We should have went swimming. (Frustrated we stayed home waiting for someone who never showed!)

Thursdays Highs and Lows....

Yesterday we had so much fun with our home school posse. We played Spud while practicing Latin numbers. I felt like a kid again, on the playground. It's motivation to keep moving. I don't want the day to come when I can't move around. I want to be the kind of person who heads into the twilight years of life, still up and running.

It was wonderful to see our friend, who recently lost his mother to cancer. He seemed to be in good spirits, and it reminded me of what a wonderful mother he had. It broke my heart when she lost her battle a few weeks ago. It seems unfair children have to lose their parents, and when its a home schooling parent, this seems amplified.

On the other hand, the closeness home schooling families share brings strength. I'm sure my friend was grateful she had spent so much time at home with her children. They were there to love and support each other through all the good and bad times. Her legacy shows in how healthy and well adjusted her children are, even after suffering such a devastating loss.

After our great posse visit, I unfortunately had to head to work. Usually, I enjoy going to work, but this day it was difficult to leave the fun of friends.

I'm discovering errors here and there, as my co-workers navigate their way through our scheduling software. These are simple errors that are happening because they are trying to go too fast. I got frustrated because to me, these errors are being made because staff is working too quickly, not taking the time to read careful. They tell me though, "Its the program."

In truth, there are some changes the programmers could make, but on the other hand, its not that difficult to read "Jellyfish Saturday 10:30am October 17 through December 19th" and realize that class is not meeting this Saturday, September 19th. I don't know how I can help staff other than point out, its ok to take the time to read what's in front of you more carefully.

I have a few ideas I could implement, but over all, I think somehow, I have got to help staff realize learning something new doesn't have to be so challenging if they take down their anxiety wall brick by brick.

I'm sorry for being cynical with a flavor of superiority, but why do so many expect to be able to work on autopilot or give up before even trying? Is it fear or lack of confidence? Is it laziness?

I'll get off the soapbox. I'm sure I've offended co-workers!

Last night we watched the first new episode of Survivor. I don't want to watch the rest, but I will have to because my family will. There is a guy, Russell, who has to be the most evil player I've ever witnessed on the series. He dumped his own tribe's water supply to cause turmoil and burned a tribe member's socks. He set up fake alliances with every woman, referring to them all as stupid. He LIED about being in a house, filling up with water during hurricane Katrina, in which he watched his dog die.

When he crossed that line, I knew he'd be the most hated man in America. To lie about climbing onto a roof, axe in hand, during hurricane Katrina is a slap in the face to the thousands who really lost so much! This man is so damaged. I have to wonder what happened to him to make him choose such an evil path.

Before tucking my boys in bed, I told them, "Please don't grow up to be Russells!" I know I really don't have to worry about that. The love, respect and support we share together in our family, ensures we won't end up sorry human beings who choose evil over doing what is right.

Wednesday Thoughts

My parents headed back to Minnesota this morning. Why did they leave those evil cookies?!

I'm sure I'll want a nap later, but getting up early really does help you get a jump on the day. I struggled last night at work to complete a project, but there were too many interruptions. What I couldn't accomplish in 5 hours, I completed in 1 just because I was left alone. Working at home can be much more productive.

The boys are very close to reaching their financial goal in order to make their secret purchase. They've been working extra chores. Next step, deciding whether to keep this purchase a secret or reveal it. I think they feel misunderstood and judged. Or it could be they don't want to hurt someone's feelings.

Date night is only a few days away! DH is taking me to see Alice In Chains. I'm not a huge fan, but its a concert, and I'll have the chance to let my hair down. Plus its time spent with DH!

I was thinking of painting our front door. It really needs it. I thought about choosing a color other than white, but on the other hand, if I paint the door dark, it will absorb heat in the summer and make the living room hot. I will probably end up just painting it white again.

DS10 has decided he doesn't have to be a hamburger for Halloween. I told him the foam was on the expensive side, and I wasn't sure how I could sew and stuff a costume to resemble the burger costumes he sees in the Burger King commercials.

His latest idea is to be a doughnut. I'm trying to wrap my head around how I can design that costume. I'm wondering if I could sew a slip cover of sorts for an inflatable inner tube? I'll have to sketch it out. I do like the cop/doughnut idea, like the photo I found at an online costume shop.

I better get moving. DS10 is up and eyeballing the computer. I've been sitting here too long!

Visitors and Gardening notes

We're recovering from the rhino rather nicely. DS10 is most definitely over it and DS13, hardest hit, has turned the corner. I'm hoping he continues to recover and doesn't fall back like he did last week.

Grandpa P and Cheryl stayed over for a quick visit. Grandpa P treated us to supper out at Old Country Buffet. He sure doesn't show it, but he loves to eat. I wish I had half of his metabolism. We hope to some day be able to travel down and visit them in Florida. Maybe Grandpa will even give us a ride on his Harley!

We're getting ready to put the garden to bed. We harvested a third bucket of Roma tomatoes, but I think they will start to thin out now. We did end up with blight at the end of the growing season. We had heard it was in our area, but since we had started our plants from seed, we hoped we'd be spared. Apparently blight is an airborne disease for tomatoes. Now I'm not sure how we should clean up the bed. I've heard you do not want to compost plants affected with blight. You are suppose to bag them up and throw them away. I just wonder if the soil needs to be treated?

We didn't get as many butternuts as I had hoped. Next year we will position the plants better and ditch the vertical frame idea. Although we did end up with nice fruit, we had a few too many cool nights and the vines growing on the vertical frame got too chilly. The vines on the ground fared better. 

Our watermelons and cantaloupes don't look ready. I'm afraid we didn't have a hot enough summer to bring them to maturity. We'll wait a little while longer and see if any ripen up.

Over all the Square Foot Garden method is a great idea for beginning gardeners, but next season I think we'll experiment with something different. We want to grow bigger and better!

I'm starting to complain, there's no rain.

It just feels like I have nothing interesting to report....

I'm falling behind on logging in our days. It feels like there is nothing good to write about, which is pretty sad, but the truth is, the Rhino virus is in the Sleepyhouse.

We missed our home school posse on Thursday. I decide it would be best if we didn't share our cold germs. Turned out we weren't the only ones to cancel. Hopefully we'll all be better by next Thursday, and we can practice our Latin.

My parents arrived and we shared our day with them, taking them to Costco and Culvers for lunch. They left us for the quilt show and to visit other relatives and friends. We'll see them again when they head back through on Tuesday.

Thursday night our cable, internet and phone went out. We played basketball and Uno. We ended our day watching a Harry Potter DVD.

On Friday we noticed a cable guy lurking around our neighbors' back yard. I asked him if he was working on the outage, and he told me they thought it was because our neighbor cut through a line. Our neighbor is putting up a fence, one hole at a time. The cable guy had to call in two others and 20 hours later, we were connected again.

Having all that down time, I did manage on Friday to catch up on cleaning. Along with the usual chores, I even took down curtains and washed them. Amazing what one can accomplish when the distraction of Facebook & Multiply isn't there! LOL!

After playing Cinderella, I found myself wiped out. The past few days its been like this, but if I stop, drink some fluids and rest, I've been able to keep the rhino from taking a hold of me. Unfortunately, it hasn't be the same story for the boys.

DS13 started first several weeks ago. He seemed to be getting better, but turned south again. Tonight he decided he needed to go to bed at 8:00pm. I really hope that helps and tomorrow he feels better.

DS10 seems to be moving his rhino through more quickly. He was second to suffer, but he seems to be first to recover.

There seems to be so much illness going around, not just Swine flu. I swear my food choices, supplements and walking have been helping me. I've also took up dry brushing, which could be helping as well.

Tomorrow we have more visitors arriving, my father in law & his wife. I can't remember the last time we saw them. I just hope the boys are feeling well enough to visit. The house isn't perfect, and I have no idea what to cook, but I'm not going to stress over it. It would give the rhino another chance to get me!

I better go check on my sick one and brew a cup of insurance. Hope you're having a great weekend! 

Found dye free Children's Tylenol cold medicine! Yeah! Stocked up on tissues, disinfectant spray, and vitamins. Bring in on!

Can't figure this one out. DS13 has had a sore throat for almost 2 weeks. Thought it was allergies but Claritan doesn't seem to be making any difference. This morning he woke up with stomach pain, but it quickly went away and he's been eating normal all day. Tonight DS10 says his throat is sore, but more so his ears are bothering him. Maybe we do have a virus in the Sleepyhouse? Do I pay the $70 insurance co-pay only to have the doctor confirm this or could it be something treatable? Doesn't it seem unfair doctors charge you even when there is nothing they can do for you?

What's Going On In Our Sleepyhouse Lately....

DH took the boys to see Final Destination in 3D. They nicked the glasses because they were pretty cool looking, even though the theater was asking patrons to recycle them. They enjoyed the movie and DH assured me there wasn't too much 3D sex. LOL!

I wasted my free hours trying to find a bra and pair of jeans that fit. No luck. Of course I'm not a mall shopper. I would have preferred to shop Farm & Fleet, but they were closed for the holiday. I did score a pair of shorts for next summer for only $3.

I added more reasons why I love my husband to my ongoing list. He decided to help the boys go through their clothes, sorting out what fits and what doesn't. We ended up finding enough hoodies we could open our own store. We now have 3 bags for Goodwill.

We're learning Latin numbers this week. A family in our home school posse was interested in learning Latin and thought we could learn it together. I knew this would be a tough sell to my unschooled children, and my gut reaction was one of stress. However, we are blessed with wonderful friends! They want to use a game approach rather than a textbook/worksheet approach, so we are brain storming game ideas. What's important to my boys is still being able to have fun with their home schooled friends when our posse meets.

This week we are using Latin numbers while we play Spud. I also thought we could enjoy our Nerf Gun Wars using the Latin vowel sounds. Each player chooses a certain Latin vowel, and then when you nail them with a Nerf dart, they have to yell out that vowel sound as they dramatically fall to the ground. We may create a few other non-human Nerf gun targets, using Latin words, the boys could take aim at.

I'm just so grateful for our home school posse being up for making learning fun and giving ownership of it to the boys.

My parents should arrive tonight while I'm at work. DH will have to entertain the in-laws, (add another reason to the why I love him list). The boys and I will spend the day with them Wednesday, and that evening my sister can take over supervising the parental units.

I think we'll have to schedule in a doctor's visit sometime this week as well. DS13 has had a sore throat now for two weeks, without any change. Hearing the ragweed is really bad in our area, I thought it could be allergies but the Claritan I've been giving him the past 4 days doesn't seem to be doing anything. (Note to self- get back on Emergen-C!)

Well, I better get climbing the laundry mountain and lace up our walking shoes for our library trek. Its going to be a busy week, but I'll try to pop in every now and then! Take care!

Parental Units arrive tonight!! I wish I didn't have to work evenings, but I will get to share my daytime hours with them Wednesday.

I'm done torturing myself. (I went out shopping for new bras and jeans.) I should have joined the menfolk and went to the movies instead.

FreeRice

http://www.freerice.com
Its more than just vocabulary now! Click on subjects. I'm addicted to playing Famous Paintings!

Each answer you get right earns 10 grains of rice for the UN World Food Program.

3:30am is too early to meet and greet the day, but I can't seem to fall back asleep. Glad today is a holiday and I won't have to work tonight. Looking forward to that nap in my future.

Thoughts On My Unschooling Heart Tonight...

Its back to school time, and the questions are being asked of me.

"What curriculum are you using?"

"What are the boys doing for high school?"

I've even noticed doubts coming from my husband, which surprises me. Personally, I've never felt stronger in my conviction to give my children an unschooled life. We've been home, learning together through life for almost 11 years now.

This morning, I watched on the Fox News Network, an unschooling debate. It was all but 3 minutes. (Fox News is dumbed down, but that's another blog.)

One of the negative points was Unschoolers can't possibility be prepared for the real world. Ummm.... Unschoolers live and learn IN the real world. We don't need to prepare for it because we're here already! We never left it.

Thinking back on my own experience of public schools and college. Was I prepared for the "real world" as I left formal, institutionalized education? That would be a big, fat NO WAY!

Schooling made choices for me. I didn't have to give it much thought. I just followed the path they created and played the game the way they wanted me to play it.  Once out on my own, I had to make those decisions for myself, and I hadn't had any practice doing that.

I floundered for a few years before finding my way, and honestly feel I wasted years of my life just trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to accomplish. Always doing what others asked of me, I had no clue how to dream my own dreams. 

Now that I'm free and have awoken the true autodidact nature God gave us all, I have such peace. When presented with obstacles, I no longer panic, but understand how challenges can always be creatively worked through discovery.

I watch with sympathy as others struggle and stress out because something seems like its too hard or difficult to understand. They don't get it. The process of following your curiosity and questioning leads to greater self confidence. We aren't suppose to know it all, and those who seem to know more than us, really don't. We all have our own set of life experiences and individual talents.

I think if those who doubt the process could spent time with us, they'd understand, it really does work. My children have learned to read, write and solve equations. My children have also developed self confidence, self discipline, and they have a loving respect for others.

I'm not worried that the kid across the street is learning about the Civil War and mine isn't. Why not? Because lately, World War II is more interesting to my son.

What gives me comfort is knowing my children know how to learn. Every day presents new questions they seek out answers for. I can't stop that process and if I tried to control it, I could possibly do more harm than good. How far they take the ride is up to them, not me.

Cinnamon rolls are in the oven. I used the bread machine we scored on vacation to knead the dough. We'll see how they come out. The dough seemed really soft to me and the rolls barely held their shape, wanting to "blob out" all over the pan. Maybe next time I'll use less yeast or a little more flour.

The new neighbors are putting up a fence. I should be grateful they didn't ask us to pay for it, but I'm nervous. Should I take this personally? Are we an eyesore? Probably not. They do have a small dog. But now how are we get to know them if they are hiding behind their fence?

Today went by too quickly. Hoping tomorrow is just as blessed!

The Lost 40 & Itasca State Park

The Lost 40-

After driving down what looked like deserted roads, we found it, although I will admit, it took us awhile to find the trail head. If you end up there one day, I will give you a hint. Its not by the pit toilets!

The Lost 40 is actually over a hundred acres of forest that missed the loggers' axes because it never was marked on the initial maps. Its a rare section of old growth forest in the Chippewa National Forest.

We tested out new walking sticks Grandpa and Mormor gave us. It was a short hike, about 1 mile, but so much to see! You had to walk slow so you could look up and marvel at the size of pine trees over 350 years old. We learned the difference between red and white pines, and I must say, I really prefer the red ones. The bark is so interesting to me.

A little red squirrel stayed close to us, more concerned about filling his cheeks than any danger we posed. He seemed to follow us, leaving us thinking he must be used to being fed by humans.

At the end of the path, you left the woods and came upon a brook. It was so beautiful, I wish I had a kayak to float down and see where it led.

We circled back and all too soon, the hike was over. I wanted to loop it again, but Gull Lake was calling. Jared needed tube time and Jakob wanted to try fishing.

Lake Itasca State Park-

I love this park and always forget how large it really is. We of course waded across the Mississippi headwaters, but this time, we wanted to stretch our legs and hike a bit too. We sprayed up with Deep Woods Off- the one time I will subject my body to Deet, but it didn't matter. The mosquitoes were brutal. Our goal was to hike 3 miles to the fire tower. We decided to cut across and make that 1 mile, but it was still a mistake. We should have drove to the parking lot near the fire tower and hiked the .5 mile instead.

At one point, I counted two dozen mosquitoes on DH's back. He suffered bites all over his head and even one on his lip! I somehow managed to get a few bites where you don't want to be seen scratching! Next year, we will wear mosquito netting.

The hike to the fire tower, although shortened, was a challenge not only because of the mosquitoes, but the incline. I suppose it makes sense to build the fire tower on the tallest location, but I kept thinking,  how am I going to climb the fire tower after climbing up this hill?

We took it slow and made it to the fire tower. The motivation that the mosquitoes wouldn't fly that high, helped me over come my fears and make it to the top. This was the first fire tower I'd ever made it all the way up. The previous fire tower I tried to climb was at my parents county fair. I made it to the tree line but then froze up, not able to climb higher.

We now have a family goal to find more fire towers and climb them.

Next time we visit Itasca Park, I'd like to look into staying there, either camping or renting a cabin. There are over 50 miles of trails and so many peaceful, lakes and ponds. Of course we will wear mosquito netting head to toe, or visit after the first frost.

Bemidji Road Trip 2009

Visiting the big, north woods.

Back from our road trip to the big woods. I promise to post some snaps soon!