Enjoying the Wildlife Expo Fair

On Friday, we went on a field trip to the Wildlife Expo Fair. We had gone last year with a good friend of mine and her boys, but she has moved. So, I recruited Hubster to go with me.

This Fair is all about trying to get people to enjoy the outdoors via wildlife way. They have so much to do for the kids and it's all free. My favorite word.

We were able to see some awesome birds up close.

Hubster did all the stuff with AB. They shot pellet guns, shotguns, they went fishing did archery.

Hubster even caught a fish. Right before this little fish was caught, a kid to the left of Hubster had just caught a big catfish. I guess the catfish scared all the other big fish away.

Let's take a closer look at the poor little fish.

UB didn't want to do any of the activities. He wasn't feeling good and wanted to eat oreo cookies and peanut bars instead of playing. But he was happy.

AB even did some kayaking. By this time, the lines were unbelievably long. Every school in the area wanted to enjoy this free event. AB made me stand in line for an hour just to do this thing. AB knew he had waited a long time so he went around the little pond 3 times.

The boys all had a great time. AB even did the javelin throw and the buffalo patty throw. They saw bats, snakes, frogs, butterflies, a 105 year old turtle and a baby alligator. They learned about so many different things. The poison control center was even surprised when AB was telling them about his scorpion bite. They couldn't believe that he didn't have an allergic reaction to it.

It was a long, fun, exciting and tiring day. I'm ready to go again next year.

Gas

Isn't it sad that we get excited over gas prices like this?

Wordless Wednesday

I love rock 'n roll

Somewhere in the last several weeks, AB heard a song. A song that he didn't know the name too, but was wanting to download.

A song that he only knew part of the tune to, and only the words, I love rock 'n roll.

I looked it up and realized that it was Joan Jett & The Blackhearts song.

AB was excited that I had found this song for him. But he kept correcting me when I said that the song said, "I love rock 'n roll, put another dime in the jukebox baby".

Him and UB know more than me so they told me it said, "I love rock 'n roll, put another diamond in the jukebox baby".

I had to have a referee, Hubster , to break up the argument between me and the lightweights.

Regardless of what the song said, they wanted it downloaded unto AB's mp3 player.

I finally found the song and proceeded to download it. Before I downloaded the song, AB was talking about how awesome a singer Joan Jett was and she had a good rock 'n roll song.

I told him that she was who Hubster and I listened to growing up. She was from the 80's along with other of our favorite rock 'n roll singers.

AB looks at me and says "Wow! That's awesome! Is she still alive?"

Another scorpion?

Remember when AB got stung by a scorpion not too long ago?

Well, it happened again. To him. And only him!

When Hubster is out of town, the boys like to camp out in my room. I've tried letting them sleep on my bed with me, but it just doesn't work out.

They hog up the bed, the blankets and the pillows. I don't sleep when Hubster's not here, so the couple of hours I do get to sleep, I want to be relaxing.

So they each get their own little pallets on the floor around the bed.

I had put the boys to sleep and I was reading under the covers using a flashlight. I heard a noise and started pointing the flashlight at the kids.

UB is in a deep sleep while AB is crying. He's holding his face saying that it hurts. I ask what happened, he says he doesn't know. I feel bad for the kid so I ask him if he wants to come sleep with me. Yes, he says.

He brings his pillow with him, but when he does, I see something crawling. I point the flashlight at it and it's a scorpion.

I yell for AB to turn the light on while I throw the pillow on the floor.

He runs for the light switch, I jump off the bed and run where the pillow fell. There is the little critter running around towards the bottom of the pillow. I grab a shoe and try to kill it, but it's not dying. I press the shoe on it to kill it, but by this time, AB tells me he wants to save it to show it to his dad.

I run to the kitchen to get something to put this in. A jar.

I get the jar and put the scorpion in it. But I guess I caught his front arms, whatever they are called, because it couldn't go down to the bottom of the jar. So I open the jar , let the scorpion out and somehow it goes back in on it's own.

Sucker.

Once the culprit is caught, I look at AB's face. He's complaining that it hurts and that his tongue is numb. I of course start panicking. I wasn't here when the first scorpion bit him so I didn't know what he felt back then. Of course, the other one stung the tip of his finger. This one stung his face.

I call Hubster, because he's going to be able to do much since he's in New Mexico. I call my mom, because she can do much for me too because she's in San Antonio.

I then look online and it says what to do. It tells us to go wash it with soap and water. Done.

It tells us to put an ice pack on. Done.

It tells us that if the numbing of the mouth persists, that I need to take him to the ER. What?

By this time, I am going crazy, but in a non-crazy kind of way.

I put UB on the bed with us. He has no clue what is going on. AB is trying to tell him that he got stung by a scorpion again and UB is just looking at us like we are bothering his sleep.

By the time AB and I are relaxed, we get in bed. But when I get in bed, I realize that I am not going to be able to sleep because I'll be worried about AB.

And also because the boys pillows had taken over the bed. It was pillow,me,pillow, UB, pillow, AB, pillow. I had a tiny, tiny space to sleep on.

I waited for AB to fall asleep, then I did. But then at 1:30 I awoke to a loud thud. AB had knocked down the nightstand by his side. I get up to pick it up. Both boys are still asleep.

I try to go back to sleep, only to have UB use me as his pillow. Then AB wakes up and says that UB wasn't letting him sleep.

Off I go to sleep on the couch. 2am is the time you make these crazy decisions. Especially if you are tired.

Of course, falling asleep on your own couch is just weird. I heard more noises, the dog barking and then of course the bright light coming from the thermostat. The sacrifices we parents make for our children. But that's the moment that I realized that I was sleeping alone on my bed the next night.

The next morning, both boys woke up bright and cheerful. I on the other hand, was not. I was hoping for a nap, but that didn't happen either.

I asked the boys if they were sleeping on their beds the next night. No, they said, we'll just sleep on the floor. But what about the scorpion, I asked. We are going to sleep on one big pallet, that way if it stings one of us, the other one will get stung as well.

If that isn't brotherly love, I don't know what is.

Here is a picture of the scorpions that stung AB. The curled up one is the first one that stung his finger. The other one stung his face.

Not to worry, he's fine. Ready for the next scorpion that crosses his path.

Wordless Wednesday

A field trip to the Dentist office?

Hubster has had a toothache for a week already. But you know, he won't listen to his wife. So as the pain got worse, he was seeking wisdom from his wife.

Of course, I'm not a very sympathetic wife when this happens. I try to be, it just doesn't happen.

My first response wanted to be, "I told you", but I knew that would accomplish nothing.

So I looked at him and for the hundreth time, or what seemed like it, said "call the dentist".

We have a friend who is a dental hygienist and she called him on Monday morning to tell him to go in at 8:15. Hubster calls me and says he forgot his insurance card and the checkbook, could I please take it to him.

The joy about Hom schooling is that you can switch your day around and it will still work out. A little more stressful, but still not a loss of a day.

"Yes, field trip" said the boys. They always look for opportunities to consider something a field trip and this was no exception. The thought never crossed my mind.

We arrive at the dentist office and we sit in the waiting room telling Bible stories to each other and I even try to throw some phonics in there. I can't totally waste this day.

Our friend sees us and tells us to go see Hubster. The boys get excited when they see the chair leaned back with their dad in it. Along with what looks like a big screen TV on the side of the chair showing blow up pictures of their dads teeth.

The look on the boys faces is one you'd see if they were looking in a Lego store. They thought this was the coolest thing.

The Dr. was explaining all about the x-ray. Talking out loud and the boys were taking it all in. He then leaned Hubster's chair all the way back to look in the mouth. Both boys were wanting to see as well.

When we were leaving, the boys told me that this was a great field trip. This was science mom. Hmmm, didn't think of that either. UB even said that he wanted to be a dentist when he grew up.

We did go to the library to pick out some reading books and then it was back home to start lunch.

The boys were still talking about the Dentist office field trip and UB even made a Lego dentist office, complete with a man leaning back in a chair. He broke it before I could take a picture.

I hear people complain that we 'homeschooling people' have it easy because in public schools if they miss so many days, they can be called in the the authorities, but we 'homeschooling people' can miss a day and no one will know.

What these people don't know is that we 'homeschooling people' always try to incorporate what we are doing to learning. We go later on in the day if we have to, just to finish our work. We even make up our days on a Saturday if we have to.

There are lots of challenges to homeschooling, but when you can make a trip to the dentist office to drop off an insurance card into a learning experience, then it's all worth it.

Trying to carry on

We've been trying to get in the groove again of school. While some days its easy, other days, and what seems like most days, it's hard.

You see, AB is a strong-willed child. Maybe not as bad as a full blown strong-willed child, but he sure seems like it. Maybe it's just because he's a first born. Who knows.

He is 7 going on 21. He argues because he knows more than the teacher. He believes he is right all the time. While most of the time I just ignore it, this past week was not one of those times.

Constant arguing over silly things like brand of shoes. When the neighbor boy gets out of school. And then I would catch myselt in the middle of these petty little arguments until I would say "because I'm the mom, that's why I know more".

It also didn't help AB when UB would hear me make this comment and then he would tell him "just listen to mom, show knows this, she's the mom". AB would just look at UB and say "be quiet, I wasn't talking to you". The fight would break out and then the next thing you know, they were playing and laughing together.

As parents, we try to teach them to follow God's ways. The Bible is our handbook and we "train up a child in the way he should go".

The boys use my kitchen sink to wash their grubby little hands in. I find mud all over my sink and dirt all over my floor. One day, the faucet was left running. I looked at UB and told him that from now on, he needed to use his own sink in their bathroom. He looked at me and said "ok mom".

A couple of minutes later, AB walks up to me and says, "Mom, it wasn't UB that left it on, it was me. I'll start using my sink too."

I looked at this child and wondered who he was and what had he done to my son. But then it made me proud to know even though he argues with me, he still listens to the wisdom of his mother. At least I'll leave it at that, because I'm the mom!

Just kidding, I know he's listening to all those Bible stories from his reader and during devotion times. It just helps to see it as well.

When they are beating each other up and fighting over a toy that one had first but belongs to the other, I do wonder when they are going to learn. But then I go places and I hear nice things about them.

For example, I went to get my hair cut the other day. From previous experiences, the boys tend to get a little rowdy sometimes at the hair place. But I've learned that threatening them helps.

I'm kidding there. We walk into the place and one of the other ladies mentions that here come some well-behaved boys. I have to look around and wonder who she's talking about because surely, she can't be talking about my boys. My boys who were already in trouble by 10 am for throwing things at each other. My boys who were filling the sink with water to see if batman could float.

So I sit there and she asks how I get the boys to behave so well. She continues to say that they are very well-behaved.

As I sit there and try to think of some mommyxplanation, I look at her and say, "They are just great kids" Then I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to teach them and I ask for the wisdom to continue on.

Where oh where are all the Chuck Taylor's?

It came to my attention that AB needed some new clothes. I just didn't realize how desperately bad he needed clothes. I also didn't realize that he went through the summer with only five pairs of shorts and one of them is too small on him.

Of course, I hadn't realized how much he's grown until I measured him last week and found that while he had only grown 1 inch in 4 months, he has made up for it by growing 1/2 inch in one month. Just last month.

He is now at the ripe old age of 7, 55 1/2 inches tall.

So off we went on Saturday to not only look for some winter clothes, but some shoes as well. His feet grow as fast as he does. Maybe even faster.

He had a particular shoe in mind. Converse All-Stars Chuck Taylor's, in red, and nothing else would do.

We went to the mall in the town closest to us. I thought, "How hard could it be to find red converse hi-tops when the majority of this little town owns some. I'm sure to find them quick because if those other kids have some, then obviously there are plenty around.?

WRONG!!!!!!!

We went to store after store after store looking for this one particular shoe. We found lots of Converse hi-tops, but none that matched the description.

UB found him some. He also wanted some with red, but he wasn't as picky. As long as the shoe had red on it, he was ok.

But AB was another story. We went to Sears, I like Sears because of the Kidvantage program, and found some clothes for AB. Success, but why couldn't finding shoes be the same way?

After walking through that little mall twice, we decided to stop and fill ourselves with sugar. After cookies, for them, and a cinnamon sugar pretzel, for me, off we went again to find the shoe that was hiding from us.

After a while, with Hubster getting impatient with my impatience over the fact that I couldn't understand why AB couldn't just pick a shoe, any shoe, we left the mall. Without shoes for AB, but UB was happy.

The problem we are coming across is that because AB is big for his age, he is at that stage where the kids sizes are too small and the adult sizes are too big.

Poor AB, I guess he'll just have to look at the shoes on the Internet and just dream of one day owning a pair of Converse All-Stars Chuck Taylor's in red.

I'm going au naturale..............

my hair that is.

I have decided to let my hair show it's gracefulness and wisdom. I'm letting my hair grow out to it's natural gray and whatever color is still left in my roots.

I mean, I used to have brown hair, but as I got older and the gray started coming out, it got darker. But for years I have colored it brown and have to go every three weeks to 'touch up' the roots.

I'm tired of being a slave to my hair.

Hubster has always been encouraging me to let my hair grow naturally. No, I would say, I'm only 35 or 36 or 37.

But now that I'm 39. Yikes! I've decided to go for it.

It's actually funny to watch people's reactions when I tell them that I'm going gray.

It's even funnier to watch their face as they are talking to you. It's sort of like when you have a big booger or pimple on your face and the person talking to you doesn't want to tell you, but keeps staring at it.

Well, that's how it is. When people talk to me, their eyes casually drift up to my hair. I guess my new grays are excited that they get to go out into town and they are having a party. These people will then quickly look back at my face, but then later, their eyes drift up again to the party on my head.

I think it's sad that society thinks that you can't have gray hair unless you are 80 something. If you have gray hair you are automatically classified as an old person and they start making nursing home arrangements.

I know that in a small town like I live in, there are not very many 'young' people with gray hair. If you are a man, you look distinguished. What about when you are a lady?

I will post pictures later as I let my hair grow out. I'm actually excited to do this. I know that it will take some time before it all comes out, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy the party that my hairs are throwing.

A portrait of me

I found this drawing tht AB made. I think this is how I look to AB when I'm getting on to him. Either that or I'm singing him a song.