Thursday, October 7, 2010

Slow Day

Not a whole lot going on today.  We tried to get the half dozen sheep that has made a new home for themselves loaded and back here, but they are not having it.  They are being fed straight corn and have lots of grass to feed themselves with along with a couple who adopt wild life as pets of sorts.  So, in their mind, they have it made.  Unfortunately, the gentleman is not happy with them there no matter how much his wife thinks they are adorable.  So, we tried to get them in the horse trailer to no avail.

The shocks on the driver's side rear of the pick up has snapped.  Or, rather, I should say the bracket snapped.  This is also thanks to the horse trailer and driving it up on the rocky terrain.  We discovered that this evening.  So that is going to need to be fixed as soon as we can borrow a welder.

We got Davarge (the donkey) saddled today.  While saddling him, I had asked Charlie to go and get the bridle.  It's hard to steer a donkey without the bit and bridle and all that.  So, Charlie goes in the house to get it and comes back with a Bible.  Someone needs to clean his ears out.  I thought it was funny and teased him about it. 

Speaking of Charlie, he finished reading the Declaration of Independence today.  We are going to talk about it tomorrow and what it meant at the time and what it means today.  Because he is working at such an advanced level, we are keeping Fridays for review day.  He seems to understand everything, but I want to make sure he continues to understand.  We've always loosely had Friday for review, but I am going to be more diligent with it now.  I feel like I am walking a tightrope right now.  This is probably because I am new to him being this advanced across the board.  It's always been "Grade _ for this and grade _ for that."  There has always been a few things at least that were "on grade" subject-wise.  His reading is still far advanced.  He is at a grade 6 or higher for that.  Everything else is grade 5 and I feel like I am expecting too much of him, yet he is not fighting the work.  I think he argued so much before with what I had for him because he was bored.  So my tightrope walk is "Am I expecting too much of him?  Am I pushing him?  Or have I really been holding him back all this time and not even realizing it?  Am I doing him a disservice by continuing with the grade 5 curriculum or would I be doing him a disservice by stopping it and stepping back?"

Yes, I doubt myself a million times a day when it comes to parenting.  Sometimes, it is just more coherent than other times.  Tomorrow's review will show me more about how he is doing with this.

Bethany wants so much to do what Charlie is doing.  I keep reminding her that she is doing the stuff that Charlie did.  But, that is not good enough.  I am going to find some workbooks for her to replace the ones that got ruined and that will help her feel better.  One thing I must say is the children love doing schoolwork.  I want that to continue.  I want their love for learning to never end.

But the questions could come a little less some days.  Especially with Bethany.  Her brain does not stop.  She will ask a question and I will answer and she will keep asking "And what else?"  I'll answer and she ask again "And what else?"  She has this need to know every detail about everything and if there is no "What else" to it, she will figure out something else to ask about the same subject.  There is no end.  But, she takes it all in and will come back later with the information she had been given and toss it back at you for verification.  As I said, her brain does not stop.

Hannah likes to color and wants to do everything Bethany is doing.  Go for it.  I'm not going to argue a desire for learning.  (Just becareful with what your sister tries to teach you.)

Anyway, this afternoon, we got water, picked up mail, and met a friend of ours at a local playground for dinner.  He brought dinner and we provided dessert.  I made a cobbler in the crockpot and bought ice-cream to go with it.  We had a good time just sitting around talking while the children enjoyed a warm fall day.  I had him bring the left-over ice-cream home with him since he has a freezer.  This is going to be a once a week thing that is a spin off from Thursday dinners that R started.  Yes, she started something that has merit.  Make it a point to get together with your friends once a week and have a good time sitting around talking.  Having it be a pot luck type dinner makes it more enjoyable.  Having it at the playground makes it a more centeral location and gives the children a chance to play someplace "fun" with swings and slides.

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