Symphony and Science

A few weeks ago our homeschool group scheduled a field trip to the Symphony. My JB LOVES music. He was amazed and was impressed at the first song. His mouth dropped open in a 'WOW' sort of way. He listened intently as HC tried to make it through. She enjoyed the event too but was finished listening and being quiet/still about half way through. This was there first time to attend an official symphony. After the symphony we walked to the local science center for more interactive fun. We saw that a rock can boil water and many other things! Here they were anxiously waiting to enter the center.
They were able to dig up dinosaur bones - this was a neat little spot. They loved pretending to uncover the discoveries beneath the 'sand'.
Here they are in front of a dino skeleton. Pretty neat!
Space suits were cool!
Peace dude! JB has never given the peace sign before - I don't even know if he really knows that is what that means. It was funny that he posed this way (to a mommy that is).
They were the weather broadcasters. They LOVED seeing themselves on the screen!
They put their faces on this germ infested device. :) Pretty neat huh? This is HC.
Here is JB...
This was a cool stop. They put these plastic golf balls in the pockets and then attached these blowers to the pockets and the balls would go through a few twists and turns and fly out of the other side of this contraption.
A little shape sorting..
JB cried when I pulled him away from this ginormous lite brite. He LOVED it! He kept saying "It's my game... MINE! I want it!!" It was sad to pull him away.'BIG' movie anyone?? :) JB loved this stop too. HC tried and tried to build her own car but it just didn't go. She didn't want a car created by someone else but she wanted one SHE made herself. Too bad Daddy wasn't with us because Mommy is not the best at building cars that actually work. :)
This was neat. JB hit each tube and it played music. He LOVES music. All the kids LOVED fixing this car. This was the BEST stop on the entire venture. They felt so big!

And as we left I had HC try this. As long as she laid flat she was fine. But when she tried to sit up and get down it poked her butt. :) I told her to let go of the button and THEN it wouldn't hurt to climb off.
Field trips are so fun! I love seeing the kids learn about all these cool things! So fun!

Getting Through

What is up with me? Great question! I have gone through a tough inner struggle and that played out in my blogging. I felt like I had people visiting my blog who were not kind. After a few deliberate attempts to make me feel badly or judging me, I felt like this blog wasn't worth it after all. I felt like there was nothing to say anymore. And since I wasn't saying anything.... maybe I should shut off from this big bad world and hide out. It was so nice - my blog was private and the feeling of 'why do I have a blog if I'm not blogging' was lifted. I needed permission to not post.

Now I feel refreshed and less concerned of the big bad visitors lurking about. Maybe they are still out there... or should I say maybe they are still lurking in my world... who knows?! Who knows! All I do know is now I feel free to plug into the big bad world again and so I leap again..

Take 2 - my step out into the world wide web.

Lately I've been reading the book 'Love as a Way of Life' by Gary Chapman. It is a GREAT book. I HIGHLY recommend it for all living humans! :) It has the ability to break those vague terms of life down in such a measurable way that I feel like I can now see where I am on the scale of life.

There was one chapter on forgiveness that was really strong! It had a few key statements that struck me. One was "Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a different past." Giving up ALL hope. Wow! I need to give up all hope of having a different past in very key areas. That is a strong statement. I can measure when I am holding onto false hope versus living in reality. Knowing that is a measurable indicator helps me SEE when I am off track.

Another one is "When someone has wronged you and refuses to apologize, the challenge is not to forgive the unapologizing offender but to release him, along with hurt and anger." Wow! That is the hard part - the releasing, or as some say the forgetting.

Let go of false hope.... let go of anger/hurt... let go..... let go.... RELEASE IT. Strong words of wisdom! May I be strong enough to let go!

Gone Fishin'

Last week we met up with some friends we haven't seen in awhile. JB saw his best bud S! We also found a little red head at the park who joined in on our fun. She was a spunky girl! Here they are all running together. This is the ONLY shot I have with them all playing together. Our plan was to take the kids fishing. Here is JB, S and HC with her pink worm.
S's brother E is a sweetheart but is usually doing his own thing. They all love each other but it is hard to get E to join in with the others usually. He remained focused on fishing the entire time!
Here were the 3 stooges holding the fishing pole - before long they were all running around laughing and playing. Of course they were laughing and running and playing after they safely returned the fishing pole to Mom.
S and JB running along the pier.
We were not catching fish directly off the bank so we headed to this mini-pier.
It didn't take long for the gravel path to become the hit of the day. We also 'caught' this little guy. Is he a fish? Is he a tadpole?? Is he a HE???? 'He' is in the center of the Tupperware lid.
Here are the kids trying to catch some more "he's".
FINALLY.... the boys were all on the same page with the rock castles.
Teamwork makes the dream work! :) Sand castles...rock castles.... it's all about what you see when you are given lemons. We didn't catch any fish but we did have some fun!

We're Going Back in Time a Teeny Bit

Over the summer I met a new Homeschool Mom, she decided to join our homeschooling group (along with 2 other cool Moms). All 4 of us found we were using the same curriculum this year. That was our first immediate connector but as I spend time with each Mom one on one... I find there are lots more things we have in common. Remember those icky moms I see at HC's ballet class? These Moms would NOT be classified in that group. These Moms are the good ones! :) Anyway.... so back to my story.... Mom 'A' and I met up at the park one afternoon so that our girls could meet. Our girls were thrilled to see each other again. Here is HC and her friend V. V and HC ran to greet one another. They posed together for a pic and JB wanted to join in too.. so they obliged him with a courtesy picture with them.
Before we had this park day we went to a local Botanical Garden and learned about trees. This led the girls on a more detailed inspection of the trees at the park. They began screaming excitedly for us to come and A and I were concerned something was wrong.
We arrived at the tree to hear (more clearly) screams of "WE FOUND SAP!! WE FOUND SAP!!! LOOK AT OUR SAP!" They were all eager to touch the sap but we advised against that object lesson and they thankfully went on playing.

Next it was time to 'build a fire pit'. HC and V were kind enough to let JB and V's brother L participate. These two girls KNOW how to plan and organize their time.
A closer look at the pit. I love the spontaneous fun of kids.

City Mouse, Country Mouse

HC and JB attended their first live play last month. I really had no idea what to expect of the children's theatre or of how they would enjoy a play. Here they are before the play. Here is a glimpse of the fun.
Here are HC and JB seeing what it felt like to be ON stage!
Enjoying their climb up before we left.
And finally - a photo with the Country Mouse and the Mouse on the left played many different characters. Such a fun play. JB enjoyed the play but he is not interested in being photographed with characters of any kind. I still have to let JB sit in my lap when they take the annual pic with the holly jolly fellow. Even good ole St. Nick isn't immune to JB's distance. He's never trusted those in costume. At least JB doesn't cry at the sight of people dressed up anymore - that is good to know. In the past I've avoid such scenarios because of the fright JB has shown in the past. (An added bonus - now it appears Disney is not off the to-do list anymore. JB just might be ready to be visit the Disney crew... finally.)
JB was willing to pose in front of this display at least.

Now I am looking forward to many more live adventures. This was a fun first step. One phrase that stuck with HC was when the Country Mouse and the City Mouse mentioned they didn't like certain things the other liked but... they still liked each other anyway. I've heard her mention it a few times when talking to JB. She'll say "I know you like that brother but... I do not. But.. I still like you!" That's definitely a good life lesson for a 5 year old who has thought, at times, that if her friends were 5 and she was 4 then they could not be friends with her. They (those who were 5 when she was 4) didn't match her anymore. Thankfully this lesson sunk in for her. Being different does not disqualify her from being valued by others. I hope that lesson sticks!

What's a Mom to Do?

I am surrounded by friends who correct their children and follow through. Conflicts arise and overly eager children do get distracted and fall into the trap of being 'kids'. Totally normal and totally expected! I get it.

HC is taking ballet at a local church. Reason 1 - we wanted to be sure HC liked ballet before we tossed $400 a season, and 100's for a costume, for something she may not like. Reason 2 - it is do-able financially (I guess this is understood by reading reason 1). By going to a more lax environment you give up certain perks. HC will not be in a formal performance with the atmosphere just right. HC is not learning in a ballet studio. HC is among girls of several ages and abilities. Another less obvious perk is a controlled atmosphere.

The atmosphere is the topic I am puzzled about today. We've been taking HC to ballet for 6 weeks now. Because it is at a local church the ladies all know one another. Night 1, 2 and 3 I was there every week back to back without JB. Steve was home with JB. I sat among these ladies expecting to get to know them. Our common ground of our girls taking ballet together seemed like an obvious start to communication. Thank God Almighty I brought my I-pod and a book. They began chatting away without even trying to make me feel welcome. It was very uncomfortable. I didn't want to impose on their clearly drawn line and so I then planned on bringing my book and music - take a Mommy break. Ahhhh....

Nights 2 and 3 were very similar except for the fact that these moms had other children - some older and younger who now began to run all over and were obnoxiously LOUD. Night 2 I sat at a table with the Moms (giving communication a 2nd go - no luck I must have had oozing boogers pouring out of my nose without my knowledge. They looked at me like 'why is she sitting here?') Night 3 I chose to go sit down the hall (away from all the loud unruly children so that I could read more than 2 pages without trouble).

Tonight I brought JB and we sat at the furthest end of the hall. I brought him some books to keep him busy and he quietly sat and colored while I read. Five minutes of peace and then 2 WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL little ballerina's chose to run up and down the hallway. Running wasn't enough - they had to SCREAM IN A LOUD pitch. Their moms were all the way down the other end of the hall and NEVER got up to correct them nor did they get up while the girls remained WAY out of their view for long periods of time.

Steve has been out of town since Monday and returns Friday night. I was beyond my normal limits of trying to ignore this. I was screaming inside as I quietly answered JB's obvious question "Mommy, why are those girls not being good listeners?" Sad thing was - it wasn't the girl's fault. It was the Mom's. I am so careful to not judge others but this scenario is really offensive. It isn't an isolated incident - it happens every.single.week!

When you are in a situation like this... what do you do? At the end of all the torment I was surrounded by - these little ballerinas were taking water out of the water faucet into their tiny hands to drink from their hands. Problem was - 90% of the water was pouring onto the carpeted floor.

I am used to being surrounded by like minded Moms who are proactive and who do correct their kids and although kids DO act like kids - they take their responsibility of raising THEIR children seriously. They do not leave it to chance that their children may eventually learn to behave by osmosis. I cannot sympathize with repeat offenders. I don't care how familiar a place I am visiting with my children - they are required to meet the behavior standard I've set. Sure - there are times (very rare times thank God) that I leave somewhere embarrassed by the scene my kids have put on. But I tell you - these days that happens less and less. Are my kids super kids? Am I super Mom? No and NO! My husband has a quote he often repeats "persistence breaks resistance". I guess that sums up our parenting motto. I am not going to let their persistent misbehavior break me - I choose to persist in my training them up in the way they SHOULD go. I can't bear the daily battles those moms have chosen for themselves. Why would anyone CHOOSE that lifestyle on purpose?? If they misbehave that consistently in public - I would HATE to see what goes on behind closed doors. I guess I've had enough. I've reached my limit of these 2 girls and their Moms. Maybe I can attribute the inner screaming tonight to the fact that I am on day 4 of no husband... I hope that is it.

What do you do in this scenario?
a. Sit quietly seething about the obvious disrespect of others these girls are being taught?
b. Realize the Mom's do not know any better and thank God you do.
c. Go tell the Moms that the girls are pouring water on the floor?
d. Ask the girls to be a little quiet (as they are piercing your ear drum and you fear your ear may explode. you don't have extra $ for a co-pay) or
e. All of the above!

Inquiring minds want to know.....

A Trip to the Gardens

To the gardens - the great outdoors! This field trip fell perfectly in our studies. We were finishing nests and had covered apples and leaves by this time. When the instructor asked what we know about trees.. I am proud to say my HC answered proudly "They are living things!" YAY HC! HC and JB had a great time touching the trees/leaves/grass... all of it! Here they were learning about evergreens and broad leaf trees. I was taking pictures and greeting fellow home school Moms and missed many details but I tried to remain plugged in. I love to reinforce what they've learned on these outings. I believe this is a birch tree?? Here they were learning about the parts of the tree. Leaves, roots, branches, trunk, etc.
Here they were lying in the shade of a bald cypress tree while the instructor read a poem to them. This was cute.
We also saw a tree with holes in it. A woodpecker was here... they peck the tree and then the sap draws the bugs and the woodpecker pounces! :)
Um... JB - you are supposed to be looking beneath the log at the icky bugs. I love that boy!
Last tree of the day was this Gingko tree. Then it was off to enjoy time with friends! CHEESE! Photo op!
HC collected all kinds of goodies on this adventure. Here are the trees we saw.
And here are the treasures HC came home with. She was proud of this acorn. Can you tell?

That's quite a collection!!

The Marshmallow Test

Today I read a book that mentioned the Marshmallow Test. The marshmallow test is... "I will give you 1 marshmallow now. Then I will set the timer for 15 minutes. If you do not eat this marshmallow I will give you 2 when the timer beeps." Their first response was "I just want one now! Give me one please?!" I explained they could have 2 but if they only wanted 1 then they could eat it now. Then I heard "Well.... I think I want 2." So I set the timer and after about 2 minutes.... this was the scene. Then I realized that JB was licking his marshmallow. I told him he could not lick it... he had to wait. They smelled the marshmallow... the lamented on 'why do we have to wait.' HC even told JB that I changed my mind and said he could eat it now. They squeezed the marshmallow. Looked at the marshmallow.. made beards with the marshmallow
Used the marshmallow as pirate patches..
And finally.... it happened! The timer beeped!!!! WOOHOOO!!! There were shouts of joy and jumping and much laughter!
They did it... they could now eat 2 marshmallows!
Ta-dah!!! JB could not wait another second... he took a bite before I had them posed!

The book I was reading was 'Love as a Way of Life' by Gary Chapman. The topic was patience. How that is a rare character trait we see displayed these days. They mentioned this test and how a child who can wait the allotted time shows that they can see the bigger picture in a situation and may display more patience. They also display self-control. I have seen programs showing this test happening (usually with M&M's) and some kids ate the treat while others waited. I've wanted to try this with my two but kept forgetting. Finally... I see that they did struggle with the temptation of instant gratification but... they can overcome. That is so encouraging considering the moans I often hear in a grocery store for wanting x-thing nOOOOWW! It was a fun discovery!