Common Bonds

Potatoes, antibiotics, soccer, King Tut, Amelia Earhart, Y2K, Hurricane Katrina, Charles Lindbergh, Environmental Center

Common bond: all part of this crazy week.

Potatoes - It seems like it was just Silly Tater night at AWANA a couple months ago, but when I complained that there was only supposed to be one such theme night involving potatoes per year, the kids were VERY quick to remind me about ALL circumstances surrounding last year's potato night. These reminders set me straight. It was last year after all; it just seems like I get bombarded with these crazy assignments constantly. Because there was so much going on this week and because this potato thing was, after all, an optional thing, I told the kids that they could do potatoes but that they would be completely on their own. No help from Mom. And they rose to the challenge. To avoid any burning hot glue adhering to little fingers, I did end up handling the hot glue gun, but everything else they did by themselves. Alex took 1st place for her Moses Bibliotater, and Michael took 3rd in the Silly Tater category for his Porcupine in the Jungle. Jacob also did well assembling his Potato Raceway.



Antibiotics - Wednesday Audrey woke up all out of sorts. She cried and cried saying her ear hurt. We have all been sick the last couple of weeks, so I had no idea what was brewing in her ear. The doctor said it was "pretty bad" which makes a mommy feel "pretty bad" for not knowing something for which it would be impossible to hold her accountable for knowing. But we got the good ol' pink medicine, and she's good as new. I suppose I can't complain; we've hardly had any sickness the last couple years, and antibiotics haven't entered our home in at least that long.

Soccer - With nary a break, we made the smooth transition from indoor bleachers to outdoor field. Alex is sitting this soccer season out because we decided it was high time for Jacob to get involved. Left to his own shy decision-making devices, there wasn't a chance we would get him out on that soccer field. So we resorted to good ol' fashioned parental force. We signed him up, got him excited about his new soccer cleats and soccer ball, and sent him out on the field. He had a great time! And...I was so proud of how clearly and loudly he introduced himself not only to his teammates, but to all of their parents as well. Can this be the same boy who wouldn't say a word in public a year ago?

King Tut, Amelia Earhart, Y2K, Hurricane Katrina, Charles Lindbergh - On any week when there is a big AWANA theme project, there is bound to also be Book Club the next day. Because that is how the Calendar works to conspire against stressed out moms. The assignment this month was to report on great historical happenings on each child's birth date. On Michael's date of birth, Howard Carter broke open the seal on the burial chamber of King Tut's tomb. Whether or not they planned it, on the same date 5 years apart, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh made aviation history on Jacob's birthday. Audrey "reported" on Hurricane Katrina, and Alex took on the Y2K bug. They all did great on their presentations, and we had a lot of fun doing Alex's project. We couldn't come up with a good, creative visual for a presentation on Y2K, so I came up with her doing a news report as a reporter in 1999. She took the idea and ran with it, creating a brilliant script. I wish I could post the video, but she also wrote and performed a hilarious Used Car commercial using our cars, and I really don't want to throw our license plate numbers out into blogdom. (As an aside, the kids think it's really funny that I went all the way to the store with a sign reading "$582" still attached to the car--surprisingly, no takers!)

Environmental Center - No, I'm not getting all green. It's just that the Abeka Materials Display happened to be at the Environmental Center. I always order my math materials at these displays because it's free shipping. Of course, the money I spend on things I hadn't planned to buy but once I get there realize I absolutely NEED, I'm sure, makes up for the shipping savings. As has become our tradition, we explored the grounds of the center a bit after we finished shopping.