The Sorting Hat September 1, 2011

Or communist China.  Kind of similar I suppose. Both check the abilities of the child and place them in extra classes based on their abilities or needs.

The end of last school year they tested all the 1st graders to figure out where they belong.  I guess it is kind of a benchmarking thing that lets them know which children are falling thru the cracks, or which children could potentially be bored.  We got letters over the summer to let us know if our child was accepted to one of these “extra” programs.

Classes start next week and the kids are starting to talk.  “So and so is it QUEST, it is WAY HARDER than REACH”, etc. (REACH is the gifted program. QUEST is a one year program to groom them for REACH. )

Only thing about this sorting is, no hat is yelling out the results.

I Love Weather August 30, 2011

OK, first I’ll start with, i know weather has been hard on people lately with droughts and floods and hurricanes.  But i still love it.  I am fascinated by the power and unpredictability of weather events.  I am constantly impressed by God’s power.  Every time we think we have it figured out, He surprises us.

I remember when i was a child, standing on the front (or back) porch with Mom watching for tornadoes because there was a warning in effect. We knew we were safe because Mom said so.

Only once do i remember being scared in a storm. Mom had some mail to take to the mailbox down our long driveway. I decided i would take it – even though we were in the middle of a lightening storm. (That is how unscared we were.)  While walking down the driveway lightening hit the neighbor’s tree – granted that was on the other side of the corn field so I was in no danger.  It freaked me out and looking back was pretty dumb considering i was holding a metal umbrella.

I feel very fortunate to have a child who isn’t scared of storms.  He sleeps thru them or opens his blinds to watch the storm.  Also, I am fortunate to have a husband who tolerates this obsession. He is also the voice of reason who demands that during the worst events we at least go inside – once we hunkered down in the hallway.

Conversation with a Seven Year Old August 26, 2011

Night before last at bedtime, T was saying his prayers.  He prayed for Barley and Al: our dead dog and cat.  T prayed that God would bring Barley and Al back to earth.  I told him that is probably not going to happen.  He said “Mom the Bible says that Jesus will come back to earth. I’m just asking Him to bring them with Him when he comes.”

Sometimes, I think my seven year old out smarts me….

School Begins and Garden Burns August 25, 2011

We have almost made it through the first week of school. Second grade looks like it is going to be a good year.  He really likes his new teacher. Our kid really likes the karate after school program that he is attending a few days a week.

Work is a little hectic right now. I see a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m pretty sure it isn’t a train.

In two weeks it is time to start the fall garden.  Kind of hard to believe since it is still over 100 degrees out there. I have some garlic from last year that I will put in the ground and maybe i can have another round of tomatoes since the first round burned up in this heat. I need to move the grape vines up to a higher branch.  That will require a little bit of family help.

Hello world! August 19, 2011

Only took my about 5 months but I have updated our site.  I don’t know what random content we will have here but this is a start!