A New Blog.....I've Moved

With my random thoughts all over the place, I've been wanting to rename my blog and decided to move it to a new spot. So, come join me at
Acrobatic Thoughts

Biophilia Explained

I recently read "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv, and although I felt a push to get my body out in nature more, I still haven't succeeded much towards that end.  My children are a great example to me, and so I did agree to running around outside in the freezing wind last evening to do a Treasure Hunt that Toveli had arranged for Mother's Day.  But its still hard to get me out the door away from the kitchen/laundry/books/computer.  I admit to feeling soooooo much better after having spent some time out in nature, but I just don't respond well to even kicks to get me out the door.

Something I'm working on.

Anyways, here's something to speak to me (and maybe to you, too!).

What You Can Carry

Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Russian author & dissident in US (1918 – )

Boy Makes River

Did you see my post about Laars the other day?

Well, news has it that he has now done it in front of our parked van.

"Front of" means....closest to the street, since we back the van in.  Where all the neighbours could see (if they were passing by, or working in their yards and even cared one iota what was happening over at our Zoo).

Parked on a short but steep incline, he left a stream.  A river.  He is fascinated in making Rivers.

Pour a little water here on the kitchen tiles and watch the streams flow along the grout.

Pee a little there and watch where the stream will flow.

See how red mama's face can be.

And her heart smile a big smile because

He's my boy!!!



PS.  Cute for a 3 yr old, even if it wasn't my boy.  I'd think yours was adorable, too.  But not so cute if it was an 8 yo.  I'm sure we'll be a little more discreet by then.

Rainbows in the Day

The sun has been coming out and that is when I go out to play. After a little bit it starts to rain and the sun is still out. And then I start to look around in the sky. And if I don’t see any thing I go to the front of the house .And if I see something I run up to my house door and open the door and then I yell ”there is a rainbow.” And then all of the little kids come running out to see it. And if they don’t see it they say ”where is it.” And then I show them. so what do you do after you see a rainbow?

~written by our 9yod Toveli.  She wrote this as a blog post for a closed blog with other students, and she chose these colours to represent the rainbow.  I thought it was very creative, and wanted to share it with you.

Making a Stream

That is NOT a shadow in front of Laars.

Here's what happened, leading up to this funny.

I was making soup earlier today. Anders came in to tell me that Laars went pee. Outside.
I asked Danaka and Maret to take over the soup-making as I figured I would find a wet and cold boy who would love to have a bubble bath during the clean-up process just because he loves to.

I was surprised to find our 3yo standing at the front door with dry pants and a wet stream flowing down the aggregate. I told him that we shouldn't be peeing at the front door. We can go on the toilet. No big deal.

I went in the house to get some water to dilute the walkway of the yellow stuff. The boys of course wanted to play in the stream and proceeded to do that with rocks from the pathway once mama went in the house to continue with the soup.

A few hours later. Mama is back in the kitchen (because the kitchen seems to be the central command station) and Laars says "I gotta go pee". I asked if he needed any help, and he confidently said "No" and off he ran towards the bathroom. However, I heard the chime we have set to signify that an outside door has been opened. And I thought "He's not......??"

I notice that the toilet us unoccupied as I walk past the bathroom, but standing just in front of our Welcome Mat at the front door, pants still up but his you-know-what pulled up and out and creating a yellow fountain that will result in a stream he soooo admires.

Sweet little boy, steals my heart all the time.

When his father got home I asked him what would make a little boy do that. His response was "Because he can!"

I admit, I don't understand boys. They are just plain weird.

Sundaes on Sundays

One of Mitchell's favorite foods is Raw Ice Cream.

And it seems appropriate to have Sundaes

on Sundays.

Here is Raw Banana Ice Cream

 (frozen bananas creamed in the food processor)

Drizzled with Nut/Seed Butter

(peanuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans,

walnuts, flax oil, almonds)

And a Chocolate Sauce

(cocoa powder, honey, hot water)

A Chair to Knead Bread

It was Layne's day to make challah.

But the whole wheat is a bit hard on the processors motor sometimes, so we have to use the arm muscles.

But when the counter is too high, or you are just a tad too short, you can't get the power you need to knead that dough.

Thus, call in the chair for support!

She needs a stool to blow out the candles on the mantlepiece, too!!

Save the Frogs Day

I LOVE FROGS!!!  especially the little green tree frogs.  Oh my, my heart melts almost every time one of my littles brings me a cute little frog.  I've even let them come into the house, for a short time.  They must always be handled gently, respectfully, and sent back to where they found it in almost pronto.

I remember when Layne and Rauchelle were still little and we lived out on acreage.  It was raining one night when we arrived home and walked into our log house.  Right after we clamoured through the back door where we proceeded to remove our rubber boots and hang up our jackets, we caught eye of a frog that must have hitch-hiked in on our boots.  I picked him up gently but almost drop this little guy when he surprised me with a bulging throaty R-i-b-b-i-t!!  He was promptly sent outside to play in the mud.

This past schoolyear we purchased The Digital Frog for all the children's sciences and included was information on how to help save the frogs, and let me know that today is Save the Frogs Day.  So I decided to share some of the tips they give on how we can help to protect frogs.

Slow Down when driving on wet nights.  That's to dodge the frogs, not to target them ;)

Don't use Pesticides

Don't eat frog legs .  (I've got that one down-pat)

Don't purchase wild-caught amphibians as pets (OK.)

Turn off the tap.  (been working on water conservation all year)

Build a frog pond in your backyard.  (not sure our landlords would like this, but the kids sure would)

Conserve resources (working on that)

Don't purchase bottled water.  (we don't)

Use Rechargeable batteries (yep, but not solely)

Vote for the Environment (ah, politics.  Never an easy choice)

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle (yup.  And be Minimalistic)

Become an amphibian biologist.  (not planning to be, at least not in this life hehehe!)

Go vegetarian.  (basically, already am.  But not vegan)

Eat locally grown, organic food.  (easier in warmer climates with more diversity, but we do what we can at this point)

Spread the word:  use email, tell your friends (that's what I'm doing!)

(Their last 3 items are about getting their free newsletter, become a member, and donate.)

I Love the IMAX

Everette has been really busy with work over the past few weeks (thank You, God), and worked all last weekend too,  so he suggested the family go to the Royal BC Museum and the IMAX. 

What a fantastic idea!!  So, off we went down the windy Sooke Rd (some of us battle with motion sickness, and this road isn't helpful in that department) heading for the city on another wet spring day.

We had to split up a little, as not all were willing partners in the trip to the museum/IMAX this day.  Surprisingly, some of the dc didn't want to see the movies but would rather wander around the city with their older sister, drawing journals in hand and little Laars in tow.  So, the bulk of us took in.....

Beautiful!!  I loved it.

I remember when in about grade 5 I did a school report on Orangutans, clipping gorgeous photos from National Geographic (my all time fav nature magazine) to grace my report.  Orangutans have always been one of my favourite animals.

The elephants were delightful also.  They have inquisitive personalities, and their emotional communication has always astounded me.

There were a lot of Oohh's and Aahhh's from our family, with the animals cute antics and the beautiful scenery.  I almost wanted to volunteer and go live with both of these ladies and their orphans.

Many of the family had already seen

 when Robert Lacey was here to speak and host Q&A in February.  But,  some who had seen it before wanted to see it again,  and some wanted to see it for the first time, so we did a switch-eroo and the rest of us wandered through the museum.  There is so much to see there, you just have to pick a different area each time and take in as much as is possible before the Little People's attention span runs amuck.  Today we picked Entomology Etc., where we got to view all kinds of insects (wasps, butterflies and moths of BC), and then checked out birds & their eggs, and mammals and their poops!  and I took the little boys for a quick detour to touch the Real Ice where the Mammoth is displayed so they could touch it "Just Once More".

 One of the best things we've ever done with funds to help with out children's education, is getting annual passes to the museum and the IMAX.  It's one of those Gifts that Keep on Giving!!

Playing Grocery Store

Not your typical grocery store.  We had a Pet store corner, where you could buy an African Grey Parrot, or a butterfly, a squirrel or

 Snakes

 Everything came with a Price Tag

There was Frozen Fruit, supplements like Ginseng and MSM,

fresh fruit, baking supplies and bandanas & paintings.

 "Shopper " Laars exchanging money to buy a car.

 "Cashier" Gaelyn, always greets you with a smile & giggle.

Mitchell digging deep into his pockets to pay for his shopping spree.

This is a much better way to practise math than using a textbook!

Treasure Hunts & Outside

The children in the neighbourhood have been busy over the long weekend creating Treasure Hunts for each other.  It shows their creativity both to create the clues, and to decipher both what the clues might mean & how their environment could be perceived.

 Here they are looking for clues they think are under somebody's shoes.

Seems the children like to congregate in our yard since its the largest on the block and not full of stuff.  Its a great place for tag, soccer, Dead Ant Tag,  and just goofing off.  But then the neighbours' draw is that most of them have trampolines and a bunch of stuff.  So they wander between the yards, playing well together and having a lot of fun.

Slightly different topic:

I was shocked, to say the least, when one of the moms stopped by the other day to say "It is such a beautiful sight to see your children out in your yard playing."  She was referring to our children playing out there on a daily basis when the other children are off to school or stuck in their houses doing homework.  Our children love to play outside and are often seen out there even when the weather isn't exactly the nicest (in my estimation, anyways).

The compliment came just as I finished reading "LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS: SAVING OUR CHILDREN FROM NATURE-DEFICIT DISORDER   by Richard Louv  and was feeling like my children don't get into nature enough.  They could get out into creation more, do more hiking, more sitting under a tree to watch the squirrels, etc and I don't set a good example in that department, but nonetheless it was nice that somebody took the time to encourage me that I'm on a good path.  Thanks, Britt, you blessed me.

Footstools

Roadside Art

As a child I always liked playing with chalk, other than that drying-out feeling it left on my hands.

Then as an adult, I didn't like the dust that it leaves below any work area.

The ideal place for chalk.......

the road.

Do Parents Have Rights to Shoot Back?

Like I shared yesterday in Forced Medications I find this story about Maryanne Godboldo very disturbing. That a parents rights to choose medical care for their child (or change treatments) have been brutally attacked is scary.  Does our society and our authorities think that parents are totally uneducated and incapable of taking care of our own children and must rely on those in authority to make those decisions for us?  We can't even be trusted to make healthy bag lunches! (granted not all children eat healthy bag lunches, but who thinks cafeteria food is necessarily healthier?)

The Maryanne Godboldo question: When do parents have the right to shoot back against state-sponsored kidnappers?

Forced Medications

My mouth almost dropped open and got stuck there attracting flies. I am in shock that this has really happened.

Detroit SWAT team assaults African American mom who refused to medicate her daughter with antipsychotic drugs

What is the matter with our western society? How did we ever allow such tyranny in our 'free' lands of America?

We are not Free.

Americans are not Free.

Canadians are not Free.

Not truly Free.

Not Free to chose for ourselves and our loved ones.

I am appalled that people are being forced to medicate their children. Pressured to put them on psychotherapy drugs.  Or to subject them to chemotherapy treatment under court order.  Or insist on inoculations under threat of legal action.

Just because the authorities are indoctrinated to believe that these poisons are actually good for people, and that parents are not smart enough to judge what is in their child's best interest.

I realized today, while reading these articles, that if I ever go to a doctor or take my children (not a common occurrence, thankfully) to see one, that if I have no serious intention of filling a prescription I should courteously decline having the doctor even write a prescription out.  In the past I've taken their prescription and just not had it fulfilled.  But maybe its even best to not take it in the first place.

Obviously, its a good idea not to be going to the doctor unless absolutely necessary.  In my opinion, there is a reason we say they are  practising medicine!  And I believe that we ought to be the specialist of our own body, and be educating ourselves  and our children on how to best take care of our bodies.

I personally believe that allopathic doctors are necessary in acute cases ie., emergencies.  But for anything chronic, they don't have cures --only bottles of 'band-aids'.  They aren't solving problems, but generally creating others via side-effects of their treatments.

This incident with Maryanne Godboldo  is ludicrous and appalling.  Somehow, this tyranny and threat must stop.

Me & Warmth

I was shocked to find a layer of snow outside this morning as the sun was rising.  How did that happen?  Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day without any warning of the upcoming cold.   But I do recall the wind picking up as the day started to darken.  Must have blown the clouds in.

But thankfully it came and went.

Seems the older I get the less I enjoy any cold.  Not that cold and I were ever friends.  We just put up with one another.

But sunshine and I......we embrace.  I love the sunshine.

I'm waiting...... for the warmth of summer to kiss me!

His Hands

I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.
~Diogenes quote

Photograph by Peter Essick, National Geographic

Think For Ourselves

Everette had our weekly 'coffee date' this morning. Its often the time we can connect and discuss the agenda for our Sunday afternoon Family Meeting with the children.

Sometimes we discuss his growing business. Or we discuss books we've been reading. Or how I'm dealing (or not) with school or family issues on a daily basis. Or some habits we need to address, or the growth we see in individual children.

This morning we actually talked quite a lot about our society of sheeple (people being gullible as sheep), and how we need to take responsibility for ourselves, and help our children think for themselves. I reminisced about John Taylor Gatto's book "Dumbing Us Down" we used for discussion at a homeschool group up island.  How we are conditioned in many ways to disengage from our world and do as we are told.

Then I came home to read this about the USA.... (Canada has very much the same system/mindsets as our cousins to the south) 

Last-minute budget deal narrowly avoids the Big Government shutdown America desperately needs to balance its budget

Can the ball be stopped?  Maybe. I don't think it will be.

But I will continue to think for myself (freedom of choice), and teach my children to do so for themselves.  We will not do as we are told "just because", or because "It's always been done that way".  We will discover for ourselves what is right, what is good for us and those around us (the world), and not just what seems like a quick fix for the moment.

We will care about the future generations: have a mindset of Seventh Generation as the natives did.

You Owe Me!

The Sun doesn't say to the Earth 

"You Owe Me!"

*****************

Do I think anybody owes me anything because of the work that I do

as a wife/mother/sister/daughter/friend/citizen?

In what spirit am I serving?