How we celebrated Learn Nothing Day...

Today was the first annual Learn Nothing Day The boys thought it was funny, and were looking forward to playing with the idea and seeing if they actually *could* learn nothing, even for a minute.

We were up for approximately 23 minutes before they asked me where New Zealand was. We'd chatted with someone from New Zealand on the new unschooling network last night, and they were fascinated that she was about to prepare breakfast just as we were beginning to think of dinner. Out came the globe, the answer to their questions, and yes... learning.

Not ones to do anything half-way, (if you're going to do something wrong, do it right. Right?) we didn't limit our learning to New Zealand. We headed to our last summer movie, Nancy Drew. I wore my hat from 2006's Live and Learn conference to celebrate our glorious "failure" at learning nothing.

The movie was fun, and opened an invariable floodgate of questions, and I'm afraid even more learning. Just a few of the things we talked about on the way home:

CPR - what does it mean and what does it stand for
What an emergency trachiotomy is
Why it's important to have a will
Why there's always "bad guys" in movies
How detectives do their jobs
The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book
etc

When we got home, Spencer and both headed to the computer... him to look up Emma Roberts and see what else she's been in; and me to look up the Nancy Drew books and see how many are in the series (the 175th was published in 2003)

We're rebels.

:-)

This is supposed to be funny...

Someone posted this picture on one of my homeschooling lists. I think it's supposed to be a joke, but I don't think it's funny. I actually think it's pretty sad, if that's how other homeschoolers view the year, and is thankfully not at all like life in this homeschooler's house!

A new blog is coming soon, chock-full of pictures.

A Boy and his Tumbleweed

We had a major wind and dust storm the night before last. Paxton caught a tumbleweed and brought it inside to show us. Yes, there are actually tumbleweeds blowing down the city streets of Phoenix sometimes. I love Arizona.

Woody Molting

I woke up yesterday morning to find that the tarantula, Woody, was lying still as could be on her back. Thankfully I knew that 1) Despite the appearance to the contrary, she was not dead; and 2) she was getting ready to molt. She'd not yet molted in the year that we'd had her, so it was a very big deal. The boys and I watched over the next few hours as she alternately wriggled free and rested. I only called Mike for assistance once, the first time she started the seizure-like shaking. He had me spritz her gently with water, because low humidity can sometimes be an issue for them, and otherwise just keep an eye on her.

It was an amazing thing to watch.

Swimming boys

The boys have had two swimming lessons now - the third is tomorrow - and they are going SO well!! I can't say enough good things about their instructor, Helen. It was such a blessing that my sister happened to run into her, and that she is doing private lessons now. Here they are, loving every minute of being in the water.

Yaya comes to visit

Somehow, when I wasn't looking, it turned into July. Tegan is over 4 months old, Paxton will be 8 soon, and we're all just trying to keep up with the suddenly furious pace of summer. I'm at 6 weeks past my surgery now, and feeling good. Mostly. I say "mostly" because things are still working themselves out. When I don't make the right food choices, I feel it, and am rewarded with a seriously upset stomach for the rest of the day. One of my fears for recovery was that I'd turn into someone who couldn't go out to eat without rushing for the bathroom afterwards. I did in fact get to experience just that when we went to Rainforest Cafe last week. And I had to drag my whole family of 6 AND our guest back home instead of continuing with our plans, because I just felt too sick not to be in the comfort of my own house. I felt terrible, in addition to feeling, well, terrible.

But life goes on.

Mike's mom visited for 5 days last week (she was the guest that I rushed out of Rainforest Cafe) and the visit went by in a blur, as it always does. She came on her own this time, and the kids really enjoyed the one on one attention. They played games and painted hats and splashed in the pool. We went to the movies, out for lunch, and on a couple of shopping trips. It was a good visit, and a quick visit! Here are just a few pictures...