Life goes on

Last Thursday was Gavin and Carleigh's last day of swim lessons:

 Most of what Gavin did in class was review, but it did help refresh his skills. At this point it's mostly just a maturity thing. Gavin can swim using correct form but often chooses not to in our pool. I make him do it the right way occasionally just so he doesn't forget but I'm not going to nag him every time he swims. Maybe next summer he'll be more interested in doing it right.

One day last week Gavin and Brayden ate lunch and played together at McDonald's and then we all went to see a puppet show at the library:

 The police station is next door to the library - I think this little car is for parades:

 In beginning to homeschool Gavin I have found he is an extremely hands-on/kinesthetic/tactile learner. Whatever you call it, he learns best through doing. This doesn't come as a shock, this is my lego constructing, minecraft building, playdoh playing for hours kid. Math worksheets just don't cut it. And, while he likes being read to, he has no interest in learning himself. Sometime in the past month or so I ordered unifix cubes to use for math (I had been on the fence about ordering but saw a good review from my friend Jenee on her blog - thanks!). They are perfect! We have used them to work on counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, estimation, and following instructions. Gavin likes them so much he asks to play with them. I make our math sessions fairly short to keep his interest and avoid burning out the fun:

 

 The unifix cubes worked so well I ordered unifix letter cubes to help with learning to read. They are a hit too, although given the choice Gavin would rather play with the ones without letters:

 (My Uncle Bill gave Gavin this I love Ft Walton Beach shirt a couple years ago - it was so big at the time I thought it would never fit - it's perfect now!)

 

Another educational tool we are exploring is Classical Conversations (to do at home, not attend classes). It combines memorization of facts with songs and hand movements. When I was researching it about a month ago Gavin quickly learned 3 parts of a plant: leaf, stem, roots with the accompanying hand gestures (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz9uyJWfk2Q) . Once in awhile out of the blue he'll recite it, and has told me he would like to learn more this way. I plan to order that material soon (once we pay for all the lightning damage!). 

Thunderstruck

When I was a kid we watched a movie called Brewster's Millions. In it Richard Pryor's character has to spend 30 million dollars in 30 days with nothing to show for it. It occurred to me yesterday that we are living that movie this week.

 

Last Friday at about 5:30 after I got home from work there was a huge thunderstorm. Lightning hit our big pine tree out front.

 

I was relieved that no limbs hit my Jeep. I would find out the next day that my Jeep got zapped - it wouldn't start. Had it towed in, 4 modules (computer systems) got blown out. It's still in the shop, maybe ready to pick up on Friday. $500 out the window (deductible for a claim under our comprehensive coverage.) We also got to replace our security system, sprinkler system controls, modem, router, and ooma. Jake is installing a new garage door opener right now. A stereo in his room also got zapped.

 debris was scattered everywhere:

A couple people have commented that it doesn't look like lightning because there is no charring on the tree, that it looks like wind damage. We saw the lightning. If it didn't hit the tree it was mighty close.

I convinced Jake to call some friends from church to help clean the limbs off our driveway. They came over Saturday morning and had it all cleaned up in under an hour. Awesome guys. They even raked the yard.

 Yesterday the tree guy came to remove both our pine trees (one was in the back yard.) It was pretty cool to watch them work. This shook the house when it fell:

The tree in the backyard:

A guy had to climb it, cut off the limbs, and lower them to the ground. It was scary to watch. It was at this point I understood why it costs so much to have trees removed (although we got an awesome deal - $680 for both trees and to grind the stumps):

Then he cut off the top in one big chunk:

And used this thing to pick up the fallen limbs:

no tree!

 front yard:

 a guy came out this morning to grind the stumps. It's like it was never there:

Jake just finished with the garage door opener. Once I get my Jeep back it will be like it all never happened. Minus about $2000. Brewster's Millions. 

* I should note that we are very fortunate that no one was hurt and our house didn't burn down. When we walked out front and saw the tree for the first time after the lightning Jake and I laughed. Gavin was a little freaked out. He said we should say a prayer for the tree to be fixed. It was a good reminder, we did stop and say a prayer of thanks for our safety.

* When we told Gavin the trees were going to be removed he sobbed inconsolably. He exclaimed sadly "Now Brayden can't knock down that tree!" When Brayden plays in our back yard he likes to bang on the pine tree with a toy hammer. Gavin was upset because Brayden won't have a tree to play with anymore.

A word my kid can pronounce

Jeep

This is my new vehicle (a 2012 Jeep Patriot with only 17k miles)

Yup - I got a new one too! After we traded in Jake's old car we decided to go ahead and trade mine in too while it was still worth a decent amount and before any major problems arose with it. Got great deals on both Jake's and my new cars.

A word my kid can't pronounce

Convertible

This is Jake's new ride (a 2005 Sebring with only 46k miles)

I always thought convertibles were only fun to go to the beach in (Jake had a Miata back in the day when we first met in Florida), but I've revised my position. Convertibles are pretty awesome on rural Georgia roads too, especially in the evening when the sun is setting and the foliage is especially fragrant. The sun felt pretty good on us today too as we ran errands.

 

Swim Lessons

Gavin started swim lessons this week, his 4th year of lessons but 1st time in a group class. He, of course, loves having other kids in his class, but sometimes gets in trouble for following their lead (goofing off when he's not supposed to). So far everything he's done has been review, emphasizing correct technique. He only has 2 weeks of classes (Mon-Thurs for 30 min), so it will be interesting to see if the classes make a difference.

 As an added bonus, Carleigh is taking swim lessons at the same time as Gavin, from a different teacher. The pool is next to a park, so each day so far the kids have gotten to go play after their lessons. It makes for a fun morning for the kids and their moms.

 

Reality of Adoption

Got this e-mail Monday, it is representative of many adoption situations I've come across lately.

We are currently looking for families interested in Patricia and Eric that are due to have a Caucasian baby girl around the 25th of this month. Mom and dad both used methamphetamine until they moved into our apartments about two weeks ago. Her blood test revealed last week that she may have Hepatitis C but we won't know for sure until she is tested again next week (if she does have Hep C it's less thank a 5% chance the child will contract it). Please email or call if you are interested in received more information. The fees are $41,500 which include her delivery. Thank you!

Supply and demand. You would think for $41k they could send an e-mail without a typo.

Happy Father's Day!