30 March 2016

Hello!

We've been doing a bunch of crafts, making food in the kitchen, and taking trips to the library and the nature center this spring.  All our required school hours are done until July so I'll often do a math exercise with the children and a bit of reading or something... and then it's off to do stuff and go places.  :)

25 March 2016

Political Facts.

During dinner, I made the mistake of asking my children what they thought of certain political candidates.  They seemed to know only about one Republican presidential candidate in particular.

"Donald Trump got on the TV and told everybody that he has a big butt!" Rose burst out giggling.  "An' he has LOTS o'money and built a Greaaat Waaall!"  Here, of course, she had to gesticulate with her dribbly bagel to show me just how big the wall really is.

"And he is rude to everybody," Woodjie interjected angrily.  "Know where he was born?  It was behind the wall in Mexico.  Because that's part of our territory."

Yep, the kid is ahead of his time.  They watch too much news or not enough, depending on your perspective...

20 March 2016

Missouri K-8 Chess Champion!

Celebrating at our hotel.
Emperor won all his games in the K-8 Division of the state championships held in Columbia, Missouri, this weekend.  He shares the title of state champion with one other person because there were so many participants in this tournament that even after six rounds, there were two undefeated players.



Elijah, God's Mighty Prophet

I think your child is going to love this book because it's full of action-packed pictures and of course, retells the exciting story of Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal.  It includes the tale of Elijah being fed by ravens and later living with a widow and her son, helping them through the famine in the land with a miracle from God.  In other words, it's a great introduction of the Biblical story.

This Zonderkidz's "I Can Read!" Adventure Bible story was illustrated by David Miles.  I love the contrasting colours used throughout the story.  You can see how the fire and darkness contrast on the cover illustration, but each picture inside sort of "jumps" at you in the same way.  The facial expressions on the people are also nicely detailed.

It's definitely a book for a smaller child, although my 9 1/2 year old son read it for homeschool and enjoyed it very much.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

17 March 2016

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Rose was a good sport and let me take her photo during the special dinner we made.  Home-made pizza on bread and sugar cookies.  The children worked hard in home ec today and had some time outside to blow bubbles in the afternoon.

10 March 2016

Almost Spring!

I had to have bloodwork done across town so I dragged Woodjie and Rose off to Zona Rosa.  We had a great time browsing through many of the shops, most especially the bookstore.  Lookit the extremely overpriced jacket I bought for Woodjie.  I love how it matches his blue eyes.  At this price, Rose will be wearing it for a good while after Woodjie can't squeeze into it any more. 

Though look how Rose is growing.  This is her silly pose.  She made a bunch of odd poses for the camera today including dinosaur and pouty face.  (Thankfully, not the "sexy" duck sort of pouty face.  I don't think she's ever seen that... here's hoping my kid never poses for one of those everrrr.)

This afternoon the kiddos helped me to make naan pizzas.  Yep.  We make bagel pizzas, French bread pizzas, and now these yummy naan pizzas.  We bought the bread at Sam's Club (I think 9/10 of our food comes from Sam's).  I have calculated with fatsecret that if I have nothing else but a cup of coffee all day, I can have two of these. 

The kids got to eat outside today and play croquet all afternoon.  Something weird happened though.  Some guy in a delivery truck stopped and took pictures of my kids for about five seconds.  Long enough that you're pretty sure it happened but not long enough to grab your own camera and take HIS pic.  I wonder if he were gathering "proof" that my kids were out of school.  News flash:  the school already knows they're out of school and they do not care.  I was a little creeped out though.

07 March 2016

I Tried to Understand This Poem

The following has been passed out in a second grade public school class so that students could circle the rhyming words in the poem:

I Tried to Ride a Skateboard

by Kenn Nesbitt


I tried to ride a skateboard.

I fell and scraped my knee.

I tried to ride a bicycle.

I crashed into a tree.



I tried to ride a scooter.

I landed on my chin.

I tried to ride a unicycle;

lost a bit of skin.



I even tried a tricycle

but ran into a wall.

I'm happy in this wheelchair now.

I never fall at all.


Copyright © 2015 Kenn Nesbitt

All Rights Reserved

From www.poetry4kids.com

Ok, so... easy-to-read and somewhat playful sounding rhyme for the most part.  I found myself wondering about protective gear and all until the end.  The end is what's really bugging me.  I kept second-guessing myself, whether this should bother me as much as it did, so I consulted my friend and disability advocate, Kim Wombles.  Here's what she had to say:

"That sure is an all or nothing fallacy. Plus, I'm in a wheelchair and fall all the time. It's ableist and insensitive. It also will have those second graders potentially blaming wheelchair users for their disability."

I wonder if they would have thought twice about passing this poem out if there were a child in class who needed to use a wheelchair or walker.  I really wish that staff at this school were able to learn more about disability, not to shame them, but to help them truly learn and do better next time.  

05 March 2016

LINC Chess All-Boys and All-Girls Tournament

Today, LINC Chess had an all-boys' and all-girls' chess tournament at Bingham Middle School in Independence.  Woodjie and Rose both got to play in the K-3 sections, but in separate rooms.  The folks at LINC are always so friendly and helpful and made sure that Woodjie was included and as comfortable as possible in all the activities.  Woodjie is autistic and sometimes he gets a bit anxious in large crowds or when unexpected things happen. 


If you're in the Kansas City area and are looking for a free tournament for your child, you should check out LINC's facebook page.  They run several tournaments every year and they are always well-attended and come with a free cafeteria lunch.



We had a great time!  The next tournament is April 9 at North Kansas City High School. 

04 March 2016

A Pic of Me

I don't know why my hair looks almost blonde in the picture, but in real life, it's closer to black.  Funny how the camera can fool you.  :)

Brave Girls: Beautiful You

Take a quiz to find out whether you have a servant's heart.  Do a crossword based on Psalm 139.  Write a few thoughts on the lines here and there.  It's definitely a reader-participation sort of devotional for your 8- to 13-year-old.  Gracie, Hope and Glory team up again, this time to help Christian girls learn true inner beauty secrets!

The book is super-cute and helps girls to consider how to cultivate a better relationship with God in their everyday lives.  I've got to be honest, though.  I found some of the "tips" to be annoying and impractical.  If your mother promised you some time at the pool, and she brought you home instead and said it was time to clean for her dinner party?   Most girls would not turn on music, do the dishes and chit-chat about who's going to show up... even in a devotional.  Sorry.  Too much.

The book will keep the reader's interest, though, and it's full of interesting little facts here and there and detail about Biblical events with which most girls may not be familiar.  I'd give it about three out of five stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

01 March 2016

Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary Trip

We've had a plumbing fiasco in our house (pictures later) and the kids have had to deal with a lot of "just go to your room for a bit" and "use only THIS toilet today" and "don't use THAT sink" and so on.  Long week.  Our troubles aren't completely over but the restoration crew has left "drying equipment" and they should haul it away in a few days.

These kids needed a trip away from the stress of it all and so did I.  Unfortunately, I called just after the time they made the decision not to have a homeschool program this month because no one signed up.  Drat.  You know how it goes when you have a bunch of stuff going on at home and  you don't want to make a commitment until you're sure you can keep it.  Oh well.

The naturalist at the sanctuary put on a real show for us anyway.  We got to watch him feed all the salamanders, the frogs, the lizards and the tarantula (well, she wasn't hungry today).

Salamander
Rose is helping pump to make an "instant cloud" out of de-natured alcohol.  Collin was an excellent host and patiently answered all the kids' questions.

We made "Gak" out of Borax and glue.  Woodjie's has food dye, but Rose used pink glitter glue.



 And here's a video of feeding time.  I'm wanting to say that this is an American toad but I could be wrong on that one.




Then we walked about on the trails for a little bit, but it's still a bit cold and we'd been out for a while, so then we went home.  We've just become members, so you know we're going to be coming back soon.


Springtime!

Well, almost.  The weather outside is fooling me into doing a bit of a tidy in the house.

We keep all clothes up to about size 14 or 18 when older children outgrow them.  So pretty much around middle-school age (grades 6-8), my children need new clothes all their own.  Which means all my older children are done "passing down" anything but a pair of winter boots and a gently used jacket, really.

I label clothes going into storage by size and season in... garbage bags and keep them in the closet.  I know, super classy!  But it does cut down considerably on moths and whatnot getting to them.  I save a lot of money by using this system and also by saving shoes for the next child if they're in decent shape. 

So I've been digging through bags of used clothes, rounding up things by season and washing a few loads here and there and re-organising the closets of the littler children.  They also have some "new" shoes from older siblings. 

I do wind up buying several new items for each child, but I would say 3/4 of Woodjie's clothes and shoes are hand-me-downs.  We find that thrift stores are excellent places to find very gently worn and pretty little girls' clothes for Rose.  For teen girls?  Not so much.  There is no way my child is wearing a skirt shorter than Uhura's or sport clothing with as much 'attitude' as I see on the racks there.  It will be a sad day when I stop finding cute things for Rose when I thrift.

Bringing Garbage Home

Some people up the street were throwing this table away. It was in pretty bad shape and one of the legs was off. I've glued the leg back...