A Room With a View

There is one bird in this photo (can you find it?) and the photo didn't do it justice. It was a woodpecker, had a bright-red head and beautiful black and white back and wing feathers. If the google images are correct, it was a red-bellied woodpecker. I found it amazing that the photo looked nothing like real life!

Our schoolroom has a great view of our back yard, specifically our big ash tree. Since we moved our desks to actually face the window, we have been able to look out and dream a little. Sometimes we even see birds.

Today, even with the arctic temperatures, we had quite a show. The woodpeckers were out, with a vengeance. I'm not a bird watcher so I don't know many birds. I think this was the first time I have ever seen a woodpecker. Thomas had never seen one. I shouldn't say "a" woodpecker. We saw so many today that we lost count. We'd watch for awhile, run to the computer and hit google images and try and figure out what we were seeing, then run back. We got the binoculars out and saw them up close and personal.

We saw lots of birds today, some I knew, most I didn't. It's time to buy a field guide. We laughed at how fat they looked, knowing their feathers were just puffed up to keep them warm.

We had so much fun, in fact, that tonight while I was running errands I stopped and bought a block of suet and a suet holder. My sweet husband went outside (without his coat, even!) and hung it in the tree. Thomas is asking to make a bird feeder. I think that would be a wonderful project for him...when it warms up a bit.

A Scouting Solution

Thomas decided to not move on to Boy Scouts. Bob and I are definitely okay with that decision. In fact, we were to the point that we would have said no had he wanted to join.

We have a scout master who is busy in school and forgets everything. He has been sexist in the past. He's just not leader material. Nice enough guy, though. We have an assistant SM that is a nice guy but is openly bigoted toward gay people. Uhm, that just doesn't fly with me. If it weren't for that one huge character flaw, he'd be semi-okay -- except for the fact that he, too, is somewhat sexist. We have another assistant SM who farts and belches out loud at meetings. I'm talking committee meetings, pack meetings -- every time I've ever been around her, she's passed gas in some fashion. The worst about her, though, was the time that we attended a district pinewood derby race a few years back. We were at our fairgrounds. Another mom and I went outside for a break. We were sitting in my car and saw this woman walk through all the parked cars. Then, right in front of us, she dropped her drawers and urinated all over the parking lot. The possibility of a boy seeing this was extremely high. The mom and I sat there with our chins on our chests. The woman was looking around as she was relieving herself, locked eyes with me, and was shocked. She pulled her pants up and went running.

The funny part about this story? (As if there could be a funny part!) There was a indoor public restroom about 50 feet from where we were.

Everyone is human, and everyone is flawed. I have more flaws that I dare admit to here. However, I'm not bigoted toward gays, I don't think I'm sexist, and I know not to fart, belch and pee in public. Those are not qualities I want leading my son.

So...today for some reason I remembered that there is a program called The Lone Scout. I called someone in the know in our district and she told me who to call for further info. I have put my call in and am awaiting response. I am hoping that Thomas will be able to do this. He should, because one of ways you can register is:

Boys being home schooled whose parents do not want them in a youth group.

Yup, we qualify for that. For the reasons stated above, and much, much more. I guess I should say not any youth group, but that specific youth group.

I have looked over the merit badges at Merit Badge Dot Com and I like what I see. So Lone Scouting will be a solution. We would still be able to participate in district events, service projects, and camps.

My husband is tired of my whining...

I whine when I'm on my computer. Why? Because it freezes, it doesn't support a lot of things I want to use, and it's old. We purchased my computer in 1998. Yeah, I'm on Windows 98. Really, I don't whine that much. Only when it freezes -- which is about once a day.

My husband, with the help of Thomas, built a new computer two? years ago. I don't get to use it because if Bob isn't on it, Thomas is. That's okay.

Well, we're getting just enough of a tax return for Bob to build me a new computer. Supposedly I won't whine anymore. He's been married to me for nearly 18 years, he should know by now that I will always whine.

Am I excited? Not really. I wanted a notebook. Desperately. I envision endless homeschool possibilities with a notebook. Bob refuses. Why, I don't know. (Probably because that's what I want. I have a theory that he just does everything contrary to my wants, needs, desires...but that's a post for a different blog, which I don't possess.)

Then it dawned on me. I can take my old faithful to the school room and have what we want: Word and Excel. I can buy a printer cartridge for our old, icky Lexmark printer, and we'll be set. I doubt Bob will hook it up to the internet upstairs, but that's okay.

So am I excited now? Yes, I guess I am. I hope he gets the parts ordered this weekend.

Nothing On My Mind Until Now

Nothing much has been on my mind lately. I just looked and I haven't really blogged a lot. I guess I've been in deep thought, trying to get my house even more organized, trying to get through school, life....ignoring the calls from family members asking me when I am going to put Thomas in real school. Ahem.

I guess one thing that has been on my mind a lot is math. My son is very good at math concepts. He's very good at fractions. Some things click, some don't. Bottom line is that he hates math. Math is our biggest stumbling block in our day. Now it is my opinion that math will be done every.single.day. Period. When your child takes two hours to get his math done, that really screws up your day.

Okay, part of our problem is that we don't start school with the early birds. We get up, do our chores, eat breakfast, do spelling and grammar, then Thomas does reading for an hour while I watch the view. By then it's 11 and we start math. At 12 DH comes home for lunch and from the second he walks in the door, Thomas is pumped up and bouncing.

Thomas and I had yet another long talk about school and how much we are missing out on, how many fun things we could do. Such as: This week we have played Perfection every day, we have worked on a couple exercises from Audiblox, and we have played the Memory game. All very fun things, but good for helping develop short-term memory and speed. If anyone reading has good ideas for games of these types that don't take too much time, please share.

At any rate, Thomas decided he'd start an 8:30 bedtime. It has been 10. Which means his night-owl mother will have to get her butt to bed earlier. It also means we'll be getting up at 6:30, what I call an ungodly hour, and we'll have to see the bear until he leaves. Oh wait, the bear is my husband. He likes his solitude in the morning. So this will be an adjustment. Thomas wanted to start school at 7, but I talked him into 7:30.

Our plan is to do everything BUT math until we're done, and then we'll all sit a the kitchen table with math. I hope this works. He'll be tired and focus will be an issue, but he'll also have two adults to work with not just one.

I wish the math fairy would come to our home and sprinkle her math dust on us. Wouldn't that be the easy way out?

Hmmmmm...

I think I'll tuck myself back under my nice, comfy-cozy rock and do some more deep thinking now.

Question of the Day

About four in the afternoon, we were still doing school. We started talking about the current war, then about vets. Thomas sat back and reflected. I could tell he was really thinking hard about something. Then he made a quizzical expression, I was expecting a deep, profound question from him.

"Mom, did my grandpas fight in the Viet Nam War or the Civil War?"

Now, I'm a good mom who supports my son. He is highly sensitive and I deal with that very well on a daily basis. But not today. I burst out laughing. In fact, it might be because I was very tired, it was late in the day, or I was feeling extremely blue today, but I laughed so hard I had tears coming down my face.

Thomas has come a long way because he actually started laughing in with me. Whew, I didn't hurt his feelings.

I looked at him and told him to think about how old both grandpas are/were. I see the light bulb pop over his head. "Oh, DUH, mom, the Civil War was in the 1800s. They were in WWII."

Thank goodness he figured that out and joined me in further laughter.

Tonight while he was at the train club with his dad, I called my dad. I told him what Thomas had asked. My dad roared! He then said he feels as though he were in the civil war. Three of my father's grandfathers were in the Civil War. I think we may have to go off on a tangent tomorrow, get my genealogy out, and go through our war patriots.

We have one known that served in the Revolutionary War. We have oodles that served in the Civil War. The day my granddad signed up for WWI, it was over. How lucky was he! Both of Thomas's grandfathers were in WWII.

My great-great-great grandfather fought in the Mexican Wars. I know nothing about that period and I need to do some research, and quickly.

Sometimes when you're down and out (I was having an awful day today mood wise) one simple yet innocent question will make you laugh and snap you back into reality.

God, I love my kiddo! (Just not when he wakes up grumpy, as he's been doing the past two days.)

Thomas, Addie Mouse, and the Trains...

Addie posted this photo to her blog, but I wanted to share it here as well. This is a small corner of the train club's room. Thomas continues to love the railroad club.

A Weird Kind of Sorrow

I'm feeling a little down tonight. Not depressed, and not really down, either, I guess. Just feeling sad that a change is about to happen. Tomorrow afternoon will be our last real den meeting -- ever. We do have one final den meeting set, but we wanted to take the boys out to eat as a special treat -- so that is just pure fun and takes no prep time from me.

I've spent about three hours preparing for tomorrow's den meeting. The den leader joke is: only an hour a week and you're done. Yeah, the meetings last an hour and you spend many hours preparing for those meetings. In fact, our meetings last two hours.

It's been fun. I loved the boys. I didn't like all of them, to be honest. There was one I hoped would quit, but he didn't. That's okay. He's nice when he's by himself, he just goes wild with a crowd. I put on a good program for the boys. Thomas enjoyed scouts. He had even more fun at pack meetings. He gets along with kids younger than he is much better than his own-age peers. He also gets along with older kids better. Strange.

There will definitely be a void. This was my thing for since second grade, so not quite four years.
I joined a local organization to help fill the void for me. Thomas has joined the train club. Which, I might add, is working out better than Bob or I could have imagined. There are people of all ages in the club and they all treat Thomas with respect and share his great enthusiasm. They teach him like they would teach an adult -- that part I love. What a confidence booster it is for him. He comes home from every meeting glowing, bouncing, and sharing his experiences 200 words per minute. He's happy. I have my eyes wide open, though, to find something with more kids -- a chance where he can escape his mom and secretly tell poop jokes that I've forbid.

Well, goodbye to scouts. We have our restaurant meeting left, a blue and gold banquet to attend, and finally our cross over.

It went SO fast. Why does time go so fast the older you get?

I enjoyed watching all the tiger cubs at our last meeting. They were so little. My Webelos were so grown up. Blink and it's over. Sigh.

From now on, our Tuesdays will be ours. I won't be interrupting school to put the final touches on our projects, or run to the dollar store for something we need. Tuesdays will be like any other day now.

Sigh.

Thomas is not going on to Boy Scouts. He didn't like it. I didn't, either. New leaders just took over and it's a little chaotic at best. The difference between Cubs and BS is very noticable. I'm okay with his choice.

Sigh, sigh, sigh.

While I'm Bragging...

Here's another brag.

We switched to Rod and Staff Math this year. I put Thomas in their 5th grade program. We skipped a few chapters in the beginning because it was review and he knew the material. We forged on. The first section on fractions we came to was completely different than we had learned last year, so I had him do the chapter. I scheduled our year so that we would complete the book by the end of the year.

Today, however, we sped things up a bit. We started a new chapter of fractions. I looked closely at the material, knew Thomas could do it, so I decided to have some fun. I turned to the first lesson of the chapter, put the hardest two problems on the white board, and had him work them. Done in 30 seconds. I went to the next lesson and did the same. I did it for the entire chapter. Wow, that kid knows his fractions. We moved on to the next section on fractions. We did the same thing. Done in no time flat.

So two chapters down in one day. Woo-hoo. Good going, Thomas.

I credit his "love" of fractions on the book we used last year. Barron's Painless Fractions. We worked through about 3/4 of the book last year. We had started fractions in Singapore and it wasn't clicking with Thomas so I did a quick Amazon search and order. I would either print worksheets from the net on the day's lesson or make my own for him to practice. The proof is in the pudding as it taught him well!

In reality, Thomas hates math. He despises math. I don't know why, but he loses his ability to focus while doing math. It's frustrating for him. He scores very high on math concepts, and even well above grade level on calculation, but he hates it. Math in this house takes an hour to hour and a half every day. And I'm the mean mom who makes him "strive for excellence" and keep at it.

One of the reasons I like Rod and Staff so much is that there is a lot of review and practice. Tons. You learn new stuff on one page of the lesson, do the practice problems, and the second page of the lesson is review and practice of old skills.

Thomas has told me many times that while he hates math, even he likes Rod and Staff because it helps him get it down cold. And that's the point.

So I guess this day will go down as a super-fantastic day for us on all accounts!

Wow

Do we expect enough of our children?

I ask this because I had an exchange with someone tonight that left me a little stunned. I was told by the CM in scouts that for tonight's pack meeting, my six Webelos had received $150 worth of awards. About a quarter of that were badges and three quarters were belt loops and pins. My son received the most, but was followed closely by others.

Over the past year and a half, three of my six boys (including Thomas) earned every single Webelos badge available. Thomas earned every academic belt loop and almost half of the sports belt loops. I am very proud of my boys. They all worked very hard.

Anyway, the CM shared with me that the district told him that my den has received more awards than any other den in our district -- ever.

While I am very proud of that, I am stunned. We worked the program. We had great boys with great parents who helped them with the badges we did not do in the den. They worked on belt loops outside of the den as well. I am stunned, though, because it really wasn't that hard. I cannot fathom why dens across the district, state and US don't earn more awards.

If we teach our children to strive for excellence, they will. If we settle for good enough, that's what we'll get.

I am so proud of my boys.

I Miss Family Pass

I really miss Family Pass, formerly Mentura. We watched so many wonderful educational DVDs from them it really enhanced our school. I was devistated when it closed. Our public library, while good for a small town, has a dismal collection of DVDs and videos. I decided today that I need to do something about this void.

I did a little searching. It seems there is a company out there that was made exclusively for homeschoolers. It's expensive, IMHO, and didn't have the flexibility that Family Pass had or that Netflix has. You have to return your videos in 15 days. You pay individually for each, and it's expensive. On their site it says:

The more you rent—the more you save! The annual membership fee is only $25 per year. As a member, you can rent up to 3 educational multimedia products at one time. The first rental item cost is $7 and the second and third items are only $4 each, making the average rental price only $5 each. The selected items are mailed to your mailbox and you can enjoy them for up to 15 days. Then mail the items back to (them) using the provided FREE shipping label. Visit us online, rent 3 new items and the convenient process starts again.

I won't link to the company. I found this company on a google search and was taken to a page comparing it to Netflix. When I went to the main page, I found this: "Participant in The Old Schoolhouse New Subscriber Free Gift Promotion." I still boycott The Old Schoolhouse. So that's not an option. In fact, when I saw that, I didn't even bother to search their collection.

So off to Netflix. I searched many things we're studying now and found a fair amount of titles that we might enjoy. They have over 100 Imax titles. Lots of History Channel. This seems as if it will be our best bet.

Another option would be to check the TV schedule on a daily basis and start recording programs. This is what my husband wants me to do. I don't want the hassle of doing that, I don't want videos taking up space in my house, and I am not ready to buy a DVD player that can also record at the moment. Who wants to fast forward through commercials. Plus, it would take quite some time to build up a colleciton to use while we study. With Netflix, I can get it as soon as it is available.

The last option I considered was United Streaming. At $149 a year, not bad. The pros are the vidoes are available whenever I would want them with no wait. The con is that we'd have to watch it on the computer. From what I've read, it's impossible to burn a decent DVD as the quality goes down. Our computers are in the basement. It's cold, ugly and uncomfortable down here. I'd rather snuggle up on the couch while watching our videos. Our school system does subscribe to this, so I may call them and see if we can get a free subscription, but it's not exactly what I want.

So I guess Netflix wins. Not exactly what I want, it will take me awhile to find movies that fit with our studies, but it will have to do.

Anyone else have any other ideas??

Brrr!

Addie ventured out into the snow today.


We're finally getting a taste of winter. It's been cold all week, with windchills below zero. Today it started snowing. Thomas and I ran to the grocery store for my weekly shopping. Coming out of the snow, we delighted in "the little things that are great about winter."

First, the snow was hitting our eyelashes and melting. We both had watery eyes -- and it felt great. In March, it's not a great feeling, but when there hasn't been hardly any snow, it's a great feeling.

Secondly, we delighted in something weird. When you go outside in very cold weather, the hair in your nose freezes and it feels really cool. We both laughed at our frozen noses. That was one of my favorite things to do as a kid, freeze my nose hair. I'd go in and out of the house, just to experience it. Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw.

Yeah, I'm weird.

We had a weird and busy week. We didn't go out of the house much, but for some reason we were extremely busy. Lots of schooling got done, lots of fretting about the state of the house as well. This morning we finally packed up all the Christmas goodies and gave the living room a good deep cleaning. That hung over my head all week, enough to make me grumpy, but not enough to pack it all up. I feel so much better.

Monday is a school holiday. I had completely forgotten that until a friend reminded me on Friday. I'm such a stinker that I'm not going to tell Thomas and we're going to school anyway. At least math, but probably the whole works. We're still making up for lost time from this past November.

Scouts has me extremely busy as we wind up for the big finale. We have two den meetings left, two pack meetings and our Blue and Gold banquet. I am counting the days. It's been fun, I'm going to miss the boys (most of them) but I am so looking forward to having my Tuesdays free again and not rushing through school. I'm looking forward to putting all the money I spent on scouts on our school! It was easy for me to spend around $25 a meeting on supplies. I think that's about what it averaged out to. I'm looking forward to no more Monday night meetings. I'm looking forward to no more Thursday night meetings. I'm looking forward to retirement. =)

My yahoo groups have been extremely busy lately as well. Tis the season for anyone and everyone to join a diet group and a cleaning group. So almost all my online time has been devoted to those groups.

That's my week in a nutshell. This coming week I have hopes of re-organizing our school room, YET again. I am just never happy with that room. There's not a lot you can do with a 9x9 school room with 1970's blue carpeting. I dream of a big room, more table space, less sprawling out on our kitchen table -- no wait, that's my husband's dream, having a kitchen table that is free and clear of books.

We have a visitor!

Addie, the Adventure Mouse, has come all the way from Oklahoma to visit us in Minnesota. Check out her adventures at her blog. We'll try to come up with something of interest while she visits.

Maybe not so bad...

The above photo is from Arby's website. Yes, they have biscuits and gravy. Now I just have to hope that the rumors are true, that there is indeed an Arby's coming to town, and that they will serve breakfast.

It's all rather silly, because I could actually make biscuits and gravy at home. But it's just not the same as having a reason to get out of the house.

Good bye, Hardee's, Taco Bell

My little town proudly sported quite a few fast food joints: Taco Bell, Subway, Taco John's, KFC, McDonalds, Hardee's and Burger King. We recently (last Christmas) a Wendy's.

Not long ago, we went to Taco Bell for supper and Taco Bell was no longer. It had closed down. Now it shared space with the Pizza Hut, which was still in business. The people at the counter had no explanation for why Taco Bell closed.

Funny thing is, while at my father-in-law's funeral, I was being a social butterfly and visiting with people I didn't know, which is extremely out of character for me, but I learned something. My husband's cousin's husband works for Taco Bell. He also knew where we lived. After introductions his first comments to me were: Your Taco Bell just shut down because it was a test market, and we pulled the plug. I stood there with my mouth hanging open and when I zapped back into myself I begged him to bring Taco Bell back. No, it won't happen. Sad. I could have a 4-point taco on Weight Watchers there, and a 7-point burrito. Grrr. I love Taco Bell.

Yesterday morning, in preparation for the new year 2007, I thought it would be fun to do something I do for Thomas on occasion: Drive to Hardee's and get him biscuits and gravy. He loves biscuits and gravy. At 99 cents at Hardee's, it's just cheaper and easier for me to get them there. So I'm driving along, went to McDonald's first because I wanted an Egg McMuffin. Hardee's was across town and when I got to it, I had to stop in my tracks. I was just about to turn into their parking lot when I realized there were no lights on nor had the parking lot been cleared of snow. Shoot! I didn't have time to go back to McD's so I drove home. Thomas, who doesn't like Egg McMuffins, gladly ate mine. Double shoot.

It seems that Hardee's is closing down and in its place will be a brand new Arby's. I'm not overly happy about that. I'm not a huge Arby's fan. Partly because that was my mother's last meal before she died -- that kind of thing sticks with you. Mostly, though, because it's expensive. But whatever, we don't do fast food that often anyway, and there's always Wendy's.

I'm just very sad because Hardee's has been a tradition in my household for nearly 20 years. Bob and I used to get up every Saturday morning and eat at Hardee's -- a ham, egg and cheese biscuit for me -- and then hit the book store at the mall. Ah, those were the days. When munchkin came along, that routine changed. When he was old enough to eat real food, his dad introduced him to biscuits and gravy. He loved them.

So special days always started out with biscuits and gravy for Thomas. Every school year our first day of school started by driving to Hardee's for Thomas's biscuits and gravy. When Thomas was up way too late the night before, I'd bribe him out of bed with a promise of a Hardee's run.

We are sad and disappointed. How will our B&G tradition continue??? I wish we would have known so we could have had one final good-bye. Hmph.

Other rumors are that our local Kmart is going to be closing. I shop at Kmart a lot. It's close to my house, about a mile and a half. This would make me very sad but for the fact that a SuperWalmart is being built about a mile and a half in the other direction from my house. Rumor has it that our local Hy-Vee is going to take over Kmart. Now that makes me happy. I can't imagine being so close to a grocery store! By golly, if it moves to Kmart, then that will save me 3 miles driving to HyVee! Woo-hoo.

Yes, I know, this is hilarious. This is what it's like to live in a small town. Saving three miles IS a big deal here. Not like Denver, where I grew up, and you had to really drive to get anywhere.

One final fast food rant. Our McDonald's had a makeover. They took out the play area and redid the whole place. It is now beautiful with a fireplace even. The only thing is that we wished we would have known ahead of time so Thomas could have said goodbye. He spent many hours playing in there as a small child.

Oh, I hate change. I can live with it all, as some of it is good, but why mess with my baby's biscuits and gravy! Why???

lol

The Big, Green, Ugly Monster

Envy struck me yesterday. Envy of living somewhere else, somewhere close to civilization.

A blogging friend, Mull-berry, has re-kindled her Addie the Adventure Mouse blog. Take a visit, Addie has had some great field trips. I wanted to host Addie. But I started feeling sorry for myself because there is nothing of any interest in my small town in the winter. There would be no fun place to take Addie. We normally have ice fishing. Our town has several lakes and the winter scene is identical to the movie Grumpy Old Men. But the last time I drove by one of our lakes, there were no ice huts because it's been too warm. That's all I could think of. So perhaps Addie can visit this spring when we can hit the road and actually see something fun.

In all fairness, Addie didn't make me envious. It's been building for quite some time. I envy several things: homeschool groups, museums, field-trip adventures, play groups, parks, zoos, and like-minded homeschoolers.

My small town does have a homeschool group. I went to a couple meetings and Thomas and I went on one field trip. I then decided the group was not for us and did not pay dues. The women of the group are all very, very nice. They just are so different than I am. I welcome differences, because that's how we learn. However, sometimes it would be nice to not worry about mentioning Harry Potter or sleeping in on Sundays or accidentally saying oh sh*t in front of someone.

The homeschool group is *big* on the co-op. The group is basically about the co-op. The leader of the group told me that our children need to learn to learn with other children, thus the co-op is a necessity.

I beg to differ. Kinda. One of the reasons Thomas is no longer in public school is because he learns differently than quote unquote normal. We homeschool to meet his educational and emotional needs. Another reason we homeschool is because Bob and I get to choose the curricula. We're not at the mercy of the public school system. We do follow the state standards.
Thomas has been in Cub Scouts and he knows full well how to "learn with others. "

So had we joined the co-op, we wouldn't have had any say in what was being taught. And the subjects they did teach didn't jive with our studies. Plus, it just wouldn't work out to take a day off from our lessons every Monday to go to co-op and do things that I didn't necessarily want Thomas to do.

At the beginning of this year, the co-op had a planning session. I went, and was one of five moms plus a few dads in attendance. Another newer homeschooling mom and I practically begged to have play groups, park days, and time for just pure social interaction for the kids. That's what I want out of a homeschool group. We were told that wasn't necessary, and that they would get that at co-op. I beg to differ with that, because their co-op is school, and not time for fun, free play.

So I am envious. I'm envious of choice. I'm envious of great groups out there that I know exist.

We had a good day yesterday. We actually started school at 7:30 am, which is amazing because we usually don't start until 9. School went well, but I just felt a little down all day. I felt down again this morning. I got up early again and made some chocolate chip muffins to surprise Thomas. When they were done, I woke him up. He came out to the kitchen with a huge smile on his face and was very excited to see the little surprise I had made for him. I then got a big hug.

And school went very well. He was happy. He worked hard. Half-way through the morning, I looked at him. Really looked at him. All my envy just seemed to melt away. How could I have any feelings other than joy? He was smiling, working hard, and enjoying himself. He doesn't care about co-ops, or that we don't have museums, zoos, or play groups. He enjoys playing with his friends, he enjoys school. He gets a kick out of hiding his whoopie cushion under my chair when I get up. He giggles at silly things. He enjoys writing assignments because he usually writes two stories: one on topic and one on poop. (Yes, he's pure boy.) He thinks it's fun to turn in his writing and have me get mad about the poop story, then say "Just kidding, mom, here is the assignment."

So I took a lesson from Thomas today. Be happy with what you have. I am rich beyond measure. He knows this, but I occasionally have to be reminded.

I'm in the mood for one of these

I'm just not in the mood to blog about homeschooling or anything else (too tired!) so I'll do a meme instead. I need something mindless.

1. FIRST NAME On my blog it's Frankie. In real life? That's a secret.

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? At the Cowboy's funeral -- November.

4 DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? When it's neat, yes.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Roast beef.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just a blog.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? No.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Never in a million years.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Kellog's All-Bran Flakes -- used to be called Bran Flakes.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Very.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolate marble.

14. SHOE SIZE? 7.5

15. RED OR PINK? Pink.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The fact that I am overly critical of myself.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My friends in South Dakota.

18 . DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO PLAY? Anyone that wants to.

19.WHAT COLOUR PANTS and SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue sweats and no shoes. I don't wear shoes in the house.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? DH playing Runescape and DS playing with his trains.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Lavender -- or any pastel.

23. FAVOURITE SMELL? My granddad's shed -- very earthy smell.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My best friend.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? I do not drink alcohol, so it would have to be Diet Pepsi.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? None. Well, basketball, I guess.

29. EYE COLOR? Blue.

30. HAT SIZE? Clueless, aside from my cowboy hat, I don't wear hats.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Chicken fried steak.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy ending.

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Heather gray.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Grandmother's chocolate pudding cake.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ???

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ???

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? A quit smoking book.

41 WHAT'S YOUR MOUSE PAD? Memorex.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I don't even remember!

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My son being a chatterbox.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Somewhere in Europe.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Being me.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Laramie, Wyoming.

I tag anyone who wants to play.

Trains - Part 3

Here is the train. The engine is a Union Pacific SD50. There's a Burlington Northern reefer, a Chesapeake & Ohio gondola, a UP wrecking car, a Canadian National gondola, a UP box car and a Chicago Northwestern way car (caboose.)

Thomas has ordered a new RS3 Rock Island engine , which is a switch engine, with his Christmas money. It seems our UP SD50 is just a hair long for the 18-inch radius and switching on the shorter track. The new RS3 is shorter so he shouldn't have a problem.

Trains - Part 2

This is the control panel that Thomas built -- with just a little help from his dad.


The table top that Bob built sits on the old play table that Bob built a few years ago. Bob had a huge piece of styrofoam in the garage, so they used that to elevate the new table while they did their wiring. Thomas is doing his soldering.



A tape measure comes in handy to hold the wires to be soldered.

Ignore the ugly basement, please. Someday I'll finish painting the walls.

Trains -- Part 1

This is the train table. Bob built the 4 x 8 board and attached insulation board on top. That was part of Thomas's Christmas present. The tracks are True Track by Atlas. We bought a layout set because it was easier. Thomas and Bob have been working on this since Christmas. The track is all nailed down and they are working on the wiring.

Thomas dug out some of his old Thomas the Tank Engine stuff to play with while they were working. Any trains you see on the table are not HO scale, just his old toys. Once they get all the wiring done, they will work on scenery.

Go to bed already

It's 2:30 am and I'm still up. In my perfect world, I'd stay up until 4 or so every night, sleep until noon or so, then start my day. Well, it obviously is impossible to live my perfect world on a day-to-day basis because I'm a mom -- a homeschooling mom. I wonder when Thomas is grown and leaves the house if I will indeed go to that schedule.

It was a slow day, I putzed around the house in the morning. I talked to a friend on the phone in the afternoon, and that was a very special treat. Then my stomach started hurting. I took a nap after super until 7:30. I realized it was Thursday and my dream of deep cleaning the kitchen on our break was not going to be realized unless I got off my butt and started to work. So I did. And I felt very ill while I was doing it but I plugged away.

One of the things I find most troublesome about homeschooling is that I don't have time to devote to my home that I would like. I am not a multi-tasker, I cannot do two things at once. I have to give undivided attention to the task at hand. And that makes it impossible for me to clean during school. I mean deep clean.

Thomas and his dad worked on the electrical wiring of his model train set tonight, so I had peace and quiet. I was able to get a lot done, but I still have a good solid day's worth of cleaning in the kitchen to do. Maybe two. I also want to get the Christmas stuff packed away. I also want to get the laundry caught up. I also want to... you name it, I want to do it.

What is it about the Christmas holiday that turns your house upside down? I haven't done laundry in a week. The house is a mess. Perhaps it is because my husband has the week off and is underfoot. Sometimes I miss the days that I worked outside the home. My house was always in good shape and clean then. Yes, I had a cleaning lady come once a week, but that wasn't why it was in good shape. It was because no one was there during the day to mess it up.

Even though we're on break this week, the learning has not stopped. Thomas has learned so much about electricity this week. He's learned terms of all the doodads: terminals, switches, amps, etc. -- stuff I know nothing about (nor do I care to know!). He has spent hours wiring that track. It's a long process, definitely longer than I thought it would be. His dad taught him how to solder today. What surprised me most is that the boys spent several hours together today and tonight working on it, and Bob got tired and curled up with a book. Thomas plugged away and continued to work. All by himself. I was very impressed by that because the train stuff is in the basement, and he hates to be in the basement alone, and secondly, because he usually doesn't like to work on projects by himself.

Tomorrow should be more of the same: me cleaning the kitchen and the boys working on the train.