There should be an award for the most ridiculous, not-even-an-acronym, difficult to type, shortened version of a title for a really great program. If there was, NaNoWriMo would win. Seriously people, who came up with that? That's supposed to be easier/more memorable that National Novel Writers Month? If you don't like your name, come up with a slogan or something, not some nonsensical weirdness.
Still it's a great program that gets people writing. Pretty much everyone has heard of it, with the exception being my NPR loving husband (were you not paying attention that day, dear?) Many, many have participated. The library has a big push for it every year (he must not have read those emails or noticed the large signs there either.)
This year at least 1 of my daughters and I will be participating. Sandis is really excited about it and registered this morning. Her username involves a dog, her picture is dogs. The chances of her writing not involving a dog, well, Vegas wouldn't even touch those odds.
Stella, in typical Stella fashion, doesn't want to, then wants to, then doesn't want to participate yelling, "Don't you remember I said 'no?'" Yes, I do, child. I also remember you saying yes. She almost 2 weeks left to change her mind, repeatedly, depending on how the winds blow. The two prevailing winds being "I don't want to" and "is my sister getting to do something cool and I'm missing out."
I've been thinking about my story for years. For the last week or so I've been ruminating at bedtime, trying to form it into to a complete work. I don't know if I'll make the 50,000 words by the deadline, but I will do my best. And you can bet your bottom dollar that if I make it, the badge will be displayed proudly on this very blog for all to see.
Miller Farm is a favorite field trip every year. And when I say every year, I mean it - this is our fifth year so I took a 3 and 5 yr old on this excursion, crazy!
For those who haven't been - GO!!! It's so much fun. You and your 20 closest friends load up on a big trailer pulled by a tractor. They then take you to out to their vegetable fields. You get to pick potatoes, onions, corn (popcorn, sweet corn and colored harvest corn), carrots, cabbage and a pumpkin. Then you also get a couple more stops. Depending on the year, you can also get green beans, kohlrabi, leeks, beets, peppers and tomatoes.
After you've picked a bag full per person at each field (they provide the bags - either a plastic grocery sack or a potato sack), you head back to the play area. There are old tractors, cars and planes to climb on, a pyramid of hay, a pile of dirt, pedal cars, swing set, bouncy inflatable thing, tractor "train" ride and more. They even have a corn maze for those who didn't get enough of walking through corn fields while doing their graduate work ;)
For homeschoolers, all this costs $10/person. It can easily be a day's entertainment plus all the food. Worth the trip for me, especially to have the kids get a sense of where their vegetables come from and spend a day getting filthy!
Here are some pictures 2007-2011:
For those who haven't been - GO!!! It's so much fun. You and your 20 closest friends load up on a big trailer pulled by a tractor. They then take you to out to their vegetable fields. You get to pick potatoes, onions, corn (popcorn, sweet corn and colored harvest corn), carrots, cabbage and a pumpkin. Then you also get a couple more stops. Depending on the year, you can also get green beans, kohlrabi, leeks, beets, peppers and tomatoes.
After you've picked a bag full per person at each field (they provide the bags - either a plastic grocery sack or a potato sack), you head back to the play area. There are old tractors, cars and planes to climb on, a pyramid of hay, a pile of dirt, pedal cars, swing set, bouncy inflatable thing, tractor "train" ride and more. They even have a corn maze for those who didn't get enough of walking through corn fields while doing their graduate work ;)
For homeschoolers, all this costs $10/person. It can easily be a day's entertainment plus all the food. Worth the trip for me, especially to have the kids get a sense of where their vegetables come from and spend a day getting filthy!
Here are some pictures 2007-2011:
A facebook friend and fellow homeschooler recommended a autumn leaf chromatography experiment (here's another one.) It looked like fun so we tried it.
Sandis collected green leaves and yellow leaves from the same tree. The girls tore them up, green in one jar and yellow in another. We covered the leaf pieces with isopropyl alcohol after a discussion about why we couldn't just use beer as the alcohol (see, learning all the time!) We then placed the jars in a casserole pan and put hot water around them. We let them sit for several hours to extract the colors from the leaves (you could tell because the alcohol had colored.) Stella and a friend then put in strips of coffee filters as our chromatography paper and we left them for another few hours. When we got home from soccer, we had some nice lines on our filters!
Pretty easy to do and you get some science in your week - try it, your kids will like it!
Here are some pictures:
Yellow leaves all chopped up and covered in alcohol:
The two jars with chromatography strips:
The completed strips:
Sandis collected green leaves and yellow leaves from the same tree. The girls tore them up, green in one jar and yellow in another. We covered the leaf pieces with isopropyl alcohol after a discussion about why we couldn't just use beer as the alcohol (see, learning all the time!) We then placed the jars in a casserole pan and put hot water around them. We let them sit for several hours to extract the colors from the leaves (you could tell because the alcohol had colored.) Stella and a friend then put in strips of coffee filters as our chromatography paper and we left them for another few hours. When we got home from soccer, we had some nice lines on our filters!
Pretty easy to do and you get some science in your week - try it, your kids will like it!
Here are some pictures:
Yellow leaves all chopped up and covered in alcohol:
The two jars with chromatography strips:
The completed strips:
I'm sure there are those who wonder what people do with their time. After all, there are people who work 40hrs a week, volunteer, pick up kids, cook, clean and run marathons all while looking like this:
Me, not so much. I look more like this:
So what is it I do to get that lovely look?
As you can see, I keep busy. If you saw my Google calendar, it would scare you. It scares me! So if you happen to see me relaxing, reading, knitting...basically doing nothing, please know that I earned it.
And no matter how much or how little you think you do, you've earned your breaks too. Take them, savor them, enjoy them. No guilt. You deserve them.
Me, not so much. I look more like this:
So what is it I do to get that lovely look?
- The usual stay-at-home, homeschooling mom thing where I try and raise decent human beings.
- Traipse these somewhat decent humans (they are a work in progress, remember) to soccer (practices and games), quasi-school, therapy (both individual and group), girl scouts (2 different troops), uncountable field trips (avg about 1/week), playdates, library enrichment programs (yes, about 1/week with those too), church school and social events. I'm sure there are more but you'll have to forgive my addled brain for not being able to think of them all. Brian does help with these when I have to work but the majority are my responsibility.
- Work outside the home for ~20hrs/wk. This is the ONLY thing on this list for which I am paid. Not paid well, mind you, but paid
- Work as registrar for our church's weekend retreat in September (~40hrs total/yr)
- Be the Brownie leader for the younger one's Girl Scout troop (not sure how many hours yet, but figure at least 5 per meeting, not including the 2 hr meeting time. 2 meetings a month, 2 big gatherings/yr)
- Co-Facilitate Our Whole Lives for 8th graders at our church (2 hrs per session plus prep time, once a week for 3-4months plus 3 Saturdays at 4/hrs per session.)
- Cooking? Nah, hubby does that :)
- Cleaning? Yes, I really do this even though, sadly, it doesn't look like it.
- Make-up, hair care, other personal grooming? Working out? Ok sorry, had to take a break for the hysterical laughter to subside. Yeah, I take a shower and comb my hair. Almost daily.
- Yard work? Not so much anymore :( Brian gets most of this on his plate now and he doesn't do as much as I'd like with the flowers and bushes.
- Sleep? YES!!!! I need 9hrs a night to not be a raving bitch, so I try and make that a priority.
- Bills. I'm pretty much in charge of the finances, though I HATE that I have that role. I am not very good at it (I'm an entomologist for cripes sake!) and it stresses me out.
- Appointments. If the car needs fixing, the kids need to go to the dentist, the dog needs shots - I'm in charge. No one else to do it, believe me.
- Reading. I HAVE to read. I take 30-60 minutes before I go to sleep and I read for pleasure. This is my time and no one can have it.
- Knitting, internet, other things strictly for my sanity are done while I'm doing something for the kids or waiting for them. For instance, I'm typing this right now as they watch their Math-U-See videos. I've had to stop multiple times to referee arguments, be sure the hot chocolate stays in the kitchen and explain why microwaved marshmallows are not an appropriate breakfast.
As you can see, I keep busy. If you saw my Google calendar, it would scare you. It scares me! So if you happen to see me relaxing, reading, knitting...basically doing nothing, please know that I earned it.
And no matter how much or how little you think you do, you've earned your breaks too. Take them, savor them, enjoy them. No guilt. You deserve them.
I need an "I survived Stella" t-shirt.
Started with a house that the kids had messed up last night while I was working after I expressly told them to keep it the same as I had it. Lots of whining and yelling about having to put their stuff away.
There was over-reacting to every tiny thing which involved screaming in a way that made my ears ring for 45min. Not kidding.
Then a girl scout meeting where she was extra hyper, to the point her peers were telling her to chill.
Follow that with a crying, screaming, kicking, throwing, not-staying-in-her-room fit that lasted well over an hour. Throwing her glasses, not staying in her room and shrieking in the ear splitting way were making me want to smack her. I didn't. Gold stars for today (yes, stars, I need more than one for that much restraint.)
I need the aforementioned t-shirt, a vacation with no kids, several beers and to get laid. Not necessarily in that order. That might be enough to get me back to normal.
Started with a house that the kids had messed up last night while I was working after I expressly told them to keep it the same as I had it. Lots of whining and yelling about having to put their stuff away.
There was over-reacting to every tiny thing which involved screaming in a way that made my ears ring for 45min. Not kidding.
Then a girl scout meeting where she was extra hyper, to the point her peers were telling her to chill.
Follow that with a crying, screaming, kicking, throwing, not-staying-in-her-room fit that lasted well over an hour. Throwing her glasses, not staying in her room and shrieking in the ear splitting way were making me want to smack her. I didn't. Gold stars for today (yes, stars, I need more than one for that much restraint.)
I need the aforementioned t-shirt, a vacation with no kids, several beers and to get laid. Not necessarily in that order. That might be enough to get me back to normal.
A new day has dawned and it appears to be a better one than yesterday. Today math has been completed with not a bit of yelling, screaming or hitting (from anyone, though I'm referring to Stella performing these things.) Do you think it's because I "laid down the law"? I'm not that idealistic, I believe that a different Stella emerged from her bed this morning, one that didn't mind doing a bit of math before playing. It would be nice if we could only do schooly things on days when she's of a mind to do them, but sadly, if I waited for that day, it would never come. Once she figured out I was waiting for that day, she'd be SURE it didn't happen.
You see, Stella is a strong minded kid. She knows what she wants. She will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. If you described a CEO that way, people would praise her (probably him, but let's break the mold, shall we?) But in a 7yr old, people see a defiant child who needs to be put in her place. I see a person who needs some guidance as to how to get along in society. For instance, if you don't want to go to the store, even though we need, say food, sometimes you have to suck it up and go. It is completely fine to say you don't want to go. It's ok to not want to go, even to HATE going. But you cannot hit people just because you don't want to be at the store. I'm not trying to change her thinking, just her way of expressing herself so that she doesn't so negatively impact others (and herself - seriously, who wants to be around a raging tornado?)
It all sounds good in theory. In practice, it's touch and go. But today, I'm going to enjoy the kinder, gentler Stella that has graced our presence :)
You see, Stella is a strong minded kid. She knows what she wants. She will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. If you described a CEO that way, people would praise her (probably him, but let's break the mold, shall we?) But in a 7yr old, people see a defiant child who needs to be put in her place. I see a person who needs some guidance as to how to get along in society. For instance, if you don't want to go to the store, even though we need, say food, sometimes you have to suck it up and go. It is completely fine to say you don't want to go. It's ok to not want to go, even to HATE going. But you cannot hit people just because you don't want to be at the store. I'm not trying to change her thinking, just her way of expressing herself so that she doesn't so negatively impact others (and herself - seriously, who wants to be around a raging tornado?)
It all sounds good in theory. In practice, it's touch and go. But today, I'm going to enjoy the kinder, gentler Stella that has graced our presence :)
My niece had her baby today. A healthy girl. Mom & baby are doing well. Adoptive parents are rooming in at the hospital with the baby.
I am happy for a new baby being born, a family who has so wanted children finally having one. But I am also sad thinking about what my 16yr old niece must be going through. I know this was her choice, but no matter what choice she made, this is a tough, tough day for her.
We aren't close, my niece and I. We are separated by distance, religion, family values...but I still wish I could be there for her physically and emotionally. Let her know that it's ok no matter what she's feeling. It's ok if those feelings change over time. But there is no way to be there for her. The things that are being told to her by those closest to her will over-ride what I say because I'm not there on a daily basis. Because I'm the one with all those weird (ie wrong) liberal ideas (about everything, pretty much.)
Stella told me today that she hopes she doesn't have a baby when she's a teenager and not ready to be a mom yet. I hope so too, Stella. Know that I will give you, and your sister, the tools of self-esteem, family support, unconditional love, and comprehensive sexuality education that will help you make better choices.
I am happy for a new baby being born, a family who has so wanted children finally having one. But I am also sad thinking about what my 16yr old niece must be going through. I know this was her choice, but no matter what choice she made, this is a tough, tough day for her.
We aren't close, my niece and I. We are separated by distance, religion, family values...but I still wish I could be there for her physically and emotionally. Let her know that it's ok no matter what she's feeling. It's ok if those feelings change over time. But there is no way to be there for her. The things that are being told to her by those closest to her will over-ride what I say because I'm not there on a daily basis. Because I'm the one with all those weird (ie wrong) liberal ideas (about everything, pretty much.)
Stella told me today that she hopes she doesn't have a baby when she's a teenager and not ready to be a mom yet. I hope so too, Stella. Know that I will give you, and your sister, the tools of self-esteem, family support, unconditional love, and comprehensive sexuality education that will help you make better choices.