Whacky Monday!

Okay....what's the deal with today??? It's JUST Monday!

The whole East Coast was in the midst of a huge snow storm. A foot of snow dropped and blanketed everything out of the blue.


Meanwhile, in my neck of the woods, it's been freezing cold. I bundled up in my jacket, made sure the Boy was wearing a heavy sweater before leaving for violin lessons today and was blasted by 70 degree balmy spring weather when I walked out the front door!

So now I'm all excited thinking of spring cleaning, you know, getting my nest ready for summer with this hot weather and all...and I find this cool website on getting organized... http://letstalkorganizing.blogspot.com/ and just today, probably as I was clicking on the link, the person posted that they are going on a 3-month hiatus! I know that fate is conspiring against me. I am destined to never have my closet organized!!!!!

{inserting melodrama here}

Oh wait, how about a visual!

(not actual closet - did you really think I would let you know how awful it is???)

Okay, so I found a substitute here: http://www.heartofwisdom.com/heartathome/2009/02/24/tackling-a-stuffed-closet/ this looks good! What I really love is that it means I need to go shopping for new hangers this week. I like hangers, they remind me of my Joan Crawford upbringing.

"Those who do not complain are never pitied." - Jane Austen

Schooling has been great for the Boy these past two months. Where writing has been a sore spot (okay, does hair-pulling count as Language Arts or PE?) and math has taken 2 hours per lesson in the past, either some magic maturity level has been reached or I have finally found the fountain of motivation! It's a good thing too, because there are only so many hours in a day that can be dragged out into an eternity of sighs and pencil chewing, sneaking off to the kitchen, racing to his bedroom when the phone rings...you get the picture. The Boy was about to get some 'ol fashioned learnin' whupped into him if things didn't improve soon...

And then he wanted something really badly. No more complaints from me!

Had I have known that his love for weaponry would spur him on to greatness I would have signed his mustering papers years ago. Now, you have to understand that I was raised with Quaker virtues and guns have never been allowed in my home under my watch, in any form; water, rubber band, sticks, etc. I used to think I was a pacifist...but then I just realized, uh no, I just don't want any accidental shootings!

Enter the miracle.

We were visiting Grandmama at the antique store and there it was...a Christmas Story moment...a single bolt-action 1940's toy rifle made out of REAL metal with a REAL wood stock. His eyes were like saucers, he may have even been drooling, as it was placed into his sweating palms for inspection.

Bolt slides and locks into place easily....CHECK

Stock fits securely against 14 yr old shoulder....CHECK

Right eye will align with badly pitted sight....CHECK

CLICK!

"Mom!!!! Mom!!!!! Did you hear that? The trigger works just like the real thing! If I do all of my schoolwork can we possibly afford this? I'll do extra lessons, whatever you think it's worth. You just don't find these kinds of guns for sale. It's a piece of history that I'm preserving. Grandpa just told me that he had a gun like this growing up and, and, and, since he doesn't have his anymore then I should get this and pass it down to my kids so they know what Grandpa had!"

Well, what is a parent to do with such a gift?

Duh! I bought the gun! Boy, is he schooling like crazy...I'm hoping to get another month or so out of him. Bribery you say...oldest trick in the book? Not for this child, he's never been moved by bribes for money, xBox games, or anything else money can buy (on the store shelves), but find him something that's one of a kind and could be gone the next day and he's all yours.

I'll have to wait a little while though before I school him in the lures of used car salesmen or I might just lose my edge!

Self examination...

Usually about this time of the year I am DYING for summer. I mean, Christmas is over, the trees are bare, the sky is perpetually gray, and the bleakness of late winter takes its toll. BUT! I am NOT in a bout of seasonal depression, despite the economy being down the drain, I feel energized and refreshed for some bizarre reason. Perhaps it's the healthy eating or maybe just being able to take off the semester from school and concentrate on The Boy and his education. I've missed being a "homemaker" and having time to just think about things with a beautiful cup of hot coffee. (maybe there's something in my coffee!!)

Today is Lincoln's birthday and I want nothing more than to curl up with the book: A Team of Rivals, but alas, I have way too much to do today. So instead I will compose a short poem of my personal Credo to capture my thoughts and beliefs of the moment.

CREDO

I believe in the sanctity of life at conception
the importance of a well-rounded education
the need to instill character and values in our children
the fact that life is what you make of it
the necessity to stand up for what is right
just, honest, and with conviction

But the idea that the government knows what's best for my health, how to educate my child, or spend my hard-earned tax dollars is ridiculous

I believe in God
I believe in Family and preserving the legacy we pass down from generation to generation
I believe in reflecting and growing one's
knowledge, relationships, and passion for life

And I believe that we all need to strive to be life-long learners that seek to continually better ourselves but more importantly, to seek to better the lives of those around us to make this world a better place.

In Honor of Chinese New Year - this proverb is so "me"

Remember this...

I hear, and I forget...

I see, and I remember...

I do, and I understand.

-a Chinese proverb

I am looking over some lesson plans today for next week. I found this GOLDMINE of free stuff at www.teacherspayteachers.com . Now one thing after all these years of teaching that I still struggle with is working with learning styles. I know that I am a visual learner and I love to do projects and craft things to go along with our lessons. The Boy, on the other hand, is as auditory as they come...and then couple that with the fact that he is in lazy teenager mode and wanting to tune any adult voice out - well, it's a struggle to get through a day, let me tell ya.

So back to my dilemma - as I choose the lesson plans that I want to implement I keep choosing things that appeal to my visual needs thinking that I will be able to adapt to his needs as I teach the lesson. Maybe I'm doing it the right way - but I always second guess myself that I'm doing it wrong. Argh! I hate not being omniscient!!!

Classic Children's Literature

So my friend (and you know who you are) is taking a class on Children's Lit. this semester and while we were discussing her first journal assignment we both decided we needed to record all the classics that we have read as children (before high school) and then record the books that we have read to our children. It's amazing how quickly you forget those things! So here are my lists (and I'm sure 50 more titles will come to mind after I've gone to bed):

My childhood books (*favourites):

The Pokey Little Puppy
The Egg Book (A Golden Book)
Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
A Child's Garden Of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss
The Old Man
The Big World
Katy No Pocket*
The Story of the Loaves and the Fishes
The Tax Collector
Little Bear*
No Fighting, No Biting*
A Birthday For Frances*
Harry the Dirty Dog*
Lyle the Crocadile*
The Red Fairy Book*
Is This the House of Mistress Mouse*
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Little Women
Julie of the Wolves*
A Wrinkle in Time*
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
To Kill A Mockingbird
Oliver Twist*
The Prince and the Pauper
A Christmas Carol
The Chronicles of Narnia*
Strawberry Girl
Watership Down*
Lord of the Flies
Jane Eyre
Stuart Little*

The Boy's list (*favourites):

Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom*
Goodnight Moon*
Ferdinand
Corduroy*
A Little Old Man
Little Bear
A Bargain For Frances
One Kitten for Kim
Verdi
The Salamander Room
The Crows of Pearblossom
Come Over to My House
The Planets
The Universe
Our Solar System
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
Richard Scary's Biggest Book Ever*
Glad Monster, Sad Monster
The Chronicles of Narnia
Treasure Island (hated every minute of it)
Halo Series* (Fall of Reach, The Flood, First Strike)
Sunrise Over Fallujah
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (hated every minute)
Mad Magazine (under much protest from me!)
Dupont Registry (another magazine but he hauled it around till destroyed)

Teaching How To "Get On Board"

He couldn't believe it. I was forcing him to learn about Barack Obama and actually study him! I know that I will always be able to take this day as an example of doing something right as his mother, the Boy does have his own mind and he will stand up to anyone to defend it. However, he also knows that his mama is wise and can cut off his "fun" supply, so he does do what I ask. Obama was not his choice for President in '08 and he comiserates with his father daily on the election results. (I remain "Switzerland" since there wasn't a candidate on the ballot that I wanted to choose from.)


His vehement opposition made the day's lesson all the better. *picture me rubbing my hands together with mischevious delight* We did a study on the presidential inauguration using a couple of pre-made curriculae from Teacher's Book Bag and Gears For Learning (both from http://www.currclick.com/) and some ancillary sources from the internet. He not only got valuable lessons in American Government, History, and Current Events -- but the lesson of letting go of your bitterness and supporting someone else's choice for authority and leadership. The Boy's always had issues of letting go of perceived wrong doings and being able to move on -- so this lesson was a great illustration to him of understanding the necessity to support your President so that your country can flourish and be strong. Not blind obedience, but knowing when to give a guy a chance.

A New Year, a new hope!

I'm off to a great start! Well, sort of, since my New Year's resolution was to blog and here it is the 12th of January. I'm going to try my best to blog each week what we're doing, take pictures of the boy, mind myself with our SouthBeach dieting, and chronical our life and adventures. One day we'll be able to reflect back and reminisce on the crazy chaos-filled life we lead and smile that it was ALL WORTH IT! :)

For now, I'll just have to plaster the smile on my face (even if it takes a glass of wine or two to put it there) and live it!