Every once in a while, I realize things that I take for granted these days since I homeschool.
Today was one of those days.
Mike had to go to work early, I had to get Emma fed breakfast and pack her lunch for preschool (which includes writing out all of the carb counts for her teacher to dose her). We also had the first session of Michael's writing class (Samantha's is next week), so I had to make sure that Samantha had enough schoolwork with her to do while Michael was in his class. And all of this needed to be done by 8:15 so that we could leave to get our carpool friend to take to preschool.
It was a hectic morning trying to actually get out of the house with all of them on a schedule. We haven't had one of those in a while.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sports weekend
Finally, the rain held off and games could proceed this weekend.
Michael's Little League baseball team, the White Sox. Had their 3rd game and their first win. Michael had a great game, again.
Samantha's soccer team had their first game of the season. The game was hard fought and ended in a tie. Her team played this team in the tournament last season and it was a hard fought win at that time, so its no surprise that it was such a tough game (Sorry, we don't have any pictures from that game)
Michael's travel baseball team, the Eagles, played their first game in Remington, VA against the Remington Young Guns. The team played great, had some great hits, great catches, and great plays. The Eagles beat the Young Guns 9-0.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Even when you lose, you can win
(alternate title: Game Ball)
Michael had his first Little League game of the fall season last night. He's on the White Sox this season. Its an unusual team - fall teams usually are - because it has many kids who haven't played in the Single A division yet (which is kid AND machine pitching) and some who have played Double A before (all Kid pitch) all on his Single A team.
Michael is a pitcher. So his coach had him pitch an inning last night. When he didn't pitch, he played 2nd base, 3rd base, and 2 outfield positions.
Michael had a great game. He made one put out at 3rd base in the 2nd inning. When he started off the 3rd inning pitching, he struck out the first batter. That made him especially happy, as it is a teammate on his travel baseball team (another team). He threw a lot of good pitches and came from behind in the count several times.
In the last inning, he played 2nd base. He had two FANTASTIC tags of base runners in that inning, including one thrown in from the right-fielder. It was a very exciting inning.
He also had a great hit, over the first baseman, but down the line, and into right field. His team needs a little bit of help in the hitting department, so he was especially excited to get a hit.
His coach this season awards a game ball. Michael earned it last night for having a great all-around game (hitting, fielding, pitching). Michael has asked for us to get a plastic case for it so no one can mess it up and he wants to display it proudly with his trophies.
And just for fun, I wanted to show you that he is an authentic Stopper / Gwaltney child, as evidenced by the numerous expressions (or maybe contortions is a better word) on his face while pitching!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
First Day of Preschool!
Since we are homeschooling, its been a while since we've had a big "send off" first day of school. But, today was that day! Emma went off to her first day of preschool.
She has been so excited that we have been counting down "sleeps" (the number of times she has to go to bed at night) until it was the day. And she came running into our room this morning, dressed in clothes that she picked out (which we changed, incidentally) ready to go!!
So we had our breakfast, packed our lunch, and we were ready to go.
Emma has preschool at an "in home" preschool with the wife of the pastor at our church. There are 8 kids in her class each day - Monday and Wednesday. Emma jumped out of the car and headed up the sidewalk to her driveway and then up the driveway. The teacher has all the kids sit down on her sidewalk until everyone gets there.
Then they walk in together and head down for their school day!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Wash Out!
Our first game of the fall soccer season, and Michael's first game on his Little League team were rained out today.
I don't think that "rained out" does adequate justice to the buckets and buckets of water that have been falling out of the sky for several hours now, and are expected to continue to fall for several more hours.
Welcome Hannah!
I don't think that "rained out" does adequate justice to the buckets and buckets of water that have been falling out of the sky for several hours now, and are expected to continue to fall for several more hours.
Welcome Hannah!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Different focus this year
In the past, I have had trouble keeping focused with history and science. The history curriculum that we have chosen is great - Sonlight - but they schedule History every day and I often have trouble with that. When we were having a slow day, it was usually Math that we did.
This year, so far, I have been pretty good about doing History every day. I think its because I'm afraid of getting behind. It takes us almost an hour a day to do History but we're moving along nicely through Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian history.
But for some reason I'm having trouble getting engaged with math this year. I think its because neither of the kids are STARTING a new math. Michael did 3 or 4 days of worksheets to review what he did last year, and he is picking up mid-way through his 3rd grade math. Samantha almost finished pre-algebra last year, and right now she is working her way back through taking the tests again as a form of review, and when she reaches a point where she has major areas that she needs reinforcement, we'll pick up the lessons. She's also going to work on logic puzzles and word problems this year, to help her thought process and prepare her for Algebra next year.
Thankfully, the Language Arts that I have chosen for each of them is not every day - but 2-4 days a week, so there is wiggle room in there.
But, we are getting into our groove nicely. Even today where I woke up with a migraine and slept until 10, we did Science and History this afternoon. That's a lot more than I would have done last year!
This year, so far, I have been pretty good about doing History every day. I think its because I'm afraid of getting behind. It takes us almost an hour a day to do History but we're moving along nicely through Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian history.
But for some reason I'm having trouble getting engaged with math this year. I think its because neither of the kids are STARTING a new math. Michael did 3 or 4 days of worksheets to review what he did last year, and he is picking up mid-way through his 3rd grade math. Samantha almost finished pre-algebra last year, and right now she is working her way back through taking the tests again as a form of review, and when she reaches a point where she has major areas that she needs reinforcement, we'll pick up the lessons. She's also going to work on logic puzzles and word problems this year, to help her thought process and prepare her for Algebra next year.
Thankfully, the Language Arts that I have chosen for each of them is not every day - but 2-4 days a week, so there is wiggle room in there.
But, we are getting into our groove nicely. Even today where I woke up with a migraine and slept until 10, we did Science and History this afternoon. That's a lot more than I would have done last year!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Mean Mom Award!
On a message board I read, many ladies post and say they have earned the "Mean Mom" award. This is an award given strictly by kids when they are convinced their parents are the worst and the meanest parents in the world.
I earned it today.
I made my kids do schoolwork on a holiday! The horror.
We didn't do a full day's worth of work. But we did cover our history lessons for the day and the kids did Vocabulary and Spelling and Samantha did a math lesson.
So, not a full day of lessons, but lessons nonetheless.
I've earned the Mean Mom Award today - hand it over!
I earned it today.
I made my kids do schoolwork on a holiday! The horror.
We didn't do a full day's worth of work. But we did cover our history lessons for the day and the kids did Vocabulary and Spelling and Samantha did a math lesson.
So, not a full day of lessons, but lessons nonetheless.
I've earned the Mean Mom Award today - hand it over!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Baseball Scrimmage
Michael's travel baseball team had an intra-squad scrimmage today. They've had quite a few practices and done a lot of "hitting and running" kind of scrimmaging, but hadn't been through like it was a game.
Michael had a pretty good day. He pitched two innings, which is the most he's ever done in a single game. The first inning was pretty good. He seems to either throw the ball right over the plate or way off - not a lot of inbetween. The second inning wasn't as good - a lot more wild pitches. I think just because he hasn't had to pitch two innings in a row, that was a lot for him.
I'm going to start counting pitches for him - because by playing on two different teams (one travel, one little league), with two different coaches, he could certainly be throwing too much.
I read an article today about kids throwing their arms out younger and younger. This has been a concern of mine since Michael starting pitching - so I got him some lessons so at least he would be throwing it correctly. But one of the most interesting things I read in the article today is that sometimes the pitchers throw their arms out because in addition to being a pitcher, they are a catcher or a third baseman. Positions that require a lot of throwing (catcher) or hard throwing (3rd base). The two innings Michael didn't pitch today, he played 3rd base. I think its because he is one of the stronger throwers, so the coach has him at 3rd (at least that's the explanation we've come up with because its very strange to have a left-handed 3rd baseman - he can't cover the gap because his glove is on the other hand). At least I got the coach to NOT have him catch.
But it was a good scrimmage and the boys played well together. We look forward to his first real game
Michael had a pretty good day. He pitched two innings, which is the most he's ever done in a single game. The first inning was pretty good. He seems to either throw the ball right over the plate or way off - not a lot of inbetween. The second inning wasn't as good - a lot more wild pitches. I think just because he hasn't had to pitch two innings in a row, that was a lot for him.
I'm going to start counting pitches for him - because by playing on two different teams (one travel, one little league), with two different coaches, he could certainly be throwing too much.
I read an article today about kids throwing their arms out younger and younger. This has been a concern of mine since Michael starting pitching - so I got him some lessons so at least he would be throwing it correctly. But one of the most interesting things I read in the article today is that sometimes the pitchers throw their arms out because in addition to being a pitcher, they are a catcher or a third baseman. Positions that require a lot of throwing (catcher) or hard throwing (3rd base). The two innings Michael didn't pitch today, he played 3rd base. I think its because he is one of the stronger throwers, so the coach has him at 3rd (at least that's the explanation we've come up with because its very strange to have a left-handed 3rd baseman - he can't cover the gap because his glove is on the other hand). At least I got the coach to NOT have him catch.
But it was a good scrimmage and the boys played well together. We look forward to his first real game
Monday, August 25, 2008
First Day of School!
So, as I hoped - we had our first day of school today.
We covered about half of our subjects today and we'll cover the other half tomorrow and then dive in full.
We talked about what we were going to study for history and we read a little bit about how you learn history and about archeology, since we'll be talking about that a lot when we talk about Ancient History. I showed them a little of the books we are going to look at, and the maps we are going to study, etc.
We also talked about science. For some reason, I have trouble getting up the motivation for science. I don't know why. This year we are trying a book called "Critical Thinking Through Science". Its a lot about observations and drawing conclusions and forming opinions (like my kids don't have enough of those already). Today we talked about those aspects of science and talked about how we would have a science notebook where we would document our activities and observations. I'm going to bounce around a little and even throw in a unit from My World Science, like we've used in previous years, but I'm off to a better start than the past two years
Then we did some math. I had each of them do some review problems for things they learned last year - we'll see how much they remember. I'll probably do that for a couple of days before we dive into new material for either of them.
And we had McDonalds for lunch! Because you can't have McDonalds for lunch if you go to regular school! :)
1 day, 179 to go!
We covered about half of our subjects today and we'll cover the other half tomorrow and then dive in full.
We talked about what we were going to study for history and we read a little bit about how you learn history and about archeology, since we'll be talking about that a lot when we talk about Ancient History. I showed them a little of the books we are going to look at, and the maps we are going to study, etc.
We also talked about science. For some reason, I have trouble getting up the motivation for science. I don't know why. This year we are trying a book called "Critical Thinking Through Science". Its a lot about observations and drawing conclusions and forming opinions (like my kids don't have enough of those already). Today we talked about those aspects of science and talked about how we would have a science notebook where we would document our activities and observations. I'm going to bounce around a little and even throw in a unit from My World Science, like we've used in previous years, but I'm off to a better start than the past two years
Then we did some math. I had each of them do some review problems for things they learned last year - we'll see how much they remember. I'll probably do that for a couple of days before we dive into new material for either of them.
And we had McDonalds for lunch! Because you can't have McDonalds for lunch if you go to regular school! :)
1 day, 179 to go!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
School Starts Tomorrow!
For us, at least!
We've got almost all of our books in house and I'm ready to start. I like to try and start before the regular school starts around here and ease in a little.
I spent a lot of time last night getting my History lesson plan together - I'm combining some things together so I needed to get all the plans together so I saw what to do when.
I have some new Grammar books for both of the kids - they are taking a writing workshop with another homeschooling mom, because I've realized that while I'm actually a pretty good editor, my feeble attempts to teach them in this area just weren't very good. I've seen some wonderful results from other kids who have taken the workshop, so I'm pretty excited about that.
I've also already compiled my list of supplies I need for the first few science experiments. I'm a little more likely to actually do the experiments with the kids if I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to find supplies. Definitely a step in the right direction.
Both kids will be continuing their math that they did last year - Michael is half-way through his 3rd grade math already and Samantha will be going through pre-algebra again. There are so many concepts in that curriculum that are foundational for algebra that I believe she really needs to get them down - and we are ahead of the game with math, so we have a good opportunity for that.
Art and Writing classes don't start up for a couple of weeks, so we have some good time to just get into the groove with our own work and see how it works out.
Tomorrow is Day 1!
We've got almost all of our books in house and I'm ready to start. I like to try and start before the regular school starts around here and ease in a little.
I spent a lot of time last night getting my History lesson plan together - I'm combining some things together so I needed to get all the plans together so I saw what to do when.
I have some new Grammar books for both of the kids - they are taking a writing workshop with another homeschooling mom, because I've realized that while I'm actually a pretty good editor, my feeble attempts to teach them in this area just weren't very good. I've seen some wonderful results from other kids who have taken the workshop, so I'm pretty excited about that.
I've also already compiled my list of supplies I need for the first few science experiments. I'm a little more likely to actually do the experiments with the kids if I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to find supplies. Definitely a step in the right direction.
Both kids will be continuing their math that they did last year - Michael is half-way through his 3rd grade math already and Samantha will be going through pre-algebra again. There are so many concepts in that curriculum that are foundational for algebra that I believe she really needs to get them down - and we are ahead of the game with math, so we have a good opportunity for that.
Art and Writing classes don't start up for a couple of weeks, so we have some good time to just get into the groove with our own work and see how it works out.
Tomorrow is Day 1!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
And the hits keep on coming
Last night's funny - Emma has named her Bitty Baby "Alva". Why Alva?
Because Vanessa (her pooh animal) told her that was her name!
Because Vanessa (her pooh animal) told her that was her name!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Emma Funny
We laugh a lot at the things that Emma says day in and day out, but we had a couple of really funny ones yesterday.
Mike came home from work early so I could go to a meeting, but that didn't happen because of a migraine. Mike was helping me with my migraine and we asked Samantha to check Emma's blood sugar, because it hadn't been checked when she got up from her nap.
Samantha checked it and we didn't hear her tell us what the reading was. Finally, Emma told us that her reading was 81. That's at the lowest end of her range and I knew that she was going to be active later, so we wanted to give her a little juice to keep her up. We yelled down for Samantha to give her 2 ounces of juice.
And Emma yells back upstairs "But I was 81! I don't need juice".
So, we had to reason with a 3 year old as to why she had to have juice when she was "in range". Too Funny!
Then, last night she told Mike that she didn't have a good nap yesterday. When asked why, she said she was taking care of Dora, who was sick (her stuffed animal). I asked her last night why Dora was sick. I finally got the entire story. Dora was "sick of Pluto bugging her" (another stuffed animal). Pluto was evidently licking Dora and she didn't like it. So, I made Pluto leave the room for the night and told her that she should sleep fine now that Pluto is not in a position to make Dora sick!
I swear I think she needs to become a writer or something because the things that she comes up with are just hilarious!
Mike came home from work early so I could go to a meeting, but that didn't happen because of a migraine. Mike was helping me with my migraine and we asked Samantha to check Emma's blood sugar, because it hadn't been checked when she got up from her nap.
Samantha checked it and we didn't hear her tell us what the reading was. Finally, Emma told us that her reading was 81. That's at the lowest end of her range and I knew that she was going to be active later, so we wanted to give her a little juice to keep her up. We yelled down for Samantha to give her 2 ounces of juice.
And Emma yells back upstairs "But I was 81! I don't need juice".
So, we had to reason with a 3 year old as to why she had to have juice when she was "in range". Too Funny!
Then, last night she told Mike that she didn't have a good nap yesterday. When asked why, she said she was taking care of Dora, who was sick (her stuffed animal). I asked her last night why Dora was sick. I finally got the entire story. Dora was "sick of Pluto bugging her" (another stuffed animal). Pluto was evidently licking Dora and she didn't like it. So, I made Pluto leave the room for the night and told her that she should sleep fine now that Pluto is not in a position to make Dora sick!
I swear I think she needs to become a writer or something because the things that she comes up with are just hilarious!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Letting kids be kids
This is probably a debate that has been going on in parenting circles for a long time - letting kids be kids.
The debate takes a different twist when you have a child with Diabetes. Its figuring out how to have your child live a normal life, eat normal foods, and do normal activities without having them (or you) become neurotically obsessed with how the diabetes is affecting that life, or that food.
This has sparked a spirited debate on the diabetes message board I read. Another member posted a great list of "Here's how I know I'm not letting diabetes take over our lives" and I wanted to share it - because I've done almost all of these things too:
We have seen the meter read HI (over 600)
We have forget to dose for a meal
We scratch our heads and say what the heck
We've tweeked the dosing too much, and we've tweeked not enough
We do not restrict food (except what I do for all my kids)
We've slept through the 3am check
We do see numbers in the 200 & 300's
We WAG the carb content of foods pretty regularly
We've blown off a post or pre check
We've over dosed and had a severe low
We've left the house without the meter (and debated even going back for it)
I realized that diabetes had just become a normal part of our lives last week when I was taking Emma to a sitter (who is an RN) and forgot her meter. I actually did debate with myself whether I should go back for it, since I was pretty confident she wasn't going to be low and I was sure she wouldn't need to test, and of course its a pain to turn around and go back the TWO BLOCKS to get it from my house. But, reason prevailed and I went back to get it (honestly, because I had the "what if I get in an accident and she has to keep her longer" thought)
So, I feel pretty good that we are letting Emma enjoy her childhood as much as she can, and diabetes has just been integrated into it just like any uniqueness that any of our children have.
The debate takes a different twist when you have a child with Diabetes. Its figuring out how to have your child live a normal life, eat normal foods, and do normal activities without having them (or you) become neurotically obsessed with how the diabetes is affecting that life, or that food.
This has sparked a spirited debate on the diabetes message board I read. Another member posted a great list of "Here's how I know I'm not letting diabetes take over our lives" and I wanted to share it - because I've done almost all of these things too:
We have seen the meter read HI (over 600)
We have forget to dose for a meal
We scratch our heads and say what the heck
We've tweeked the dosing too much, and we've tweeked not enough
We do not restrict food (except what I do for all my kids)
We've slept through the 3am check
We do see numbers in the 200 & 300's
We WAG the carb content of foods pretty regularly
We've blown off a post or pre check
We've over dosed and had a severe low
We've left the house without the meter (and debated even going back for it)
I realized that diabetes had just become a normal part of our lives last week when I was taking Emma to a sitter (who is an RN) and forgot her meter. I actually did debate with myself whether I should go back for it, since I was pretty confident she wasn't going to be low and I was sure she wouldn't need to test, and of course its a pain to turn around and go back the TWO BLOCKS to get it from my house. But, reason prevailed and I went back to get it (honestly, because I had the "what if I get in an accident and she has to keep her longer" thought)
So, I feel pretty good that we are letting Emma enjoy her childhood as much as she can, and diabetes has just been integrated into it just like any uniqueness that any of our children have.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The dirtiest room in the house!
Well, maybe not the dirtiest, but certainly close
Our laundry room also serves as the way out of the house. 95% of the time - we go in and out through the laundry room into the garage. We have baskets for the shoes so we aren't walking around with shoes on the carpets.
Its a good thing!
I can't imagine trying to vacuum out the amount of dirt I just swept out of the laundry room. I pulled the baskets out from their cubbies in the bench that hold shoes to sweep under them as well - Michael's actually had piles of SAND under the basket.
I almost completely filled the dustpan with dirt, dust, and sand from sweeping the laundry room - a room that we spend the least amount of time in, but experiences the most traffic.
And now its clean!
Our laundry room also serves as the way out of the house. 95% of the time - we go in and out through the laundry room into the garage. We have baskets for the shoes so we aren't walking around with shoes on the carpets.
Its a good thing!
I can't imagine trying to vacuum out the amount of dirt I just swept out of the laundry room. I pulled the baskets out from their cubbies in the bench that hold shoes to sweep under them as well - Michael's actually had piles of SAND under the basket.
I almost completely filled the dustpan with dirt, dust, and sand from sweeping the laundry room - a room that we spend the least amount of time in, but experiences the most traffic.
And now its clean!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Change
After 8 years, we have decided to change dance studios. Its difficult after you've been at the same place for so long, but my frustration with the studio has grown year after year and I had finally had enough.
The director just didn't have any respect for the families - this was her life and she expected the world to revolve around her for us too. Never mind that we have other sports and music and family lives to manage. We can't drop everything to do an event, run all over town to find shoes or accessories at the last minute, and drop lots of money on a whim.
Our new studio is a bit further away (since, of course, the last one was here in our neighborhood) but I'm very impressed with it. All of their instructors were formerly professional dancers or have degrees in dance or dance instruction (our former one danced in high school and was a Redskins Cheerleader wannabe). The kids who are younger than Samantha with fewer years of instruction are already quite impressive. Their approach is really nice AND we won't be having to do competitions anymore - and we will have fewer hours a week at the studio.
Sounds like a win-win to me! Just wish I had changed sooner
The director just didn't have any respect for the families - this was her life and she expected the world to revolve around her for us too. Never mind that we have other sports and music and family lives to manage. We can't drop everything to do an event, run all over town to find shoes or accessories at the last minute, and drop lots of money on a whim.
Our new studio is a bit further away (since, of course, the last one was here in our neighborhood) but I'm very impressed with it. All of their instructors were formerly professional dancers or have degrees in dance or dance instruction (our former one danced in high school and was a Redskins Cheerleader wannabe). The kids who are younger than Samantha with fewer years of instruction are already quite impressive. Their approach is really nice AND we won't be having to do competitions anymore - and we will have fewer hours a week at the studio.
Sounds like a win-win to me! Just wish I had changed sooner
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Travel Baseball
Michael tried out and was selected for the 8 and under travel baseball team. We're pretty happy. I think this is going to be a good experience for him.
The good news is that travel doesn't really mean so much "Travel". It basically means that you play in a league with other teams from the region, as opposed to just within your own little league. The might be one tournament in the Spring, but mostly it will be playing teams in the surrounding area.
And a lot of good training and drills. Some with professionals.
Congratulations Michael!
The good news is that travel doesn't really mean so much "Travel". It basically means that you play in a league with other teams from the region, as opposed to just within your own little league. The might be one tournament in the Spring, but mostly it will be playing teams in the surrounding area.
And a lot of good training and drills. Some with professionals.
Congratulations Michael!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
The family sharing really needs to stop!
I blogged after Christmas how my sister-in-law broke the "no gifts" rule and gave me a Christmas gift - her cold.
Well, now my mother has done the same thing.
We went down to visit my parents while my sister and her kids were visiting last week. Early on in the week, my mother complained that her throat was scratchy and perhaps her glands were swollen.
It didn't really materialize beyond that.
A couple of days later, my dad had the same complaint.
As far as I know, it didn't really materialize beyond that.
Near the end of Monday, my throat started feeling scratchy. I figured it was the same as Mom and Dad, and it would be scratchy for a little and then be over.
3 days later, I'm still suffering from this head cold.
I wake up with earaches and a sore throat from all the draining. My nose is running all the time, despite the Claritin and Sudafed that I've been taking. And of course I'm sleeping horribly as a result.
We really need to stop sharing these germs!
Well, now my mother has done the same thing.
We went down to visit my parents while my sister and her kids were visiting last week. Early on in the week, my mother complained that her throat was scratchy and perhaps her glands were swollen.
It didn't really materialize beyond that.
A couple of days later, my dad had the same complaint.
As far as I know, it didn't really materialize beyond that.
Near the end of Monday, my throat started feeling scratchy. I figured it was the same as Mom and Dad, and it would be scratchy for a little and then be over.
3 days later, I'm still suffering from this head cold.
I wake up with earaches and a sore throat from all the draining. My nose is running all the time, despite the Claritin and Sudafed that I've been taking. And of course I'm sleeping horribly as a result.
We really need to stop sharing these germs!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
We have babies
After seeing the mama robin sitting on her nest a lot last week, I figured the babies were going to hatch soon.
When we returned from the lake on Sunday, we had babies. They are definitely very new, as yesterday they had trouble even holding up their heads. But one will poke up a head from time to time, mouth open lookin for mama, and then flop back down, tired from the hard work.
Mama is still spending a lot of time around the nest and she's pretty protective. She didn't like it at all yesterday when the neighbor was power washing his fence not too far away. And she doesn't like it when I'm in the back yard setting the sprinkler.
But the babies are getting bigger every day. Emma asks to see them a lot, says "look, they're growing" and then "let's leave them alone" and heads back in the house!
Sunday:
Today:
When we returned from the lake on Sunday, we had babies. They are definitely very new, as yesterday they had trouble even holding up their heads. But one will poke up a head from time to time, mouth open lookin for mama, and then flop back down, tired from the hard work.
Mama is still spending a lot of time around the nest and she's pretty protective. She didn't like it at all yesterday when the neighbor was power washing his fence not too far away. And she doesn't like it when I'm in the back yard setting the sprinkler.
But the babies are getting bigger every day. Emma asks to see them a lot, says "look, they're growing" and then "let's leave them alone" and heads back in the house!
Sunday:
Today:
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
We live about 30 miles away from Washington, DC. But, of course, because its there - we rarely go in to take in the sights. This week, we did. An online friend of mine was coming in town with her family, and initially needed some folks to join her party to have enough for a White House tour. We ended up taking a tour of the Capitol, a tour of the White House, and visited the National Archives. I've been wanting to go into town for a while and this was just the motivation to get me moving.
The Capitol tour was pretty neat. We met up at the office of her Senator - their office arranged the tour. She took us to the Capitol by way of the 3 Senate Office buildings, to show how far you can go without ever going outside. She also showed us how the architecture varied as the age of the buildings changed. And while walking the underground corridors, I actually saw OUR Senator, Senator Warner, headed to the Capitol. He looked so feeble - he's been sick recently.
When we arrived in the Capitol we saw many hallways and special chambers, such as the former committee room for the Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees, on the way to the rotunda. They were exquisitely adorned with beautiful colors and designs throughout. Then finally we reached the rotunda. I had seen the rotunda when I went to the viewing for President Reagan in 2004, but this was an opportunity to actually look at it. There is a freize around the upper portion of the rotunda and it tells the story of the formation of the United States: starting with the Native Americans and the landing of Columbus, all the way through the birth of aviation with the first flight of the Wright Brothers. Its so expertly woven together that you don't see a gap in the pictures - it looks like one long picture - and cannot even tell that it was actually completed by 3 different artists over many years.
Underneath the frieze are some large pictures depicting specific events in the history of the United States, such as the baptism of Pocahontas, the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Cornwalis' surrender to Washington at Yorktown and Washington's resignation as General of the Army.
At the apex of the rotunda is a beautiful painting of angels - and the father of our country - George Washington.
We also spent some time in the sculpture room. Each state has sculptures of two famous people displayed in the Capitol - with many in this room. This room is also significant because it had held committee meetings for the House of Representatives in the past. There were placards on the floor showing where the desks of some famous representatives sat - including Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams.
On the way back to the Senate office building, we saw the marker indicating the exact center of the city of Washington, DC - the center of Capitol Hill! And then we got on a small train that runs between the office buidings and the Capitol that is used by visitors, guests, and even the Senators as they need to go to the floor for debates and votes.
On Friday, we headed in to go on a tour of the White House and the National Archives. The White House tour was set up by a friend of my friend's husband - he works in the White House. A tour is difficult to get these days so this was especially nice. Mike took the day off and went with us. They are also very restrictive on what you can bring in - certainly no cameras. They usually don't allow purses but I was allowed to take mine due to having medical supplies in it. But they didn't like it. We were able to see several of the rooms in the East Wing of the White House - the Blue Room, Red Room, Vermiel Room, the East Room and the State Dining Room. It wasn't a long tour but it was really neat to see.
You will also notice the kids are in pants - in 90 degree weather. Because we were with an employee, we had to adhere to a "higher" dress code, so we all needed to be in pants. I would have ensured my kids looked "presentable" regardless, but I wish that all of these types of tours had dress codes to prevent the short-shorts and strapless "tube tops" that I saw at several of these locations.
After heading back to the car to retrieve the stuff we wanted to have with us but couldn't at the White House, we got some lunch and then headed over to the National Archives. After a short wait outside, we went through our 3rd or 4th or metal detector of the day, watched a short movie about the purpose of the archives, and then got in another line to see the main reason for the visit - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence was hardly visible anymore but the other documents were in pretty good shape - considering their age.
We also saw a pretty neat exhibit which show how different documents and other items that have been kept in the archives show the history of our country, from old maps of the colonies, the new states being formed, patents for many of the inventions made in this country, important photos and video, as those mediums were developed. The only disappointment is that they have an area where educators and parents can see how to use documents and books to teach history - and it was closed. I really wanted to see how they were presenting it.
Anyway, it was nice that it took a visit of a friend from Florida in order to get us into a city that is only 30 miles away - but we saw some things we hadn't seen before and I'll try to make a better effort to take advantage of all the wonderful things that D.C. has to offer.
The Capitol tour was pretty neat. We met up at the office of her Senator - their office arranged the tour. She took us to the Capitol by way of the 3 Senate Office buildings, to show how far you can go without ever going outside. She also showed us how the architecture varied as the age of the buildings changed. And while walking the underground corridors, I actually saw OUR Senator, Senator Warner, headed to the Capitol. He looked so feeble - he's been sick recently.
When we arrived in the Capitol we saw many hallways and special chambers, such as the former committee room for the Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees, on the way to the rotunda. They were exquisitely adorned with beautiful colors and designs throughout. Then finally we reached the rotunda. I had seen the rotunda when I went to the viewing for President Reagan in 2004, but this was an opportunity to actually look at it. There is a freize around the upper portion of the rotunda and it tells the story of the formation of the United States: starting with the Native Americans and the landing of Columbus, all the way through the birth of aviation with the first flight of the Wright Brothers. Its so expertly woven together that you don't see a gap in the pictures - it looks like one long picture - and cannot even tell that it was actually completed by 3 different artists over many years.
Underneath the frieze are some large pictures depicting specific events in the history of the United States, such as the baptism of Pocahontas, the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Cornwalis' surrender to Washington at Yorktown and Washington's resignation as General of the Army.
At the apex of the rotunda is a beautiful painting of angels - and the father of our country - George Washington.
We also spent some time in the sculpture room. Each state has sculptures of two famous people displayed in the Capitol - with many in this room. This room is also significant because it had held committee meetings for the House of Representatives in the past. There were placards on the floor showing where the desks of some famous representatives sat - including Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams.
On the way back to the Senate office building, we saw the marker indicating the exact center of the city of Washington, DC - the center of Capitol Hill! And then we got on a small train that runs between the office buidings and the Capitol that is used by visitors, guests, and even the Senators as they need to go to the floor for debates and votes.
On Friday, we headed in to go on a tour of the White House and the National Archives. The White House tour was set up by a friend of my friend's husband - he works in the White House. A tour is difficult to get these days so this was especially nice. Mike took the day off and went with us. They are also very restrictive on what you can bring in - certainly no cameras. They usually don't allow purses but I was allowed to take mine due to having medical supplies in it. But they didn't like it. We were able to see several of the rooms in the East Wing of the White House - the Blue Room, Red Room, Vermiel Room, the East Room and the State Dining Room. It wasn't a long tour but it was really neat to see.You will also notice the kids are in pants - in 90 degree weather. Because we were with an employee, we had to adhere to a "higher" dress code, so we all needed to be in pants. I would have ensured my kids looked "presentable" regardless, but I wish that all of these types of tours had dress codes to prevent the short-shorts and strapless "tube tops" that I saw at several of these locations.
After heading back to the car to retrieve the stuff we wanted to have with us but couldn't at the White House, we got some lunch and then headed over to the National Archives. After a short wait outside, we went through our 3rd or 4th or metal detector of the day, watched a short movie about the purpose of the archives, and then got in another line to see the main reason for the visit - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence was hardly visible anymore but the other documents were in pretty good shape - considering their age.We also saw a pretty neat exhibit which show how different documents and other items that have been kept in the archives show the history of our country, from old maps of the colonies, the new states being formed, patents for many of the inventions made in this country, important photos and video, as those mediums were developed. The only disappointment is that they have an area where educators and parents can see how to use documents and books to teach history - and it was closed. I really wanted to see how they were presenting it.
Anyway, it was nice that it took a visit of a friend from Florida in order to get us into a city that is only 30 miles away - but we saw some things we hadn't seen before and I'll try to make a better effort to take advantage of all the wonderful things that D.C. has to offer.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
There and Back Again (and again)
Last year I posted about some baby birds that had taken up residence in a nest in the rose bush at the back of our house. You can read about it here: Birds Nest
Well, I looked at the nest about 6 weeks ago, because it stayed in the rose bush all winter, and again we had baby birds. I snapped this photo from the porch because when I tried to get close enough on the ground, Mama flew away and then started yelling at me from the nearby tree.
We have another nest in the front of the house, in our crepe myrtle tree. Its really high up, so its difficult to see, but I saw a baby beak poking out the other day. Later in the afternoon, we found that baby bird flying around in our garage and we had to scoot her out.
And today, when I checked out the nest in the back, it seems to be round two - there are at least 2 blue robin's eggs in the nest - just waiting until its time to hatch!
Well, I looked at the nest about 6 weeks ago, because it stayed in the rose bush all winter, and again we had baby birds. I snapped this photo from the porch because when I tried to get close enough on the ground, Mama flew away and then started yelling at me from the nearby tree.We have another nest in the front of the house, in our crepe myrtle tree. Its really high up, so its difficult to see, but I saw a baby beak poking out the other day. Later in the afternoon, we found that baby bird flying around in our garage and we had to scoot her out.
And today, when I checked out the nest in the back, it seems to be round two - there are at least 2 blue robin's eggs in the nest - just waiting until its time to hatch!
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