for taylor from TED...

daddy's little joke and an 'eructo'

This song goes out to Trent, now, stop asking me that question....you know the one I mean. I could come up with more to post about (this week was pretty exciting for the physics world) but, I am just starting to feel better after this cold, and I just don't have it in me. But, I did want to keep up with a little about school this week. We finally got around to getting the Muzzy program from the BBC, and although I think it is slightly overpriced, it seems to be speeding the process along. As neither of us (the parents) is fluent in any foreign languages, we can't really do the optimal thing (just speaking the language in the home) to help the kids learn. But, we are both learning new words and use what we know whenever the chance presents itself. Now, with the videos, cds, and computer game, the kids are trying to speak more too. Already I have noticed 5 more common phrases that are being said in various languages. And (the reason I just had to post about it) Trevor just tonight asked me, "Mom, what is 'dark' in spanish?" I didn't know, so we looked it up together. An hour later, while practicing his new fave trick 'belching', he asked what 'belch' is in spanish. He even told my mom "goodbye" in italian for me. Taylor, too, has a new interest in learning Spanish. He was interested before, but his motivation has increased. So, if any one has Level II, we will soon be looking for it. Peace.

D-backs faced the Rays again....

The boys had a good game, they tied with the Rays 7 to 7 in the 7th inning. This was the first time they had time to play into another inning with the tie. But, they couldn't get around the bases again, and they didn't let the other team either. Better a tie than a loss. I caught a few videos. (Jewel's mouth is blue because someone gave her a blue lollipop.)

tidbit about influences....

Taylor finished two lectures on geometry and felt tired, he is at the end of a little cold. I said, "just rest on the couch, before your game, and watch this movie with me." "What is it?" "It's a musical, it's really old." He replied, "Mom, I really don't like musicals." I said, "It's just like High School Musical, except better." "Um, Mom, I hate High School Musical." I said, "Well, just rest here and ignore it then." "OK." About 10 minutes later, Taylor was laughing out loud. By the end he said, "Maybe I should take tap lessons." He actually watched all of Singing in the Rain and liked it. Geez, I love Gene Kelly!

a couple of unrelated things and some stuff....

There are several things that I have been meaning to post about and I just haven't taken the time. So, I am now taking the time, because I have a cold and I am feeling a little too run down to do much else. First, I finally found a recipe for bread and pizza crust that is truly easy and useful. It is the Crusty Bread recipe from Mother Earth News magazine (Dec. issue, I think), and I can make it 100% whole wheat. I had never heard of this magazine, but my mom sent me a subscription last year, now I am afraid I never want to give it up. The recipe is one that you can get 4 loaves from and leave in the fridge for up to two weeks. If I were making bread with it I would add honey, but I have made several pizzas and even the kids love it. It is great, because now they can have something they consider "junk food" and I don't feel guilty about it. All I have to do is lay the dough out 40 min. in advance. Another thing that I thought was neat, is that the broccoli I was growing bloomed. I did harvest one head and it was delicious, but after we decided not to plant again, I left the others and just watched them. Now there are interesting looking seed pods all over two of them. I hope that our plans to get some beds prepared work out, this summer. I am only going to take one class, so that will help. I want to make sure that I am able to fit it in before I get too much going on and with a shorter semester I don't want to be overwhelmed. Also, Trevor started a new gymnastics class without me, and he enjoyed it so much. The instructor is very good with the kids and Trevor is the youngest in the class, so he follows along with the others well. Jewel starts dance class in a few weeks. I can't wait. Oh, and Trent and Taylor are both chopping their hair off. Trent's is done, but Taylor is trying to decide on a style. I am considering it, I'm just not sure how short I want to go this time. I think I have enough for a fourth donation to Locks of Love, but I know it won't beat the record 16 inches I donated before. I doubt I'll do the cropped off look I had after boot camp, but maybe. There were a few other things I thought I might mention, but on second thought, I'm done.

Tony's birthday party....

Last night, we went to a birthday party for Tony, who has been friends with my parents since I was a baby. His wife, Judy, was not only at the delivery of Taylor, she was the only one awake with me at two in the morning when I reached the proper dilation. She wrote me almost every day while I was in boot camp and cried with my mom when I left the airport for Chicago, and I used Strawberry scented shampoo while there, just because while shopping, it reminded me of her kitchen. She was the first person to buy Taylor a pooh doll, within 24 hours of me telling my mom that I was pregnant. She was there in the room when they finally brought Ethan to us and then took him to TGH. She was there within minutes the morning that Ethan died. She is as much my friend as my mother's and I just love her. So, imagine how bad I felt when she said she hasn't ever seen Jewel before last night! What! She has only seen Trevor once. I have seen her a few times, but I guess I never had the babies with me. That is just crazy! I suppose it is better than others at the party. People that I saw all the time growing up, but who have only heard about me from my mom and sister for the last 12 years didn't even recognize me at first. It was nice to see everyone again. And it was great to celebrate another birthday for Big Daddy Tone! (there are a few more videos on youtube.)

a few lazy days...

I love that I can say things to Jewel like, "Let's get in the van." And now, instead of a confused look, she says, "OK, fan, fan, wun wun wun, bubba, go!" Not only is it really cute, but every little thing she learns to do for herself, especially by voice command, so to speak, makes my life easier and more efficient. She will now find her cup/doll/toy/crayons herself, get into her seat in the van herself, and frequently attempts to undiaper herself. She says,"I tinky, diaper, i tinky, momma!" Trevor is learning new things to do for himself too, but they are more subtle. Such as, getting to nickjr.com without help, or wiping his own butt. Honestly, now that these are the things he is trying, I would rather just do them for him (sometimes) because the mistakes are more time consuming to fix. He is also learning to pour his own drinks and help me cook, so you can imagine the messes that can generate. (Don't worry, Taylor found the egg shell in his pancake before he ate it.) There were lots of learning activities that we did the last two days. But, it was a kind of lazy study. We did a few experiments to complement the things we learned from the Joy of Science lectures (5 and 6). We tried to find the iron in our cereal, an activity from the about.com email "kids chemistry activities of the week". Then we did a few motion and force experiments from My Book of Science Experiments. We also started reading The Odyssey (and it's lecture). We also watched two movies for a break, and to get them sent back so Dad can get the movie he's been waiting on. I also started reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which I loved when I was young. I read to Taylor while he plays a video game, sometimes we read outside, sometimes we walk and read, and sometimes we listen to audio books while we play video games together. (I actually managed to read three articles from Discover magazine while on the treadmill, not while running, obviously.)

what did we do today...

The morning started with some games for Trevor and Taylor and mom time (coloring while learning colors and some spanish) for Jewel. Then, we took turns painting our tea set pieces while Taylor watched two lectures from the course on physics (Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists) to get some more information about the reasons that Rutherford's model of the atom wouldn't work in reality. He worked on the photomosaic Mickey Mouse puzzle while he watched, because he thinks better if his hands are busy. (Honestly, I don't know where he gets it from, he he he.) Trevor built a spaceship with the legos during the "wecture" as he calls it. Jewel kept bringing me things she found in the lego bin while commenting on them; a clay ball, "uh oh, bubba" (he isn't supposed to leave clay laying around), a lego man, "debot, debot" (uh, robot?), a dinosaur's head, "uh oh boken boken saur saur", and so funny, a strange green piece, "dat do? it do? dat do?". So curious. Then, we all took a break to watch the movie Igor. After the movie, Trevor painted his tea cup, Taylor worked out with the Wii game (Jillian Micheals), Trevor helped when he was finished (ie, all the orange and yellow were used up). Jewel ran around singing and dancing, played with her playhouse, played with legos, and in general made several messes. I did help her paint her cup and saucer. After a little more outside play, I convinced the babies to sit in their beds (like a nap) and they watched a show about elephants on PBS. Surprisingly, Trevor loved the show and told me all about it, not surprisingly, Jewel played with the buttons on the TV and messed it up so I let her watch a cartoon. Yes, I needed to get the laundry folded, so I abused the TV use rules. Taylor watched another Planet Earth episode from the DVR, while he finished painting his cup and saucer. And, another episode while assembling his chemistry lapbook (from Hands of a Child). The babies finished off "waiting for dad" time by reading with me and playing (aka making a mess in the bedroom). I, of course, participated in all of this, while the cleaning, cooking, and laundry just did itself (like magic ;)). I did however do something for me. I thought that cable on each machine at the gym would be plenty of distraction for boring running, but I forgot who I am. Until I can take audibooks again (we need new mp3 players, long story) I need more than discovery channel or history channel or news, at home I read or write or study while I "watch" them. The commercials are too long, also. So, I put some of the lectures on my Clie. Now I am sure to be distracted enough to run without thinking, "is it time, how about now, am I done now?" We'll see how well it works tonight. Anyway, here are some videos and pics (for Mimi).

our learning...

Ha Ha Ha, Trent is teasing me about blogging. He said, "If you don't tweet, your not in." He just said he will never be a "twit". And, I found the Teaching Company on youtube. I don't know why I never thought of looking before, unfortunately there are only a few snippets and we own two of the five lectures shown. But, actually the point of posting now, is to start "talking" to myself about the game again. I have found some time the last two weeks to work on a few ideas. I like where we are going and Taylor is going to help me tomorrow get the board for Trevor's part of the "world" drawn. We have been trying to adjust and simplify the game for him. We have also been trying to use our new "routine" to guide the game. We have changed our learning activities lately because of the babies' changing needs and new resources. Also, as with any student led style, our "focus" and Taylor's interests have changed. He is heavily interested in chemistry because of it's relevance in astronomy. Because of the references to physics in the chemistry resources we are bouncing through lectures. When we played the game before the lectures were so popular in our house, they were only "counted" in a minimal way. However, Taylor wants to be able to decide what activities he does each day (within limits) and still get "points" for each activity. So, I have found a way for him to choose any lecture and still earn something for watching it (besides knowledge, I remind him). Today he started with "Biology and Human Behavior", then watched two episodes of Planet Earth, then after lunch and some playtime, completed the "decimal" portion of the basic math lecture. (I suggested that he just skip those math lectures, and he said he wanted to make sure he doesn't miss any tips. The teacher is really great.) He had baseball practice and when he got home he spent an hour playing games on iknowthat.com. Trevor spent the day playing outside, playing on nickjr.com, coloring, and playing with blocks. Jewel, whew, she colored and played outside. And she climbed in and out of my lap all day, and ate all day, and jumped from one thing to the next rapidly all day. She makes Taylor laugh all day everyday, and all of us think she is so funny. Well, Trevor sometimes acts like he thinks she is not funny at all, but he just doesn't get it yet. The two of them have started playing together more than they fight now, which is a welcome change. Trevor even brought her cup to her without being asked. What a bunch of sweet, wonderful kids.

Just some stuff and a game...

You know life is good when you wake up with a stomach bug and you still smile all day. Either I really love my "job" or I have completely cracked up. I have, in the course of creating this blog, learned a lot about myself, about health, about appreciation, about my family, and about trust. I knew when I started blogging that I would, as usual, say lots of things that I later learned were not based on correct or complete information. I hate doing that, and try to avoid it. I have learned, however, that the truth is a very hard thing to find, and trusting your sources is not easy. I operate on many assumptions in everything I do, and often question those assumptions. But, like the turtles in mythology (that held up the earth), it's assumptions all the way down. I do however feel better equipped to discover scientifically sound information, now. And even so, I still choose to ignore even the most convincing evidence in some cases (parenting issues mainly). I just sometimes think that finding the "best" advice shouldn't be so complicated. Anyway. Another little lesson I am learning is that, as much as Trent wishes I would go every night to the gym, that just can't happen. I have too many other things that will get behind. I did manage it for a week, but I now find myself playing catch up. I suppose I am trading every night workouts for a cleaner house and time for studying. And, honestly, it is a trade I make happily. I will just have to be satisfied to loose the last 30 lbs a little more slowly than Trent. Big deal, I am just glad to loose it at all. Taylor had a game last night and I got to go alone (well, with no babies). My parents did come also. I really enjoyed being able to just watch the game (thank you, Trent). Taylor struck out all three at bats, and was pretty disappointed about it. But, he also played catcher for four of the six innings. Of course, he thoroughly enjoyed that. My mother even gave him his own little broom for the base. We lost 7 to 9, but I thought our team actually played better. They threw out several fast runners and caught at least 10 right out of the air. They are really fun to watch. To be honest, my first thought when I made it to the field is, "Ahh, two hours without the babies, and no cleaning." It was great. The babies are loads of fun, Trevor is starting to play with Legos, which is fun. And, Jewel is starting to potty train (herself, really) which is exciting to participate in. But, my brain is sometimes on overdrive. Here are a few videos from Taylor's game (I haven't gotten my new camera back from repairs, yet).