Ancora Imparo - I am still learning

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Sickness

Well, the night before Thanksgiving, Nathanael threw up; but then he was fine. For the past two nights, he's been waking up in the middle of the night - a lot. Then last night Taliesin threw up in the middle of the night. Today he's not feeling very well. He's spent the day lounging on the couch in the family room, not wanting to eat because his tummy hurts and all the rest that goes along with a tummy ache that I will spare you the details of. A couple of the girls at work said they would work for me tonight, so I'm glad of that. At least I can stay home and watch him. He's definitely not himself, not playing or eating. But he is sipping at ginger ale, so that's good. I'm wondering if Nathanael is getting an ear infection. Usually when he keeps waking up at night, that is what it means. I know my ear has been hurting pretty badly for the past few days. I don't want to make an unnecessary trip to the doctor (I still owe them $30.00 from my last visit with my foot), so I am just taking some antibiotic that I never finished from when I hurt my foot. If Nathanael keeps up with the sleeplessness and antsy-ness, I'll probably take him in on Monday.

Kandy

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! AND PROMISED PICTURES

"The Turkey" by artist Taliesin HastingsMore art from Taliesin. :^)

Our Thanksgiving Day Parade through the neighborhood.... (Yes, I was there, too, but I was taking pictures!).
Happy Thanksgiving!
Kandy

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I almost forgot

One of the things that Taliesin and Nathanael have been busy with the past few days is Operation Christmas Child. For those that do not know, Operation Christmas Child from Samaritan's Purse is a project in which people donate shoeboxes filled with small toys, hats, gloves, tootpaste, pencils, crayons - whatever they feel would bring joy to children - and the organization sends the boxes to children in need and children in war-torn countries. Taliesin and Nathanael have had so much fun packing their shoeboxes, and they took them to the drop-off location yesterday. Taliesin filled his box for a little boy and Nathanael for a little girl. They also put in a photo of themselves and Taliesin drew a picture to put in with his. It was truly a wonderful project to be a part of. :^)

Kandy

Gathering Pictures

Well, I finally got a digital camera battery, as you can tell from the last post. I've been snapping all kinds of pictures; and I hope to get them posted for Thanksgiving. Taliesin, Nathanael, and I are planning a Thanksgiving parade up and down our street (Taliesin wants to be Santa Claus); so I want to get those taken and just post a big picture collage. Things have been going well, just busy. I have not been trying to ignore my blog. I just have quite a bit to stay caught up on right now. But I wanted to check in and post something. :^)

Kandy

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Busy Days

Just Bein' Goofy. :^)

Taliesin's Dinosaur Play today (Nathanael was napping when I took these pictures). The green legos are grass and trees, the red and pink are fruits for the dinosaurs to eat (for the herbivores, of course), and the blue legos are lakes and ponds.

Tiny picture again - taken with my cell phone. Just exploring in this one. :^)



We've been having fun the past few days. For the first time in a long time, Taliesin told me about his art, "Mom, I'm having fun!" I truly think this is what he needed. Yes, he enjoyed the art classes; but at home, he is having the freedom to explore again - to really be creative and his own artist.

This evening when we went to Nathanael's dance class, Taliesin decided to take some dinosaur books and toy dinosaurs to play with (you'll see in some of the pictures some of the things we've been learning about dinosaurs). He's been in a dinosaur mood for the past couple of days. Yesterday, at Taliesin's dance class, Nathanael took toys; but then he decided to explore outside for the duration of the class instead - LOL. Anyway, one of the other moms and two of her daughters (who were also waiting for a child in the class) sat with us. Taliesin and the six-year old girl enjoyed playing and looking at the books. The mom asked Taliesin how old he is where he goes to school at. Talieisn answered her five and told her first, "I don't go... I go to school at my house." LOL. I don't think he knew quite how to answer. It isn't really "school," but I'm sure he's probably gotten this question before such as by the kids at his art class. The mom was very accepting. She enjoyed talking to him. First he told her all about dinosaurs - the difference between carnivores and herbivores, names of dinosaurs from T-Rex to the allosaurus and stegosaurus (the latter of which he told her had plates to help him keep cool and warm), about why the triceratops is called a triceratops, and about what we call the bone-headed dinosaurs. He also told her about a recent trip to the dentist because Nathanael lost one of his caps. She asked if he also takes dance classes. We told her yes, on Wednesdays. Taliesin also told her about the karate class he starts next month and the basketball class he starts in January. When he was naming all about the dinosaurs, she told him she's glad he knows them, she couldn't tell anything about them. LOL.

Other than our unschooling adventures, I'm trying to stay caught up on college. LOL. I just turned in an essay on John Dewey and progressive education for my education class. I'm eager for my reflection paper, which I get to write on unschooling! Yay! Then yesterday, I had a discussion board due for my youth ministry class. These classes are really coinciding well. I'm enjoying them a lot, but I must confess I'm kind of looking forward to my break in Dec. and Jan. It will give me time to get caught up on my book so I can either have it published or self-publish it by this coming spring.
Kandy

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Art


Well, yesterday, we enrolled Taliesin in yet another class at our local art center. Today, we cancelled that enrollment. Yesterday, when I enrolled him, the coordinator of education told me there would be some changes implemented during this class. The parents would no longer be allowed to sit outside of the classroom in what is called the artery (a place with art supplies, tables, Legos and blocks for the little ones, blooks, etc. that is available for public use) and wait for their children to come out of class. She said they would be setting a place up inside of the kitchen and outside the view of the children for parents to wait. I was a little disappointed, because I do enjoy watching Taliesin do his dances during the music portion of the class. He's always excited to come out. And, with the last class, we did have some issues arise in which Taliesin was excluded from certain activities. I did not notice this, since I did not sit there and watch the entire class (I was usually busy playing and building with Nathanael or reading), only the part where the kids would come out of the classroom. But Taliesin told me a few times that he was not included in a game or activity. One day I did see it happen. The kids were outside getting their faces painted. I had just happened to take Nathanael outside to run around before they came out. And I noticed that Taliesin did not get his painted. I usually do not intervene in classes, but this time I did. I saw that it was upsetting him. But, by the time, the teacher had them line up and then asked Taliesin to get his face painted (because I pointed out that he did not have his done, even though he had been waiting since the first child), he was too upset to do it. After they went back inside, he did decide to get it done. But I think it is just because of these reasons that when I let Taliesin know that I would still be there, but he wouldn't be able to see me that he said he did not want to go. So this morning we talked about it. I told him we have several different options. He could stay enrolled in the art class, we could enroll in a different class somewhere other than the art center in which the students make things out of clay, or we could get the money back that we paid to the art center and buy our own art supplies and have our own art days. He opted for the last. So we had fun at the local arts/crafts store buying everything from wooden items to paint to feathers to mosaic kits to masks to decorate. Taliesin also found the coolest things. They're called Noodles. They remind me of packing peanuts, only they're several different colors and made out of cornstarch (so they're non-toxic). When dampened with a sponge, these Noodles stick together. Taliesin has had so much fun creating new art projects with them! (Sorry the pictures are kind of fuzzy. They were taken with my cell phone. Do you know how difficult it is to remember a camera battery when I'm at the store?) So, while I'm disappointed about the art center (Taliesin has been taking classes there regularly since Feb. of 2007), I think it worked out for the best. :^)
Kandy

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Going Green

Well, green like a tree frog, that is. We've always been pretty green as in environmentalism, anyway. (Taliesin and Nathanael have really been getting into the book Caring for the Planet by Barbara Holland and Hazel Lucas here lately). But to get back to the original story, on Tuesday when Taliesin and Nathanael got received their pay from the Buyer's Guide, they spent their hard-earned money on a tree frog they named Dorothy and all of the supplies to go along with "her." At least we think it is a "her." According to some online research, female tree frogs are larger than male tree frogs; and Dorothy was the larger of the two available from the pet store. They are really enjoying her. She is a lot of fun to observe. Of course, tree frogs are not the kind of pets that are to be loved and cuddled; but she is definitely a good experience for them - particularly when we study the rain forests (and why we need to protect them).

Kandy

Monday, November 3, 2008

Tomorrow's the Day!

Well, my battery for my digital camera went down, so I have not yet been able to download the pictures I promised in the last post. As soon as I get another battery, I will post them (better late than never - lol).

Well, tomorrow is the big election day. There are so many issues at hand to decide on. It is unfortunate that the biggest concern for many is money. Who will be better for the economy? I can understand that we all need to survive financially. But there are other issues at hand as well. I have mentioned before the issue of parental rights and homeschooling. I still cannot feel comfortable with a President who wants to put children under three in government schools. That is way too much government control. Abortion issues are touchy. But I do not see how anyone can support partial birth abortions. I do not condone or agree with abortion even in early trimesters, but to say that a baby who is partially born should be killed is nothing short of cruel. And then, of course, there is the issue of a Presidential candidate who has links with a known terrorist. How could anyone say that this candidate's socialism is the better choice for America?

I was talking with someone at work the other day about the elections. I had to agree with what she said. She said she feels Obama will win. And he is a part of God's plan. But he is not a part of God's plan in a good way. We read all kinds of fear e-mails saying Obama is the anti-Christ. I do not think that is the case. But I do think, if he is elected, he will lead us more into that direction than we care to think about. I do think a one-world government is getting closer and closer. It definitely is a scary situation.

Kandy