Cowboys and Indians

No, my kids don't play Cowboys & Indians or Cops & Robbers, but today they invented a new game: Bacteria and Antibodies. They were chasing each other around the house and fighting over who had to be the evil bacteria. Love it, love it, love it. (And by the way, if they did ever play Cowboys & Indians, I have no doubt the cowboys would be the bad guys.)

They were also quite upset with me for throwing away the moldy orange juice bottle I found in the fridge last night. Turns out it was a science project about which I was unaware. I told them to let me know next time so I don't mistake a plate of growing fuzz for garbage in the future.

Did you know that tarantulas can go 2.5 years without eating? We just learned that today. Thank you, Beakman's World.

Marian and Leo both completed a couple of reading assessments today; I'd stumbled across them and they looked quick, so we gave it a whirl. Marian (age 8) came in at a grade level of 4.8 (8th month of 4th grade), and Leo (age 6) at 4.0. The San Diego Quick Assessment just used whole grade numbers and Marian scored grade 4 and Leo grade 2. Both assessments measured only decoding (being able to read the actual words), not reading comprehension, and who knows how much worth they actually have. However, I can certainly see numbers coming in handy the next time I'm cornered by a rabid homeschooling/unschooling skeptic who's convince I'm ruining my children's lives.

On another topic, my foster cat had her babies the other day and has proven to be one of the most idiotic and inept new mothers I've ever known of any species. She is so clueless. I hate interfering with births and maternal-newborn relationships and have always been very hands-off, but I have no doubts that both her babies would be dead right now without me. She finally is getting the hang of it though, if finally nursing well, and hasn't forcefully (and accidentally) flung one of her babies into the side of the cage recently. Oy.

Veggie Car

A la Marian.

Num num, Nim Nim.

The kids and I are reading Nim's Island and are having a learning blast with it. We read the first three chapters today, and then took off for further research at the library where we devoured a large stack of books and read all about sea otters, blue whales, plankton, barometers, iguanas, and more. Those chapters also inspired fun conversations about satellite dishes, laptop computers, volcanoes, cyclones, machetes, and rudders and tillers. Marian is keeping an ongoing list of all animals mentioned and I'm helping her with a side list of other topics to explore.


The scene of the massacre:



All three kids declared the coconut opening exciting and unpredictable. I wish we'd all worn safety goggles, and I'm sure the kids will never forget the vision of their sweet sweating mother repeatedly swinging a cleaver through the air at a furry brown coconut, which then protested by showering us with wooden chips at each stroke. When we finally got it open, we lost all the juice, but the meat was a hit, however stubborn. It made a nice addition to our "Nim Dinner" of coconut, seaweed, snap peas, sweet potatoes, and strawberries. (My tropical wine cooler fit with the theme as well.)

The coconut was a hit.


Mixed reviews on the seaweed. M braved a second bite, while L reacted to his first.




And Sophie ate everything.


Dry seaweed.


Rehydrated seaweed. Just for kicks. Slime and odor abound.



A simple cut and paste craft of a coconut tree, to pass the time while waiting for the eternal sweeet potatoes to finish baking.





We can't wait for chapter 4!

Marian's Sarcophagus

Okay, it's really the mummified bear's sarcophagus, but ain't it purty?

The Boat Float experiment

The kids and I spontaneously made boats today. L's and S's are sailboats made from non-tupperware, tea lights holding skewer masts, and paper sails.






M got really into hers and made an aluminum 3-bench canoe with two double oars. She's fashioning the second double oar in this pic.



All the boats floated, and the kids were thrilled!

Soulful Sunday

Today I researched my ayurvedic dosha, psychic children, aloe vera properties, sunflower seed butter, gluten-free foods, and care of puncture wounds. The kids and I played nearly an hour of Sight Word Bingo and did a hilarious Mad Libs. It's been an interesting day, and much better than I anticipated when I woke up much too late feeling like complete and utter crap.

Gus hums. Yes, Gus the dog. You know, the one with the doggie diaper and backyard anti-digging collar. He hums.

I seem to attract odd animals into my life with almost supernatural regularity. Too bad I can't put that on my resume.

Ocular Incident

Last night while I innocently watched TV with a purring kitten on my ample chest, said kitten stalked and bested my fragile eyeball.

With my cornea flapping this morning (well, it felt like it), I headed to the ER in at the advice of the doc's office. The hospital in the big town (pop. 8,000) 20 miles away is medical technology central for this big rural area.

Less than a minute after walking into the ER, we were being checked in, a few minutes later we were in a room. The doctor was friendly and personable and talked the kids through everything. He numbed my eye, put yellow dye in it, then turned off the lights and showed the kids what it looked like with the black light. Then he looked through the microscope (another cool lesson), and showed me on paper the jagged vertical line scratching the surface of my cornea from upper center iris to the just inside the constricted pupil. Meanwhile, Marian drew and colored a picture of what my eye looked like under black light, Sophie drew a picture of "Blind Momma", and Leo watched everything. They enjoyed watching me get a tetanus shot, and the nurse enjoyed watching the kids.

The eye should be better in a couple of days, following antibiotic eyedrops every few hours, 600mg ibuprofen every 6 hours, and my repeated thoughts of the vicodin prescription I turned down. I'm not wearing the eye patch because it sucks in countless ways. No night driving until I'm healed, because darkness will cause my pupil to expand further into the injured area, which will increase the blurriness of my vision. Since light shining in my eye hurts, I get the lovely choice of pain or major blur. Except when I have both and am spared the choice.

Doc says TV is better than reading or computer for my eye, so I'm not here right now and you're imagining all of this. Get help.




The evil hideous beast who committed this atrocious act:


Isn't she cute? She's sitting on my lap right now.

I forgive her.

Jersey Shore on the Dining Table

How cool is it that we have part of the Jersey Shore in our landlocked Colorado home? This arrangement is courtesy of all four members of the MaWhit family, and bits of Jersey shore are courtesy of a dear friend who knows me well.

A Day in the Life (from Friday 11/9)

8:00am
At what point does the day start when one gets no sleep?

After a tireless bout of insomnia last night, I finally nodded off only to be awoken 20 minutes later by Sophie needing to puke. I staggered off to the bathroom with her under my arm and let her hang over the toilet while I got a bowl, which we took back to bed. After 2 more rounds, I got up for good. And this is why.

Tuesday evening, Sophie swallowed two quarters, and they lodged in her throat. She could breathe around them, but we were directed to head straight to the ER, which we did. On the way there, they finally came dislodged and went all the way down, at which point I called the ER doc. After talking to him, I decided not to take her in, instead choosing to watch out for potential problems and keep an eye out for their re-arrival in the toilet. Thursday she had diarrhea. And last night/this morning was the stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. With 4 symptoms from the "watch out for" list, we headed to the ER at 4:30 this morning.

Despite the incredulous looks and comments at the ER of all those professionals who didn't think the coins would still be in her, the x-ray showed that there were still at the very top of her intestine. No blockage though, they said. While we were at the ER, I read them chapter 2 of Story of the World volume 1 (a re-read) and chapter 8 of Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House #11). I gave Marian and Leo verbal math problems and spelling words, and Sophie chilled on the ER bed and watched "Sunrise Earth" on Animal Planet. We all got a good look at Sophie's x-ray which was very cool, showing everything from chin to pelvis, and it generated lots of discussion baout the skeleton and internal organs.

At 6am, we left the hospital with another list of things to watch for , and the kids talked about the gender of Spanish nouns and also used their Spanish names for awhile (Mariana, Leo, Sofia). We parked and watched the sunrise while listening to the Tao Te Ching.

Then went to Walmart, where I wandered around in a fog not able to remember anything that was on my list. On our way back to the car, we stopped to inspect a very freshly squashed mouse and had an interesting discussion about mouse guts, which led back to Sophie's x-ray.

We got back home at 7:15am, and Marian and Leo took the dogs out while I cleaned up their crate and fed and watered them all. The kids had a second breakfast, Leo ran off some energy outside for awhile, and now they are all watching Reading Rainbow and I'm getting ready to feed the kittens.

(And it's not even 8am. Most days I don't get up until 9.)

The kids watching a Reading Rainbow about Jewish cooking and culture. (Leo's getting peanut butter off the roof of his mouth.)


Hungry little kittens waiting to be fed. (This is just the holding tank for feeding time. Their living quarters are much more spacious.)


The runt, and my favorite. Heidi. I always feed her first.



Marian got the big two some wet food while I fed the little ones. The big ones are in the process of weaning (they drink from the bottle a couple times a day). Here's everyone all full and happy.



9:00am
I watched most of "Animal Cops: Houston" with Marian while feeding the kittens. Leo and Sophie were in and out, and spent a good chunk of time playing together with dollhouse stuff upstairs.

Now the TV is off, Leo has requested math or pirate worksheets printed off the internet, and my stripey socks and I are settled in to work on a Sociology paper for a little bit. The kids are all playing upstairs at the moment.


10:00am
I got a good chunk of my paper done, and hope to finish it in one more sitting today. While I worked, the kids were all over the place. Leo did a math worksheet and played with the tunnel, Marian and Sophie dressed up, played upstairs, and then came and got in a fight with Leo about the tunnel, at which point I put it away.







12:45pm
We spent over an hour at the shelter, where Leo slept in the car, Sophie played with Jack (the dog in pics), Marian drew, and the girls both constructed some kind of mud castle. I took pictures and got descriptions of about 15 dogs and still need to update their website, I got recruited to hook up their new computer monitor tomorrow, and I fed and watered the cats.

Pictures from the shelter:

Sophie with Jack, the best babysitter I've ever had.






Marian drawing, with Jack checking in on her


Part of her picture:


After the shelter we came home, and Frank (the shelter guy) showed up shortly after bearing gifts for the kids, for Sophie's birthday. (He got all of them stuff.) Then the kids had lunch, I avoided a couple phone calls, and then answered when my dad called and talked to him for almost an hour. The kids finished lunch and played with their new toys while I was on the phone. Time to feed the kittens again!


4:45pm
All four of us piled up like a bunch of kittens and napped all afternoon. Then my friend came over with her daughter and hung out for about an hour or so, and then I watched Leo and Sophie play out front for awhile after she left.




Marian is still asleep. Off to feed kittens and then humans.

7:30pm
I served the little ones their dinner (split pea soup, rice cakes, grape tomatoes) and then snuggled Marian awake and almost fell back to sleep myself. We finally got up and she had dinner while I fed the kittens and the little ones played, and then we went to the store. Evening snack has been had.

Everyone has done their bedtime hygiene and they're waiting on me to go read to them. Be back in a bit!


9:00pm
I read them a chapter from The Seeing Summer (our new read aloud) for bed, and Leo and Sophie are asleep. Marian is quietly roaming around. So far I've gotten my Sociology paper done and submitted and I finally finished updating the animal shelter's website with photos and descriptions.

I still need to study for an exam, do research for a research paper, get in about an hour of transcription work, and write some of my novel. And I'll watch an episode or two of That 70's Show and/or Whose Line is it Anyway? while I give the kittens their last feeding of the day.

Still plenty to do, but I'm signing out.

Licious

Einstein Quote of the Day:
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

Abraham Lincoln Quote of the Day
I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

Today's Books

Who Made That? (Nicholas)
Fairytopia (Sheridan)
Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (Hudson)
Tabitha's Terrifically Tough Tooth (Middleton)
"The Fairy Godmother's Assistant" from Girls to the Rescue (Lansky)
2 chapters from The Midwife's Apprentice (Cushman)
up to chapter 6 of The Golden Compass (Pullman) on CD
some "Mad Libs"

And Leo was a reading demon today and went through so many books I couldn't begin to keep track. The first two on the above list were the only titles I could remember. He also perused the Gator Gazette in the car, along with his sisters.



We spent hours at the shelter today, returned two fosterlings and brought two more home. One was a puppy who'd been rejected by his mother and hadn't grown since he was born almost a week ago. If I'd known of his sooner, I'd have taken him home sooner, but I'm the cat lady and only found out today. He died this afternoon, but spent his last hours warm, cuddled, loved on, and finally soothed and comfortable.

Old My. Whiskerson has gained half a pound since his arrival, and is at my house now; he immediately demanded to be let out to explore and insists he is home. I've got him back in a large cage, though, because I'd like to see him gain much more weight before he starts burning it off.

There is a beautiful and sweet girl cat at the shelter who came in earlier this week, and we just discovered today that she is blind. I named her Helen. Yes, I'm so creative I awe myself.

I get a break tomorrow! For the first time in 2 months, I'll have almost the entire day to myself, and the next morning as well. The kids are SO excited about their daddy coming that they cleaned their room (where he sleeps) without a single complaint. lol I'm really looking forward to my break tomorrow, but I know that I'm actually going to miss the kids. We have been so connected lately, and life with them has been incredible. But I know the break will do us all some good.

Thursday Learners

I love reading, and I love that the kids love reading. Last night we finished one of our chapter books--Marigold and the Feather of Hope, book one of four in The Fairy Chronicles.

Today's books with the kids:

5 chapters in The Midwife's Apprentice (Cushman) ch 8-12
Rise the Moon (Spinelli)
All for Fall (Kessler)
Turnagain Ptarmigan! Where Did You Go? (Guenther)
Knuffle Bunny (Willems)
Horatio's Bed (Ashforth)
No Jumping on the Bed (Arnold)
The Magic Kerchief (Larson)
15 tracks of The Golden Compass (Pullman) on CD

No Jumping on the Bed got many laughs, Rise the Moon has beautiful illustrations, and The Midwife's Apprentice is in great demand and at this rate we'll finish it tomorrow. The Turnagain Ptarmigan book triggered some great discussions on birds, alpine valleys (we live in one), and camouflage.

Work was low this morning, and Leo and Marian took turns playing the Dora video game for awhile, we watched "Emergency Vets" and "Animal Cops: Houston", and we all brainstormed story ideas for the children's book(s) I'm writing. We went from work to the library, where we returned many pounds of books and checked out even more. While there, Leo closely examined the movement and relationship between the library's sink drain lift rod and pivot rod. He'd have taken it apart if I'd let him.

The kids had their first thermos lunch this fall, with the awesome Crayola crayon thermoses we picked up on clearance for an amazing price. We had vegetarian chili with rice cakes at the park before homeschool group.







I'm not sure the squirrels liked the rice cakes as much as the kids.




On the way home from homeschool group, Marian evaluated her experience as a vegetarian so far, after a full week. She declared, "I like it!", decided her favorite foods are portabella mushrooms and salad, and when asked if she misses meat, answered, "Nope, not at all."

We listened to a symphony on NPR, but never heard what/who it was. The kids, especially Sophie, were really into identifying the emotions that the music conveyed, and were awed that it could change so much. I jotted down some of their their description words as they said them (after Leo's, "Turn it up, please, Momma"):

scary
triumphant
excited
quiet
like a dance
sleepy and happy

And more. :)


We drove around Home Lake...




...before heading to the animal shelter, where the kids helped with cats and dogs, and excitedly met and petted a dachshund. (The chapter book we just finished very clearly stated that the only thing that would get rid of mischievous gremlins in a human's home were stainless steel, vacuum cleaners, and dachshunds.)

At various points today we observed and discussed the Rio Grande, talked about underwater aquifers, watched cooking shows, played with dollhouses, played outside, cared for our critters, and laughed a lot.

The kids go to bed so easily these days. I read to them on the couch, I hug and kiss everyone, and they all go off and fall asleep in various beds. They are growing up so fast.

Holy Efficient Monday, Catwoman

Today I made countless phone calls, endless copies, filled out many forms, made and attended appointments, and completed a to-do list comprised of many previously procrastinated items, including one very large one that I've been putting off for almost a year. Woo!

Bo and Annie got adopted today! Ah, such relief, joy, happiness, bittersweet goodbyes, and more.

Another new cat at the shelter today, and this one got to me. (Believe it or not, not all of them do.) A woman in Crestone moved away and left her 10+ cats to fend for themselves. (Insert %$@^%^% here.) The neighbors have been leaving out food and water, but brought this one in today; I'm not sure what they will do with the others. Black and white male who is literally skin and bones. I was very surprised to weigh him in at 5 pounds; I'd expected him to be much less. I dewormed him, fed him some Nutri-Cal, and gave him some canned food which he snarfed as though he hadn't eaten in months. After I gave him a much needed bath, I checked his eyes, ears, skin, and mouth as a matter of routine. Poor dude has almost no teeth! He is clearly much older than anyone thought, and now we have a simple explanation as to why he was wasting away in the presence of dry food. There is no way he could eat it.

I cannot get this cat out of my head. He doesn't have the strength of a 3-week-old kitten, he falls over if you blow on him (practically), his meow is pathetic, he is incredibly ugly to the rest of the world. But he looked at me with soulful eyes; this is a cat who has loved and been loved, and I don't understand how he has come to be here at this place in his life. He purred a rusty purr for me alone today. If I had the room, I'd have brought him home to foster starting today, but I'm full up and I know it, so I will care for him daily at the shelter for now. I've already made him a bed softer than that of any other cat in the place, and I put a big note on his door instructing everyone to make sure he gets fed canned food at least twice a day. Poor old man kitty.

I know I'm not writing much about the kids today, but have no fear. They are doing well. Leo insisted on reading me several books this afternoon, I read them several Greek myths and Chinese legends, as well as chapters in both our read-alouds. We talked about everythign under the sun (and beyond it), and learned lots today. I'll take notes again someday soon to give you a more detailed peek. We learn so much each day that if I don't constantly jot thigns down, I can never recount them all later.

And last but not least. Happy birthday, Jim Henson. Thank you for all the laughter.

Happy Fall Equinox

We had a lovely time at UU this morning, where we reconnected with some old friends and I taught RE for 6 kids, with a double focus on both what UU is about and celebrating the fall equinox.

Then the kids and I went swimming and it was entirely too crowded and no fun at all for me. I will never understand how parents can be so completely unconcerned about their children's safety. Kids diving into the 4 ft pool, a 5-year-old unattended in the hot tub. When we left, I made the 5-year-old leave the hot tub and told him to find his grown up, because there was no way I could leave him sitting in there alone. Grrr.

But after that, the two big kids napped in the car as we drove to the mountains, then everyone woke up to enjoy the beauty around us. I was so filled up with joy simply watching my kids' utter delight in nature--the feel of bark on their skin, the red of the leaves, the drizzle of rain, the sound of the water, the unknown ahead on the trail, the mysteries of the holes and crevices at the base of a great old tree.














Sophie is a Momma's girl:





I love my little tree-hugging kids who say things like "Oh dear" and "Nor do I" and "We shall".