I was at Artic Blast with Spider Droid this past Sunday and Monday at Camp Timber-Lee in East Troy, Wisconsin. A full review is on it's way. Consider this a tease. The above picture is Pattertwig and me. (I'm the one that's not a squirrel.) Pattertwig (named after the squirrel from Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.) just jumped right on me. He was on me long enough for me to hand my camera to the Timber-Lee Staff member who snapped this picture.
At our house Pattertwig would be named Nutty. All squirrels that Puppy sees are named Nutty. Unless of course there are two squirrels together. Than 1 is Nutty and the other is Puddles, Nutty's wife. If there are 3 squirrels: Nutty, Puddles and their son, Bob. If there are 4 Bob gets a sister named Sally. God in his providential wisdom has never let Puppy see more than 4 squirrels together at one time.
If there are 3 squirrels in our yard and two go away. Whatever squirrel remains is called Nutty, regardless of what we were calling it before. This special kind of naming has led to a joke in our house modeled after the Pete and Repeat jokes.
Q:Nutty and Puddles were on a boat. Nutty fell off. Who was left?
I am a frequent contributor to Six Word Saturday from my main blog. In addition to the six I penned from HSD I have a sports related Six to share here:
Pitchers and Catchers report. Nuff' Said! This past week spring training began for all major league baseball teams and the Royals and Nationals as well. (Just kidding K.C. and D.C.) It is one of my favorite times of the year. Each team can start afresh. There is a revitalization and renewal in the Arizona and Florida air. A "this could be the year." mentality percolates in the hearts and minds of fans, players, managers and owners alike.
The pitchers and catchers report in about a week earlier than the position players to start getting ready for the season. I am very excited about all the White Sox moves during the off season and am curious to see how they will gel in Spring Training. I was a little disappointed that RyneSandberg did not get the managerial gig on the North Side, But I am interested to see how Camp Quade will shake out.
Soon enough opening day will roll around, but lets enjoy the hopefulness that is Spring Training while we can. For more Six Word Saturday click here.
I have been a big fan of the Blog, Home Spun Juggling since I started blogging 2+ years ago. It may be because Christina (the blogs author) can do two things extremely well that I wish I could do at all. These are Juggling and Cartooning. I love cartoons but could not draw myself out of a paper sack. I spent most of 1997 in a paper sack as a result. (It's not something I am yet ready to talk about.) In the late 80's I produced a newsletter for some friends. One of the features was called "If I could draw, this would be a cartoon." I would describe a picture and then say what the dialogue or punch line would be.
Here is one I just thought of so I can give you an example . . .
Scene: A Tax Office. On one side is the tax consultant. He is looking rather put out. On the other side is his client who doesn't seem to like what He is being told. The tax consultant says "No, Mr. Smith, "liking" your church on Facebook is not deductible."
But who needs to set up a scene when you can just draw one up like this . . .
If you click on the strip you will get to one of my favorite blogs: Home Spun Juggling. The cartoon and heartfelt post is an example of why Christina's artwork and writing is one of the gems of the homeschooling blog world.
Her beautiful explanation of the economic choices all families make to do what is important to them ends with a flourish:
"Can we afford it? I would think many of these families would say they can't afford not to. We make it work, because we want it to. I'm thankful I made the choice to homeschool. It's a tough job, and I know it's not for everyone, but it was something I had to do."
I thought much about why we home school this week especially in light of driving to Springfield to protect our rights to do so. It is sometimes a sacrifice, an encumbrance, even an inconvenience. But in the end I I came to the same conclusion Christina did. Even if I do have to avoid paper sacks like the plague.
It is Friday Fragment time again. I have had a strange and wonderful week. Drove to Springfield with the Family on Tuesday to protest a bill that would take away some of the freedoms we have here in Illinois to Home School, The bill was tabled and I blogged about it here. ************************************************************************************ My next Fragment reminds me of the book and movie The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio. This is a contest to win a Hawaiian vacation. There are several ways to win. Any time Amy and I see a contest we know for sure that we are "slated" to win. It doesn't matter that, we often forget to enter and that we never win. We just know we are going to win. So enter if you want, but Amy and I have got the vacation in the bag. Dole - Now in 100% Juice Aloha Sweepstakes ************************************************************************************ We saw this add on Hulu this week. I know I've been sharing lots of commercials lately but this one is hilarious. Bunny Girl especially liked it. Even though one of her favorite creatures was threatened. ************************************************************************************ This commercial by the same airlines does a very good job of explaining why companies don't say Super Bowl in their radio and t.v. spots. It's also very funny. ************************************************************************************
Final Fragment. The pictures that started this post were taken last Saturday at our Church for Awana Bible Quizzing. Both Spider Droid and Bunny Girl were just a small # of the kids participating to get 8 of 8 correct in their multiple choice round. It is rewarding to put God's word in your heart!
A few years ago Bunny Girl started a pretty good post victory tradition while listening to White Sox games on the radio or following them on the computer (We are very 21st century) with me. She would get all animated and say "It's done! It's done! The White Sox won!"
For the past few weeks I have been following the SB 136 Homeschooling Registration Bill as if it were a late season White Sox playoff push. I even went on a "road trip" this past Tuesday in Springfield to show my opposition to the bill.
Here is some footage from outside and inside the hearing.
I have received information today that the bill has been tabled. Just like in baseball, government has it's own special terms. According to the glossary at the Illinois Gleneral Assembly website,Tabling means: Laying on the table or killing. Tabling removes a bill, resolution, or amendment from consideration.
The ILGA site shows that the Bills sponsor Ed Maloney tabled the bill today. This is a great victory for home schooling in Illinois. Illinois continues to be one of the least restricted states for Homeschooling in the nation and I hope the coverage this issue has received shows that this is a good thing. A right worth defending.
Before finding out about the tabling I was all geared up to use today's post to get on my high box (combination of high horse and soap box) and clear up some misconceptions that the bill has brought up. Even though the bill has been killed, I would still like to clear up these misconceptions:
1) In a Daily Southtown Star Editorial against the bill, Maloney was quoted as saying: “There are virtually no regulations on homeschools. No curriculum, no periodic checks on their progress,” he said. “We want more accountability.”
Illinois home schools under the law are considered private schools. (This is I believe why SB136 originally wanted to register both private schools and home schools. When Maloney started receiving push back about the registration, He then stated he wanted to rewrite the bill to include only home schoolers. Leading many to think that He was after homeschoolers all the time.) The law states that all private schools have to teach the same amount of hours of instruction and the same type of courses as the public schools. That is regulation. Homeschoolers as the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) attorney, Scott Woodruff stated at the hearing (it's in the video clip) that homeschoolers have to provide proof that they are homeschooling if asked. That is regululation. It is ridiculous for Maloney to say that home schoolers do not have a curriculum. I am a home schooler and I have curriculum.e I've driveen to Rockford at 9 a.m. on a Saturday for Curiculum fairs, for crying out loud. I just don't have a government assigned curriculum. No private schools do.
2) There seems to be a fundamenental difference in opinion as to what the state's role in home schooling should be. In meeting last week with Homeschooling proponents Maloney told them that: since the State was responsible for the education of our children, the State should know who was being homeschooled.
The state is not responible for my children's education. God entrusted them to me, not the state. The state gets their power from the people, not the other way around. Perhaps Maloney will realize where his power base is after the next senatorial election.
Well that is all I have to say at this time. I am very glad that SB 136 has failed and I thank everyone who had a part of defeating it.
