No, not the NPR show (although we love it!).... just the conversation in the van on the way home this afternoon. Rylie is having a sleepover with 4 other homeschooled friends, all in the *almost* 11 to 12 year old age range. We did alot of driving around today, dropping off her siblings and picking up her friends. We've also spent all the evenings this week watching and/or listening to the DNC...at least the keynote speakers each evening, if not more.
So...back to this afternoon. I have 5 girls in the almost 11 to 12 year old age range in my van. We're driving 30 minutes home from the last pickup spot (all our friends are all over the metro area so sometimes it's a haul to get back home!). I'm listening to NPR, but vaguely hearing the conversation in the back of the van... and then I hear "Amber was THERE?" REALLY?" "She's SO LUCKY!" "She got to see Obama LIVE and in person, not just on the tv!" and then they all proceed to figure out exactly how many more election cycles before they can vote! :-)
I don't have many "typical" pre-teen girls to gauge things on, but I do know a few...I'm guessing that the DNC and how long til they can vote isn't top on the conversation list for most kids in this age range! But... all these girls have families who are very on top of things politically. They hear conversation around them, they are encouraged to question. They are engaged in conversation as equals, not as kids who need a quick "pat" answer for things.
You can't convince me that kids don't have any interests besides watching Nickelodeon and Disney channel (or MTv and the like) and that they won't learn if they aren't "forced" to do it.
This is the greatest gift I think Darren and I are giving our children. They are actively engaged in their world. They are encouraged to question, to find things out and make up their own minds. I truly believe that they are going to be more than ready to enter this world as productive members of society- and for this gift I'm eternally grateful.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Summer camps
Rylie finished a week of drama camp through Legacy School of the Arts (where she takes dance and voice). The production was Honk!, Jr. The kids amaze me every year how much they can accomplish in just one week. This year's production was marvelous, as usual! Rylie played the part of "Barnacles" - a goose - and also played a toad in one scene. She had a full week of singing and dancing!
Josh has spent two weeks in July volunteering through YVC (Youth Volunteer Corps). The first week was at S.E.A.T - where they do equine therapy. The volunteers mulched trails, built fences and helped out around the barn. It was hot and stinky. He came home every day smelling like sweaty teenager and horse! But they worked hard and it was much appreciated. The final day, SEAT bought all the volunteers pizza for lunch.
The second week he volunteered at Kansas City Community Kitchen where 500 meals are served daily to those in need. The volunteers fix the meals, wash dishes, serve meals and help clean up afterward. It's been a good experience learning that not all life is like ours in Johnson County, KS.
After a summer full of sleep away camp, day camp at the nature center, art classes, and dance, voice and drama - we're all ready for a bit of a slowdown to the end of our summer. Fortunately, our fall activities don't begin til late September (except for dance/voice classes that start back up at the end of August) so we'll have a bit of a break from it all for awhile!
Josh has spent two weeks in July volunteering through YVC (Youth Volunteer Corps). The first week was at S.E.A.T - where they do equine therapy. The volunteers mulched trails, built fences and helped out around the barn. It was hot and stinky. He came home every day smelling like sweaty teenager and horse! But they worked hard and it was much appreciated. The final day, SEAT bought all the volunteers pizza for lunch.
The second week he volunteered at Kansas City Community Kitchen where 500 meals are served daily to those in need. The volunteers fix the meals, wash dishes, serve meals and help clean up afterward. It's been a good experience learning that not all life is like ours in Johnson County, KS.
After a summer full of sleep away camp, day camp at the nature center, art classes, and dance, voice and drama - we're all ready for a bit of a slowdown to the end of our summer. Fortunately, our fall activities don't begin til late September (except for dance/voice classes that start back up at the end of August) so we'll have a bit of a break from it all for awhile!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Colorado Gold
Darren, Josh and Ellie got up super early on July 3 to head to CO for a family reunion. Their plane left at 6:30 AM so they left home about 4:30 AM for the airport! They had a wonderful time seeing family and doing fun things. On Saturday, after everyone else left, they took a side trip to Idaho Springs, CO about 30 min outside Denver. They went to the Argo Gold Mine. It was really interesting and they all had a great time. They saw a movie about the mine, saw the cars the miners rode in on, held a gold nugget that was worth $2500 (and Ellie said she held a "dinosaur turd" - no one's sure how they knew it was a dinosaur turd, but that's what the guide said it was...) Ellie could tell me how the mine came to be and about an accident with water filling the mine which shut down the mine for several years.
Oh, and they got to "pan" for gold. It was definitely something that was created so everyone would find something, but they got the idea of how panning for gold worked, and had a great day in the process. Josh sent me a video of the river right by the mine... turns out they had more business with white water rafters that day, than people visiting the actual mine. Fortunately, our crew stayed on dry land!
Oh, and they got to "pan" for gold. It was definitely something that was created so everyone would find something, but they got the idea of how panning for gold worked, and had a great day in the process. Josh sent me a video of the river right by the mine... turns out they had more business with white water rafters that day, than people visiting the actual mine. Fortunately, our crew stayed on dry land!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Circle of Life
We had an encounter with the circle of life today. Josh had spent the night with a friend and we went to pick him up. On the way home we stopped to take care of a library issue (we forgot to return some books and had a $58 fine! But that's another blog... all's well now ;-)). As we were heading back to the main road, we had to cut through a large parking lot. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh saw a mother duck and her ducklings go under a parked car. The car looked as if it had been parked there a long time...it was dented and looked undriveable. We watched them for a little bit to see if they were going to move on, and if so, we would try to keep them safe.
Actually, we called both Operation Wildlife and animal rescue to see if there was anything they could do - but both said leaving them alone was the right thing to do. If they started moving we could keep them safe by stopping traffic, but otherwise, the mother duck knew what she was doing.
Turns out, she definitely did. As we watched, a hawk came down and swooped something up with him. It wasn't a live duckling, but one that had probably been attacked just prior to us driving up and the mother shuttling her babies to safety. He flew off with the meal and perched on a nearby telephone pole. We kept watch, but the mother stayed safely under the car.
I did get out of the van and tried to locate a nest. I didn't ever find one, but there were some bushes next to the car that looked very dense, and could have had a nest down in there. Actually, that's right next to where the hawk got the duckling, and there were two others who didn't make it either right by the bush. We're guessing perhaps the nest was either in the bushes or nearby and she scooted the rest of the brood to safety.
It was a hard lesson on the circle of life, but as I pointed out, the hawk's baby needed to eat too... and that could be one of the reasons ducks have so many ducklings...not all will survive to adulthood. We ended up spending about an hour watching the ducks before I convinced the kids that they would be ok, that the mother knew what she was doing and wouldn't come out til it was safe.
When we got home, the girls looked out their bedroom window to check on the dove that is nesting on the branch right outside. There are two babies there that are providing hours of entertainment. Turns out, they seem to enjoy Rylie's singing. She's been practicing the music for her upcoming week of drama camp - they are doing Honk! Jr. (a version of the ugly duckling story). Whenever she sings they perk up and look her way ;-)
Actually, we called both Operation Wildlife and animal rescue to see if there was anything they could do - but both said leaving them alone was the right thing to do. If they started moving we could keep them safe by stopping traffic, but otherwise, the mother duck knew what she was doing.
Turns out, she definitely did. As we watched, a hawk came down and swooped something up with him. It wasn't a live duckling, but one that had probably been attacked just prior to us driving up and the mother shuttling her babies to safety. He flew off with the meal and perched on a nearby telephone pole. We kept watch, but the mother stayed safely under the car.
I did get out of the van and tried to locate a nest. I didn't ever find one, but there were some bushes next to the car that looked very dense, and could have had a nest down in there. Actually, that's right next to where the hawk got the duckling, and there were two others who didn't make it either right by the bush. We're guessing perhaps the nest was either in the bushes or nearby and she scooted the rest of the brood to safety.
It was a hard lesson on the circle of life, but as I pointed out, the hawk's baby needed to eat too... and that could be one of the reasons ducks have so many ducklings...not all will survive to adulthood. We ended up spending about an hour watching the ducks before I convinced the kids that they would be ok, that the mother knew what she was doing and wouldn't come out til it was safe.
When we got home, the girls looked out their bedroom window to check on the dove that is nesting on the branch right outside. There are two babies there that are providing hours of entertainment. Turns out, they seem to enjoy Rylie's singing. She's been practicing the music for her upcoming week of drama camp - they are doing Honk! Jr. (a version of the ugly duckling story). Whenever she sings they perk up and look her way ;-)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Trial and Error
Josh has been spending ALOT of time researching "green" transportation. He REALLY wants us to turn the Saturn (the car he'll get when he turns 16 - and Dad gets a new one!) into an electric vehicle. So far, Dad hasn't been convinced that the savings will offset the cost involved. :-)
Josh also has started a lawn care business. So far it's just one other lawn plus ours, but he has plans and goals! The name (fittingly enough) is Electric Yardworks. Last summer, when our old mower died a painful death, Darren and Josh went mower shopping. Of course, Josh wanted one with all the bells and whistles. Darren wanted one... cheap. After letting Josh know that he'd pay for one with the added features, but that Josh would pay for the gasoline... Josh decided the rechargable electric one was a much better purchase! He also bought a rechargable weedeater (that can shift into an edger too)...so Josh's "green" lawn business was born.
He's sent off for business cards and plans on creating a flyer to pass around the neighbors to see if he can drum up about 3 more yards.
Anyway, he thought that having a trailer to attach to his bike would be a better idea than pushing the mower down the sidewalk so he spent ALOT of time researching bike trailers that could haul a mower and weedeater. All the ones he found to purchase were more than he was willing to spend so he decided to build one himself. He found some on-line that people had built and they gave advice, and directions to build your own.
Hours, days and weeks were spent on planning out the "build", accumulating all the materials (again, at the least cost possible) and actually putting it all together. I am so proud that he was creative enough to find items that were waiting to be trashed to use in this build.
Well, yesterday was the big day. They actually worked out the final kinks and got the trailer built... but when the weight of the mower was put on it and he set out for a test drive - the trailer's poor little wheels collapsed under the weight. When I got home from the grocery I saw the trailer out by the curb... and my first thoughts were "Uh oh... do I even want to go inside?" But his spirits weren't broken and he has since removed the wheels and saved the base for future use. Oh, and he also decided that the three houses he'd really like to work on getting are the three older folks that live within a house or two either direction of us so a trailer might just not be necessary right now anyway! :-)
I think in all, under $40 was spent on the build... and so much more was learned that it was certainly worth the expenditure. He did almost everything himself. Darren was nearby to assist with how to use some of the tools, but all the ideas were Josh's own. What a great experience!
Oh, and they went today to visit a guy in Prairie Village who does conversions on vehicles to turn them into EV's! Josh said it was "really cool." Perhaps we WILL have an EV in the not too distant future.
Josh also has started a lawn care business. So far it's just one other lawn plus ours, but he has plans and goals! The name (fittingly enough) is Electric Yardworks. Last summer, when our old mower died a painful death, Darren and Josh went mower shopping. Of course, Josh wanted one with all the bells and whistles. Darren wanted one... cheap. After letting Josh know that he'd pay for one with the added features, but that Josh would pay for the gasoline... Josh decided the rechargable electric one was a much better purchase! He also bought a rechargable weedeater (that can shift into an edger too)...so Josh's "green" lawn business was born.
He's sent off for business cards and plans on creating a flyer to pass around the neighbors to see if he can drum up about 3 more yards.
Anyway, he thought that having a trailer to attach to his bike would be a better idea than pushing the mower down the sidewalk so he spent ALOT of time researching bike trailers that could haul a mower and weedeater. All the ones he found to purchase were more than he was willing to spend so he decided to build one himself. He found some on-line that people had built and they gave advice, and directions to build your own.
Hours, days and weeks were spent on planning out the "build", accumulating all the materials (again, at the least cost possible) and actually putting it all together. I am so proud that he was creative enough to find items that were waiting to be trashed to use in this build.
Well, yesterday was the big day. They actually worked out the final kinks and got the trailer built... but when the weight of the mower was put on it and he set out for a test drive - the trailer's poor little wheels collapsed under the weight. When I got home from the grocery I saw the trailer out by the curb... and my first thoughts were "Uh oh... do I even want to go inside?" But his spirits weren't broken and he has since removed the wheels and saved the base for future use. Oh, and he also decided that the three houses he'd really like to work on getting are the three older folks that live within a house or two either direction of us so a trailer might just not be necessary right now anyway! :-)
I think in all, under $40 was spent on the build... and so much more was learned that it was certainly worth the expenditure. He did almost everything himself. Darren was nearby to assist with how to use some of the tools, but all the ideas were Josh's own. What a great experience!
Oh, and they went today to visit a guy in Prairie Village who does conversions on vehicles to turn them into EV's! Josh said it was "really cool." Perhaps we WILL have an EV in the not too distant future.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Summer craziness
I was hoping for a quiet relaxing summer. It's been anything but.
Josh was away for a week at camp, the same week Ellie had day camp at Ernie Miller Nature Sanctuary. She had a ball - came home needing a major bath almost every day. Definitely the measure of a good time in Ellie's standards. She made a new friend - that we still need to contact in order to get them together to play.
Rylie is dancing 7+ hours a week - 2 ballet classes, a jazz class, musical theatre, leap and turn plus jazz company. Ellie also decided she really wanted to give dance another try so she has pre-ballet/pre-jazz with Miss Michelle once a week. Oh, and Rylie also has vocal lessons and helps out with a Creative Movement class (she's only been peed on once so far!)
Josh is busy with mowing lawns and Parkour practicing. He likes to head down to the park down the street and practice jumping and leaping. Fortunately, with having his cell phone I feel a bit better about him going there alone.
We also try to make Wed afternoons at Loose Park with a group of homeschoolers. Josh also is now "officially" a teen and has joined the secular teen group - which meets weekly on Wed nights at a local coffeehouse. We've compromised - with the cost of gas at almost $4 per gallon, we're alternating going to the park and going to coffee. Next week we might hit both though... they will be leaving for CO and I think Josh really wants to hang with his buddies for awhile before leaving.
Somewhere in all that chaos, I also fit in working for Dad and at the Y. It's crazy... but it's our life and I wouldn't give it up for anything!
Josh was away for a week at camp, the same week Ellie had day camp at Ernie Miller Nature Sanctuary. She had a ball - came home needing a major bath almost every day. Definitely the measure of a good time in Ellie's standards. She made a new friend - that we still need to contact in order to get them together to play.
Rylie is dancing 7+ hours a week - 2 ballet classes, a jazz class, musical theatre, leap and turn plus jazz company. Ellie also decided she really wanted to give dance another try so she has pre-ballet/pre-jazz with Miss Michelle once a week. Oh, and Rylie also has vocal lessons and helps out with a Creative Movement class (she's only been peed on once so far!)
Josh is busy with mowing lawns and Parkour practicing. He likes to head down to the park down the street and practice jumping and leaping. Fortunately, with having his cell phone I feel a bit better about him going there alone.
We also try to make Wed afternoons at Loose Park with a group of homeschoolers. Josh also is now "officially" a teen and has joined the secular teen group - which meets weekly on Wed nights at a local coffeehouse. We've compromised - with the cost of gas at almost $4 per gallon, we're alternating going to the park and going to coffee. Next week we might hit both though... they will be leaving for CO and I think Josh really wants to hang with his buddies for awhile before leaving.
Somewhere in all that chaos, I also fit in working for Dad and at the Y. It's crazy... but it's our life and I wouldn't give it up for anything!
Long break
It's been way too long since I last blogged. Since I'm doing this purely for my own benefit (I never was good at journalling or writing in a diary!) I really should try to get to it more often.
We've had much too busy a summer. We ended the "school year" with an annual recognition ceremony. It was a small group that attended this year, but we really had a good time. The location was wonderful (aside from a few missing street signs...) and the slide presentation was fabulous. The kids really enjoy this each year and start asking in early April when we'll be doing it.
I was hoping for a slow, easy mellow summer...but no such luck. We are busier than ever. I switched my hours at the Y to "daytime" hours - 8:30-10:30 AM. It's nice to be up and going each morning, but it seems like it didn't add hours to my day, we still have too much to fit in each day for the most part. I had forgotten that summer brings day camps, volunteer projects and things that get us up and out of the house much earlier than during the school year. Oh well...with some creative driving arrangements it's all working out.
Josh went to his first sleep-away camp. Cub Creek Science Camp. He had a great time. This is a truly awesome camp. I think he's interested in attending again next year, and I know Rylie is - if we can figure out how to make it work with her theatre schedule.
We've had much too busy a summer. We ended the "school year" with an annual recognition ceremony. It was a small group that attended this year, but we really had a good time. The location was wonderful (aside from a few missing street signs...) and the slide presentation was fabulous. The kids really enjoy this each year and start asking in early April when we'll be doing it.
I was hoping for a slow, easy mellow summer...but no such luck. We are busier than ever. I switched my hours at the Y to "daytime" hours - 8:30-10:30 AM. It's nice to be up and going each morning, but it seems like it didn't add hours to my day, we still have too much to fit in each day for the most part. I had forgotten that summer brings day camps, volunteer projects and things that get us up and out of the house much earlier than during the school year. Oh well...with some creative driving arrangements it's all working out.
Josh went to his first sleep-away camp. Cub Creek Science Camp. He had a great time. This is a truly awesome camp. I think he's interested in attending again next year, and I know Rylie is - if we can figure out how to make it work with her theatre schedule.
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