The good news is that last Tuesday was supposedly the saddest day of the year and I didn't even know about it......until Wednesday. We weren't all that sad here. Have you ever heard of such? Who keeps track?
The bad news is that kids are still sick. I will refrain from health updates on this blog as much as I can but this month is almost comical. Since before Thanksgiving we have battled some sort of mality. I blame it on the fact that we had no pool this summer and our vitamin D is at an all-time low. My reasoning to save on medical expense by replacing the pool may or may not be effective on the Hubs.
Reports forthcoming.
From the oldest to the youngest,starting with bronchitis, it was a snotty holiday season with tea pots and netty pots not too far from each other. And not the bad cold kind -that the doc calls "bronchitis" but you can really manage. No, this was a pretty stout case that wiped out my big guy who has the immune system of a Swedish teenager......... like Kramer on Seinfeld. And then managed to sweep down through the ranks so that Hubs and I had extra littles in our bed 3 nights out of five.
We were one week away from taking a test for Big Guy's high school placement next year and all I could picture was this snorting, sneezing eighth grader mummified in toilet paper in a class room of strangers trying to concentrate and focus on algebra and verbal analogies in between snot rockets (his description.... not mine).
As if eighth grade isn't awkward enough.
To add insult to injury... it was about this time last year when we were on our way to a Geography Bee and Big Guy was suffering with more of the same. My last stop before the school was Walgreens. And in my effort to pick out a non-drowsy antihistamine ..... I inadvertently purchased just the opposite.
i know.
it gets worse.
we realized it after Big Guy had ingested a couple.
When he emerged from his testing room, his comment to me was "I just feel so relaxed ..... and sleepy."
He won 4th that day. I still can't decide if the meds cost him a higher spot or if it slowed his normally racing brain down just enough to focus.
Since he won first in this year's Geo Bee, I'm going with the notion that a substance free academic competition is best.
We moved from December drainage to Christmas shingles for me, to New Years stomach virus for the kids and then January chicken pox for the kids..... courtesy of my shingles.
I love family time.
I was so careful about the shingles.They were rather contained... but still.
I shared.
And shingles??? Seriously??
The upside of being sick and stuck at home for a month is getting an enormous amount of school done. I may or may not have overheard my name in the same sentence with "nazi" this week.
But let not your heart be troubled, my little children,.... give me some April sunshine,and we are a serious threat to the great outdoors, parks, picnics, and boxed up math books. And I don't really like to write very much about school, but the truth of it is.... it's pretty much all we do these days. Which is better than if I said, we didn't do much of it.... because it's sort of my job.
The kids have really enjoyed competing in some academic competitions of their choice. Our local school district let Sweet Girl come and compete in their spelling bee. It was her first time to do that and I thought she did great. She freaked out unnecessarily because she imagined that all the kids in our county are like Akeelah and the bee. As much as I tried to assuage her that this was most likely not the case.... she fretted on. So, she missed a word she knew and then she was outraged about it. But determined to go back next year with the proper perspective and win!!!! That's my girl!!!!
Then all three older kids took on the National Geographic Bee with some local home schooled students. Big Guy is a Geography guru. He really loves it.
He actually pictures our world geographically.
As in maps and rivers and mountain ranges and bays and what countries are next to other countries.
I cannot fathom this.
I picture my Rand McNally Atlas all crumpled up in the car at my disposal if I ever care to look for something. Or helloooooo .............Google Maps!!!! I know all the states and capitols of teams in the SEC and can find them on a map - and that has always been plenty good enough.
Me: "Fancy that - I didn't realize that country was right there on the coast like that. How fun!!!!"
"No wonder they call it Prince Edward Island."
Him: "MOMMMMMM - are you for real?"
Me: "Oh I'm for real alright. Now, hand me the answer book and tell me the capitol of Uzbekistan."
In all seriousness, I'm not proud of my geographically challenged brain. The lack of world geography knowledge among students is pretty astounding. It is important to me to keep it included in our curriculum, but since it doesn't come easy for this teacher, imagine my relief to have a couple boys that are naturally interested to pursue it.
Little Man more or less likes to compete at just about anything and Sweet Girl took one for the team that day and endured her questions like a champ.The fourth through eighth grades participate together. So it was Big Guy's last year and Little Man's first. I think boys just like maps more than girls. Maybe it's the whole pirate thing. Big Guy will find out soon if he qualified to compete at the state level. Against all the "school kids".
Insert boogy man sounds.
Why do home schooled kids so often assume that kids in school are automatically smarter?
I don't tell my kids that they are smarter than all the school kids - even if I believe it.
Can't have a bunch of pompous brats. But still, I assumed it when I was young. We don't generally make the comparisons at all..... but still they assume it. So, my big boy is studying his pants off these days to learn the likely locations of a fjord and a fault, where to find Pamukkale and Moeraki. And to remember the "Nine hells of Beppu" are in Japan, while "Hell's Door" is actually in Turkemenistan.
Yeah. He's pumped.
I'm ready for summer.
There's a whole blog post brewing in my head about healthy academic competition and motivated students. Not for today though. But in summary. I like it. I believe it has been good for my children. They need to do it enough so the pressure is lessened each time. In most venues it will be a reality for them sooner or later. Unless our President gets his way and then they will always and only be as good as the kid sitting next to them. God help us.
Big Guy took a test in December, hence the emergent dose of antibiotics, to apply at a local boy's school for his freshman year. It's a big deal for all of us. I'll have to write more about that another time. But the whole test preparation and rehearsing has been a good learning experience for him and me. And made me grateful for all those timed tests we've taken over the years.The truth of it is, when the boy is in a quiet classroom, and a calm testing environment, he does fine with the time he's given. It must be something about our home that creates mild distractions for him.
Imagine that.
There are perks to being imprisoned nestled in at home for two months. My ovens are clean... maybe for the first time in 9 months. I've mopped more than once and it's still the same calendar month. The kids sleep on clean sheets every week, whether they need it or not. I've enjoyed starting some books although, I probably won't finish... but that's not a great attitude. In the evenings, when we're not filling in blank maps or looking up natural wonders, we make french press and eat "white donuts" (powdered) while catching up on all the republican debates and primaries.... and talking politics and economics with my two kids who care... or who want to stay up late so they feign caring.
On a side note..... in my twenties, I bought white donuts every single week at the grocery store. EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. Then the kids starting wising up to what they were and eating them. And that was the end of that nice little story. But every once in a while I cave to the begging.
I think Baby Girl is the one who officially named them "white" donuts. Like she called her favorite coconut cake.... "the white cake with all the stuff on it". Took me a while to interpret that. But now we both share a favorite cake - so it's all good.
Hubs made the kids a new running chart with prize incentives along the way.Track starts in a mere 6 weeks and we're going to beat a path around these two acres in return for cold hard cash. It's amazing what they'll do for money. Kind of like miniature adults.Problem is when racing season is here - we'll have to let them down easy that it's freeby- time. Run for the glory and the good feelings you get. Because Mom and Dad are broke now. If you're lucky, we'll hit a Happy Hour on the way home at Sonic.... and that's about as good as it's gonna get.
If you're wondering where some pictures are...... my camera has been tucked away in it's case. Did I mention we have contagion going on here? Can't have any toxic fluids on my camera.
In the meantime, here's one from Christmas at Lake Fort Smith (also a post coming soon)
Sweet Girl is working on her cowgirl ripstick combination. P.S. All she asked for at Christmas. Those boots. Praying her feet stop growing already.
The babes. Not sure she's all that jazzed about the puffy coat. Way too much restriction.
