You Capture - Independence Day & Food

Independence Day Decorations

Our You Capture assignment this week, handed down by Beth at I should be Folding Laundry, was Independence Day and food. This year we went to a 4th of July Festival which included a chili cook-off. My SIL's band was playing, so we were able to hang with Joe and Ty, and Mom and Ed for some music and dancing. There was a strange hula hoop woman dancing all by herself in front of the stage. Well, I use the term "dancing" loosely, since she was really hula hooping and swaying to the music. Wearing a long orange print skirt and a black tank-top, her gray hair in a bun, she looked more like someone who would be attending a Grateful Dead concert rather than getting down to "Pokerface" sung by a party band. But there she was, having a great old time.

Ty's cool socks (he was just chillin', watching all the dancers)

The benefit of having hula-hoop lady there was that she let the kids use some of her extra hoops. That was all the encouragement Eamon needed. He got into one of those hoops and twirled until the music ended! And, though I've mentioned it before, I need to reiterate, that boy can hula hoop! I can't twirl the things worth a damn, but Eamon has some mad skilz! I think he impressed quite a few people (especially me). Between band sets, there were also some games, and the kids entered a water balloon toss competition. Alas, their time in the game was too short, as Eamon dropped the first toss Vika chucked at him.

Eamon rockin' the hula hoop

Vika sizes up the balloon toss competition

When the show was over, we went to the chili cook-off where we ate tiny samples and voted on the one we liked best. Some of them were good, but others were entirely too spicy! The firemen had some chili that was insanely hot. Like, not even enjoyable hot. A few hours later, we were all feeling that chili, and not in a good way either. I think next year we'll skip the sampling.

This stand actually had pretty good chili

The firefighters' chili, being stirred with an axe handle

After the festival, we headed to the cemetery to visit the grave of Jeff's parents. There were flags lined up everywhere, honoring the day, and it was very peaceful. Until Eamon said, "There sure are a lot of dead people here!" A quick explanation about sensitivity and loss followed, and then we were on our way.

Flags in a row at the cemetery

Under a flag, looking up

The 4th of July tradition for our family has been to go to my mom's place (where fireworks are legal) and shoot off some street fireworks. The driveway is lined with chairs, where we all sit, oohhhing and aaahhhhing at the display, ususally while eating some All-American Dessert (this year it was blueberry cobbler). The kids also love to play in the street with sparklers, drawing pictures and their names in the night sky. A little extra excitement was added this year when my brother lit some fireworks he had brought back with him from Tennessee. Unfortunately, these were not the legal kind, which we quickly realized as they shot explosions high into the air. We all had a bit of a freak-out moment, sure the police were going to drive up an issues us a heavy fine along wiht a stern lecture about fire safety. Lucky for us though, the other, for more dangerous illgeal fireworks being shot off around the city kept them too occupied to visit our measly display.

Street fireworks

Vix and Eames posing in front of the fireworks

A sparkly finale

We had a great Independence Day, making memories and hanging with family. I hope your holiday was just as much fun.

Check out the memories that other people captured!

Splish Splash

There's no real way to sugar-coat this, but the kids are driving me insane! Sure, I enjoy spending time with them, but all those Summer projects I planned on doing... well between, "Mama, what's for snack?" and "Mama, Eamon's not getting out of my room when I asked him to!" and "Mama, can we watch TV?", not a lot of projects are getting done. So, when Mel invited us to play at a new park in her area, I jumped at the chance (even though it's more than an hour drive away). Anything to get the kids running around, and hopefully exhausted, so that I can have a little quiet time to myself later. Being able to hang with my best friends, Mel and James, was an added bonus!

Eamon & Vika running through the park with Chadley


My good friend James, who's getting married in October.

Vika splashing in a puddle (shot inspired by Catheroo)

Toothless grin

Eamon's "tough guy" pose. Are you intimidated?

You Capture - Photographer's Choice

Since I had my choice for this week's You Capture, and because the 4th of July is right around the corner, I decided to capture the symbol of our nation's Independence, the American flag. For most of my life, Independence day has meant BBQs, fireworks, and summer memories with the family. However, after teaching 5th grade (where we study American History), I've acquired a bit of a different perspective on the holiday. Reading about the great men and women who fought for America's independence from Britain, their trials and victories, has made this holiday and our flag mean so much more.

John Adams said in a letter to his wife Abigail (of the original Independence Day - which was actually July 2, 1776), "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival." It's kind of cool to know that his prediction came true, even if he was off by 2 days. I wonder what he would think about the various ways the holiday is celebrated and our flag is depicted today (on clothing and home decor, for example)?

Another piece of American trivia for you: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 - 50 years to the day from the birth of the country they helped found. Isn't that an interesting coincidence?

OK, I'll let my teacher side slip for now and show you the photos.

Happy 4th of July (3 days early)!

My standard summer flip-flops



That Star Spangled Banner yet waves....

Go check out what other people captured at I Should Be Folding Laundry!

Family Planning

Below is a brief excerpt from a discussion around the dinner table this evening.

Eamon: When I grow up, there's gonna be 7 people in my house! 2 grown ups and (counting quickly on his fingers) 5 kids. But we'll need a bigger house with more rooms.

Vika: Not me! First, I'm gonna have one kid, and if that one's annoying, that's it! But if not, I'll have another kid, and if that one's annoying, no more! (throwing a superior look in Eamon's direction).

Eamon: What?! I like kids!!!

It's nice to see they're figuring these things out early in life.

Summertime, and the livin's easy

School's been out for a week now, and finally I feel as if I'm beginning to relax. That anxious feeling that I have to grade papers or prepare lesson plans is gone and I'm getting into the rhythm of being home with the kids during the day. A few updates from my summer so far:

• I may be a Trekkie. I saw the new Star Trek movie on Mother's Day (and again since then), and absolutely loved it. I've always been more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek, but I enjoyed the movie so much that I've begun watching episodes from the original series on Netflix. And let me tell you, they are HILARIOUS (probably not intentionally so, but that's besides the point). Seriously, if you have some time, you should check them out. "The Enemy Within" from Season 1 has some especially smashing acting from William Shattner (and I mean that literally) as well as an extraordinary space dog (some poor mutt in a shag carpet with dixie straw antennas).

• Lately, Vika is asking me to do her hair "like Uhura's" and Eamon wants his hair to be like Bones'. So I may be making my kinds into Trekkies too. Poor things. They don't really stand a chance. I'm making them into geeks already!
  

• Tomorrow we are going to see the King Tut exhibit in San Francisco. My parents visited it in San Francisco back in the 70's, and I remember as a child looking through the King Tut picture book they bought, amazed at all the treasures and the story of the boy king. I tried to see the exhibit in Chicago a couple years back, but tickets were sold out. So we bought our tickets for this one way in advance and are planning to take the kids (I hope they aren't bored out of their minds). We're going to see the exhibit on the same day as the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, so I hope it's not too crazy there. Nevertheless, I don't think we'll take public transportation. Seeing a grown man with his bare bottom peeking out of backless leather chaps is not an image that the kids need to have burned into their brains at this young age. ;)

For your enjoyment, and in honor of the occasion, I give you King Tut. Have a great weekend!

Walking Stick Woes

On the last day of school (which was Wednesday - YAY!), I agreed to watch another teacher's pet walking stick, Sharpie. In his brief life, Sharpie has suffered a lot of trauma, and... well... to make a long story short, he now only has 5 legs.

But Sharpie's a little trooper, and I agreed to "bugsit" the stick, thinking it would be fun for Vika and Eamon.

I was wrong. Vika immediately tipped over Sharpie's enclosure, dumping his log and lettuce everywhere. Luckily, he was clinging to the grate at the top of his pen and didn't really seem to notice. But ever since, I've been a bit stressed about injuring (or killing) the already disabled insect. I've put him up on a shelf, out of reach of both child and cat, and am just hoping for the best.

This morning, as I went to check on the insect, I saw what appeared to be a shriveled up, quite dead, stick bug laying on the log.

"Oh my God, I killed Sharpie!" I cried out, panic setting in and plans quickly forming in my mind of where I could find another five-legged walking stick to replace this one.

When I opened the lid to investigate, there was Sharpie, hanging from his usual place on the grate, wondering what all the fuss was about.

Apparently, walking sticks shed their skin. So, the shriveled up bug was actually an old epidermis my little friend no longer needed.

Friggin' insect!

Science Camp

Ah, camp. That childhood rite of passage, which I did not experience until last week, at the ripe old age of 35. Every year, the fifth graders at our school go to Science Camp. As a teacher, I was also required to go to camp, and despite my dislike of camping in general, I had a good time. It was great seeing our fifth graders in a whole new light, experiencing things they had never encountered before. One student in particular, R, is a bully on campus and spends A LOT of time in the office. But at camp, R really blossomed! He conquered his fear of heights, worked well as part of a "survival team," and even showed impeccable manners at the dinner table! R comes from a poor, Hispanic family and had never even been in the woods before this trip. I hope it made an impression on him and he learned what a great kid he truly is.

Another interesting part of the trip was T, a girl whom I taught in first grade, but thankfully is in another classroom for fifth grade. T has oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). If you don't know what that is, look it up - it's very interesting. T was in my group, and she hit the ground digging in her heels. We started off with wilderness survival skills and a lesson on using a compass. T refused to differentiate between the arrows on the compass, and despite the intervention of several parents, she maintained her stance that the spinning arrow was the one she should follow. It was actually kind of amusing to watch parent after parent try to coax and persuade T to use the compass correctly. Finally, I intervened saying, "T, if that's the way you want to use the compass, go ahead. Of course, you may get lost in the woods, but I'm sure we'll be loud enough that you'll find us eventually!"

After that, T pretty much gave up the compass fight.

Then it became all about not stepping on any plants because either they were poisonous or she didn't want to hurt them (it's pretty hard to avoid plants in a forest). Or she wouldn't climb over a log because there was a single ant on it. Finally, all the parents caught on to her game, and it became a bit of a joke among us as to how T would react to each new situation. If the camp counselor asked everyone to sit down, T stood up. When she asked us to stand up, T sat down. Finally the counselor took me aside and said, "What is WITH that girl?!"

T wasn't the only stresser of the trip though. There was also the usual fifth grade girl drama, which for some reason, I became the mediator for. "Mrs. P, N is trying to steal my friends!" Or, "Mrs. P, I need to move out of that dorm because none of the girls are talking to me! They're all mad at me for some reason!" *sigh* It was exhausting! I don't think the girls appreciated the advice I gave them either, which was basically, "This is why when I was your age, I hung out with boys!" Oh well, my pearls of wisdom only go so far.

There were some great times at camp too. The highlight of the trip for most of us was the High Ropes course. We were put into harnesses and had to climb what looked like a telephone pole. About 40 feet up, we could cross over either a log bridge with nothing to hold on to, or a tightrope with two rope hand rails. I chose the log bridge. Climbing up was a little nerve-wracking, but apparently, I did it pretty fast because the adults in the group were yelling out that I should go work for the telephone company doing maintenance on the lines. Then I had to step away from the pole and on to the log bridge. This is where my heart dropped and I felt truly scared. Maneuvering my body around with nothing to hold on to, that high up in the air, was slightly terrifying. But I did it, and then set to walking across the log. I put my "Survivor" fandom to good use, channeling my inner "Ozzy," and walked across the log as if I was in a race for immunity. Then I was hooked into a zip line and flew down off the crow's nest and across a large field, to the cheers of my students. It was definitely a moment to remember!

Maybe I'll go along as a chaperon when Vika and Eamon go to Science Camp. I'd love to see them cruising down that zip line!