Worth...

I do this thing.  It's always been a secret...until this year when paint has been so much a part of my life...and I got caught.

I paint my prayers on my walls.

For all that this screen is my favorite form of communication, I am a pretty tangible person.  I like to get ACTUAL letters because it means that the person that wrote to me actually touched the paper.  I love things that people touched, wore, used in someway, because it gives me a hand to hold long after the person has gone, whether it be across the street or on into eternity.  I'm a toucher...always have been...this is just an interesting quirk of the same weird-touchie-aspect.

So under every wall I've ever painted (alone, because again, like fight club, we don't talk about it) there are names of people that I love. But then, I paint over the names, because like everyone else, I painted the wall for a reason...fashion, baby.  But I still can tell you where certain people's names are. When I'm missing those people I still touch their names and pray about them.

A few months ago, a friend was helping me paint one of the many walls I've painted this year and I knew her well enough to share my quirk.  Pretty soon, the kids (hers, mine already knew) were involved...and then another friend, and her kids.  Turns out, they had prayers too.  Things that hurt so much that they couldn't share exactly what was going on...but they had names...so I handed them each a brush and a little pot of paint...and everybody got a turn.

And then time went on.  I painted over the names.  They are still there...but underneath because that's what you do, right?

Yesterday, one of my children brought one of the other little girls on the street over.  My Bear wanted me to help her friend with the STAAR test studying.  OY!!  What do I know about STAAR testing other than every kid on the street worries and hurts because of them?  Seriously, I remember testing as a kid...it was kinda fun...I don't remember studying...it just was what it was...a couple of days of number 2 pencils and booklets and sitting in the gym (those were the fun ones...way too many people) or the classroom not doing homework.  WOO HOO!

Except, that's not what I'm hearing from these kids.  Realize these are my neighbors, my kid's friends...random children who pass through my house, hurting and wanting help with these tests.  Actually no, not really wanting help...actually wanting to know that this test will not be what defines them.  This test won't be what measures their worth in the world.

Like I said, I don't know anything about these tests.  Homeschoolers don't have to take them at this time in history in this state.  We may have to in the future, but not right now.

But I do know something these kids need to know.  NO TEST can define you.  Sure, we can measure what you've learned in the last week or so.  Some of them may be able to tell if you are a good test taker or if you are able to read at some level or if you are good memorizer.  We can measure some stuff that you know TODAY.  But what exactly does that matter for your worth?  See, the thing is, tomorrow you may learn something more and you may very well be even smarter than you are today.  Sometime in the future, something might happen that makes you forget this stuff that you absolutely know and you might have to really think about it to draw it back out of your mind...(Hey mothers...let's have a HOO RAH for the stupefying factors of child birth and infant rearing, huh?)

This is a moment.

It doesn't define who you are.

You still get to choose who you will be.

Did you hear me?  I won't care if you remembered the ROCK CYCLE tomorrow.  I'd forgotten there was a rock cycle until yesterday.  You matter, rock cycle or not.

You will be a beautiful amalgamation of joy, and intelligence, and talents, and humor, and kindness, and courage and maybe pain.  But let's not have an arbitrary test on arbitrary facts that someone has decided that you REALLY need to know today cause you pain.  That stuff REALLY doesn't matter and anyone who says it does needs to spend an hour in the company of a child.

So I'm outing myself.  I'm painting on my wall again...and this time, I don't think I'm going to paint over it.  I'm praying for little souls today.  Not tests.  Not that they do well.

I'm praying that they realize that no matter how they do...THEY MATTER.  And I'm praying for my teacher friends who have to administer these tests because I know that THEY know what I'm saying.  These tests aren't coming from teachers who love our kids and teach them and struggle with them and triumph with them over every skill taught.  These tests are from much too far away to ACTUALLY matter.

When the psalmist said,

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are WONDERFUL, I know that full well. 

He didn't mean, "Wonderful until you go and screw it up with that STAAR Test."

I'm just sayin...

See you around.

P.S.  Let me know if you need a brush and a pot of paint...

The Unwritten Line Item.

So this week we are coming back into line with how our days SHOULD be.  We have a plan.  My schedule is a beautiful thing and it would work PERFECTLY if there weren't so many unwritten line items on it.

DAGNABIT!

My mom used to tell a story about my dad.  They were planning on going somewhere.  She had gotten up on time, gotten the kids ready, fed us, gotten herself ready, gotten everybody in the car knowing that they were running late.  After a few minutes, she went inside to check on him and found my father sorting their record collection, still in his socks.  He had found an unwritten line item.

These unwritten line items ARE any schedule.  The things that you do that add time and complexity to the list of items that you are trying to check off. 

As we have been working through the list, each of my kids has found an unwritten line item to completely alter her schedule for the rest of the day.  (no names are being used, because, well, public shaming is controversial...the important thing is that THEY'LL know who they are)

Exhibit A.

This child was to be the first up and into the shower for several reasons.  When she was out of the shower, she was to sing out "NEXT KID, I'm out of the shower" as she walked past on her way to her room.  Then she was to get dressed, make her bed and come out all golden haired and dewy eyed...and do my bidding.

Instead, she found an unwritten line item.

She got up first...CHECK.  She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror...OKAY.  She got into and out of the shower...CHECK.  She walked out of the bathroom...stood in the doorway...rang a REALLY loud bell...and said, "NEXT KID, GET INTO THE SHOWER RIGHT NOW!"   Apparently, she said it 3,456 times before I became involved in the situation.

Exhibit B

This child was the planned person to empty the dishwasher.  It was on her list.  As I headed to the shower, I reminded her.  She was headed TO the dishwasher when I left the room.  What happened next is hard to know for sure.  All I am certain of is that by the time I came out to check after my shower, there was an altercation going on and the dishwasher was standing open. 

A sister had foisted an unwritten line item onto her list.

The hazy details are as follows.  She was going to unload the dishwasher when a SISTER played HER song on the piano.  She felt compelled to police the music coming from the other room and correct this good-for-nothing sister about her wretched behavior...the dishwasher would HAVE to wait.

Exhibit C

This child was to be doing two pages of well understood math that she had previously stated was so easy she shouldn't have to waste time with it.  When she was finished with the incredibly easy math, she was to go on to the rest of her well understood and planned school day. I spoke to this child.  I made sure that she had all her supplies and no questions.  I then sent her to her working room...and commenced teaching her other sisters for the couple of hours until lunch.

But she found this unwritten line item.  Truth be told, she found a FEW.

Firstly, this math was VERY boring and she HAD brought her iPod into the room, so listening to her music was needed to help her even accomplish BREATHING while she was dragging through these two pages. Then this song came on that she really liked, so she wanted to learn the words while she was doing her math so she switched to you-tube to find a lyrics video so that she could accomplish that goal.  And then she focused, I tell you.

By the time I got involved almost 2 hours later, she was singing SO loudly that I had to shush her so that I could carry on with what I was teaching.  As I opened the door, I realized that it wasn't just the song that was the unwritten line item...or even the words...but an completely choreographed number in full costume...while her math lay open, UNMARRED BY PENCIL, on her desk.

IN FULL COSTUME, dear readers.  I'm just going to let that one sink in.

I've decided that more than half of dealing with kids in any capacity, be it parenting, teaching, sports or whatever, is their ability to consider options far outside of our own ADULT imagination.  I get in MORE trouble assuming that they are going to behave in a way that I've laid out...or even in a way that they have always acted in the past.

I often find myself completely GOBSMACKED by their audacity, and if I'm honest, irritated...which tends to add a few unwritten line items of my own.

I guess that's why starting slowly on any schedule you expect to follow with any regularity with kids is so important.  It gives you the opportunity to find those unwritten line items. 

Well, and to come to grips with the fact that no matter how intelligent you are and how well thought out your master plan...you are up against small people with their OWN counter-agendas...who are wiley-er, smarter and let's face it, FAR more well-rested than you are. 

See ya around.

The Slow Slide Back into Good Citizenry

Day 7 of the new year...Day 2 of the second semester...Day 1 of the ACTUAL new schedule.  That's how MY life works out.

Obviously, you can't start a new semester on the 2nd day of the year.  There is far too much fun being had on the LAST day of the prior year to be worth much productivity on the first day of the year...and the second day is merely the START of the clean up from the holiday at the END of the year.  Are you following me, dear reader?

So like all the rest of my society, we let the first 5 days of the year go by in a whirl of cleaning and visiting and, if I'm honest, laying about.  It's vacation.  This year we had the added excitement of some sickness, I'd say flu, but it seems everyone has had it worse than we have, so we'll just say, "The Crud" and leave it there.  So the first 5 days also had the fun of a few people really needing the extra sleep that a full schedule simply does not allow.

Every new year of my homeschool career...save the last two (2012 - The-WE-ARE-getting-a-divorce-and-right-soon-Year and 2013-JUST-GOT-divorced-and-moved-and-have-to-settled-Year) where my emotions wouldn't allow it...I have used January to hunker down, get a new schedule and re-connect my household. 

See, starting with my birthday in the beginning of November, we have a 2 month slide into vacation-mode (think Island-Mode without the waves) that lasts through the first week of January.  I know that most of our friends have a similar slide but I think mine is worse.  See, having a birthday at the beginning of the least productive time of the year, adds an extra three weeks of less productivity, because, "But it's your BIRTHDAY" happens a lot...and I generally let it.  Just keepin it real.

So today we start our new schedule.  This is the MOST HATED DAY OF THE YEAR.  See, generally my kids are up and reading or journaling or sometimes even playing piano, even on vacation, by 7:30.  But on SCHEDULE...it's up at 7:15.  This is a heinous thing to them...and I cause it, ergo, I am evil.  The fact that it gives me joy makes it exponentially worse.

We had "the talk" yesterday.  You know the one, "Everyone needs to be up and doing what SHE is supposed to do in the morning."  There was a motion to scrap the whole idea, which was then seconded and they hoped carried by their third member (that easy-going curly one)...thank heavens I hold veto power...or they'd stay the unwashed masses until it was time to go to church.

We spent yesterday restarting the wheels that came to a complete halt a little over 2 weeks ago at the beginning of the Christmas break...finding all the school books that got squirreled away...organizing the library list...getting math back on track...overviewing grammar and writing...overviewing our new unit in history (Industrial Revolution ... I'm excited)...and sorting out the plan for the new sciences that we got over Christmas.  Today, everybody KNOWS THE PLAN. 

It will STILL take a few days to implement it...but they KNOW it.  And it is POSTED on the wall.  (Oh yeah, I AM that mom).  So tally ho!!  I hope you all have a GREAT day, I know I will.

See ya later 2013...

See ya around...

snow, Snow, SNow, SNOW!

I really hope you heard Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen singing that title, because that's how I wrote it. Well, truth be told, I wrote it singing all by myself; but, as is completely possible in one's imagination, I was part of that chord while I was singing it and typing it...so, dear reader, you should endeavor to hear it thusly.

Yes, indeed.  We have snow.  Well, that's not exactly true either.  Here in Texas we don't really GET snow.  At best it's a "wintry mix" which includes some snow, more sleet and a bunch of just plain ice.  Last night and this morning was no different...it wasn't exactly snow that fell from the sky.  And now, on the ground we have solid ice covered by powder.  And it's cold...and that is a wonder for my children. 

This is the seam of my garage, where the door goes down...

Monkey Face was up at 6:45 and in clothing and outdoor gear sometime before 7 am.  THAT never happens.  She had this icicle and wanted me to eat it.  I declined.  I try to keep my icicle eating to after my morning tea...and only when it's more than 65 in the house.  She seemed to enjoy it, though.

 

 

As for the other two, they were pretty content to stay in bed until I offered them the chance of a shortened school day.  First I had to check the weather because the temperatures can change VERY fast here.  There have been other times that I've tried to get school done first only to have the snow completely melted by the time they were finished.  At least for today, we aren't getting above 28 degrees, so it was on.  They had to work hard until noon and then they were free.

 

It's amazing how much can be done when "snow" is on the table.  Seriously.  I wish I had such a great carrot for every day. 

Once all tests were taken and all assignments safely stowed in my inbox, they started putting on clothes.  I've heard that at least two people have on two pair of socks, two pair of pants...and after a dip in the slush at the end of the drive way, two MORE pair of unmentionables.  ;)  Not sure how much EXTRA warmth is to be found in a second pair of choneys...but there it is.

 

 

 

I always feel badly that we don't own a sled on days like this.  Now, to be fair, we only have a couple of these days a year and I've never, even one time, seen sleds on sale in my local stores...but still, I think it would be cool for them to have a sled.   However, every single time we do have a day like this...many things are tried to substitute for a sled.  I think they nailed it this year.

 

 

 

 

I, for one, hope it doesn't last forever as I prefer dry pavement overall. I start getting antsy about three days into a forced stay-in-the-house ice storm.  But at the same time, I'm glad they get a few of these.  Everybody needs a different-than-the-norm day now and then.

 

 

 

 I personally hope this child survives...she likes to jump...and slide...and skid...and splash...waaaay more than her sisters.   I try really hard not to watch because she stresses me out and who needs momma stress when you are flying through life, really?  So, I provide extra choneys and look away.  Good thing she's cute...

 

Happy Snow-Day, y'all,

See ya around...

 

 



Atlanta, Georgia and Spartanburg, South Carolina

We just got back from a big ol' trip...I choose not to post until I got back...

I suppose for the safety of it...

This post is from that trip.

We ended up leaving Huntsville about mid-day to head toward Atlanta...and we arrived IN Atlanta around 5pm on the Friday before Labor Day.  But starting there, well, that's only part of the story...so let me back up a little.  There are so many pictures from this time frame...I'm just going to throw them in here...

First of all, let me introduce my friend the Composer...(hey, look, another picture of me from this trip...)

The Composer and Me, at a football game...
gee, it's like we're 16 again...sorta.

Okay...so how do I know him?  Well, years and years and years ago, when I was between 11 - 13 years old, we lived near each other and were friends.  My best friend, Kehaar (who now lives in Wisconsin) and his best friend, Gator (who now lives in South Carolina) were neighbors in Stuart, Florida.  As their best friends, we often went to the same parties and hung out together.  When I was 16, I went back to Florida to see everybody and he and I went on a DATE...and then I went home to California and grew up, got married, had a family of my own, while he was doing the same thing in Florida and eventually Georgia. 

The very first night...see the video below...the composer decided to get all the kids in the band.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship between Monkey-Face and the composer.  She has a tendency to wrap grown men around her little finger...he had no hope, really.

Fast forward slightly less than 30 years...we reconnected, maybe 5 years ago, on facebook, and have been "friends" in the "oh look, kids" sort of way that distant friends are "friends" on facebook...until Mother's Day of this year when we started talking.  Obviously, we ACTUALLY became friends again along the way. 

It was hot...it was muggy...but OOOOOoh, I love the trees in South Carolina.

Bear and Drummer-boy got along pretty well over all...they are closest in age and have a similar humor that kept the rest of us laughing.

Now, we'd been talking about intersecting on this trip for awhile and there had been a couple of snags along the way, but by the time it was set...the Composer and his two boys and a couple of their friends were planning a "Sissy" camping trip for Labor Day.  See, they'd always roughed it...tents, etc.  For this trip, they were getting a camper.  Once we'd decided that we girls were going to be near the same place at the same time...it became a much bigger deal.

The Composer said we had to have a fire...my less-fun personality said, "Um, it's like 900 degrees out here"...I was disregarded.  Turns out camping is NOT camping without a fire...period.

Lunch...it's a roasted marshmallow on a peanut butter sandwich...not pretty...but yummy, nonetheless.

See, with us involved, it boosted the headcount from 4 or 5 BOYS to possibly 8 or 9 mixed gender all trying to CAMP.  We decided that consolidating us into one vehicle would be easier and more fun than driving two...so the Composer arranged to get a 15 passenger van to PULL the camper. 

Our very "manly" 15 passenger van and the camper.  There was a day dream going around that we were FBI Surveillance...boys are weird.

Drummer-boy unhooking the camper from the van.  Incidentally, we had two hitch issues on the trip...but not one once Drummer-boy started handling it...Coincidence?  I think not.

Only one problem, the Composer was not SUPER familiar with the ins and outs of pulling THAT much real estate down the road.  Enter Grandpa Bob and Grandma. 

See, Grandpa Bob knows all about pulling all manner of vehicles down the road...and he was in Florida the week before we were going to take this trip.  Now, when I called Grandpa Bob about this potential dilemma I was hoping that he would CALL the Composer.  Y'know, talk him through the questions that he had.  In the end, Grandpa and Grandma DROVE to Atlanta to be with the Composer as he went to get the van and camper and then proceeded to teach him everything he could possibly need to know about pulling and setting up the camper.  Let me take just a moment to say how very VERY thankful I am to have Grandpa Bob.

Drummer-boy  and Bear

Perfect marshmallows, Baby!

Okay...so the trip, in a nutshell, we got there Friday night.  We packed and sorted and consolidated for much of Saturday.  Thankfully, we did get there almost 24 hours early, if we hadn't, the consolidating and packing would NOT have gone as well.  It takes a herculean effort anytime one camps, and if we really hadn't been there until midday Saturday, I'm not sure we'd have gotten it done.

Around 5 pm we were ready and took off with the Composer, his younger son, Drummer-boy, and a friend of Drummer-boy's (who shall remain nameless as he is someone else's child), and the four of us...the Composer's older son was unable to join us, so, in the end we were seven in all...to Spartanburg, South Carolina.  We camped Saturday night, all day Sunday and Sunday night, and headed back to Atlanta on Monday.

There are SO many stories.  Seriously, I never knew you could pack that many little tiny things into, essentially, 3 days.  First of all, the kids got along great.  No worries there.

This was NOT a road...This was a barricaded Horse Path...This included asking children to remove the barricade so that we could drive on this path.  This lawbreaking was done without my knowledge or consent.  I only found out after we entered the "road". This IS my favorite...funniest memory and too bad for you, I'm not sharing it here.

Hello, Deer!!  There were actually two of them.  So pretty.

The Composer is one of those, "Come do this with me" type of guys.  You know the ones, if there is a kid within earshot, that kid is holding the flash light or pulling the rope or carrying the firewood.  Honestly, I was kind of humbled by that.  My, "OH, I'll just do it myself" nature really took a hit watching him set things up while keeping every one of those kids busy and underfoot.

"We're hot...hurry up!"

Best thing ever...kids loading the van...the WHOLE van.  Maybe the Composer helped them with the heaviest cooler...but I don't think so.

One of the more memorable moments was my girls helping him set up the awning.  OH.MY.GOODNESS. I laughed so hard.  I wish I'd gotten it on video.  To say that it didn't go RIGHT, would be a major understatement...but they all laughed (well, I did, anyway) and managed to get it at the right height and shading as it should.

This is actually taking DOWN the awning.  It went pretty smoothly overall.  Not nearly as funny.

Please note the Composer.  He is doing his very manly, "Happy to have CONQUERED the awning" dance.  Sadly, another moment I failed to VIDEO.

He is also a musician (hence the nickname) which came in handy several times.  Whether it was teaching the girls a little guitar, bass, and drum that first night...playing guitar around the camp fire...or picking up the rhythm to the cup song IRRITATINGLY quickly, he fit right in with our bursting-into-song nature. 

 

I think the thing I noticed the most was how comfortable the trip was.  I'm pretty easy going.  I like camping.  But I've seen these things go JUST wrong.  Nothing bad happened.  Even the "stressful" parts, when the camper/hitch didn't work quite like we'd expected, were quickly resolved so we could go on with the fun.  We adults let the kids run all over the countryside with walkie-talkies (of course) and we got to talk...and laugh...and walk...and just relax.

The creek that we managed to get to without driving illegally on a barricaded horse trail after all....

I had to MAKE them be still...creeks are awesome.

Kids on a bridge.

Yeah...I have no idea.

It was a great sub-trip.  My kids have been talking about it ever since and we all hope to have another opportunity some day.  For now, it was great to see my friend again, and get to know him as a grown up and a father.  I really am so blessed that we could reconnect and do this together. 

What is a roadtrip without Cracker Barrel?

See ya around...

Vicksburg, Missippi to Huntsville, Alabama...

We just got back from a big ol' trip...I choose not to post until I got back...

I suppose for the safety of it...

This post is from that trip.

 

Okay...so the trip...the trip...try to keep up will you?  I mean I know that I reached the end of the stuff I'd already written about the trip...I know that I've sorta lost the momentum, but c'mon, it's Saturday...the kids are watching T.V. ... Let's see what we can do here.

 

So we drove from Mississippi to Huntsville, Alabama...listening to Harry Potter the whole way. 

 

Huntsville was one of our EVENTS with a capital E we had on our original plan.  There is a space center in Huntsville that we'd wanted to see since my Aunt and Uncle had been here and we'd eaten the space ice cream they'd brought us, back in July.

 

 

Huntsville was the reason that we'd studied the history of NASA right along with the history of the Civil War.  It was the reason that we'd watched "Apollo 13" and "When We Left Earth"...

 

 

 

The thing is...we were getting excited about the next part of the trip...the camping portion...the interacting with other people portion...the seeing Grandma and Grandpa portion...

Really excited.

We woke up the morning that we were supposed to GO to the Space Center and Beanie started the "Um, how far IS it to Atlanta"  "Um, couldn't we go today and not wait overnight?"  "Really, it would save us money to stay with the Composer tonight instead of in a hotel, AND we'd see Grandma and Grandpa."

I love this one...it's going on my Happiness Wall.

Monkey Face laughs every time she sees this one.

For my part there were major issues with straying from the plan...first and foremost being the COST of the Space Center and then cutting the trip short.  I mean, most of the time it doesn't matter how long you stay at a place...5 minutes or 5 hours costs the exact same, and frankly, I was not willing to pay for it only to bail so that we could throw off everyone's set plan.

It turns out that the cost was not an issue.  Once again, my membership to a local museum came to the rescue.  As my local museum and The Huntsville Space Center have a relationship that allows members to either museum access to the other, we were able to go for 5 minutes or 5 hours for free.

Oy...those little faces...learning...

Watching a video on black holes which was the theme of the month at "Ye Olde Space Center"

My second issue was that I was getting tired, every day on the road adds to my overall feeling of fatigue. This is not a new thing, I've experienced it with every single trip I've ever taken.  While I love to drive, no kidding around, even on my best days, I'm much more comfortable driving earlier in the day...by about 2 pm I'm getting sleepy and I like to stop often and slow down.  I've even been known to pull over and nap for 20 minutes, so I knew that any afternoon driving WAS going to take longer than if we left in the morning.  If we went to the Space Center at all, I was going to have to drive the 3 1/2 hours to Atlanta in the afternoon or early evening...not MY prime driving time.

Turns out, adrenaline took care of that.

A mock up of the Rocket Pack...I think.

Coolest scale ever...it tells you how heavy you are on earth and on the moon...and one other place (sadly, I didn't get a closer picture and I can't remember...I was focusing on the moon weight...I seriously loved the moon weight)

The last and probably biggest issue was...well...See, I wasn't all that sure that I wanted to go on this camping trip.  I mean I WANTED to go...but then...well, I hadn't laid eyes on my friend in about 27 years.  It's kind of like deciding if you want to go to your high school reunion...only worse, because there were kids thrown in.  What if the kids didn't like each other?

I decided to just quit thinking about it...and carry on.

This was a simulator for landing the space shuttle...Bear managed to do it right-ish once.

This is the screen you got when you failed.  I wish that I had taken video because the audio for each failure was SO surprising and funny.  A sarcastic man would tell you just where you'd gone wrong.

I'm glad I did.  The museum was fun.  We were there about 3 hours and got to see a little bit of everything.  Owing to the timing, it being the Thursday before Labor Day, all the local schools were in session so the place was nearly deserted.  Every staff person that we found was ALL ours to ask any question we wanted and a couple of them offered up various demos almost immediately because there really wasn't anyone else around.

One of the staff...she set off a baking soda rocket for us and one other little boy in the vicinity.  She and Beanie hit it off because Bean stomped right up and said something like, "So, what have you got to show me?"

One of the smaller Command Module mock-ups.  Anything to lay on your back with your cool shoes up in the air.

It was kind of great actually and somehow magically played into the plan that we didn't know was in place when I started out by saying, "Let's see what happens" as we started out on the road.


I didn't get a picture of it...but we actually rode a couple of rides.  One that made me SI-ICK, well, nauseous anyway.  It was just a mini-flight simulator deal, like a scaled down version of Star Tours at Disney.  But it was very small and had no air flow...and it was a little warm.  BARF.

"HEY MAAAH!  LOOOKIE!  We're playing under the Rocket!!"  It was kind of cool because the engines were steaming and dripping, so from far away it looked like they were about to ignite...although, a little terrifying if you really think about it.

This was the full sized mock up of the command module that they used to simulate all sorts of things that the astronauts would go through...The girls are laying on their backs in this picture.

I was pretty sure after the simulator that I was a goner, because the next one that they wanted me to ride was G-Force.  You know, the one where you stand against the wall and they spin you and in a minute the thing you are leaning against lifts off the ground and because of centrifugal force you are hanging on the wall.  Yeah...that one.  Actually...it wasn't too bad at all.  Maybe because there wasn't any horizon to tell me that I was spinning.  Whatever the reason, I was glad not to be sick.

In the end, we were there exactly the right amount of time.  And because we left early and ended up in Atlanta, Georgia a night early, we got more time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa and the people that would soon be our WHOLE family's friends...

But that's another post...

See ya around...

When You Give a Kid a Camera...

We just got back from a big ol' trip...I choose not to post until I got back...

I suppose for the safety of it...

This post is from that trip.

 

If you've followed my blog for very long, you will know that I LOVE my camera.  And that I LOVED the camera before this one before it started growling at me and subsequently died.  It's not a super expensive camera, as camera's go, but it's not a super INexpensive camera either. 
  

Some of my favorite qualities...the ability to point and shoot.  I looked into the SLRs and they were pretty great...but a little too much car for me, if you know what I mean.  I think those might be more for REAL photographers...like you know, those people who ACTUALLY plan their shots and stuff.  Not someone like me who runs around sneaking up on people and snapping as fast as they can.
 

I really like its zoom.  Again, not the best ever, but still pretty awesome, especially when you are sneaking up on a kid from far away, or the KID is far away and wants to show you something.  I have a not-so-secret desire to find a super-duper-zoomy lens that fits my camera, but having looked at them, I'm comfortable with the dreaming and not so much the buying.

 

But my favorite thing...it's really silly...my favorite thing is the shoulder strap.  I know, I know, I can hear you saying, "Stack, EVERY camera has been able to have a shoulder strap since the dawn of cameras...that's like saying you like the wheel or fire."  Yes, dear reader, you are exactly correct.  It is a dumb thing to give me such joy...but lemme tell you why...

 

See, I've got these three kids. 

 

And they make me so very happy that I want to give them the opportunity to try stuff I do and maybe become really good at those things...like sewing...or photography.  See, the thing about letting someone else TRY one of YOUR things...is you have to LET GO of the thing.  I'm afraid that without the shoulder strap on my beloved camera there are at least TWO of those kids that would never get their grubby fingers NEAR my camera.  Why?  Because I'm a cranky, selfish thing, that puts the camera in a child's hand and doesn't see the joy of the art they are learning, but only the CRASH and SMASHED lens and broken pieces that I'm sure will come about when they run with the camera to their eye and trip over something.

 

But with the shoulder strap, I figure there's at least a little insurance.  Alright, maybe writing it down is weakening my case...they still run with it up to their eye...and they still could trip...but weirdly enough, they don't usually fall down, so the camera SHOULD only "fall" the length of the shoulder strap.  I'll just have to keep praying for their billy-goat-like reflexes.  But I digress.

 

So all of my kids had my camera at various points in this trip.  In Mississippi, we played in this terrific park overlooking the mighty river.  Bear got bored and I was chatting on the phone, so I handed her the camera.  So glad I did.

  

 



 

And the coup de grace?  The one that I looked at and was so happy that I'd buried my selfishness and felt safe to hand my 10 year old my camera with the quick, "don't forget the shoulder strap"...as she took off down the park along the Mississippi?

 

 

Sunset on the river?  Getouttahere!!  I love it.

 

I also dig that we got pictures through THEIR eyes.  I'm always the one behind the lens, and that's great for seeing MY point of view...the things I notice that I find beautiful, but I think we may be entering a new phase here, where we (you and I, dear reader) get to see a little more into their heads.  I've gotta tell you, I can't wait.

 

Also, it will be nice to be able to prove that I actually go places with them...here's hopin.

 

Until then, here is a picture of the native rocks from somewhere along our journey for your viewing pleasure...

 

 

See ya around...