New Pictures of Jasper

Just thought I'd share these:

My Little Ballerina

Lily has been taking a 'pre-ballet' class for 3-4 year olds. The school she goes to is a pretty serious school and the focus of this class is to get the kids ready to really participate and learn when they are in the older classes. These girls are expected to pay attention and do what they are told and for a bunch of little ones it is pretty amazing how well they do! Parents are not usually allowed to watch the class so once a semester, they have an observation day. Here is some of what I got to see:

At home with Jasper

Jasper is doing well. He is a very subdued dog. He doesn't play much, he doesn't bark at all (unless we leave the house w/out him), he doesn't do much of anything. He likes to be near us and he likes to be petted and he LOVES to eat.

I think he is confused and missing his foster family. I hope that as time passes we will start to see more of his personality. But for now, I really can't complain...he doesn't try to get on the furniture, he hasn't messed in the house, he doesn't jump up on us or slobber all over us. He is very well behaved and that is saying a lot for a dog who was raised at the racetrack with very little human interaction.

We just have to be patient.

Not so Clueless anymore...

Nope. Now, he's Jasper. And he has arrived.

He spent the afternoon checking out the house, marking his territory outside, and destroying all of the squeaker toys we got him (he's really very skilled at this--goes straight for the squeaking part and rips it right out). He hasn't made a single peep let a lone a bark and is sleeping in his crate (with the door open) at this moment. He balks at our stairs but with good reason (I balk at them too--maybe he will be the impetus we need for getting those stair treads) and it will be interesting to see what he does tonight when we all go upstairs to bed (there is a nice cozy dog bed on the floor just for him...).

The kids love him and pretty much followed him around all afternoon. Noah keeps saying that it seems like he's only here for a sleepover and that he's gonna go home tomorrow. I wonder if that's what Jasper is thinking too. Well, hopefully in a few days we'll all have realized the truth: this is his 'forever home'.

BREAKING NEWS: Luke has successfully gotten Jasper up the offending staircase. Now to see if he will come back down.

INTERESTING TRIVIA: Jasper "means 'treasurer' in Persian. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone."

Clueless Louis

This is our new dog.

Well, technically he is not ours yet. But he will be by next Saturday. We just met him today and totally fell in love. He is an almost 3 year old racing greyhound who was rescued and has been in foster care for about a month. His racing name is Clueless but he's been called Louis, Clouis, and various other nicknames. We've been told it's not a big deal to rename them so we probably will. The family who has been taking care of him has 2 kids almost the same ages and Noah and Lily and he does really well with them. He is very calm and very sweet.

We have been thinking about adopting a greyhound for a while now and when we asked the kids if they wanted a dog for Christmas they were all for it! We started the process thinking it would take a while to get approved and then to find the right dog for us. Apparently it's not so hard tho'.

Hopefully the kids will still be happy about getting a dog for Christmas by the time Christmas is actually here...

Once he comes home we will take some more pictures of him. These are just what I could copy of the foster mom's facebook page...

A Must-See News Report

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This image is in the video above but I thought it was worth a closer look

Lily is learning too!

Lily has been doing a little bit of phonics work with me so she is learning how to sound out words--mostly in three letter blends. I often hear her trying to sound out more difficult things as well while she is looking at books on her own (it's one of my favorite things to listen to really). Today she decided she wanted to write her cousins a message. Check it out...

An Interesting Debate

Today I posted this video on my Facebook Page:



It sparked a very interesting debate and I thought I would post it here so that those of you who are not on facebook can benefit from it. So, here it is:

Angelina:
BAH. This is a guy who peddles false hope for people with specious symptoms. I fail to see how his "medical credentials" make him an expert on infectious disease at all - even his own website doesn't make that claim.

The mercury "danger" has been repeatedly debunked by multiple scientific studies. The American public obviously has no trust in the scientific process, probably because the schools have failed so profoundly that they don't understand it. No, it's true that science doesn't have all of the answers - yet. Scientists won't be able to get them, either, if funding continues to be cut. And funding certainly isn't going to be increased in a society with such a profound mistrust in the goals of science. It's a terrible self-perpetuating cycle.

Furthermore, the risk of H1N1 flu isn't in its current state (although it HAS caused deaths already), but in the event of mutation - which the flu virus is known to do rapidly and unpredictably. This assessment of the H1N1 as "getting less virulent" isn't true at all. The goal of a public health mass-vaccination campaign is to attempt to prevent, or at least minimize, a catastrophic outbreak like the one that ravaged the entire world in 1917. If there is a vaccination available that will reduce my risk of drowning in bacterial fluid building up in my lungs, I'll take it. And so will my boys....

This kind of fear-mongering (pseudo)science reporting feeds nothing but paranoia - and that doctor's bank account.

Me:
i don't know what this guys credentials are or anything else about him but i posted this b/c i haven't seen much else about the negative sides of this particular vaccine. i've only heard talk of how important it is to get it along w/ the regular flu vaccine. the fact is that this strain of flu hasn't been around for long and therefore there hasn't been enough time for any good science to be done w/ it.

there have been studies that show that the regular vaccine is worthless--the number of cases of flu have not gone down and the number of deaths have not decreased. and that vaccine certainly doesn't prevent mutations from occurring in the virus strains.

and i don't see how the dangers of mercury have been debunked. mercury is a poison. we are told to be careful about the kind and amount of fish we are eating b/c of the possibility of getting too much but we are supposed to shoot it directly into our blood stream in higher concentrations than we would get by eating it and assume that there aren't going to be any negative side effects? there have been scientific studies on both sides of this issue and they report opposite findings...

i just have read too much on both sides to just toss any of it out and think it is wise to be very careful about what we put in our bodies.

Jonathan:
The problem is that the government has paid for 180 million of these vaccines to be made and they now need them to be used. Angelina, I fail to see how the doctor above will profit from discouraging people from taking the vaccine, but I do know that the government and drug company lobbyists will lose if there is mass rejection of these immunizations. For those who doubt the effects of vaccines on perfectly healthy people, there are as many naysayers as there are peddlers. I know kids that appear to have autism or seizures as a result of vaccines. The biggest problem is that this vaccine will not immunize against a future mutation which is what everyone is afraid of anyway.

Angelina:
He profits from his fear-mongering appearances. Science can't argue with anecdotes - that just reinforces my whole point; as soon as anyone says "I know somebody who..." then it's no longer a scientific discussion. Nobody claims any vaccine will be a sure bet - but it's the best-guess weapon available against an unknowable enemy. The hope is that perhaps the immune response due to vaccine will at least lessen the symptoms of a more virulent form.

Jonathan:
What creates more hysteria? Immunizing an entire nation for a disease which so far as killed fewer people than are killed by the typical 'flu season, or warning people about the dangers of immunizations which are not brought up in the government push to immunize a nation? I disagree with your statement that "'I know somebody who..."' then it is no longer a scientific discussion." The truth is we all know people who have been adversely affected by vaccines and if we add those numbers up they present a significant challenge to mass immunization when a life-and-death struggle is not imminent as the benefits are outweighed by the detriments. In science, the validity of any statement is only maintained until that statement can be questioned by empirical data. My saying that I know someone is empirical data that challenges the assertion of the benefits of immunizations and should stand until it is disproved.

Please look at the following links for another "kook's" opinion.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Angelina:
So, basically, people who don't vaccinate don't approve of this vaccine? Stop the presses.

Jonathan:
And people who vaccinate support vaccinations? Wow, you've made a point there. The question is why would people deliberately "endanger" their health by not getting vaccinated? Or why would the government allow constant tv ads to be run [that state that] the HPV vaccine reduces cancer risk when it really treats an STD? Isn't that using the fear of cancer to promote a vaccine and in some cases attempt to make it mandatory? (see here)

Me:
i vacinate. but i will not get this vaccine or any other flu vaccine b/c the risk of the disease does not outweigh the risk of the vaccine. and the vaccines have not proven to be efficacious. but you don't hear anything about that in the media.

Jonathan:
Jackie, I'm afraid Angelina's stance typifies those who accept the "facts" as presented to them by the government or medical researchers and refuse to listen to any dissenting viewpoints. Let's not forget that the medical community also supports abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, and Hitler's doctors and scientists were convinced that "the final solution" was the best way to erradicate disease and other abnormalities in the human condition. Also scientific "facts" are continually being proved spurious, but are still presented by the scientific community as proven fact.

Breaking news to add to the debate:

Just needed to share this...

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

by Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling, Issue #1, Fall 2007

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

PICTURES!

Go check out my WebAlbum!

We are Home...

...and happy to be here! The ride home was long and uneventful and we came back to a very hot very stuffy house there having been 9 straight days of 90 degree weather. We sure did pick a good time to leave the Northeast! We had a wonderful time with family in Colorado and I am currently working on getting all 8 million pictures uploaded to a web album for your viewing pleasure. I will let the pictures tell the story of our travels. So, come back soon!

Vacation

So, we are in Colorado visiting my oldest sister, Melissa, and her family. I am taking lots of pictures of the many fun things we are doing. I'll eventually get them all uploaded and organized and have something to say about it all but, for now, you can check out my other sister, Jen's, blog since she has already posted briefly about our shared experience...

Growing Up

Yesterday Noah went off to camp for the first time. Not only will he be gone all week but he'll be out of contact the whole time...unless of course he gets too homesick and needs to call home. I honestly hope that doesn't happen though, as much as I'd like to talk to him. It's kinda hard. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it but I have yet to actually shed a tear. I'd say I'm handling it pretty well. He's bunking right next to his cousin, Alex, who has been there before, and I am sure that he is going to be just fine.
Lily misses him too. She was very reluctant to come home to a Noah-free house yesterday and stayed up as long as we would allow her to. They share a room and she's never had to sleep in it alone before...

Today though was all right. She was a bit bored and I indulged her with some TV time and computer games when she asked but we also had a tea party, baked scones (sadly not for the tea party--woulda been a good idea had I thought ahead but the whole thing was bit unplanned...) and she went to her first ballet class. One of the schools around here has summer classes and I thought she'd enjoy that plus I wanted to make sure she actually does before I enroll her for fall classes. She had a good time--the teacher said she did well (parents are not allowed in the studio) and picked everything up. So, we'll go back next week for the last summer class.
Tomorrow evening, Grammy is going to help relieve her boredom by taking her for a sleepover. I think we will both be appreciative of that. I won't have much chance to be lonely since I watch my friend's kids on Wednesdays. I'm not sure they'll have fun without Noah here (they're both boys and Lily is just the annoying younger sister anyway...) but them's the breaks ;) I'm sure we'll manage.

These are just some pictures I took with her hair up. She looked so sweet I couldn't resist.This one reminds me of a picture my Grandma Nadzia painted of my sister, Loey, when she was about this age...

Memory Verse

Lily and Noah have been attending Vacation Bible School this week. So far they've learned about Gideon, who Lead, and Queen Esther, who Risked, and the Disciples when they were in prison, who Obeyed. Today Lily spontaneously recited her memory verse for me and allowed me to get it on video...

Guest Contibutor

Noah took this video and thought you all would find it amusing...so, here you go...

Warning: may induce dizziness and/or nausea. Watch at your own risk.

Summertime Staples

Swimming Lessons:

(you'd think that Noah was so excited here because he passed this level but, no, he's just excited because he got 5 lollipops! At least he was being a good sport about it...)

And Blueberry Picking

With Good Friends!

Fun with Family

My sister, Jen, and her family came up for a long weekend a few weeks ago (I realize I am very late in posting this but, hey, at least I did it...). It was really nice having them here. The kids had so much fun together and there were of course late nights with movies and conversation for the adults.

After catching the end of Brian's bike race, which was part of the reason they came up, we headed up to the Higgins Armory where the kids got to see and play with all things medieval. Then Monday we hit the beach. The weather turned out to be much better than expected and it was a great day.

Morning Sightings

In my endeavor to be healthier I have been getting up early to go walking. I live in a rather crowded town but even so I have a chance to observe nature at work. I have watched the foliage emerge on the trees and flowers bloom and die only to be replaced by other similarly beautiful blooms in the ever-changing landscape of suburbia.

I listen to the birds over the sounds of my MP3 player that has been playing The Count of Monte Christo loudly enough to be heard while still allowing for the world around me to intrude on my consciousness. It is relaxing and enjoyable in spite of it being exercise...

I have been able to see many birds on my walks, which are not kind enough to grace my back yard with their presence though we have studied them as part of our CT bird/nature study. And I have seen some other unexpected sites as well.

There is one particular tree on a nearby corner that is a typically old and large tree but it is peculiar in that it is almost completely overgrown by a wisteria vine that has wound its way around the trunk and up through the branches so that when it is in full bloom the wisteria flowers can be seen throughout and even peeking through at the very top of the tree. The tree seems perfectly healthy despite this takeover. It is fasciniating how these two separate entities have grown together to make an even more beautiful whole. ( Here is an example of a tree just like this courtesy of my father who knows how to 'google'.)

There is a pond that is tucked in behind a large condo complex and one morning I had the pleasure of spotting a bird like this:
A Great Blue Heron. I had to take some time to watch it and I could see it was watching me too. I lamented the fact that I did not have my camera with me (hence the above picture being copied off the internet) and that my kids were not there to observe it with me either. We had seen this bird flying around our neighborhood at different times lately. It is unmistakable in flight: a huge wingspan, long legs trailing behind, and its head tucked to its body so that it looks like it has no neck at all instead of the long graceful one that it does have.

Later that morning the three of us took a walk together to this pond to see if by chance this bird would still be there. Alas, it was not. But we were able to watch the ducks and listen for the frogs that we would scare into the water in our trek around this pond and hope that the turtle that was slowly moving in the middle of the pond would come to the edge so we could get a closer look.




This morning the heron was back. I had brought my cell phone with me just in case but since it has no zoom I was unable to take a picture in which the bird was visible. I watched as it traversed the edges of the pond looking for and catching some fish, which it threw back and consumed quickly, then reluctantly left to finish my walk. When I got back to the house the kids were up with Luke. Instead of our normal routine of breakfast and easing into the morning I had them don their jackets and flip-flops and we all got into the truck to see if we could spot the bird. Thankfully it was still there. We quietly got out of the truck and slowly walked to get close enough to see it without scaring it away. The kids were able to see it catching fish and making its awkward way through the water and around the pond.

I was able to get these pictures:



Before it took flight...


There wasn't anything awkward about that (other than my camera wielding skills):


(I would have gotten a longer video but I thought the camera was on picture setting rather than video...)

I am thinking that there is no better classroom than God's glorious creation...even the little bit that can be seen right in our own "backyard" here at HOME.

Growing Things

While I would not consider myself to be a green thumb, my attempts at a garden have been much more succesful this year than they were last year. I learned what not to do from that experience though so at least it wasn't a total waste. This year, instead of doing all seeds, I did half plants and half seeds and amazingly enough even the seeds have sprouted and are growing into good healthy foods for us to eat. Their flavor I'm sure will be enhanced by all the work and worry that went into them...

We've got tomatoes (4 different varieties) and lettuce, broccoli, carrots, peas, and spinach.

In the front is oregano, a gift from my mother-in-law's herb garden and rhubarb, a gift from a neighbor.

And hidden in the shadow was an experiment: potatoes. They were forgotten under my sink and went to eye so I decided to plant them and see what happened. So far they are growing seemingly faster than everything else and I am so curious to see what we will pull up from the depths...

And this is my hanging strawberry plant. Yum.

And along with my vegetable garden I have also (finally) finished my front planting beds. A couple of years ago we ripped out huge hedges that overwhelmed the front of the house. Since then I have gradually been working at improving the space. I meant to finish it last year but was thwarted by my broken foot that kept me indoors most of the spring and summer. This year I have been unhindered and despite the fact that I am neither a green thumb nor a landscaper, think I have done a good job of making that space look nice. At the very least it is no longer filled by ugly, half-dead hedges, or an overgrown weed bed.



The azalea bushes in the middle are past their blooming prime but they were so full of beautiful pink flowers--so pretty! And I can't wait 'til the lillies and morning glories, which are creeping up my railing and mail box, bloom.

I am not nearly as brave as my sister Loey who has a true gift for growing things. She likes to keep a trowel handy in her car so that whenever she spots flowers that she wants she can take a cutting. Of course she asks the owners (everyone from neighbors to business owners) first and I don't believe that she has ever been turned down. Now she is the consummate gardener! I did however ask a friend for cuttings of her phlox and hens-and-chicks, which she gladly shared with me. I was also gifted with a chamomile plant from my mother-in-law and nasturtiums from my brother-in-law. These certainly have cut down on the expense of landscaping!

Oh, but my house looks so much better...


Now, if I could just get those dang shutters painted...

Springtime Dessert

I made the perfect spring dessert for my mother-in-law's birthday: Lime Kissed Cheesecake. Aside from the cracks across the top (which I always try to avoid when baking cheesecakes by placing it in a water bath), it turned out well. It is such an interesting combo of flavors and not your typical cheesecake. I've made it several times and it is always a hit. This time I substituted Xylitol for the sugar and you couldn't even tell.

Happ Birthday, Mom!

Rosetta Stone Contest

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

my mother's day in pictures