke up to deer tracks all over the lawn a couple of days ago.  But this was nooooo deer tracks.  I wanted to get my camera but really really just wanted to go back in the house. 

Both my neighbor and Anthony agree, cougar tracks.  They are most definitely not dog or house cat tracks.  We have had a bunch of stray cats around but I have not seen them lately.  However, they could have moved on because of the low temperatures.  We live close enough to the forest that cougar's are not uncommon.  Maybe that is why Cheddar doesn't want to go outside.  But I really think he just doesn't want to get his paws wet.

See How It Goes

Jason is headed off to a sleep over tonight.  He has tried this before but it has never worked out.  I usually get a call after midnight to come get him. 

Poor kid, he really wants to do this.  So, he is packed with some things to make him feel more comfortable and off he goes.

Keeping my fingers crossed that he makes it to tomorrow morning.

Friends

I mentioned before that I joined a website that encourages you to post on your blog once a month.  They give you a topic for the month in case you need a little help with things to say.  I rarely have that problem.

This months topic is friends.  I had this whole big blog post figured out then I decided I didn't like it.



Instead I decided to post about these two.  Jason and Joey have been best friends for a couple of years.  Matty the little guy is Joey's little brother.  He bugs Jason like only a little brother can.  I laugh because Jason does the same things to Anthony and Megan.

Joey lives across the street and is home schooled as well.  Joey and his family are moving in a couple of months to another state.  We are going to be very sad to see them go. 

School Day Shot

Jason has been the model student.  Blowing through his work and doing it right.  Listening and even understanding what I am trying to teach him.  It's been wonderful.  So today, while we were working a math problem together, we see water spray through the air.  It seems that the drain pipe to my washer was frozen.  Thank goodness we were standing right there or it would have flooded out my kitchen.

Jason got the towels and I started cleaning up the water.  I moved both the washer and dryer so I could clean under them.  Yeah, I am never happy about having to do that.  So this means our school day is shot.  Jason happily helped me clean up the kitchen, clean out the closet so someone (not me) could get under there and thaw the pipe.  It's just the one pipe that freezes and we thought we had gotten that fixed two years ago. But I guess when you spend the week with temperatures right around 10 degrees this is bound to happen.

After we got everything cleaned up and the thawing process started, Jason looked at me and said "Mom, you look beat.  Don't worry about finishing up with school.  You should go rest and watch a movie."  What a thoughtful kid.  Little does he know that he has to finish tomorrow what he didn't get done today.

Letting Go

It's not an easy thing to do.  Anthony got his drivers license yesterday.  I thought I was ready for this but I guess I'm not.  The roads are supper icy here and my car is having some problems.  So, I have an excuse for him not to take the car and leave.  But truly my time is running out.

I did let him take Megan down the street so she could drop off some papers that she had forgotten to deliver earlier.  I was a wreck the whole time.

I can't believe the kid is going to be 17 in 3 weeks, graduate from high school next year and then off to college.  Ughhhh!!!!



When did this all happen

Back to the Real World

And I am not crazy about that this morning.  It is cold, cold outside and the only place I should be is in bed.  My poor oldest is up early doing some last minute studying for a math test.  He and Steve studied all day yesterday.  Steve planned on being up with him this morning but just as he was closing his eyes last night, he got called into work. 

The least I could to for the boy is make him some home made biscuits and gravy, his favorite.  Well, not exactly homemade.  The biscuits are from the freezer and the gravy from the little packet that you just add water.  Someday, some poor girl is going to slave over the stove and make this breakfast for him completely from scratch.  My lovely boy is going to look at her and say, "these are good, but my Mom buys this packet for a buck at the store."   Hahahaha!!!!!

Happy Monday Morning.

News Years Resolutions

I have none.  I like the Calvin and Hobbes approach to resolutions.  The world needs to change, I am just fine.  I am chuckling as I write this.

I guess the closest thing to a resolution I have made is to try to post on my blog every day for a least a month.  I even joined a website to help encourage me to post and they suggest topics to post about.  This month the topic is friends.  I do have a lot to say about friends but just not today. 

I am still recovering from the holidays and really just don't feel like thinking today.  So I went over to my flickr page and looked at the very first pictures I posted over there.  This time of year always makes us look back and remember.  So that is what I am doing.


The booger picture. 
This was taken Jason's second year of preschool.  You can't see it well in this picture but you can in mine.  The booger is as clear as day.  Why didn't the photographer see this? 
Picture taken on 10/18-06



Stealing Grandpa's Laptop.
Grandpa left his laptop at our house while he was visiting.  Megan decided to hide it thinking grandpa wouldn't miss it.  He did.
Picture taken on 8/11/07



Grandpa's Laptop.
They liked to go stay at the hotel with grandma and grandpa.  They wait for grandpa to go to sleep and have free reign over the computer.  When grandpa is awake they have to fight him for it.
Picture taken on 8/11/07

Look how little they are.  I love looking back at old pictures.
Have a good Sunday.

Happy New Year

It is a beautiful New Years day here in Eastern Oregon. The sun is out, snow (or should I say ice) is on the ground and it is a warm 10 degrees.

Megan headed out to a friends house last night and I stayed in with the boys. Anthony was not at all happy with me. The roads are frozen over and I refused to let him head out to his girlfriends house. I pulled my mother on him. I quoted all the facts about drunk drivers, accidents, crazy drivers and add ice on the roads. When I say ice, I don't mean just a little ice. You can put on your skates and play hockey in front of our house.

Yes, I know I let Megan go to her friends. Their family only lives 5 minutes from our house. We did have a good time however. We watched a movie and being the mother that I am, I let the boys try a little champagne. Don't worry they did not like it. We played Sorry until 2am. I am proud to say that Jason and I beat Anthony and he is starting to look for a rematch. We were missing Steve because he had to work.

I hope that 2011 brings lots of joy and happiness. I know that I am beginning 2011 realizing that I have become my mother.

Happy New Years!!!!!!!