Pennies

I generally do not lament my name. My Dad's name was David and he named me such, sure I would have rather him named me David. But Such Roller has a good ring to it. But today I lament that they did not name me Kevin for if they did I could name this post Pennies from Kevin.

Okay, that was a long way to go for a bad joke, so let's move on.

As you may know this year is 2009. If you did not know that, you may be beyond my ability to help you further, so hopefully you did. Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, 200 years ago . 100 years ago to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. His image was placed on the penny.

Prior to 1909 the penny had an Indian Head.

To put things in perspective the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series Lincoln was not yet on the penny. Wow!

In 1959 to celebrate Lincolns Sesquicentenial (150 years) The Lincoln Memorial replaced the wheat.

This year to celebrate Lincoln's bicentennial the face of the penny got a new look ...

And 4 different images on the back . . .

The 4 images represent his early years in Kentucky, his boyhood years in Indiana, His professional years in Illinois, and his presidency in D.C.

Many wheats are still in circulation. I opened 2 rolls (100 pennies) today and found one 1958 wheat and no 2009 pennies. I usually average about 2 wheats and 1 Canadian penny per roll.

Being a good Illinois boy from the original LOL: Land of Lincoln (Not the original Land of Lincoln which is Kentucky, but the original LOL) I would like to celebrate Abe's 200th with not 1 but two give-a-ways! Yes I will be giving out 2 sets of 100 pennies (with at least 1 wheat each). Yes you heard it right the buck ships here.

To win the first set do the regular old comment thing. When you comment tell me significant years in your life (yours, spouses, kids birthdays anniversaries, year favorite team won World Series (after 1908 of course) and I will try to mix a few of those years in).

For the second set I will be picking from my followers, so if you don't follow, this would be a fine time to start. While it's mathematically possible to win both sets, let's share the wealth and say that we will have 2 different winners.

I am going to run this contest until September 23rd, because 2 dollars is a lot of money and in these tough times I may have to raid my birthday money to make good. If you blog about my crazy give-a-way I will give you 2 more chances at the first contest, simply link the blog to your comment. See the official rules on the sidebar. .

All this bang for a buck? That's why they call me Crazy Dave!

Next Time: Zoos

Hark! The New School Year Approacheth!!

Cristina at Home Spun Juggling is hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling this week. She has asked me to write an article for her edition. Since she is one of my favorite bloggers, I am glad to oblige. But since she is always going on about how funny I am, I feel a little pressure to be funny in this post. Since I am not sure how funny it will be I will tell one of my favorite jokes and then move on to the actual content. I am putting the joke in italics for the humor deprived.

Two guys walk into a bar.

You'd think the second one would have ducked.

Oh, well let's move on. Back in the days when I was working outside the house, my oldest daughter started a tradition. As we were sitting around the dinner table, first thing after we prayed she would ask "So, Dad, how was your day today?" Then I would go ahead and tell them about my day. When I became the home school teacher last year and Amy became the leave the house work person, "So, Mom" replaced "So, Dad." in my daughter's nightly tradition.

Amy works in a local school district as a School Bob Newhart. (For those who only know Bob Newhart from Newhart and not the Bob Newhart Show, this means she is a School Psychologist, not a School Inn Keeper.) As such, she gets the summer off. Sometimes now at dinner as a joke, my daughter will ask Amy what she did today, even though they spent the whole day together.

When I think of going back to school after Summer Break, I always think of the old "How I spent my summer vacation essay." Asking that question would be equivalent to my daughter's joke, as I know exactly how they spent their summer vacation.

Our Schedule for the coming year is as follows.

Sunday Evening

For about an hour each Sunday between dinner and bedtime we will be doing some of the "funner" activities from our curriculum as a family. This way Amy can participate with us and I think it will help us segue from weekend to week.

Monday

On Mondays we have CWF (Christian Workshops of the Fox Valley), which is our home school co-op. I will be teaching two classes on the Chronicles of Narnia which I am very excited about, and I am sure I will be blogging about in the future. The kids' other classes (the oldest 2 are in a Narnia Class) sound good and I will probably talk about those in the future as well. Monday is also our AWANA day. So, Amy and the kids will be busy with that in the evenings while I decompress and prepare for the remaining week.

Tuesday through Friday

The rest of the week, will be rather uniform aside from the various appointments that will creep their way in the schedule. We are doing a multi-level unit study this year as our educational main course. It is produced by Konos. This should incorporate all the subjects except for math where we will be using Horizons, by Alpha-Omega again this year( and also for handwriting). We are using the Notgrass Company to combine bible and art with their Draw to Learn/Book of Psalms (click here for sample page). When I give Emma some reading time, Charlie, Lucy and I are going to be working through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Changes

I am introducing a bit of change this year. Last year, we would have school from 9am to 1 p.m we would then have lunch, no school afterwards. This year I plan to start earlier, and have lunch at a convenient breaking time, rather than always at one, and work a half an hour or more after lunch.

I also plan to be a little less structured about some things this year and more structured about others. One thing I will be more structured about, is quiet time. For one hour a day, I plan to put all the kids on their beds have them quietly read or look at books while I have time to myself.

This year will also be my first year of home schooling a 1 car family. This means that if we need (As on Mondays) or want the car we have to get Amy to her school at 7:30 a.m. and pick her up at the end of the day. It will make our regular visits to the library and whatever field trips we embark on less spontaneous, but that could be a good thing.

School begins on August 24th. Emma and I are going to Six Flags: Great America on the 23rd. So on the 24th we will just do our regular Sunday Evening stuff before we start our first full day on the 25th.

It's been a great summer of swimming and biking and blogging and spending time with the family. I am looking forward to my second full year at the helm of the good ship Izola Becker Home Scool. I am thankful for Amy being able to work but will miss having her home every day. I am thankful to God for giving us our family, and another year of home schooling.

For more great ideas on "juggling" home schooling into your day, head back over to Home Spun Juggling.

Next Time: Pennies

A Few Thoughts About Movies

I went to the movies twice this week and Amy is out seeing one now. I decided to take the Friday Fragment/Freewrite section to tell you a few things I like about movies.



I like watching movies with groups of people.

There is a dynamic of watching a movie with lots of people. The jokes seem funnier when you hear other people laughing at them. If it is an especially powerful film, watching the movie together adds an extra amount of poignancy to it.

I like watching movies I enjoy with people who have not seen it before.

On Monday I biked about 16 miles round trip to watch a movie at a neighboring town's library. It was the original version of 12 Angry Men. There were between 20-40 people there and about a third of them had not seen it before. It was very interesting for me to hear some of the other's watching it for the first time. They seemed to enjoy all the moments that I love about the film which enhanced my experience. At an important part of the film when they are doing a roll call of guilty or not guilty. I was counting the not guilty votes as they were being given, when all 12 had responded and before the foreman gave the result, a member of the audience whispered with anticipation in her voice "hey it's 6 to 6!" It felt so good to know that I wasn't the only one counting.

I like watching movies that are older than me.

While many of my favorite films have been made in the past 45 years I really love when I find a good film made earlier than that. Marty is a film that Amy and I have fell in love with since we've been married. It may well be my favorite love story movie of all time. Four of my top 10 movies of all time are pre-1964 (another one was made in 1965).

I sometimes prefer going to the movies alone.

While many people do not like going to see a movie by themselves. I actually quite enjoy it. I think I always have. The first film I remember going to the theatre alone for was Breaking Away when I was in High School. I walked the 4 blocks to our local theatre saw the movie and went home. I had such a spring in my step as I came home. I really like thinking about movies and the best time to think about them is often on the way home.

I seem to have more thoughts about movies than I anticipated. I think I will share more on another occasion. I also would like to do a few movie reviews here in the future. For now let me leave you with a Lucyism and head off to bed.

Tonight when I was putting Lucy's pajamas on I was doing so rather distractedly. Lucy noticed I did not seem happy so she put her face right up to mine and said "You should smile like Me! and gave me the cutest smile you could possibly imagine and I really had no choice but to smile back at her.

For more fragments and free writes head over to Half Past Kissing Time and Ordinary and Awesome.

Next Time: The new school year approacheth!

A Letter from the President

This past February ago I posted about some letters and pictures our family sent to President Obama.

A few months ago the kids got a reply. It was typed on a postcard sized piece of good stock paper signed by the president and with the White House Seal embossed on top.

It states:

Thank you for your recent note, and for sharing your thoughts with me. Your kind words echo the messages of millions of American who have welcomed me and my family to the White House with an outpouring of goodwill.

On January 20th, Americans spoke with one voice, choosing hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. Our nation faces serious challenges, but we will overcome them if our imagination is joined to common purpose.

Now is our time to work together, reaffirm our enduring spirit, and choose our better history. With your help, we will renew our Nation's promise to carry forth the great gift of freedom to future generations, as our forebeara have delivered it to us.

Sure, it's a good letter but not exactly what you would expect as a response to 3-9 years olds who sent pictures like this . . .

And asked questions like "Do your daughter's have Webkinz?"

The kids liked it though and Charlie has it safely tucked away in his room with the rest of his treasures.

At the same time the kids were writing their letters, I was writing the president one of my own. I wrote of my genuine gladness that an African American was elected President. I talked a little of our mutual love for the White Sox, but mainly I told him candidly but respectfully why I had not voted for him in either his Senatorial or Presidential campaigns. I told him of my concern for the unborn and my hope for the possible repeal of Roe V Wade. I urged him to change his stances on abortion.

Because of how the kid's letter was responded to, I expected no response to my own letter. Indeed several months had passed since the kids received their letter, and I had almost forgotten about my own letter when I received a hand addressed letter from the White House on July 31st

My letter dated 7/28/09:

Dear Friend:

Thank you for taking the time to share your views on abortion. This is a heart-wrenching issue and I appreciate your input and thoughts.

I am committed to making my Administration the most open and transparent in history, and part of delivering on that promise is hearing from people like you. I take seriously your opinions and respect your point of view on this issue. Please know that your concerns will be on my mind in the days ahead.

Thank you again for writing. I encourage you to visit WhiteHouse.Gov to learn more about my Administration or to contact me in the future.

Sincerely

Barack Obama (signed)

I was genuinely moved that The Office of The President of the United States took time to respond to a concern that I had. I understand that President Obama himself is far too busy to attend to my letter himself. I could tell that the majority of this letter was pre-formatted. I can also see that it's a text book example of a non-response response to the issues I brought forward.

I have struggled for the last 1/2 hour to write a conclusion to this piece. I could wax eloquent of the democratic process where I have the freedom to write a dissenting view to the most powerful person in my country and receive thanks rather than censure. I could make a spiritual tie-in to how writing a letter to the President is like but so much less a privilege than the ability to talk directly to the Executive Officer of the Universe. I could encourage families to send letters and pictures to their elected officials thanking them for their service and communicating their needs and concerns. Since I am not quite sure how to accomplish any of those, I will instead just tell you what I have in store for next time.

Next Time: A few thoughts about movies.

Knowing Your Neighbors

I bet I could write an excellent blog post about the importance of meeting and befriending your neighbors. How to get out and become a community with those who live in closest proximity to you. Yeah that would be a great post, it's just not this post.

I am talking about something completely different. I am talking about my WFMW neighbors. Each week I view some excellent posts about what works for others here in blog world. My problem is that so many of these posts I never get around to applying because of the enormity of fine posts each week. So I developed a system that helps me review past posts and save some of the good ones for posterity.

Here is what I do: Each week after I post my link, I mark the posts immediately before and behind mine as favorites and put them in a folder called "WFMW Neighbors." This is my 25th WFMW post and that means that after I link this up, I will have 50 neighbors in that folder.

After a few months I decided that I wanted to honor some of my favorite neighbors, so I reviewed all my neighbors and put the ones that I thought were best in a second folder called top 10 neighbors. Each subsequent week when I organized my neighbors I put the especially good ones in the top 10 list. My top 10 list often had more than ten items at a time but once a month or so I would weed it down. Today I would like to present you with my Top 10 Neighbors:

Starting us off at #10 is Lynn's Kitchen Adventures who introduced Frozen Hot Chocolate (July 09)

Speaking of neighbors, weighing in at #9 is Kristen's neighbor from Bake at 350 with Mini Moo Cards and coupon! (July 09)

How to Clean a Kitchen By Joyfully Retired (January 09) checks in at # 8.

Which brings us to #7 Protecting Your Marriage (and Money) with A Spending Communication Policy By Sarah @ Real Life (March 2009)

# 6 is Don't Bring Me Down by ELO. (Sorry my inner d.j. escaped for a moment.) Didn't mean to bring things down. It's time to Exhale. Return to Center as they What's Working: Our Mud Pit (May '09)

A Back Seat Boredom Buster is what awaits us at #5 found Inside the White Picket Fence. (July '09)

Momedy (Ba Ba Ba Ba Da) Momedy (Ba Ba Da Ba) presents Making Procrastination Work For You (April '09) at # 4.

At #3 we have Pause your Nose Again from Heavenly Homemakers dot com (February '09)

The Animator's Wife hits at #2 with Cheap Shots- Christmas (January '09).

And my #1. neighbor is A Simple Walk with her beautiful post, A Bag Full of Pennies (January '09)

Introducing My New Neighbors . . .

Tonight Kayren of Everthing's Coming up Daisies blogged about Getting Chewing Gum Out of My Dryer.

AND

Over at Blessed With Grace Lisa shared Things I Liked About Today ...

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Keeping tabs on my WFMW neighbors works for me. Thanks to all 50 of my neighbors for their excellent ideas. To see what works for others, bop on over to Kristen's at We Are That Family. A special shout out to Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer who got this party started. Many of my neighbors originally linked there.

Next Time: A Letter from the President

The Century Mark

My Father-in-law turned 70 today. This is of course a grand achievement in itself. But given his medical history in the past 18 months it is a remarkable one. He has had many sicknesses during that time and has been in hospitals and nursing homes for about 1/2 of the last 18 months. A few of those months he was in a coma like state. The past few months have been a time of remarkable recovery. His oldest son Mike spends 1/2 of the week doing rehab with his Dad. Every time I see him he is more and more active and vibrant than the next.

To celebrate his birthday Amy , her brothers and sisters planned a surprise party for Him. It was really the youngest sister Katie, who just found out she is expecting her first child, that did most of the planning and contacting.

Katie's 30th birthday happens to fall a week after her Dad's. Amy thought that since Katie was already getting the family together that she would work behind the scenes to make a double surprise party. So instead of celebrating Donn's 70th we celebrated Donn and Katie's 100th.

Every one had a fantastic time. So congratulations to Donn on seventy years and continued best wishes on a full recovery. Thanks to Mike for pouring so much of his time in working with His Dad. Best wishes to Katie on 30 years (I have shorts older than that), and congratulations to her and Danny as they eagerly expect their first child.

I will leave you with some research I conducted on what happened 100 years ago:

• There were 45 stars on the U.S. Flag



• The Roman Catholics made Joan of Arc (Not Joan Van Ark) a saint.



• Two cents was the cost of a postage stamp.



• The first race was run at the Indianapolis Motor Speed Way.



• The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series.



• Las Vegas, NV Population:30

Next Time: Knowing Your Neighbors