Ah, Bethesda, My Old Friend . . .

We've had an amazing streak of not having to drive to Bethesda for medical care.  After Micah's 6 month well-baby appointment in October, we only had to trek up there once this whole entire winter, when I thought Micah might have an ear infection.  Otherwise, no one has had any sickness that required the services of a doctor.  Yay!

But our streak has come to an end.  Not that anyone is sick, however.  Nathan is filling out his application for Civil Air Patrol encampment, and we realized he needed to know his blood type.  Well . . . I have no idea!  So I called the pediatric clinic, and it turns out he has never been blood-typed.  So the doctor put in the order, and Nathan and I drove all the way to Bethesda (excuse me, I should refer to it by its new catchy acronym--WRNMMCB.  LOL!) to have his blood drawn this afternoon.  There was no waiting at the lab--it's so nice, now that the second lab has opened up in the new America building.  The lady missed the first time, Nathan almost fainted, but the blood was taken, so all's well that ends well!  Just a 2 hour chunk of my day gone!

When the doctor left a message to tell me she put the order in, she also mentioned that Nathan hadn't been seen since June 2010, so it was time he had a physical as well.  So I scheduled that for the first available time--Friday, May 4 at 2:30.  This reminded me that the only reason he went to the doctor then was to get a physical to play football, and Luke didn't play football that year or in that league ever--so Luke must not have been seen since 2008.  Hmmm . . . looks like I need to make another appointment sometime!

Next week I will once again become very familiar with that drive to Bethesda because I'll be going not just once for Nathan on Friday, but actually 3 days in a row!  I have my initial OB appointment on Wednesday at 10:00, and then I have well-child appointments for Micah and Anna on Thursday at 11:00 and 11:30.  Ah, fun--I live for the parking garages.  Ha!

One good thing Nathan and I accomplished this afternoon while at Bethesda was changing Anna's primary care manager.  When I called to schedule the appointments for Anna and Micah several weeks ago now, the scheduler had a really hard time finding 2 close together for us.  This was because, as she told me, not all my kids had the same primary care doctor.  I found out today that the ONLY child of mine who had a different doctor was Anna.  What in the world?!  I had assumed it was Micah!  Why would she get put with another doctor?  And not just any other doctor--a doctor who wasn't even on the same team as the doctor for everyone else, which was why it was near impossible to get appointments back-to-back.  Government healthcare--I'm telling you, it's probably not going to be what you think it will be . . . (cue ominous music . . .)  But it's still cheap, especially for our big family, so we persevere through the idiocies.  And this idiocy was fairly painlessly corrected by filling out a raft of Tricare forms to change Anna's PCM. 

So we're back in the drive-to-Bethesda routine.  I will say that parking is a lot nicer this pregnancy than with Micah, now that the other parking garage is open.  But I did not miss the drive these past few months!!

Pregnancy Update

I'm 7 weeks along now.  I actually found out pretty early this time.  My cycles have been astonishingly regular since they came back in November, so I knew when it didn't start.  As always, the big clue for me was what DID start--having to pee in the middle of the night.  As soon as that starts, I know what that means, LOL.  So I had a positive pregnancy test on March 25, about 4 1/2 weeks along.

So far I've been feeling pretty good, which is normal for me.  I have noticed more heartburn though.  I haven't really felt much if any nausea, and I haven't been affected by any odors (boy?!).  I'm tired, but you know what--I'm tired when I'm not pregnant.  Tired is pretty much the state of my life right now.  I have so far taken exactly one nap.  I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other!

What I am having a hard time fitting in is exercise.  With Micah, I got pregnant in the summer, and those months are always very active, healthy months for me, where exercise takes a big priority.  I kept exercising last school year until he was born, but I was never able to do as much as I did when I was pregnant with Faith and had gestational diabetes.  Then I was exercising after almost every meal.  Yeah--I really don't see that fitting in at all next year.  With Faith and Micah, I would take a break in the middle of the morning of school to exercise, but that has not been happening this year.  School is just taking so much longer, now that Anna and Grace are added in there.  And I had been letting Caleb and Jonathan work more independently on math and English, but that was not bearing good fruit, especialy with Jonathan, so I am back to pretty much having to sit right next to him and work with him on each math problem.  Getting up earlier than everyone hasn't worked either, mainly because I can't go to bed really early, since that is my time to work on science stuff without anyone else needing me.  So I'm still working on this time conundrum.  I did exercise today, at noon while everyone else was eating lunch.  That will work some days, but not all.  Oh well--I will do my best. 

I remembered to call Bethesda to register for my "OB orientation", which will be next Wednesday from 9:00-1:00.  I'm sure it will be full of new interesting tidbits about pregnancy and military OB units that I have never heard before--ha!  At least I have babysitting at home!  I'll blend in with all the other newly pregnant moms, except I already look 5 months pregnant, and they won't actually show until they are about 5 months pregnant, LOL.

Latin Exam Results

The boys took the National Latin I exam back on March 15 (I discussed our Latin program here), and we waited eagerly for the results.  The boys all thought it was "really easy", although Nathan and Luke each talked about at least one question they had gotten wrong after it was over. 

We received the results about a week or so ago, and I am pleased to report that all 4 boys did excellently!  They all medaled--2 golds, and 2 silvers!  I am just so thrilled with their results, and so proud of their efforts!  Praise the Lord for his blessing!

We had a little celebration at Rivendell on Tuesday.  After the younger kids arrived from their morning co-op, I presented the medals and the certificates, and then we all enjoyed Air Force Dessert!  It was a fun way to wrap up a lot of hard work!

Happy 1st Birthday, Micah!

It's hard to believe that one year ago today I was in labor, preparing to push out a 10 pound, 8.5 ounce boy!  We celebrated Micah's birthday by having spaghetti, which he loves.  Jonathan and I made some rice krispie treats as well.  Having just had Anna's birthday, and Easter yesterday where I made mint frosted brownies, I really was not in the mood for more cake!  Micah loved the rice krispie treat, as well as the strawberry sorbet he had (well, he thought the sorbet was a bit cold).

So Micah's come a long way in one year!  Unfortunately I was not on the ball, and I neglected to actually schedule a one year well-baby appointment until last Friday, so the appointment isn't until May 3.  We'll have official stats then, but for right now, he's a little over 21 pounds.  He is the only one of our babies to actually be 20 pounds at 1 year old!  He's walking confidently, leading with his belly and waving his arms all around.  I am still working on getting him to eat all table food, instead of mushed up food.  He likes bread, fruit, and dessert, LOL, but he is not a fan of veggies unless they are processed and smooth.  He doesn't want to eat soup or casseroles either.  The girls were all definitely eating only table food when they turned 1, so this is just another example of kids being different.  Don't assume you figured out the perfect method just because some of your previous kids all did one thing just the way you wanted it! His idea of fun is to be outside with the older kids, and he is always devastated when they go on out the door and leave him behind!  Next summer . . .  He adores all his older siblings, who in turn think he is the cutest baby ever!

But he won't be able to rest on his "cutest baby ever" laurels for long.  We're expecting #9 the end of November!  I guess I'll have to replace that stroller after all!

Spring Break

I've really enjoyed this spring break.  Really, really, REALLY enjoyed it!  The older boys finished up some Rivendell stuff last week, but I did absolutely nothing with the younger kids the entire time, and it was heavenly.  It meant I actually had some time to do some organizing!

I started out last weekend by switching out winter/summer clothes for the younger 6 kids (Nathan and Luke can fend for themselves).  This takes a while as I try to figure out what was never worn and should be donated or consigned, what from Jonathan is in good enough shape to be held onto for 7 years until Micah is big enough, and for the girls, what clothes should go in whose drawer.  The last one is getting harder and harder.  There is less than 3 years between all 3 girls, and I think the day when they will all wear the same size will come pretty quickly.  Oh, for a big "closet room" like the Duggars have, where all the clothes are just arranged by size, and everyone can just come in and pick whatever fits.

Then we had our long-awaited house cleaning on Monday.  This was actually a bit of a surprise, in that we were technically scheduled for Tuesday morning.  But the lady called at 10:00 Monday morning to see if they could come Monday afternoon, around 12:30.  "Ummmm . . . we won't be as "ready" for you as we would be tomorrow," I stammered (while furiously whispering out the side of my mouth, "THEY'RE COMING TODAY!  CLEAN!!!!" to the boys).  I had not finished putting all the clothes tubs away, and I had several other little things I wanted to do before they came.  I jumped into the shower at about 11:35, and at about 11:40, there was a knock on my bathroom door, with Luke saying, "They're here . . . "  I was sure he was playing a late April Fool's joke, but no, they were there!  So I felt a little flustered and disorganized (what else is new in my life, LOL), but in the end, it was fine.  I was glad they came early!  Otherwise I would have just puttered around, never moving on to another project.  Instead, I went to bed Monday night in a sparkling clean house, which was such a huge blessing.

This enabled me to spend Tuesday working on my science lab supplies.  I have an armoire in our schoolroom that is for these supplies, and indeed ones from last year are in there.  Ones for this year were artfully arranged around the armoire in the the boxes they arrived in, all willy-nilly.  So I organized AND catalogued all the supplies (it took several hours!), and now I am so happy!  It should make ordering for next year a piece of cake, as I don't have to root through boxes to see exactly how many graduated cylinders or hydra slides I have currently.  And everything is grouped according to subject (electricity, magnetism, etc) so that really helps too.  I felt so accomplished Tuesday night!

Wednesday and Thursday we worked down in the pit of Legos known as our basement.  I would not call it "organized" yet, but there are a lot less empty boxes and trash down there, and it is clean  ("was" I should say--that lasted all of a few seconds.)  We have more work down there.  I still have an entire room of paperwork to go through, but for right now, I can just shut that door, LOL.

So Friday we rewarded ourselves by having a playdate with some friends.  That was a fun way to pass the time while we eagerly awaited my parents driving in from Ohio for the Easter weekend, as well as Micah's 1 year old birthday on Monday!  We are all enjoying having them here now!

It's going to be hard to get back in the groove of school on Monday . . . only 6 more weeks until summer break . . . although we still have some stuff to finish up over the summer . . . and biology memory work to plan for next year . . . It never ends!

"The Shallows"

I just finished reading a fascinating book right now (can you tell we're on spring break?!) called The Shallows:  What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.  Someone on the Well-Trained Mind forums recommended it, and it finally came in for me at the library.  His basic question is "As we enjoy the Net's bounty, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?"

I have noticed that as I spend more time on the internet, I have become less likely to want to pick up a book and read, or in fact dive into any project that will take more than about 15 minutes (which is pretty much how much uninterrupted time I ever get during the day).  Instead, it is just so easy, if I have those 15 minutes, to browse on the internet, following links, checking blogs and facebook, browsing news stories (but just enough in-depth to be able to converse intelligently about them), etc.  And I have been feeling that it is more difficult to put my thoughts down in writing than it used to be (although pretty much everything about my life was easier when I didn't have 8 kids and wasn't teaching high school courses, so maybe that is just where I am right now, and not a direct correlation to my internet use!).  But anyway, I was interested to read what this author had to say.

He began by talking about neuroplasticity, and how for many centuries (until fairly recently) people assumed that once a brain matured, it could form no new pathways.  But in fact that is not the case, and brains are remarkably resilient.  But in the same way that someone who becomes blind develops new neural pathways strengthening his sense of hearing, the brain will also weaken and dissolve circuits that are neglected, whether those circuits were good or not.  "The vital paths in our brains become the paths of leaast resistance."  Well, that's kind of a scary thought!

Carr then discusses the history of the printed word, which was very interesting, since we are studying the medieval/renaissance time in history this year.  There were the dire statistics about how younger people especially weren't reading much of anything printed anymore, but more important is how reading things on the internet is actually changing how we interact with reading, since scrolling and clicking are multi-sensory.  This influences how much attention we actually pay to what we are reading, as well as how deeply we immerse ourselves in it.  "The linearity of the printed book is shattered, along with the calm attentiveness it encourages in the reader." 

And what is the result?  " . . . When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning.  It's possible to think deeply while surfing the Net, just as it's possible to think shallowly while reading a book, but that's not the type of thinking the technology encourages and rewards."  The kind of stimuli that the internet provides are the exact ones that result in quick alterations in brain circuits!  And it "short-circuits both conscious and unconscious thought, preventing our minds from thinking deeply and creatively."  Our brains are cognitively overloaded by all the hyperlinks, notifications, etc. available.  Amazingly, research shows that you don't learn and remember as well when you are distracted!

The author discusses other areas, like Google's goal of digitizing and putting online all books, making it even easier to just find certain snippets completely out of context and without any deep contemplation of the entire work.  He also had an interesting chapter on memorization, especially for someone like me who pushes memory work so hard!  "What had long been viewed as a stimulus for personal insight and creativity came to be seen as a barrier to imagination and then simply as a waste of time . . . The Net quickly came to be seen as a replacement for rather than just a supplement to, personal memory."  He goes on to describe how memories are made and turned into long-term memories, along with some fascinating experiments.  It turns out that storing more and more long-term memories stregthens our mental powers, modifying the brain so that it becomes easier to learn new skills later.  Using the internet as an artificial source of memory has none of these benefits, especially since you need attentiveness for memory consolidation in the first place, and the internet does not allow for deep attentiveness!  So now many people find it hard to concentrate even when away from the computer . . .  The book's conclusion:  "As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence."

All in all, a fascinating book.  And I am doubly resolved to read more books, memorize more speeches and Scripture passages, work more crossword puzzles--all not online.  And I am definitely resolved to keep my kids from having a ubiquitous phone in their hands at all times, playing games or texting constantly!!  It's for the good of their brains . . .

Kitchen Addition

Yesterday we watched the 5 McC kids all day while Craig and Christine were at IKEA, looking at kitchen stuff to replace their flood-damaged cabinets.  We had a total blast--the boys played hockey all morning, ate lunch, then went back outside before coming in to finish watching "Henry V", which Nathan and Isaac had begun watching for literature class at Rivendell on Tuesday.  The girls primarily stayed inside and played in the toy room or with duplos, with breaks to read books and watch a video.  Fun day!

When Craig and Christine got back, they brought me this magnetic bar, which I have wanted very badly for as long as I have seen the one hanging in Christine's kitchen!  She has a shorter one, but IKEA didn't have any shorter ones.  She almost didn't buy this longer one because she thought I wouldn't want a long one, but ha!  As you can see I have made use of all the space!  I LOVE this thing.  I LOVE how I got rid of my sticky, dusty knife block that took up room on my counter.  I LOVE how I can just wash the knives I use all the time, and then stick them right back up on the bar.  This is as good as getting my big pot rack!  Bob got that thing installed Friday before Bible study, and I immediately loaded it up!  Thank you, Christine!  I would have been happy to watch your kids even without this great gift!!

(Luke came in and read this over my shoulder, and he was astounded that the knife rack was the main focus of this post, as opposed to the awesome day that was had . . . ) 

Happy Birthday, Anna!!

Anna turned 6 on Wednesday!  Bob was in Tucson this week, but that didn't stop the fun--it just prolonged it!

Wednesday morning I baked a quick rectangular cake for Anna before I took Faith to her dentist appointment (which went swimmingly--no cavities!).  The girls all had a playdate over at my friend Lynnea's house after lunch, which was special, and after I brought them home, the girls and Caleb decorated the cake all by themselves!  They had an absolute ball.  I think I hit upon a great way to take cake-decorating off my plate . . . 

Yesterday Bob got home, so Anna got to open her presents.  She got some really fun things--a new set of realistic-looking play pots and pans, some new summer clothes, a huge princess coloring book (a BIG hit, Melinda--she is really loving it!), a Color-Wonder coloring book, and one of those Barbie heads where you can style the hair.  This was actually passed on to us by Linda and her daughter Stephanie, and Anna was sooooo excited when she opened it.  "Oh!  I've ALWAYS wanted one of these!"  Throughout the day today she's kept saying things like, "I love this doll!"  I knew she would love to have something where she could do the hair!  I'm hoping to work on her braiding skills, LOL.

Tonight we're bringing cupcakes to Bible study, and tomorrow night Bob is going to grill steaks for her birthday dinner (is she her grandma's granddaughter or what?!).  So really we're still in the middle of "the week of Anna".  Fun times!

St. Patrick Deja Vu

We had a long, drawn-out celebration of St. Patrick's Day, especially considering we aren't even Irish!  Hey--it's fun to have family traditions.  So Nathan signed up to bring dessert to Bible study on Friday night.  He made these yummy brownies with a mint cream layer on top.  Mmmmm--I love chocolate and mint . . . He enlisted Caleb's able assistance to make green rice krispie treats.  Luke and I picked out (green) mint brownie chip ice cream during our trip to the commissary that afternoon.  Plenty of yummy greenness!

Saturday morning I put the corned beef brisket in the crockpot, but I didn't any other vegetables because I wanted to make colcannon and soda bread to go along with it.  Then Bob and I headed over to Costco to look at new cell phones . . .

Bob and I got our first cell phones back in 2005, right before he had a 2 week TDY to Colorado.  We got new phones again in 2008, around the time of our big trip out to Utah.  Both times we just got the free phones.  We always had Sprint as our carrier because back in 2005, they were the only carrier to get reception at our house, which is down a little hill.  But in between then and now, new cell phone towers have been built in the area, and we figured reception wasn't a ptroblem anymore, especially since we knew our neighbors had Verizon and AT&T as well now.

Recently we have really become aware of an extremely annoying "quirk" with Sprint, namely that we don't get our voicemail messages until a few days later.  So for example, Bob called me last Tuesday afternoon, looking for a friend's phone number.  I gave it to him and didn't think anything more of it until I got out my phone to call him Friday afternoon, on our way back from the commissary.  Hey!  I had a new voicemail at 3:39, which was weird because it was then 3:50, and we'd been driving for a little while to get off base and onto the highway!  I listened to the voicemail, which happened to be left by Bob--Tuesday morning.   I was glad I listened to it, becaus he gave some other details about a work situation that he never mentioned again, assuming I had heard the message!  Grrr.  This happens fairly regularly for us, and we weer just sick of it. 

So Sprint was not an option.  That left Verizon and T-Mobile at the Costco kiosk.  We spent awhile there, but T-Mobile just had so much better prices, as well as a better military discount by far.  Bob and I walked away to consider things, and we sat down under a big umbrella on some patio chairs there in Costco to talk.  While we were talking, and older couple came up and started examining the table, which had a firepit thing in the middle of the table and a lazy-susan sort of thing on top of the coals.  We discussed the table for awhile with the couple, and then they sat down in the other 2 chairs.  We ended up talking with them for about 45 minutes!  They are retired Army, and one of their sons is a USAFA grad who flies F-16s.  The wife was a realtor, and Bob has been thinking maybe he should do more with real estate (he has his license but has been really too busy the past few years to do anything with it), so they had a long conversation about real estate, among other things.  Anything, we all just really clicked, so it was like this fun double date in the Costco patio funriture section. 

Eventually we headed back to the cell phone kiosk, while our new friends Jack and Joan went off to finish their shopping, LOL.  There we told our very friendly and helpful salesman Diego that we were going to go with T-Mobile, and since the prices were so good, we were going to get 2 smartphone (HTC Sensation, I think), along with 2 free phones for the boys to take, like to practices or whatever.  So getting those phones and setting them up took approximately forever, and we finally got home after 7:00--much to late tos tart cooking potatos and baking bread.

Fortunately Bob spotted an email from our homeschool group saying that a Subway near us was having a grand opening celebration with all regular footlongs for $1!  So I put the corned beef in the fridge for tomrrow, we piled in the van and drove over there.  We did have to wait a little while, but it was worth it!  Of course, we weren't eating until after 8:00, and all the kids still needed baths and showers, so it was a later night than I had planned all around, but still--yay!  We had new phones!

Until we took them out and started playing with them.  Then we realized that we basically got no reception whatsoever in our house.  Well, that's not entirely true--we did have 1 bar out on the back deck and 2 bars as long as you sat in the big chair in our schoolroom.  Other than that--nothing.  Hmmm.  Now the smartphones did have wi-fi dialing, so they did actually work, once we figured out how to get the phones to recognize our wi-fi (althought he salesman had already told us that keeping wi-fi enabled all the time was a huge battery drain--great, one more thing I need to remember to turn on/turn off all the time!).  But the other 2 phones were useless.

Sunday morning on the way to church, we kept checking the reception.  We had to drive 2 miles to get a good signal.  So Sunday afternoon after we got home from church found Bob and me back at Costco, spending another afternoon with our good friend Diego (Jack and Joan were NOT there, at least that we could see, LOL).  This time we knew exactly what we wanted (only 1 extra phone though, since Verizon is more expensive), but the kiosk was even busier, so it still took forever.  We didn't get home until 6:30, at which time I rushed into action, making the colcannon and soda bread.  There was no way I was waiting ANOTHER day to eat this meal!  We ate our Irish meal Sunday night, with basically no leftovers--just enough for Bob to take to work for lunch on Monday.  I'm definitely making 2 briskets next year, and a boatload of potatoes.  I did make 2 loaves of soda bread, so there was enough of that. 

Now Bob and I are just trying to figure out our new phones (Droid Bionics).  I am definitely not technological enough (or interested enough, frankly) to figure tons of things out.  That's what I have all these boys for!  I did send one text to Amy, just to prove that we do indeed now have that ability, and now I can answer the phone without hanging up on you, so that's a step in the right direction.  Oh, and I installed the Facebook app on it yesterday during a down time at Rivendell.  No games though--the boys don't need any more temptations to spend time playing those kinds of games!

"Backpacking Across Europe"

That was the theme for the 5th week activity we had at our elementary co-op on Tuesday.  I know I've said before how the co-op is structured, but we have 4 week unit studies on different topics--some historical, some science, some geographical, etc. each year--and for some of the units, we have a big "5th week activity" that is the culmination of the unit.  Sometimes it is a field trip, or a special speaker, or whatever. 

So the kids just finished 4 weeks learning about Europe, and they had such a fun 5th week activity!  First the kids went to various classrooms by tiers, and they each received a cute little fabric backpack that had some fake euros in it, and also a passport.  Then they all met in the big opening room, and one of the teachers talked in Polish (she's a native!).  Then they had kids come up and hold signs saying how to say "hello" in various European languages (Jonathan got to hold "ciao").  Jessica L. came over from the high school co-op to do some Irish dancing.  Jonathan said everyone liked that a lot--she's a great dancer!

Then the 4 tiers went around to 4 different rooms, getting their passports stamped at each room.  One room was a marketplace, where the kids got a globe key chain, a "football" popper, a pencil, and a compass, which they "paid" for with a fake euro credit card-thing they all had.  While there, Daniel McC taught Jonathan how to say, "Hello, my name is Jonathan.  How much does this cost?" in Italian.  The McCs took a big trip to Italy a year ago in November to visit friends, so apparently Daniel is still remembering his Italian!

Another room was an art room, where the kids got to paint a postcard scene using pointillism.  They used q-tips as brushes, and they only got to use 3 colors.  Someone had drawn a very simple scene of a sailboat on a lake with mountains behind, so the kids sort of filled in the areas with their colors.  The cards turned out really well!

There was also an Olympic game room, where they did a modified curling game, rowing on a skateboard, and long jump.  There was also a fake torch in there, Jonathan reports.

And lastly there was the "cafe", which is where I helped out for the first part of the morning (until I had to run over to Rivendell to teach science, and Christine came to TNT to take my place).  The ladies really went above and beyond with the food--a Slovakian beef and potato goulash soup, pierogies, Swedish meatballs, Swedish licorice, Polish cookies, cream puffs, baguette slices and cheese, pita bread and cucumber dip, churros, and Belgium dark chocolate pieces that looked like Pringles.  Yum!  There was peppermint tea to drink, which was also quite tasty.  I'm not much of a hot beverage person at all, but even I liked this tea!

So the kids had a fun time "backpacking" around the halls of TNT!  Then they headed over to Rivendell to finish off the day--and what a gorgeous day it was!  The temperature was in the high 70's, there was a nice breeze, and it was sunny!  When we got home the kids went down to the creek behind our cul-de-sac with Bob, and then the younger kids actually put on swimsuits and played in the sprinkler.  I can honestly say we have never put on swimsuits and played outside in March before!  Fun day!

Goodbye, Faithful Friend

This is a "Strollee" brand stroller that I bought for around $30 at a consignment store back in 2002, when we lived in Ohio.  Bob had a TDY to D.C., actually, and we all were going to go with him.  "All" of us meant Nathan, Luke, Caleb (who was not even 1), and me.  I wanted a stroller that folded up to be skinny, like an umbrella stroller (so we could easily take it on the Metro), but that had some sort of basket underneath.  This stroller fit the bill and was not very expensive.  It folded (down)in half, and then the 2 halves folded in toward each other.  It has been the most useful stroller ever.  It's been great for trips because it didn't take up too much car space, but it was a little bigger and more substantial than an umbrella stroller, and by loosening a strap on the back, you could recline the seat so a baby could be in there.

Well, all good things must come to an end . . . Back in December we stopped at Ikea on our way home from Great Wolf Lodge.  As we were leaving the bathroom on our way back out to the van, the stroller all of a sudden got all wobbly, and I realized that a metal part connecting the handle had actually broken!  The boys at Rivendell always say that Micah is a "ninja", so I assume it was his mighty ninja mind powers that broke the metal, LOL.  Anyhow, I was very glad that it happened at the end of the trip, and we tossed the stroller into the garage, where it promptly got buried in stuff and forgotten.

Until we started cleaning out the garage, that is.  I decided we are not actually running a hospice program for terminally broken strollers, so it finally made its way into the dumpster, on its way to its eternal reward for a decade of pushing our babies hither and yon.   But first I took this picture so I could give it a respectful eulogy.  If we were to have another baby, then we would definitely replace the stroller (although I have never seen another "Strollee" stroller anywhere, LOL), but right now Micah is fine in the umbrella stroller we do have.  So thank you, faithful stroller, for all the rides!

Art by Jonathan

Jonathan has been asking me quite often for quite a while to find him an art class.  I am not remotely "arty", and this has been an incredibly busy year, so . . . that was certainly not tops on my priority list of things to do!  But one day my friend Lynnea said there was an art class at her house, and there was one more space open at the table. Jonathan went for the first time a few weeks ago, and he LOVES it.  They use these chalk pastel colored pencils that I had never even heard of before.  He finished his first picture on Wednesday--these pears.  Pretty good, isn't it?!  He's working on a picture of an eagle now.  So maybe this science/math/engineering family will have one artist!

Finishing Up Latin

We had our last Latin class on Thursday, and the boys will take the National Latin Exam on Wednesday. I have been thinking over this Latin journey, and I wanted to capture a few thoughts.

First of all, we have done Latin for years. Nathan and Luke started back when Nathan was in 2nd grade, and Luke in kindergarten, using Prima Latina. We finished that book and then spent some time doing Minimus, because I had heard how fun and cute it was. But I didn't want to shell out a ton of money (like $70 or something) for the teacher manual, so we just stumbled through it. I had no idea why the verbs were conjugated differently, for example, and if a noun wasn't a subject, then I had absolutely no idea what to do with it. Still, it was a fun break, although I don't think it actually did anything as far as learning goes.

So after we finished Minimus, we went back to Memoria Press, doing Latina Christiana I and II. We took a few years going through the 2 books. I was frustrated with LCII because there wasn't really much practice at all with the grammar concepts introduced, so every day I would come up with 2 sentences to translate in English, and 2 sentences to translate into Latin.

I was planning on starting Henle I a few years ago, but then MP introduced First Form Latin, so I had the boys go through that book instead. I didn't do it with them, but it introduced more verb tenses, and now MP is recommending doing the First Form series (there will eventually be 4 in the series) instead of LC II.

So then I was once again planning on starting Henle, but we ended up waiting a few more months so that Caleb McC could finish LC II and do the class with us as well. While we were waiting, I went to the HEAV convention, where I talked with Amy Regan from Lukeion. I have heard only great things about Lukeion's Latin classes, and especially about her teaching. Well, she said she would not recommend Henle, and that most people who use it end up stopping after a few units because it just isn't organized very well. She uses Wheelock's, which is a college-level text in her classes. I picked up a cheap used copy of Wheelock's at the used book sale, and I wondered a bit if I was totally off in my plans. But I did think that I usually have a pretty good feel for what works for me, and there have been other times that people have told me that what I was going to do wouldn't work, but it did.

So we went plunged ahead with Henle, using MP's study guides. We discovered right away that the first several units were all complete review, so we blew right through them, and the MP lesson plans really weren't that helpful. But there was a TON of translating, and so using all these grammar concepts that we had spent years memorizing became quite natural. One criticism of Henle is that it has a very limited vocabulary. This was actually a feature for us, LOL. Almost all the vocab were words we already knew from LC, and a limited vocab again made it easy to focus on really using the concepts. Another criticism is that Henle is very preoccupied with Caesar and his Gallic wars. True, but this wasn't really a problem with all boys. Plus, the sentences were easy to mock (the classic "The bodies are in the river", LOL).

I found it was actually really easy to teach Henle, and I didn't think it was laid out weirdly. Maybe it is because we did so many other MP books, but it felt very familiar. I used my Wheelock's book to clarify some concepts, but it moves so much faster and introduces a ton of vocab. I think that someone who really knows Latin could easily teach Wheelock's at a high school level. Unfortunately the boys had me, LOL, so it was much, much better to have a book that actually was supposed to be high school level. Also, Wheelock's doesn't have as much practice and translation--and I don't have an answer key, which is something I would absolutely have to have in order to teach with it!

We've been taking all the past NLE exams (Intro and I) that are posted on their website, so I am hopeful that will help familiarize the boys with the vocab they are lacking. Because they are so familiar with the grammar, they often can figure out the answer by context clues or by the endings on the words. We'll see how it goes.

A lady posted on the Well Trained Mind forums about a website she developed to help review the Roman culture for the test. It was really helpful! There is a list of questions, and there is also a quiz you can take to review. (I'll have to come back later and link it--the computer I'm on isn't letting me copy and paste the link! Technology . . .) Also, I searched on youtube for "Latin 100 commercials". Lone Pine Classical School has their Latin 100 students do travel commercials for ancient Rome--watch a few of those, and you will be well caught up on all your cultural knowledge for ancient Rome!

So we'll see how the test goes. All these years of study, and all I can say is that we are now pretty fluent in what is expected for a first-year high school Latin course. I do think we are much more comfortable and familiar with everything than someone who had ONLY taken one year in high school. That person might have covered the same amount of ground, but we have it ingrained in memory since we've been working with these endings and vocab words for so many years!

And then Caleb and Jonathan (and Daniel and Joel McC) are coming along behind them. Caleb and Jonathan are over halfway through LC I. I know I want them to take the Intro exam. Who knows--maybe we'll even go farther, into Latin II. Maybe my old brain will finally be able to keep the perfect and pluperfect tense endings straight if I go through them again!

Happy Birthday, Luke!

Luke turned 13 yesterday (2 teenagers in the house now!), but we have actually been celebrating all weekend! Friday night we brought cookies-and-cream cheesecake squares and cookie dough truffles to Bible study (along with blonde brownies, which Caleb made all by himself, for those who don't care for dairy, LOL). The truffles were really good, although I had trouble dipping them, and they didn't look as neat as in the picture. I slightly overcooked the cheesecake bars. lthough they were good, Luke and I both agreed that we like chocolate cheesecake better!

Sunday afternoon, Rivendell took a field trip to Medieval Times. Bob took the oldest 6 kids, and various members of the other 4 Rivendell families (that actually live here!) also went. Bob said he should have told them to announce Luke's birthday in the middle of the show when such things were announced. Luke was very glad he had not thought of that earlier! Everyone was very happy when Rivendell was announced, though. Definitely a fun thing to do with good friends on a birthday weekend!

Luke went ahead and opened his presents Sunday night after they got back, since Bob is TDY this week. Here he and everyone else (note the medieval attire) are poring over this Sports Illustrated For Kids book of football top 10 lists that I found by browsing Amy's Amazon wish list. It has been a huge hit! Luke was also thrilled to get the Tim Tebow autobiography from Grandma and Grandpa. He and Nathan have been taking turns reading it. Dan and Melinda sent him a book called Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom on Becoming a Man. I've started reading it out loud to everyone at the dinner table because it has some really great lessons in it. Lots of good books!

Here is a puzzle of Neuschwanstein also from my parents that I'm sure we'll be starting as soon as we figure out a good place for us to work on it! "After Latin is over"--that seems to be my answer to just about everything right now! Bob and I went to this castle on our honeymoon, and I can't wait to put this puzzle on our wall downstairs in the basement!

On Luke's actual birthday yesterday we had his birthday dinner. He picked chicken packets. I made 20 of them (they're pretty large--each one is 2 crescent rolls pressed together), but we only had 3 left over, and after lunch today, those 3 are gone as well. And Bob wasn't even there! I can't make enough food for any sort of left-over meal!

So we had a lovely weekend celebrating Luke! We're so glad he's been in our family for 13 years, and we look forward to seeing how the Lord is going to use the gifts and talents He has given Luke as he grows up!

The Correct Way

Grace, to Faith: You aren't saying "no" to Micah right. You don't say [sing-song-y voice] "Nooooo, Micah, noooo". You say [firm, no-nonsense voice], "No, Micah. No."

So if anyone needs to borrow an extra mother hen who knows the right way to say "no", just let me know!

Micah's Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad, No Good Night

Yesterday evening was our small group meeting. Bob and Nathan were at basketball practice, so I left the kids at home with Luke. I left small group early though, because Micah hadn't slept well all day, and I knew he would be a handful.

Well, I could have stayed longer! Micah was so tired and crabby that Luke put him down before 7:30! I figured he would jsut sleep all the way through, since he was so tired.

But at 12:30, he woke up, crying loudly. When I went in to check on him, he was clearly running a fever. I nursed him, gave him Motrin, and took his temperature (101.5) with our handy-dandy new thermometer, which Bob had to hunt around for downstairs since it wasn't where I thought it was. I held him for awhile after nursing, but he just would not stop crying. No matter how I held him, he kept crying. I took him downstairs for awhile, and we rocked in the big chair in the schoolroom and looked out the window. I tried putting him down again, but he cried for a solid 20 minutes with no sign of stopping, so I went in and got him again.

All this crying is so unlike Micah! He sounded really uncomfortable, so I started thinking maybe an ear infection or something, since he is still snuffly. Finally, a little after 3:00 AM, I did something I have never had to do with a child before--I put him in his carseat and drove around!

It was so weird being out on the roads so early. I was the only person on these big roads that are crowded with cars at pretty much every other moment of the day! Of course, I was sooo tired that I was worried I was going to fall asleep at the wheel, and then Bob would have no idea where I disappeared off to, and he would worry . . . So I concentrated on staying awake and singing to the radio, LOL. After 5 minutes or so, Micah finally fell asleep, and I drove home, where I put him back in his crib.

I figured he would sleep late, but I set my alarm for 6:30 so I could call to make an appointment. But he woke up crying again at 6:15! After I nursed him, he fell asleep quicker this time (no driving required!), and I made an appointment for 10:30 this morning.

There was all this unexpected traffic, so we were 10 minutes late, but Micah napped in the car and was so happy at the doctor's office! He smiled, blew raspberries, and generally acted like a boy who would never cry for 3 hours straight. His ears checked out (lots of wax though--another prodigious producer!), and his lungs and everything else were just fine. He's finally passed 20 pounds (20 pounds, 5 ounces to be exact). He cooed and played with his shoes on the way home, and he ate a sunbutter and jelly sandwich in his carseat. Now he's getting ready to take another nap while I run errands. I guess he just wanted to spend an hour and 45 minutes driving to and from Bethesda with me, plus the actual time in the hospital! What fun!

So who knows what all that crying was for? Gas? Who knows! I am praying tonight is not a repeat performance, however!

New Thermometer!

Yeah . . . it's a slow news week. Once upon a time, many moons ago (14, to be exact), Nathan was a baby, and I bought a brand spanking new Braun ear thermometer. It has served faithfully, only needing 1 new battery all these years. Late last year, the battery died, and I brought it downstairs to reminder me to change the battery. But no one was sick, and I never got around to it. Then someone knocked it off the counter, and it fell apart. It probably still was fixable, but I never got around to that either, so . . . the parts are still (somewhere, buried under paper) on the counter.

But this week Faith got sick and was running what I would guess was a 101 degree fever, but I realized I could not verify that without my thermometer, because I didn't feel like fighting the rectal battle with a very grumpy sick 3 year old. So after Luke's orthodontic appointment yesterday, we stopped in at Walmart to repenish our childrens and infant motrin supply, and also to check out the new thermometer technology. We decided on a Exergen Temporal Scanner Thermometer, which works by you simply running the scanner from the middle of the forehead over to the ear while pressing a button.

I LOVE this thermometer! No more searching around for a clean probe cover! No more wondering if the reading was incorrect (or just getting a plain "error" message) due to massive wax buildup! (I don't like to brag, but certain members of this family are world-class ear wax producers. It's a gift.) Today Jonathan and Luke were just feeling run-down and bleh, so I took their temperatures too. They're just running slight low-grade temperatures, nothing big. I think it sounds like what Christine had earlier this week, so just another little virus running around. But taking their temperatures was so EASY with this handy-dandy new thermometer!

May it last at least 14 more years!

Low-Key Week

We're taking a light week this week as far as school goes. Caleb and Jonathan didn't do any school at all on Monday--they went snowboarding with Bob! Bob had wanted to do the same deal he got when he went skiing with Nathan and Luke, but alas, the hotel was all booked up. It worked out for the best however--Caleb really wasn't feeling well Sunday. He rested all afternoon (missing his basketball game) and went to bed early, and he felt better Monday morning. Bob left with them to drive to PA about 7:30. The weather was beautiful, and they had a grand time! Jonathan did not like falling down and losing his glove, although he pointed out that only actually happened once. Caleb did not feel it was like rip-sticking at all, and he complained about his aching leg muscles for days afterwards! But Bob said they both did really well. Bob also wanted to point out the instructor was right--fall on your bum, not your front.

Everyone has been somewhat sick this week as well, it seems. Nathan was sick last week, and he has just had a hard time kicking this bug. He didn't feel well at Rivendell on Tuesday, and he had to miss CAP a second time in a row. He's finally seeming better now.

Faith was a little bit snuffly Monday, but nothing too bad. She was in the nursery at TNT on Tuesday morning while I was aiding, and she did just fine there. Christine brought her and Elena back to their house in the afternoon so the girls could nap a little, and she called me while I was still back at the church to tell me that Faith was sounding terrible! She had a bad cough and just didn't seem like herself. She was definitely running a fever that night, and Wednesday she was a sick little girl. She fell asleep on the couch by Nathan around 5:30 while I was making dinner, and I could never get her to wake up enough to eat! So finally I just got her pajamas on and put her down. She slept until 7:30 this morning, when she got up to pee. Then she went back to sleep in my bed until 9:30! She is still coughing a bit, but not as badly, and she's not running a fever anymore. Yay!

Now Jonathan is feeling sickly, as is Luke. Everyone is just sort of snuffly, coughing, and feeling puny! Well, everyone except me, thankfully. I feel fine! Micah has been snuffly and coughing as well, and he ran a little fever over the weekend. That seems to be all gone though. Anna isn't snuffly, but she slept funny last night and has a crick in her neck. She has loudly moaned and complained about that all. day. long. She took a nice long shower tonight, and I gave her some Motrin, so hopefully the kinks will get worked out. She didn't appreciate my attempts at giving her shoulder rubs! I definitely have felt like I have been surrounded by germy, whiny kids all week long!

Luke had an orthodontic appointment this morning (which is why we didn't get much done today). He had a bracket come off, but they ended up putting some kind of ring on there and giving him bands to wear. I realized that he just celebrated his one year anniversary of wearing braces in Phase II back on Feb. 14. I can't believe we didn't celebrate! Ha! I know he'll be celebrating getting them off, that's for sure (whenever that may be)! Nathan too!

So there are some not-very-highlights from our not-very-productive week!

Anna and Grace

Today I "aided" in our elementary co-op for the morning, which means I spent time doing the character lesson, taking prayer requests, helping the kids eat lunch, and helping them exchange their valentines. I aided for the K-4 and K-5 classes, so I got to spend time with Anna and Grace in the their TNT environments, which was so fun! I had Anna's class first, and one mom, who had recently taught those 2 classes was commenting on how sweet my girls were--especially one of them, but because there were kids coming in, I couldn't hear which name she was talking about. She was talking about how this girl was more quiet, so I automatically assumed she was talking about Grace. Wrong! It turned out she was talking about Anna! I was shocked!

Well, as the morning went on, Anna really hardly said 2 words! That's not totally true--they had some free time, and she played happily with some of the other girls (there are only about 10 kids in her class total), but she definitely didn't chatter away, even at lunch. And she's definitely a chatterer at home, LOL. But she LOVES the co-op, and she considers these kids GREAT friends of hers. it was just surprising to me to see how shy she did appear to be in that environment!

So then the classes switched, and Anna's class went off to learn about France. Right now the kids are al studying "Europe". Last week Anna and Grace's teacher taught them all about Poland, since she is a native of Poland. The girls came home spouting all sorts of random facts about Poland--they were both listening very attentively, I can assure you! I don't think they had ever really put together that Grandma B is Polish as well!

Anyhow, Grace's class came in, and I was VERY curious to see how they all interacted. Last week when I had picked the girls up (which I only did because Christine was over there aiding that week--normally I am teaching science, and the other Rivendell ladies pick everyone up), the aide told me that one little boy just loved Grace--he calls her "Beautiful Grace", and he always wants to sit next to her. Awwwww . . . so sweet! Well, the little boy actually sat on the other side of the table, across from Grace, today, but he is a little cutie, LOL. And I was shocked to see how confidant Grace was in there! She talked to the kids, and just in general acted like she was at home. Huh!

This is such a big switch from church, which is the girls' other big social weekly experience. There, Grace hardly says a word in class, and she acts PAINFULLY shy, as if the act of cutting paper is too much for her. Although, maybe I should ask her teachers specifically on Sunday. Those reports were from a few months ago, and maybe she's had this blossoming transformation, LOL. Whereas Anna has always seemed perfectly comfortable there even when she is the only girl with a bunch of boys.

It just goes to show that you can't pigeon-hole your kids' personalities!

Another Birthday Season Kicks Off!

Of the 10 people in our immediate family, 9 of us have birthdays from February through June (and then Caleb gets all the hype and attention when he has his birthday in November). So yesterday we started our time of birthdays with my birthday! Since it fell on a Tuesday, we spent the day at Rivendell, where there was a lovely party for 3 of us celebrating birthdays this week--Monday for Emily H., yesterday for me, and today for Faith. Quite a special week!
Our party had balloons for each of us, and not one, not two, but 3 different cakes! I made a castle cake exactly like this one I made for Grace's 3 year birthday for Faith. I wasn't as careful this time, because I was making it at 10:00 PM Monday night, LOL, but it was fine. Then Emily's sister Amanda made a yummy big frosts chocolate chip cookie, and Christine made a delicious flourless chocolate cake! So for someone who doesn't even really like regular cake, I had wonderful options!

The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday, so we were able to eat the cake outside, which I'm sure saved a ton of wear and tear on the church's vacuum. I love it when the weather is nice on Tuesdays and the kids can really run around outside. We had a very special treat in that my other friend Christine and her 2 daughters were able to come by for the party! Look at these 6 beautiful little girls! So fun!

After we got home, the kids ate leftovers, and Bob and I went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We split my favorite, a Chinese chicken salad, and then we split a piece of Hershey's chocolate cheesecake. It was so good, although I would have to say my favorite is the chocolate mousse cheesecake. Still, no bad options there!

I got some fantastic gifts too! My brother and sister-in-law sent me a book off my Amazon wish list that I've been dying to read ever since my friend Johanna recommended it--Amelia Earhart's Daughters. I also got a Baby Blues book and a CD called Hymnworks, which features hymns, played on a piano, interwoven with classical music pieces. It is absolutely beautiful. I have it as a cassette tape from way back, but there is never a tape player around to play it anymore, you know?! I've already listened to it, and it is so relaxing and enjoyable. I highly recommend it!

Faith's birthday is today--hard to believe she is already 3 years old! I barely made it to the hospital to have her, and she continues to grab life by the horns--she's not afraid of much, except for anything that lives and breathes and is not a human, LOL. She is not an animal lover! her favorite things are her "bear blanket" and her Cedarmont Kids DVDs. She adores those and will watch them as many times as I will let her. And if she's not listening, then she will sing the songs--loudly, and over and over. It is really sweet to hear old Sunday school songs being sung again, like "Climb, Climb Up Sonshine Mountain", and "Do, Lord". She's a lot of fun!

Here she is with the shiny pink "princess" balloon she got yesterday. She loves the balloon and drags it around everywhere, but when I tried to take a picture of her with it, she got all shy and uncooperative. So you'll just have to take my word about how happy she usually is! I guess she only cooperates with the dentist!