9/11

I know this is a few days past but it's been a crazy week. On Sept. 11 I decided that for school we would watch a History Channel documentary on the attacks in order to give the boys some inkling of the enormity of the events. At first when I brought it up they both rolled their eyes and said, "We KNOW. We KNOW. You already told us about this in school." Well, they were right, I did. Last year! I was surprised they recollected anything about it at all but then they recited many of the details and were pretty accurate. So then I explained to them that we would learn about it again every year because it is important that we never forget the events of that day since it forever changed our country.

Reluctantly they sat down for the documentary and it wasn't on for a full minute before they were glued to it, totally compelled to watch the horror of it. I have mixed emotions about them viewing it. On the one hand it is scary and horrific but on the other hand there is so much to be learned from our past; even the atrocities of it. I have profound recollection of watching things about Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust as a child and I think it was a positive learning experience for me then so I figure the same goes for them now.

Even as I sat pondering all of this I got a glimpse of their depth of understanding and maturity about it. Moments after the second tower fell, the film makers interviewed onlookers and one man; clearly in agony over what he'd seen; bitterly said, "I think we should go over and kill them all. They do this to us, we need to annihilate them." I looked at the boys and both of their eyes were glistening. Nate said, "That is so wrong. Why would someone do that?" Caleb said, "That man is wrong though. Only God can judge those people." Nate said, "You're right."

Why isn't the world run by children?

Walking With Dinosaurs-Live

A few months ago a friend of ours hooked us up with tickets to Walking With Dinosaurs Live. She was able to get us the group discount for the only "school group performance" so the tickets were a smokin' deal. Then the icing on the cake was that when she called to find out our seat assignment the coordinator told her that since the "good seats" hadn't sold out, they were allowed to open them up to us so we were able to get the $70 seats! They were literally front and center!!

The best part about it was the surprise since I didn't tell the kids where we were going or what we were doing until we walked into US Airways Arena. They totally flipped out. Even then they didn't understand the magnitude of what they were about to see until the first LIFE SIZED animatronic dinosaurs walked out on stage. (Look closely at the picture of the brachiosaurs and you will notice the paleontologist sitting on the rocks between their necks. That speck is a real person!) It was totally amazing and we will NEVER forget the day. I have to give a shout out to my friend Andrea Fisher for her thoughtful organization of the event. It was brilliant!

(The only negative: Now I just have to spend several weeks of homeschool deprogramming the kids of all the misinformation that the paleontologist was narrating throughout the performance. Ahhh...evolution...argh!)



I tried to upload our video of the mama T-Rex rescuing her baby but it wouldn't load so check out this little blurb from the producers if you are curious about the show.

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

The Frog Prince

Last year I found a large hole in my rose bed which I assumed the kids had dug out so after I got after them I filled it in. A couple of days later it was back so I started thinking it was erosion from one of the drippers and filled it in again. Every day I would notice it and fill it in and think...we have to do something about that dripper. Well one night I ran into a big toad on our patio and when we tried to catch him he hopped down into the hole. I had to laugh thinking about how many times I'd filled in his hole...poor guy kept having to dig out over and over again.

Anyway, shortly after that the kids dubbed our rose bed "The Frog Kingdom"---hence the Frog Prince figure that graces our front entry (Notice him in the background of the pics below)

Nate visits and catches Mr. Toad nearly every night and I am happy to say that he is the most maintenance free pet we have ever had. He is a hideous fellow but he's kind of grown on me and I am very careful when I pull into the driveway at night. (Okay, he is kind of cute.)

Cub Scouts service project...

My boys had a requirement to sign off that involved neighborhood cleanup. I am so proud of the great job they did at this abandoned house on my street. I never thought I'd get this "into" cubscouts. I love these boys---they are so entusiastic and sweet. Here are a couple of pics of their good deed:

BEFORE:













AFTER:

Great news!

My sister Shanny is expecting! For those of you who don’t know her sitch: It took her 7 years to get pregnant with her daughter Grace (who is now 19 mo. old) and they have been going through fertility treatments again now for the past few months so this is awesome news. I am totally stoked about sharing this pregnancy with her and living it vicariously through her. Plus it totally gives me a renewed hope that if they were able to get pregnant maybe we still have a chance. (I think I can…I think I can…)