I received an e-mail invitation from a group called Grace Hill Media to attend a free preview of a new movie called War Horse. I didn't have time to open the e-mail let alone respond to it. However, my wife got a similar invitation from our churche's home school support group. She went ahead and reserved two tickets for Spider Droid and me to attend.
The theatre where they were showing the movie is in one of my old stomping grounds. The theatre has particular meaning to me because it is where I took Bunny to see her first movie at the tender age of 3, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Now I have never been to a special screening of a movie before and did not know exactly what to expect. Amy had kind of got the impression it was a will call situation. The crazy girl got that impression when the person she contacted asked for the names of the people who would be attending. When we got there, 10 minutes before the movie started, they said the theatre was almost filled, and that if they did have seats available, SD and I would not be able to sit together.
SD was not thrilled by that, and wanted to turn around back then. I was able to coax him to at least go in the theatre and check out what was available. The closest seats were 5 or 6 rows between them, and we were right about to turn back when a very nice Mom offered to put her youngun on her lap for the movie so SD and I could sit close to each other. This was very kind of her, considering that this is a 160 minute movie.
It turns out that SD sat in a Captain's Chair type seat that was just in front of the first full row of seats and I sat diagonally behind him. We were able to switch popcorn and soda back and forth between us for the course of the picture.
The movie, which opens on December 25th, was incredible. Steven Spielberg directed this film and it is well worthy of the buzz that is associated with a Spielberg film. The movie is not wholly unlike Spielberg's WWII movie, Saving Private Ryan. It is just mostly unlike it. SPR was very deserving of its R rating and I am not sure that War Horse was as deserving of its PG-13 branding. After seeing Saving Private Ryan, Amy said it was like being in war. After seeing War Horse, you get an inkling of what WWI was like, but you don't feel like you participated in it. This is due in part to the cinematography which brings a regal and haunting beauty to almost every scene of The War Horse. The film is actually much more like A Little Princess or Heidi in that you see the main character, which is definitely the horse, interact with a variety of people and bring out the best in almost everyone it encounters.
Heidi similarities not withstanding, this film is not for everyone. My son and I often discuss whether his sisters will like a film we have seen together. War Horse pretty much has 2 acts: pre WWI and WWI. We are agreed that Bunny would like Act I but not Act II. While there were children Puppy's age (6) or younger, I don't think she would have enjoyed it. This is a war movie and there is plenty of violence to go around. Yet much of it is done off screen. This does not take the power away from it. In one scene ,a significant character dies in a battle and the viewer figures it out without even seeing a single blow.
The acting is first rate. It is great to go to a movie and recognize an actor or actress who plays one of your favorite characters in another movie. If there are any fans of Miss Potter, you should like the casting of the main human character's mother.
One aspect of the movie that I discussed with Spider Droid on the way home was how the movie handles the topic of war. It neither glorifies it or demonizes it. It also doesn't result in stereotypical portrayals of the "enemies." The filmmakers show goodness on both sides of the trenches.
War Horse is a great film that I look forward to seeing it again. I also hope to attend more prescreenings of movies in the future. Next time, I'll just arrive a tad earlier. ******************************************************************************************************************************* My current HSBA feature blog is Frontier Dreams which won for Best Crafts, Plans & Projects. It is a gorgeous blog with precious pictures of darling children. Click here for a sample post.
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Next Time: Obligatory Christmas Tree Post
Last Saturday the First Lego League (FLL) team that Spider Droid is on (TheFanatix) hosted a scrimmage in advance of the December 17th regional. It was quite a bit of fun.
The scrimmage was held at the Elgin Tower, the tallest building in Elgin. It's a cool building with a fully dunctional old time elevator manned by an elevator operator. The kids loved that elevator almost as much as the robots they created and programmed. Almost. Thanks again to the Elgin Technology Center (ETC) who let the host team use the facility.
I recently caught up with the coach of the Fanatix and asked her for a little more info on ETC.
While at the scrimmage armed with a camera, an ipod touch and no official capacity, I decided to interview participants, coaches, mentors and parents and give you an idea of what happens at a robotics scrimmage.
I talked to one of the hosts of the event ...
I spoke with a mentor of the fanatix who had participated in a scrimmage before. She told me of some of the personal benefits of a scrimmage.
Team spirit is a big part of FLL it is not uncommon for the team to dress alike. Many teams have custom t-shirts made.
Some can only afford milk jugs
Two of the 5 teams at the scrimmage were rookie teams. Both teams were from the same school. I spoke with one of the parents about what FLL has meant to him so far.
I talked to two members of last years state champion I-Lego Team.
One of the main reasons for the scrimmage is to practice table runs and technical judging in an atmosphere that is as close to competition as possible. At the onset of the scrimmage the coach for the Fanatix explained and demonstrated a bit about how the runs are scored.
The table challenges are based on the theme for the year. This year the theme is Food Factor. What makes FLL unique is that the robots are only part of the competition. Each year every team has to research to a theme related problem and then create a solution and then present that solution in several ways. I will be talking about this in a little more detail in a post later this week when I talk about Ask magazine's December Robotics Issue. In the radio biz, that is what we call a tease. I'm not in the radio biz, but some say I have the perfect face for it. Enough about me, lets get back to the scrimmage.
Here is a clip from one of I-lego's runs. I added the music with the help of youtube. It does have a food related theme.
I talked to members of the HCA Roarbots along with their coach about their experience so far as a rookie team.
Here they are demonstrating some of their program . . .
G2 is another one of the teams that was at the scrimmage. I spoke with their coach.
and his son, a member of G2.
Watching A Practice Run
The Fanatix discuss their technical judging component.
Fll means differen things to different people here is what one of the Fanatix had to say.
I hope you have enjoyed this behind the scenes look at an FLL scrimmage. Hopefully you have discovered like I did that FLL robotics packs in everything . . .
My son is not only an action hero, but he is also a super genius. Granted a super genius who doesn't yet read at grade level. He has the mind of an inventor and a magnificent memory. Yet he is having difficulty inputting knowledge in his mind through reading. This has been a concern of ours as parents for a number of years. We had tried many things tutoring, summer school, Lamaze (which did not help with his reading but you should see the kid breathe!); we tried it all.
When Amy and I attended the local home school convention this past June I went to a seminar about helping your under performing readers. It was really encouraging and had many good take-a-ways. One thing I decided to try was a 100 book chart. You have the child read 100 picture books and write them on a chart in their room. When the chart is full you give a GREAT reward.
From June to October 31st we only put 23 books on the chart. Spider Droid probably read more than that but I didn't always get to writing them down. In short my inconsistency didn't help him take ownership of the project.
In the meantime Spider Droid was taking vision therapy that was beginning to show some signs of progress with his reading ability. On November 1st, his birthday. I took him to the chart and added something to the top. It showed how many books were left and how many days were left in the year. He had 77 books remaining and 61 days before the end of the year. We set two goals: 1) To get to a point where there were more days reaming in the years than books remaining to be read. 2) to finish the chart before the end of 2011.
He read 3 books that day and 17 by the 7th. 23 from June to October and 17 in a week! He reached his first goal on 11/16. 40 books remained with 45 days left to read them in. That's when SD upped his game and decided he wanted to finish the 100 by the end of November. At about that time life began to get very busy with our home school co-op, robotics, Thanksgiving and the like. Yet he was driven and diligent. We went to the local library on Saturday and he checked out as many books as he had left to read. Tuesday morning he had 10 left. This morning he had 5 left. In between lessons he finished the last 5 before lunch time.
Here are 2 pictures worth 100 books.
My Son the Reader
Our Story So Far
Here is some live footage . . .
Not only has SD's reading quantity increased, the quality piece has improved substantially. In a few months time he has gone up one full grade in his reading level.
We still have a way to go but we are very pleased with his progress. Too bad he isn't a little more excited about his achievement, as the picture below attests.
I wasn't planning on participating in Six Word Saturday today. But here I am, and here's my six:
I learned something without using google.
Today Spider Droid finished reading the book, Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel to, which he has been doing over the past week or so. The book tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg and culminates with Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address.
As he was reading I realized that Lincoln gave the speech 148 years ago. So that's 9 score and 18 years ago. I'm 47 so it's also 3 me's and 7 years ago. In honor of the Cubs hiring a new manager, it's the last time Cubs were world champions and 45 years ago. Okay, you get it. It was a while back.
While I am good at remembering birthdays and anniversaries in our family, Google's little fancy designs are usually what tell me of the commemoration of a historical birth or event. Today I learned about it without Google. In fact if you take a look at a Google, you will see I scooped them. How about that?
A Link up: Friday my son posted on his blog for the first time in a long time. He also made a lot of changes to it. So I suggest after you read his most recent post, that you spend a little time there admiring what he has done with the place. He would also like followers. Unlike my daughter, who is content just to write her blog whether people read it or not, SD wants people to actually see what he does. So go ahead make his day and follow his blog.
A Look Ahead: The week just past, was a busy one for me in the blogosphere and in real life. This week should be as well. I am hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling on Tuesday as well as getting ready for our co-op semester to end a week from Monday. Add to that some home improvements and our regular school week and it should be a very eventful week.
A Link Up: In September and October when I was all but an absent figure in the blogosphere, I was also not pushing my children's presence there. Now that things at the Izola Becker Home School or more or less to back to normal, I hope my kids will get back to blogging as well.
On Friday, Bunny Girl wrote a post about our trip to the Circus. You can get to that post my clicking on the picture of the 12 year old ringmaster or by clicking here.
A Look Ahead: This week I plan to blog about birthdays. My son's that just passed and a birthday my late brother would have loved. I also will be working on the Carnival of Homeschooling that I will be hosting on the 16th of this month.
If you are reading this on November 1 2011 or later I am to be considered a time traveller from the past. It is 11 months ago December 1, 2010 as I write this. In my time it is 5 days from my daughters 5th birthday. In your time, it is my son's 10th birthday.
So you are probably wondering what is so important to pull me out of the past. I have decided to participate in Nablopomo again this year. But this year I hope to write some of the blog posts early. That way I will not be forced to write every day. November is generally a busy month for our family. Spider Droid's birthday, Thanksgiving, the end of fall semester at our co-op. I generally don't post everyday anyway. Just about 3-5 times a week. I have done Nablopomo 2 times previously. The first time it put great stress on me and my family. Last year (or yesterday to me) didn't take as much of a toll. Amy wrote a few posts and I introduced HSD rewinds (reprints of previous posts and got through it). These prewritten posts can be considered HSD forwards.
I still will be popping in from your present from time to time but you will also get these blasts from the past as well. The thing is I might not always mention when I am while writing these.
Meanwhile back in the present . . . I have decided not to participate in NABLOPOMO this year.
Even with advance written posts and the ability to go HSD rewind when I need to, it just wasn't worth the extra time comittment. I hope to get back to the 3-5 posts per week that I was doing pre sabbatical.
Happy Birthday Spider Droid. We are going to have a great day.
Wednesday night/Thursday Morning let's call it 3ish, I was woken up to a major major storm. In the area I was sleeping there were no windows, but it sure sounded like a major major storm. With how hot it had been, a storm would generally be welcomed. My main concern was the team member on the cot next to me. I don't want to name names, but let's just call him Spider droid. Before the trip he told me his only concern about going was that he did not want to be caught in another tornado. I guess from a 9 year old perspective that makes sense. So, while some other team members went downstairs to watch the storm, I just watched my son sleep for about 30 minutes as the storm went on until I fell back asleep.
A few hours later, it was time for showers, breakfast devotionals those sort of things. The team went off in many different directions with a number of us going back to Joplin Family Worship Center for various assignments. I wanted to volunteer inside for the day at their distribution center. The rain had not really cooled down things all that much and I didn't want SD in the 110 degree heat again. Especially since Friday we hoped to be doing some outside work and I thought a day in the AC would be just the thing.
When we got there the distribution center was filled up so it looked like another day in the clothing tent. I am usually not the don't take no for an answer guy. But, I really felt like going in and see if they could make room for 2 more. Hey, 1 of them is pretty small. I finally found someone who knew who the person in charge was. She said that they were trying to help a guy who might have heat stroke and could I sit down for a minute while they sort that out.
It turns out I was sitting next to the heat stroke guy. His name was Taylor , a guy working at the center, who had heat stroke a few weeks before and was not recuperating well. I asked him if I could pray for him and I did. After a few minutes I walked into the hallway and saw the supervisor trying to figure out who would drive Taylor to Urgent Care which they figured would only take a couple hours. I thought to my self that Urgent Care would be a good enough place to be for a few hours, it would have AC and we would be helping someone in need. So I offered for SD and I to accompany Taylor to Urgent Care. They took me up on my offer and then something strange happened. SD did not want to go.
Spider Droid and quite enjoyed helping in the clothing tent with the other kids the day before and wanted to do that again. Providentially the group we worked with the day prior, was working again at the clothing tent. They were very willing to let Spider work with them while I was helping Taylor.
On a missions trip it is easy to spiritualize everything. However, I really feel that God put on my heart to keep SD in the AC so that I could So, I drove Taylor, in his car (the people at JFWC did not want him driving alone), and SD sorted shoes with his new friends. Taylor and I talked in the car how his own house was affected in the tornado. The house was able to be fixed and his home owners insurance was enough to fix it.
Cutting to the chase I was at Urgent Care for more like 5 hours than 2, Taylor and I waited for about an hour and a half before he was seen. Then it seemed like all the people waiting after him were released before he was. While I waited I watched the View, and then countless hours of CNN. At the time the big story was the plummeting stock market (This was right after the debt ceiling was raised and right before the Country's credit rating was downgraded.) The whole Joplin trip had affected me in a way, that the news was not so important to me.
After Taylor was seen, I kept waiting for him to come out. I didn't want to say anything because the people at the desk were so very busy. I just watched and checked in with the people working with SD every hour or so. After 4 0r 5 people who came in after Taylor were released I checked at the desk. They had just started an IV to help hydrate him. They let me go see him and he advised me that his wife was coming by to see him and to drive me back as he would be there a few more hours.
About an hour after that Taylor's wife drove me home. She told me how Taylor was not taking it easy after the heat stroke. After she took me back to JFWC, I prayed for her and then went to see Spider Droid. He was still working at the shoes and didn't even really miss me. He told me about his experiences and was very pleased with how he had helped a boy try on roller skates and shoes and find pairs in his size. .
On a missions trip it is easy to spiritualize everything. However, I really feel that God put on my heart to keep SD in the AC so that I could take Taylor to Urgent Care and that SD could minister in the clothing tent. He was confident that God had sent him to Joplin to help that boy get shoes. I am inclined to agree with him.
There is still a bunch of Day 4 beyond Urgent Care and shoe shopping. So come back tomorrow for Ice Buckets and Wheel Barrows.
Last year, when our familywent to Washington D.C. I ran a daily journal entry one week after we returned. I am going to attempt that here, for the Joplin trip Spider Droid and I just finished. The main difference, is going to be that on the D.C. trip, I actually had/made time to journal each day. So, when I came back, I was just typing in what I had already written. Due to a number of circumstances, including but not limited to being absolutely wiped out at the end of each day, I did not journal on the trip.
I did take some pictures and videos. So, I will try to incorporate those here.
August 1, 2011 DAY ONE
Early A.M. wake up and head to Faith Acres. I had packed the truck the night before so Spider Droid and I just got in the truck and headed off. 15 of the 19 of our team members met at Faith Acres, the organization that was sending us to Joplin. Faith Acres is run by a family that attends the same church as my family. They are an organization dedicated to meeting the spiritual and physical needs in McHenry County and all over the world. This trip to Joplin, Mo was their second such trip since the Tornado hit. Several of the team members including our team leaders went just weeks after the tornado hit. The remaining 4 members of our team had left a few days earlier.
As the 15 travelers got to Faith Acres we packed, prayed and parted for JMO.
The first few hours went wonderfully. We were all excited about the trip that we thought would bring us to Joplin sometime that night. Many of us did not know each other well, or at all, and we took the opportunity to become acquainted. Before you knew it we were taking the first of many scheduled gas and bathroom stops. Soon after near Bloomington, Illinois we had the first of many unscheduled stops.
One of our 3 vehicles, a bus lent to us by a local church, had a tire basically fall off. Because of God's great mercy, the driver got us safely to the side of the road. This was around 9:30 a.m. and we did not get back on to the road for almost 6 hours. The majority of our team spent most of that time at a nearby McDonald's.
We had 3 children on the team driving with us under the age of 10. They were such a blessing to us, because instead of being whiny, complainy and downright miserable they showed remarkable patience and understanding. Yes one was my son, but the two others were younger than him, and behaved just as well as SD.
In fact one had this experience of joy while we waited . . .
So after the bus was fixed we got back on the road and calculated that if nothing else occurred we could possibly make it into Joplin late that night, early the next morning. It was hot out, we were tired, but we were ready to roll.
Of course this was not the end of our trials. Another one of the vehicles began to overheat a little, we were cussed out by a mechanic, who we were told would rotate our lugnuts. Not long after that the tire we thought was fixed started smoking. So there we were, not even yet in Missouri, maybe 5 -6 hours away from Joplin, stranded, and it was past 7 p.m. We had been on the road in the plus 100 degree temps for more than 12 hours. Some of the team members had gotten little to no sleep the night before in anticipation of the trip.
To use clothing metaphors: No towels had been thrown in, but the other shoe had certainly dropped. What we needed, was to be blanketed in the grace of God.
That blanket turned out to be a horse blanket.
A man I lived and ministered with in Russia, nows lives in the Illinois side of the St. Louis area and we "happened" to break down on the Illinois side of the St. Louis area so I called him up and told him of our troubles. Soon after that, he and 3 of his children drove up to the truck stop we were at. He offered for us to stay at his home which houses a horse ministry. Also, the people who had fixed the bus the first time drove several hours to my friend's house and corrected their work at no additional charge.
Horse Lessons were still going on in the darkness as we rolled/limped in.Everyone went from beleagured to refreshed as they experienced the calmness of a horse farm. It was especially great for me to spend time with my dear friend. Their home/faciility easily housed all 15 of us. SD and I stayed in one of the familie's rooms and Droid was down before I could finish 2 pages of the Star Wars book I was reading him. I fell asleep shortly after that.
Friday Fragment Time again. I am waiting for a Skype Call from Russia at a little after Midnight on Friday. It is 4:15 p.m on Friday in Khabarovsk where I am expecting the call from. That is a fragment for a different time but explains why I am up so late on a school day.
Just videos and pics in today's fragments.
Fragment 1. Fun at the dinner table
Fragment 2. Baseball at the Zoo
When we go to the zoo we expect to see bears like this . . .
And This . . .
But at the Brookfield Zoo this weekend there were a number of human cubs. Chicago Cub fans like my son, players and former players like Milt Pappas who my sister had on a poster in her room when she was growing up.
I had a cool video linked up of Spider Droid doing a pitching game but I called him by his real name and I can't get the edited version to upload. SPider Droid had fun playing baseball games and we all had fun at the zoo.
Fragment 3: Blue Ribbon Robotics
Earlier last week Spider Droid competed in the Kane County Fair. No pig in competition or anything like that. He participated in a virtual robotics challenge where among other things he completed a cd-ROM curriculum on robotics, entered his findings in a journal, made a PowerPoint presentation including a video (which is really cool but uses his real name are you sensing an overprotective dad theme here?) and made this poster for display at the fair.
He also overcame his shyness and had an interview with the judge where he showed his video and explained what he learned.
The result of all his work: A blue ribbon. For those of you who don't speak County Fair, A blue ribbon is as high as you get w/o being the winner or runner up of the event. We don't speak County Fair so when we saw the ribbon we both thought (me silently, I have some tact) that it was just a participation ribbon. (We both have won those before). It actually means that he met or exceeded all of his objectives. Win, Place or Show we are very proud of his accomplishments.
Yes you can sing my title to the tune of Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes if you want to. You got to know I will! That said, I have been blogging like crazy lately. I still have a lot to say and Friday Fragments is a great place to tie up loose ends
Fragment 1: I blogged earlier about former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich this week. Maybe I didn't mention that when he ran he said he was going to clean up corruption left in the wake of the previous governor. Now that George Ryan is in jail and Blago soon to join him I really like this new license plate and slogan proposal.
Fragment 2: I also have blogged some what inadvertently about the Pioneer Woman over the past two posts. They were really peripheral blink if you miss them comments beyond the main themes of the posts. It got me to thinking though that I do have a few pictures of her I wanted to post. Amy and the bigs went to a book store in Naperville this spring to get her new book.
She signed Spider Droid's book. and posed for these pictures.
She was impressed with his profound Lego skills. If I was The Next Big Thing on the Internet, I would have probably been "Next!" She, was incredibly gracious.
Fragment 3: As you may or may not know bad or inaccurate commercials drive me crazy. Today I was listening to Pandora while weeding the garden. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.) A commercial for Lowe's came on and they said July 4th was finally here. That really ticked me off. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)
You see they Didn't say July 4th weekend was finally here. They made a single day into a season and then call the season by the day. This sort of thing really irks me, because making the day something it isn't, obscures what it is. In the Little House books, especially Little Town on the Prairie and Those Happy Golden Years, the 4th of July was a special day nestled in between 2 ordinary days. This gave it special meaning.
Our town's 4th of July fireworks were June 25th! 9 days before the actual event. Now they used to always have them the Saturday before the 4th, which I could understand. I even sort of got it when the 4th of July was on a Saturday, and they held the fire works the Saturday before. But 9 days? I mean they should have called them the Father's day fireworks since they were held closer to them, then the 4th of July. Many of the local area festivals which usually coincide with the 4th of July are ending on Sunday this year. I don't get it. The date has significance!
The timer just rang which means I have to stop this ranting and move on. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)
Fragment 4: I stole this picture along with the picture from Fragment 1 from the same Facebook account. I could type a lot more, but I think the picture speaks for itself.
Those are all the fragments I have for the time being. Click here to head back to Half Past Kissing Time for more Friday Fragments. (If you don't believe me, check out this tweet.)
I spent a portion of today blindfolded. For many of you this may be a common occurrence. For me, it is not. The reason why I endured it is because the kids wanted to surprise me with some Father's Day events today. So, this morning I got in the van blindfolded and drove to our mystery location. I actually didn't drive, that would have made a real surprise, for oncoming traffic!
Amy drove to the mystery location and if we used blind folds on our kids’ mouths, I would not have known we were going to Old Country Buffet. Alas, breakfast covers a multitude of sins, especially when there's bacon!
After breakfast we went to church (sans blindfold) where we saw this video produced, starring and directed by men in our church.
After church, it was blindfold time again. This time when we stopped I had no idea where we were, until Spider Droid handed me a rather large bag and I knew we were at a bowling alley.
The kids had said let's take dad to do something he likes. Amy saw a coupon for unlimited bowling on Father's Day. So we went. Bowling is one of many things I don't do well but am passionate about. I had a B.C. (Before Children) goal of bowling in every state. We have bowled in quite a few. We have much of the Midwest and South taken care of. We hope to slowly but surely hit the rest. (When I say "we" I mean "I.") If HSD ever gets big enough for a speaking tour many of the venues will probably be bowling alleys.
We spent a good portion of the afternoon bowling. We had two lanes: one with bumpers and one without. At one point Spider Droid and I were bowling two games at the same time. I ended up bowling 7 games: 3 over 100, 2 99's, and none under 90. These are not good numbers for most bowling aficionados. For me they are dreams come true.
Like the song says, it goes fast Dad. I am glad I was able to savor some special time with my kids and my wife. I hope you all had a great day.
A few Father's Days ago my kids gave me a present: tickets to a local minor league baseball game. A present that is also a family event is, for me, the best kind of present. Especially, since this was at least 3 Father's Days ago, back when I was working full time and family time was harder to come by than it is today. Before the game, all dads and their children were invited to play catch on the field. This was a great moment that I still think about.
During the game there was a drawing for all the dads in attendance. One of the players had signed a bat which I won!
So if you are scoring at home, the kids gift of tickets turned out to be 3 gifts in one:
1) Family time in a busy season of my life. 2) A cherished memory of playing catch with my kids. 3) A tangible reminder of a wonderful evening.
Well this week the gift kept on giving.
The bat had been hanging in my garage since I won it. I didn't really have any practical use for it since it was much too big for the kids to use. Recently, Spider Droid asked if he could hit with it. This is an adult bat and he is a little guy for a nine year old. He had trouble swinging with it at first and when he did connec,t the ball did not go very far.
When we went to home school baseball this wee,k Spider Droid insisted on taking that bat and I threw him a few more while we waited for the rest of the boys and girls to arrive. When the game started, I had to coerce him to use one of the smaller bats rather than the piece of lumber I had brought. As a result, he was hitting fly balls out of the infield all evening, which he had never done before.
Being ever the budding scientist he credits this to practicing with a larger bat. He now wants to practice with that bat to prepare for next week’s game.
So for the past two nights we have gone to the local park taking turns pitching and hitting. Spider Droid might just think these trips are fun and a good chance to improve his game. Someday he may view them as I do: exquisite times of a father with his son.
Today didn't hit 80. But we still went to our public pool. We got a pool pass and in my mind that means we go for free. The thing I like about our pool is that it's like one of those choose your own adventure books my brother used to love when he was a kid. There are so many different things to do. On a cool day like this, there's a sand area where kids can play. There is also an indoor pool and the diving well next to it. Two weeks ago I told you that the bigs started going off the diving board. Today they went off it with gusto, at times Bunny and Spider droid were the only ones going off it.
Last week puppy started doing a little bit of swimming on her own. just a little doggy paddle for a few inches. When she was done she went back to wearing a life jacket (I have called them swimmers jackets since bunny was very young. Don't know how I came up with it, I just did) for most of the time she was in the water.
Today, Puppy spent most of her time in the indoor pool with me sans Swimmers Jacket. After holding me tightly like her life depended on it for a large chunk of time, I tried to get her to swim a few inches to me and then back to the side of the pool. After a while she was really into it. I had Spider Droid take this footage.
After he had put the camera away she was doubling that distance. Amy came in to the indoor pool at that moment and was thrilled that she continued with what she had learned from the week before.
Then later in the day as Spider Droid played in the sand with a friend he had made last year and Amy read a book, I watched on as Bunny helped Puppy swim in the deep end for the most of the rest of our time at the pool. This was amazing as a) Bunny was eager to be helpful with Puppy and b) just two weeks ago I couldn't get Puppy to go into the deep end even with a swimmers jacket on and clinging to my neck.
All in all. It was quite a grand adventure at our local pool.
Our kids are passionate about some of the same things we are passionate about. Amy and I love books and libraries, and so do the kids. Amy and I love going swimming at the local pool, and so do the kids. This is good because, otherwise, we'd have to get a babysitter while Amy and I played Marco Polo with other people's kids.
One thing our kids have not shared our passion about, is jumping off the diving board. Amy and I love jumping and diving off the diving board. Before we were married we would sometimes take her cousins swimming and be the only people over 14 in line for the diving boards. Our kids do have strong emotions abut going off the board: fear and dread. Puppy is still not ready for such an adventure. But the bigs are excellent swimmers and love spending hour after precious hour in and under the water.
So yesterday, I paired irresistible forces, Bunny's love for money, and Spider Droid's pathological need to do whatever his sister does, with an immovable object: fear of going off the diving board. I offered Bunny $5 American to jump off the board. I also offered it to Spider Droid, but knew it would have no impact unless I could get Bunny to budge. You should have seen the internal argument that her face betrayed. Five dollars....sink to the bottom of the pool. Buying what I want....not living long enough to buy what I want. (You get the idea.)
Finally, she decided my offer was too lucrative to pass up. She waited in line, climbed up onto the diving board, and jumped in. She didn't sink and swam right to the ladder. When she got out, she went back in line again. And guess who was behind her....Spider Droid.
Spider Droid waited in line, climbed up the ladder, climbed down the ladder, waited in line again, climbed up the ladder, and finally jumped in the water. He also did not sink. Nor did anyone sink the next dozen or so times the three of us jumped off the board.
You see, I knew that they would love the diving board if they tried it and I was right. I just needed to find a motivation strong enough for them to get over their fear. Each kid is motivated differently. Five dollars alone would never have been sufficient to get Spider Droid on the board. Don't get me wrong, he'll take the money. But he could not resist trying something that his sister said was fun.
So call it what you will: bribery, knowing your kids' triggers, speaking their love language, or just giving them an offer they can't refuse. Seeing my kids love something that I love and that we as a family can love together, wasn't exactly priceless, but worth a whole more than 10 measly bucks.
Speaking of Spider Droid, he mowed the lawn for the first time this weekend unless you count this.
I was thinking it would still be a few more years before he would be up to the task. But he has been bugging me for days to let him try to mow. So even though he’s just 9, I’m thinking when someone wants to mow your lawn. you say yes!
A Look Ahead: This is going to be a short week school wise with Memorial Day tomorrow and me away at the home school convention on Thursday and Friday. If the weather ever gets slightly summerish we will get a pool pass and do some swimming. Blog wise, I will be putting up a post tomorrow about a fractions lesson we did last week. I hope to post it just in time to submit it to the Carnival of Homeschooling.
Memorial Day weekend also marks the start of my summer reading season. Each summer I try to read at least 10 books and review them. Besides reading for just myself, I also spend time reading to the entire family. We just finished Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder the American Frontier author (not to be confused with Laura Impala Wildebeest the African Savannah author). I will post a review in the days to come.
When I hosted the Carnival of Homeschooling earlier this month I mentioned a contest Circle of Moms was holding to pick the top 25 homeschooling blogs. The voting has been closed for some weeks now and I have decided to feature the top 25 blogs in a sidebar here. Mine are not listed in the order of votes received, (for that info click here) but rather by most recently published. 5 of the top 25 vote getter's were already appearing here, I hope you enjoy them all. Well that’s it for today’s edition. Thanks for stopping by.
It's finally here. My 500th post here at HSD over the past few weeks I have been making some tweaks to the blog but have not really announced them.
First of all, I have joined the 2nd decade pf the twentieth century and am now on twitter. Going forward I will be tweeting a link to all my new posts. I will also be tweeting my Next Time announcement that appeared and have now reappeared at the bottom of my posts.
Secondly I have added two new pages to the blog. Earlier this month I hosted the Carnival of Homeschooling with a post about my Top 10 Films of all time. I have made that a page as well as a 500th post page.
There are a few other changes, but you can check those out yourself.
I promised something very special for 500 posts. To commemorate the occasion, I have written a song. Within the lyrics, there are links to some of the posts that have appeared in HSD over the last 2+ years. So without further explanation and WITH my apologies to the Proclaimers, I present . . .
I Just Blogged (500 Times)
When I wake up, yeah, you know I'm gonna blog I'm gonna blog about playin' puppy on the floor. When I go out, well you know I'm gonna blog I'm gonna blog about a field tripto the store.
If it's Christmas, yes you know I'm gonna blog I'm gonna blog about how muchwe like to bowl. And if it's Easter, yes you know I'm gonna blog. That it's not a little rabbit that makes us whole.
I just blogged 500 times And I might blog 500 more To blog and ask what you guys do With children screaming on your floor.
When we travel. yeah, you know I'm gonna blog Whether close to home or Washington D.C. And when we get back you know I'm gonna blog With words and pics and videos for all to see.
I just blogged 500 times And I might post 500 more Just to be the guy whose 1000 posts Will make you laugh but never snore.
When I'm fed up, yeah you know I'm gonna blog I'm gonna blog 'bout how my family drives me mad But when I think straight yeah you know I'm gonna blog I'm gonna blog about the super times that we have had.
I just blogged 500 times And I might tweet 500 more Just to be the guy whose posts and tweets reveal the passion at his core.
So that's it for post #500. Unless I get a lucrative contract in the music biz. I will be back very soon inching my way to 1000.
She was impressed with his profound Lego skills. If I was 
