Just a quick note. T is sick today and I'm tired from being up with him. We need to do something at some point this week. We borrowed a Spanish CD from the library but I'm having a problem loading it. We also got two books in Spanish from the library: "Goodnight Moon" and "Harold and the Purple Crayon". I figured it would be good to read books that the kids know well. They have loved them! Sometimes they try to repeat what I say. We're having a great time!

B is enjoying his latest art class. I don't know if there will be another one offered until after Christmas, which is sure to make him sad. Whenever I pick him, he just bounds out of the elevator to see me. He looks so happy to be there.

T has recently started Sunday School. I was positive that he was not ready to separate from me. If B were with him, it would have been OK but that's not how the age division works. The Youth Director told me I could just accompany him to class and help out while I was staying with him. He's prone to meltdowns lately, so that was another concern in my mind.

Anyway, on the drive over, he announced that he would be going by himself. I knew that would never happen. We dropped B off first. Then, I brought T to his room and introduced him to his teachers. He told me to leave. And when I left, he didn't even turn around and wave! I even went back in one more time to tell them to bring him to me if he melted down and he didn't even notice me. I was shocked! When I picked him up, he was happily coloring with other kids and he was very content. And you know what? His behavior at home has improved since then!

I was really surprised that he went by himself and did so well. I was also amused to see how he acted on his own. He's always in B's shadow, it seems like, because B asserts himself as the creative play leader at home. When the teacher told T that they were going to make a boat out of blocks for animals (Noah's Ark), he asserted, "I have an idea! We can make a ZOO for these animals!" It was funny to see him interacting with other children without B standing close by. It's been good for him.

I have to go do kid stuff now.

B abruptly asked me for plastic baggies and straws yesterday so that he could make a "Visible Lobster". I have a Visible Woman from the 1980s that he loves. And they apparently make a "Visible Cow" which he desperately wants. Anyway, he likes anatomy and the idea of a visible or see-through body.

So he made this "Visible Lobster". Dh printed off a picture of lobster internal anatomy. And then B set to work with his Scotch Tape, which I need to buy in bulk at this point. Btw, if you make superhero costumes out of paper and Scotch Tape them to your hair and face, they really hurt when they come off.

Anyway, here it is. It's was really hard to take a picture of, because of the reflective nature of the sandwich baggies. But he used 4 sandwich baggies and cut them into various pieces, then taped them together. The actual body is like a long loop; it's connected on the ends to create a front and back but the sides are open. He's holding it by the tail in this picture. You can see the straw legs on either side. And then there are straw antennae on its head. The yellow zip-loc on the head is its mouth. The small green circle is the heart. The blue strip is a long vein. The squiggly red strip is a blood vessel. The purple and yellow object represents the intestines. And there you go, a Visible Lobster.

The kids are watching another episode of "Plaza Sesamo" right now. T surprised me the other day when I heard him singing, "cerca cerca cerca". I asked him what he was saying and he said, "That means 'nearer' in Spanish. They sing that on the Spanish Sesame Street." I've ordered Spanish tapes from the library and I need to pick them up today.

B has taken some classes recently. He's started another art class, which is focused on making things from paper, a B specialty!

He also took a workshop at the Planetarium. I was unable to chaperone his Planetarium class because younger siblings were not allowed to attend. It's run by the school district so they're very strict about "grades" and ages. When I dropped him off, I was surprised to see how many kids were there. I thought it would be a smaller homeschool gathering. I didn't realize that an elementary school would be there and that there would be tons of children. I was nervous about leaving him, because he didn't really know anyone and I was worried that he would get lost. Thankfully, a homeschooling Mom chaperone, who I don't even know, put her hand on his back and talked to him. She kept an eye out for him and I really appreciated that.

I was supposed to pick him up at the Planetarium right before they went to lunch. When I arrived early to pick him up, his group had already left for lunch and I couldn't find him. No one knew where his group was. I started to panic a little. Then, I found the receptionist's desk and the receptionist was able to tell me exactly where he was, down to the specific picnic table number. The nice chaperone Mom had given him one of their cookies. I thanked her profusely and then we went home.

I was so nervous about this school-like setting because he's completely unused to that and I was really nervous that he would get lost in the shuffle. But he was SO incredibly excited about his experience. I have never heard him talk that much after a class. Usually, I have to interview him to get the most basic details. In this case, he was gushing about what happened.

The Planetarium "ceiling" opened up to show a video about the Universe. But it was one of those interactive films where you feel like you're traveling inside the film, kind of like an IMax experience. They went past Saturn, went past a black hole and to a bunch of other places. Then, when the film was over, they were treated to a virtual roller-coaster ride through space. They were inside a rocket and they sped over loops of "train tracks". It was apparently very realistic and exciting for B. He talked and talked and talked about this workshop. So even though I was unhappy with the logistics, he had a fantastic time.

Our homeschool group had a field trip to a recycling plant today. It was very good, but we weren't able to see a lot, due to safety reasons. We did see the trucks being weighed and trucks loading stuff. We saw some recycled "squares", squished up stuff. It was very loud and smelly and chaotic; the kids loved it!

Our host gave a great talk about recycling. She was enthusiastic, which was wonderful. I'm not sure what my kids retained from it. I think B learned that aluminum comes from inside a rock. He may or may not remember that plastic is made from oil. He learned that paper is recycled by shredding and mixing it with water. He had seen a cartoon version of this on "Charlie and Lola" so he had a general idea to begin with. Overall, it was very good.

I learned a ton. I learned that I have been putting things in the recycling bins that our county is not equipped to take. Even though OJ cartons and yogurt pots are recyclable, our county does not recycle them. I also learned that our facility sells the recycled materials and that China is their biggest customer. It was very interesting, although I feel sad that I cannot recycle as much stuff as I thought I could.

Right now, the kids are watching some TV. They're watching a Reading Rainbow episode about art. They just finished watching, "Plaza Sesamo", which I taped for them over the weekend. They both seem to enjoy it very much, although as it was ending, B said that he wanted something in English. But in a small dose, they enjoyed it. We talked about a new word: pan or bread. I translated some of what they were saying but not most of it, because then it would just be me talking over their show. I was surprised at how much of it I could still understand because I have lost so much Spanish. It's funny to me that I couldn't remember how to say simple words and phrases like "eating", "running", "hard work" but I could understand them when I heard them. I think my goal of reviving my rusty Spanish is definitely attainable now. I only wish we still had the Spanish channel; we should have it in the new house.

Science Center Trip

We visited our local science center today, which is only open to the public for one day of the month. We have an annual membership which is well worth it. I can't believe we have such a fabulous science center in our back yard! There's so much to do in the various buildings that we are never able to do it all in one day.

Today, we focused on the natural science building. We held and touched various animals. B held a tarantula, a baby mouse and a Madagascar hissing cockroach. He loves those cockroaches for some reason and he kept laughing when it repeatedly tried to run up his arm and make a break for it. B is a very gentle guy with great regard for all creatures. The one time that he accidentally stepped on a beetle, he cried hard about it because he felt so sad about what he'd done. So, while it always surprises me that he's being so brave with bugs, it also seems fitting that he would like a hissing cockroach as much as any other animal. We were able to hear the cockroaches hiss, btw, which was so loud!

Following B's lead, I decided to be brave and hold the tarantula. I'm generally squeamish and nervous about animals in general (especially bugs) but I really like spiders for some reason. Still, there's such a strong mental aversion to touching something like a tarantula. But you know, once I had it on my hand, it really felt like any other pet. Its legs were soft and nice. And it felt furry like a hamster. It was a nice animal. I wasn't brave enough to hold the cockroach but I did touch one.

T also surprised us by touching some animals because, normally, he's very adverse to even getting near them. With one finger, he touched a tree frog, a baby mouse and a ferret. The ferret was almost like a dog or a cat, very sociable and snuggly. B and I also touched some snakes but T abstained.

B also examined various bones in the animal rooms including a snake skeleton and turtle shells.

In one of the marine rooms, he touched the horseshoe crabs, sting-rays and a starfish. In another marine room, they had cow bones out for some bizarre reason. At any rate, B held part of the cow spine and he was thrilled to discover the tunnel where the spinal cord would go inside the vertebrae. Dh, B and T did a bug puzzle. We looked at animal X-rays. And we watched a working honey bee hive that is temporarily being kept in the marine room. B commented that one honeybee was working by himself and how sad he must feel to be alone.

Then, we went to the Living Farm. In the main house, we ate cinnamon fritters that were cooked over a fire. I made a comment about a checkerboard on the wall which led to one of the interpreters talking about how they would use corn cob slices as pieces. That led to a discussion of natural pigments for paint. Then, somehow, we ended up talking about mattresses, straw and bed bugs.

We wandered over to the blacksmith's shop, where we chatted with him for a while. He let B pump the bellows, which was exciting. The kids got a kick out of watching him hammer a red-hot piece of metal and make designs in it.

Then, we went into the barn to see the animals. The kids ground up corn to feed the chickens. There's a nice elderly man who is an interpreter and he loves to chat to anyone who will listen. I spoke to him for a while. He let B brush the horse.

In a shelter, there was a wood-working activity going on. B patiently waited for over 20 minutes to have a turn, while the woodworker helped another boy measure and cut some wood. An older boy helped B sharpen a chisel on a wetstone. Then, when it was B's turn to do workworking, the woodworker spent about 20 minutes with him. He showed him how to use a spoke shave tool to turn a wooden block into a dowel. He was so patient and spent so much time with B. B was really thrilled. When we left, he sent B with the dowel he made, in addition to some sandpaper.

Now, B is really interested in woodworking. Dh loves to do woodworking but we always had space issues. In the new house, dh will have his own shop in the basement. The guys are so excited about the idea of doing woodworking in the new shop. I had bought a book called, "Carpentry for Children" by Lester R. Walker. There are lots of great projects in that book and I can't wait for them to be able to do some!

On a completely unrelated note, I have been inspired to try to speak Spanish to the kids at intervals in the day. I pick up languages very easily and I love studying languages. I even studied Chinese Mandarin one semester and did very well in it. I wade through written Polish when I do genealogy. With the Spanish, I dated a guy from South America and I had tons of South American friends. Subsequently, I had frequent language immersion opportunities. It got to the point where I was very good at speaking Spanish. I wasn't fluent. But, well, one time a guy who was talking about my friend had to switch to Spanish Pig Latin because I was translating for her regardless of how quickly he spoke. I passed a graduate level Spanish exam without taking the class; I had to translate a Spanish essay about the political effect of nuclear weapons development.

And now, 15 years later...I have lost most of my Spanish. It seems like such a waste. I just haven't had the opportunity to use it. The Latin American population is rapidly growing where we live, but even with random situations, it's not enough to keep my skills up. I was thinking about all of this one night, as I was dithering about choosing a language course from the library (French? German? Chinese?) . I was thinking that it's a shame I couldn't expose my kids to some foreign language. Then, I thought that perhaps I could get Spanish language tape and try to jog my memory. Dh said that he supposed that it would help sensitize the kids' brains for future foreign language acquisition, even if they didn't learn any functional Spanish now.

So, I've decided to go ahead and try it. I have language tapes on order with the library, but I've started speaking some rusty Spanish to the kids, like "Would you like a TV show?", "Sit down.", "Ready? Let's go." At first I really felt like a dork; I'm sure I sound like one because I have lost my nice accent. :-( But my kids actually really took to it! They were actually enthusiastic about it, which surprised me. They try to repeat what I say and they sometimes remember what a phrase means. Of course, throwing in English words and using sign language helps. I thought that maybe we could borrow some Spanish translations of picture books we know well; the library has a ton of those. B has been bugging me every day to see if the language tapes are in yet. They might not learn much but I think it must be good for them to hear it.

We went to the library to pick up some audio books I ordered. B has been really into audio books. When he first discovered that he could get his favorite books in audio format, he listened to an entire book in one sitting, which took 3.5 hours. Since then, he gives himself breaks. But he often puts an audio book first thing in the morning. He listens to them at frequent intervals during the day. He has left the supper table early to listen to one. I'm having a hard time keeping up.

So, I ordered a ton of Magic Treehouse books, "The Mouse and Motorcyle" by Beverly Cleary and Milne's "Winnie the Pooh". That should keep him going for a while. When I got slack in getting new audio books, he listened to Roald Dahl's "BFG" over and over. We figure he must have listened to it about 5 times! Dh is hoping that B will take off with reading soon so that he can do this himself without the limitations of keeping a good stock of new audio books. The library doesn't have a great selection of audio books. And they're expensive to buy. So I can kind of see dh's point. Oh well. I'm just glad he likes books so much.

At the library, B picked up a few books in the children's section. He wandered down a few aisles and came back with a book about space and a book about working dogs. Then, he wanted my help finding a bone book, so we found, "The Skeletal System" by Caroline Arnold.

We read the entire skeletal system book when we got home. It was about 43 pages. We learned about bone shapes (flat bones, long bones, etc), the anatomy of bones (periosteum, marrow, etc), the function of common bones, joints (ball and socket, hinge joints, etc), and how muscles and bones attach (tendons, cartilage, ligaments).

I forgot to post yesterday but we went to the zoo with some friends of ours. We had a fantastic time.

T just completely freaked me out! He's about to turn 4 and he's desperate for his birthday to arrive. He was complaining that it still wasn't his birthday so I sat him on my lap and I showed him the computer calendar. I was explaining that he had a couple of weekends to go. He said something about it being two days and I said that it was more like 14 days or so. I'm too paranoid to post his actual birthday so I'm going to change what he said. I said, "See, today is the 12th and your birthday is on this date." And he said, "Aw! That's 16 days!" And it WAS exactly that number of days!

Impromptu Math Lessons

The kids have been getting $1 a week for allowance for a few months. It started when B abruptly cried at supper one night with the declaration that everyone had money except for him. Since the allowance started, the kids have been learning to save and make consumer choices. They've also been learning about currency since they frequently ask how much various toys are; we've been reading the price tags together and talking about what the decimal point means and everything. It's been good for them.

The first time, they saved up enough money to buy a Star Wars figure. They had some existing money in their wallets that preceded the allowance policy. Next, they wanted to buy a remote control robot. Since the two of them had broken one of B's birthday presents, a remote control robot, I was going to subsidize this purchase. They really didn't play roughly with the toy, but the toy appeared to be poorly made and broke very easily.

I decided to put in the same amount of money that each of them put towards the toy. The toy cost $12 so we were all going to contribute $4. We spoke about the breakdown of cost and how it made sense. Then, at the last minute, T changed his mind and went back on the deal. Now that he had to spend his own money, he was going to be choosy about what he spent it on. We spent 15 minutes or more, looking at different toys and talking about whether he had enough money or not. He wanted a $20 toy; he insisted it was only $1 because it said "1st Edition" on it.

Ultimately, he had to choose something that he could afford. I decided that, since I was going to contribute $4 towards the original toy, I would give them each $2. They each chose a small robotic toy, with B still managing to get the original robot he wanted. They didn't quite have enough money so I made a deal with them. In addition to the $2 that I was giving them, I would LOAN them $2 each. This meant that, not only were they depleting what was in their wallets, but they would have to pay me their allowance money for the next two weeks to pay off their loan. They agreed with some degree of reservation.

Later that night, dh talked about how a real loan would charge interest and how they were actually getting an interest-free loan. When dh explained that we have to pay the bank to borrow their money, B countered that the bank pays us to use OUR money. He was right. They were both right. A small discussion ensued about that.

Earlier in the day, when we were trying to determine if we had enough money to buy the original toy, I asked them how much they had in their wallets. B had $8 and T had $6. I asked B how much that was, all together. He replied, "10!". I said, "No. Think about it again." He looked up toward the ceiling and one second later replied, "14!". Sometimes I sweat it that he doesn't have math facts memorized. But then I can see that he can actually manipulate numbers without memorizing the answers and I feel better. Dh is fantastic with math and he doesn't even have his times tables memorized! He can just figure it himself. I'm sure there will be some memorization required in the future, but for the time being, I feel good about B's math understanding despite the fact that we don't "do math". Maybe we should "do math" more often.