Happy Belated 4th of July!

For the 4th of July every year we usually end up going to Park Rapids to watch the fireworks. It's about a 45 minute drive but well worth it if you live in a huge tourist trap during the summer and particularly on 4th of July. Detroit Lakes was rated #7 of Playboy magazine's Top 10 Best Places to celebrate the 4th of July. Just where you wanna be then right?

There was a parade at 3:00 so we went to that and it wasn't too bad. We were close to the end so most of the floats were out of candy. The girls didn't get too much but that was fine by me. Emeric ate tootsie rolls most of the time and enjoyed most of the parade except for the fire trucks. He didn't like the noise and shook when they blew their loud horns!

After the parade we went out for pizza with some friends and then over to the rodeo. We haven't been to a rodeo in years and the kids never have. Kylie enjoyed it I think but kept asking why we went to the "radio" instead of swimming. Of course my camera needed batteries AS USUAL(You'd think I'd learn one of these times!) so I didn't get any pictures. We ended up running into my aunt and uncle which was fun, we haven't seen them in a long time.

After the rodeo it took us forever to get out because there was so much traffic and cars were creeping up as close as possible to try to get in. My friend Erika was behind us and I could see this guy trying to get in between us and her so I called her on her cell phone and told her "DON'T LET HIM IN!" LOL I'm mean that way. It was a fruitless effort because Erika insisted that her tires were spinning in the grass and the guy snuck in front of her anyway! ;)

The fireworks were good and Kaydence exclaimed with each and every one, "Ohhhh that one was beautiful!" or "Ohhhh I like that one!". She was quite the commentator!

We ended up home about midnight and the kids thankfully stayed asleep.

One of these days soon enough I have some pictures from a while back that I'll post of the kids. Not tonight though, I'm too tired!

It's been very hot here lately and with the lack of air conditioning in the house AND the van the only thing to do is to go to the lake! We went yesterday and the kids always have a lot of fun playing in the sand and Kaydence mostly likes sitting on shore and eating the snacks I've brought. LOL

We went to Itasca State Park last week and went biking. The kids had a ton of fun. I brought my camera and of course after just three pictures it said, "Change Batteries". UGH. It never fails! So I didn't really get any great pictures but at least a couple!





The kids have been doing well. I can't believe it's already July which means school starts in 2 months and Kylie will be in kindergarten!!! Her and I are going to go to Fargo one day and get what we need in terms of school stuff. I have most of her curriculum but we need to get some math manipulatives and other stuff. She's excited!

Emeric will be starting "school" this winter too. He's actually going to public school! ;) They recommended putting him in a class with other kids who also have delays. It's 1x a week I think for just a couple hours but I think it will be really good for him. So of course I never get out of running around and I'm sure I won't until the kids are gone. They'll start gymnastics again this fall if they want to and Kylie *might* start taking piano lessons. She'd like to learn. I think she's a bit young but I might try to teach her what I can. We'll see.

It's been really nice here lately so we've been staying outside as much as we can! Sunday we went to Itasca State Park and rented bikes. Kylie brought and rode her own bide so she was pretty excited. Emeric and Kaydence rode in the bike trailer and ate snacks the whole time! Then we took the kids over the rocks at the headwaters. Monday and Tuesday we went to the beach. The kids are willing to get into the water a lot more this year so it's a bit more fun. Today it looks like it might rain but I've got a lot of stuff to finish pricing for our garage sale so it's probably a good idea to stay in anyway.

Emeric has an appt. with the neurologist tomorrow and I'm guessing she'll increase his meds because he's still having seizures everyday. She's also mentioned a skin biopsy so I'll see where she's at with that.

Don't worry, this won't turn into a homeschooling blog. I'm just researching a lot to try to prepare for the fall and I came across this article. No opinions from me, just thought I'd post it and you can draw your own conclusions! :)


SONNY SCOTT:Home-schoolers threaten our cultural comfort

6/8/2008 9:39:01 AM
Daily Journal


You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.

It's a big family by today’s standards - "just like stair steps," as the old
folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls with braids,
in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her
no-frills shopping list.

There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom. The
older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task.

You are looking at some of the estimated 2 million children being home schooled
in the U.S. , and the number is growing. Their reputation for academic
achievement has caused colleges to begin aggressively recruiting them. Savings
to the taxpayers in instructional costs are conservatively estimated at $4
billion, and some place the figure as high as $9 billion. When you consider that
these families pay taxes to support public schools, but demand nothing from
them, it seems quite a deal for the public.

Home schooling parents are usually better educated than the norm, and are more
likely to attend worship services. Their motives are many and varied. Some fear
contagion from the anti-clericalism, coarse speech, suggestive behavior and
hedonistic values that characterize secular schools. Others are concerned for
their children’s safety. Some want their children to be challenged beyond the
minimal competencies of the public schools. Concern for a theistic world view
largely permeates the movement.

Indications are that home schooling is working well for the kids, and the
parents are pleased with their choice, but the practice is coming under
increasing suspicion, and even official attack, as in California .

Why do we hate (or at least distrust) these people so much?

Methinks American middle-class people are uncomfortable around the home schooled
for the same reason the alcoholic is uneasy around the teetotaler.

Their very existence represents a rejection of our values, and an indictment of
our lifestyles. Those families are willing to render unto Caesar the things that
Caesar’s be, but they draw the line at their children. Those of us who have put
our trust in the secular state (and effectively surrendered our children to it)
recognize this act of defiance as a rejection of our values, and we reject them
in return.

Just as the jealous Chaldeans schemed to bring the wrath of the king upon the
Hebrew eunuchs, we are happy to sic the state’s bureaucrats on these “trouble
makers.” Their implicit rejection of America ’s most venerated idol,
Materialism, (a.k.a. “Individualism”) spurs us to heat the furnace and feed the
lions.

Young families must make the decision: Will junior go to day care and day
school, or will mom stay home and raise him? The rationalizations begin. "A
family just can't make it on one income." (Our parents did.) "It just costs so
much to raise a child nowadays." (Yeah, if you buy brand-name clothing,
pre-prepared food, join every club and activity, and spend half the cost of a
house on the daughter’s wedding, it does.) And so, the decision is made. We give
up the bulk of our waking hours with our children, as well as the formation of
their minds, philosophies, and attitudes, to strangers. We compensate by getting
a boat to take them to the river, a van to carry them to Little League, a
2,800-square-foot house, an ATV, a zero-turn Cub Cadet, and a fund to finance a
brand-name college education. And most significantly, we claim “our right” to
pursue a career for our own
"self-fulfillment."

Deep down, however, we know that our generation has eaten its seed corn. We lack
the discipline and the vision to deny ourselves in the hope of something
enduring and worthy for our posterity. We are tired from working extra jobs, and
the looming depression threatens our 401k’s. Credit cards are nearly maxed, and
it costs a $100 to fuel the Suburban. Now the kid is raising hell again,
demanding the latest Play Station as his price for doing his school work … and
there goes that modest young woman in the home-made dress with her four
bright-eyed, well-behaved home-schooled children in tow. Wouldn’t you just love
to wipe that serene look right off her smug face?

Is it any wonder we hate her so?

Sonny Scott a community columnist, lives on Sparta Road in Chickasaw County

Homeschooling Food for Thought

I was reading through the syllabus from the homeschooling curriculum I purchased and they had a lot of good things to think about in there so I thought I'd share! :)

"Parents who are eager for their children to display their mental talents should remember that a child is more than just an intellect. A brilliant intellect is useless without a focused will and is dangerous without a loving heart."

That is the basic premise behind this curriculum. Also they encourage you to present the material in a natural, informal manner so the child doesn't make a distinction between "school" and "life". They believe the child should gradually develop the attitude that expanding their knowledge and capabilities is just a part of the process of life and what IS life.

I REALLY agree with this.

They also strongly encourage creative play and suggest having very basic toys like blocks, simple dolls, etc. because with toys like these the possibilities for stretching their imaginations are endless! Their example is that if you have a rectangular wodden block it can become a table, a car, a boat, a house, or many other things that the child creates with their imagination but if you give them a Galactic Star Cruiser complete with booster rockets, missile launchers and landing gear it can never become a car, a boat or a house because the form is too obviously a Galactic Star Cruiser and only that.

Doesn't that make so much sense? It's true that among all the toys my kids have their always find the simplest things to play with and stretch their imaginations so far! Recently they were using tubes of chapstick that were "people" and that a complete dialogue going on with these simple tubes!

I haven't picked up the teachers guides yet but I'm sure they'll be just as informative and eye opening. I am very nervous but excited because I feel like we have this awesome opportunity that she wouldn't have going to public school. I love knowing that she can learn at her own pace and that the desire to learn will always remain when kids are left with that inner desire. She learned to talk, to walk and to write her name. I didn't really teach her any of these things I just guided her along so I don't see why it will be any different next year!

Happy 5th Birthday Kylie!!

This weather is so depressing. It has been overcast for two weeks! The kids are itching to get outside and I'm itching to kick them out! We did get out for a couple hours tonight and went for a walk and I was able to get my garden weeded. Everything is coming in and Kylie got a hoe for her birthday so she helped yesterday. Kaydence helped by repeatedly stepping on the corn. :)

Kylie had her birthday party on Sunday and had fun. It was nice for a change and Jake's parents have a blow up waterslide that we set up and the kids had a lot of fun on that! We got Kylie a new, bigger bike. I told her she now has to learn to ride without training wheels! I was 8 before I learned. Ha ha.

Jake also made a trip to the Emergency Room with Kaydence on Sunday morning. She woke up saying her head hurt and I looked and there was a deer tick embedded in the skin. We tried to pull it out and only a small piece came off. It was red and a bit swollen and so we called the doctor who said to bring her in and they'd numb it and remove it. They said if we left it that the skin would grow over it and it would get infected. So... Jake drags her in and they tell him "The studies show that it's more harmful to try to remove it than to just leave it. " WHAT? Were these studies released in the 20 minutes it took from the time I talked to the doctor until he got to the ER and they gave him completely opposite advice? UGH.

So, they left the stupid tick in there. It still hasn't come out but thankfully doesn't look infected either. I don't know why we waste the time and money to go to the ER. I should just buy some lidocaine and do it myself! :D