Finally, a video game system I love

What took so long to create the Wii? I'm glad someone did create it though because we're having so much fun with it! We gave the kids a Wii system last Christmas (2007) and it was fun...but this year we added 3 games to our system (at the price of $50 or more per game we tend to wait for big occassions to get them).

Rylie wanted Wii Fit for Christmas and Santa obliged. Nana and Papa Beck sent Wii Music for our trio and Darren and I gave the kids Outdoor Challenge. All 3 games get them up and moving and having so much fun together.

At one point in the day Josh and Rylie were both huffing and puffing and they are in extremely fit condition. Plus the addition of Wii Music had all 3 kiddos forming a band and playing incredible music.

I can't wait to try out Wii Fit although I'm going to have to steel myself for the frankness of the "trainer" - they tell it like it is, and after not much exercise at all for years...I'm sure the news won't be great!

With the additional gift of rechargeable batteries for all 3 remotes... hopefully exercise for the rest of the winter is well taken care of. Since they are outside playing most of the warm weather months, and the Wii seems to disappear back to the basement for those rainy days.. I don't mind how much they use it during the winter.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Dance, Dance and more dance

It's that time of year. We had the two performances of The Nutcracker Tea Party on Dec 7th. All went well. I helped backstage during the first performance and enjoyed the tea party and performance at the second showing. The girls worked so hard for so long that it was gratifying to see the end result.

So... no more Nutcracker rehearsals til next year, but we jumped right into the twice-yearly "watch week" classes. Rylie has two classes Monday (plus assists during a Creative Movement class Mon afternoons), one Tues evening, one Wed (although that class we watch this coming week), one Thurs, and one Saturday morning.

On top of watch week, her Jazz Company had a performance Saturday afternoon at a nursing home and then she had to be back at 4:45 for a 5:15 voice recital.

Today (Sunday) the Jazz Company (along with the ballet company) had a performance at Union Station in downtown KC.

All were wonderful of course... and we have one more day of performances - this Friday she has 3 shows right in a row... two at two different daycare settings and one at the YMCA. THEN we'll finally get a much needed two week break!

But she lives and breathes dance... so it's all worth it!

New Knitter

Josh has taken up knitting! He is creating wristbands from various yarns. I showed him how to do the basic knit stitch and he's taken right to it. I believe he's done 3 wristbands so far and is asking for more yarn. He's also searching knitting patterns online and found a pattern wristband that he wants to tackle. Unfortunately, he's going to have to wait on that one til I finish the last of the ponchos that I have to get finished by Christmas!

Fall is almost gone

I can't believe how quickly this fall has sped away. I knew I felt like I was on a hamster wheel that I couldn't stop or get off, and I guess that made the time go very quickly.

We had a full schedule of dance, Parkour, co-op classes, field trips, volunteer projects, homeschool group gatherings and now that we have a full-fledged teenager... we've added in homeschool teen group activities too! Whew! Just reading that makes me tired!

In late September, Ellie and I went to KS Pioneer Girl Day at Ernie Miller Nature Sanctuary. She made a rag doll, played pioneer games, wrote with a quill pen and helped make butter. We listened to a story teller and she got to participate in some pioneer dances. It was really fun.

September also brought The Nutcracker into our lives in a BIG way. Rylie's dance school has two performances of The Nutcracker - actually a tea party along with the performance. This year, Rylie will be a mouse and a "party girl". Rehearsals began in Sept and continue to be a major factor in our lives through December 7th - the date of the performances.

October brought a major project of Darren's - Christmas In October. He was the head of a team working on a house and had to see to all the details from touring applicant houses to choosing the house to working out a plan to attend to all that needed work. He did a fabulous job, even taking several weekends before with a "skilled team" of guys to do more in depth projects such as installing a new stove, changing out a door so it opened the other way, installing a hand held shower nozzle, etc. Josh went to help for all of these events and was a big help to his dad.

Besides that project, we had Boo at the Zoo with Youth Volunteer Corps. Josh and Rylie both participated in this event. They were zombie scarecrows positioned strategically near the zoo railroad tracks so they could be seen by the train passengers. Darren and I took Ellie through the Boo at the Zoo event and enjoyed the train ride and being "scared" by the zombies. It was hard not to say "That's my zombie!" when we spotted "our" zombies!

Rylie took a 6 week drama class at The Coterie - a theatre for young people at Crown Center in Kansas City. This was a really neat scene study class with an absolutely fabulous instructor - Nathan Norcross. He can connect with the kids and really bring out some great acting!

We ended October with a really fun, but really windy, hayride at Shawnee Mission Park. Our Unschooling group filled two wagons and enjoyed a blanket covered hour long ride followed by a campfire with s'more's and apple cider.

November continues with all our regular activities plus we saw "Seussical" at the Coterie Theatre. Rylie was excited to see some familiar faces as she got to see behind the stage during rehearsals while at her drama class. She also knew one of the kids in the play from a prior drama class at Coterie last spring.

We're hoping things settle down a little bit during the holidays. I want to be able to enjoy this season and not rush and rush to find it "here already?"

Today is Thanksgiving - we spent a wonderful afternoon with Nana and Papa Mohr, talked with Nana and Papa Beck on the phone and are planning on going to see the Plaza lights being turned on tonight!

Cars and more

Darren and Josh changed the spark plugs and wires on Darren's Saturn the other day. Josh did most of the work with Darren just telling him how to do it. Josh was so excited. Darren even let him drive the Saturn down the street and back (while sitting beside him of course!). Josh is now back to wanting to be an auto mechanic. Who knows... I could have my car issues all taken care of me for the rest of my life ;-)

The kids are enjoying their classes. Ellie added in an art class and Rylie joined the Odyessy of the Mind class. Wednesdays are busy but fun!

Josh has been loving his parkour class. He's not as sore now as when he first started - and it's amazing to see the progress that's been made in a month!

We had some sad news today. My uncle, Bill Mohr, passed away during heart surgery. He would have been 83 in January. He was much loved and will be missed by many all across the U.S. It was another life lesson, but one we don't want to experience too often. The kids are handling it ok.

Ah, fall at last!

After a busy busy summer, it's nice to settle back into some "normal" routine. This past week our Wednesday Co-op classes began. Rylie and I are taking sign language, Ellie is taking drama and explorations in astronomy, and Josh is doing drama and Odyessy of the Mind.

This is Ellie's first experience with "homework." She was sent home with a notebook she was supposed to decorate, and also a page about "her" planet (Jupiter). She immediately went to the computer when we got home and looked up facts about Jupiter. We learned alot! She "loves!" this class - funny how it is one she said she didn't want to do when it was time to go to class. I asked her to just give it a try and now it's her favorite!


Josh and Rylie are also doing math this year through Teaching Textbooks. It's all done on the computer and they are moving right along. I expect them to be finished with this grade level by the end of the year (Josh) and probably by Feb or so for Rylie.

Our schedule seems to be set in our minds now... so we can just relax and follow along - at least for awhile!

Car Talk

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.

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!

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!

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 ;-)

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.

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!

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.

Marshmallow Shooter Physics

We had an entire afternoon of physics on Tues. We made Marshmallow shooters with the GAHN homeschooling group. What fun! Everyone had a great time. The younger kids needed some adjusting to their shooters to make them work (we ended up just making theirs be straight with no bends so they could force the marshmallow out). The older boys created "clips" of marshmallows that they would swap out quickly and reload. They also got creative with the configuration of their piping.

Everyone started out with the same pieces and an example of how to make it. The older boys decided they would see what would happen when they made different twists and turns or if they loaded more than one marshmallow.

Then they shot for distance (although most of the shots were at each other!) One of the original rules was that you can't shoot your marshmallow into the mouth of someone else... no germ sharing please! So Josh decided he'd try to shoot his straight up and then catch his own marshamallow in his mouth. Only 3 cooperated enough to land in his mouth though!

One of the kids is allergic to the corn in marshmallows so she was shooting small craft "puff balls" - that worked well too! Great for when the kids have ingested enough sugar for the day!

Josh discovered, once we got home, that the Nerf suction tipped darts fit into the end of the shooter, so he spent time shooting those too. Oh, and then he and his friend Ben took it over to Ben's grandpa's house. They set the air compressor to the lowest psi setting and tested out how both marshmallows and the nerf darts worked with that - I think he said they went 10 feet or so!

Today the kids are still enamoured with these shooters. They split a big bag of marshmallows between them and had a "shootout" in the backyard. The girls took the fort and Josh was on the platform of the low slide. I really hope marshmallows don't make the dogs sick....

This has been a great physics lesson - I love how life provides all sorts of learning if you just let it happen!

Spring storms

We had our first big spring storm roll through last night. It was definitely a big one. F2-F3 tornados touched down in the metro area. Our sirens went off, but so far they aren't saying any tornados hit here in our part of town. Although we wonder about that - seems like the damage is so hit and miss that it's characteristic of a tornado, but they are calling them straight line winds. We had downed tree limbs, and some buckled shingles on the roof and our baby weeping cherry tree (that we planted last fall) had one of the tie down lines snap and twist itself completely around the trunk of the tree. But two of those lines held and the tree is still standing. Not so lucky for our neighbors Bradford Pear tree. It toppled over at the base, just missing one of their vehicles. Again, it made us wonder about the winds... our portable bball goal is still standing but the tree fell? Just a hundred feet or so away. Strange.

The kids held up well through this storm. It helped that we have switched away from satellite tv and we could stay up-to-date on what was going on as it happened (with satellite it always went out in the severe storms like this!). We all took up residence in the basement, and I have to say, our basement feels pretty safe when you are down there. We had pillows and blankets and snacks and books. And dogs, hermit crabs, gecko and fish. Oh, and laptops... we kept up with our bid on the Mac iBook on ebay.. and won it in the midst of the storm! Happy birthday son! :-)

We headed back up about 10:30 or so, only to be awakened about 1:30 AM with something that just felt "wrong." The attic fan was buzzing, even though it wasn't turned on. Things definitely sounded not good at all! I was just about to get everyone together to head back to the basement when Rylie came bounding in our bedroom saying "I don't like this. I want to go to the basement!" We all went down again and checked the tv. It was looking like it could go on awhile, so we blew up the air mattress and settled in for the night. Dad and Josh on the air mattress, Mom and 2 girls on the daybed (just the top part, not the trundle!) - it was cozy to say the least! It was a LOOONG night and everyone is now in bed... which is where I'm headed too!

We did call the insurance agent this morning to have someone come check the roof. Better safe than sorry, especially when the roof is going on 12 or 13 years old. I'd rather baby it now, and have it hold up longer... or get anything taken care of before it would get worse.

Ahhhh, gotta love spring in Kansas!

At the Ballet, Chalk Walk and more

In the midst of an incredibly busy week, Darren calls from work and says he can get tickets to the ballet - it's a full-length production of Romeo and Juliet! We have almost NO time this weekend left, but we'll manage to squeeze in the ballet! Especially for free tickets that are practically on stage!

We spent Saturday on a run. As Ellie said "Mom has to work, Josh has the Chalk Walk, Rylie has dance, Josh has a party, Dad has a party, Mom and Rylie have the ballet and I'm spending the night with Nana and Papa!" That about summed up the day - the short version!

Darren and Josh left for the Chalk Walk early. It was held in the Historic NE section of KC. It was a fundraiser for Mosaic Brain which brings art to the inner city. Josh had pre-registered and had his idea all set. Darren got inspired once there, and since there were extra squares available he set out to do a city scene. I'll add pics of both of them. It was an incredible day - we all had so much fun. It started out cool, but then warmed up nicely... Darren and Josh both ended up with a bit of a sunburn.

Meanwhile, Rylie was dancing (no surprise there!) and went home from dance with a couple friends. After I was finished at the Y Ellie and I went to the Chalk Walk and hung out too. Darren had just finished his picture when it was time for Ellie and I to leave to get Rylie. Darren and Josh headed out too, since Josh had a party to go to and Darren had a Dad's Night Out, plus he was going to stop by the crawfish fry a gal he works with was having. Busy day!

We all managed to get to our respective places, and Rylie and I settled ourselves in at the ballet. We were in the 8th row, center section - thanks Sprint! Rylie knew a little of the story, but it was so fun to see it in ballet form. The dancers are incredible athletes! Grown men were leaping across stage and we could not hear them land! Amazing! (I know, that's what they are supposed to do...but it still amazes me that they can do it.)

Saturday took it's toll, as on Sunday we were all quite tired! But it was such a fun weekend it was definitely worth being a bit tired on Sunday!

Looong Weekend!

We finally broke down and did some MAJOR yard work this past weekend. Darren took a day off work on Monday - I'm so glad he did or it wouldn't have been finished. We put sod down in the backyard, mulched around the entire playset, aerated the yard, put down fertilizer and grass seed and straw on top of that. My neighbor gave me some plants - 4 peonies that I really hope do well (I've always wanted Peonies!) and some Columbine and Stella D'Oro as well. Our front yard, where we put the seed, looks like "Green Acres" but hopefully it will soon be nice and green. Thankfully we did put down the straw otherwise the major storms we've had this week would have washed it all away! The kids helped out all weekend long. Josh did most of the heavy work. He helped his dad fill and empty the pickup and trailer with mulch (we got it from the city for free - just have to load it yourself!), he hauled sod and mulch to the backyard with the wheelbarrow, he helped dig the trenches in the backyard that are supposed to help redirect the water away from the foundation and help keep it from just standing in deep puddles in the yard. He worked really hard!!!

Ellie helped too - she was dragged along to get the pick up and trailer and sod since I was working. She helped with the wheelbarrow (taking the empty one back to the front to be filled), she helped scatter grass seed and helped cover with the straw. She also got water for all of us without being asked and generally kept us all going ;-).

Rylie spent most of the weekend with the nasty stuff Ellie had last week, but she did manage to get out one day and help with the straw. Otherwise she had "dog duty" - keeping the dogs company and making sure they weren't destroying the inside of the house while we were all outside!

We've been big fans of Oprah's Big Give this spring. Sunday night was the final and Rylie got to see it then, the rest of us had to catch up later on in the week. We also caught up on some Oprah daytime talk shows as well - one of which was the day after the Big Give Final with the three finalists plus others who had been inspired by the show. One place they went was an animal shelter in Chicago that has no cages. There are rooms for the dogs with houses, dog beds, and toys. Rylie was very inspired by this and has started collecting items for two shelters here locally. These are the shelters where we got our two dogs - Animal Haven (where Kellie was) and Animal's Best Friend (where we got Toby). She's telling all her friends about what she's doing and hoping to get quite a collection of donated items.

We had a scare with Toby last night - he chewed up an ink pen and a pencil yesterday, as well as who knows what he ate outside. He vomited 4 times in 5 hours yesterday evening and night and at 10:30 we thought we were going to have to take him to the emergency vet. We called and talked with them and decided to watch him for awhile longer. He finally went to sleep and Josh and I sat up with him. Josh went to bed about 11:30 and I stayed awake til a little after midnight. I got up every hour to check on him and he's doing fine now. I made him some rice this morning and by this afternoon he was looking for treats when he came inside. Crazy dog! You'd think he'd learn not to eat this stuff, but no... he was sniffing around the garbage can container in the kitchen this morning!

Ellie and Rylie are off making a movie, inspired by Rylie's newspaper she wrote this morning. She wrote two articles - one about the animal shelter donations she's collecting and one about the band she and 3 friends have created. I think she's planning on sending them off to the P&P Newsletter that some other homeschooled friends have created. She spent a good amount of time this morning checking her spelling and printing neatly, then photocopying and stapling the paper together. I'm not sure what the movie is about but I was just asked to go help with the camera. Guess I'll see shortly!

Nest Building 101

Rylie and I were just sitting at the kitchen table. She was eating breakfast and watching the birds in the backyard. We have lots of fat robins! The birds were picking up bits of grasses and string in the yard to build a nest. Suddenly Rylie found where the nest was being built and we've been watching the bird work very hard. This is one bird who can stick to a task! We had a long piece of worn out tarp, looked more like a string hanging off the tarp, that was under the sand in the sandbox. The birds had been picking at it for a long time so the kids cut the piece off and left it there. I meant to cut it into smaller pieces, but before I could get out to do it the birds got ahold of it. It's stuck on a tree branch just under the nest right now. The bird is working hard to pull it free, but so far no luck.

It also had some pieces of what looked like dryer sheet. It took one up to the nest and the sheet promptly blew away. Back down to the ground went the bird for the piece of sheet. Back up to the nest. This time it looked like the smart robin sat on the piece while tucking it in!

We just put out some dryer lint and Rylie got a red ribbon from an old present and a kleenex. She's back at the window watching to see if our contributions meet the birds approval! I hear her sharing words of encouragement to the bird right now ;-)

Looks like we'll have some baby robins to watch too. It's that time of year when we have to really start watching the yard for baby birds. Unfortunately, Toby, our basset, enjoys "playing" with the babies as they are learning to fly. He never has killed one, but he's been in dire situations with the parent birds swooping down on him. Once I was pretty scared for him and ran out to try to help... from now on he's on his own! I'm not taking on a mad mother bird again!

We also are enjoying finding the new plants that are emerging and watching our new Weeping Cherry tree come into full bloom. This weekend is yard work time - hopefully by the end of it we'll have sod in the backyard covering all the bare spots and less dirt tracked in by the dogs! At least the kids take their shoes off in the laundry room, if only the dogs could remove something too! LOL! Ah, gotta love spring in Kansas!

Finance 101

So my parents church has an annual Spaghetti supper and silent auction to benefit their youth mission trip. Each year, the kids love to go. Each year, Nana and Papa have spoiled them by buying things for them. This year I decided the kids are all old enough to save their money and buy whatever they'd like themselves! So they've been saving, each had over $20 saved to spend. Of course, as luck has it, this year there weren't many things there they wanted. Or perhaps nothing they were willing to spend THEIR money on! Ellie found a pink Webkinz pony that she put a bid on, and even raised her bid when someone else posted a higher one. Then after thinking about it for a little while, she went back and erased her bid. She decided she really didn't need another Webkinz (she doesn't!) and didn't want to spend her money on that. She was thinking about the vending machine bank she saw at Walmart and really wanted to get. She decided she'd rather have that instead.

Josh found some clay that he won for $3. He uses alot of clay in his stop motion film making. Darren found a set of 3 stone plaques that each has a different type of grape (in a bunch) on it. They look nice on the kitchen wall with a trivet I found there last year - sort of looks like an Italian vineyard scene.

So today, all 3 kids have money left over and want to go out to spend it! LOL! They have been saving so patiently, for so long, and all had researched what they wanted to buy, so after doing our morning chores (coming home to a clean house is SO nice!) we headed out. First to Walmart because Ellie is the loudest. She bought the vending machine bank, along with 4 packs of fun-sized candy bars to fill it with. She was a bargain shopper and once her brother pointed out the 8 pack fun size bars for $.97 she quickly opted to go that route. She could get more variety that way versus a bigger bag of one type. After getting home and getting it set up I quickly found out that we needed some sort of guidelines on how much candy can be "purchased" from this machine per day! LOL! We've agreed to one piece per person per day. Hopefully this will work! Of course, once the candy is gone... someone has to take her to buy more... and that someone might just postpone it for a long time!

Josh also found his choice at Walmart. Some sort of Nerf gun that is a "blaster" and also a night vision scope with extra darts. He pretty much depleted his spending money but is very happy with his purchase. He's also saving for a new (to him - it's a used one) Macintosh i-Book which will work better for his stop motion programs. He has a birthday coming up in May and is hoping to put all the birthday money toward that as well. He is back to mowing lawns regularly for the guy down the street (our grass isn't ready for cutting yet though so he's not up to his "summer level" income yet!). That's helping his money quickly add up - he should have the laptop after his birthday, I think!

Rylie was looking for a specific detective kit she saw on Target.com. So after a quick run through the library's pick up window we were off to Target. Unfortunately, Target didn't have what she wanted so we headed home to check it out again on line. This time we noticed it was an internet only item. But after looking at it, we decided it seemed rather cheaply made and she set out to research other detective kits. None met her idea of what she needed, with the level of quality she was wanting. So she has listed all the items she wants to create her own kit. We'll scout those out tomorrow.

I was really proud that they all knew exactly what they wanted to spend their money on, waited to see if there was anything at the auction they might like better, and didn't just spend willy-nilly on anything and everything! Guess we've bought enough "junk" in the past that they are beginning to learn that it's better to hold out for quality items than just buy any old thing that catches your eye.

Check off math and consumer finance for the day ;-)

Ellie and I finished "On the Banks of Plum Creek" today also. We then started "On the Shores of Silver Lake" - which has a sad beginning. Jack, their faithful bulldog, dies of old age. I'm a sap - I cried... ;-) I'm reading ahead now, to be prepared for any further sadness! LOL! I read all these books when I was about 10, but haven't reread them since then. Well, Rylie and I started them. There was way too much description of animal killings for Rylie's tastes in the first couple books and we didn't make it even all the way through the 2nd book. Ellie LOVES them though. She wants to go visit the Little House site near Independence, KS soon.

We also found "The Wright Three" - the book Rylie and I have been reading aloud - on CD at the library. So now we're listening to it in the van and all 3 kids are enjoying the story. I love how she puts so much fact into a fictional book - we're all learning alot about Frank Lloyd Wright, and other history! I also just got two books by Howard Zinn at the library today. One is based on his "People's History of the United States" but it's written more for younger audiences. I think it's really important for our kids to know that not everything written in their history books is accurate. It's ok to question things and ask "Why?" And to know that not everyone was a good guy. This one is called "A Young People's History of the United States" and there are two volumes, spanning from Columbus through G.W. Bush and the "War on Terror." These are definitely going to be added to our personal family library!

Oh, Rylie had a vocal recital on Saturday. I recorded her song (Candle on the Water), but I'm not sure if I can post that here or not. I'll try to figure it out. I think we need a different type of connector cord to hook the video camera up to the computer. All this technology is beyond me and Darren hasn't had time to look at it either. Hopefully at some point we'll get it all together!

In search of Jayhawk gear

Today we had a mission... find KU Men's Basketball 2008 National Champion shirts. We hit a few stores in Olathe, and couldn't find anything in a size smaller than Men's XL. We gave up and went home for lunch before heading downtown to our Friday activity - CKC/CTC. It's a group of homeschooling preteens and teens that get together each Friday for group building activities, field trips or service projects.

Today's activity was "Whose Line Is It Anyway" - CTC style. The teens acted out several improv skits. Josh had the part of the "helping hands" in a skit where he had to build a banana split without looking. He stood behind the guy who was telling him what to do, and had his arms coming out from behind. Josh had to build the banana split without looking. He did a pretty good job of it too! I forgot my camera (bad mom!) but did get a couple pics on my camera phone. If they turned out at all decently I'll post them here later. In a few weeks it's the preteens turn to be the actors and the teens will get to be the audience. I'll try to remember a camera then!

After this was over, we headed back south for home with a stop at Oak Park Mall on the way. No luck there with Jayhawk gear either. Nor at Target across the street. So I gave up the hunt and went straight to the source - the Jayhawk Bookstore at Edwards Campus here in town. Yeah, we paid a little extra for the shirts, but not much more, plus we got other Jayhawk stuff to boot. A new sticker for the van, and Ellie got a Jayhawk personal fan that flashes "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" when you turn it on. She used her own money, after figuring out how much she'd have left over for the auction at her grandparents church on Sunday night. It's important to her to have "plenty" of money for that event...but she decided she had money to spare on the fan. Rylie chipped in on her t-shirt as well, and we left the store with happy Jayhawkers.

Tonight Rylie and I went in search of yellow felt and feathers to make her "bird hat" for her dance in May. This year is an off-year for recitals (they only do them every other year) so it's an in-studio performance. One of her ballet classes will be dancing to "Carnival of the Animals" and her part is a bird. I warned her teachers I'm no good at costuming...but I think we've come up with a fairly cute bird hat if I do say so myself! With a nod to the Jayhawks, Rylie's hat is sporting crimson feathers with a single blue feather on either side in front! :-)

Just another typical day in our lives!

A Day in our Lives

People ask me all the time "What is it you do?" (in regard to homeschooling). I'll try to share a little bit here, and hopefully as time goes by it will become clear that our blog title says it all!

We are unschoolers. Meaning we don't do much of anything that looks like "School." We trust that children learn what they need to know, at the times they need to know it, and that this knowledge will be retained far longer than if they had to learn something "for the test."

This also doesn't mean we don't respect everyone's choices in education. We do. Not everything works for everyone. Isn't it great that we have choices? :-) But this is just how we live our lives.

So, for a day in our life: Right now it's Thursday April 10. About 12:30 PM or so. Josh (almost 13) is on the computer. Runescape. He's got a goal to hit 70 defense today. Don't know what that means, but it's important to him, and I do know that it means he can wear some special sort of armor at that level! LOL! Runescape has been a big part of Josh's education. He has learned loads of math figuring out how many logs it will take him to cut to get to some level of the game. How much he can trade one helm in for to buy another. He learned some real life lessons along the way too... like you can't always trust everyone you meet on-line. It was a few years ago, fortunately it was only his member character that got swiped and nothing more harmful than that. But definitely a lesson learned. I was just informed he just hit 70 defense...and he's off to buy armor!

Rylie is still in her pj's, playing Baby Pals on her Nintendo DS. She says she's getting ready to be able to babysit. She spends most of her time dancing, singing or being dramatic (just ask her brother about this sometime!). Later today she'll be off to voice lessons. Earlier she helped me sort the laundry and learned how to work the washer. That's one of my goals for this year - teaching the kids how to do their own laundry! She just finished two different library books and we're currently reading "The Wright Three" by Blue Balliet together. Rylie's also been into drawing faces lately. She's got them in a notebook and can often be found curled up sketching. Rylie had a "date" with her dad on Sunday night. They went to the Jo. Co. Arts Council Shooting Stars award banquet. Sprint is one of the underwriters for this event and Darren thought Rylie would enjoy the evening. She really did! They got to meet the award nominees, and one of the scholorship winners was seated at their table. They also met many other people, one of whom is connected with Leawood's Theatre in the Park. She offered Rylie a job of passing out programs at their summer production and then getting to watch the rest of the show from backstage. Rylie's really excited about this possibility - as she wants to start acting in the local theatre productions soon. She's working really hard toward that goal, between dance classes, jazz company practice and shows, voice lessons, and drama classes (right now she's taking one through Kansas City's Coterie Theatre - an award winning theatre that produces shows mainly for young audiences) she keeps busy!

Ellie is playing with another homeschooled friend who came over today. They've been busy having a restaurant. The kids snagged our Panera takeout bags and now have created a "Panera" in the playroom! They've been known to deliver to the family room on occasion as well. Ellie spends quite alot of time creating art. We're also reading the "Little House" series right now. She is very into Laura these days. We're on book 4 (On the Banks of Plum Creek) right now, but we did skip through Farmer Boy... turns out the book is all about Almonzo (Laura's future husband). We got to about the second chapter and Ellie asked me "Where's Laura?" When she found out it was all about Almonzo she decided she wanted to move on to the next book! Looks like a trip to the Little House site is in our future. It's a few hours drive from here, but well worth it for those with Little House fans.

It's cool and rainy here today or all three would probably be outside. In fact, Ellie just asked if she and her friend could go play out in the backyard. Normally this would be fine...but we're in the middle of a (neverending it seems) backyard re-do. It's really swampy right now after the rains on Tues and last night.

Anyway, this is what we do... just live our life well, laugh often and love much... and learn along the way! I'm going to try to figure out how to post pictures as well. I'm still in the REALLY new stage on blogging. LOL! Lots to learn!