Milestones

This has been a big week for two members of our family.

First, Luci got a new bike!  It's about time, hmmm?   Here she is with her new bike and old bike.

Such a happy girl!

Bryan started college today!  He got up early, which never happens.  I don't expect it to happen on any other school day this summer.  I met him at the breakfast table with this sign:  "First Day of College:  May 30, 2012"

He grinned!  I was concerned that he would think it was just too stupid to pose, but he did, and did it happily.  John did remind him that college was not like homeschool, and he'd have to change out of his pajamas to go!

We've been doing this tradition since Bryan began Kindergarten.  Every year I have the kids stand next to the hutch, to measure their growth.  My, how he's grown.

The Princess Bride

Yesterday, Luci was introduced to the movie, The Princess Bride.

Oh, so fun!  She was scared by some of the fight scenes, the Gas Swamp, and a few other things, so she spent quite a bit of the movie watching while partially hidden behind a door. 

One of the characters said, "Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?"

Luci's reply:  "I've heard of Play-Doh!"

Card Machine

We are home from visiting family (posts on that to come).  I thought I'd tell you a Luci-ism in the meantime.

Luci has a birthday party to go to today (YAY!).  She is so excited.  Last night I asked her if she wanted to make a birthday card for the Birthday Girl or buy one. 

I want to make one!  We have a machine to do that!

I need to buy more printer ink, Luci.  We can't print one.  I meant, make one yourself.

But we have a card-making machine!

But, Luci...

It's ME!

And so she did.  Make a card, I mean.

Oh. My. Word.

We are on our journey to Idaho to see my folks.  With me are JT and Luci; John stayed home with Bryan.  They almost had to stay home...have you seen a Prius automobile?  Fitting three people in, with their luggage, is just enough.  A fourth person would burst the seams of the vehicle.  Put all five of us in the car for the trip to church (the only time all five of us are in the car together) and when we get there, you can see us pile out like clowns at the circus.

Well.  I love my Prius.  Bryan and JT make fun of it, but I don't care.  I get awesome mileage! The mileage will be what gets regular folks to buy it, not the lower-emissions/save the Earth thing.  Lower emissions are a bonus, not the selling point for me.  And it's cheaper than the Honda Odyssey minivan we used to have.

It has a built-in GPS with a map like a little TV screen.  That works great most of the time.  Two places where the GPS fails are 1)  it does not estimate travel time well when going on state roads (like our county roads in Alabama, and today through western Tennessee); and 2) it is hard to get the little genie inside to re-route the trip easily.  For instance, today I wanted to go from Corinth, MS, through Jackson, TN, and Dyersburg, TN up to Missouri.  The little booger wanted me to go through Memphis (an hour longer!) and did not like me going a different way.  I had to call John and get him to look on maps.google.com to tell me which state road went to Jackson and on to Dyersburg.  The machine will let you put in extra stops along the way--but it wants a street address; you cannot just input a city's name and have it take you there.  I could not just put in "Dyersburg."  I finally figured out how to get around that--I had the machine search for McDonald's in Dyersburg, it found three, and I clicked on one.  Voila!  We made it to Dyersburg without being routed through Memphis.

I was so frustrated.  JT and Luci kept busy with their TVs and Gamecube console, so did not mind the detours. 

I minded.  At one point, I was quite lost in Jackson.  We found ourselves in, shall we say, interesting parts of town. 

Going down one street, I told the kids, "Close your eyes!"  because, on the right, were the first prostitutes I'd ever seen.  It was quite obvious that they were ladies of the evening.  But come on!  It was only 11:00 a.m.!


Luci did not obey--her eyes were wide open. 

Her question:  Are they going to the Prom?

I never woulda thunk it...

but...

This week has seen JT actually eager to shovel a huge load of horse manure fertilizer.  Eager to work in the garden.  Eager to help his dad with cedar chips for the flower garden.

This boy loves nothing better than playing video games.  And yet, he was working outside, happily, for the past two days?

Why?

To earn two tickets to a WWE event in June!   That's wrestling, y'all.  I don't understand the attraction, but I guess since we are in Alabama, it's okay to be a little redneck, don't you think?

JT thinks it's cool.

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added later Tuesday evening...

Now he's willingly scrubbing the boys' bathroom from top to bottom!

Which Song Comes to Mind?

John is helping JT with his final project for the year, after our study of Human Anatomy:

The Visible Man.

As they worked on the skeleton, and inserting the brain, this refrain from The Wizard of Oz kept going through my mind...

If I only had a brain!

JT's GPA for his first year of high school is 3.44.  Way to go, JT!

From the Heart

Yesterday was a Day of Awful Proportions.

Not a Happy Homeschool Day, that's for sure.

We had one who was reacting to some scents he had been exposed to, and one who thought noon was just an idea, since he rarely sees it with his eyes open.

So.

After supper I spent a great deal of time convincing (convincing is "Susan-ese" for talking extremely loudly) the boys to clean their rooms.  They did, but they were not happy about it.

After that melee, I took my Kindle Fire and went to my own bedroom and had a nice, quiet time.  Until Rock Band exploded in the living room!  Wowzer!  All three kids, getting along, and playing nicely!  Nice and LOUD.

Since this was a rare occasion, I took a photo.

The music went on for several hours.  Luci found some sunglasses, a wig and a cool hat.

And it's going on again, tonight!  It is NOISY.

And NICE.

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Tonight I was figuring out JT's grades (he did well this year!) and putting them into our online reporting program.  Since the dates of JT's birthday and Bryan's birthday are so similar, I had JT come check to make sure I got it correct. 

This discussion brought Luci...who has studied right along with JT and his anatomy classes this year...

Mama, when is my birthday?

October 26!  The best day of the year!

I wasn't born in your tummy.  I was born in your heart.  And believe me, it is not pretty in there!

from Apologia Science text