Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas Card video with captioning:

Without Captioning:

Dictation

So, I started a new curriculum that teaches the kids to write what I read.  The dictation sentences are only 1 or 2 sentences.  Sam actually enjoys it, but her sentences are shorter.  Zach could not get it.  I will admit the sentence he had to remember was long and cumbersome with old English vocabulary.  He just couldn't get it after 40 minutes of trying to repeat what I said.  I finally asked him why he could recite Bible verse, but not this.  He said to me "I could read those!  If I can see it I can remember it."  Now, the point of the lesson was for him NOT to read it, but to write what he hears.  However, I was curious about something and decided to showed him the sentence.  He read through it once and wrote the whole thing without a single hiccup!  To be honest, I'm not sure what to do about this.  Maybe, I will have to start him off on the same sentences that Sam is on.  I do think this is a skill that they both need to master.  I guess I will find out tomorrow how he does with Sam's curriculum.

Zach's baptism

Of all the responsibilities I have as a parent, their spiritual development is the most important.  Deut. 11:19 - "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
So getting to see the pay off of my child accepting Christ and then pledging his life to Jesus through the outward expression of Baptism, is the highlight of my life!  It's like an addiction, I can't wait to do it again with Samantha!  Watching, teaching, listening as we discover the Lord together was, at times, a struggle.  But now, Zach is the one instigating Bible study.  He hungers for the Word and reminds me to be more diligent.  I couldn't be prouder.

Zachariah Daniel Baierl Baptized: August 22, 2010

Kids at camp.

We dropped off both kids this year at Sky Lodge Christian Camp.  Whao, that was a little scary.  Zach was excited to show off his knowledge to Sam as soon as we got there.  It was hard keeping them by us while we checked in!  I can't believe how fast they are growing up.  There were no tears as we left.  Just a quick hug and some words of wisdom.  Then, they were off playing with friends again.
When we came to pick them up a week later, they were talking over each other to tell us all about their adventures.  I love this place and thankfully to do the kids.  I was told several kids came to Christ while at camp, woot!  Sam told me she swam almost everyday.  I guess she missed one day.  No shock there for my little fish.  Unfortunately, the kids didn't get any pictures while they were there.  The Canteen that normally sells them was sold out I guess.  But they absolutely loved it and we are already starting to save for next year which will be Zach's last year to be able to go.

12 year Aniversary & Matt's birthday

After we dropped the kids off at Sky Lodge Christian Camp, Matt and I had a whole week to ourselves.  We spent the first part of the week doing, well, not much of anything.  I got ready for the new school year, whoo hoo.  But we did take time out for us.  We went to Chicago and spent a lazy, pamper ourselves time at the Amalfi Hotel.  It was so relaxing.  Here is our view from our hotel window.

The room was average size.  Nothing really that special.  But here it is anyway.

I think our favorite place in the hotel was the fitness room.  I miss it already.  We only spent one night at this place. so there wasn't much we could do in our limited time.  But the hotel had free evening cocktails, so we tried that.  The lounge area was kinda small for the number of people that were in there so we left after one drink and went across the street to Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse.

Which we also could see from our room window.  It was pricey, but good.  Then again everything, in my opinion, was a little pricey.  But price aside, we enjoyed ourselves and that was the whole point of the vacation.  Of course the next day we checked out and the then tooled around down town Chicago, but after awhile we got frustrated with the traffic and headed home.  Turns out President Obama was in town and Transformers 3 was being filmed so there were several streets that were blocked off and that made traffic a nightmare.
Matt loved the busy city and handled the traffic brilliantly, I just felt claustrophobic.  Thankfully the good Lord gave me this man as my husband who, is a calm get through busy streets while taxi's pass you in the parking lane, kind of driver.  Which makes me, a normally stressed out driver, able to sit back, enjoy the view, and make the occasional comment about crazy taxi drivers.

plantar fasciitis - Heel pain

Been struggling with this for longer than I should have.  Finally went to the podiatrist, Dr Finnell, who is a great guy.  Told me all the steps we will be taking to heal my left foot and prevent this from happening in the future.  Mostly, I'm writing all this so if I find myself in the same predicament I can reference all the info here.  Cause we all know how info gets retained in this Swiss cheese brain of mine.
Anyway, first things first, what is plantar fasciitis.
That would be this:

 Sucky right?!  For me this has been caused by a lot of standing/walking/running etc. on bad arches.  By the time I got arch supports the damage was already done and every time I would stand/exercise I would re-injure it.  The fibrous bands could get inflamed and the vicious cycle would start all over again.  So what did I do about it?  For the longest time, NOTHING.  That is right I stopped walking my dog, I didn't exercise, I didn't go for walks with my kids.  Result: I gained weight and it got worse.
Hopefully, I'm on the road to recovery.  Here is the plan and if all goes right, my pain will subside and I will loss the weight to boot.
First, doc taped up my foot and I have to keep it that way for a few days.  Then I can take it off and start some specific feet exercises which I'm going to list here so I can reference them for future use.

 There we go folks.  I gotta do these several times a day now.
PS:  Bare-foot treading is bad, very bad!

Cashier compliment

The kids and I went on an errand run the other day to Walmart.  I was there for necessities, the kids had their own money they wanted to spend.  Zach had been collecting coins from on the street for months.  He said the fair was like a gold mined!  Yeah I know, I'm a terrible mother who lets her child pick up coins from the ground.  But this kid picked up $7.10!  How can I deny him his resourcefulness?! 
Anyway, at the check out-line Sam decides to get a treat for her best-friend Lily because she has enough money.  however, she forgot about tax.  Zach had already finished his purchase and when he heard that Sam was short.  He, without hesitation, got out money for her even though I was ready to pay the difference.  He tells me, no that he will get it.  So I let it go, and then it's my turn.  The cashier asks, "by chance, do you homeschool?"  I said, "Yes, why? Cause they are handling money?"  She said, "No.  It's the way they treat each other with such love and respect.  I just notice that homeschooled kids are more like that."  Wow, what a pleasant compliment! 
I am pretty blessed to have two kids that really get along together so well, being of opposite gender and 2+ age gap.  Zach just last week got really hurt when Sam told him she would rather clean her room with Lily than play a game with him.  He asked if Lily could go home so he and Sam could have some time together.  We have a rule now that Lily can't come over on Sundays anymore because that is family day.  Thanks Zach for reminding us the importance of quality time.

Little Amerricka trip/review

The kids and I went with Joe and Rhonda Scarpelli and Rhonda's grandchildren to Little Amerricka in Marshall Wisconsin. It's a strange little place out in the middle of no where.  Seriously, There is a cemetery on one side of it, what looks like a junkyard on than other, and a stinky farm across the street that made the whole place reek most of the day.  At least while we were down wind from it.  Either we got used to the smell or the wind shifted because by the end of the day it wasn't as bad.  This place is about the size of your local county fair with similar ride and cost is about the same; $36.64 with tax for the "blue ride pass" for both of my kids.  The train was broken down while we were there too, which was a small disappointment to our younger companion (Rhonda's granddaughter, Broklyn (sp?)) who didn't like the bigger faster rides.  Not that there is a whole lot of big rides there.  At least not from my perspective.  That was just fine for Zach who hates big roller coasters.  We went to Great America once and (luckily his ticket was free) found out he was not to keen on the big rides.

Despite the unpleasant odor, we had a great time. 

 Because the roller coasters were smaller and no loopty-loops, Zach actually enjoyed them.  It took awhile to convince him to ride the biggest of the roller coasters, but once he finally did you couldn't get him off.

Sam on the other hand was the first one, along with Faith (Rhonda's other granddaughter) to try it out and they loved it too.

Sam in our adventurer.  She loves action, and trying new things.  Safety first? Pfft.  This "Meteor" roller coaster was nothing compared to the rides she was on at Six Flags Great America that we went to 2 years ago.  In fact, she was annoyed she couldn't go on the bigger rides there because she wasn't tall enough for most.  Can't wait to be able to take her maybe next year when she will be taller and older.  She is going to have a blast.  Zach said, now that he is older, he thinks he will enjoy the bigger roller coasters.  So next school year I plan to have the kids do the reading program to get their free tickets.  Hopefully, we can give Great America another shot.
We ended our Little Amerricka trip with the bumper boats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2kmaq2iGzY

Your word is your promise

Matt told me the best story this morning.  He was putting the kids to bed with their nightly bed-time story.  But he was tired and only read half the chapter.  Zach promptly reminds him that he said he would read one chapter a night.  Matt says, "well that was more of a guideline."  Sam, pipes up and says with a smile "your word is your promise." and then uses her index finger to bop him on the nose a few times as a gentle reminder.  Who knew they were paying attention!

Memorial Weekend Camping at Lake Emily

What a wonderful Memorial weekend we had at Lake Emily.  The weather was beautiful for the most part.  We got a doozy of Thunderstorm on late Sunday night through early Monday morning.  The kids had their own tent and slept thought the whole thing without a hiccup.  Everyone else had some water in their tents but nothing serious.  Matt and I on the other hand, had to throw our tent in the dumpster because it didn't survive the storm.  Matt slept in the van and I slept on my cot in our partially collapsed, water drenched tent.  Note to self:  BUY A QUALITY TENT!  That of course means spending money.  And most of you know how much I hate doing that.  Matt and I still got enough sleep and didn't effect us negatively.  Really glad Zach and Sam's tent (which was cheap) kept them dry.  Thankfully, the storm happened on our last night and not the first.  Otherwise we would have had to run out and buy a tent.

We had a man come to our site with an owl and talk to the kids about her.  She was in a car accident at one time and is missing an eye so she no longer can live in the wild.  Apparently crows hate owls and we had one show up and voice his protest the entire time the owl was at our site.

Because of the hot weather, the ice cream man showed up and Matt's brother, John bought all the kids a treat.  It was also John's birthday on Monday but we celebrated it on Sunday night with an ice-cream cake, yum :).

Matt also came up with a fun little project for the kids on Memorial Day.  Bird seeds, glue and paper plate to make their own pictures to honor those who died for our country.

 The one thing that was the highlight of every day while we were there was of course the beach!  Sam relentlessly asked to go. 

Zach and I got sun burned so after the first day I stuck to the shade.  Zach still played on the beach and enjoyed the cool water a bit.  He sure doesn't whine anymore about putting on sun block.  Lesson learned...painfully.  Sam is blessed with the Baierl olive skin that takes more to burn.  We all used the same sun block but she has this golden tan while Zach and I yelp when touched.  I'm so jealous.

Another on of the kids favorite activities was to whittling.

And then they used those stick to roast marshmallows.
All and all it was a great camping experience filled with memories to cherish.

Sam's recital

Sam had her "Ice Princess" performance today.

Well until I can add this video to my blog here is the link for now of Sam skating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2gOifQ2Jc

Quest Show Case night.

Tonight the kids got a chance to show off what they had learned in several of their classes.  We were so happy that Kiki, John, Jenny and the boys were able to join us.
Here is Sam doing the Pledge of Allegiance for Beginning Sign Language Class.

After that, the Advanced ASL class did a conversation.  Deb Perrino and I did the 'signed' conversation and Zach voice interpreted.  It went pretty well.  I wasn't able to get any photos or video because, well, I was preforming and so was Zach.

Then Sam went on to sing to us with the young childrens' choir.

Zach got up with his science class and they did an experiment.  I honestly don't know what the experiment was about.  I was too busy with Sam and trying to get a decent photo of Zach.

It was a good night unless you had to use the men's bathroom.  Then you were in a pickle.  Someone decided to put a full roll of toilet paper in each toilet.  We don't know who it was or if it even was someone from our group.  luckily there was a bathroom down stairs after we got the doors unlocked.

Sam's new name sign

We were discussing "name signs" in ASL class today with our homeschool group. Sam asked what her's was and didn't like that we just fingerspelled S-A-M. Too boring for her taste ;). So here she is to ask if she can change it. Basically it's the sign for princess with a "S". Let us know what you think.  Personally, I love the way she is so forceful when she says "want" and then at the end has the sweetest little smile.

 

Easter in Wausau

We left on Thursday 4/8/2010 and stayed til Sunday.  I didn't have a back-up interpreter this time, but Lesetta insisted that I go anyway.  She knows my grandfather is dying from colon cancer and that this will probably be the last time I will see him before his funeral.  It was great to finally get to see him.  Last time I was in Wausau, he wouldn't let me and the kids come visit.  He had just had a procedure done and was in a great deal of pain and diarrhea issues.  This time he was on morphine and we actually didn't call and ask to be invited.  We just showed up.  I knew my Aunt Mary was going to be there from California, so it gave us an excuse that he couldn't refuse.  He never did refuse our visit thankfully and was actually a joy to be around.  His spirits were high and liked watching the kids play with his dogs.

Last time I spoke with my mom she said they upped his morphine because the infection in his foot has gotten worse from his diabetes.  They of course can't operate because his heart is so bad.  Now Grandpa Prahl is having difficulty remembering when or if he has takes his meds.  Sometimes I'm sad that it won't be long now.  Then other times I just don't want him to suffer anymore.  My mom and her siblings are over at his place a lot to help out.  I know this has got to be really hard on my mom since she watched and cared for my grandma Prahl in much the same way.  It pains me not to be there.  More so for my mom than for my grandfather I hate to say.  I was never really close with my grandpa Prahl, but I am glad we got a chance to see him before he goes.
Well, on to less depressing stuff.  We did actually have a fun time in Wausau.  Got lots of Sydney snuggles and smiles.  Which alone is totally worth the 3 hour drive up there.

My Aunt Rhonda hosted the Easter gathering at her house.  Complete with Easter egg hunt and enough food to feed an army.  There was barely any food left when we were all done.

I finally got to meet Madison, my unofficial cousin Jamie's new baby.  That child constantly has her tongue out.  She is, I think, 3 or 4 months younger than Sydney but is almost the same size as Sydney is now.

Before we knew it it was time to head on home with our loot of candy.

Zach has Pneumonia

Poor Zach has been suffering with a fever and a bad cough for 5 days.  For a while it looked like his fever was going down and his behavior was more energetic.  But, then it went back up.  So, I finally took him in.   We recently switched insurance providers so we had to go to a new doctor and a new clinic in a different town.  They were great.  There is something about a small town clinic that is the best.  We didn't sit and wait hardly at all and got the strep test and x-ray results back right away.  Zach got to see his x-ray.  And for the science nerd he is, that was awesome.  Even if it did show his left lung pretty full.  Luckily the strep test was negative but his blood oxygen level was 93.  Nurse told me it should be around 99.  They did a great job stressing to Zach how serious this illness is and how important it is for him to taking his medications.  He got a shot of Rocephin in the butt and needs to have another shot tomorrow.  The shot made him really nauseous.  I have never seen him so green!  After getting home, having lunch, and taking the 3 different medications prescribed, he's resting now on the fold out couch because he says it's more comfortable.  We are praying for the Lord to heal him quickly.

Update: 4/7/2010
Zach is a better now and just got back from his finally chest x-ray.  The x-ray shows that he does have a little scaring in his left lung.  The doctor is confident it will heal over time.  But that means we get to go to Wausau for Easter!!  Yes we are celebrating Easter a week late in Wausau.

Shadow Across the Desert

Our church had the drama team came and put on a production called Shadow Across the Desert.  A Tale of the Modern Middle East.  Oh wow, it was so well done.  One actress even produced real tears!  The story was wonderful, scary, sad and joyous!  I am so honored to have been able to interpret it.  I was a last minute request from one of our deaf parishioners.  Zach was sick so he and Matt stayed home while Sam and I went.  I was given a transcript which was so helpful but I was not given the songs they sang and I wasn't always able to catch what they were saying/singing.  Frustrates me soo much when I can't make out what is being said. Lesetta and Jessica were very gracious for some of the screw-ups I made.  Oh and the best part was towards the end.  Sam must have gotten bored because she decided to start copying my signs.  At least as much as she could.  I had a hard time not laughing.  It doesn't look good when the interpreter is giggling while the pastor is talking about the persecution of Christian in the Middle East.  I made it through by not looking at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing section and instead stared at the  either Lesetta (she was more off to the side) or the back wall!  Lesetta and Jessica noticed and were laughing; totally enjoying the entertainment in the first row!

Saint Patrick's Day 2010

Happy Saint Patrick's Day all!  On Monday we were blessed to have our Irish dance class at homeschool Quest classes put on few dances for us and then someone did a report on who Saint Patrick was and what he did to spread the gospel of Christ. 

We started our day today with green pancakes.  I attempted to make them in the shape of 3 leaf clovers and crosses.

They didn't turn out all that clear on what the shapes were, but the kids loved them.
Oh yeah,  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!!!

Man of the house

Last night, after we were ready for bed and about to settle in for story time, Zach heard a noise downstairs.  Matt was still at work and we knew he wouldn't be home for a least a half hour.  I was about to get up and check it out to ease Zach's mind (I knew what the sound was...the computer shutting down.)  Zach says "No Mom, I'll check it out...I'm the man of the house when Dad's not here."  So, he went downstairs to "protect" his family.  Such a brave little man!

Sam got 3rd place...sorta.

Sam bursted into the warming room today at the ice arena to show me her 3rd place medal!  Apparently, they had competitions to see who could hold up one foot and skate on the other the longest.  I was so proud of her; 3rd place out of 6 kids.  Then she tells me that another girl got 3rd place too.  I was confused.  So I probed Sam and asked if they had tied or something.  No, not at all.  Sam in fact did have more "points" than the other person.  I later found out that there were two 2nd place people too.  That is when it hit me.  EVERYONE GETS A PRIZE!  Heaven forbid there are any losers.  In reality Sam got 5th place, but instead they choose to lie to my daughter.  How is this a good thing?  Sam normally loves ice skating, but recently she has been slacking off.  I asked her if she would not have gotten a medal would she practice more and try harder the next time to maybe achieve a medal; she said yes.  This is the problem with our society.  Our kids are not allowed to experience failure and thus not preparing them for the real world that will be racked with times when they fail!  They will not and are not prepared for how to deal with failing.  A quote from the villain in The Incredibles  sums it up perfectly; "*Everyone* can be super! And when everyone's super--[chuckles evilly] --no one will be."
If you want a good glimpse at the damage this kind of upbringing causes, just watch the auditions to American Idol.  The singers who are outed are flabbergasted.  And yet most leave there making statements on how they will keep trying.  All because someone told them they were not good enough.  They will be forced to either try harder or seek out a different path.  Now at least they know where they stand.  My daughter was cheated of this.  And it puts me in a difficult position.  Do I just go along with the lie or do I get to be the bad guy who tells her she really was in 5th place and her teachers lied to her.  I choose honesty.  No, I don't just tell her she was really in 5th place and make her feel like a looser.  I simply asked her questions and she figured it out.  I know many would argue that it was a trifling matter and I should have just let it go.  I still doubt myself if it was the right choice.   It's my job to prepare my kids for the future.  To ready them for the real world with all it's ups and downs.  So when they lose; they lose graciously and when they succeed they can reap the rewards of their hard work.  Just wish I had coaches to back me up in this.

Home school groups Valentine's Day party and a funny update.

We went to the annual home school group Valentine's Day party last Thursday.

Sam is with her friend Nina here.

There was treats and even healthy food.  Lots of games and Valentine Box contest!

Zach is pictured here with his "Outer Space" themed box.

Sam's is the "USS Sam Baierl" - The love boat.

We didn't win any of the contests.  But oh well, we had a great time.  Here are some of the awesome creations.  There were some doozies!

 

Leave it to home schoolers to make over the top Valentine's Day boxes!

Zach and Sam are already planning for next year to make theirs bigger and better!  I'm sure it will involve some paper mache and a destroyed kitchen!

Now on to my update.  I had written about my children's learning styles a month or so ago.  Well, I made the mistake of telling my kids their learning styles.  They both agreed that my assessment was correct.  Sam likes to be around people to learn and Zach likes to be alone to learn.  Now they use this information against each other.  Last week I hear Zach yelling at Sam to be quiet or leave so he can do his spellng. Sam pipes up and says, "Zach, you know I need to be around people to learn."  Which Zach replies, "Yeah, and I need to be alone to learn!" *Insert eye roll here from me*.  Lord, give me strength.

Lego Land

We recently found out that there is a Lego Land in Illinois close to chicago.  Not a bad drive for us about an hour and a half.  They actually have special discount days for homeschoolers!  So we scheduled it and met our friends there.

Besides the awesomeness that is Lego Land, they had a workshop that had the kids in teams to build sturdy "sky scrapers."

It stood during the earth quake test!

The rest of the day was dedicated to play and which they did take advantage of!

Savings as income?!

So, we are thinking of buying a $3,000 plasma tv.  I really want it.  I think we deserve it.  I see other people have them why not us?  So, we increased our budget.  True, we haven't incresed our income, but no matter we have credit cards.  Oh and you haven't heard the best part, the tv is on sale from $4,000!  So, as I see it we will be saving $1,000!  We have to get it now before the sale runs out because if we don't we will be missing that $1,000!
By now you must think I'm crazy.  Clearly, I'm being facetious.  Most hard working sane people would never put themselves in that kind of debt or count a savings as income.  So why is it okay for the government to do that to this country?!

“We’re not going to save our way out of this recession. We’ve got to spend our way out of this recession.” – U.S. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn

 My plasma tv story would be worse if I added that I got the credit card in my childrens' name and expecting them to pay for it!  This is what is being proposed to be done to us.

The White House acknowledged that the federal government will run huge deficits for the foreseeable future, including a record $1.55 trillion deficit in 2010, although President Obama will try to reduce that figure to a still-staggering $1.2 trillion deficit in the budget he submits to Congress on Monday.
Trying to get a handle on spending while pushing for the economic recovery to continue, Mr. Obama will send Congress a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011  - Washington Times Feb 1, 2010: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/01/white-house-unveils-38-trillion-budget//print/

Are we going to just allow this? Or are we going to demand real "change."

Samantha's 8th birthday

My little girl turned 8 yesterday.  We started the day with pancakes, per Sam's request.  Then we measured her hight.  She is exactly the same hight Zach was when he was 7!  Wow!
This year I did not make a cake.  That hasn't happened in years.  I normally always make a cake but Sam saw one at the grocery store and wanted it.  We at least put "Happy Birthday Sam" on our selves.

I forgot how freeing it was to not have to make a cake.  I do like making them.  It's always fun and exciting to see how they turn out and I've made some extravagant ones!
Sam's friend, Cassie, came over and we went sledding.

Wish more of her friends could have joined us for sledding but they were all busy.
We came back home and did gift opening time.

Sam's BFF Lily came over after school and we had cake.

The cake was alright.  My home made ones are always better, he he.  It had too much frosting.  But it was a fun day and we had the added bonus of getting rid of the booster seat!!!!

Home School Group's water park trip

The home School group I belong to has for years collected annual dues.  These dues pay for our website, and this year we had a surplus so we went to an indoor water park.  What a blast!  Was awesome to walk around in swim suits, play in warm water and look at the snow outside...take that winter!!

Embarrassing moment in interpreting.

I love interpreting for my church.  It is never dull.  Like today, for example, where I turned beet red due to embarrassment.  It started out like any normal service.  The day before I get info, like what song we will sing, scriptures that will be read, and if there are difficult words in Greek or Hebrew that will be referanced, Pastor sends that information to me so I can know how to finger spell them and the tech team so they can put it up on the board that I can see.  I am very thankful to all the church staff who do all this stuff for me to make my interpreting job easier!  I couldn't ask for better.  So how did I end up red faced?  The Pastor, on a whim, starts listing different greek words, and then realized that I had to attempt to finger spell them.  So he decides to say, "Sorry Brenda."  His wife is also names Brenda.  Realizing this, he starts explaining that he didn't mean his wife but me.  He continues to explain that if they hear him apologize to a "Brenda" it usually mean me or the Tech Team leader who is also named Brenda.  Then, he starts explaining that he didn't get me the info on the greek words a head of time like he normally does.  By this point he has completely lost his train of thought and just kept digging a deeper hole!  Mean while I'm interpreting this mess and I started to feel sorry for the guy, but when he said "Where was I?"  I couldn't resist, I piped up and said "Embarrassing me!"  I was so red that Lesetta made note of it.  Thank God Gaylord (deaf friend who would have had a field day with the situation.) slept through the whole thing, HA! 
I know most would be thinking he should be the one who is embarrassed and maybe he was, but it was him calling attention to me that got me.  I like to pretend that only the deaf are paying attention to me.  It helps me get though the service if I don't think about all the eyes that might be on me.  But I knew at that point everyone was looking at me and I blushed hard.  Hopefully next week I can go back to believing most of the church doesn't see me.

What do you do when your kid become smarter than you?

I'm reaching the point where my son, Zach who is 10, is starting to challenge me intellectually.  He and I had a conversation on the Theory of Relativity this morning (prompted by Dr Who) and he kept up with no problem.  I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around the concept, but I do get the basic concept of the theory.  Zach then proceeded to give me an example of, in a sense, how it works.  Can we go back to yellow and blue make green and clap with glee?!  What's going to happen in a few years time?  Thank God for teacher's manuals!
I couldn't help, but look at my son and remember him as a toddler when he first entered childrens' church.  He grabbed a chair and sat in the corner so he could see the whole class.  He barely said a word, he just observed the class proceedings.  The teacher asked me if he was autistic.  I was a little freaked by this question! She told me Zach just sat there and didn't interact with the class at all.  I have an autistic cousin so I know the warning signs and I knew Zach wasn't.  I had to laugh because I could just imagine Zach watching the people and forming an opinion whether or not he wanted to be involved in this class.  Slowly, Zach decided to join in the activities and has now blossomed into a social chatter box that usually involve aliens or science, and occasionally politics. Yes, his political junky of a mother has rubbed off on him a little.
I know he will one day grow up in to an intelligent man, but I certainly didn't think it would start at the age of ten.

Ringing in 2010

Several churches in our area along with the Athletic Club hosted a free New Years Eve bash.  Matt volunteered to work the Cake Walk game for 2 hours.  Turned out to be a favorite since kids won cookies, and cupcakes instead of cheap prizes.  Then we went swimming.  Not a very big pool either.  There were a lot of people in that tiny pool.  I end up getting smacked in the face with a one of those small footballs while I was trying to put on Zach's goggle.  It protected most of my face but slamming into my lip.  thankfully my lip just swelled a little and didn't produce a cold sore like I feared.
By the time we were done with the pool, showers and getting dressed it was almost 10pm so, we went out to eat at Taco Bell.  Except for Zach; he wanted scrambled eggs.  After we were all done eating we had a Dr Who marathon of season one of the new series until midnight.  We had a very anticlimactic end to 2009.
I'm so glad this year is over.  Can't wait to be able to vote some these yahoos out of office!  Hopefully I'm not alone, otherwise I might just pull my hair out.  Doyle isn't running for reelection YAY!  So, the Wisconsin gubernatorial race should be instresting.  I'm praying someone who believes in smaller government will step up to the plate.  Thanks to Doyle everyones car insurence premiums went up.  He just had to pass a law that everyone has to have car insurence.  Government should never force the public to buy anything; it's unconstitutional.
So good bye 2009, thanks for the laughs and lessons.  Hello 2010, don't hurt me.