Gifts that keep on giving

This is my nephew E. He arrived at Nana's house lugging a big box in his little arms, and disappeared into a room to make a quick-change into his power-ranger costume (Nana doesn't have a phone booth handy).

"Oh wonderful, we have a super-hero here! Just what I needed, I have some really big boxes I need help with!"

E says, his big eyes very serious..."you do know this is just a costume, so I can't help you with that?"
!!

He has an older brother, who is 5. I told my sister that I suspect they might test as gifted. She looked a tiny bit pleased, but more worried. The part I didn't say was...gifted like Ferris Bueller!

Nana said the brothers routinely call her on the phone to report on some mis-deed by the other brother, that they feel mom is not handling to satisfaction.

They are very wonderful, but very busy...maybe I need to share with my sister the thought about God not giving you more than you can handle...

week in review

First order of business: Moms with little ones at home, you should go read *this letter for mom's over at A Holy Experience blog.
Go on over, read and meditate, you'll be glad you did.

So, how was your week?

This week has found us deep in the study of Ancient Greek myths. Meg, Josie and I are reading Black Ships before Troy, a retelling of the Illiad. (with 3 of us sharing the same library copy, I am wondering if I should go buy a copy...) Meg can't put it down and has asked to read an adult translation of the Illiad...which means I will have to pre-read it, so I guess I will put that down on my list. I took Black Ships before Troy along with Demi and I, for a trip to the Dr. (he had asthma and an ear infection), and I was very pleased that he got into the story...(lots of battles to keep his interest).

I jumped into the world of special needs education and ISP's, I met with Teddy's mom and a special education teacher to discuss how our new charter school might try to help Teddy. I admit I am a little skeptical...he was given hours of help each week last year at a public school and we saw no progression or indication that the time helped him at all. He is progressing with what we are doing, I am not sure this time will be helpful...but I will go with the flow and see what happens. Frankly, it looked like busy work. I will be taking him twice a week for 1 hour meetings with this teacher, at the library and at B & N. I was very encouraged to have the special ed teacher pull out a recommendation for a spelling program...and it was
All about Spelling, which I purchased to use this year with the three youngest students-

We moved into the second half of our Headsprout phonics program with all 3 littles...a benchmark for us, I am so excited to see them reading more. Amie read "Good night moon" to me today at Barnes & Nobles, a really sweet moment- I read that book to my children nightly, it was sweet to have her read it to me.

We are gearing up for our church's semi annual winter training, which is a Bible conference of sorts. We are going to have 7 people stay with us (at last count), so we are beginning the cleaning, planning and airport pick-up coordination. We are so excited to see old friends.

Demi-Sky started piano lessons 2 weeks ago. Today I sat in on his lesson, usually Sky handles the piano lessons. It was very interesting being the spectator, not the teacher with him. The teacher was very patient, Demi did impressively well with his playing;

But
-he-could-not-sit-still.

I was amazed at how he was all over that piano bench. I guess I just don't notice it when I'm doing the teaching. I think trying to re-capture the attention of the 3 littles keeps me from noticing how much they have the wiggles.

This is my week so far. How is yours going?

it's a playmobil world

Some excerpts of reviews for playmobil's security checkpoint set over at amazon. Click on over if you don't believe me...some people are creative in a mad sort of way...

1,893 of 1,930 people found the following review helpful:

Great lesson for the kids!, September 9, 2005

I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.
The best thing about this product is that it teaches kids about the realities of living in a high-surveillence society. My son said he wants the Playmobil Neighborhood Surveillence System set for Christmas. I've heard that the CC TV cameras on that thing are pretty worthless in terms of quality and motion detection, so I think I'll get him the Playmobil Abu-Gharib Interogation Set instead (it comes with a cute little memo from George Bush).

165 of 174 people found the following review helpful:

Serious Security Breach, February 29, 2008

Durability: Fun: Educational:

My family was planning a vacation to Europe, so I purchased this item to teach my twins about what to expect at the airport and hopefully, alleviate some of their anxiety. We also downloaded the actual TSA security checklist from the American Airlines website and then proceeded with our demonstration. Well, first we had to round up a Barbie and a few Bratz dolls to play the other family members, so that cost us a few extra bucks at the Dollar General and it is aggravating that the manufacturer did not make this product "family-friendly." Of course, since the playmobil Dad could not remove his shoes or other clothing items, unlike the Barbie, the playmobil security agent became suspicious and after waving her wand wildy a few dozen times, called her supervisor to wisk the Dad into a special body-cavity search room, (which incidentally led to quite an embarasing and interesting discussion with my twin daughters about personal hygiene and a slight adjustment to the rules we had them memorize about touching by strangers). But worst of all, since the suitcase did not actually open, the baggage inspector made a call to the FBI and ATF bomb squads which then segregated the family's suitcase (which btw was the only suitcase they provided for our educational family experience) and according to the advanced TSA regulations, had to blow it up, (since they could not otherwise mutilate the luggage, break off the locks and put one of those nice little advisory stickers on it), which we had to simulate out in the backyard with a few M-80s and other fireworks. The girls started crying. They became so hysterical by the whole experience that we could not even get them in the car when the time came to actually take our trip, and so we had to cancel the whole thing at the last minute, losing over $7,000 in airfare and hotel charges that we could not recoup do to the last minute cancellations. We've now spent an additional $3,000 to pay for the girls therapy and medication over the past year since this incident occurred, and the psychologists have told us that this will affect them for life, so much for their college fund and our retirement. Then, to top it all off, when we tried to use to playmobil phone to call the company to ask for reimbursement, as you might expect, of course the damn thing didn't even work; neither did our efforts to e-mail them using the computer screen on the baggage checkpoint; and our real-life efforts to contact them to obtain re-imbursement have also likewise been ignored. Worse yet, we had the product tested and found out that it was positive for both lead paint and toxic chemicals, having been manufactured in China by workers holding formerly American jobs, so now we all have cancer and have been given only another year or so to live. My advice - educating your kids about airport security with this toy may actually be more harmful to them than just packing them in the damn luggage with some bottled water & hoping they survive. :)

Not comple te without the line....
This toy would be a lot more realistic with about 350 people standing in line for an average of an hour. It still makes a nice set with the interrogation room.

Don't even think about it

Help, I've fallen under a pile of catalogs and I can't get up!...

Here is a toy hall of extreme annoyance list from catalogs I have lying about all over the house:
In case you need help or extreme warnings for your 2008 Christmas toy shopping...

Jen's Toy Hall of extreme annoyance list 2008

1. Cuddly Giant Microbes. *here* Can you just hear the annoying sound effects the kids would make while playing with these? Annoying play themes, anyone?

2. young exercise enthusiasts treadmill *here* because we shouldn't encourage our kids to go out and actually play? We can't teach those little ones too young that the only way to better health through exercise can ONLY be achieved with expensive exercise equipment.

3. Touch screen ATM machine toy *here*, because it's never to early to teach them to spend, spend, spend...and that the bank is a magic place to go and get money.

4. Remote control tarantula *here*. It's creepy, crawly, cool looking, but sure to scare the *&% out of mom every time it crosses a room. I have to hang my head in shame here and admit I bought one of these for Teddy. I should have thought of the golden rule first. I notice it disappeared from his house pretty quick...

5. Magic music maker keyboard WITH MICROPHONE. *here*Did I mention the microphone? We had something like this when our kids were pre-school age. Ours didn't have a volume control. I ask, why? why...why would I want to hear my already loud kids, amplified??

6. Toy Calypso steel drum. *here* -Sky's worst nightmare, that our son would grow up to play the steel drums on a Caribbean pier for tourists. It would make a fine gag gift for our nephews, whos dad would have the same sort of reaction. Not that I see it much different than Meg wanting to play her fiddle in town for spare change...but then again, Sky wouldn't let me put the boy in dance class either.

7. Toy CD player WITH MICROPHONE -we had a toy cassette player with microphone, the same basic idea. We looked in vain for a tough, chunky player that a toddler or preschooler could use without breaking- without the microphone, and could not find one. We finally clipped off the microphone, ahh- sweet relief finally. Again, I ask..."WHY?"

8. Three-Man slingshot *here* -the link doesn't do it justice, but the photo in the catalog, of three boys actually using it, makes this mom think, "oh-o...bad idea."

Anyone have any other nominees?

more 'here you go, you're welcome!'...

Well, I 'm sitting up late thinking of chocolate..what's new?

Chocolate made me think of candy-cane Joe-Joes...which made me think of candy-cane Joe-Joe brownies..you see the clever paths my mind follows?!

OC Mom posted this wonderful recipe for Candy-cane Joe-Joe brownies. Follow the link.
They are totally worth the effort!

Here's how to pronounce the name "Miggery Sow" from the book
The Tale of Despereaux, for those of you finding my blog through googling that question... I heard it pronounced on the audio book- (which is wonderful, go get it!) -like this.. -Miggery is pronounced, 'Mig' -(rhymes with big) 'ory'-(rhymes with story) so put it together and you get Miggory -(rhymes with diggory-hard g). Sow is just like a pig-sow, rhymes with cow.
You're Welcome!!

As for "Roscuro", try saying it with a Russian accent.
You really, really have to listen to the audio book, it is wonderful. *Here's my review on it.

Well, homeschool is trucking along, we are enjoying studying the Ancient Greeks- I think we are going to take our time with this one, it is so interesting. I'm getting lots of battle scenes in our narrations from the 3 youngest students.

We had art lessons on Tuesday, met with our charter school teacher in the afternoon.

Demi is anxiously awaiting Wall.e to arrive from netflix

Tomorrow/today we are heading to the skatepark. It's p.e.
Happy December, everyone.

Sunday night check-in

Having a semi-quiet night here at our house. Thanksgiving we had about 10 Bible College boys over for dinner and then we did it all again on Saturday night for my relatives. I have to report that is was a Pioneer Woman Thanksgiving, I served up PW's mashed potatoes (addictive, but not for the calorie/fat shy) and her Stuffing. PW is responsible for daring me to try my wings and cook a little..I am not much of a cook. I do best, I've discovered...with recipes that are more subjective in follow-thru. It's definitely a Jenn thing, thank goodness PW's stuffing is a creative/forgiving sort of thing. The subjective thing is why I suck at making boxed brownies...

Josie went to bed last night, trying out a dream experiment. She really wanted to have a great "Warriors" adventure dream. For those of you who are not familiar with "Warriors", it is a series of books about cats. Lots of hidden depth in those cats, the author has spun out a whole long book series about them..who would have thunk it?

Back to my story...So, Josie goes to bed determined to dream about Warriors, so she tries to fall asleep thinking about the cats, envisioning the forest where they live, and softly saying a mantra to herself about Warrior cats and dark forests.

She dreamt she was in Barnes & Nobles sitting in a chair, reading a Warriors book.

bee-dump-dum...

I, on the other hand, dreamt I was running with 5 kids through yards in our neighborhood to catch a flight at the airport. I made it, sweaty and panting...with 10 minutes to spare, but was told I missed the flight. Dang subjective watch that I can't read!...(another post)

I will skip the rest, but I woke up in the morning to Sky telling me that I had to be at the Church meeting in 45 minutes, we were serving on Children's meeting and the meeting was early this week because of a special conference. Um, I can't get out of the shower and teeth brushed in 45 minutes, let alone get to the meeting hall. Funny how my dreams and real life dilemmas/anxiety all kind of mesh.

I am on a chick-lit run...just finished Million Dollar Dilemma, which is a Christian story, and was really a fun read. Loved it. I just started The Secret life of Mrs. Claus, which is very readable and fun so far.

My girls just finished Wesley the Owl, it is on my list to read next.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

November doings

Well, I've been spinning my wheels, but not getting much done... I am realizing that all of the taxi-mom driving I am doing is getting to me, and-the house is falling apart.

I've been quiet in blog-land because I was planning on getting a head-start on my Thanksgiving day house-cleaning..uh, but, it's a Jen thing...I've puttered around, but no cleaning has occurred. I'm on a Grace Livinston Hill run right now, so that doesn't help either.

I took the kids for an afternoon at DisneyLand on Monday, we only went on two rides, one of those being the Monorail on the way out of the park! I could not believe how crowded it was! Josie has a cold, and was sort of miserable, so I didn't mind needing to leave.

Sunday night we had our usual Bible college dinner, but we had the sisters over instead. It was a nice change. I've noticed that the brothers come over and just 'hang-out', but the girls like to have some kind of game planned. In this picture they were playing a hand-clap-banging-cups kind of game. They had a rip-roaring time, I just watched...too much thought and coordination involved for me!

I have to tell you that The Teaching Company is having a sale on most of their courses. If you haven't seen their catalog, you should go over and take a look. I have my eye on several courses, but I think I will have to be content with one. So much learning to do...so little time and money!!

And, we rented The Illusionist from netflix, and it was really good. Rated pg-13, there is one scene you will want to forward through if your kids are watching, but the rest was o.k. It is set in Vienna in the early 1900's and is one of those movies you have to work at to figure out. Really well done, I haven't seen a movie I liked as much in a while.

I'll see you bloggy friends, the other side of the holiday!! Happy Thanksgiving, and happy feasting!!

Here ya go...you're welcome.

The Homeschool Blog Awards are going on right now. You can go on over and vote for your favorite blogs until November 21st. It's a good place to go visit and find some new favorite homeschool blogs, too.

Frog and Toad are Still friends grades O Magazine's Christmas gift list. Skewers it..you'll love it.
(hat tip to Melissa!) I don't know why I bother to read lists like that, and the one in Real Simple magazine-makes me feel like I must be missing something, or that I am much, much poorer than I thought.

*Yesterday, while I was having our meeting with our charter school teacher..Meg and Josie were busy in the other room experimenting with stop action animation. They did a little story with the play mobile figures that live permanently in my living room. It came out really, really cute. I will share it if I can figure out how to get it into imovie. The photo above is from the last scene.

*We are heading today for the skateboard park...homeschool's cool, don't you know!