CaptainBlackFoot

"If you can read this thank a teacher"

2011-08-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Meh. That was the phrase I saw on a t-shirt today. My thoughts were:
Define 'teacher'. No, really. I knew how to read before I set foot in any school. My mom taught me my letters and how to spell my name and she played lots of learning games with me. I watched shows like Sesame Street and I always had books. The first thing I ever read was written in cursive and it was in a Little Golden Book- 'this book belongs to _______' and my mom had written my name there in cursive. Everything just 'clicked' at that moment, and then I was able to read the whole book to my parents. No professional 'teacher' taught me to read or write.
I mean no disrespect to teachers. I just find the idea that 'if you have a skill then you should go thank a teacher' to be preposterous.

Packing Up

2011-05-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yikes! We only have two weekends left before we pick up our rental truck and start loading it. We're getting it on a Sunday. Today I am going to start packing up the living room. This past week we got a lot done, DH got the garage mostly packed.
I think that in order to save my sanity I'm going to pick out 5 outfits for each kid to keep out, and pack the rest of their clothes so that laundry isn't piling up.
I am so looking forward to unpacking right now. It's hard to imagine this house being empty again. We are giving away our living room furniture and we're going to get something new after the move. This stuff has really just about had it, but it seems like there's always someone out there who can still use it. We gave away a recliner yesterday and just having that out of the house has opened up so much room. I don't know if I'll be posting pics any time soon. My oldest's computer has gone wonky so she's been using mine and I haven't been online as much. I probably won't be online much till after we are settled in, except for posting things on Freecycle.

The kids have been cooped up inside for a bit now, we've planted grass seed in the backyard and we really want it to grow in as well as it can for the next folks so we don't want them out in the back running amok. One of the neighbor kids has been being a terror so we don't want ours out front with him around unless we are supervising. But we are busy packing and otherwise preparing for the move so we don't really have time to supervise right now. They've been plugged in to the PS3, they've all had a blast since the Play Station network has been up and running again, so they can play with their online friends again. I'm not sure what they'll do those last 2-3 days, we'll probably pack up the TVs and such the day before we pickup the truck. The swingset is gone already. I guess we'll give them their swimsuits and some waterguns and tell them to go play in the street, LOL (it's a cul-de-sac).

Moving

2011-05-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, last week DH and I were able to drive out to Jacksonville (it's a 6 hour drive from here) and make a deposit for a new place. I'm looking forward to moving, even though it's stressful and it takes all of us a while to adjust it is fun to be in a new place and a new home. We will be adopting a cat after we move and settle in- YAY!
Everyone is looking forward to having a kitty in the house.
The new house has hardwood floors in the living areas (except the dining room- but we will put a rug in there to protect the carpet) which is great, I really loathe carpet, especially in high traffic areas. It has an in ground pool, which everyone is looking forward to using of course. And there may be a trampoline.
Now we just have to turn in our 30 day notice, reserve a rental truck and trailer and pack everything. Things are going to be happening quickly from here on out.
Honey is off work next week so hopefully we'll get a lot accomplished during that time.

Shark Tooth Creek

2011-04-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took road trip up to stay with my parents on Friday evening, then got up early Saturday morning to drive the 2 hours to Shark Tooth Creek for a field trip.
At Shark Tooth Creek there are thousands of fossilized shark teeth waiting to be found. For a fee the owner drives everyone down to the creek in a converted horse trailer that has benches along each side, and guides them along the creek helping them find the fossils.
Mr. Ken was a hoot, he really enjoyed pulling our legs a few times. Our group was small- 18 people. There were supposed to be 30 other people with a Cub Scout group but they canceled.
We were there long enough to put on our water shoes when Mr. Ken drove up in the Shark Tooth Express. We waited a few minutes for another family to arrive and then he gave us a talk about why there are so many fossilized shark teeth in his creek, told us what other sorts of fossils that they've found in the creek and then we were on our way.
Since our group was so small, he was able to make sure that every child became a member of the X club- each child found a pretty large shark tooth either with his help or on their own.
We were in the creek for a couple of hours. I tried to keep up with my kids at first, but they went in different directions as usual. Honey seemed to be following them well, and Mr. Ken and his helper (I'm sorry I can't recall his name)were making sure everyone was safe, so I was able to relax and enjoy hunting for teeth myself. I figured that if I got quite a few then I didn't have to worry about any of the kids being disappointed if they didn't find as many as someone else. Honey kept giving the teeth he found to the kids to put in their bags too. Monkey ended up collecting pebbles towards the end of the search. I found some sort of back bone fossil, but I don't remember what fish it was from. It is black and round and concave on both sides and looks like one of the bones that comes in a can of Salmon. At least I think they still have bones in the cans, I haven't bought canned Salmon and haven't eaten it since I was a child so I'm not sure if they still do that.
I found some sort of animal bone that Oldest wanted to keep.
Budder found the largest shark tooth that day (all by himself) and won a t-shirt for finding it but he also got to keep the tooth- we all got to pick 15 teeth to keep. We were in the creek for a couple of hours and then right when I started getting tired it was time to go back up to the pavilion. That's when Budder won his t-shirt- they compared all the largest teeth to see who had the biggest. After that the others stayed to eat their lunches and then to go up and play on the playground equipment and zip line but we had to leave then in order to have enough time to go visit with FIL and then MIL and their families.
We had a good time and recommend you arrange a visit to Shark Tooth Creek if you are going to be in or near the area. You have to make an appointment and they are only open for fossil hunting on Saturdays.
I haven't loaded any pics yet, but I will eventually. Things are a bit hectic right now as we prepare for a move to JAX.

Flowers and a Dishcloth

2011-03-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

The azaleas are blooming everywhere, I can't decide whether I like the overgrown ones that are full of blooms sticking out all over, or the ones that are shaped into need squares and circles that look like huge pink cakes with flowers all over them.

Waffle weave- everyone seems to think this one will be a superior dishcloth because of the texture.

I have made 8 bags so far

2011-03-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have four more striped bags.

The ones I've made match my purse! I thought that was funny.

I have found that it is relaxing to make a bag, once I got the hang of it. I don't use my machine very often and had to re-learn how to wind the bobbin correctly, the first bag I made has the handles going across the top from side to side instead of being a loop on one side- Oops.
My daughter found my rotary cutter in the garage while she was on a toy hunt. I was getting ready to buy a new one- now it won't take me so long to cut out the squares.

I'm thinking about keeping a box in the back of the Suburban so that if the baggers try to use disposable bags I can just tell them to put the items directly into my cart and skip the bagging altogether, then the loose items can be bagged when I get to the truck and if there really is an overflow then I can stick things in the box so they don't tumble around while I drive. If I continue to have a problem with the baggers using my cloth bags then I think I'll just refuse their service.

Books, Fabric and Recycling

2011-03-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

I just got this book in the mail from a Paperbackswap member today, I hope I enjoy reading it- I like knitting and I like mysteries so I think I will.

This is the fabric I picked up today from a Freecycler. I tried to spread it out to get a photo of the different patterns. I definitely have a couple of favorites picked out that will make great bags that I'll really enjoy using. Not sure what I'll do with one that's a pink print I don't care for, maybe I'll make a bag of it and offer it on Freecycle.
There are two old rice bags, I think they'll make great totes.

There are some other odd bits I'm not sure what to do with. I'll post of photo of those later. I had to stop handling it due to tightness in my chest. I did manage to throw some into the wash though, so hopefully I'll get to make a bag very soon.

Here it is all stacked up.

On My Mind is a weekly feature at http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2011/03/on-my-mind_25.html

Reusable Bags

2011-03-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

There's a tutorial here for making bags.
I'm picking up some fabric from a freecycler today and I plan to make bags with it.
I have a few large, strong totes that I use but the baggers at the commissary just don't know what to do with them- they act like they are flimsier than those plastic bags they have so they do NOT fill them up or put heavy items in them. They always end up bagging things in a VERY weird way- I buy a bar of soap so they put it in huge paper bag all by itself cause they can't put soap in with food- I'd rather stick it in my purse thank you very much. They even bagged a watermelon last time I was there! Who puts a watermelon in a bag!
I have to take the plastic bags to Wal-Mart to have them recycled and I frequently forget to take them with me when I'm out and about. We can't chuck them into the recycling bins here, but at least I can do that with the paper ones.
Yes, I do still shop at Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club. At Sam's they don't bag your stuff though, it just goes back into the cart. I've recently asked them not to bag my things at Wal-Mart when I forgot to take my canvas bags into the store with me, and that worked.
Anyway, I figure if I just make LOTS of bags and take them with me then maybe I'll get out of the commissary without any more disposable bags.

I've got lots of household chores to do today, but after that I'm hoping to spend some time in my room making bags.

Editing My Blog

2011-03-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've removed lots of 'whiney' posts from my blog, and hopefully I'll be updating it more often with posts on nicer things like: road trips, hobbies, decluttering, general homemaking and some unschooling- with photos. Right now there is an old post toward the bottom of the main page on my blog titled "You've Gotta Go To School", and the video plays automatically when the page is loaded. Sorry about that- I was going to edit it and just post a link to the video instead but now I can't find that video online any more so I'm just going to leave it as it is and hopefully it will get 'buried' under new posts and it will slip to the next page. I don't like it when things completely disappear from the net such as videos/podcasts/etc. that I enjoyed so I don't want to erase it completely by editing that post.

Knitting

2011-03-21T09:06:00.001-07:00

I've been knitting dishcloths, and I'm teaching the kids to knit too.

The blue striped one is my favorite and I just LOVE that yarn- I only bought one skein to try it out but now I really want to buy some more and maybe make a tote bag with it.

a girls only trip

2010-09-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

So, Oldest told Dh and I on Monday about Dragoncon (I was clueless), it starts this Friday in Atlanta and Sean Astin will be there. OMG. Oldest is VERY much into all things Tolkien right now, and she'd LOVE to go get his autograph in her Fellowship book. I had just recently talked to DH about how I really NEED to get out and socialize, that there are lots of things I'd like to do and lots of them are things Oldest wants to do- but that I feel guilty about doing things with her when DH and I don't do things together. He told me I shouldn't feel guilty about going without him, or about leaving The Littles out (they would get bored quickly and we can't afford for everyone to do everything).

So, Dh told us we should go- to Dragoncon, THIS Friday. OMG.
I was excited to think of going on a trip with Oldest. I've never been to ANY convention before, so it should be an interesting experience. There will be other Hobbitish happenings (there's supposed to be a big announcement Friday morning about The Hobbit movie) along with all the other stuff.

Last night the anxiety kicked in- What IF this horrible thing happens? What if THAT horrible thing happens? OMG, it's not worth dying for (what if we're in a crash).
I almost always end up backing out of things that I'd love to do, because of the anxiety. I'm making myself go anyway this time. I've never driven in Atlanta before, heck, I've never been in Atlanta before (I don't think switching flights at the airport counts, or that driving around Atlanta to get to Augusta counts either).
I hate driving in big cities, with all the one-way streets, the information overload, etc. I never even drove downtown in San Diego, LOL.

Dh tells me it's a 6 hour drive. I'm so nervous, and I'm trying to squash all negative thoughts that pop up. This will definitely be an adventure for us.

Crockpot Cake

2010-07-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

It is WAY TOO HOT here, and our dinosaur A/C unit (original from when the house was built in the mid 70's) has been using WAY too much electricity. We went out and bought a couple of window units yesterday and you can see a huge difference just buy looking at how fast the meter is spinning. YAY.
I still want to cut down on oven use though, so I've been thinking about other ways to bake and cook things that I'd normally use the oven for. I'll be happy to have the oven on all day come winter, but for now it's just dreadful.
http://www.bigoven.com/157683-Master-CrockPot-Cake-Mix-recipe.html
I plan on making this recipe tonight or tomorrow, maybe I'll take some pictures and post our reviews. I hope it turns out well, it will be wonderful to have the crock pot option for baking.

The kids have been playing Little Big Planet a lot the past couple of weeks, and they've sucked me into it as well. We just found out that #2 will be released (hopefully, seems like the games we want are always delayed) in November- just in time for Christmas. We watched a trailer for it on the PS network, and it really looks like it will be even more fun than the first one. I'm working on creating my first game on my moon, but it is a slooooow process. :-) The kids are great coaches when mom gets stuck with something (even if she wants to figure it out for herself).

We are planning a vacation trip to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure next year, the kids are pretty excited about that. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and try to add Disney World too (we've never been to Disney World or Disney Land). The reason we're doing Universal is the Harry Potter section, the kids are huge Harry Potter fans. I have plans to take Oldest to see the next movie on opening night (midnight showing)- she really wants the experience of the fan/crowd excitement- hope there are enough fans here to make it really fun for her.

Okay, I'm off to work on dinner- TTFN.

From Another Blog (where I only ever made this one post)

2010-07-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

I created a different blog for IRL folks to read, and I intended to do lots of upkeep to make it look nice and calm their 'fears' for the kids. I haven't made another post, because I find it REALLY hard to motivate myself to attempt to make our lifestyle appealing to others who just don't get it. It's too much work, we've had too much going on IRL and I need a new purpose for that blog.
So, if I ever do make another post there, the purpose will not be to 'win over' the people who I thought I'd need to 'win over'. Anyway, I thought I'd post it here as a very delayed update since I noticed my most recent 'update' is no longer applicable. :D

http://jennshomeschoolblog.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 14, 2009
Our Current Educational Status
This year, I enrolled the three youngest in public school. It seemed like a good idea, and they were all very happy and excited to go to school. I was worried about how well Budder would do, because he wasn't reading well (which is one reason I wanted to send him to school, I thought that *I* just couldn't teach him) and he is a VERY sensitive soul. I wasn't worried about Princess at all, she's a very eager and outgoing person and she loves doing school work and being around other kids. I was worried about the concept being a bit overwhelming for Monkey, because she is very shy and it takes her a while to warm up to people. She also HATES getting too much attention, she can't stand being the focus of attention by someone she's not familiar with- and she's just SO DARN CUTE, everyone always pours attention on her.

I'm not going to go through EVERY single incident here, but due to the cumulative effect of multiple 'events', all three of them are now home full time and they are LOVING it. Budder had the WORST time of all of them, he became a different person.
Public school is just NOT an appropriate environment for him. He is just too 'quirky', and such an environment is spirit crushing for him.
(quirky- he has sensory issues, he takes things that people say too literally and doesn't always pick up on social cues, he is very sensitive to how others treat him and what they say to him and about him, his learning style is so different from what they teach to in the school setting)
After a few weeks in school he became Angry with a capital A all the time, every little thing that went 'wrong' was setting him off. He started lashing out at everyone verbally and physically, and he just was NOT able to stop himself. When I stepped in to stop him and redirect him he was devastated that he'd done something so 'bad'. He would start sobbing, calling himself names, saying he wished he was dead so he wouldn't 'hurt' anyone else again, while punching himself in the face/head or banging his head on the floor/wall.

I found out some of the things that were happening at school that caused this drastic change. I went to the school and spoke with the people who should have been able to help change things. They were eager to help at first, but then they would say they would do something one day and say they couldn't do it the next. It was very frustrating. I gave them too much time with him, hoping they could work things out and meet his educational needs and not cause him emotional harm. In the end, they could do neither- they were giving him failing grades, and he continued to go downhill fast. He began to say things about killing himself, then he progressed to saying how he could do it. I was terrified. I was terrified of losing him, I didn't want to make the 'wrong' decision and leave him in school OR pull him out and bring him home- I was frozen and did not know what to do logically. In my heart, my instincts were telling me to bring him home NOW. SO I ignored my 'head' and all those thoughts that I was failing him by bringing him home, the pressure of wanting to please everyone else, the lure of trying to be 'normal' for once. I ignored ALL of that and I brought him home. He was still very angry for a couple of weeks, but he improved immediately. He stopped punching himself in the face, he stopped hating himself, and he is doing much better now.

Oh, we found out that he needs glasses, he is VERY farsighted and he could not see the letters, THAT is why he couldn't read. His reading has picked up greatly since we pulled him from school, and at home he is not 'behind', he is just where HE needs to be. He is doing much better with one on one help and attention that the school just is not able to provide for him. He is gaining confidence, but it is easily undermined by well meaning people when they 'quiz' him or ask him about 'school'.

Since I had decided to put the kids in school, I had not purchased homeschool supplies for this year. I am still working on gathering everything, I've been buying things a little at a time. Right now we have been 'de-schooling', which means I have not been doing any 'lessons' with the kids. I'm letting them get the school experience out of their systems and I'm letting them be kids, while we wait for the materials to arrive or be purchased.

We are going to be using Oak Meadow curriculum when we start, which sounds like a perfect fit for the kids. It is a gentle curriculum, they will learn a LOT but it will all be at their pace with no pressure involved.

I know everyone doesn't agree with homeschooling, and I agree that not everyone should homeschool. I also think that public school just doesn't work for everyone (and private isn't much different). We've been through a LOT of stress this year, and we could use all the support we can get. I'll be adding posts to this blog sporadically with updates and homeschool information. I hope this isn't too boring to read, and I certainly hope it doesn't cause anyone ill feelings. While I will be promoting homeschooling, and I do believe that the public school system failed MY kids- I would never think poorly of others whose children thrive within the public school system. It does work well for some, just not for everyone. Every family has different needs and different ways of meeting those needs. SO please don't take any pro-homeschooling statements as anti-public school. That is not my intent.

I just googled "I am bored"

2008-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

LOL, it was surprisingly entertaining.

Help I am bored · Help I am Homesick · Help I am Dumb · Help I am in Munich and need to use the restroom · Help I am illiterate · Help I am lonely ...

My Favorite Part of Apocalypto

2008-06-02T18:19:00.001-07:00

This is a peaceful scene, no violence or anything I found remotely objectionable.
:-)
It relates to my recent thoughts/feelings about consumerism.
DD is tired of consumerism via many other venues (most recently watching and currently reading Fight Club), as am I. We are hoping to make some major lifestyle changes now, during and after our move. I hope we find a place to live, where we can be part of a community, and start some permaculture.

Some Linkage

2008-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Earth/Cob Oven

Earth Oven

How Much Food Can I Grow In My Yard

Edible Landscaping

Homegrown Revolution

Pizza Box Cooker

Greg's Solar Oven -this one is long and boring, but the concept is still interesting. You can see LOTS of other solar cooker vids in the box on the right.

Solar Oven

And I am adding Solar Oven Recipes

Sustainable Living

2008-05-26T20:08:00.001-07:00

I have wanted, for SO long, to be able to live in a home powered by solar energy, to live "off the grid", and to grow our own food. Every now and then, reading different things online, I get a little nudge that causes me to learn something new.
I haven't really tried to do much, because we've lived in military housing and haven't been able to DO much. They don't even "allow" us to have a clothes line on our patio- even thought that would save THEM money, because they are the ones paying for our electricity. Also, they encourage us to run the A/C, and tell us to not open the windows because that will clog the filters. ????
They over-irrigate the "landscaping", and don't "allow" us to plant things in the ground on our patio areas. It's SO limiting and frustrating.
I am SO looking forward to living in a new home, and I am hoping and praying that we will find a place we can afford to rent, where we can plant things, and have a clothesline, and build a cob oven, and have solar cookers that the neighbors won't disturb, LOL.

Today, after reading a post and clicking a link, I've been reading lots more stuff about sustainable living. It's been VERY interesting.
How to build a cob oven; how to build different types of solar cookers; rain barrels, etc.

You Gotta Go To School

2008-03-20T23:10:00.001-07:00

A "Schoolhouse Rock"-inspired look at the origins of the American education system. Originally recorded with a live audience for "In The Loop" at Minnesota Public Radio in May, 2007. Music and lyrics by Jeff Horwich. More info at http://www.mpr.org/intheloop

Free Printable Letter Tiles

2008-02-21T09:22:00.001-08:00

You can buy plastic ones from the teacher supply stores, but I abhor all those little plastic
pieces. ;-) And I like to have more control over how many I have, etc. For now I have created this PDF that has every letter of the alphabet in both uppercase and lowercase. I'll be creating
other files to go with this one later, and you should be able to access the new ones (when available) through my Scribd page.
Feel free to share this link, and print what you need (for yourself or others). Heck, you can write the correct numbers in the corners and use them for extra Scrabble pieces, LOL.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2098838/Letter-Tiles-2
Enjoy!

?

2007-12-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

thinks i'm not allowed to say aloud.

thinks i'm not supposed to think.

Starting Over

2007-12-20T14:04:00.001-08:00

I am starting over on my blog- so I am deleting all the old posts.