Where have you been?

We have been busy and I have been taking pictures-lots of pictures as a matter of fact. I have also been busy learning how to manipulate the software to do what I would like with the photos.

So, you ever get in your vehicle to head out on an adventure with your family and think, "Gee, the whole world smells like french fries!" Once you arrive @ your destination you of course realize it must be your vehicle. My truck doesn't have any trash in it @ this time. We have committed ourselves to taking everything out of it every time we leave it. It hasn't been vacuumed in months however. I am thinking I must have some stow away french fries between the seats somewhere!

We have been busy. This week we had some friends over and we visited some friends. We also watched Dinosaurs @ the newly renovated Imax near us-I couldn't tell it had been renovated. There was new paint! We have been pet sitting one of our friends' dogs. Our family has tiny dogs. Our friends' dog is much larger. He is still a puppy and very playful. He desperately wants to play with our little dogs, they however are extremely intimidated by a dog 10 times their size, go figure!

Mady had her first vet tech event to attend yesterday. The group visited a vet's office in a nearby town to learn about e-rays and sonograms. Dom took the girls shopping yesterday and to watch a movies. Once Mady was home she was excited to tell me all about the visit. The kids viewed e-rays and sonograms of dogs. She had pictures and the vet's office gave the kids the office web address so they could visit the site and read the information they had been presented with that day as well. There is a huge homework section, which, initially, I was concerned about. Mady seemed excited by it, good for her. Last week she thought she wanted to expand her pet siting business and this week she said she just wants to do one a month or so.

Niki signed up for soccer! We have been watching the olympics and discussing how much time, effort, dedication, and love of a sport a person must have to go so far. We looked up Michael Phelps bio and read it. He began swimming @ the age of 7 only bc his sisters were doing it. You should read his training schedule-now that is dedication.

In other news, our family has been talking a great deal about people around the world-spured on by the olympics. We have decided to attempt to meet people with more diverse backgrounds. We know many middle class, white folks, we think it is time to meet some different people and see how they live. What they eat, how they celebrate their country's holidays, their roles as family members, and members od society. I think we can meet many people @ the UU church about 40 mintues from us. We are planning to begin visitng next weekend.

In still other news, my sister gave us invitations to her graduation! I cannot believe it is already here! I am so proud of her. I am interested to see which direction she will go in the future. There are so many opportunities in the criminal field. She has always been interested in forensics, it fascinates our entire family. I think maybe bc our dad was a medical examiner when we were young. We were privy to pictures and stories most kids our age never thought of. I think many people are grossed out by stories of severed heads in vehicular manslaughter cases,for some reason, they were intriguing to me and my sister. Congratulations Aunt Jessie! I will be there with the camera!

The boys have been chatting up a storm. We read everyday, so I attribute their vast vocabulary to the 2 years of stories we have under our belts. Ezra is sitting here in my lap as I type this-maybe he will pick up on that soon as well! We have been playing scrabble often too. Yesterday the boys were helping me pick-up the pieces, after Niki decided she no longer wanted to play, and Ezra handed me a tile. As he handed it to me, he said "T!" I took the tile from his tiny fingers and was surprised to see the letter "T!" Maybe not so surprised. We have been playing it often with the boys around. I just didn't realize they had been paying so much attention. Ezra put on one of his dinosaur t-shirts the other day. When he walked out of his room he pointed to his shirt and said Trisaratops! Luke can count to 2. Anything he sees there are 2 of he has to tell us!

The learning is clearly happening. Still the issues with Dominic continue. I have agreed to meet him in the middle. The middle wasn't a problem. Now he is really pushing it. He wants to see papers. I think I am going to get some printer paper and begin making a portfolio. I am not going to subject the kids to sitting @ a table doing paperwork. I don't feel our children are going to be missing some vital skills in their adulthood bc they didn't sit @ a table and do papers. I feel they need to be incorporated in the "real" world in order to acquire the skills they need. Dom has agreed to take them shopping which will help with there math.

 

 

Mady and I took a canning class last week @ the County Extension office. During the course of the day we realized we were surrounded by homeschoolers. Once we struck up conversations Mady realized she had a great deal in common with these particular homeschoolers-they love animals too! All of them are in 4H and began talking with Mady about the Vet Science program they are involved in. As they spoke I could see Mady's expressions and realized she was completely absorbed by what they were talking about. After talking with Mady @ length this weekend about all the pros and cons of this program, she has decided to take the leap and become involved with the 5 year Vet Science program.

I think this is the beginning of a great adventure for Mady-one of her own, one where I won't always be, not like pet sitting and baby sitting which she has done in our home. This adventure will set her out in the world on her own working with people who work with animals for a living. Some of the activities that have been mentioned are volunteering with a farrier, visiting a sonogram lab, & performing a necropsy, to name a few.

Our kids constantly amaze me. Ezra and Luke have started using the potty-on their own! The only way I have been involved in that was bc I was the one that dug the tiny plastic potty out of the attic and scrubbed it and placed it in the bathroom next to the big potty. They usually follow me in there anyway...so there you have it, some major milestones in the kids lives all achieved with little to no help from me. I am in awe. The more and more I let go of all these old paradigams and societies standards the more happy everyone seems and the more they really are learning when I am not standing over them "making" them learn. It's a shiny moment! :)