Friday Fun

The Southeastern Raptor Center holds a "Fans and Feathers" educational program each fall on Fridays before home football games.

Today was the kickoff for this year's program, and we met at the Raptor Center's ampitheather with other families from our homeschool cover school to learn more about these birds.

The claws and beaks are two features that set Raptors apart from other birds. These characteristics allow them to grab ahold of things - prey mainly.

We saw five owls, a vulture and a hawk. We watched them fly and learned interesting facts and tidbits about each creature.

For instance, did you know that most owls don't actually "hoot"? Some do, but for the most part owls screech instead of hoot.

On The Day You Turned 6

You woke up before dawn. For three nights you were too excited to sleep. You've been asking about your birthday for so long now it seems like it should have already come and gone.

It's hard to believe that today, my son, you turned 6.

Your momma is having a hard time with this one. I get weepy every time I think about it.

I'm glad you're 6. No really, I am. Six is a great age. It's all play and rough housing.

This growing up thing is what you're meant to do. It's just that no one tells you before you have a baby how this might break your heart. Or maybe they do? Only a mom can truly understand the bittersweet emotions birthdays bring. Maybe other mothers did tell me, but I brushed the comment aside thinking they were too attached or overprotective. You know, all those things I'm not - HA!

If 6 is this hard, what is 10 going to be like? Or 15? Or 18?

Seriously, where does the time go?

Those things I thought I would never forget about your baby years are getting harder to recall, especially now that you are into Legos, video games and silly antics all the time.

There are so many days when I wish I could bottle up half of your energy and use it for myself.

There are days we butt heads.

There are days when you make me smile, others where I can't stop laughing at your silliness, and still others when I think I might pull my hair out.

Those cuddling days are too few and far between. You are too heavy for me to pick up and too big to be held. You even like it when I leave to go to work because that gives you time to play with someone else.

It's all as it's supposed to be.

So why is it so hard to accept you are growing up?

I can't stop that you are getting bigger. I wouldn't want to. Life is meant to be lived, and in my opinion, lived with a spirit of adventure and a love for others.

Live the life God has planned for you. Don't run from it. Don't run from him. Listen to that inner voice that guides you and be the person you are. That's easy when you are 6. It's not so easy at 16.

When you do turn 16, go easy on this mom of yours. I'm going to mess up here and there. I'm going to embarrass you, though I promise it will never be intentional. I'm going to love you then as much as I do today and as much as I did the day you were born - maybe more!

And I hope every birthday is as happy and joyful as this one today!

Exploring Our State

One of the things Jack and I will be doing this year is learning about the states. We are starting with our own, Alabama, and will continue in alphabetical order.

My fourth and eighth grade history classes are a blur because I hated studying Alabama history. American and World History fascinated me - they still do -  but I tuned everything out when it came to my own state.

I think I've mentioned before that I don't do curriculum. I focus instead on books that I think contain valuable information. Our local library is a great resource, and we picked up a number of books from the children's section a few weeks ago.

I was stunned to realize how many places in Alabama I am unfamiliar with. Reading the books with Jack, I actually found myself interested and excited about these cool places in our state.

1. Dismal Canyons - I've asked almost everyone in my family, and a few friends, if they had ever heard of this forest in the northwest part of the state and no one said yes. When I checked out the website for it I was amazed. So much so that we will be going to visit and stay a few nights at this park in a few weeks!

2. Desoto Caverns - This is one place I visited often as a child. My brownie troup even spent the night in the cavern when I was in the first grade. Jack keeps asking me about it, and I'm thinking about mentioning it to the director of  our homeschool cover school to include as a field trip in the spring.

3. Mt. Cheaha - This place I know about as well because it is only minutes from where I grew up. It is the highest peak in Alabama and is beautiful in the fall. I remember another Girl Scout sleep over as well as picnics and hikes throughout childhood. My cousin was married at the lodge there a few years ago. It was a July wedding, but the altitude made it incredibly comfortable for an outdoor wedding. When Mattie was a baby we spent a night there. Matt's dad has a camper, and he and his wife were there for a few days in October that year. Jack still remembers telling scary stories by the campfire.

4. Bellingrath Gardens - Another place I never knew existed is this home and gardens in the town of Theodore (no clue where it is). This is going on my list of places to visit.  I enjoy touring old homes and can spend hours wandering around on the property surrounding them.

5. The Space and Rocket Center - While I've heard of it and even think I went there once, I can't remember anything beyond it having a cool space camp that children and adults can attend.  I've been telling Jack for years that we are going to do that when he gets bigger. Besides space camp, anyone can go for a visit. This may be a good winter destination. My grandmother lives in Decatur, which is a short distance from where the Space and Rocket Center is located in Huntsville.

6. Dauphin Island - In the 10th grade our biology teacher took a group of students to Dauphin Island. Sadly, I opted out of the trip. For years I wish I would have gone. Reading about it now makes me want to plan a visit so we can get a first-hand glimpse of the marine life.

7. Ave Maria Grotto - Only one of the books we checked out mentions this site located in Cullman. A Benedictine monk worked for 40 years building miniature reproductions of famous churches, shrines and buildings. This is something worth seeing.

8. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival - OK, so this wasn't mentioned in any of the books, but I thought I should give it a plug. Located in Montgomery, it showcases wonderful plays year round. I've been several times and even took Jack a few years ago to see a Winnie the Pooh play.

9. The Civil Rights Museum - . Birmingham has an extraordinary Civil Rights Museum. I'd like to wait until the children are older in hopes they might understand more about the history and struggles of civil rights.

10. The McWane Center - Like the Space and Rocket Center, I don't know why we haven't been here yet. It's only two hours away, in Birmingham, and includes so much to see and do.

11. Helen Keller's Childhood Home - Hellen Keller is one of our most famous citizens. Her childhood home, known as Ivy Green, is located in Tuscumbia and will be a real history lesson in and of itself.

12. Sequoyah Caverns - This would be another great day trip and a fun way to explore the natural and historical aspects of our state.

Those Days

For the days when nothing seems to go right.

When you are bone tired the moment you wake and drag yourself through the day.

When the children are arguing and aggravating each other at every turn.

When your two year old takes a swipe at you because she needs you, but doesn't know how to express it in any way other than a tantrum.

When a child has to be told over and over again to stop this and to stop that for the 6,000th time.

I had two of these days this past week. Days I thought would never end. Days I thought I was going to explode. Days where I could do nothing but keep going because that was the only option.

I heard someone a few weeks ago talk about these kind of days in her life. She had observed that "these days" often come on the heels of the really good days.

You know those days too. The ones where everything clicks. The house seems to be in decent shape. The children are kind to each other and you (and vice versa). The days when you feel you've got this mom thing down.

Then bam.

The wise woman also reflected on her thoughts that these awful days are days when she is reminded of her utter dependence on God. That it's these days that teach her that she is not in CONTROL.

There it is. That one word that's hard to swallow. The thing most of us want to say we don't have a problem with, but the truth is that's our major problem. It's at least mine.

So the other night when I was reading from a book of prayer, I came across a hymn that I hadn't heard in a long time.

"I need Thee every hour,
Stay Thou near by;
Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee!

The Summer of Rain and Allergies

Back in June I had all sorts of ideas about spending time at the pool.

We don't have a pool in our backyard, nor do we have a neighborhood pool, but my in-laws built a pool last summer. I also have a friend that belongs to a local country club, and we were planning on meeting up there every couple of weeks.

I was already deeming it "the summer of the pool."

That was before July when the torrential downpours began.

I think most people residing in the southeast all agree on one thing - this is the wettest summer in memory. When I say wet, I don't just mean a lot of rain or the typical summer afternoon thunderstorm that sometimes happens days in a row. I'm referring to massive rain for days on end for nearly two months now.

There have been respites of sunshine, the past two days included. That's why this weekend we ARE planning to spend some time at the pool.

And if it wasn't raining this summer, I seemed to be having a horrible time with allergies. I don't know what has been growing or why this summer seemed so agonizing, but just being outside (when it was sunny) left me with horrible sinus issues. Now that ragweed is in the air, it's even worse.

I'm ready for fall simply in hopes that the weather pattern will change.

Thank goodness for the change in seasons, and the feeling that much is new with the start of each one.

Back to School

It's the time of year when everyone goes back to school.

Even though we're a homeschooling family, it does still apply to us in some form or fashion.

I teach classes at our local university, and we begin fall semester classes tomorrow. It's a time of high anticipation for students and high stress levels for those of us in administration.

As far as my own children go, we do school year round. I guess I should say Jack does school year round. Mattie's only two, so I do nothing formal with her. She does listen in on most of the reading though and loves to help me draw the circles when I'm working with Jack on his number lines!

We've also signed up for some classes this fall. While Jack is in an art class with other homeschoolers, Mattie and I will be enjoying a Mommy and Me music class!

Adventures in Reading

It appears I overestimated my ability to get through the books on my summer reading list.

BIG TIME!

I think I've made it through four of the books that were on that list. They've been good, parts were great, but as a whole, I haven't been been too excited about any of them.

Last night I finished "Beautiful Ruins," and am unsure whether I liked the book. I guess I don't see what the fuss is all about. I definitely don't see eye to eye with the reviews posted on the back cover.

Parts of the book were great, but I had a hard time identifying with many of the characters. All except one were likeable; they just weren't believable. The one character that had the most depth, Alvis Bender, was the one probably given the least attention. I think I may have liked the book better if the entire novel was devoted to his story.

I also found a lot of the language to be crude and crass. I'm no stranger to four-letter words and don't get easily offended by them (I read and love "Game of Thrones" for goodness sake.) This was beyond that. There were a number of instances while reading that I was so disgusted by the discourse that I almost didn't finish the book. Most of it was unnecessary and, in my opinion, detracted from the best parts.

I've now decided to go back to the Open Yale class on Hemingway, Faulkner and Fitzgerald for my next read. I've had Fitzgerald's short stories sitting on my nightstand for months, but ever the one for conformity, I'm going to stick to what's on the syllabus and go with Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not" next.

The book I found myself most drawn to this summer was Mark Twain's classic, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." It wasn't on  my personal list, rather it was one I read aloud to the children.

There's good reason why it's much loved by children and adults alike. Tom's a mischief maker with a conscience.

I'm just as enthused to begin "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" tomorrow. We picked it up at the library this afternoon. While Tom was new to me, Huck's story is one I'll be re-visiting. I read it in the ninth grade - a year that was full of great reads in Mrs. Rhinehart's class.

We also picked up a biography today on Queen Nefertiti.

No, you aren't confused. You read it right.

Last week I was going through some poems in a children's anthology and read one about Queen Nefertiti. It was sort of scary and Jack stopped what he was doing, came over to me and listened intently. This rarely happens!

He wanted to know if she was real. When I said yes, he said he wanted to get a book on her from the library.

I kid you not.

I thought he would forget about it, but he brought it up again yesterday. When we were in the library today I asked him if he really wanted me to find a book on Queen Nefertiti. There were no children's books on her, so I found a biography in the adult section.

I'm interested to see how this turns out!