just stuff....

A while back Taylor had to go to the doctor for a physical. The first room we were sent to had an "astronomy" theme. Taylor looked at the poster on the wall and said, "Mom, the third picture down on the right side, that's the remnants of a red giant." And, he was right, according to the poster. OK, so that made me proud, then later, he had blood taken. Jewel watching, said, "Oooh, heart." I said, "Yes, blood." "Oh, blood", she replied. Trevor was watching with mouth agape, I suppose at Taylor's courage. Today, we were watching a lecture, "The Neurological Origins of Individuality", and I started to explain what the cortex is. Taylor said, "Mom, I know, it's the outer part of the brain, kind of. I can show you, it's on that site where we studied the limbic system." OK, smarty pants, watch the lecture. The straw that broke the modest camel's back, was when he asked for a copy of "Descartes Error" because it was mentioned in the lecture, and "I'm really interested in what it has to say." Yeah, I think we'll trust this homeschooling thing for another year.

some pictures from mom and steph....

I thought that while I was scanning, I would include the pics of Morlynn and Jewel that my sister took. The rest are from my mom.

Baseball Season comes to an end...

(Sorry, it took a while to get this up.) We were down by one at the end of the fourth inning. But, our turn at bat in the fifth inning brought us up by two. Then, the rain started. After some shuffling to try and keep the game going when the rain let up, it became obvious that the lightning and thunder were too close. Because the ump gets to call it, and he did, and because the other team didn't get to finish their turn at bat, the score went back to where it stood at the end of the fourth inning. With that the Orioles got to continue while our bid for the playoffs was ended. It really stinks because that team beat us twice with unfair calls and we were finally getting our fair shot. (Not just exaggerating, we knew this game would suck, but got a different ump.) And, because our team really had a great rally and they deserved for it to count. So, now the season is over and we will have to find other fun until fall. My mother has given me some great pictures that she took throughout the season, and as they are better than any that I took, I thought I'd include them here. And, Taylor wanted a picture of his trophy on this final post. I'll post the pics tomorrow.

and then.....

a ted to think on....

car schooling...

As we hopped in the van for the rainy ride to Lakeland (retrieving Taylor) Trevor grabbed the spongebob cd case and said, "Mom, we need some good music for this ride." So, I put in one of the Disney Classics cds that I've had since my senior year of high school or maybe my first year in the Navy. (I kind of went through an obsessed with Disney movies phase.) This cd has great songs from Dumbo, Mary Poppins, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Jungle Book (among others). It may not be Bach, but the songs have a lot of different styles and they conjure up images and tell stories. The kids really enjoyed the music and I couldn't even ignore it to listen to my audiobook. It occurred to me that the words to the songs may be helping the kids with grammar, vocabulary, and with understanding word play. They like to learn the words and try to understand what favorite parts of the songs mean. At any rate, it made for a fun trip and now they have a few movies they want to see. I also thought that a project that may be fun is a timeline of disney movies and a discussion of the styles of music used in each.

prattling...

I am really relieved to discover that school (so far) is as easy for me as it was when I was younger. Easier actually, because I have learned to focus and control my mental wanderings, and because I now understand my issues with socializing, so I am better prepared to do what I have to. I started working on the project with the typical outline, added details, then, I got bored. The text is very, ...boring. I can't think of a better word. So, I pulled a few books out of my own library and looked for more related details. I think that my recent journey through the Jared Diamond books is going to help more than I first realized. I knew that I had read a lot (or "knew" a lot, depending on your view of the word "know"), about the neolithic revolution recently, but I didn't realize how much. To be fair, there were other projects that I also would have felt the same way about, but this is the one that really jumped out. I wasn't sure why I was feeling so sure that I had to get this one, I am now. I have already found 6 books I have that relate to the topic. Including this crazy one, I have no idea why I bought it back then,10 years ago, "Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age" by Richard Rudgley. I have read a lot of it over the years, but I was mainly interested in the language development theories. Anyway, I feel very conscious of the fact that, one, I finished all the research for the team project by myself, and two, I didn't even have to go to the library. The really sad part is that I also came up with four different topics for the paper that has to accompany the presentation. I don't even know for sure which topic the group will write on yet. We all agreed to read and outline the chapter, that was it. I don't have any other classes, I suppose, is my only excuse. I think it is a relief to see that I haven't changed (I am sure I can do this school thing) and it is great to have something to do that I didn't "invent" for Taylor's education. Actually, we are going to work together (me and Taylor) to create a presentation for certain chapters, similar to this project, soon. We added it to the game "assignments".

Mimi's magic...

Trent's mother has the magic touch when it comes to potty time. She started some great methods with Trevor and this weekend scored a rare double whammy. She was trying to get Jewel to go on the potty and at the same time Trevor claimed he had to go. He ran to the other bathroom and like magic, went. Just like the time before at our house, he just went with no waiting. And, the real miracle (it's been a month since the last time) Jewel, at the same time, pooped in the potty! That is only the second time she has done it. She even said, in that cute way she has, "Mimi, I pooped in the water in the potty." Too funny, and how wonderful. It will be great to get both babies going with minimal help, but the fun is in the learning. One other little thing that I have been thinking about trying to get on video, Jewel acts like she is using magic to open the garage door. Every time the door starts to go up, she squares off to it, raises both arms and says "up, open, up", sometimes "abra". She won't move until it stops moving. The boys always make me sit in the van until the interior light goes off, and the garage light is off before I am allowed to open the "bay doors" and ask for clearance to prepare for takeoff. They spend the first 10 seconds screaming every time, you know, "scared" of the dark. Anyway, thanks for the teaching assistance Mimi and for the baby sitting. I was able to finish my outlines and reading! I even got laundry folded.

a tiny rant on CNN...

How bad would it suck to be fantastic athlete and have every loss become a national headline? And, I can't watch a story about military, deaths of soldiers, soldiers being treated for anything (including ptsd), or military families without crying. I don't mind crying but, it does get annoying, I mean, when do I "get over it". And, how crappy is it that some of them never will. But, thanks for that story about the simultaneous thriller dancing, wow, that sure is helpful. At least it helped me stop crying. Why do I turn it on? It's mind control, I just know it.