Chris Matthews schools Kevin James

Papa showed me a clip that we laughed long and hard about. About which we laughed long and hard, to you proper English folks.

Papa and I don't usually watch Chris Matthews, mostly because we get our fill of yelling from our kids. ;) But this video is absolutely *priceless*. Chris Matthews reveals Kevin James (this one, not this one) to be the total ignorant creep he is.

The video pretty much speaks for itself, but a couple things to point out.

Papa and I identified this guy as a total jerk the minute he was introduced. He gave me the visceral reaction of wanting to hit him. It happens every time I see Carson Daly, too.

Also, I think some people are missing the main point. Certainly James is. I can understand not knowing off the top of one's head what it was exactly that Chamberlin did. But don't go on national TV and agree emphatically and blindly with someone. *That* is the ridiculousness of his behavior, I think. That is where the Bush-ites go so wrong. They fail to look at things objectively.

Well, we all must sacrifice in time of war

Bush recently said that he gave up golf for the troops.

Good night! What a sacrifice! American soldiers have given the token gesture of years of service, and in some cases their lives. Seems rather a petty comparison, when placed in the light of our President giving up a game.

Secular homeschooling

I recently was directed to this essay, titled The Bitter Homeschooler's Wishlist.

It's interesting, because I don't consider myself to be bitter. Jaded - yes. Bitter - not so much. But maybe I am. Because I can totally relate to just about everything on the list.

So I went about perusing the rest of the site. And can I just say, I *so* want a subscription to this magazine!

There is another great article about the discrimination homeschoolers face. We often have our rights dismissed, or are forced to validate ourselves to "officials" - and for that matter, busy-bodies.

Lil' Miss Fat and Sassy

Mootsie has been weighed 3 times in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, by the WIC office, which supplies us with the crazy-expensive soy drink she needs. Two hours after that, she was weighed by the homecare nurse, who came to check on her and change the cap on her PICC line. Earlier this afternoon, the doctor weighed her. She had a hospital follow up today.

There is a consensus: she is nice and healthy. She weighs a whopping 24 lbs. and a couple ounces for good measure. The WIC office also took her height and, not only does she weigh 7 pounds more, she is *4* inches taller than 7 months ago. Wow!

She has even developed back fat, which is way cuter than on an adult. ;o)

Apparently, I *can't* catch a break

The child gate came yesterday. I had Papa install it last night. Within 12 hours of it being installed, Mootsie figured out how to open it. And for 9 hours of that time, she was *sleeping*! So yeah, apparently, I *can't* catch a break. :o)

Can't I catch a break?

As I was dropping Papa off at the bus depot this morning, I told him I was going to have a good day. And in a few ways, I have. I got the kids' schooling done before dinner time (sheesh) and they have been relatively good. The non-student, aka Mootsie, is another story all together.

She has been into everything today! I think I'm going to be counting the nano-seconds until the child gate we ordered gets here. As it stands now, Mootsie can get into the kitchen because there is nothing blocking the way. So far today, she has dumped a full cup of water all over the kitchen table, emptied her leftover lunch on the living room floor. Rice with cream of chicken soup can be a pain to clean. Did you know? She also smashed and dropped various assortments of crackers on the living room floor 17 times. She has managed to get into the pencils and pens 148 times. That's her favorite treat. When we had the Easter baskets down, she would go for the pencils, rather than the chocolate that the Easter bunny had brought. Go figure.

I think it's also time to install the toilet lock. In the past 24 hours, she has dropped something in the toilet 5 times, that I know of. This does not include toilet paper. That is a whole other ball of wax. She will dip a stretch of toilet paper in the water and then smear the soggy mess on the seat. Possibly the grossest feeling is sitting down on a wet seat. Luckily, we have trained the other ankle biters to flush. And tricked them into thinking it's fun to clean the toilet bowl. They actually fight over the privilege.

Sigh. Calgon, take me away!

The Five Senses

We are homeschoolers, as probably everyone who reads this blog knows. I recently decided to start a Science unit on the body/biology. We had been doing science experiments and learning terminology, but I felt we needed a more concrete goal. One of the advantages of homeschool is I can do that. :o)

The first thing we are going to study is the five senses. I set up posters in our dining room, as that is where we do most of our schoolwork. When the missionaries came over to eat a week ago, I noticed one of them looking at them with curiosity. (tee-hee) I ordered some new books to supplement what I already had and ordered a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. The books and other tools will come in handy for other biology units, also.

Yesterday, I went to explain to them the five senses and introduce the topic. Turns out they learned all about the five senses off of "The Big, Big World", a show on PBS. So yesterday was a pretty easy lesson. ;o)

Today, we are going to learn about sound. I found this activity that I thought would be fun. I still haven't packed away the Easter eggs yet, so for once procrastination saves the day. :o)

I created a worksheet for them to fill out, and when Papa gets home I'll see if there is a way to link it. For now, here's a description. There are two rows of three eggs at the top of the page. Under the eggs is a list of the things that are in the eggs, written in no particular order. After I printed them, I wrote numbers one through six in each of the eggs. Little Fella's paper had the numbers in order, the other two were random.

They will shake the eggs, which have been labeled one through six, and will determine which item is in which egg. Then they will match it up on their papers. The older two will also alphabetize the list. Two birds with one stone.

This website looks like it has a lot to offer. And I'm also going to go pick up The Story of My Life as soon as I get done posting this. We'll be implementing this unit study as well.

******************

The Story of My Life is too advanced for the kids. So instead we are reading Dear Dr. Bell.... Your Friend, Helen Keller. I already had that at home, which is good, as I didn't bother to look over the autobiography until I got home.

We also went over the anatomy of the ear. The kids thought it was really interesting.

Little Fella did a great job drawing lines from the words to the right eggs and I couldn't believe how fast Half Pint was able to alphabetize her list. I'm horrible at alphabetization.

Emotional Cabin Fever

Mootsie has Hirschsprung's Disease (HD).

For her first birthday, she traveled via ambulance to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. It took a while to get a definitive diagnosis; most patients present symptoms within weeks of birth. Especially if it's long segment, or involving the complete colon, like Mootsie's.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about this in the future, so for the time being, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version. She had her colon removed in December. She has had a few bouts of dehydration which have required hospitalization since then. Currently, she is in the hospital again, for dehydration caused by catching rotavirus.

I have a pretty melancholy disposition and this recent challenge has brought that to the forefront more than I wish. I have battled for years against this state of mind, and it's been a losing battle the past couple of weeks. Even before she was hospitalized most recently.

I was thinking recently about *why* I wasn't getting cabin fever. Especially given the aforementioned temperament. This is our first year in Minnesota. We moved here from Arizona. Logic would tell me I should be getting a little stir crazy. But I wasn't. Then, as I was doing a load of laundry, it occurred to me. I *knew* the end was near. I knew that within a matter of weeks, I'd be able to go outside with just a jacket and without my nose hairs freezing. I knew I'd soon be able to plant things. I knew that I'd be able to have the weather calls reversed. No longer would smug relatives be calling, bragging about 70 degree weather. I'd be the smug relative bragging about 70 degree weather. We'd have *green* in ways that Arizona just doesn't.

But Mootsie's situation is giving me big time emotional cabin fever. It seems there is not an end in sight. And that makes me sad. It makes me want to rage like a mad woman. It makes me glad we don't have a dog, because I'd kick it. It makes me want to shake my fist at life. It makes me feel trapped. I don't know how to break free of it.

All the pat answers are cold comfort right now. I don't think there are any consolation prizes for this one. I guess now that I've reached the end of my rope, I need to tie a knot and wait for the snow to melt.

Lent

Sigh.

I really wanted to be dedicated and successful. My sister has been doing Lent for the past couple years and she told me it was a very spiritual act. I was game. Mormons (which I am) don't usually practice Lent. But I felt like I needed to gain control of my natural man and I like the idea of Lent and the potential it has to draw me closer to my Savior. I decided to give up chocolate, caffeine, and processed food (no white flour, pasta, sugar, etc.).

And I did really well. For about 10 days. Whoever decided to have Valentine's Day during Lent, anyway?! I'm an all-or-nothing type gal. It's been very hard for me to get back on track. Especially since I got a *horrible* case of the flu. I have a firm delusion that chocolate is a miracle cure. It at least helped me feel better about the oh-my-gosh-just-put-me-out-of-my-misery sensations I was having. Now, I'm pretty much over the flu, although I still hack like I've smoked a carton a day since I was 5.

But it's my birthday. Or it was this week and we were all too sick to celebrate properly. So, I have a huge chocolate cake with cream cheese mousse filling from Costco waiting for tonight's celebration.

Maybe I can practice Lent this year on my own terms. Maybe I can start over with the Greek Orthodox calendar on March 10. I don't think I want to give up quite yet. A fellow homeschooling friend wrote this article. And I think if I get nothing else out of Lent this year, applying this wisdom will be worth giving up chocolate over Easter. I think.

Pseudonyms

I figure to protect the innocent and my children, I'll be using pseudonyms.

Skater Chick gripes about her pseudonym, but has yet to come up with something else to be called. *sigh* Teens can be *so* hard to work with.

Of course, we've met Skater Chick, Half Pint, Sweet Cheeks, Little Fella, Mootsie, and Papa. But there are other people in my life, and as I mention them, I'll think of groovy things to call them.

I can hardly wait! {said rubbing her hands together in a conspiratorial fashion}

Speak Reddenese?

Okay, let me preface this with the fact that some may find this nauseating. And others may be shaking their heads at the seeming lack of language development concern that Papa and I have.

But we speak Reddenese. You could also call it Reddenish.

Each of our kids have their own dialect and have contributed to the vernacular.

It all started with Skater Chick. Since she was our first, and naturally on the smart side, she said most of her words flawlessly. Except water. Papa spent shameful amounts of time trying to make her say water. She said Mahcose© * Said ma, like mama, and cose, like sucrose, lactose, fructose, etc.

Anyway, Papa was much more persistent than I. He had frequent conversations with her that went like this:

Papa: Say "wa"

Skater Chick: wa

Papa: Good. Now say "ter".

Skater Chick: ter

Papa: Okay. Now together. Say "water"

Skater Chick: Mahcose.

Papa slaps hand to forehead and tries again. And again. And again. He's not a quitter, I'll give him that.

Then one day, Skater chick and I are driving around. She's talking about something, then BAM! pulls a complete non sequitur. Says she, "Uncle Crusty (a pseudonym) says it's said water, so I'm going to say water from now on."

And that was the end of it. Or it could have been. But Papa and I think it's cute. So sometimes we use it. After all, we *are* fluent speakers of Reddenese.

*Skater Chick said mahcose is a copyrighted term and cannot be used without her permission. I do not have her permission, but since she is a minor, her property is mine, unless she takes me to court and challenges it. And frankly, I don't think her argument against me would hold much mahcose.

My very first blog post

Well, I guess I'm bowing to cyber pressure. It seems everyone is doing a blog. Even my poor husband, who rarely gets enough time to sleep.

If you are reading this, you probably know me, at least a little. But if for some bizarre reason you have found yourself here, let me tell you a little about me. :)

My dh is a full time law student. He is in his second of six semesters at the University of Minnesota. He is thriving with the challenge and loves his studies.

We have a gang of 5 kids and find them to be worth having around. Usually.

Skater Chick is 12 and the only publicly schooled kid in the house. Half Pint is 9 and is the second mommy around here. Sweet cheeks is almost 7 and is a hopeless bookworm. Little Fella is 3 and a half and well.... himself. Mootsie is our caboose. At one and a half, she rules the roost with a pudgy fist.

In my spare time, I like to read, spend time with my engaging, sexy husband, do craft projects, and hang out with my entertaining kids.