Nomadic Dreamers...our unschooling journey

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween

2007-09-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Tristan and I spent the day corpsing a skeleton. Nothing is more satisfying than turning a cheap plastic skeleton into a gnarly, oozing mass of decaying flesh and bone. ;o) It was messy, it was time consuming, and now the house has a lingering odor of wood stain -- but we are very happy with the results! If all goes as planned, he'll be hanging by a rough hemp noose on our front porch. LOL

In the beginning he was the basic discount store skeleton...

Then a bit of cheesecloth and latex was applied....

And then he was doused liberally with stain...

And the finished product is a corpse any mummy would be proud of! ;o)

Try finding this in your garden variety school art class...if the school district hasn't already canceled the art program in lieu of more test preparation!

After a long leave of absence....

2007-09-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I never have been diligent about keeping a journal, but after a year we're back to blogging! I wish I could say the lengthy absence was due to being so busy that I just didn't have time to log all our activities, but, well, that just wouldn't be true. We've been busy, to be sure, but much of our time has been spent in readjustment -- to our new home/neighborhood, to Jody returning from Iraq after 16 months (getting all of us adjusted, especially since Jody was new to RUing, was a bit harder than I think we all realized), and now the reality that we will be leaving the military in 5 months (HUZZAH!!!). We are all really excited to be finally rid of the military life, but it brings up all sorts of new concerns and uncertainties -- starting out on a new career path, moving, etc.

Speaking of moving, one of the biggest issues I'm looking at are the state homeschooling laws, and it's dauting to say the least. It is so incredibly easy to homeschool here in Alaska. There are no hoops to jump through, no required testing, no evaluations, etc. Heck, we don't even have to notify the school district! Now we're looking at the very real possibility of having to do all those things I've dreaded. Although for a while I kept a log of what Tristan did during our days of unschooling, I've never translated it into "educationese." And while I'm very comfortable with our unschooling lifestyle, I'm not so good at explaining what we do under pressure - say if a superintendent or evaluator questioned me or Tristan. I'm really hoping that, depending on where we move, I'll have the option to enroll under an umbrella school or find an incredibly unschooler-friendly evaluator.

We're moving....again....

2006-08-23T23:44:00.000-08:00

Oh the timing couldn't be worse....with Jody in Iraq and Tristan and I heading out next week to San Antonio and then the L&L Conference. Less than a week after we get home, the movers will be here. Thankfully we are only having to move to another location on post. I couldn't fathom moving back down to the Lower 48 by myself...driving the AlCan with Tristan and two dogs?? Uh no...not gonna happen!

Right now I feel like I'm running on empty and am beyond exhausted. I'm trying to get as much done as possible before we leave next week...tearing down our fence, working in the yard, conducting minor repairs in the house, and the list goes on and on and keeps growing by the minute. Of course, this being military housing, we have to do all sorts of things...attend briefings, have the house undergo several inspections, etc etc etc... Gawd, I can't wait to be finished with all the military BS once and for all.

I officially signed for our new house (aka "quarters" in military lingo) on Monday and was so depressed when we drove by our new place. It is old and institutional-looking from the outside, and butts right up with a number of other units. Our current place is so homey, and we have an awesome little backyard that backs up into a grove of trees. Not a tree in sight at our new place. Just writing that depresses me. I really need that connection to nature. Thankfully, I think I spotted a bikepath not far from our place that leads to some meadows...hopefully a forested area isn't too far off.... Ah well, we'll make the best of the situation. There are a few huge parks right by our new place, which immediately sold Tristan on the idea of moving. As far as the house, we'll do what we can to make the place "ours" and Jody will be home in a few more months. That is what is most important right now.

To add insult to injury I found out that we won the Denali Lottery, where we would have been able to drive the entire road in Denali National Park (usually only the park buses are allowed on the road). Without Jody here...and our designated day falling right between when we return from our trip and when we move...we don't plan on going. I gave our ticket to someone I know who had entered but didn't win; I'm glad it won't go to waste.

So appropriate for our times...

2006-08-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.”
-- Martin Luther King

Preparing for Albuquerque

2006-08-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

My parents have conspired for the last year to get Tristan and I out of Alaska...at least temporarily....while Jody was gone. I fought and fought but finally relented when we found out Jody wouldn't be coming home as planned. My mom envisioned herself, Tristan, and I taking a trip to somewhere like Disneyland, but I really wanted to include Jody in something that grand....so I brought up the possibility of attending the Live and Learn Unschool Conference in September. Surprisingly she was receptive of the idea. Of course, the trip doesn't come without a few strings attached. We'll be staying a few days (which has now been extended to 10....ggrrrr....) in San Antonio with my parents before flying out to Albuquerque.

I'm really looking forward to the conference but am more than a little hesitant. There will be so many people, and I do terribly in crowds, especially when I don't know anyone. I also don't know how my mom will take to the whole conference atmosphere. She knows it's a homeschooling conference (she hasn't really been exposed to the entire idea of unschooling, except for the People mag article a few months back), but I don't think she realizes topics include the riches of video gaming, Harry Potter, geocaching, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or anime. LOL

Tristan hasn't talked about the trip much but is very excited about the manga/anime funshop, where he plans to dress up as Captain Kuro from One Piece. He figured out his costume to the smallest detail, and yesterday we went out to the local thrift store to hunt down the items. We were very lucky and came out finding everything we needed, except for a key item tracked down at WalMart. Now, looking at Kuro you wouldn't think the costume could be that difficult....until you arrive at his infamous "cat claws," black gloves with long knives attached to each finger. Picture me late at night fighting with duct tape, two sets of gloves (the duct tape tore apart the first set), and plastic samurai swords. Not a pretty picture. LOL Although they look a bit rough, Tristan is happy with the outcome and has been perfecting his Kuro moves throughout the house.

First signs of autumn

2006-08-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Autumn has already begun to show its face in Fairbanks --- the crimson red of the rose hips, the changing colors of the leaves, the return of the sandhill cranes.

Eureka! Finally able to post pics once again

2006-08-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Finally! I've been fighting with Blogger for over a month now trying to get this pic posted on our blog for Jody. This is Tristan taking a break at Savage River at Denali National Park back in June. I think it's got to be one of my favorite pictures of him. :o)

Picking up the pieces

2006-08-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's nearing on two weeks since we found out that Jody would not be coming home from Iraq. The initial shock has finally worn off, and T and I are gradually getting back into our daily routine. It's been difficult, though. The summer has always been the most active time for our family. It was a rare day when someone would find us at home, as we were always out kayaking, hiking, geocaching, or just driving to explore new places. This summer has been different. T and I haven't gotten out much at all. The most audacious thing we might do is stop by Mickey D's for fries and drinks and then take a drive just outside of town. I think it's hard for me to get out and really enjoy the same things I so closely associate with Jody. I've had a few folks tell me to discover and develop new interests, but I just haven't found anything yet. I feel like I've been in a holding pattern for the past 12 months, ever since Jody left. I've got to break out of this, since Jody will not be coming home until December or possibly even later.

Tristan has been doing remarkably well, considering the circumstances. Recently, he found a slime recipe I pulled from our paper (well, technically it was some colloidal science experiment...but for T? SLIME!!), and proceeded to make batch after batch of the stuff in all sorts of colors and quickly developed a plan to sell it to the neighborhood kids. LOL

He's also been saving his money up for an XBox, as he has become a huge fan of Halo. A few days ago we headed to GameStop to buy a used system and Halo2. Well, Tristan finished that game in about 2 1/2 days. LOL He's had a lot of fun with it, however, and I think it has helped keep his mind off Jody for the time being.

This month is going to prove to be a rough one for Tristan, however, in more ways than one. His remaining three friends are all moving within 5 days of one another. :o(

No homecoming for us

2006-07-30T02:28:00.000-08:00

Jody was due to leave Iraq today, after a grueling 12 month deployment. Instead we got word late Wednesday night, just days from our homecoming, that his brigade was being extended in Iraq for up to four months. We're heartbroken, angry, frustrated, defeated, and feel deceived. After enduring so much, we hoped that this nightmare was finally over for us.

The command didn't even have the decency to notify us first. Most of us discovered this painful news through the media!! There were reports that Strykers were headed to Baghdad. We were all certain, however, that it was the brigade that was set to replace Jody's. Because, of course, they would never extend a brigade that is in the process of leaving; the first soldiers had already returned to Ft Wainwright the Sunday prior. Boy were we in for a rude awakening. The Strykers the news talked about included both the new unit from Ft Lewis and the 172nd, the unit Jody belongs to.

Emotions are running raw throughout the post. We went to a brigade briefing, and it turned into an episode reminiscent of the Jerry Springer Show. Wives shouting and screaming at each other, and there were reports that things actually got physical at one point. Instead of the families coming together during a time of great need, they went at each other like animals.

Kids are faring terribly through this mess. Mothers have ended longterm friendships between kids over the silliest of things. Two moms on our street have become invisible, shutting themselves into their houses, and allowing their very young children run wild and destroy property. When they happen to be outside, you hear swearing and threats being shouted at the kids. We were told by the medical command to bring our kids to their pediatricians if necessary to be drugged. These poor kids don't need drugs, they need a stable and nurturing family environment. The troubles run so deep in these families, and this deployment just adds another layer to the problems.

As for T and I, we'll continue to plug along just as we have these past 11 1/2 months.

Close Encounters with Extreme Makeover Home Edition

2006-07-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

The TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is filming this week in the Fairbanks area. It's made headlines in the paper, with daily updates on what is happening with the home. Numerous businesses and over 1,000 volunteers have come together to build a home for a deserving family in just a week. It's amazing to read about the generosity of so many in our area.

Today Tristan asked to head over to his favorite antique shop. I think the owner and her daughter have a soft spot for Tristan. They know of his love for all things World War II and have his name and phone number in case anything relevant is brought into the shop. They'll point out possible things of interest to him, give him discounts, and talk about what a "cool kid" he is to other customers. They are really great folks that take so much time with Tristan, where as many adults would not give him the time of day.

At any rate, we headed over to the shop this afternoon, and when we entered the owner came bustling over with a really excited look on her face and quietly exclaimed "GUESS WHO'S HERE?!?!? EXTREME MAKEOVER!!" A second later we see the camera guy behind her as he's looking over the shop for possible shots. We then saw a few of the folks from the show, including Michael Moloney, the main interior designer. He was looking over various pieces of furniture for the home.

Tristan and I decided to look around and headed for the back portions of the shop. We did our usual poking around, trying to guess what various tools were used for, etc. Tristan decided to buy an old small animal trap. When we went to pay for the trap, we realized that they were about to start filming their spot right next to the store entrance. So we hung around the counter with the owner while Michael Moloney called the family and inquired as to what antique piece their mother would like (they captured this whole conversation on camera). After filming, I said a few last words to the owner and turn around to see Tristan just chatting it up with Michael. He was really nice to Tristan, asking to see what Tristan had bought, if he could see it, etc. LOL

This episode is supposed to be the season premiere on September 24th. Tristan is so anxious to watch!!

Fun Under the Midnight Sun

2006-06-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

We've never had more nighttime fun than here in Fairbanks. In the summer, this means nearly unending sunlight. We've hiked, geocached, kayaked, and explored the area at all times of the day and night.

One longstanding tradition here in Fairbanks is the Midnight Sun Run that is held the Saturday before Summer Solstice. This year was our third Sun Run. We didn't have Jody here with us this year, but Grandma and Grandpa joined in on the fun. The Sun Run is 10K that runs from UAF (University of AK at Fairbanks) to Pioneer Park. There are over 3,000 participants each year, ranging from the serious runner to the casual walkers (US!!). It is such a fun event, with an incredibly festive atmosphere. We gather at UAF a few hours prior to the start to people watch. There is a costume division. Over the past few years one gentleman from the Lower 48 comes up with the most amazing costumes, and this year was no exception. Then you have the locals with such creative ideas....spawning salmon, the Northern Lights, the Osbornes. This year a group of 5 gals were "couch potatoes," with one posing as the TV, two on a couch, and the other two pushing the couch. Tristan decided to dress as a soldier. He looked pretty cool, especially when he was hanging around a group of uniformed Marines that were competing as a group.

The Sun Run route meanders mostly through residential neighborhoods. Folks sit at the end of their driveways, cheering the runners/walkers, offering water, and spraying them down with sprinklers or Super Soakers. One street really gets into the spirit and holds a yearly block party, which has gotten larger every year we've participated. This year they had a live band, which was really cool.

The Midnight Sun Run is the highlight of Tristan's summer. He absolutely loves it!! Last year the little trooper walked the entire route in the rain and was completely drenched at the end. Not 3 minutes into this year's race, Tristan found another boy to talk to. As it turns out his dad is also deployed to Iraq, and he only lives a few miles away from us. Tristan can really make friends anywhere!

I had taken a series of pics, but when I tried to upload them to the computer it said that the files had been corrupted. :o( Even with a downloadable program, I was unable to save them. I'm going to head to the local photo place and see if they can salvage the pics.

Denali and other adventures

2006-06-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

So Grandma and Grandpa are visiting, which means trips to the various local touristy destinations....Pioneer Park, Denali, and the rest. Thankfully, they have visited before so we have done the really touristy attractions, such as the river boat trip and panning for gold. These activities in and of themselves aren't bad, but the groups that run them make them into such cheesy tourist traps. Tristan really enjoys Pioneer Park so he and Grandpa spent quite a bit of time in the air museum and wandering about the Nenana riverboat. He also made a new friend in about 2 minutes time while swinging at the park. :o)

We spent a few days in Denali and traveled there via train. For a few days the trip was up in the air because of a wildfire south of Fairbanks. At one time it had jumped the train tracks and suspended train operations. When we traveled south we saw freshly burned areas -- some still smoldering -- but, thankfully, no active fires. Our hotel was close to Glitter Gulch, the touristy "town" right outside the park, and Tristan and I spent quite a bit of time wandering through the shops. He quickly managed to make friends with one of the shopkeepers at his favorite shop and the manager at the ice cream parlor. LOL

Denali sure has changed in just two years. They now have a new visitors center, bookstore/giftshop, and even a large cafeteria. As nice as it is to have these additions (there was NO place to get food/water before), it has really made the lower portion of the park seem more crowded. We didn't take any long bus tours but took our regular hike around the Savage River. The upper portion of the river was closed due to bear activity, but the largest animal we saw -- except for the pinpoint sized Dall sheep -- were marmots. One was so close to the trail that we nearly stepped on him.

We also took a speedboat trip up the Nenana River with Denali Wilderness Adventures, which was a lot of fun. It was amazing how quickly we maneuvered through the winding and incredibly shallow river. After speeding our way upstream about 12 miles we stopped and had a presentation on trapping and tried our hand at goldpanning. Tristan was full of questions in regards to trapping and on the van ride back to the hotel he exclaimed that he wanted to try his hand at it.

Tristan never has small, simple plans and seems to come up with projects that I am simply clueless about. The closest I've been to a trapped animal was a beaver this past October, and she had already been trapped and hauled out of the river. I'm going to check into the local trapping association and try to hook him up with some local trappers.

Hub of Activity

2006-05-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

School in Fairbanks has been out for less than two weeks, and I'm thinking that it is going to be a looonnnnnngggg summer! The neigborhood kids are already bored and getting on each other's nerves since they tend to hang around together all day long. "I feel like I'm back at school, Mom!" is what Tristan told me the other night. Tristan is about as social as one can get...always eager to play with friends...but even he is seeking refuge in the house and turning some kids away at our doorstep, even if only for a few hours. Several kids prowl from house to house looking for things to do and kids to play with, and because of our very long days this easily goes on until around 10PM every day.

Another unexpected result of school ending is our house becoming the hub of activity for some of the kids in the neighborhood, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's good in that I can keep an eye on Tristan (who can easily meltdown if kids get on his nerves or tease him), but it has been exhausting so far. Kids in and out all day, stuff everywhere, requests for foods/drinks, having to keep the basenjis wrangled, and just the general commotion and noise for hours on end. I view our home as our sanctuary, and I revel in the peace and quiet. I'm not taking too kindly to it being completely turned on its end. Tristan and I are trying to work on some control measures to keep his room and the house in general from becoming complete disaster areas; he certainly didn't like the state of his room last night once his friends left.

I've been working on a list of things that Tristan and I can do to keep us busy and out of the neighborhood. Hopefully we'll stay sane over the next few months. LOL

T's Green Thumb

2006-05-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months Tristan has developed a real passion for plants. He's always been a great defender of nature but has now brought that love indoors. It started with a little pothos plant that we bought while Jody was at home for R&R. This little plant quickly doubled in size (I would have managed to kill the poor thing in a week if it had been under my care).

Tristan's plant inventory now includes the pothos, a mimosa plant (aka "sensitive plant"), lucky bamboo (which isn't really bamboo), two Venus Flytraps, a Butterwort, and a Cobra Lilly. The last four are all carnivorous plants. He's also trying his hand at sprouting an avocado seed. Our once foliage-barren home is beginning to look like a green house! :o)

A Day in the Life...

2006-05-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

In February I began keeping a daily journal of Tristan's activities. No recordkeeping is required to homeschool in Alaska, but I wanted to do it -- more than anything -- for my own well-being. I knew that I could easily slip into the mentality that Tristan "isn't doing anything," "isn't socializing," etc. By keeping my journal I clearly see how much he is doing each and everyday, on his own and without any coercion by me. I thought this blog would initially serve as my daily journal, however, I took to listing everything in a small composition notebook. Some days the lists are quite short, while other days nearly fill an entire page (like yesterday)...just the ebb and flow of unschooling, I'd wager. :o)

Here's what I wrote for May 5th (and I know I failed to write some items in!):

- Went on a 2+ mile bikeride and visited the post's sports shop
- Found the Leapfrog Turbo Twist Spelling contraption in a toy bin, played with it for a while
- Played outside with friends
- Created scapes with the Falling Sand program
- Walked 1+ miles (from our house to the service station to pick up the car)
- Observed a beaver on the Chena River
- Mixed peat moss and pearlite; repotted new Venus' Flytrap
- Visited Holm Town Nursery and Home Depot's garden center (on the hunt for another Venus' Flytrap)
- Drove through Birch Hill Cemetery
- Took a drive north of Fairbanks in the Goldstream Valley
- Listened to "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" audiobook while driving
- Read portions of Jody's history of the Army book
- Created new adventure and DM'ed D&D game
- Watched favorite scenes of "Labyrinth"
- Looked at M.C. Escher artwork on internet (inspired to see them after watching "Labyrinth")
- Read various items throughout the day, both orally and silently
- Created images with graphics game on Cartoon Network website

Hooray for Breakup

2006-04-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

Breakup. The term Alaskans use when the temperatures finally rise and the ice and snow begin to melt away....only to give us impromptu mini lakes and mud! I don't think I've ever been happier to see a "season" arrive. This past winter was incredibly hard. I don't mind the short days at all (actually, I prefer them to our neverending days of summer), but the bitter cold was difficult to handle this time around.

Tristan's most requested activity right now is to grab drinks and a snack and "take a drive and look at nature" while listening to audiobooks. It's wonderful to have clear, dry roads again so I've been taking him up on this! We've been plowing our way through the audiobook series of Harry Potter and are now well into "The Goblet of Fire." Even though we've listened to these tapes countless times, we never seem to tire of them.

Now that it is warmer (it's been in the mid 40's for sometime now), the neighborhood is overflowing with kids...at least on the weekends and after school. Tristan's been taking full advantage of this, playing for hours and hours at a time with a number of kids. I think today he played with 10+ kids. And my parents worry about "socialization"? ROFL

The warmer weather has finally awakened our neighborhood moose. We had not seen them in months, and now we've seen them three times in the past week or so, practically walking right on top of her twice and seeing her from the car this morning. Guess I need to keep my eyes open or we are liable to get charged! She's a quirky thing. She's fairly tolerant but has been known to bluff charge and follow folks for quite a distance until they are out of her territory; this happened to us our first summer here. Yesterday one of my friends said she finally spotted last years calf, and he is a bull!! He should be fun to see, but I think momma will push him from the immediate area, as it looks like she will be having another calf very soon.

Budding Entrepreneur

2006-04-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

You just never know what project may spark new ideas.

Off and on over the past few months Tristan has been working on making his own plaster skulls. Originally, he had an interest in making latex masks (like those that are sold at Halloween). So we jumped on the internet and quickly found directions. Those appeared straight forward enough, but finding the correct materials in the middle of Alaska proved to be a problem, however. Back to the internet we went and found a company that sold several starter kits, including one to make shrunken heads (mini latex masks) and another to make mini plaster skulls.

Tristan decided to start with the mini skull kit. This included sculpting a skull from clay (much more difficult that I thought!), making the latex mold, and then mixing/pouring the plaster to make the skulls. After not being happy with our skull sculpture, Jody came to the rescue while on leave. He helped Tristan create an alien skull. Then came time to make the latex mold...a procedure that included painting 15+ layers of liquid latex compound onto the sculpture. Little did we know that the compound contained ammonia, which made Tristan run for cover. Enter Mom, who diligently painted on layer after layer of this smelly substance. ;o) We then peeled the mold from the sculpture, poured the plaster and....behold....mini plaster alien skull!!

What did this lead to? A few nights ago Tristan came up with his newest business plan. He wants to sell his plaster skulls. He's obviously been thinking a lot about this. He'll sit me down and talk endlessly about how many skulls he needs to produce before he officially opens for business, marketing ideas, when the best time of year is to sell them, how to package them, etc. My favorite is his packaging ideas. He'd like to have prepainted skulls, skulls that come with packages of paint (a "paint your own" type of kit), and a skull "3-pack." *grin*

Back to the Blog...

2006-04-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

No entries in over a month??? That's the slacker coming out in me, I guess... ;o)

March was pretty much a whirlwind of activity. The first two weeks were spent gearing up for Jody to come home for his two weeks of R&R leave from Iraq, and then we spent the second half of the month together as a family once again. Jody was indoctrinated into our new unschooling life (and he took to it beautifully, I must say!). It was a relaxed visit....sleeping in way too late, lounging in bed, eating out, playing D&D until the wee hours of the morning, and just enjoying one another's company.

Saying goodbye to Jody at the airport was heartwrenching...so much harder than saying our first goodbyes way back in August. In August, we could only speculate on what this separation would be like. At the end of March we knew how hard and dangerous the past months have been, and the thought of sending Jody back there?!?! I can't even put that into words... We've seen this war tear apart families and maim (physically, as well as mentally) and kill soldiers that we knew.

This deployment has forced Tristan to grow up all too quickly. No child should have to see his dad head off to war, all the while knowing he may never see his dad again. We know countless kids who have now gone through this two and three times, and we've seen the lasting damage it creates. The very unfortunate reality of being in a military family. Jody and I have vowed to never put our family through this again. Jody filed paperwork yesterday, turning down a well deserved promotion....our first step in becoming a civilian family after he returns.

Thought for the Day

2006-02-23T10:02:00.000-09:00

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

I think this should be my mantra when talking to my parents..... ;o)

Unforeseen benefits

2006-02-15T17:14:00.000-09:00

When I pulled T out of school I had high hopes that it would better our lives. It has, of course, in numerous ways...T and I have really connected; our relationship is better than it has ever been (and it was incredibly rocky for years). We are both more relaxed and truly more happy. I never realized, however, how quickly his interactions would change with other kids.

In school T was in trouble about 90% of the time. It was a rare day that he didn't come home with a note that went into great detail about all of his infractions. His relationships at school were troubled. Kids knew of T's sensitive nature and took advantage of it. Some would purposefully taunt T just to get a reaction out of him and loved the fact that T would then get into trouble for "overreacting." The group dynamics were never in T's favor...the bullying, the fickle nature of kids ("yesterday I was your friend, today I'm not"), the gang mentality. T always had problems waiting in lines, bustling others and wanting always to be first.

Recently we found a sledding hill close to our home. As soon as we arrived, T offered up his tube to the other two kids that were sledding. When they would all race up the hill together, T would offer to let them go ahead of him (where in the past, he would fight to be first). This similar senario has happened during all the times we have visited this particular hill. I'm amazed at the changes in T -- and we've only been unschooling since December!

Winter doldrums

2006-02-12T09:59:00.000-09:00

T and I have been in a rut these past few weeks, but I think we are slowly working our way out of it. We've had several tragic deaths occur over the past month, all in Iraq. One soldier I knew personally (and her husband worked closely with Jody), and the other two were in Jody's unit. Thankfully, I've been able to keep this news from T. I've had a hard enough time dealing with it. The news of these deaths would crush T, and he would be more worried than ever about his dad, who is constantly in harm's way. Today marks our halfway point through this deployment. One can only hope the remaining six months go by safely and quickly.

The last few weeks were made even more difficult because of the extremely cold temperatures. For about three weeks our high temps hovered around the -30's and -40's - much too cold to do any outdoor activities. We did get out and mainly haunted Fred Meyer and WalMart (just to get out of the house), and visited Glow Putt a few times. I do love Alaska, but this winter has really taken its toll on me. I just want to curl up in bed and wait until spring arrives.

That isn't to say we haven't been busy. I broke down and bought both T and I Nintendo DS's (much to T's shock and excitment). We've been playing Animal Crossing and have had a great time working in our little towns and visiting each other. T has already finished Star Wars Episode III on DS and is now immersed in Sims 2. When it comes to video games, the DS is much more my speed. T's PS2 is way too complicated for me.

Jody also introduced us to "Smallville," a TV show on the WB. It's almost become a nightly ritual to watch one DVD a night to catch us up on the past four seasons.

Baptism by blaster

2006-01-19T22:58:00.000-09:00

Last night T introduced me to Star Wars Battlefront II. I know T is extremely proficient at videogames, but my experience gives me new appreciation for his skill. I wasn't just bad --- I was TERRIBLE. I grew up as a part of the Atari generation: a simple joystick and a fire/jump button. The PS2 controller scares me....arrow buttons, two joysticks, and the X, square, circle, and triangle buttons. Oh yes, we can't forget the multiple left and right buttons that run along the side of the controller. Of course, this game uses all of them. I knew I was doomed from the very beginning.....

T was patient -- extremely patient -- with me and encouraged me all the way, as I banged into walls, shot the ceilings, and fell off cliffs. He even ran me through the tutorial, giving me tips and rooting me on when I died spectacularly again and again. I have to admit it was fun....but exhausting!

Today T rummaged through some of our older computer games and decided he wanted to play "Age of Empires" and "Civilization III." He only played Age of Empires for a bit but spent a number of hours on Civilization III; he would run to the top of the stairs and shout down to me everytime he made peace/declared war/conquered a city. He was quite successful in his game and, needless to say, there was quite a lot of shouting going on.

And the school system rears its ugly head

2006-01-18T23:07:00.000-09:00

*Sigh* Just when you think you are out of the clutches of the public school system, think again! Alaska is supposed to be one of the best states to homeschool; we don't have to notify or seek the approval of anyone. T's former school, however, doesn't see it this way and decided to send us a "nice" letter stating that we are not obeying the law. For a few hours this put me into a panic, with me coming up with scenarios whtat included social services or a truancy officer knocking on my door. That is until some nice, fellow homeschoolers put me at ease. I think the letter was a scare tactic more than anything, in hopes of getting T back into school. Afterall, T is money lost for the school if he is not enrolled. It just infuriates me that they are so "educated" yet I know more about the homeschooling laws than they do. How ironic.... Just in case I have folks that start asking questions, I have prepared a binder for T. It includes the homeschooling laws for AK and a "course of study" that I put together. Once in a while I add in things like places we've visited, books he's read, etc.

Last night we pulled out some PVC pipe and fittings since T wanted to construct his own sewer. He built two different designs and tested them out in the sink and bathtub. He even insisted that I videotape the demonstrations.

Before heading to bed, we watched a bit of "Brother Bear" which led to T asking if bears can see in color (after a quick internet search we found the answer to be "yes!") and making arrowheads out of polymer clay.

Routine Days

2006-01-13T11:37:00.000-09:00

We sent Jody a humor themed care package last week, which contained some DVD comedies, T's first movie "The Evit Two", a "Calvin and Hobbes" book, the Sunday comics, some Mad Libs that T and I completed, and -- of course -- a rubber chicken. Jody will think we have completely lost our minds, but it was such fun to put together.

A few of T's latest endevours:
Making movies, complete with outtakes (filmed AFTER the movie) and bonus materials (T discussing his reasons for making the films, etc.).
Bit of reading in new hermit crab book
Lots of time on Age of Mythology and Star Wars Battlefront

Recently, T has become quite interested in religion, questioning different Bible stories and asking about various other religions. Except for various discussions at home, T's only real exposure to religion has been in a school setting, as he has attended two different private schools. He even debated theology with his first grade teacher. Thank goodness she was open minded and didn't simply squash his curiosity and questions and dismiss them with a simple "it's in the Bible so you must believe it." T's most recent request is to get copies of The Koran, both in English and in Arabic. I'm going to see if Jody may be able to get a copy of The Koran while he is over in the Sandbox. He's already on the lookout for a book in Arabic for T.

For the love of owl vomit

2006-01-11T00:08:00.000-09:00

Yesterday T and I went to Glow Putt, a nifty little indoor mini golf place that is lit up with blacklights. We had the entire place to ourselves! A few weeks back went mini golfing with the grandparents when they came to visit for Christmas. What a stressful ordeal that was! T was upset and even cried for nearly the entire game! Yesterday was so nice and laidback. We didn't keep score, we gave each other extra tries, cheered each other on, etc. Once we finished, we talked to the gentleman that was working the counter. He happens to co-own the business with one of our local weathermen. Both of them are incredibly friendly and really nice guys. The man working yesterday mentioned that he had just received their brand new commercial, which hadn't yet aired. We watched it on his computer, and T gave him some very positive feedback.

T has always had a variety of interests that his friends (and former schoolmates) just don't share. One of these is owl pellets. Few things excite T more than owl vomit. Yes you read that right. On several different occasions he has had the opportunity to dissect owl pellets (regurgitated undigested remains of animals that the owls prey upon). He has always been fascinated -- or more accurately obsessed -- with bones. Human bones, fish bones, mammal bones. With owl pellets T can carefully pick through the pellet for the bones. Last night I came across "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel, and what happened to be one of the featured jobs? Owl Vomit Collector!!! I thought it was hilarious; T thought it was terrific.

"Dirty Jobs" ended up keeping us glued to the Discovery Channel for the rest of the evening. We then watched "Mythbusters" (T said we must now watch every "Mythbusters" episode since it was so cool). After that we watched a show on tight-rope walking, which made our palms sweaty for a straight hour!

My lack of confidence when it comes to electronics has had me procrastinating hooking up our new camcorder to the TV. T made several small movies with his friend the other evening and was thrilled to learn they would be able to watch them on the "big screen" instead of the tiny LCD camcorder monitor....that is, if Mom could figure out the technicalities!

Surprisingly, T and I got it figured out very quickly, and soon T was rolling on the floor and howling with laughter as we watched his first endeavor into film making. It was incredibly funny and looked quite a lot like an extremely blurry "Blair Witch Project." As I was messing with the camera, I happened to flip a switch and found us "live" on TV. T thought this was extremely cool and was immediately coming up with ideas, including me setting up the camcorder and acting as a newscaster, while he caused a number of disasters to occur. With it already being after midnight, I asked him if we could postpone that until the next morning. That way I would be able to dig out my tripod in order to secure the camera.

We stayed up very late again last night, talking into the wee hours of the morning about his former school and unschooling. Several folks have asked him if he misses school, what he misses about school, doesn't he miss his friends, etc.. I know people can easily plant little seeds of thought into my mind, which will often make me second guess decisions. I was a bit worried about this with T so I asked him what he thought of people's questions, and if he had doubts about staying home (yeah, asking questions about people asking questions....seems like an oxymoron, but....). He was very adamant about wanting to stay home and went on a bit of a tirade about all the things he didn't like about school. He did mention he missed a few people (namely the librarian!) but quickly said that she said he was welcome to visit any time he liked. "I'd like to visit, Mom, but I don't want to stay!!" He told me about some of the punishments he received in school, like having to copy essays with such topics as "I should consider myself lucky that I get to attend school"! I wish I would have known about that when T was still in school. Some heads would have rolled over that one!

I also gently broached the subject of kids asking him what he learned at homeschool lately. In the past, I have heard him say "nothing." I was a bit concerned that he would begin to think he was lagging behind his peers. He got this incredulous look on his face and said that he has been learning so much....about Egypt, DaVinci, strategies (from his computer games), and a number of other things. That got us on the subject of what different things I had learned on my own outside of school.

T did feel guilty about one thing. He said it wasn't fair that he was able to stay home, play, and learn about whatever he wanted to learn about, while all the other kids were forced to go to school. For a boy whose last teacher said he "shows no empathy for others," T sure has a big heart.

D&D according to T

2006-01-08T16:06:00.000-09:00

T was very disappointed to find out that we had sold Jody's D&D books years ago (not to mention Jody's disappointment now that he realizes T would like to start playing!). Both Jody and I thought we had kept a few, but they are no where to be found. I ordered Jody and T a giftset of D&D books to get them started...the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, and the Monster Manual. They arrived a few nights ago, and they haven't left T's sight. He went through the Monster Manual page by page and has briefly flipped through the other two books.

Last night T approached me with a mischievous grin and his D&D books under his arm. "LET'S PLAY!" he exclaimed. So, we proceeded to play "D&D according to T." Now, D&D (at least to me) is extremely complicated. I can't seem to wrap my mind around all the tiny intricacies that this game embraces. That didn't seem to bother T in the least. He immediately appointed himself as DM, and we were off playing. He set me up with hit points (for attack and defense) and started me off on an adventure through a set of catacombs. I encountered a number of monsters, fell through floors, visited a mausoleum and stable, discovered chests (some filled with gold and armor, while others contained traps). He even had a few mythical creatures join me in my adventures (a pegasus and later a hippogriff). We rolled dice when we battled, and T took it upon himself to add/subtract the points and kept a running tally in his head. When we decided to wrap it up for the night, T wrote down a series of notes...where we were, what weapons/armor the characters had, the current attack/defense points for the characters, etc.

Most of T's time right now has revolved around playing "Dungeon Siege" and "Age of Mythology." He has found his way through both of these games with little to no help. I'm the one who is always reading manuals on how to play a game, while T just dives right in and is usually much more successful than I. There was a time where he would pass up any portion of a game that had to do with dialog, etc. He now insists on listening and/or reading it and reading/studying any bit of info that happens to pop up while he is playing.

Right now T is downstairs with a friend, coaching him on the finer points of "Star Wars Battlefront" and "Sly 3."

It seems like T and I have become real homebodies these past few weeks. We do love to get out, and it is a rare thing for us to stay home all day. We have, however, not been nearly as active outdoors than in past winters. I think part of it has to do with the crummy snow conditions this winter. I had visions of us cross country skiing often, snowshoeing, etc. This just isn't happening. We could snowshoe, but right now the ski areas are so incredibly icy. I don't have fun, and T gets extremely frustrated with the slick conditions...he really doesn't have fun! I'm also not dealing with the cold very well this year. I seem to always be cold, no matter how I dress. It's just no fun to be out when you are cold. I need to find a remedy to this since there is so much T and I could do outdoors, minus the skiing.....exploring downtown, going on photo shoots around town, and even geocaching. As it is right now, our main exercise is taking Jazzie for her nightly walk (and that is only for 15 min or so). Maybe we'll look into heading to the pool.

Late night philosophical discussions

2006-01-06T20:17:00.000-09:00

T's most insightful observations and discussions inevitably occur once he is tucked into bed for the night. Last night was no different, and I found myself leaving his room at 2:30AM!

At first it was just general small talk, and he all of a sudden got this incredibly excited look in his eyes and said "It's 2006! That means new state quarters!!" (He's been collecting the state quarters for about a year now) This revelation led us to pulling out the globe since he wanted to know the exact location of Philadelphia (location of one of the mints), which led us to comparing the distances between Fairbanks and Denver and Fairbanks and Philadelphia and why it is so much more common to see Denver mint quarters in our neck of the woods.

Since we had the globe out, T then said "Let me find where Dad is. I know it's near Egypt so I need to find Egypt!" So he takes a bit of time to find Egypt and quickly finds Iraq and Mosul, which led us to the route Jody's plane took to get to Iraq, and the possibility of us visiting Egypt while Jody is on R&R leave. T then shifted the conversation to Iraq....why we went to war, was it right/wrong, protesting the war, Saddam's trial, whether he would be executed if found guilty or would be given a life sentence, what types of executions are used, and our own creative execution styles (like using the flesh-eating scarabs in "The Mummy").

Ah, yes, we also briefly talked about the Battle of Normandy (and the strategy behind it) and Stonehenge. T happened to have the DVD "Valiant" quietly playing in his room during our conversation which led us to this.

When T was in school he was having problems sleeping and would often be grumpy and difficult to deal with during the school day. While in school, most of the conversations, unfortunately, revolved around all the bad things that had happened that day --- injustices, punishments, teasing, worries about the next day. One day the principal approached me, and I told her about T's tendency to these bedtime discussions. Her response? Only allow him to talk for 5 minutes and then leave the room for the night. This type of attitude is yet another reason why we left the school system behind.

What if I had left his bedroom after only a few minutes? What kind of impression would that have left on T? That his views are neither important or valid? That his parents could really not care less about his troubles at school? Those nightly talks gave T a safe outlet to vent his feelings and frustrations. Ugh. Every time I think of that principal's comment it just makes my blood boil.

One thing that T did mention several times last night was that finding the various locations on the globe was like school, and he seemed quite excited about that. I tried -- in a round about way -- to suggest that he can learn about anything (and mentioned several things he has learned in just the past few days) without it needing to feel like school. For the most part, I think he is settling in well to an unschooling lifestyle, but it's almost unbelievable at how ingrained the school mindset can be. I do worry a bit about him feeling that he isn't learning anything because we don't model school at home, and he may feel pressured to head back to school to "keep up" with his schooling friends. A few weeks back, one of T's friends asked him what he is learning at "homeschool." T replied, "nothing yet." *sigh* He doesn't see that he is indeed learning in his daily activities....playing on the computer, his reading, watching documentaries, taking apart electronics, etc. I believe he thinks he must be doing the constant and tedious worksheets, speed drills, and tests.

Finding joy in "junk"

2006-01-03T22:35:00.000-09:00

This morning we woke up to a peaceful crabitat and ever-growing triops -- all is right in our household. LOL

When we first pulled T out of school, I was worried that the days would just drag on, and I would find myself counting down the minutes and hours until T and I would go to bed. I couldn't have been more wrong! I am finding that we are having a difficult time fitting everything we want to do into our waking hours.

Today we had a relaxing morning watching movies and headed out to WalMart this afternoon to get some pictures developed to send to Jody. Once we got home, T had a friend over to play for a bit. His friend had only been gone a few minutes before I saw T hard at work at the kitchen table. He was dismantling a broken PS2 controller. He didn't just remove the main case, he completely removed every tiny piece and then put the now empty shell back together. He asked if he could do more projects like this. I'm going to let him loose on two broken radio/CD players we have lying about the house and may even take him to a thrift store to pick up a few things (small appliances, electronics) if the interest persists. I also plan to research some simple electronics projects. I wish Jody were here since he is much more proficient at these types of things than I am!

This evening we watched yet another mummy documentary, this one was a Nova special about the discovery of the mummy of Rameses the 1st. At the rate we are watching/recording these shows, we'll soon have quite the DVD library of all things Egyptian! The rest of the evening was spent watching Disney's "A Kid in King Arthur's Court" and T read one of Jody's copies of Spawn. The Spawn reading had to have been the highlight of T's week. Both Jody and I had memories of that comic being especially graphic, but it wasn't bad at all (it must be the later ones we are thinking of). T is very HS in some regards so I previewed the comic beforehand. He was thrilled when I gave him the "OK" to look through it.

Unearthing Treasures

2006-01-02T00:18:00.000-09:00

For months T has had his eye on a particular book that he saw at Fred Meyer called "The Silent House," a rather thick fantasy novel. Several days ago I relented and bought it for him. On the cover it mentioned that it was written by the same author of the "Forgotten Realms" series, and when T saw this he questioned me on it. Not being too familiar with Forgotten Realms, I told him it was similar to D&D and went on to explain the game and how Jody used to be an avid gamer. I thought we still had a number of D&D manuals lying about the house, and that immediately had T all excited.

Last night I finally tracked down the elusive D&D box and, unfortunately, the only role playing manual was one from Star Wars. T was a bit disappointed but soon discovered that this box held a number of wonderful treasures. He messed a bit with Jody's old bag of gaming dice. He spent most the night looking through the pile of comics....Star Wars, Aliens, and even dug up Jody's Spawn #1 (no he didn't open this one!).

In addition to the comics, we also found Jody's old yearbooks. What fun it was to see them! T got quite a kick out of them, especially seeing his dad with hair. "That's not my father!" he would exclaim ever so dramatically and begin laughing hysterically.

While looking through and categorizing the comics (you can't mix "Aliens: Newt's Tail" with "Alien vs. Predator") we watched a marathon on mummies on Discovery Times....6 hours in all!! One was a two hour special on Rameses, while the others were part of a series called "The Mummy Detective." T insisted on recording it so I am sure we'll be watching part, if not all, of this in the near future.

We started the big triops experiment yesterday and it looks like we may already have a few teeny tiny triops swimming about. Apparently there is some need to keep balance in our home when it comes to pets. As we add new triops to the house, we had some carnage in our crabitat. T and I went to Petco (again!) and came home with three new crabs on Saturday. By the next morning we had a dead crab on our hands. The poor fellow had one of his claws removed, and he had been pulled from his shell. All seems peaceful now; I certainly hope it remains that way.

Always on the Go

2006-01-01T00:05:00.000-09:00

T never seems to stop moving. He is always engaged in an activity, sometimes two at a time, and is often rushing to another project after he is finished with his last.

Tonight we watched "Iron Chef America" (he has become an Iron Chef junkie), and he would rush downstairs in hopes of getting a few minutes of gaming time in during commercials. When I would yell that the commercials were over, there was an immediate thundering up the stairs and T bounding onto my bed to watch the latest battle (tonight it was "Battle Clam").

T approaches nearly all aspects of life in this manner. If he finds something that sparks his interest he never goes into it halfway...it is all or nothing for T.

At school this proved to be extremely problematic. They wanted to label him ADHD, with a huge emphasis on HD. Nevermind that his activity was focused onto a specific project; the teachers and the rest of the staff that had contact with T failed to see this. He never wandered aimlessly about the class and school. He would quickly and efficiently finish work that he found tedious and boring and was then forced to sit placidly until he was forcefed even more unstimulating work.

Being at home allows T to be free, to pursue any and all interests when he chooses. He can spend an hour translating English into runes or hieroglyphics or two minutes glancing at the latest novel he has chosen to read. He can ask one question about a topic and be satisfied or completely immerse himself in a subject.

T the Protestor

2005-12-31T20:37:00.000-09:00

T has always been one to speak his mind when it comes to injustice, whether it is not following rules on the school playground or environmental problems he sees while we are driving around town. His newest endeavor is protesting. He is so up in arms about all the trees that have been cut down and land cleared for post housing. Some of this land sits with piles of rotting trees since it was discovered that the ground was permafrost (nice of them to discover this after cutting the trees). When T found out he was incensed. He now wants to protest the unnecessary cutting of trees.

Once his friends come home from Christmas break, he wants to have a meeting at our house to organize his protesting group....get their input on how they feel about the trees being cut down, what they think can be done about it, make signs, etc. Basically rally the troops. ;o) He did say that he "will have to get permission from his friends' parents" first. LOL I'm trying to get him to see that letter writing and such is also a valuable way of letting yourself be heard. I know T feels very passionately about a number of things but never thought he'd become a social activist at the age of nine. Thoughts of a few kids protesting on post remind me of two things: Hermoine's SPEW campaign in "Harry Potter" and the running joke Jody and I have about "boycotting Hell" at the local baptist church.

Books, books, books.....and games

2005-12-31T11:38:00.000-09:00

I think this Christmas could be described as "The Year of the Books." Two days before Christmas T said "I know what I want for Christmas!" I was screaming on the inside "It's two days before Christmas and NOW you decide to tell me what you want?? It's a wee bit late for that!" Keeping my composure I asked him what he wanted. "Books, books, and more books!" was his reply. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the past few months I bought several books to give to T for Christmas -- "Wizardology," "Dragonology" and its companion book "The Dragonology Handbook," "The Star Wars Ultimate Visual Guide," "How to be a Pirate," and "Inkheart."

You just never know what books may spark T's interest. He's used the two dragon books together. One has rune "translations" and he is using that to translate runes into English from the other book. The Star Wars guide seems to be a permanent fixture on our dining table. T flips through it whenever he is eating, and I've been known to search for vague Star Wars trivia when both of us can't seem to answer each others questions.

The two "ology" books are so imaginative and well thought out. They are, of course, fiction but are written from a research, nonfiction standpoint. The same goes for the dragon handbook and the pirate book. Dad was not thrilled with this. He seems to think it will confuse T on what is real and what is not....whatever.....

T received "Sly 3" for Christmas and has been playing it whenever the TV is free. With the Christmas money he received he bought "Heroscape" and "Star Wars Battlefront" for PS2. It looks like the Star Wars game will take center stage on the PS2 for a while. Heroscape looks really cool and should be fun to play if I ever take time to figure out the rules! It has a ton of hexagonal pieces so you can build your own 3D gameboard and comes with a number of playing pieces that are similar to Mageknight characters. So far, T has just really enjoyed making up his own "worlds" and playing with the game as he sees fit.

Critters, critters everywhere...

2005-12-31T10:10:00.000-09:00

Our home is beginning to look like a zoo of miniature proportion. The fish and basenjis are now sharing their home with Merry the cockatiel (we've had her since Aug) and the newest additions of two hermit crabs and soon-to-be triops (who are still in egg form).

We found the hermit crabs at Petco several weeks ago, but their new living conditions were not that ideal -- a smallish critter keeper. After some research, T and I went out to gather up supplies for the perfect "crabitat" -- a ten gallon aquarium with screen lid (couldn't find a glass lid), under tank heater, sand, driftwood, and a nice large water bowl. Because of its size, we set up the crabitat in the computer room. T thought Merry's squawking would hurt the crabs' ears, but they will have to learn to be roommates. ;o) It seems that the crabs are quite happy; our more active crab hightailed it around the aquarium several times, racing through the length of the driftwood, examining the large shell, messing with the fake plant, and spending quite a bit of time in the water and food dishes. HAPPY CRABS! Contrary to their name, hermit crabs actually live in large colonies so we may end up purchasing one or two more to give our guys a more colony feel.

T purchased a triops kit from Schoolhouse Express a few days ago, but the hatching project has been on hold since we needed bottled water for their little tank. If he's interested, we'll get them set up sometime today.

Post Christmas Euphoria

2005-12-29T23:17:00.000-09:00

Aahhhh...my parents have left after a weeklong visit, and all is now right in the house. Even T was relieved to have the house to ourselves once again. He was a tremendously good sport overrall during the visit. Dad insists on watching every news channel nearly 24/7, except when there is football, basketball, golf, or a car race on. *sigh* T had to vie for time on the TV so he could play on his PS2.

The week was busy. We came across two Star Trek models (Enterprise and an old Klingon vessel) that T put together. He also received Sly 3 for the PS2 for Christmas so he has spent every chance he can playing it.

I bought a backgammon game before my parents arrived, in hopes that Dad would teach T how to play (he taught me the game when I was T's age). Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but Mom reintroduced herself to the game by reviewing the instructions, and we played a number of games one night. Hopefully I will be able to teach T if he is interested. I could see him being a ruthless backgammon player. I read somewhere that backgammon is derived from the ancient Egyptian game "Senet" (don't know how accurate that claim is), and T is very interested in learning it. I have it on order from an online store.

Tonight T and I watched a program on Egyptian curses and the 10 plagues of Egypt...very interesting stuff!

Counting down to Christmas...

2005-12-21T22:51:00.000-09:00

T's been going nuts over the Christmas nuts. For two years now, T gets to open up a hollow walnut shell...one for each day during the week leading up to Christmas. I guess they aren't actually hollow - they have a little strip of paper that give a clue to a small present. He may get things such as Silly Putty, a new book, etc. Today he got a small set of Magnetix, which are ball and rod magnets.

T received a box today from his grandma, and I let him open two out of the three gifts. He got another set of Magnetix and two Bionicles. He spent quite a bit of time in his room today watching a movie and putting together his Bionicles. He's been tinkering with the magnets throughout the day, making cubes and other various shapes/images, including his interpretation of Phineas Gage.

Last night T and I watched a program on Stonehenge -- it was fascinating! They talked about all sorts of things, from the theories on what it was used for to possible ideas on the construction. At one point T looked at the stones and said "hey those are sandstone!" Later, they revealed that the largest stones were, indeed, sandstone!

2005-12-19T23:36:00.000-09:00

Well, the week leading up to Christmas is upon us, and I'm working at top speed to get ready for Mom and Dad to arrive at the end of the week. T and I ran errands for part of the day...picking up a cable box for the master bedroom, the prime rib for Christmas Dinner, and a TV/DVD combo for T's room (BAD mom!).

This afternoon, T watched "Valiant" while putting together two models we picked up at Michaels. For the past few days he has really wanted to build an airplane model, so today he built a stealth fighter and an Apache. It's amazing how industrious he can be!

This evening T played on Neopets while I installed the cable box and finally attached the phone to the wall (GO ME!). After successfully hooking up the cable, I discovered that we get many more stations upstairs than on our main TV...go figure. T and I ended up watching a really cool reality show about the Iron Age on History Channel International. They had a group of 17 folks (men, women, and kids) living in an Iron Age Celtic "village" for seven weeks...very interesting stuff. We were lucky and watched part 1 tonight.

I've started working on a homeschool portfolio for T. It includes a basic course study outline just in case anyone ever tries to question what we are doing. With Alaska being so lax I doubt that will happen, but I'd rather play it safe. I also plan to write down any outings, a summary of activities week to week, and all the books that T reads.

2005-12-17T23:00:00.000-09:00

Today T wanted to go to a movie. Since there really aren't any out that we haven't seen (except for Peter Jackson's "King Kong" which I don't know if T can handle), T asked if we could head to Value Village. We can't seem to leave this store without a bagfull of books, and today was no exception. Their kid's books are dirt cheap, however, so there is never any real damage to the pocketbook.

In addition to the various kid's novels, we found two books on ancient Egypt and one on the Aztecs. We also found a game T really enjoys called "Guess Who?"

This afternoon and evening, T spent time some time flipping through the Aztec book and looking at several "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoons I printed off the computer. From reading one of the comic strips, he was inspired to make a shrunken head...go figure! So, next thing I know T is diving into the fridge's produce drawer in search of an apple (future shrunken head).

T spent quite a bit of time on Neopets -- surprise, surprise -- and found another game where you can build your own levels. This one is a bit more complex, and we had to download the small program so he could make them. He learned how and where his saved files were located, how to copy/paste, and how to upload his levels onto the Neopets' site. I think he watched me only once and was then able to do it himself. He's probably built a half dozen or so levels already tonight.

2005-12-16T12:00:00.000-09:00

I do believe that we have entered the world of the night owls with Tristan. Not too surprising, since both J and I also tend to be like the night more than the day. The past two nights I have left T to his own devices on the computer while I headed to bed. Yesterday morning I woke up at 4AM to find him still playing away on Neopets. I had him get off and go to bed - he was none too happy about that. Looking back, I should have just ignored it. If he had been up all night and had a rough day yesterday due to lack of sleep, it probably would have been a learning experience for him.

This morning I woke up expecting him to be on the computer still, but I found him in bed. Right now it is noon, and he is still asleep. I need to get some things done around the house so I'm sure that activity will wake him up. I think I'll let this go on for a while and see if he can settle onto a sleep schedule on his own. He is so used to having his entire day dictated to him from the moment he gets up to the time he goes to bed. I'd like to allow him more control over his days.

The past two days, T has spent a lot of time playing Neopets and yesterday watched a few hours of Star Trek TNG. Last night we watched "Kronks New Groove." Right...... That was...well...one we could have passed by. At the end T said "we watched all of this movie for THAT?!?!" I don't think he was real impressed either.

2005-12-13T23:37:00.000-09:00

T is so driven. From the moment he wakes up until way past his bedtime (or at least the time I think he should be in bed) he is on the go. And it isn't just mindless wandering or uncontrollable motion - there is a purpose for everything he does. Today is no exception.

In town today we stopped at Schoolhouse Express. Apart from the comic shop, this is by far T's favorite store. We picked up two "Dragon Slayer's Academy" books and some wooden geometric blocks. T found a great "Make Your Own Mummy" kit so we bought that as well. Then we went by JoAnns so I could find a small sketchpad. While there T asked if we could pick up some more burlap for a backup Scarecrow mask. When I was looking at the drawing paper, T saw a neat quill and inkpot. Yep, that ended up leaving the store with us.

Once home T was on the run with his projects. He watched "The Mummy Returns" while going through his mummy kit. We made the canopic jars and T wrapped his mummy...and then unwrapped and wrapped again. He worked with the quill a bit. I was unable to get it to write at all, but T was quite successful.

For most of the evening T played on Neopets. He spent a few hours making his own levels to a certain game, each one more intricate and tricky than the next.

T, of course, never forgets about anything so at around 11PM he asks if we can pull out the sewing machine to make his mask. *sigh* As tired as I was (and still am!) it was hard to know I would curb his enthusiasm by telling him "not tonight." So out came the sewing machine and soon we had a duplicate mask.

I'm throwing caution to the wind when it comes to bedtimes and see how T does. Bedtime has always been a battle and with him having difficulties sleeping, forcing him to go to bed just makes things so much worse. So for now I'm not even going to mention when he has to go to bed and see how he reacts to it. I think he'll be staying up way later than I'm comfortable with, but hopefully we will soon fall into a rhythm. You never know til you try!

2005-12-11T23:54:00.000-09:00

I feel lazy. Completely and utterly lazy. Not that T and I don't do anything, but we are getting up later and later each day. It is wonderful to catch up on some much needed sleep.

T had Jr Nordics today. While he went off to ski, I stayed behind in the lodge and read. He came back pretty bumped up, physically and emotionally. They had skied on a trail dubbed "Roller Coaster," and T had his share of falls along the way. At one point, he hit his head and one of the other skiers proceeded to laugh at his troubles. Poor kid has such a sensitive nature that the laughing probably hurt worse than any bruises he might have received today.

This afternoon T discovered the auctions on Neopets. Oh joy. Today Neopets, tomorrow eBay. He's been checking on several items for hours now, making sure that he is still the highest bidder. He wants items for his shop. Donald Trump, T is not. He'll buy things for his shop and then sell them for less than the price he bought them for. His reasoning? He thinks people are charging way too much, and T wants everyone to be able to afford to buy things.

We finished making the Turkish Delight this evening, and...well....it's none too delightful. It was like playing with incredibly sticky and thick slime, and it was insanely sweet. And not a yummy chocolate sweet, but a fruity sweet (it was made with oranges). Icky, icky, icky.

Before heading to bed T and I critiqued bits and pieces of "The Mummy Returns." T can pick out the tiniest mistakes and details in movies. I truly wish I had his skill of observation.

2005-12-10T21:34:00.000-09:00

I think T has become a teen in just a period of days....or at least developed the sleeping habits of one. He was up until nearly 3:30AM this morning and woke up at 11:30AM and only because I ventured downstairs and disturbed him. I'm wondering if I should just let this go and see how it develops (is it just a stage he's going through?) or if I should try to "force" him to sleep? Right now I've been pretty lax...allowing him to read, listen to his audiobooks, and even watch a movie. I think if I make him stay in his darkened room, it will just stress him out more and make his insomnia (or whatever it is) even worse.

I signed T up to play at the CDC for a few hours today. They were having a "Parents Shopping Day" this afternoon. I thought this would be a great opportunity for T and I to have a bit of time away from eachother. I could do some last minute Christmas shopping, while he had a chance to place with some other kids. Although it was supposed to last for four hours, I picked T up after only 2 1/2 hours -- I was bored! I milled around a few businesses but couldn't keep myself occupied for the entire time. I did, however, find another copy of "The Phantom Menace" which I lost at the theater yesterday. When I picked up T he was teaching three other boys how to play the card game "Cheat." LOL

When we arrived home, T went to see if a friend could play. The friend's mom, however, was babysitting. T said it was ok his friend couldn't play since the boy had "more important things to do" by helping his mom. It's crazy how this kid can fly off the handle at some of the smallest things (at least in my mind) but can come up with the most mature thoughts at times. T spent the rest of the afternoon playing on Neopets -- opening a few shops of his own and reading a neopets comic.

Tonight we made stage one of Turkish Delight. Once we mixed all the ingredients together, T ran from the room feigning illness, since the concoction had a nasty, yellow gelatinous look. I had hoped to tint it red, but it instead came out more bubblegum pink. We'll let it harden overnight, and tomorrow we will cut it into pieces and then roll them in powdered sugar.

T spent some time watching bits and pieces of "The Mummy Returns" extra footage. He is really into the making of the movies, especially when it comes to the visual effects. Now whenever he sees footage of Imhotep (the Mummy) he refers to him in stages...."oh, Mom, he's in Stage 2 in that scene!" or "I think there he is in Stage 4."

I found a skull hologram pendant at Hallmark a few weeks before Halloween. I had meant to give it to T but misplaced it shortly after I bought it. Wouldn't you know that I found it this evening. T was thrilled and has dubbed it his "Pendant of Death." He asked me how holograms are made, and I didn't have a clue. So, we looked up the answer in "The Handy Physics Answer Book" I found at Gullivers a few weeks ago. On the back cover it lists several sample questions, including "why is it dangerous to look at a solar eclipse?" Looking up this answer led to a discussion on pinhole cameras and how to make them and then the difference between solar and lunar eclipses.

During our evening walk with Jazzie, T contemplated the rationale behind the "Book of the Dead" and the "Book of Life" in the two Mummy movies. In the movies, the "Book of the Dead" is used to bring people back to life, while the "Book of Life" takes life away. Both T and I think it would make more sense to switch those around (death brings about death, life begets life). So we talked....and talked....and talked some more about this subject.

Right now T is hunkered down in bed under his new reading lamp. I'm hoping he'll read until he falls asleep. :o)

2005-12-09T18:52:00.000-09:00

Oh, the moodiness that constant togetherness creates...or does it? Poor T has had the worst time sleeping over the past several days, and I think it is really starting to show in his overrall mood and attitude during his waking hours.

We went to see "Narnia" today, and I was really surprised at how full the theater was, especially for a school day. There were a handful of kids, but the vast majority were adults. It was a very good and wellmade movie! The villain (the White Witch) was despicable, just as a villain should be, and downright creepy.

After the movie, we ran a few quick errands, and I realized that I had left T's new book, "Star Wars: Phantom menace" at the theater. By the time we arrived at the theater, the book was nowhere to be found. T gave me the silent, pouty, ugly-look treatment for a few hours.

As the afternoon wore on, T became more agreeable (must've been the time on neophytes....) and was eager to go to "The Nutcracker." My enthusiasm had really waned...I was tired and just not in a good mood. We did go, however -- at least for a bit.

At the intermission, T asked if we could leave, and I was more than ready. I must be a completely uncultured swine, but I found it to be incredibly tedious and downright boring. The few crying kids and the constant whispering/talking of the people a few rows behind us had T about ready to go over the edge.

Before heading home, we stopped at Taco Bell to grab some late dinner. On the way home, T started laughing hysterically and was constantly cracking himself up over his invented jokes. It seems like his mood improves as the day goes on.

During dinner (grilled chipotle burritos - not bad!) we got into a discussion of who is the most evil --- the Scarecrow, the Steward of Gondor, or the White Witch. I voted for a tie between the Steward and the Witch. T thought it would most definitely be the Steward. LOL

At some point during the day, T asked me what Turkish delight is. It was somesort of candy/sweet that one of the characters in "Narnia" is quite fond of. I had no clue as to what it actually was so I googled it for T and came up with a recipe. He asked if we could make some so I will probably pick up the ingredients tomorrow.

It looks to be another late night affair at our house. It is nearly 1AM, and here I am, typing away with T still awake listening to "Harry Potter" -- he's almost finished with the audio book, by the way.

2005-12-08T17:16:00.000-09:00

The past few nights have been hard for T; he hasn't been able to fall asleep until about 1AM. Thank goodness we don't have the pressure of having to get up early for school. He'd be absolutely miserable. I'm thinking of buying him a reading lamp to sit next to his bed so if he can't sleep he can read/play quietly and have some subdued light in his room. The bright light in his room can't be conducive at all to sleep.

Today T came up with a new plan in regards to chores and his allowance. He thinks it would be best if he were paid by the day. If he does chores on 4 out of 7 days, then he is only paid for those four days. Smart kid, since for a while he wouldn't get any allowance if he forgot one or two days during the week. He wants to make up a weekly chart so he can mark off what days he does his chores...and what days he partially does them. Computing his weekly allowance could get complicated! LOL

We rented the Narnia Playstation game and the original "War of the Worlds" today. T got quite a kick out of the movie and laughed hysterically through much of it (probably not what the director quite had in mind for an audience reaction, but....). The incredibly dramatic music and the primitive special effects (being able to see the wires suspending the UFOs) make for a great Mystery Science Theater 3000 opportunity. T really seemed to enjoy the Narnia game. It's amazing how he can guide himself through a brandnew game without any instruction whatsoever. Although I wouldn't have a clue as to how to play, I must say it really is beautifully made game.

It looks like we messed up when we created T's neopets account. We haven't been able to officially "activate" it so he is locked out of many of the features. So, we spent a bit of time making him a new account, creating a new neopet for him, etc. T spent most of his evening on the computer. A number of the Neopet games are very similar to old Atari and arcade games, such as Space Invaders and Qbert. It's funny to see new twists on old ideas.

Tomorrow will be an eventful day. We plan to see "Narnia" on its opening day and will be attending "The Nutcracker" tomorrow night.

2005-12-07T23:08:00.000-09:00

Today was pretty low-key. Both T and I slept in quite late and spend the morning reading (me) and playing on the computer (T). In the afternoon we ran a few errands in order to get ready for the impending visit of the grandparents....a stop at the Class 6 for wine and Alaska Amber was in order.

After school got out T had a friend over to play for a few hours. They bounced around from watching movies, playing Playstation, and messing with T's neopets.

Most of T's evening was spent on the computer and choreographing/photograping more clone trooper battles, while I watched LOST (a rerun, darnit!). I did figure out how to scan documents into pdf format tonight - go me!

While we were driving around this afternoon, T piped up and said he was "happy." It was strange. I can't remember the last time he just exclaimed how he was feeling. I'm thinking that pulling him from school was the best thing we could have done.

2005-12-06T22:27:00.000-09:00

Well it has been a week since we withdrew T from school. It's quite a liberating feeling, to be honest. No more worries about who from the school might contact me today, what T's mood will be when he arrives home, staying up way too late to listen to all of T's concerns and worries about the upcoming day and past school days. Even though I'm sure we will have our good days and bad with homeschooling, there is already a more relaxed atmosphere in the house. While walking Jazzie this afternoon, T thanked me for homeschooling him. He's generally been quiet about the whole affair. I'm not sure if he is having any misgivings about it or not. It is still early, however. Hopefully we will all remain happy with this decision.

We picked up the Star Wars Episode III soundtrack at WalMart today, along with "Cinderella Man" and the second volume of "Clone Wars." As soon as we got home, T was up in his bedroom and you could hear Star Wars blaring from his CD player. He knows exactly where each piece of music is in the movie and can rattle off large chunks of dialog to correspond with the music. He's definitely inherited J's knack for memorizing movie lines! T was so excited to see that "Clone Wars Vol 2" had been released; he's been anxiously looking for it for months. One of the special features of "Clone Wars" was an animated short entitled "Revenge of the Brick," that involved Legos Star Wars. It was quite hilarious.

This evening T played Neopets while listening to his new music. He's really learning his way around the computer and has shown me a few tricks. I saw him this evening use the "search" function on the neopets site to find a game he was looking for.

Right now he's doing double reading "duty"....reading "Batman Begins" (for a second time) while listening to "Harry Potter."

I'm reading a new book "Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooled Life" which has been incredibly hard to put down. I'm bouncing back and forth between watching "Cinderella Man" or finishing my book tonight!

I decided to watch "Cinderella Man" and although it kept my attention, I turned it off after about 30 minutes...I was just too tired to stay up all night! Plus, poor T came wandering down the stairs at around midnight. So we headed upstairs and told him he could mess about his room for awhile before trying to get back to sleep. He listened to "Harry Potter" while making up scenes with his clone troopers. He then went to photographing the scenes and taking very short movies, complete with music and sound effects. I'm sure he'll be thrilled with the camcorder he is going to get for Christmas. We both ended up crawling into bed at about 1AM. A very late night for the both of us.

2005-12-05T22:12:00.000-09:00

We are just a few weeks away from the winter solstice, and it sure does make getting up in the morning difficult! I had to drag myself out of bed at 8AM, and everytime I walked past my bedroom the pillows and comforter beckoned. It would be so easy to just sleep the entire winter away!

T spent the morning watching some of "Batman Begins" and playing around on the Neopet website. After lunch we headed out to buy tickets for some of the performances that are happening this month -- "The Nutcracker" and "A Thousand Cranes." T saw "The Nutcracker" a few years ago with his first grade class and has mentioned that he'd like to see it again. Believe it or not, I've never even seen it so it will be a new experience for me. "A Thousand Cranes" seems a bit deep for the Christmas season, but it is considered children's theater so we shall see. I've heard great things about the local theater troops.

We then went and poked around the new Petco that opened a few weeks ago, and we ended up walking out with two hermit crabs (yes, I know...BAD MOM!!). T took great care to get their new home set up and made sure they settled in well.

The rest of T's afternoon was spent playing Neopets, and it seems he's become quite the proficient card player. He's been playing a game called "Cheat" (known to adults as the cardgame "BS"). Don't know if it's good he can beat folks at this game or not! LOL He also played with his megablocks while listening to "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince."

This evening we watched "The Mummy Returns." Kind of a mindless movie, but after watching three hours of DaVinci last night I think we could afford it. ;o) T recently read the adult novel of the movie and spent much of the time telling me what was coming up and how the movie differed from the book. Nothing escapes this kid!

I spent some time today comparing various math curriculums. It was enough to make my head spin! I feel like I need to rush and have some ready to teach T, but I also don't want to push anything on him right now. I think all the other "subjects" will come naturally, through just following T's interests. He has so many, that I know we can easily incorporate so many subjects into a single topic. Math, however, does concern me a bit, especially if he/we decide to put him back into school next year.

2005-12-04T20:17:00.000-09:00

Well, three days have come and gone.... They really seemed like your typical long weekend....T playing a lot on both the PS2 and the computer, watching some movies, etc.

I introduced T to "Neopets." I'm not so sure that was a good idea. He now has a total of four pets - one that he "designed" himself and the other three were adopted. Grief, he probably would have adopted 100 more if he had been allowed. He wants to help them all...even if they are only little virtual critters. He now has a small house built and is earning "neopoints" by the thousands in order to buy food, medicine, and other necessities for his little charges.

Last night we went to Glow Putt for a Christmas party. Funny how there are so many people in the area that wear more than one hat in the community. The mayor for North Pole, for example, is also a science teacher and the director for the yearly science camp. The owner of Glow Putt is also the chief meteorologist for one of our local TV channels. Anyway....the party was fun, and T managed to get at least four holes in one (or is that hole in one's??).

Today was spent milling around the house, and then we headed off to the library, BBV, and the comic book store where I bought a new game called "Set." We'll see how that game goes. Right now T is watching a documentary on Leonardo DaVinci.

Most of my weekend has been spent reading. Heck, most of my free time (and then some!) has been spent reading....book, internet articles, email groups... I read one homeschooling book ("The Unschooling Handbook") in two late evenings. I'm now working on several books simultaneously: "Teach Your Own" "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" and "Raising Your Spirited Child." That last one might as well be called "Raising T" as I've never seen a more apt description of T in anything I've ever read. Both of the other books are incredibly insightful when it comes to homeschooling. Even though T is not a teenager and he's not trying to liberate himself from school (the main premise of the book) it does have a number of ideas on how to incorporate learning while just LIVING -- doing the things you're interested in, following your dreams, etc.

T has been really moody the past few days, getting frustrated extremely easily and just grumpy for the most part. I don't know if he's having conflicting feelings of leaving school...or maybe this is how he always is at school and I'm just now seeing the "real" T? Hopefully it's just a phase and nothing more serious than that.

2005-12-01T14:54:00.000-09:00

So here we are, the first day as homeschoolers.

T got up fairly early and played "The Mummy Returns" on his PS2 for a little while. After reminding him that we had a few errands to run later that morning, he went up and got dressed. He bounded down the stairs with books under his arms. One on Egypt and the other on the human body. "Where should we start, Mom? Afterall, we are doing homeschool now!" While eating breakfast, he thumbed through his body book thinking of different ways that I can test him on material.

Before we left the house, T began to mope. I asked him what was wrong, and he said that he was "bored." BORED?!?! It wasn't even 10:30AM, and I already had a child that was bored. This didn't look good. Hopefully he was surly since he wasn't real thrilled about getting out of the house.

Noon approached, and T asked if was almost lunchtime. I said that it was and asked him if he'd like to grab something to eat. His response? "But, Mom, when are we going to do recess? We always have recess before lunch, or we can do it after since you are the teacher -- even the principal! -- now." *sigh*

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing on the PS2, while I discovered the world of "neopets." I could see that being quite an addictive little activity; although, I bet T would enjoy it. I plan on showing it to him tomorrow.

This evening T finished his Scarecrow mask (it would have been finished last night, but I needed to hunt down some thick black thread for the finishing touches), and we watched "Lilo and Stitch 2." It's late, and T is now hunkered down on the couch (his bed for the night) with one of his many Goosebumps books.

I can see this being a very unsettling time for both T and I. For T, he'll need to abandon his "schoolish" thinking while dealing with a wave of different emotions, a task that may prove more difficult than I first thought. I never thought that he would be making references to school throughout the day - and it did happen all day long. For me, I'll have to gently guide T along this path and encourage him all the way, while working through my own feelings.

Schooling on the Homefront

2005-12-01T00:04:00.000-09:00

Well, I never thought the time would come. J and I have tossed around the idea here and there for years, but today was the day. Today was the day we withdrew T from public school and began the journey of homeschooling.

This has been a long time coming. The situation at school this year started off poorly and has only continued to deteriorate. Hopefully T will regain his love of learning, and his feelings of self-worth will improve by being schooled at home. For me, most of the day has alternated between periods of exhilaration and nausea. On one hand, I think this could be such a wonderful opportunity for not just T but our entire family, but I can't help admit that the prospect of homeschooling scares the living daylights out of me. Can I really do this? Are we doing it for the right reasons? Will Tristan love it or hate it? Will I love it or hate it? The questions today were neverending.

We'll have a period of deschooling, and I'm really not sure how long that will be. A few weeks? A month? Maybe much longer? Most of that will be dependent on T - how quickly he is able to let go of his feelings toward the school and the ways he has been taught in the past. I have a feeling it will take me longer to deschool than T. I have a lot of anger to deal with in regards to the school.

This first evening of "freedom" was incredibly busy for T. After school we headed to Blockbuster to find a few movies and then to JoAnn's for some burlap. T's latest movie craze centers around "Batman Begins", and he was determined to make a Scarecrow mask, modeled after one of the villains in the movie. He was eager to start this project, but I had him put it on hold temporarily so I could watch "LOST." While I indulged myself watching my favorite program, T entertained himself by listening to "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" and playing with his Star Wars figures.

We then started on the mask. So here we are, 9:00 at night, hunched over the sewing machine I can barely use, trying to make a mask from a length of burlap. T successfully made quite a nice replica of the Scarecrow mask, with very little help from me. Of course, we then had to watch bits and pieces of "Batman Begins" in order to compare T's mask to the real thing. He has a few alterations in mind that we will complete tomorrow.