Special Company

 Friday we had very special company come!  Bob's sister Rose came down from PA with her girls, Maddie and Amanda, and Bob's sister Ann came with her grown daughter Christi, and Christi's kids Jasmine and Joshua!  It was so fun to have everyone visit!

 The 4 little girls had such a ball together!  They played in the play room, out on the trampoline, in the yard . . . lots of things for girls to play with!  They even had a little tea party with tea cups that Ann brought.  Having their big cousins Maddie and Amanda just made it all the more fun!  Anna, Grace, and Faith have been the recipients of lots of handed down clothes, swimsuits, snow stuff, and toys from Maddie and Amanda, so the girls think they are pretty special! 

We were so excited to get to meet Joshua for the first time!  He was born on March 1, so he and Drew are just a few months apart.  They weren't sure what to think of each other, but I know they will get along great when they get a little bit older!

Yesterday Ann and Christi had to get back to Richmond, so they left around noon.  Bob and Rose took most of the kids to the National Zoo (Nathan was gone all day to Richmond for a CAP cyberpatriot training day).  It was just Drew and me at home, which was so nice and quiet!  They had a good time at the zoo, although they did NOT get to see a giraffe (I heard about this travesty from all 3 girls).  The panda exhibit was closed, because the girl might be pregnant, but the boy panda came outside and pooped in front of them (which also made a big impression on all the girls).  I thought Micah would really like the animals, but he was a pill, even lying down and pitching a temper tantrum on a path at one point because he didn't want to ride in the stroller, walk, or be held.  Ahh, the joys of a stubborn, tired 2-year old.  The animals were probably watching him, LOL. 

So we are really enjoying our company!  Tomorrow the plan is to attempt Harper's Ferry . . .

Six Flags!

On Thursday we went to Six Flags America, which is on the other side of the Beltway from us.  I didn't actually know it was so close!  I thought it was up in Baltimore somewhere!  Anyhow, Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace each got a free ticket with the "Read to Succeed" program, and I got a free ticket as their educator, so that meant we just needed tickets for Bob, Nathan, Luke, and Faith.  That was still expensive (tickets for a day are $29 at the Pentagon, which is the cheapest we could find anywhere--AND you need a parking pass, which was $11 at the Pentagon), but still doable.  We went with the McCs, who had also done the program (and without Christine, we wouldn't have gotten our tickets, because in the beginning of March, when you had to submit everything, I was so swamped, and she did it all for me!!)  Another family who used to be in Rivendell was going to go, but they ended up not coming because they were just really busy that day, and they had season's passes, so it wasn't a big deal to come that particular day.  We missed having the C's with us too, like they were last year at Hershey Park!

It was sooooo hot and humid.  I thought I was going to melt, and I was so glad I wasn't pregnant!  (I was also so glad I'm not Muslim.  I saw countless ladies covered, many in these heavy coat-like outfits, and I saw 3 in full black burkas.  What really got me was their men, walking around in swimsuits, t-shirts, and flip-flops, while their wives roasted in a winter outfit.  Ridiculous.  Just thinking about it still gets me riled up!)

The 4 older boys went off on their own, with Craig, Joel, and Jonathan and Bob (for a time) with them.  Christine and I took the 4 girls, plus Micah and Drew, as well as Caleb, who is not a fan of  rides, or even of amusement parks in general (huh--wonder where he gets that from?!).  The girls had a good time in the kiddie area, and it is so perfect that there are 4 of them to ride together! 

Micah had absolutely no desire to ride on any rides at all, not even the merry-go-round, even after copious amounts of coaxing and cajoling.  Sometimes he did walk, and then Drew got to ride in the front, which he preferred.  Poor Drew was mainly just hot and sticky!

After melting around the kiddie part for the morning, we all met back at the vans for a picnic lunch around 1:30.  I really wasn't hungry because I was so hot, but the boys were, and most of the food was devoured.  We even had cupcakes to celebrate Caleb McC's birthday, which was that very day! 

After lunch the older boys plus Joel went off to ride more rides, while the rest of us decided to go to the waterpark.  We put on our swimsuits (and if you know me, you know how out of character that is for me, so you KNOW it was hot!), and the water in the wave pool indeed was so refreshing.  Even Drew got on his swim diaper and splashed around!  When the lifeguards whistled for break at 4:45, we noticed that clouds were rolling in and the sky was looking threatening.  Sure enough, the heavens opened, and rain poured down.  After several claps of thunder (!) eventually the lifeguards closed the pool, but we were all standing under this shade thing, where rain was blowing in and soaking us!  I had already changed Grace, Faith, Micah, and Drew, but Anna and I were still in our swim suits.  It got a little chilly--what a change from the morning!  Eventually the rain stopped, but we all looked a bit bedraggled.

After the rain, we went back into the park, to an area in the back called Whistlestop Park.  It was another place with kiddie rides, plus a little play area.  We wished we had gone here first, rather than fighting the crowds at the other kiddie area, right inside the gates, all morning!  The girls had a ball here, and Micah even loved playing on the play ground. 

The older boys were so thankful for the rain because it cleared out the park, leaving them free to ride to their hearts' content!  They got to ride all the big rides multiple times and had a tremendously fun day.  It's so nice to just be able to let them go do what they want them to do, but we hardly saw them all day!  It was fun to run into them by the Apocalypse--what a nice-looking clean-cut group of young men! 

We closed out the park, finally leaving the parking lot at 8:30.  Nathan drove us back home--in the big van, in the rain, in the dark, on the Beltway.  Advanced driver's ed!  We were so tired--I think the kids are still recovering, LOL. 

NIVs

I've been working on memory work for next year.  Usually everything just slips into place nicely, but not so this year.  I still have a ton of work left to do, and I'm just having a hard time getting everything to work out.  One reason I am having such an unenthusiastic response to something I usually really enjoy doing relates to the Bible portion.

We're memorizing Philippians 2, as well as some of Philippians 4 this year.  So I went to biblegateway.com to print off those passages, and I realized that the "1984 NIV" version was no longer an option.

When I was little, and we were stationed in Okinawa, I did all my Bible memorizing in the KJV.  But then we moved back to the States, and the NIV Bible started becoming popular.  I had to memorize Bible verses each week for Dayton Christian, and eventually I started memorizing those in the NIV.  My NIV student Bible was what I read for my quiet times all the way through college, and when I graduated from college, Bob got me a new NIV study Bible.  So I pretty much "grew up" with the NIV.

Now I have never been an "NIV only" kind of person.  I enjoy hearing other translations, and I even read different ones on my own for a fresh perspective.  Our church uses the ESV, which is good, but it is very clunky.  I do not prefer memorizing out of it, for sure.

Anyhow, all that to say, I was very surprised to discover the 1984 NIV was no longer on biblegateway.  I knew a new version of the NIV had come out in 2011 (I remember reading about the gender-neutral language controversy), so the old version wasn't being sold in stores any more, but I just figured the powers that be would always leave the old version up online so it would be searchable.  I wrote a quick email to the website and got this reply:

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate hearing from you.
Our publishing partner, Biblica, who generously provides the NIV text to Bible Gateway, has requested the removal of the older NIV (1984 edition) and the TNIV resources on February 28th, 2013.
During the transition to the most recent edition of the NIV (first published in 2010), the older 1984 edition and the TNIV were made available for more than two years on Bible Gateway to make it easy for people to compare the upgrades in the text as they transitioned to the current edition. Now that this transition period is over, the NIV’s worldwide publisher, Biblica, has requested that we remove the older 1984 and TNIV editions from Bible Gateway.
Bible Gateway is a distributor of Biblical content and does not have control over the sale nor free distribution of Bible texts. We have abided by legal licensing restrictions and have complied with Biblica’s request.
Older editions of the NIV will no longer be available on Bible Gateway or any website. We’ve provided further information on the transition of the NIV through:
https://support.biblegateway.com/forums/21800162-NIV-Transition
If you wish to contact Biblica directly concerning the removal of the NIV 1984, you can reach them through:
info@biblica.cominfo@biblica.com
Again, thank you so much for contacting us. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you online.

I did contact Biblica (which used to be known as the International Bible Society, back when they weren't so politically motivated), and the guy wrote me back there as well.  He said:

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns about the status of the NIV.

 

We understand your dismay over the discontinuation of the 1984 copyright of the NIV. To explain why this process was done, when the new edition of the NIV was announced several years ago we said there would be a gradual two-year transition from the old to the new. As part of this plan we temporarily kept the old (1984) edition of the NIV available online, primarily so people could compare it with the newer edition. The transitional phase came to an end on February 2013. As a result, there are no plans to restore the 1984 NIV in print or online.

 

Typically, when a new edition is published, the old one is discontinued. That was true for previous versions of the NIV, and it’s true for other translations like the NASB, NLT, and ESV. This is typically the case because the newest edition reflects the translators’ latest and best work. 

 

In fact, we believe the NIV is the very best translation we can offer. We know good people will disagree on Bible translation, and that not everyone will share our enthusiasm for the updated NIV. But we stand behind the translators and their sacrificial work. We want to honor their commitment by giving people the very best edition of Scripture possible. This is the core reason behind the change from the 1984 to 2011 edition of the NIV.

 

He went on to say that at some point the old NIV would be housed in an online archive at Wheaton College.   That doesn't sound like something that is going to be easily accessible to the average joe!   Also, he told me I should investigate the new NIV further, since it is "95%" the same.  I had actually done some research on that fact earlier, and while the text may in fact be 95% the same, a much smaller percentage of verses are actually the same.  They changed words in most verses, so if you are trying to remember a verse where you can only think of a fragment of it, and you try searching for it online, well, you will be out of luck, because often the key words in verses were changed. 

 

I don't even think the guy understood my concern.  We're not talking about an old translation of War and Peace or something.  This is the version of the Bible that a grand majority of believers used for 25 years just *poof* disappearing, as if it never existed!  When I wrote back, I told the guy the only reasons I could think of to not make the old version available online were political (supporting the gender-neutral wording that caused controversy) or financial (hey, we'll force everyone to buy new Bibles!).  Obviously I don't support either of those motives. 

 

But more importantly, why on earth would I ever invest a minute in a translation that I know will disappear on a moment's notice, as soon as those translators as Biblica get a wild hair and decide to do another translation.  Maybe this one will only be around 10 years!  Who knows?

 

So I have resolved not to ever knowingly buy a new version of the NIV Bible (one published in 2011 or later).  I've searched online, and I have already bought 3 old NIV Bibles for the girls, and I just need to buy a few more student Bibles so the younger boys can each have one.  That way when they are thinking back on the passages that we have memorized and they can't remember the wording, at least they will have a Bible to refer back to.  Just look for used Bibles with the old publishing dates.  I wanted to buy them before they get really valuable! 

 

I told the guy at Biblica that his email made me certain that the new NIV was not the Bible for me.  I will stick with the ESV for any new Bibles I buy.  I just don't like memorizing from it.  It really doesn't flow well, no matter how accurate it might be.  Maybe we'll go back to memory work from the KJV--I don't think that version is going anywhere!

An Unusual Question

Our big kitchen table is covered with maps (world on one end, U.S. on the other), and then a big plastic sheet that I get from JoAnn's Fabrics over top, so it is easy to wipe off.  I was sitting on the end last night, and after dinner, I was casually wiping off a few crumbs from the edge of the table where the bench is.  It seemed a little bit . . . lumpy, so I reached my hand under the plastic and the map to see what was there.  I quickly yanked my hand back out, because whatever it was, was VERY squishy and yucky!  As soon as I flipped the map up, I could see what this gross mystery substance was--hard-boiled egg yolk, at least several days old, given its smell, all squished around under the map.  Disgusting!!!

Of course, we all knew who the culprit was:

Micah loves hard-boiled eggs!  In fact, he often pitches a temper tantrum when I won't allow him to eat more than 2 at a time!  But he only eats the egg whites, never the yolks.  Usually he leaves them on the table, like a little tip for the serving girl, but obviously one time he had the grand idea of hiding them under the table mat and then enjoying the nice feel of squishing them all around under there. 

 

SO that leaves me with my unusual question:  how do you get the smell of rotten eggs out of your beautiful hardwood table?  It is indeed a question I never imagined I would be asking!

Swim Team

 This year, we did swim team for the first time!  Caleb and Jonathan were the only ones, and it worked out really well because they were in the same age group, so they had their morning practices at the same time.  We thought we'd start this new thing gradually!

Bob has wanted the kids to do swim team for, well, forever.  He and his family are all total fishes in the water, and they did swim team, diving, lifeguarding, the whole water thing, while they were growing up.  I, on the other hand, greatly dislike water.  I don't like water on my face, in my hair, anywhere, really, and I despise being in a swimsuit, especially after having so many kids.  So swim team was never my priority, certainly not in the early summer mornings! 

When we moved here to VA back in 2004, we didn't realize that pretty much every neighborhood around here has their own pool and swim team.  That was not even on our radar screen as something to look for, so we landed in a small neighborhood, one of the only ones without a pool.  I was never bothered, but the kids and Bob do enjoy swimming in the summer, so we would pay to join pools around us, but either not really close enough to do swim team, or one without a team.  But this year the mom of one of Nathan's football teammates emailed to say a friend was selling her membership to their pool, and it was really cheap.  I also happened to know this friend from homeschooling, so I contacted her right away, and we bought her membership.  The pool is still not right in our neighborhood, but it is an easy drive--about 10 minutes away--and not fighting traffic.  It's really nice, and it was so nice to already know Leanne and her family.  They are bigwigs in the whole swim scene, so she was able to help us know what to do.

 It was a good choice to just sign up Caleb and Jonathan, even though I know Anna would have loved doing it.  It was still a challenge getting them to practice, especially before it switched to mornings.  The thing I loved about this team was that when we signed up, we wrote them a check for $40, and then if we didn't volunteer our 5 shifts at meets, then they would cash it.  Oh, I would have GLADLY paid much more than that to not have to be at meets!  We were gone 2 different weeks because we had already planned vacations before we heard about buying the membership.  Plus, although Caleb and Jonathan could swim, they had no idea how to do butterfly and breaststroke.  They are definitely behind!  Jonathan did decide to swim in one meet, but Caleb had no desire to swim in front of people at all.  And hey, I was fine with not getting up to be at the pool for hours on Saturday mornings, starting at 7:15.  I know most teams don't have this policy, so I was incredibly thankful for it!  Now maybe we can do swim team again next year, and we'll ease into volunteering and meets, LOL.

 Once practices moved to the mornings, Caleb and Jonathan had practice from 8:30-9:15.  So I would nurse Drew at 7:45, leave him and everyone else with the older boys, drop off Caleb and Jonathan at the pool, and then I would walk for 45 minutes in the neighborhoods all around the pool!  It was so fun to walk around new neighborhoods!  I have walked around our neighborhood sooooo many times, with all these pregnancies and the gestational diabetes especially.  Nothing new to see there! 

There is also a lovely shady walking path behind the pool and continuing on for a long, long way.  This past week it was unbearably hot and humid, even in the morning, so I walked on the path every day.  It was so pretty!  It follows a pretty creek. I really enjoyed having this time of exercise all to myself for the past several weeks.  I will miss that!  It will be a real let-down to start walking around our neighborhood again!  But now swim team is all done.  At least we won't have to rush out the door every morning anymore!

Poor Drew

 Drew had a fun time at White Sulphur Springs too!  He loved playing with this big wooden thing in the lobby.  We were glad he was healthy because 2 weeks ago Monday I had to take him to Bethesda yet again.  He had been coughing a bit, and then he started running a little fever off and on.  But Sunday afternoon the fever came up and wouldn't go down, even once I started alternating motrin and Tylenol.  So we trekked off to Bethesda again, and he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  I picked up amoxicillin and started him on that, and his cough and fever cleared up over the next few days, so we were good to go to White Sulphur Springs last weekend!  Whew!

 On Monday morning after breakfast, another woman was holding him while I helped clean up the table.  She noticed he had some spots on his hands.  I immediately thought "food allergy!" and started going over what he had eaten for breakfast.  The only thing I could come up with was that I had given him a few bites of Micah's oatmeal, which I had poured soy milk over.  Could he be allergic to soy?!  No!!

 We headed off to Idlewild, and over the course of the day, Drew developed a rash all over.  It didn't seem to bother him, but he sure looked like he had some dread plague!  We stopped at Giant Eagle so I could buy some children's benedryl, and I gave him a dose right away.  It didn't help though.  By the next day, the rash was all over, head to toe, and very connected. 

 One of the women who is in staff there is a nurse, so I asked her what she thought.  The first thing I told her was that he was taking amoxicillin, and as soon as I said that, she said, "He's reacting to that!  I'm almost sure that's it!"  So I guess it is one of those threshold reactions, where he didn't react until there was so much in his system.  And he continued reacting because I faithfully gave him his doses Monday night and Tuesday morning, LOL.  Obviously I stopped giving him the antibiotic right then--he was only lacking 3 doses, so I felt confidant that I didn't need a different one--and eventually he did get better by the time we left.

Here he is smiling because his 4th tooth broke through while we were up there.  His big sister Anna had a eventful tooth week as well--she lost 3 teeth!  I didn't even realize she had that many loose!

We have really not had to use antibiotics very often, thankfully.  No one else has ever reacted to amoxicillin, but then again, Micah and Faith have never had it, and most of the others have probably only been prescribed it once or so, and not as young as Drew is either.  I am allergic to penicillin, so the propensity is there.  Well, hopefully this little incident will end our terrible month of sickness!  Crazy times!

White Sulphur Springs

We just got back from the most wonderful and relaxing week of Family Camp at White Sulphur Springs.  (WSS is one of the retreat/conference centers run by the Officers' Christian Fellowship, and it is in Pennsylvania.)  We used to take family pictures in this wagon, down by the old hotel, all the time, but we haven't done it in a few years!  Micah was very uncooperative, LOL.

The nice thing about WSS is that it is both mentally and spiritually refreshing.  We had a wonderful speaker in Tom Joyce, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the other families that were up the same week as us. 

The kids were happily occupied the whole week.  We only had the younger 5 actually with us for the week.  Nathan was on staff, Luke was doing their teen adventure program (AO!), and Caleb and Jonathan were at their Camp Caleb camp.  The girls had classes in the mornings and evenings, which they loved, and Micah and Drew were in the nursery.  There were a ton of other little girls, so Anna, Grace, and Faith made friends and played happily all week.  I hardly saw them! 

Here they are having tea.  There was also a picnic at the pond, a western night with a square dance, a campfire with a hayride, rock-climbing, ice cream, swimming in the pond, and much more to fill their time!

We snuck away Monday to go to Idlewild, the little amusement park not too far from Bob's parents' house.  It was very hot and muggy, but the kids had fun.  Wednesday we drove over to visit Bob's parents, about an hour and a half from WSS.  We had a lovely visit with them!

Here are all the busy boys.  They all had wonderful times, and we are still hearing stories!  Luke got especially wet because it poured down rain multiple times during the week, but that didn't seem to phase him.  His clothes were all sopping wet and musty, so they went straight into the washer when we got home!  Luke said his favorite part was the high ropes course, but he liked it all.  Caleb and Jonathan got to be in the same Camp Caleb this year.  They liked their counselors and their fellow campers.  It rained on them too, but they were able to stay better sheltered, LOL. 

AP Wrap-Up

On June 26, the College Board released a score report for the new AP biology exam that was administered this year.  It had some very startling statistics.  Here are the percentages for each score, compared with last year:

AP Grade	2012	2013
5	19.7%	5.4%
4	16.9%	21.4%
3	14.3%	36.3%
2	14.6%	29.5%
1	34.5%	7.4%

So you can see that there was a tremendous reduction in 5's, although over all more people passed (3 and above is passing, although hardly any college gives credit for a 3, and many only give credit for a 5).  I had thought the curve would be generous, since this was the first year of a completely new and redesigned test, but alas, that was not to be.  Instead, the CB went with an absolute standard, where you had to get so many points (78/99 unweighted) to get a 5, no curving at all.    To get a 4, you needed 64 raw points, a 3 needed 45 points, a 2 needed 26, and I guess a 1 was anything less than 26.  That seems a bit arbitrary--who knows how they came up with these breaks?--but oh well.  (Edited to add:  I've actually read a lot more from the College Board, and the average scores actually were not very different, compared to previous years' tests--but the cut-offs were very different.  Weird.  Nathan is a guinea pig again!  Story of his life, LOL.)

Here are a few of their other comments from the report:

 

Educators and students had reported perceptions that the multiple-choice section was easy, that it did not require content knowledge, or that it was a test of reading comprehension. None of these perceptions proved accurate. The panelists who took the exam themselves felt that the questions effectively balanced required content knowledge with fundamental quantitative, analysis, experimental design, and data interpretation skills. Student performance does not indicate that the section was easy. In fact, the results show that AP Biology students on average are not yet performing as well as college students on such tasks.

On the multiple-choice and grid-in questions, AP Biology students scored, on average, 61% correct.

By way of comparison, the mean score on the “old” AP Biology Exam (2012) multiple-choice section was 63% correct.

 

 

Five questions in a new grid-in question type required students to meet college biology’s standards for use of mathematics to solve biological problems and understand biological concepts.

The performance of AP Biology students on these questions was very low, with an average correct score of just 36%.

 

 

The low student performance, in general, on most of the free-response questions had a significant impact on this year’s AP scores.

 

 

AP Biology teachers are doing tremendous work to help their students develop the knowledge and skills essential to success in biology majors and careers, and measured by the multiple-choice, grid-in, and free-response questions on the redesigned AP Biology Exam. In many instances, AP Biology teachers are receiving students who have spent years in science classrooms that never moved beyond rapid coverage of textbook content, with very little understanding or retention of such information. The work needed to improve student learning of biology is made visible by very low scores on most of the AP Biology grid-in and free-response questions – the questions that require students to perform mathematics and describe, explain, and predict fundamental biological principles and outcomes. Many incoming AP Biology students have never been taught or required to demonstrate the quantitative, analytic, and interpretive skills now required, so struggled on the redesigned AP Biology exam.

College faculty who participated in the AP Biology standard setting agree that their own students are similarly challenged, and that the redesigned AP Biology program is the new gold standard, one that gives them confidence that AP students earning qualifying exam scores deserve placement and will be much better prepared for science majors than students who take their own colleges’ introductory biology courses. The college faculty participating on the panel sang the praises of AP teachers for teaching a course that is now an exemplar for college-level introductory biology.

The small percentage of students demonstrating performance needed for a score of 5 signals a need in particular to help students improve their performance on the grid-in and free-response questions. To earn a 5, students must learn the course content well enough to be able to perform the skills required in the grid-ins and the free-response section: when confronted with scientific data or evidence illustrative of the required course content, students must be able to “calculate,” “predict,” “justify,” “propose,” “explain,” “perform,” “specify,” “identify,” “describe,” “pose a scientific question,” and “state a hypothesis.” True understanding requires that students develop the depth of understanding required to perform such tasks with accuracy and precision.

 

We encourage AP Biology teachers to take heart and recognize that shifting years of students’ prior ways of learning science can take time. But what the AP teaching community has shown, year after year, is that they can meet and exceed the standards required of colleges for credit and placement. More importantly, AP Biology teachers are transforming the depth of science understanding and skills when in classrooms worldwide they shift the focus of classroom instruction away from rapid content coverage to help students learn to explain and describe their understanding of science content, and to design and conduct laboratory and mathematical tasks essential to understanding natural phenomena. If a student cannot perform such tasks, the research consistently shows that they will not retain or use the knowledge they have learned in AP Biology, and will be insufficiently prepared for much of what they will be required to do in science majors. Hats off to the AP Biology teaching community for the tremendous change you are seeking to effect in your students’ understanding of biology.

 

After reading that back in June, I was quite worried about how my students did!  Well, scores have been released, and I am very pleased to say that Nathan got a 4!  So did Isaac McC!  I'm very proud of them all.  It was hard to prepare for a test where we had no idea how it would actually look.  This year was definitely challenging for all of us, but the boys all worked so hard.  Most of the other kids taking this exam were juniors and seniors, whereas my kids were either a sophomore (Nathan) or freshmen (the other 3).  They did not have an honors or pre-AP biology class, other than life science 2 years ago, or a chemistry class other than BJU Physical Science year before last. 

 

I would love to be able to access a teacher score report for them, but that won't happen, since we're not part of an official "school".  That would give me more information on what exactly they missed, which would be helpful for me when I teach this again in another year to Luke and Caleb McC.  Oh well.  Even without that information, I have learned a lot, and now that I have access to the AP bio teacher forum on the College Board website, that has been so helpful as well.  (In fact, that is where I got this score report!) 

 

So the glory goes to the Lord.  None of us could have been successful this year without Him guiding us, showing me what to focus on, helping me help the boys understand the concepts, leading me to find resources, and so on.  I am so thankful!!

A New Neighbor

Grace got a birdhouse kit from my parents for her birthday.  As soon as testing was over, she went to work, putting it together and painting it (with some help from her interested sisters).  She chose to hang it in our front yard, off the middle of a branch, where it sways in the wind. 

 

I had my doubts about any bird actually building a nest in it, however.  The beginning of June is a little late in the nest-building cycle, for one thing.  And for another thing, what self-respecting bird builds a nest in a brightly painted box swaying off a branch of a tree nestled between our driveway and front walk?!  That's like building a house that backs up to the intersection of the Beltway and I-95, as far as traffic goes!

 

So Grace and Anna went off to Grandma/Grandpa camp.  During the week they were gone, I noticed that there appeared to be signs of a nest inside the house!  And eventually we were able to see the mom--a little sparrow, although I can't tell what kind.  [Edited a second time to add:  It's (actually!) a house wren.  I identified a bird by its song!  How fun!]  Grace was quite excited to have a tenant, and this made Jonathan, who had also received a birdhouse kit for his birthday, get right on the stick and put his together and paint it.  He hung his in the backyard (a much more suitable location, LOL), but I think it truly is too late in the season now, so alas, his has remained empty.  When we were in Ohio, my mom gave Anna a birdhouse she had been given that she wasn't going to use, so now that one is also hanging in our backyard.  Maybe next year.

 

In our quest to learn more about birds, I got out a fascinating book from the library called Secret Lives of Common Birds by Marie Read.  It's not too long, with beautiful photos, but it has all sorts of interesting information about various birds and their quirky habits, organized by seasons.  I'm really enjoying it!  I really wish I could recognize birds by their calls, like my botany and ecology professor, Dr. Silvius.  I have even added a book and CD to my amazon wish list!  Maybe that will be next summer's project for me!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!!

 Nathan turned 16 yesterday!  It's so hard to believe I've been a mom for 16 years . . . changing diapers for 16 years straight . . .  Nathan and I went out to breakfast at Mimi's, since he had noted that he had never been there.  After running a few errands, we dashed home so I could nurse and we could eat lunch, Then Anna, Nathan, and I trekked over to Bethesda.  Nathan thought a delightful way to celebrate his birthday would be to make a hospital visit in honor of his actual birthday! 

Well, not really, but as it turned out, on our drive back to Ohio Saturday afternoon, Anna got pinkeye in her other eye.  And at 4:00 Sunday morning, Nathan stumbled into our room to tell Bob and me that he had pinkeye in both eyes.  Our little bottle of antibiotic drops finally ran dry on Sunday, so we had to make another appointment to get some more.  Thankfully Anna was affected, because when I called at 6:30 Monday morning to make an appointment for Nathan, the appointment person told me there had been no same-day appointments released for the adolescent clinic--and that had been how it was lately--all due to "the sequester" of course.  Ummm . . . how about a few less million dollars for President Obama's Africa junket, and a few more dollars for adolescent doctor appointments?!

So we got the medicine (trivia fact--the active-duty Army doc we saw had 16 letters in her last name . . . the smallest font on her name tape that I have ever seen!) and headed home so I could put together and frost Nathan's cake.  He wanted a Cessna 182, which is the aircraft they fly for Civil Air Patrol.  Here is something I am realizing about myself--the fewer people that see the cake in person, the worse I do on it, LOL.  The proportions were all wrong, and it definitely ended up looking like the star of "Charlie Cessna Joins the CAP!"  Plus, the wings (which I made out of sugar cookie dough) sagged because I didn't listen to my better judgment and cook them even longer.  Oh well.  The evidence is almost gone!

Nathan got a speed bag, along with some contraption to hang it from the basement ceiling, as well as a shaker weight, a new dress shirt, and the game "Wits and Wagers".  Ryan, our good neighbor friend, has been over today, and they have already played 2 games!  Fun game!  We also got Nathan personalized dog tags, which he has been wanting.  I brought out a tiny, sparkly little gift bag, and he was definitely wondering, LOL.  But he was happy to see what it contained!  We got them from a seller on Amazon, Jason from "Tag-Z", and he was great to work with!  Another sort of early birthday present Nathan got were contacts!  Of course, now he can't wear them until the pinkeye is totally cleared up, but before that, everything has been going very well, and he is really enjoying being able to see without wearing his glasses!

So now Nathan is 16, and we only have 2 more years with him here at home!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone--I still remember so clearly his birth at the USAFA hospital, like it was not too long ago! He is so much fun to have around, and I love how he is a leader for the younger kids. 

Grandma/Grandpa Camp

On Saturday, June 8, Anna, Grace, and I got up early and drove to Washington, PA, where we met my parents for lunch at Cracker Barrel!  We were celebrating my mom's birthday, but I was also dropping off Anna and Grace so my parents could drive them back to Ohio for a week of Grandma/Grandpa camp!  My brother's daughter Emily and my Aunt Claire joined them on Tuesday.  They all had so much fun!!  They went to the Boonshoft Museum, always a popular fun destination.  They also went to Youngs, where they played 2 rounds of mini-golf and went down the big slide--even Emily, who was too scared last year!  They made apple pies, which were absolutely delicious!  They played in the little pool in the yard, played with toys, read books, and giggled for a week!

We all arrived Saturday evening, in time to eat dinner and sample the pies for dessert.  The next day we went to the base chapel and grilled out for Father's Day. 

Monday morning we went out for a special "girls breakfast" to Mimi's Café.  Even Faith and I got to go!  We sure missed Melinda and Elia though!  The 3 "Grandma/Grandpa Camp" girls wore their matching dresses and looked so cute.  People ask if they are triplets, LOL.  You may notice Anna wearing glasses in all these pictures.  She actually got glasses a year ago, but she rarely wears them . . . except when her cousin Emily is around!  She wore them all week long!  Except that she wore them on the end of her nose, so she didn't actually have to look through them, LOL.  I need to take her back in for another eye appointment!

Monday afternoon Grandpa took us out for rides in his 1928 Model A Ford!  Micah was quite excited about being in the car, especially when he was in the front seat, playing with the steering wheel.  But when Grandpa started up the car, he got so scared!  We had to stop and let him out! 

Tuesday after lunch Emily and Aunt Claire sadly had to go to the airport.  Here is a picture of 4 Claires, right before they left:  me, Aunt Claire, Emily Claire, and Anna Claire.

Another successful year of Grandma/Grandpa Camp! 

A New Scourge

Everyone is smiling here, but we've actually been dealing with a new issue--pinkeye!  About two weeks ago, on a Thursday, Nathan, Luke, and I took the younger 5 kids to Chik-Fil-A for dinner while Bob took Caleb and Jonathan to swim practice.  It was an eventful dinner, ending with one milkshake dumped on the floor, and another one punctured through the foam cup and leaking all over Luke.  But through it all, Drew's eyes were suspiciously gunky.  We all hoped it was. . . well, anything else, but when he woke up Friday with his eyes stuck shut, we knew the dreaded pinkeye had struck!

By Sunday both eyes were worse, and Faith had gunk in one eye, so I got up early to make a doctor appointment on Monday.  It was tricky because I also had a follow-up appointment for myself, to give me the results of an MRI I had done on my knee (it showed nothing).  I had to bring Nathan along as my designated big helper, but I was able to get appointments for Faith and Drew after mine, and, in a HUGE praise, we were able to be finished in the doctor's office before the pharmacist who sits in the pediatric clinic left for the day, so we didn't have to wait in the huge line at the pharmacy for the meds!  One thing the doctor wondered was how Drew could have possibly gotten pickeye?!  I had wondered this as well, since he has never even been in the church nursery, so you would think that if something was going around, the other kids would have gotten it first.  The first time I put the ointment in his eyes (Faith got drops), he cried and cried big watery tears.  And out washed a big black thing!  Actually it was one of those little back gnat things, but it looked huge on his cheek!  I think that had been in his eye and got infected.

So it took a few days for Faith and Drew to get better, but I thought we were through it.  Then on Friday afternoon, Micah's eyes started getting gunky.  And on Saturday, as we were driving to Ohio, Luke's eyes got gunky . . . At least we already had the medicine, so I started both of them on it right away, and everything went away really quickly.

Since we've been here in Ohio, Luke, Nathan, and I have also dealt with some vague kind of bug involving a cough and a low-grade fever.  And last night I realized I had pinkeye as well!  Unbelievable!  We were healthy for this whole incredibly stressful school year, and now that it is over, we haven't been healthy at all!  Which is a blessing, when you think about it, LOL.  All this sickness at least waited until we were done!  I am so ready for us all to be well again.  June has definitely not been a month where we have gotten anything done . . .

 

 

*Update*  Anna also came down with pinkeye, starting the day after I came down with it.  Sigh.  Our little bottle of antibiotic eyedrops has been like the widow's jar of oil so far, not running out.  May it continue!

Unrealized Plans

I really thought that once school was over, and testing was done, I would get so much done!  I had all these plans for organizing and decluttering--with no big school responsibilites hanging over my head, what could possibly stop me from becoming a wonder of organization and cleanliness?! 

Ha!  Well, it turns out that I have gotten almost nothing actually accomplished, unless you count eating.  That has turned into a major accomplishment for me this past week, LOL.  Drew ended up biting me again on the same side last Friday afternoon, just as I was thinking perhaps things might be starting to heal.  I had to start icing down my poor breast both before and after nursing.  I would stick a snack-bag of crushed ice into my bra cup, and that actually helped a great deal, both to numb it as well as to keep the swelling down.  I also started taking 800 mg of motrin around the clock.  But it was still excruciatingly painful to nurse.  I think Monday night was the lowest point.  I fell asleep thinking I for sure was developing mastitis, since I had this hard, very painful spot, and everything was just throbbing.  I spent Tuesday carefully nursing in different positions, and I think I kept the mastitis at bay.  Although I am still sore, it really does seem like things are finally starting to heal, praise the Lord.  Drew has still been nippy, although not as hard as the past 2 Fridays, but I have been saying no, flicking his cheek, etc.  Hopefully this will be a short stage.  I don't know whether to wish the top 2 teeth will hurry up and break through, so his mouth doesn't hurt as much, or if that would just mean he will have 4 sharp little teeth to bite me with!  I have blocked out what happened with Caleb and Micah once they got more teeth--but I am pretty sure they kept biting, LOL.

So anyway, I was so sore.  I also had those 2 canker sores in my mouth, and I used all the tricks I have heard of--baking soda, swishing with a mix of milk of magnesia and benedryl, etc.--but nothing worked like it usually would.  Instead, my mouth has just gotten overtaken with these huge angry ulcers that are so very painful.  I have like 6 of them now, and I can barely talk or chew.  Some are under my tongue, some are back behind my tongue--there's really no area of my mouth that doesn't have at least one!  I've pretty much stopped eating breakfast, because it simply isn't worth the pain to start eating.  And  they just won't go away!  Instead new ones keep popping up.  I think my defenses are just so low, with the constant pain of nursing, plus Drew hasn't really been sleeping through the night since we left for camping.   Interrupted sleep has always been a harbinger of canker sore outbreaks for me!

And so, instead of getting anything of note done, I have been wandering around in a fog of aching and discomfort!  What a way to  start a summer break, LOL.  I will say I am so very, very thankful that Drew was able to wait until after school was all done to start this biting phase!  Otherwise, I am sure I would be on my way to an insane asylum, LOL.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

 

 Jonathan turned 10 yesterday!  Hard to believe that it's been 10 years since I was 2 weeks overdue with my 4th child, and I had to have my first induction, or else he may have never come out, LOL.  Jonathan has marched to the beat of his own drummer ever since then, and on his own time schedule as well!  He is a fun character to have in our family!  He is still my artist, and the only one who enjoys writing.  And he is also still my sole left-handed buddy!

 For his cake, he decided he wanted a scarlet and red macaw.  He's been quite interested in birds lately!  I have never done a bird cake before, so it was fun to do something different. 

 I had to use 2 cake mixes to make a cake as long as I needed, so I had lots of extra cake.  In fact, I only really needed 1 1/2 cake mixes to fill the 10x15 pan I used for the bird body, so I also filled an 8 inch round pan.  Jonathan decorated that (you can't tell, but it actually is modeled after the swimming pool we are members of--blue water, a black walking path, and then the forest in the background), and then I piped the "Happy Birthday Jonathan" on it, since we could figure out a good place for it on the actual bird!

Jonathan was very happy to get a birdhouse of his own to build and decorate from my parents, as well as a book on how to attract different birds to your backyard.  He also got a few other things, including 2 Robo-Fish and an aquarium.  This is in preparation of actually getting some real fish--although since the Robo-fish don't really last that long before the batteries die out (as we have found out personally), we may be getting read fish sooner rather than later, LOL.

Now that Jonathan has hit the big 1-0, he gets his own military ID card, something he has been eagerly anticipating for quite some time!  So now Bob has to figure out a time to get that errand done!  It's a good thing Nathan is carrying his own wallet around, with his own ID card in it--otherwise, I would be looking at carrying 5 ID cards in my wallet!

Things No One Warns You About . . .

I'm having a painful few days here.  I have 2 canker sores in my mouth, plus I totally burned my poor tongue by drinking (really!) hot chocolate Sunday morning.

But mainly I'm sore because Drew chomped on me during the cold Friday night.  He wasn't so much hungry, and I was nursing just to keep him from crying to disturb the other campers, who weren't all that far away!  He bit down hard and then turned his head, pulling on me as well.  It hurt then, but boy, it REALLY hurts now!  I told the boys it would be like smashing their finger with a hammer, and then having to suck really hard on that finger every 3 hours or so.  Sometimes it bleeds, so it sticks to my nursing pad.  I'm just achy and crabby!  I've been taking motrin, but there's really nothing else to do, since it's internal bruising.  Unfortunately, Drew is teething his top teeth now, so he's been getting up at 3:00 and 6:00 the past few nights, so I'm not even able to go a long stretch. 

And thus, the huge downside of having early teethers . . .  I am pretty sure I had never heard anyone complain about this before I had Nathan!  Although, just to document for future purposes, Caleb, Anna, and Micah were my worst offenders.  Caleb and Micah were my earliest teethers (2 teeth at 3 months), and Anna was demonstrating her extreme displeasure about my milk changing when I unexpectedly got pregnant with Grace when Anna was 4 months old, LOL.  I had to stop nursing her at 7 months because she wouldn't suck long enough for me to let down before she would start biting!

So now I wait for Drew to wake up, dreading nursing with every fiber of my being.  I actually gave him a bottle yesterday because I was hurting so much and didn't want to deal with it!  He has been refusing bottles for the past several weeks, but I used a different kind of nipple, and he did take that.  Hmmmm . . . maybe I'll have the boys give him another bottle, and I'll head off to Sams . . . Who knew I would be more excited about Sams than nursing?!

Amusement Park!

Bob and the 3 girls got up early Monday morning, after our weekend of camping, to drive to the amusement park not far from his parents' house in PA!  The girls are the perfect ages for this park--it has a great kiddieland--and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  It was cool, around 70 degrees, and cloudy.  Everyone had such a great time!  When they were eating dinner there, the waitress told Bob how impressed she was that he had all the kids by himself!  Ha!  Faith's favorite ride was the merry-go-round.  I could never tell what Anna and Grace's favorites were, but Anna was very disappointed that they took out the "Dizzy Lizzy" ride.  I don't even remember that one at all, so that shows how long it's been since I've been to the park, LOL. 

Since they had all had such a tiring weekend, they opted to spend the night in a hotel, visit Bob's parents Tuesday morning, then drive back Tuesday afternoon.  They were all so exhausted when they finally got back!  The girls had lots of special memories with Daddy though!

Camping

This past weekend we went camping for 2 nights!  We used to camp all the time when we were stationed in Colorado, even once Nathan and Luke came along.  Then we would camp with the L's, and we had a great routine going, as far as who brought what.  It was great!  We camped a few times in Ohio, and then only one time once we moved here to VA--our eventful and rainy trip to Shenandoah back in May 2005, not long before I got pregnant with Anna.  I guess I don't like camping when I'm pregnant, and I've been pregnant 5 of the last 7 summers--and the 2 summers I wasn't pregnant, it was because I'd had a baby earlier in the year, so . . . camping just didn't happen.  Plus, we had outgrown our "7 person" tent, and finding a new tent to fit us all seemed like an insurmountable challenge. 

For the past 9 (?I think 9, anyway) years, our friends the H's have reserved an entire loop of a campground in Maryland for the whole weekend.  This year we were finally able to go, and we had such a wonderful, fun time!  We found a new tent at Costco, a "10 person" tent that fits 3 queen-size air mattresses!  That's where Bob, I, the 3 girls, plus Drew and Micah slept.  The other 4 boys slept in our older faithful tent from Colorado days. 

We were able to fit all the sleeping bags, tents, tarps, camp stove (thanks Ed and Elizabeth--that was one thing they always brought, so we don't actually own our own one, LOL--we had to borrow theirs!), equipment tub, food tub, cooler, etc.  only because of this wonderful thing called a "Stow-Away".  We actually bought it 2 years ago from someone in our homeschool group.  We went to get a hitch put on the big van, but we found out that because of the time someone rear-ended Bob, a piece was out of place, and so they couldn't get all the bolts on.  We didn't do anything more about it, except keep this big thing in the smack-dab middle of our garage.  Until 2 weeks ago, when we realized that unless we wanted to drive 2 minivans, we absolutely had to have some other place for cargo to go camping.  So Bob took the van into a place that hammered on the frame for an hour to get the piece back into place, and then they were able to install the hitch.  The Stow-Away worked like a champ!  It actually swings away from the back, so we can still get into the back of the van, even with it on. 

Here is a picture of our campsite.  We managed to get the 2 tents both on it with no problems!  The one on the left is the new tent.  It is really nice, although it is not anywhere as easy to set up as our old one.  That one goes up in about 2 minutes!

You can see the fire smoking away in the picture.  We had the fire going pretty much all the time Friday and Saturday.  That is because it was FREEZING cold!!  It was like we were back, camping in Colorado, except silly me, I certainly didn't pack like that!  Oh, how we all wished for gloves, hats, winter jackets, etc.  I think it was below 40 degrees Friday night, and it was sooo windy!  None of the kids in our tent slept really well because it was so cold, and by the (early) morning, both Drew and Micah were in bed with Bob and me.  Nathan was up around 6:00 to start the fire.  I had packed something like 35 packets of hot chocolate mix, figuring that would be more than enough for 2 mornings.  Well, we had hot chocolate Friday night and Saturday morning, and we used up all the packets, plus I was putting pieces of Hershey's chocolate bars in there to up the flavor!  We were so desperately trying to be warm!  A lot of us went into town for dinner at a restaurant, and we got some more mix at a store there for Sunday morning.  Saturday night was not anywhere as cold, though, and the kids all slept really well. 

Saturday before lunch we all took a hike to a waterfall.  It was not a hard hike to get to the falls, and then a lot of people climbed up to the top of the falls.  Unfortunately, Anna slipped off a rock and fell in up to her waist, so she was not a happy camper (ha!).  Bob had to carry her back, so he was not a happy camper either!  She is not as light as she looks, LOL, and we were all exhausted from our bad night of sleep!  I was stuck hiking back with Micah.  He trooped along for awhile, and we had a fun time looking at trees, birds, bugs, etc.  But then he wanted to stop and turn over pretty much every single rock and leaf on the ground.  I started to carry him, but he pitched a big fit.  Eventually he even laid in the middle of the trail for a bit!  Finally I picked him up, and he fell asleep, so we were making good time . . . unfortunately, due to all the distraction of a stubborn 2 year old, I completely missed the signpost where we were supposed to turn onto the trail back to the campground.  So I merrily followed the blue trail at a brisk clip, although I did start wondering why I wasn't seeing anyone else.  We had been going so slowly, I was sure Bob would have caught up to us . . . I called and left a message on his cell phone . . ."Ummm, are you following the blue trail . . .??"  When he called me back a few minutes, he was quite concerned, although I did explain that I wasn't technically lost, LOL; I was simply going on a different trail!  I retraced my steps (we really had gone quite a ways!), and Bob and the older boys met me right where I should have turned in the first place.  Just a little added excitement!

Sunday afternoon, after a little church service and lunch, a group hiked back up to the falls.  Twenty-two of them joined the "Polar Bear Club" and swam in the freezing cold water, including Bob, Nathan, and Jonathan!  Crazy . . .

The kids all had so much fun.  The McC's were there, as well as the M's, another Rivendell family.  These 5 girls had such a ball playing together!  Rivendell is going to be so fun when they all get old enough! 

I wish I had a picture of Micah.  He wore our trusty 3T USAFA sweatshirt--now on its 5th boy!--the whole weekend, since it was so cold.  He got tons of hot chocolate, as well as sticky marshmallow, syrup, and other assorted stains, on it.  It may never recover!  And he was so dirty.  This weekend was like his dream--be outside the whole time and get as dirty as he wants?  Playing in the dirt is encouraged?  What fun!  He didn't want to leave, LOL.  He followed the big boys around like a little man. 

Oh, a funny thing--he and Bob were walking around the loop, when another man struck up a conversation.  The man noticed Micah's USAFA sweatshirt and said he was an Air Force fan.  In fact, he had a son who had just graduated from AFROTC at Alabama . . . he was the dad of the former CAP cadet that Nathan had talked to last week when I was so late!  What a fun coincidence!

Finally Sunday afternoon it was warm enough for Drew to be able to sit in his bumbo without his huge fleece winter thing that I had fortunately thrown in at the last minute!  He rode around a lot in the front pack or the Ergo.  There were a lot of teenage girls around, and they did a fantastic job playing with him and holding him.  In fact, the H girls watched him Saturday during the hike so we didn't have to take him!  I think he enjoyed his first camping experience, although he was glad to get home to a warm bed, LOL.  He slept a good deal on Monday!

So now that we are back in the camping mode, we are hoping to do more of it.  The boys all really enjoyed it, and they were great helps with the fire, getting the tents up and down, etc.  We'll see!

Done!

With the end of testing last Wednesday, the year is officially over for us (exception:  Nathan, who has to take the SAT II biology and Spanish subject tests on Saturday)!  (Other exception:  not everyone finished their math and English books, so they have to continue working in those.  Also, we slacked off on Latin the last quarter . .  also history for the younger boys . . . ) Okay, we are never really done.  But my big responsibilities are done, so I am feeling light as a feather!

And it was just in time too.  I was starting to lose it, as evidenced by these 2 examples.  Last Tuesday only Nathan decided to go to CAP.  After a late dinner, Bob took the middle 5 swimming, so it was just Luke, Micah, Drew, and me at home.  Micah was filthy dirty, so I decided to give him a bath, and I knew he would just love being all by himself in the tub.  So I got him going and he was having a grand time in there--when I suddenly *really* looked at my watch, noticing the hour as well as the minute.  It was 9:20!  CAP ends at 9:00!  For some reason I was an hour off in my mind, thinking it was only 8:00, not 9:00!  Whoops!  I yelled for Luke to come get Micah dressed, and I leaped into the van, certain that Nathan must be frantic with worry.  I expected to have half a dozen missed calls on my cell, but to my surprise, there were none!  I called Nathan, who said if there had to be a night for me to be really, really late, that night was it.  A former cadet, who had just graduated from AFROTC at Alabama, was back visiting as he waited to get commissioned, so people were stayed late and talking to him.  So I pulled into the parking lot at 9:40, and Nathan wasn't even the last person there!  *Whew*

Then Wednesday afternoon, after testing was all over, Luke had an orthodontist appointment.  After he finished, we headed over to Sams to pick up some last-minute things for our camping trip (another post!).  I was so pleased to find my favorite cashier, and as I chose her line, I said, "I always pick your line because you are the best at packing my cart!"  She is a woman after my own heart--every item is placed, like in Tetris, into just the right spot!  A work of art!  Anyhow, after Zahida finished scanning everything, I was ready to pay--but I couldn't find my credit card!  I mildly panicked, but like I said to Luke, I showed it to the guy to come into Sams . . . where could it have gotten to?  That's when Zahida said, "Umm, isn't this your credit card?" sitting there on top of the machine?  Why yes, because I had given it to her before she started scanning everything, except I had no recollection of doing so, LOL.  How many years have we been Sams members?  How many times a month do I go?  Clearly I was cracking up, just a short step away fron the looney bin!  A nice long summer break is just what I need!

Testing actually went really well, I thought.  I think I learned a lot from last year, and this year a lot of new people got certified as testers, so that was great.  I felt more comfortable with everything, although I was still immensely relieved to send off that 25 pound box of tests Thursday morning!  Ahhh . . . summer break!!

AP Biology Exam

This post may not have a wide appeal, but I wanted to capture a few thoughts about the AP biology exam, before everything about the class drains out of my head!

The College Board redesigned the exam this year, based on a new curriculum framework that came out last year.  The idea was that instead of focusing on knowing a ton of random esoteric facts about biology (the old-style exam), the students would be more able to think and reason like scientists, within a framework of biological knowledge. 

No one really had any idea what exactly the exam would be like.  I am still praising the Lord for allowing me to get AP approved, so that I could access the practice exam!  But Nathan didn't really think the practice exam questions were all that helpful, other than helping with pacing.  The College Board sent out a second set of a little more than 30 practice problems, which I also sent out to the boys, and Nathan thought those were more helpful.  What was universally agreed that was NOT helpful were any of the test prep books.  We used Barrons, which came out in February, but they were just guessing on the questions like the rest of us, and their questions were still geared more to the old format.  People who used other books felt the same way though.  Hopefully the test prep companies will learn as well and offer better, more helpful books next year.

There were 63 multiple choice questions, and most of them had big, long sections of reading accompanying them, along with graphs or tables.  One big complaint from students on the collegeconfidential website, as well as from AP teachers on the biology discussion board (passing along their students' comments), was that they couldn't finish the multiple choice questions because of all the reading.  Nathan, Isaac, and Eric did not have trouble finishing the questions.  Apparently a lot of students felt like the multiple choice part was "the ACT science section on steroids".  Nathan hasn't taken the ACT yet, so I don't know, but it sounded like a lot of logic/reasoning/problem solving, more than just knowledge of tricky biological concepts.  A lot of students were upset by this, feeling like they could have just taken any honors biology course and done just as well.  Some teachers felt that students who slacked off in the course could potentially have done just as well as students who really studied, as long as the slackers were good test-takers.  Since the boys aren't supposed to discuss the specific questions, I don't know really, but from the sample problems, you did have to know the concepts to be able to make sense of the reading, and to do it in a timely manner.  I don't think someone could have just taken it cold and done well.  None of my boys thought the questions were as hard as they could have been.  Some kids on collegeconfidential thought they were really easy; some thought they were extremely hard.  I am glad that just in general we focus a lot on logic and problem solving around here.  Who knew it would be so helpful in so many different areas?  : )  As some teachers pointed out, we live in an age where we can easily look up random facts.  But being able to analyze data and draw conclusions is a more important skill for scientists.  Interesting to think about. 

In the first section, which was 90 minutes long, there were also 6 "grid-in" questions.  These are questions where you have to solve some sort of math problem, so the answer is a number, and you bubble in the correct number on your answer sheet.  Nathan again felt prepared for these.  There aren't tons of different math problem possibilities out there for biology, so it was pretty obvious to me that for example, one problem would be a Hardy-Weinburg problem.  And it was!  I was glad we hammered that!  The main problem experienced by kids was that at the end of the multiple choice section, there was a message that said "END OF PART A.  DO NOT STOP.  CONTINUE TO PART B."  Somehow, maybe just due to the stress of the test, a lot of kids saw that message, and thought the proctor would tell them when to move on to the grid-in problems.  So time ran out, and they didn't do them!  The good news is that the grid-ins were weighted exactly the same as the multiple choice questions, but still . . . the teachers said a lot of their best students didn't do the questions, which may cut their chances for a 5.  I had told the boys to do the grid-in questions first, since if they were running short on time, then it is at least possible to guess on multiple choice questions, unlike on grid-ins!  There is now a thread on the teachers forum about how to make the directions more clear (take out "STOP" completely?).  It sounds like this is partly a problem due to all the high-stakes standardized testing all these students take all the time--where they are conditioned to stop after each section.  Another advantage of homeschooling!

The last section were the essays or "free response questions".  In the new format, there are 2 long FRQs (which are supposed to take about 20 minutes to write the answers for), as well as 6 shorter one paragraph FRQs that are only supposed to take about 6 minutes each.  The College Board has released all the FRQs for the "Form O" test that most students took.  You can look at them here and ascertain for yourself whether or not you could answer these questions without a college-level biology course!  Nathan thought these questions were easier than he expected, and he wrote something down for each one.  Who knows yet what the scoring rubric will be, though, and if he put in his answers everything the readers were wanting to see!  The general consensus on collegeconfidential also was that the questions were not too difficult.  There has been a lively thread on the AP teachers' forum discussing potential answers to these questions!

So now we wait.  Scores are officially out on July 8, which seems a long ways away!