Spelling Fun

My kiddo has started bringing home spelling lists that are hard for him (starting off with 4/16 correct).  He practices through the week and the test in on Friday.  I never thought we could have such fun with spelling as I make up the goofiest, whimsical sentences to illustrate each word!

Other things to share:

This week's Objectivist Round Up.

Cute antics:

• talking about what anger feels like, "I feel as if I was Godzilla and could kill anybody."  (He's never seen the creature, just had this idea that it was something big and powerful.)

• when Andrew gets his prowly walk, "Dad!  Don't be like a walking death machine!"

• asking about the history teacher, "Was Mr. Powell alive when Thomas Jefferson was elected?"
• spontaneously asking, "Care to dance?" (He was given his first dance lesson by his dad and found the demonstrations of what would happen if you used the wrong feet highly comical.)

• asking about my mom's efforts to bring banned books into the USSR decades ago, "She brought Irish books into Russia?"  (Um, no… that would be "Jewish".)

• telling a family friend, "I'm smarter than Einstein." (We've had several instances this week of him going from tears to mastery rapidly.  Big surprise, he likes the mastery and not the tears.)

• "You did a cute croak!" (He liked the way our friend laughed.)

• pronouncing "enraged" with an "i" and a strong emphasis on the first syllable, IN-raged (It sounds so funny, like he's trying to make the word extra powerful.)

The first dance lesson!

Cider Pressing

Our dwarf apple trees are giving up tons of fruit, so we had our first apple pressing of the season!

Other things to share:
This week's Objectivist Round Up.

Cute antics:

• saying out of the blue, "What should I do? Walk over to Pearl Harbor and sail a ship to Japan and bomb it?"  (We had a chat about people who are no longer our enemies!)

• putting the hose sprayer nozzle in his mouth and… well, you can imagine.

• dancing with his teacher (He really loves her!)

• mentioning as he got into the shower, "Wow, this is as hot as a planetarium."

• saying when upset, "I'm trying not to whine, but it's very difficult, so please don't be frustrated."

• deciding he'd probably need to be a soldier to protect our country (We talked about evaluating that choice based on his thoughts when he's a wee bit older.  The conversation actually went on for a while as we discussed what kind of country he'd want to protect and what that choice would require and it concluded with the thought that he'd evaluate the leaders / principles of America when he was older.  Ya, we talked about insubordination and court marshals too… maybe I should just find a nice beach with a big umbrella?)

• conversation:

Mom: I'm hot.

Cameron: Why?  Because you were burnt May 81st?

Off we go!

Here's to completing my first week as an online science teacher!  We had a bumpy start with technology, but we ironed out the biggest issues and are set to delve into learning the wonders of the human body... fun!


Other good things to share:
This week's Objectivist Round Up.

P.S. Cute antics:

- writing in his daily journal, "There was a plethora of writing!" (Why did he choose that word?  Because it was easier than writing "too much".)

- laughing hysterically at a Victor Borge video while missing most of the jokes.

- getting so into our new book that he's interrupting me to predict dastardly demises of the fierce bears (It's a fun book set in Indiana in the 1820's. So far, the hero has adopted a pair of bear cubs, saved a friend from both a bear and kidnapping, and hunted a vast array of game.)

- laughing hysterically for at least twenty minutes and then bringing me down the giant Clavin and Hobbes comic book so I could share in the joke.  (If he ever duplicates the "joke" and tackles his babysitter dressed as a super hero whose job it is to defeat babysitters and screech in their ears… I would not be surprised.  He definitely has a seven year old's sense of humor!)

Andrew teaching our dance instructor about fencing... we're still having a glorious time dancing!

Pause for Poetry

Feeling a wee bit nervous, but ready to be brave... it's not like I haven't done a ton of patient teaching as a nurse!  I did a little poetry search and found this poem perfectly fit my readiness to delve into online teaching.  Here's to a soaring new adventure!

Take a Chance and Fly
by A.P. Hancock

Let's dare ourselves to take a chance, and ride the big balloon
I know you're scared to dance that dance, but winter's coming soon

I hear that when you start to rise, your heart sinks deep and low
I hear that some will close their eyes, and never see the show

But you and I will hold on tight, and see what we can see
We'll brave the death defying heights, and walk above the trees

We'll catch a glimpse of mountain tops, and float amid the clouds
And when that big boy dips and drops, we'll shout and scream real loud

But we will look and be amazed, at all we never saw
Because our view was never raised, that we might be in awe

And we will not forget those scenes, until the day we die
We'll both be glad we left routine, to take a chance and fly

Yesterday's family exploration of Mt. Rainier's alpine meadows... more new trails to discover.

A New Adventure!

I start teaching life science this coming week!  This will definitely be a new adventure with all the delights and challenges that adventures involve :)


Other things to share:
This week's Objectivist Round Up.
Cute antic: informing me when he hugged me from behind and my husband was hugging me regularly, "You are surrounded by man forces!"

 Glorious day for a family sale http://www.soundexp.org

Viennese Waltz

Yay!  In dancing lessons, we're having such fun with the waltz that we're starting on the Viennese waltz... spunky!


Other things to share:
This week's Objectivist Round Up.
Cute antics:

• continuing his solid introvert leaning, "I know you're not a hermit... BUT I AM!"

• after washing his face, declaring, "I'm as clean as a gold fish."

• after constructing some lego structures, he yelled down to me, "Will you come be awestruck?!?"

• changing upstairs, he finished up with calling out, "I'm wearing despicable pajamas now."

• going out to ice cream, "The minute I get my pants on I'll be ready to roll." (So often, I don't want to know why changing was necessary.)

• responding to my offer to read to him a bit more as a thank you for a favor with, "That will be proof that you're a good enough parent." (Where does he come up with this?!?!)