Chat Session

There seems to be this weird phenomenon where people think that because they are communicating via a somewhat anonymous source, it is OK to force their opinions upon me. Not that their opinions are wrong, but always with the attitude that I need them to help me out- almost as if I asked for their opinion. . .

The fact that this comes from a 14 year old boy* makes this one even funnier. And let's just pretend all of his spelling mistakes are typos, shall we?

*Names have been changed to protect the annoying boy who knows nothing about home schooling

10:10 pm Boy
what are you ding up so late on the computer

10:11pm Melissa
I don't have school tomorrow. What's your excuse?

10:12pm Boy
checking things

10:12pm Melissa:
are you ready for summer to be here already?

10:13pm Boy
YES

10:14pm Melissa
what day is school officially out?

10:16pm Boy
School's officially out next friday but my friend E graduated from middle school today and is done he keeps rubbing my face in it too and he's really making me mad

10:17pm Melissa
yeah, my kids were done last Thursday. are you in 9th?

10:17pm Boy
yeah and do you have to rub it in?

10:18pm Melissa
lol. sure. just another benefit of home school

10:18pm Boy
yeah well they don't get the social interaction of normal school though

10:21pm Melissa
nice try. They probably get more social time with all of the groups and activities they go to. The only thing they don't get is loads of busy work

10:22pm Boy
shut up

10:22pm Melissa
not if you're going to make false statements. . .

10:23pm Boy
They won't get to go to many high school activities which many people consider to be of vital importance to the development of the growing child

10:24pm Melissa
again, I laugh. What are we developing? the ability to consume large amounts of alcohol? Swearing? giving in to peer pressure? bumping and grinding at the school dances?

They have plenty of activities through their home school group which give them the experience they need while allowing them to do course work appropriate to their learning styles and levels. Last week, they went bowling with a group on Wednesday and to Disneyland with a different group on Friday. I think they're getting plenty of social development. But thanks for being concerned.

10:25 Boy
there's lots of other stuff. they can't be homeschooled through collage and they will lack the neccessary abilities needed to function in a classroom not of thier own choosing and through a method not tier own

10:27pm Melissa
Rebi is starting college in the fall, so I'm not too worried

And believe it or not, if you choose, you can indeed get a degree by doing entirely correspondence (from home) college courses. I could have done it when I was in college.

10:29pm Boy
she's 13 for goodness sake she doesn't belong in that kind of enviroment, she's growing up without a normal childhood. I know I had to make this choice myself I was going going to be tested like this but i said no because I wanted to be able to have a childhood

10:30pm Melissa
you should probably do more research before making those statements. She has a perfectly fine childhood and she's making the choices for herself. She's happy with her decision. And there's nothing wrong with a college environment. Why would you assume it's a bad idea?

10:31pm Boy
just you wait and see, there's plenty of examples of this if you look for it

10:31pm Melissa
my point is not that our way is right for you, but that you shouldn't assert that your way is the only way.

There are plenty of examples of kids who go through 4 years of high school and end up total losers who can't hold down jobs. Or they get addicted to drugs or go to prison.

10:32pm Boy
i'm not asseerting that myway is the only way but that my way seems like the more logical of the ways from the way i'm looking at it.

10:33pm Melissa
Because that's the only way you've ever known

10:33pm Boy
and albert einstien's teacher said he was going to be a janitor when he grew up but now he's the most renowned scientist in the world
(note from Melissa: I need someone to explain how that supports his assertion that school is best for all kids.)

10:33pm Melissa
but if you assert that failure is obvious for home schoolers in our situation, then it is also true that failure is obvious in traditional schoolers, if you look for it.

right. what did his teacher know? That he didn't focus on the stuff she thought he should?

10:35pm Boy
my mommy says I have to go to bed
bye

And I'm still giggling, not at his assumption that school is the only logical choice for him, but that he is so very sure that Rebi is ruined forever going to community college. I'm willing to bet our school choices have been discussed around their dinner table!

Thank goodness we still get to choose. . . I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Spoiled Youngest Kid

He got to decorate his own cake, eschewing the sprinkles and opting for his motto, "I'm cool" instead.

He quite enjoyed opening his presents in the restaurant where all tables could see him.

And was clearly thrilled with them. All of them received excited gasps, including the towel and the shirt.

The employees then placed a coffee filter on his head and a toilet seat cover around his neck and sang to him. Of course for him, it was all about the ice cream sundae.

But the snorkel set was such a HUGE hit, we decided to go night swimming so he could try out his new present. And when I say we, please know I mean they.

I triple love this photo. It is officially my new favorite of him.

Evan had to drag him from the pool because the rest of us were ready for cake.

Six attempts later, the candles were out and cake was consumed. And then everyone went quickly and quietly to bed. Right.

Attention! Attention!

We interrupt this birthday celebration to bring you a very important message:

A friend of mine visits an orphanage in Tijuana on a regular basis. At least once a month, she and some friends take food down, prepare a meal, leave food for the kids to eat until they make it back again, and spend the day playing with the kids. We are hoping to join them once a month from now on.

Currently, the orphanage has a need for electrical appliances. They need things like crock pots, large capacity griddles and electric skillets, and possibly even a big rice cooker. Something is wrong with the oven and they can't have it repaired, so they have been using 2 small electric burners to prepare food for all of the kids.

If any of you have electric items like these that are in good shape but you don't use, please let me know. I will happily arrange to pick them up (unless you live overseas. I will happily arrange to pick those up too, but then I will need additional help with the airfare. . .). If you would like to help financially, please leave me a comment or email me at astlefamily at gmail dot com.

And, Yay! Our trip to Africa next year might be off the table, if we can make a difference here and how were we going to come up with that kind of money anyway?

Happy Birthday Nate!

Again?? Already? It was only a year ago that I posted this and this and this. And as the youngest, time really does just fly by. But not to worry, he has so many funny things he says, I promise to keep adding them to the blog. I'm looking forward to when he starts dating and I can point his girlfriends to all of these posts. Way better than the naked baby bum photos parents love to share. Poor kid.

Happy Birthday Nate!

Festivity photos to follow, just as soon as I wrap the presents and bake the cake.

Edit: Both sets of Grandparents sent Nate the exact same birthday card. I guess it's pretty obvious who loves yellow lions. . .

Freedom!

We checked in all of our books and turned in the last of our school work today. Surprisingly, I didn't owe any money for lost materials. Which makes the new wing I'm financing at the library a little easier to swallow.

It's summer! No more begging the kids to sit and produce work, no more asking if their school work is done, no more sitting on top of Nate to get him to write. Anything.

At least not until September, when we insanely start all over again. And next year we're adding geography and foreign languages. . .

Me, a Procrastinator?

So, it's 11:30 Sunday night and I am realizing just how very much I have to get done before 8:15 am tomorrow morning. As in less than 9 hours from now. Why? Because I fully live by the motto, "Why get done today what you can put off until tomorrow?" And now that I am literally in the 11th hour, I realize just how much my motto sucks. Seriously. I need a new one.

Not helping me one little bit is this fatigue that makes me feel like I am pregnant again. And you women know what I mean. It's the kind of fatigue that makes you fall sharply into sleep without even realizing you have closed your eyes. Typically for me, that is in the middle of an intense conversation or over a stack of amazingly dull paper work.

The paperwork is losing. But I have to fill out 4 enrollment packets for kids for their charter school, finish tracking their learning on 3 separate sheets of paper, print out a P.E. log- and since it should accurately reflect the time they have spent exercising all month, I ought to add some information to it- and finish collecting all of their text books to turn in. Sadly, some of the text books have been living in my house since 2006. I kid you not. 2 years and 5 months of being lost in the de-cluttered clutter. As if I will ever find those. . . I won't even tell you that our last batch of library books were all returned over two weeks late and there is indeed one missing again. (Anyone seen an owl book? No?)

Someday, I am going to learn my lesson about procrastinating. At least I finally learned my lesson about pregnancy.

And most amusingly, I am going to sit down at some point tomorrow and think to myself, "Hmm. . . I wonder why I'm so tired." Because I have given all of my brain cells to my kids and cannot remember things that have happened in the last 24 hours.

Rain, and the first magician attempt

It poured rain here last week. In the 5+ years we've lived here, I'm not sure I'm ever seen it rain this hard.














Ellie, Tyler and Nate had a great time playing through the neighborhood. Naturally, they avoided the drainage holes. Or as we like to call them, the Lost and Gone Forever Holes.



















The streets were totally flooded. And I'm not sure how that umbrella is helping her.

Tyler made rain clothes out of trash bags. He was still soaked, but he felt good about his invention.




And this is the first try at the magic show. I love this video as it really shows his personality. Especially the point where he starts smacking himself. Priceless.