For Show & Tell with CanadaGirl this week, I'm going to jump ahead in my journal about Honduras to show some pictures Harrison took one day. 

That great view from our dorms included a rocky hill above the nearby school, and we could see the schoolkids climbing on it during their recess and lunch breaks.  Several of the guys commented that they wanted to climb that mountain before the week was over.  One day, Harrison and Derek did just that, along with four of the Honduran boys as their "tour guides"  Harrison and Derek knew almost no Spanish, and the Honduran boys knew a little English, but they all got along great anyway.  When Harrison told me where they were going, I gave him the camera and told him to take as many pictures as he wanted... 'just don't drop the camera and break it!"  

Here's the hill:

They found these carvings in the rocks.  They were done fairly recently, although no one seems to know much about them.  We suspected that the locals like to take gringos up to show them the "ancient rock carvings"  LOL

Here's Derek with the local boys:

And Harrison with the boys:

See the "bunny ears?"  What is up with that?  Kids EVERYWHERE do this for some reason.  It is totally universal.  LOL  I bet if you could find a remote tribe somewhere that had never even seen a camera before, it wouldn't take them long before the kids would start doing bunny ears to their friends.  LOL

And by the way, I have to say how much I am LOVING the slideshow feature at Photobucket!  Thank you, Mary, for telling me how to use it on my blog!  It's really come in handy for these Honduras entries - of which I have several more to come and I bet even next week's Show & Tell will be Honduras pictures too.

For more Show & Tell or to participate, please visit Mary (aka CanadaGirl) 

This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09 homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers. It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long you’ve been using it, and why you like it.

Please share a Bible verse that has encouraged you or inspired you during this planning-process, and how.

 One thing I've figured out already, is that if I want to do these Memoirs, I will have to get them done on Tuesday if I want any hope of keeping up!  Here is my plan for this school year...

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Harrison (Grade 11)

• English - Bob Jones Writing & Grammar 11
• Math - Saxon Algebra 2
• History - Notgrass Exploring America (this course will earn him 1 credit in American Lit and 1 credit in Bible as well as the American History credit!)
• Science - Physics, using Backyard Ballistics by William Gurstelle, and Exploring the World of Physics by John Hudson Tiner, as well as other resources. 
• Phys.Ed. - co-op gym class
• Fine Arts - haven't made a decision on this yet - I have a course I'd like to do that would focus on the History of Western Music, and he is also interested in Graphic Design or something like that.  Whatever we decide will be for second semester anyway.

Spencer (Grade 8/9)

• Language Arts/English - AlphaOmega LifePacs Language Arts 8, and if all goes well we will at least start on LifePac 9.  Also Sequential Spelling.
• Math - Saxon Math 8/7; then starting on Saxon Algebra 1/2
• History - I'm doing a series of unit studies on American History with Spencer, Landon, and Kennady; and using all kinds of different resources.  We've started the year by researching and making a lapbook of the explorers that discovered, explored, and mapped North America.  For the remainder of the year, I have some books by Janis Herbert, the unit study guide Pioneers by Amanda Bennett, and lots of study guides and a LONG list of resources to use from the library.  I'm really excited about this, because I'm trying to make it very hands-on, and I absolutely love history. 
• Science - God's Design for the Physical World series.  We've started with the book Machines & Motion and will do Heat & Energy in second semester.  This is also a course that Landon and Kennady are doing.
• Phys.Ed. - co-op gym class
• Fine Arts - maybe the History of Western Music course.  Spencer likes to draw and cartoon, and I have several books here and on my wish list that I'm considering to help develop his talent.  But I haven't got anything solidly planned yet.

Landon (Grade 4)

• Language Arts - AlphaOmega LifePacs Language Arts 4; and Sequential Spelling
• Math - Modern Curriculum Press Math D
• History - same as Spencer
• Science - same as Spencer
• Phys.Ed. - co-op gym class, and baseball in the spring.  Consdiering swim lessons.
• Fine Arts - same as Spencer

Kennady (Grade 2)

• Language Arts - Teach Your Children to Read Well; and Sequential Spelling
• Math - Modern Curriculum Press Math B
• History - same as Spencer
• Science - same as Spencer
• Phys.Ed. - co-op gym class, and softball in the spring.  Considering swim lessons.
• Fine Arts - Draw! Write! Now! series and other drawing instruction.  Piano lessons.

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I use (and LOVE) the Homeschoool Tracker Plus for keeping track of assignments, grades, and lesson plans.  As far as scheduling, I have a daily schedule that we try to keep to, but its very flexible.  It just gives the kids (okay... Landon in particular) a framework for knowing what comes next, and gives us all some targets to shoot for.  We start our day at 8:30am by assigning the daily chores and for now, some Read-Aloud time for the younger kids.  If we do decide to do the Music course this year, that will be first thing in the morning.  Harrison does all his schoolwork independently, and the other boys do about half of their work independently, so they may decide how to organize their days within the schedule.

I haven't chosen our Theme Scripture for this year, but it may well be this one:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the LORD as a reward.  It is the LORD Christ you are serving.  (Colossians 3:23-24)

For more of these posts, or to sign up, visit:  The Homeschool Blog Awards

This is the third year for Blogger Friend School, and my second year participating.  I really enjoyed the assignments last year and was really looking forward to class starting again!

In honor of BFS’s 3rd year together, we have put together a Nature homeschool package and want to give all our Blogger Friend School students a chance to win!

This package consists of two beautiful hardbound Nature books and a Nature Journal! We hope that this will give a homeschooling family a special opportunity to enjoy their family learning with implementing nature walks into your yearly homeschooling schedule.

I've enrolled and am ready for the first assignment!  Head over to the new Blogger Friend School website and check it out!

One of the sweetest ladies I've met here at HSB is Marsha.  When I started reading blogs this evening, I was stunned and deeply saddened to read that her darling three-year-old, Christian (aka Dozer) had gone home to be with Jesus.  I can only imagine the pain of this dear family is suffering as they grieve.  Praise God that they have the comfort of knowing that Christian is lovingly held in Jesus' arms.  Our hearts ache in sympathy as we remember and celebrate this little boy.  Please pray for Marsha and David, and the two older brothers. 

Heart of the Matter: Celebrating the Life of Christian "Dozer" Drews

Cards or Correspondence can be mailed to:
David and Marsha Drews
c/o Rachel Harris
12830 N. Cypress Lane
Tomball, TX 77377

One of the main jobs our team had planned for in La Esperanza was leading a Vacation Bible School.  We had planned to lead a VBS Monday through Thursday morning that would be mostly in English.  Southwest School, which many of the church students attend, teaches English and French, so almost all those students would understand English, making our job much easier. 

We got up early on Monday morning, and had breakfast at 6:30am.  It wasn't hard to get up since we'd gone to bed so early the night before!  I noticed the true quiet of the area - oh there were certainly noises, but they were mostly dogs and chickens, and children walking to school.  (The local school had already started, but Southwest would not open for another week)  Occasionally there were trucks or buses going by one of the nearby roads, but not often, and only during the day as far as I could tell.  Following breakfast, we got prepared for VBS, which included mopping one of the Sunday School rooms.  While we were waiting for kids to arrive, Harrison and Eric entertained us with a little music:

They sang two of their favorites - I Saw the Light and I'll Fly Away - over and over... 

The first day of VBS was a disappointment in terms of numbers, as we had only TWO children.  But on the other hand, they had fun and were a delight to work with.  They got lots of attention!! 

We let our teens play along and do coloring sheets with the kids.

Silly boys.  I told Harrison I wanted his picture to take home and hang on my fridge, but I think he gave it to our VBS director instead.  LOL  Here's the whole class coloring, seven American teens, and two little Honduran girls:

Here's the class coloring later in the week:

A couple of our ladies accompanied Kathy when she took the girls home, and they made some personal calls, so on Tuesday we had 22 kids, and around 28 on Wednesday and Thursday.  We also discussed some further plans over lunch, and decided we would do a one-day VBS for the local school and neighborhood kids on Thursday afternoon.  More about that later!

On Tuesday morning it was so good to see our numbers increase from two to twenty-two!  The children were a real delight.  I was working with the Grade 3 and 4 class, and leading the singing, and Harrison was leading at the sports station.  When it was time to take the kids back to town after VBS, most of the "girls" from our team went along on the bus.  We sang VBS songs all the way into town - they couldn't get enough of a couple of the songs we taught them, and they taught us some fun songs that we wanted to remember as well.

On Wednesday, Harrison asked for some help from Eric in doing the sports and games - Eric had been hleping out with the puppet show we used for the lesson, and then scooting out to help Harrison in between, but Harrison really wanted Eric's help the whole time.  So I volunteered to take Eric's place in the puppet show, which turned out to be lots of fun.  something very interesting that happened on Wednesday was that one of the youngest girls (who spoke very little English) was fascinated by our hair.  She came and stroked Lauren's hair and my own and declared it "bonita"  I didn't think my hair was particularly "bonita" at all - I hadn't "done" anything with it!  But that was so very sweet.

 Here's the Grade 3 and 4 class personalizing frisbees. 

Thursday was the last day for morning VBS so we made sure to get some group pictures.

(Grade 1 and 2 class)

(Grade 3 and 4 class - and that's me in the white t-shirt)

And a couple with everyone.  The banner is the name of the church - Mas Que Vencedores (More Than Conquerors) - isn't that a great name for a church?  I thought so.

One of the crafts the kids did was to draw and color a friendship quilt block.  Each of us that worked with VBS made one too, and Karen and I spent some time on Thursday and Friday stitching it together.  We didn't have much time to get it done, because we wanted to present it to Bob and Kathy on Saturday morning.  Here we all are with the finished product:

The kids made two blocks each, so we brought a second set home with us and will be making another quilt hanging with it to display in our church.

Well, the first day of school was yesterday but of course I didn't get anything posted here about it.  So I'm already a day behind!

Here's the "official" first day of school photos for Landon and Kennady:

Our first day went fairly well, with everyone (including Kennady - her first time using an alarm clock!) up on time.  We started off with the daily chores assigned, then Harrison went off to work on his assignments while I did school with the other three.  After a chapter of our current read-aloud (we took a long break, but are nearing the end of Prince Caspian), we got right into Science.  This year we are all studying Physics.  Harrison will be using different books and doing some of his work on his own.  The younger three are starting the year with God's Design for the Physical World: Machines & Motion

The first lesson introduced us to the topic of mechanics - naturally the kids were at first thinking about all kinds of motorized machines, so we talked about a more simple definition, and discussed mechanical advantage.  We also talked about the basic types of motion - straight line, arc and circular - and how gravity affects the motion of objects.  We completed a worksheet to help us observe different types of motion and assess what forces were in effect.

1.  straight line motion - was observed when we rolled a ball on a level surface.  The forces were forward motion from Landon's hand, and friction with the floor.

2.  straight line motion - was observed when we dropped a ball.  The force was gravity.

3.  arc motion - was observed when we hit a tennis ball into the open.  The forces were forward motion from the tennis racquet, and gravity.

4.  arc motion in opposite directions - was observed when we hit the tennis ball against a wall.  The forces were forward motion from the racquet, bounce (reflection) from the wall, and gravity.

5.  circular motion - was observed when we tied the ball to a string and swung it around.  There was some debate over whether it was straight line or arc motion when we let go of the ball.  The forces were pull on the string, momentum, and gravity.

Of course we did a little Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic too.

Oh man... has anybody had this happen before?? I put in my entry, viewed it, linked it at CanadaGirl's blog - because its my Show & Tell for this week - and I even had somebody comment already - and then it DISAPPEARED!!!! Argh!!!!!! So now I am trying to recreate it.  Boo hoo... 

First I need to back up a little and show a map explaining where we were.  We flew into the city of San Pedro Sula, in the northwest corner of the country, near Guatamala.  Then we drove about three hours to the city of La Esperanza, in Intibuca province.  La Esperanza is about a mile above sea level, in a forested mountain setting.  it has the coolest climate in Honduras, so it is very pleasant there in summer.  While we were there, the daytime highs were in the high 70s most days and the humidity was really not a problem.  In the evening it was cool enough to need a light jacket.

My last entry left off after the church service...  We had lunch reservations at a very nice restaurant in town called Pollo Indio.  It was a beautiful place.  We climbed up four flights of stairs to a private dining area in a room with wide open windows, so it was almost like dining on a patio.  There was a great view of the city all around, so I took several pictures there.

Here's a closer view of the Gran Hotel sign.  (I loved seeing the Coca-Cola signs - it was a big relief to see them because in San Pedro Sula all I saw were Pepsi signs and I was getting very worried! LOL)

Lunch was delicious.  Included on the menu:  tortilla chips with black beans and cheese (appetizer); grilled chicken, vegetables, fries, fresh tortillas.  I brought home the Coke bottles! LOL  After lunch we went to see the apartment where Danielle (young lady from our church that taught in La Esperanza during 2007-2008) had lived the previous year.  It was a cute place, and very interesting to see the place she had called home.  From there we walked to a Catholic shrine set high up in a hillside, known as La Gruta (the Grotto).

It is a lovely white "churchfront" shrine, with steep, uneven, and high steps leading up to it.  It definitely was a challenge to walk up those steps! 

Once we had all arrived in front of La Gruta, we took a couple of group pictures:

Behind the iron bars was a statue of Mary:

There were also steps (thought the last ones were steep - these were enormous!) on each side of the shrine, so that you could climb up to the hill above it.  Several of us, myself included, did that climb as well.  It was a challenge, and believe me I felt it in my thighs for several days afterwards!  But what  view! 

When we'd finished taking pictures and were all in front of the shrine itself again, Bob spoke to us about the idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, and other evil influences that were so strong in the city, and were being mixed into the Catholic traditions as well.  Alcoholism is a big problem there.  Satan has a stronghold here, but Jesus Christ has the power to free people from those bonds!  We gathered on those steps and prayed over the city - for the people in bondage, for the missionaries and local pastors, for the mission team, and for those who are already free in Christ and are living out their witness to family and neighbors.

Back at the church again, many of the local young people had gathered to play soccer and have a birthday party for one of the girls.  Many of our young people joined in.  After a dinner of cold cut sandwiches, popcorn, carrots, bananas, and cookies, we were all about ready to turn in for the night!  We would be getting up early in the morning, and were all tired from the long travel days, so after a brief meeting to plan a bit for the upcoming days, we headed for our rooms.  I wrote in my journal, "I'm about to go shower, then it's time for bed -- and it's only 7:40pm!"  I can't remember the last time I went to bed that early!

More Honduras journal and pictures to come! Thanks for visiting today - and I sure hope THIS version of my entry stays up! =8~D

I have some pictures on photobucket, but not nearly all.  However, I need to start somewhere, since there is so much to share!!  For those that weren't aware, from August 9th through 17th, my oldest son Harrison and I were on a missions trip with a group from our church.  We went to La Esperanza, Honduras to conduct Vacation Bible School and just do whatever needed doing on the church properly.  We arrived home this past Sunday night - very late, and without Harrison's suitcase! It did arrive the next day though - and I have been spending this week trying to get caught up in just about everything so that we can start school on Monday.

Saturday, August 9th - Harrison and I finished packing in the morning and we met at the church at 11am to load up the trailer and truck to go to the airport.

We checked in at the airport and got our lunch before boarding.  We left shortly after three and arrived in Miami around 5pm.  I got some Starbucks and then it was back on a plan at about 7pm.  It was a bit of a bumpy flight, but got us into San Pedro Sula, Honduras around 7:30 local time.  There was a very long wait at customs and it was hot and humid already.  Once we were all through customs (no problems, it just took awhile) we met the missionaries that would be hosting us, Bob and Kathy.  They had borrowed a yellow schoolbus in order to transport all of us.  First place we went was Pizza Hut for dinner, and then to the Hotel Casa Blanca for the night.  It was a very nice hotel, but still different from home.  Everyone was TIRED.  I had a quick shower and then slept hard, although it did take awhile to fall asleep since there were fireworks going on most of the night.  Oh - and some hygiene rules for our stay in Honduras:  1) Don't drink the water.  2) Don't flush the toilet paper.  Actually, surprisingly easy to adjust to!

Sunday, August 10th - We were up at 4:50am!  Which wasn't all that bad, really, since we were two hours earlier than at home.  Threw on some clothes and got on the bus.  We left at 5:15am as its about a three hour drive from San Pedro Sula to La Esperanza.  There wasn't much to see at first, but as dawn arrived, we were able to see the fog and clouds laying low over the mountains, small homes and farms, some plantations.  The country is beautiful.  The houses and businesses look very different - almost all buildings have a fenced or walled courtyard, and barred or shuttered windows.  I saw many people on bicycles, walking, or waiting for buses.  We had a breakfast of juice, milk, granola bars, and bananas while driving.  We stopped at a tourist plaza for a bathroom break and Kathy also picked up some grocery items there.  The place had toucans, macaws, and other birds; as well as some tortugas (turtles) in cages so it was almost like a mini-zoo.

There was also a little playground area.

Back on the road... As we climbed towards La Esperanza, the scenery was spectacular.  And boy, we were glad that Eric and Harrison weren't driving!! LOL  We made one more stop here:

so Kathy could buy fresh bananas and pineapples!

We arrived in La Esperanza about 8:30am.  We were assigned to our rooms and had some time to change and get freshened up for church.  Our rooms face the mountains and countryside.  There are cattle and horses, and we can see the school and a couple of houses.  It is generally quiet, unless there are kids or dogs around.  Here's the view from the porch of the dorm building:

The church service was so good, but we were all so tired, I don't think any of us got through the whole thing without drifting off at least once!! Everything was in Spanish, naturally, and spoken too quickly for most of us to understand more than a few words here and there.  But I found I could follow the prayers quite well!  There were announcements and testimonies as well.  I didn't take my Bible into the service (it was still in my suitcase) but I wish I had! I could understand the Scripture references and would have liked to follow along in English while it was being read aloud in Spanish.  I knew a couple of the praise choruses so I sang along in English.  When the preaching started, Kathy came and sat behind us and did some translating.  It was especially moving to hear and see the people respond so confidently to the portion of Psalm 23 "I shall lack for nothing" - these who, by American standards, lack so much, could testify firmly that in Christ they lacked for nothing - nada.  After the service the ladies of the church had food prepared - I guess for a fundraiser? - so we tried a few things.  Corn fritters that were AMAZING.  A pudding type of dish that I cannot remember the name - it was like a warm vanilla pudding but I know it was made from corn.  The coffee was good but very strong and slightly bitter and smoky flavored.  Didn't help that there was no cream and I always take cream in my coffee. 

That's the first installment!  I'll continue with Sunday afternoon's events in a new entry.

I am going to try to participate in the Homeschool Memoirs Weekly Theme this year.  We'll see if I can keep up!

THE PURPOSE

This meme is to not only keep a “memoir” (posts) of your homeschool year, but to make a way for homeschoolers to get to know each other. Each week, on Wednesdays, we’ll post a new theme and you can participate by posting it on your site with your own homeschool memoirs. Once you’ve posted, come back and sign the linky. We hope you’ll be encouraged, informed, and connected with other homeschoolers and glean from the different ways they do their homeschool.

The first theme begins today, August 20th, 2008. This week, we want to hear about YOU. The author behind the words. The Momma behind all the homeschooling kiddos. Just write up something about you, your family, and your home. How long you’ve been homeschooling and why you decided to homeschool. It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy at all, but we’d love to hear it! You might include a family photo too!

For those that may not have "met" me before, my name is Kym and my family lives, works, and homeschools in a rural part of Maryland.  We are originally from Canada (my home province is Alberta, and my DH is from Ontario) and we moved to the United States when Harrison was not quite a year old.  We decided to homeschool when he was a baby, for many reasons - didn't trust that a public school education would be high quality; didn't believe that our children would be safe at school or on the bus;  wanted to educate from a Christian worldview; and just didn't think it right to separate young children from their parents for so much of their day.  And we've found some great bonuses to homeschooling along the way - some days our school uniforms are our pajamas!  We can plan our school calendar around our family vacations, instead of the other way around!  And I think that watching my children read for the first time is every bit as exciting as their first steps and first words when they were babies. 

My DH manages a wholesale greenhouse nearby, and Harrison works there part-time and seasonally as well.

The kids are entering 11th, 9th, 4th, and 2nd grades this year.  We use a variety of curricula and are blessed to have excellent local homeschool groups that provide field trips, gym classes and co-op classes as well.

Family picture.... hmmm.... well, with the luck I'm having with photobucket today, I think I'd better plan on coming back later to add that photo.  Not that I have a recent one that's much good, but I'll take a look around the "archives"

 ETA:  Okay, here we go with a family picture taken in November that was our Christmas card picture this past year:

I'm home from vacation just in time for Show & Tell, which is hosted by CanadaGirl.  Please join us, and visit the other bloggers participating!  I hope I'll have time to view them myself, and catch up on the blogs I read... 

For the past several years, our family has been going to a Christian music festival at Darien Lakes Theme Park (formerly Six Flags Darien Lake) in western New York state called Kingdom Bound.  We set up camp at nearby Darien Lake state park and then commute each day to the park for the concerts and speakers - and of course, the rides as well.  Here is the little tarp town we called home for the week:

Our next door neighbors are friends of ours and we share meals and campfires with them.  There is a lake (duh - Darien LAKE) with a beach, but despite our good intentions, we still haven't been there.  There is a playground near our site and the younger kids sometimes go over there.  This year we also got a look at a snapping turtle that had wandered up to the road near the bathrooms!

We think he had a run-in with the lawnmower - see the scrape on the top of his shell, and how the tail end of the shell is broken off?

Well... off to the park... we all enjoy the rides, and Landon is tall enough for all but one this year.  Kennady is still too short for the coasters, but she just managed to sneak in for this one - the Silver Bullet, I think its called.  I guess Harrison must have looked really responsible to the ride attendant:

There isn't much point in taking pictures at the concerts, because we usually are too far back, but I usually grab a couple shots just for fun.  Some of the bands we saw this year were:  Decemberadio, Thousand Foot Krutch, Skillet, Denver & the Mile High Orchestra, Big Daddy Weave, Salvador, Jaci Velazquez, 33 Miles (had not even heard of these guys before, but I really liked them - always nice to add someone new to the list of artists we enjoy), Matthew West, Delirious, and Newsboys.  I will put up a couple pictures I got of the Newsboys concert, since I was actually close enough to get some that turned out.  We also met an artist and speaker - Eric Samuel Timm - and bought some of his prints. Other speakers we enjoyed were Justin Lookadoo and James Ryle. 

Well, just looking at the time now, I guess I probably won't have time to visit everyone's blogs today and get caught up, but I'll try to see a few.  I'm short on time because Harrison and I are going on a mission trip to Honduras, and we leave tomorrow!! Not much time between the camping trip and heading to the airport to do all the laundry and all the other fun stuff.  I'll be back in just over a week, and hopefully have LOTS of Show & Tell material from Honduras!!  Prayers for the trip and for the projects the team will be working on are appreciated!

It is time for Show & Tell with CanadaGirl, a highlight of the blogging week!  Click on the link to visit her blog and participate in the fun!

 I am going to share about THE most redneck, hillbilly thing that I have done in a long time.  On Saturday night I took Harrison and Kennady to the 4H/FFA Fair to see a Combine Demolition Derby.  My homeschooling friend told me about it on Friday night, because her FIL had a combine he was putting in the derby, so she and her family would all be "pit crew"  I didn't need to think twice - I absolutely HAD to see this event!! 

I've got two slide shows (at photobucket)  that I made from my pictures, but can't figure out how to make them work here.  So I will be sharing the individual photos instead.  If I crack the code on getting the slideshow to work, I'll edit and put those up here instead.  Anyway...

The crowd for this event was HUGE, relatively speaking.  The emcee told us that this was the first time a combine demolition derby had been held east of the Mississippi.  Wow.  Ground-breaking!!! LOL  But obviously a LOT of people wanted to see it - the traffic was lined up in all directions from the fairgrounds, and parking was at a premium.  There were long lines to get into the "seating bowl" for the event, and in fact they had to prolong the parade at the beginning to give more time for the people to get through the line and find a seat.  (There were only a few bleachers, so seating was BYOB - bring your own blanket) 

Here are pictures of the parade of combines.  I wish I'd remembered all the years and make/model info about each of the eleven entries, but most of it left my head.

(This "Holstein" combine is the one belonging to my friend's FIL)

I do remember that this one is an Allis-Chalmers Gleaner.  Originally manufactured in a silver color, which is why the owner decorated and named this entry "The Tin Man"  That is "Dorothy" up front. LOL)

This one was called First Responder, in honor of the owner's connection to the fire department.  The emcee made a comment about them taking a "perfectly good John Deere and painting it red"

The entries were divided into three "heats" and then at the end the winner of each heat faced off in the final.  Here's the first heat lined up and ready to go:

And let the demolition begin!

As it got dark, it got harder for me to get good pictures.  After the third heat, there was a ten-minute break for the winners to make repairs before the final.  The small wheels on the combines did not fare so well, and the Army Farmer (who won the third heat) had his welding crew come out and fix him up!

Some final heat action:

And the winner...

The Holstein belonging to Lisa's FIL!! (BTW, pray for Lisa's family - after the big win on Friday, this week has brought some not-so-fun things to their household - just pray for them, the Lord knows the details)

The pictures really don't do the event justice - it was so much fun! 

Now I need to get back to work here - we are headed out on vacation tomorrow morning, the annual Kingdom Bound camping trip!  I'll be home next Friday, and hopefully will have time to put up a Show & Tell about that.

My kid has a Learners Permit.

What an -- how shall I say this --- adventure?!?! to get it. 

He took a Drivers Ed class July 14 - 25, five nights a week, 3 hours each night.  This is because in our state, it is mandated that minors have a minimum of 30 hours of classroom instruction to get their license.  Now don't get me wrong - I am ALL FOR classroom instruction and having someone teach young people to drive who is a professional at their job.  All for that.  But I don't much like the fact that the state says they HAVE to take the class.   I would have had him take the class anyway, but IMO that should be my option and my duty as a parent, not my obligation to the state.  At any rate...

Oh yeah - and at least 2 hours of those classes was devoted to discussion of substance abuse as it relates to driving.   All the students were 18 and under.  They cannot legally purchase alcohol or even cigarettes.   Why the long discussion? Just show them some pictures of bodies and wreckage and people in jail and tell them that's what happens when you drink and drive.  Next topic.  Instead, at one point they did a word search or crossword or something, with words related to drugs and alcohol.  So they're more familiar with the street names of various illicit drugs, I guess??? I don't know.  I should ask Harrison if the words "revoked license" "Criminal Negligence"  "vehicular manslaughter" "dead at scene" or "prison term" were included in the word search. 

And yes, I do know that there are publishers that sell Driving Instruction programs accepted in all states that can be taught by parents.  And I know that it would have cost me about a hundred dollars less to do that.  I made the choice to do the driving school classes instead, knowing all of that, and actually I'd probably do the same again - despite my skepticism about the value of doing word searches on alcohol abuse.  

Our state also has a special requirement for some students getting their Learners Permit.  You can get your Learners at 15 years and 9 months of age.  However, for those getting it before their sixteenth birthday, they must also have a school attendance affadavit from a public school official!  When this new law was in process, many opposed it, and with the help of HSLDA it has not become as problematic as it could have been.  This law has been in effect since October.  You can read about it at HSLDA's website.  Now that story says that... "Students under age 16 seeking a learner’s permit will simply need to get the signature of a local school official on the form confirming that the student is being homeschooled."  The word simply is somewhat misleading, we've found.  Because the parent cannot sign it, neither can our homeschool umbrella group administrator.  It must be signed by the one and only person in our county authorized to do so.  And if she is on vacation, or out of the School Board offices on the day you go down to get it signed, well... you'd better hope that whoever is there does it correctly.  I went all by myself while running other errands to get this form signed, sealed and placed in a sealed School Board envelope.  After confirming by phone that I did not need to bring my student with me to do it.  I figured I didn't really want to put my son in the position of possibly being questioned about any aspect of our homeschooling.  Well, the lady was out of the office, but of course there are competent and efficient officials there to cover for her.  And they did so, very nicely, as a matter of fact.  I have no complaint at all about how I was treated in the offices.  They were very kind indeed.  However, I suppose that because no one other than that one special person usually signs these forms, the lady signing mine made a slight error.  She checked a box that was not pertinent to homeschoolers.  Which of course I didn't notice at the time - it is the school board official's duty to put that piece of paper in an envelope and seal it up before giving it to me, so I didn't have a chance to double check it for accuracy.  I think you would probably be in big-time trouble if you didn't bring the enveloped to the MVA with the seal intact.  So... fast forward to Tuesday when we took our precious form to the MVA...

Round One:  We stand in line at the MVA to get to the "guards" at the front desk who look over your paperwork and deem whether or not you are worthy to receive a number to await the pleasure of the staffers who will give you your tags, renew your license or whatever your business there may be.  The guard very skeptically looked at our papers and pointed out that we MUST have the actual social security card with us.  Grrrrrr.... This was mostly my fault.  I had checked the requirements online and thought I had everything but all the ID requirements are rather confusing and I had brought Harrison's passport to back up his birth certificate, because his birth certificate is not from the USA.  So - return Home.  Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, etc.  (MVA is about 45 minutes away from my house, btw)  The guard gentleman was, I think, a robot.  Given his monotone voice, lack of discernible emotion, and complete inability to smile or express sympathy with our disappointment at a wasted trip.

Round Two, Part One:  We returned to MVA later on Tuesday, with the social security card (and with Harrison's bank statement and pay stub, just in case I had to further prove residency in this state and county... ya never know, wanted to be prepared) and stood in line again.  Longer line this time.  When we reached the guard desk, the social security card passed inspection and they proceeded to rip open the school board envelope to make sure that this kid had attended school often enough during the past semester to "earn" his chance at a Learners Permit.  (can someone show me actual hard data proving a correlation between school attendance and ability to drive???  why is this form necessary in the first place??? But that is a different rant for a different day)  And at this point, the error of the extra box being checked was discovered.  YellowShirt (as we dubbed the cheerless guard) droned "this is not acceptable.  both boxes are checked" and walked away with it.  Ummm..... okay....  After a long wait, another staffer (this one we named "Scruffy" in honor of his meager beard) who informed me that they couldn't accept the form because "both boxes are checked" and he suggested I phone the school office and have them fax over a statement saying that they made the mistake and what it should say.  Excuse me????  I pointed out that since Box 1 was checked that YES this student is homeschooled, that Box 2 was therefore completely irrelevant.  (Box 1 says if Yes, that the appropriate official should sign and seal the form, nothing else required.  This is what HSLDA worked for - that homeschoolers would not have to show attendance.  Box 2 questions if the student had 10 or fewer unexcused absences over the past semester, and they had more than 10 - sorry they don't qualify for a license.  No joke.  The "unexcused" thing is another PS term that bugs me.  But I won't get into that now)  Although he couldn't really refute my reasoning, he was firm that the form as it was could not be accepted.  He had showed it to the supervisor and the supervisor said so.  "May I speak to the supervisor then?" I asked.  And after another long wait in limbo, the supervisor showed up.  (BTW, Scruffy was a robot too)  The supervisor, another robot, was not particular nice.  Obviously we taxpayers/customers were interrupting something important she was supposed to be doing.   She took us into a little "principals office" - leaving the door open - and sat down at the desk but didn't invite me to sit down on either of the other chairs.  Rude IMO.  I preferred to stand anyway, as I intended for her to understand that I meant business and didn't expect to have to wait long.  Same general conversation as I had with Scruffy, but I insisted that since it was not MY mistake and not MY problem in accepting the form, that if SHE didn't like it, SHE could phone and request the fax.  She even tried to intimidate me by saying something about the person's name that had signed it  - "she's not authorized to sign for this county" - and I pointed out that the lady who WAS authorized was out of the office that day and someone else was completing her duties.  Whatever.  So Supervisor takes the form and marches out of the office saying "give me a moment"  It was a long moment.  But at last she came back and said that she had called and the official at the school board had confirmed and was faxing over an amended form.  Score one for Mama Bear.

Round Two, Part Two:  We were called over to Scruffy's station to continue the application process.  At this point the fax has been received and we think we are all good to go.  Not so fast... turns out that Harrison's vision didn't quite make the grade, and so we needed to take a form to his eye doctor for completion.  I am ready to go postal on someone at this point.  And I probably should have made sure that I got the eye doc to fill out the vision exam statement a month ago, but again, the info on the website wasn't 100% clear about needing the doctor's statement.  I made sure to ask about the school board form before we left though.  Last thing I need is to come back with the doctor's statement but have them reject us because *gasp* the seal on that envelope has been broken!!!!  But thankfully Supervisor had already signed and initialed that form, so we were hopeful that Scruffy's assurance that it would be alright was true.

Round Three:  On Wednesday morning, we stopped at the eye doctor's office and waited for the vision exam statement to be signed, then headed back to MVA and hoped for the best.  Another wait in a long line.  Yet another robot at the guard desk.  She reluctantly gave us one of the coveted deli counter tickets so we could wait our turn.  At long last, we were called to Station 11, where the one MVA staffer with a pleasant voice and demeanor was on duty.  (I had told Harrison I would buy him lunch if he could spot an MVA employee smiling - I paid up)  All our paperwork was in order - yay!  So he got his picture taken.  Ironically perhaps, there was a little note taped to the camera reminding licensees to "Smile!" for their picture.  Although I only noticed this at the nice lady's station, not at any of the others.  Then Harrison had to go into the exam room to take his knowledge test.  I used that wait time to fill out the customer survey regarding our experience at MVA.  Mwaaahaaaahaaaa.  He came out having passed with flying colors, and with another deli counter ticket to wait for the prvilege of paying the bill.  Much longer wait than any up until that point.  But finally it was done.  And that very nice lady at Station 11 smiled and said "Congratulations" when she finally handed him the completed permit card.

So now the hard part is over. 

Except for teaching him to drive, that is.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid. 

Its time for Show and Tell again!! To participate or see other entries in this highlight of the week, visit CanadaGirl

On Monday I took the kids to a mountain lake beach near here.  We went with three other families and it was the perfect beach day in many ways.  Sometimes that beach is quite crowded, especially when busloads of kids from daycamps or schools in the city show up.  But lucky for us, despite the perfectly clear and hot day, no busloads arrived!! So it was relatively quiet, and with fewer people on the north beach, it was also not too difficult for the moms to keep an eye on their kids without having to be right next to them at all times.

Landon volunteered to be buried in the sand (I supervised this very closely, because I knew it could be dangerous - and told them not to do that ever again):

On Tuesday I took Kennady to the playground, and in some ways she is just a teen girl.  Most notably, she likes to take pictures of herself with the digital camera.  LOL  Here she is:

And then she needed a picture of the two of us.  I hate pictures of myself.  But if I can get past the fact that I'm not wearing makeup and my double chin shows in this one, I guess its not too bad. 

I guess my Show & Tell for this week is not terribly exciting, but to me, it sums up much of our summer experience.  Taking a little extra time to do some fun things and be silly.

And it comes at a good time, I suppose, because I kind of feel like I should be blogging more but I don't have much to write about.  Actually, that's not true, but the blog fodder I've got right now is mostly of the rage-against-the-machine variety.  My oldest son is learning to drive and I am beyond irritated with the stupid and intrusive hoops the government puts in the way.  But that's a whole 'nother entry, which I think I'll save for when Harrison actually has the permit in his hand, so I can do the entire rant at once.   

So on an entirely non-homeschooling subject, I've been tagged by Lily of the Valley:

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.  (done)
2) Mention the rules.  (here they are!)
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself. (I'm all about quirky yet boring)
4) Tag 6 other blogger´s by linking to them.  (I will probably break this rule)
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged  (because I'm breaking #5, I'll inevitably break this one too)

1. I don't like being told what to do, without being told why.
2. I really need a haircut, probably a makeover.
3. I've lost two rings in the past week - just cheap ones, but still... 
4. I drink my coffee with just cream - never sugar - and my tea with sugar or honey - never milk.
5. My favorite cereal is Shreddies and I always bring a jumbo box back from Canada.
6. I am going to be a reviewer for my homeschool association this coming school year.  In fact, I'm going to the meeting this morning to learn all about my new duties. 

Okay... not sure my Fact #6 is boring enough.  I find it kind of exciting and amusing.  An exciting new phase in homeschooling, but amusing because I am not exactly organized or by-the-book in my homeschooling style.  "Not exactly" is putting it mildly. 

Anyway... now to break a few rules!  If you're reading this and are not declared a tag-free blog, please consider yourself tagged.  I won't name any names.

I got started during the week with sharing the pictures of our day in Niagara Falls, but didn't finish.  Therefore, it has become my Show & Tell entry for this week!  For more Show & Tell fun, visit CanadaGirl.

The first thing we did when we got into the town was to stop at a "souvenir mall" where there was a glass-blowing studio.  We thought it would be fun to watch the artisans at work for a bit, and it really was interesting but I didn't take any pictures.  There were a couple "photo op" places there, and Kennady wants her pictures taken every chance she gets, so I complied with some of her requests:

This is what I got when I asked Landon to pose at the same place:

Other "characters" that Kennady met included this RCMP officer

the Pink Panther

and - how thrilling - Hannah Montana!

We chose to park at the lot quite far from the falls and downtown and take the shuttle in.  We got off the shuttle at the Floral Showhouse (link takes you to my pictures) and looked around at the greenhouses, and then continued on to the main attraction - the Horseshoe Falls.  This was one of the first views we had:

I kept thinking about those cartoons - like in The Lion King - where the characters are floating down a river saying "I wonder what that roaring noise is?"  LOL

 As we got closer, we could see the famous rainbows.  Now I'll keep quiet and just post pictures of the Falls...

That's the Maid of the Mist boat tour above.  In this next picture, you can see the little knot of people in raincoats - that is the Journey under the Falls tour that we wanted to do but the timing didn't work out.  DH and I went down there years and years ago (as in - when we were dating!!) and it was awe-inspiring.  The power and beauty of waterfalls is breath-taking, and to think that God planned it and created it for our enjoyment, and I believe He was also planning ahead to provide hydro-electricity!  Amazing!

We went into the shopping district to have our dinner and then came back to the Falls in the evening for the fireworks show.  From where we sat down to watch the fireworks, this was our view until it got dark:

The Parks light up the falls at night, with colored lights, which is nice enough, but it doesn't begin to compare with the rainbows and sunsets that God creates!  Thanks for coming by!

No, this is not a game where the husbands play tag.  Nor where the wives try to tag the husbands.  Just a meme that Chrissy (MamaSmurf) invited me to participate in.

1. Who is your man?  Henry

2. How long have you been together? We've been married almost 21 years

3. How long dated?  About a year and a half.

4. How old is your man?  Two years older than me.

5. Who eats more?  Depends what we're eating.  LOL  Meat/potatoes/vegetables = him; anything involving chocolate = ME.

6. Who said "I love you" first?  Hmmm... I think he did.

7. Who is taller?  He is.

8. Who sings better?  I do.

9. Who is smarter?  Toss-up.

10. Whose temper is worse?  I'd say mine is.

11. Who does the laundry?  Me, when I remember. 

12. Who takes out the garbage?  I do, or one of the kids.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?  I do.

14. Who pays the bills?  I write the checks or click the button for the ones I pay online, but of course its his money.

15. Who is better with the computer?  Another toss-up.

16. Who mows the lawn? The boys, and DH.

17. Who cooks dinner?  I do, but I don't usually enjoy it.  If we're grilling, smoking or deep frying, then he does it.

18. Who drives when you are together?  He does.

19. Who pays when you go out?  He does.

20. Who is most stubborn?  Hard call... probably me.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?  Hmmm... I think I am.

22. Whose parents do you see the most?  His. We definitely see them more often, but when we see my parents, its for a longer stretch at a time.

23. Who kissed who first?  He kissed me.  And he asked permission too.

24. Who asked who out?  He asked me.

25. Who proposed?  He did.

26. Who is more sensitive?  I think he is.

27. Who has more friends?  Me!

28. Who has more siblings?  I do.  I have a sister and two brothers; he has one sister.

29. Who wears the pants in the family?  We all wear pants!! LOL  But he is "in charge".

30. How did you meet?  At college.

I won't tag anyone, but if you decide to do this tag, please leave me a comment here or in my cBox and let me know!

One thing I really had wanted to do on this trip to Niagara Falls was to visit the Butterfly Conservatory, but we didn't have a great deal of time and the boys were SO not interested.  So perhaps we'll do that on a future trip.  I settled for a walk through the Floral Showhouse gardens and greenhouses, which was really my DH's idea but I didn't mind in the least!  The boys still weren't really interested, but at least it was free for them to continually ask how much longer we would be there.  LOL

Fuschia:

One of the beautiful roses in the rose garden:

I thought at first glance that these were pansies, but they are orchids:

There are several different kinds of birds living in the greenhouses.  I'm not sure what kind this is, but I'm checking!

He's hard to see, but this is the best picture I got of the Red Bishop bird.  His head is that little red blob.  LOL

Another kind of "bird" - this is a Bird of Paradise flower:

I can't remember what all of these are called!

These are the flowers of the Pitcher Plant, which is a carnivorous plant.  They are not very pretty, are they?  They looked kind of like rotting bananas to me.

Those are real, although they look like they are plastic! Those leaves are probably about 4 feet long. 

We found this topiary in the outdoor part of the garden:

Water lilies:

I guess the greenhouse was a pretty good consolation prize.  But I still want to see the butterflies!!

For this week's Show & Tell with CanadaGirl, I'm going to show and tell about someone else's "show!"  While on vacation in Ontario, we were able to visit with some friends of ours and enjoyed the garden showplace they had created in their backyard.  My younger two children weren't really interested in sitting in the shade at the patio table so I suggested that they explore the garden, and gave them my camera so they could take pictures if they wanted to.  At the end of our visit, we toured the garden as well and I took a couple more pictures, but I think all but one of the ones I'm sharing today were taken by Landon (9yo) or Kennady (just days shy of 7yo at the time). 

If I had a green thumb, THIS is the kind of garden I would absolutely LOVE to have. 

 Our friends told us that this garden had been "inspired" by a Bed & Breakfast at which they had once stayed, and that almost all of the "props" are things that have been picked up from trash.  Keith made the bird feeders himself, and they have designed their own squirrel "baffles" on some of them.  I just loved this peaceful little oasis right in the city!  There were many birds and butterflies - and apparently squirrels too!  And I'm proud of the job my young photographers did on their pictures as well!

Stop by CanadaGirl's blog for more Show & Tell fun!

I've been MIA in the blogworld for almost two weeks now - last week we were on vacation, but this week I've just been busy trying to catch up.  And I guess I"m caught up on message boards, email and blogging now; but the housework and summer school is another story. 

Anyway, from June 29 through July 6, we were on vacation and visited my DH's family in southern Ontario.  We spent a fair bit of time visiting family and friends, and did a couple of purely fun things as well - such as seeing fireworks on Canada Day and on Independence Day (we LOVE fireworks!), and visiting Niagara Falls.  On one day, we were coming home from a visit with some friends, and on a whim, we stopped by the Zamboni plant.  Zamboni has had this facility just a very short drive from where my DH grew up and where his parents live now for as long as he can remember, but we have never stopped in. 

So, just for fun, we did what any hockey-loving homeschooling family would do - I went in and asked if they did tours.  They did not, BUT I noticed that they had some machines and things displayed in a lobby-type showroom, so I asked if it would be okay to bring my family in to look around at those.  The gentleman said that would be fine, so I brought the gang in.  No sooner had we come in the door, but this employee came back and said he would give us a personal "tour!"  So we had a wonderful history and science lesson all about ice-resurfacing.

Mr Zamboni created the first ice resurfacer by modifying a stripped down jeep and building a wooden reservoir that sat above the chassis.  It was nine feet high!  He built it to resurface the ice in a rink in California that he owned, after the advent of electrical refrigeration slowed down his iceblock delivery business. 

This is the "Model J" Zamboni, which was used in the 1960s.  It still used the paddle and chain, and after resurfacing, a crew had to climb into the top and shovel out the snow :

 This is the Model K, which was manufactured at about the same time, but used a newer technology instead of paddle and chain:

 We also took a look at the most current model, and our tour guide explained many of its features and mechanics to us.  This is the water reservoir and engine.

This is a view of the engine from the front access panel.  We were told that this is basically a motorboat engine!

The tires are all studded to increase traction

These are the brushes that sweep up the snow along the edges of the rink:

This is the part of the resurfacer that does most of the work.  There is a blade that shaves off the top layer of ice, and an auger that channels the shaved off snow so it can be deposited in the reservoir in the top of the machine.  Zamboni resurfacers use a hydraulic system to keep even pressure on the blade, so that any ripples in the ice surface can be evenly shaved.

You can also see the pipe along the back edge of the blade assembly, where fresh water is sprayed onto the newly cleaned ice.  Here's a little closer look:

This picture isn't worth much unless you know what it is.  LOL  This is the reservoir where the snow is deposited, and then can be dumped out.  (and that's Kennady's head in front)  We were told that Zamboni uses the same material to line this reservoir as the boards around a hockey rink.  That's because the ice/snow can slide out easily when the container is dumped, eliminating the need for anyone to have to reach into or climb into the holding tank to shovel it out, like they used to do for the earliest models.

 And of course, the driver's seat:

We all took a turn sitting in that place of honor... Harrison:

Spencer:

Landon:

Kennady:

Even Dad:

And me!! (Kennady took this picture, notice the much different perspective since she is so much shorter than me.  Does nothing to help me look slimmer, sadly. LOL)

Almost done, couple more pictures.... This is the edger machine, to do the tight corners and edges of an ink surface:

The giant Toronto Maple Leaf bobblehead they had on display.  (Yes the head really does "bobble" - this came from an All-Star game a couple years ago)

And each of the kids was given a souvinir by our tour guide - a Zamboni keyring:

You can read more about ice resurfacing machines  at Wikipedia, and about Frank Zamboni here.

Hope you enjoyed my very long picture tour of Zamboni.  Lesson for everyone - even if the place you're interested in doesn't do a "tour" you can sometimes get something really field-trip-worthy just by asking and showing a genuine interest in the product or service.  (Years and years ago, DH and I got a similar personal tour of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Bahamas, just because we walked in and asked.  We told them we collected Coke memorabilia and were interested, and we got the royal treatment.  Everything except the secret formula.  LOL My point is: Just ask!)

Time again for Show & Tell - visit CanadaGirl to see others and to participate!

So... we got a wireless mouse for the computer last week, which requires a USB port.  That being the port that I use to load pictures from my camera.  And I forgot to get DH to show me how I should load the pictures from now on.  So today I am sharing an older picture.  LOL

Almost a month ago, Kennady and I stopped at the grocery after a ball game, and noticed a bird on the sidewalk in front of the store that didn't seem to be disturbed by the people walking past.  We had a closer look, and this little bird held his ground and didn't act at all nervous by our presence.  We think perhaps it had flown into the window several minutes earlier and wasn't quite recovered yet.  But it was odd that he seemed so calm and wasn't breathing quickly the way startled birds will do.  Anyway, being a good homeschool mom  I got out my camera and took a couple pictures and Kennady and I knelt there and watched and talked for awhile before heading into the store to do our shopping. 

I'm not a birdwatching expert, but I studied a lot of field guides growing up and learned a little about identifying birds.  This is, to the best of my knowledge, a young Grey Catbird:

A close relative of the catbird is the Northern Mockingbird, and we have a pair nesting in a tree in our backyard.  They are here every summer, but we've never found their nest before.  Mr Mockingbird likes to perch on our TV antenna tower, but its terribly difficult to get a picture of him when he's up there. 

Thanks for visiting!!