Just for kicks.

So. Sunday we randomly decided to take advantage of one of our local free offerings. We went on a tour of the Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) plant here in Fort Collins...the one we've driven past numerous times but never stopped at. Honestly, it was something to do. :) Actually, though, the tour turned out to be pretty cool. The boys enjoyed seeing the steps in the beer making process (they love factories and machinery), thought it was cool anyhow since they'd learned that parts of "Star Trek" (the 2009 version) had been filmed in an Anheuser-Busch plant, and liked seeing the Clydesdales (which are huge). Here are some pics of the "process"...

The scale of these tanks and such was amazing. Plus, our tour guide was pretty entertaining...with an impressive memory for all the numbers involved. The tour ended with some decent free samples in the hospitality room (though none for the boys, obviously, lol). And here are the boys after all that:

See? They were smiling and happy, honest. ;) And, in trying to keep with my resolution to take at least 15 pictures of Nathan and me together this year, here's one Noah snapped in the Clydesdale "hamlet":

(While most of our fellow tour-goers were still sampling beers, we took the boys back over to see the horses again. It was pretty quiet in there.)

So. Unexpectedly nice time. ;) Anyone know of some other fun, and preferably inexpensive, outings locally that we should explore? When was the last time you did something touristy in your own hometown? :)

Quote #5.

This week's quote:

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. –Mark Twain

Man. It’s like Mark Twain was talking directly to me. I know that I get hung up often times on planning…wanting to get things just right before actually acting on them…waiting for some magic sign before moving forward. I know, too, though, that many times just getting started and doing what I can is better. It’s considerably easier to refine something that’s in progress than it is to improve upon something that doesn’t yet exist. :)

Ten on Tuesday (homeschool edition).

1. The record. I don't really know why, but I've been going through old homeschool stuff and making a rough record of our journey so far...not a scrapbook or anything fancy, just a list. It's been good. Not only do I feel better for having it all in one place, but I feel affirmed...I can see that I've actually been doing stuff with these boys. ;) My point, if, in fact, I have one, is just that making a list really can make you feel better. 

2. Yoda dialogue. Yup. I actually did this with the boys. Here, for those who were wondering, are the Yoda lines I started with:

• Lost a planet Master Obi-Wan has.
• Around the survivors a perimeter create.
• Fear is the path to the Dark Side.
• Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

Nothing fancy. Just had the boys figure out how the line would be written "properly" and then had them diagram that sentence. I don't think the boys even realized they were doing grammar. Perfect. ;)

3. CitizenKid books. I just came across this line of books and wanted to share. They're awesome. I've checked out a number from our local library (and via their library exchange program) but went ahead and bought this one. I'm envisioning a unit this spring where each boy actually creates his own country and goes through the process of finding a spot (and talking about what would make a good spot), organizing a government (and talking about the various options), and creating the symbols (and comparing those to others around the world). Fun!

4. Latin for me. So. Remember how I decided I'm going to take the plunge and teach the boys Latin? Well, I'm still all for that. But. I had an "ah-ha" moment last week. After seeing this review online, I really want to take these video lessons. I'm not sure they'd work for the boys as of yet but figure that this would definitely increase the odds of me sticking with it...if I feel more confident going in, kwim? So. I'm going to get this curriculum for ME to start. I figure I can get through at least the first ten lessons pretty quickly on my own and then possibly keep going even after starting the other curriculums I have with the boys. But at least then I'll feel better for knowing something...and I think it's good for the boys to know that adults take classes and learn new things, too. :)

5. 7ate9. We got the boys this game for Christmas. We finally played it recently. Noah loves it (mostly because he's better at it than his brothers, lol). Asher's frustrated by it (mostly because it's really hard to play a card game that depends on speed when you can't hold the cards in both hands). And Micah just thinks games are fun. From a mom's perspective, I think it's dandy...easy to pack and play when you're out and about and great for quick math skills (you have to add or subtract to the number on the card and then play a card out of your own hand that fits...trying to get rid of all your cards first).

6. Bed. I just thought this was cool and wanted to share. My guys have all, on occasion, had difficulty remembering which direction "b" and "d" face. I've tried various tricks to help them remember, mostly to no avail. The other day, I came across this blog post. I showed Micah. He hasn't slipped up once since then. Cool. (I've also actually caught him using this for the "9" and "p" directions.)

7. Index card geography. I love this idea (and this blog!) and I'm definitely going to incorporate that into our geography studies! I went and bought a new outline map last week and will start this afternoon. Yay!

8. Maps. Came across these...wish they had a written explanation to accompany them, but still pretty cool. Btw, I've actually only looked at the first three maps, so don't ask me about those other ones. ;) 

9. More maps. And, while you're at it, a friend just pointed out this awesome scratch & dent sale where you can pick up Blacklines Maps of World History for cheap! I've had this on my wishlist for awhile now but hadn't gotten around to convincing myself to pay that much for it. So happy this morning! (Hurry, though, they're going fast!)

10. One more geography thing. (Hmmm. Apparently I've been thinking about our geography studies a bit lately, lol.) I don't know about you, but my younger two still have considerable trouble distinguishing between cities and countries and states and all that. We're working on it and I'm not really worried or anything. But. To help things along, hopefully, I made this little chart (click for larger):

I'm going to post it in the "school" area for reference when we're studying geography. If you'd like a copy, please feel free. (Right click on the image above for a JPG file...click here for a PDF.)

And that's that for today. ;)

Quote #4.

My quote this week is:

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. –Epictetus

This one goes along with the last. I said before that life is all about choices. And, yes, you may not always have control over the things that happen to you…you may not choose for something to happen. But. You always have control over your reaction to it. You can choose to move forward.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Here's that pile of Lego instructional booklets that I threw out last weekend:

(The pic doesn't really do it justice...there are hundreds of booklets here, piled within and on top of and next to each other.) And. Don't judge me, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to throw them all away. As it turns out, Nathan's parents had felt the same way...because I found all sorts of vintage instruction booklets in the pile. (They belonged to the sets Nathan had growing up...the sets that the boys inherited years ago...that Nathan at one point had thought would be plenty to last them for years of play, LOL.) So, I pulled the older booklets (because I just thought they looked cool) and saved the cover of each of the other booklets. I figure one day I could wallpaper the Lego room with them or something. ;)

2. Micah's "R" word this week in kindergarten was "rhombus." (I know you were wondering, lol.) For the record, we've not covered shapes like that in Micah's math lessons as of yet...he got it out of Noah's lesson book, which he apparently likes to look through for kicks.

3. Just gotta pat myself on the back for a moment because during the last couple weekends, amidst watching football playoff games, I managed to sort, reorganize and finally label all of my scrapbook albums and also finally put all of the boys' school work and such, that I'd had in boxes, into binders by year. Woohoo!

4. Does anyone have any experience with whether teaching kids another language will confuse their learning of English spelling and phonetics? I really want to start Latin with the boys but am concerned that new rules for what the letters say and whatnot will possibly set us back with our English lessons. Input? Hmmm. Actually, I think I'm just going to go for it. I can always stop if it becomes a problem. Thanks for listening to me ramble. Would still love any input if you do have some!

5. Watching the Seahawks lately has reminded me of my dad. :) So. I made this layout:

(Click on it to make it larger...you can read the journaling then.)

6. In case you were wondering, Asher and his casted arm are doing fine. My paranoia and stress level, on the other hand, could use some TLC. The boy just isn't built to be still or "safe" or calm. I know this. I do. I've been trying very hard to stop cautioning him, particularly of late. But today the boy found himself falling/slipping while playing tag outside...obviously couldn't catch himself with his hands...so decided to somersault out of it. Oy. Really, really looking forward to the start of February when this is hopefully all over. :)

7. I'm hereby taking any recommendations on places that print digital scrapbook layouts. In reorganizing my albums earlier, I've realized that I have a number of layouts that I've done digitally but never printed. I'd like to print them individually and slide them in with the other layouts rather than print them altogether into a book of their own. Suggestions?

8. I just realized that in my zeal to get the house back to rights after the holidays, I neglected to take pictures of some of the ornaments that made their debut this Christmas. Poo. Remind me next December, okay? Thanks.

9. Later today, I really am going to have the boys diagram Yoda dialogue for part of our grammar lesson. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

10. No particular reason but I just felt like saying how much I appreciate our local library. Love it there...love that I can reserve things via their online system and then just pick things up there...love that if they don't have something I can still usually get it via their partner libraries...love that the branch we frequent is right next to Spooners... ;) (Yes, we're likely headed to the library this afternoon...)

How's your Tuesday going?