True to type

I blame Deanna. She went and wrote a blog post about personality types and then I got curious. And then I made everyone here take the test. ;)

(I actually had taken this test numerous times in undergrad so was familiar with it. I'd even revisited this and similar personality and learning style tests back when I first started homeschooling. But, I hadn't thought about figuring out the boys' types in years...and back when I had, I really just had Noah's information to go off of, which was pretty easy since he's so like me, lol.)

So. In case you were also wondering, here's where we came out...(click here for a little explanation about the different types)

• Me: ISTJ...Inspector. And actually, I was only 1% off from being INTJ, though I agree that the S is a better fit.
• Nathan: INTP...Architect. (Nathan and I scored exactly the same in two of the categories. Weird.)
• Noah: INTJ...Mastermind. (It came as absolutely no surprise to me that Noah's scores were the closest to mine of all the boys in all the categories. Funny thing is, he was totally surprised by that, lol.)
• Asher: ISFJ...Protector. (Asher's scores were the least extreme...the closest to the middle of the spectrum in each category. Asher's the one I would have had the hardest time guessing but the explanation of his type totally fits.)
• Micah: ENFJ...Teacher. (Yup, ended up with just one extrovert among us. Not surprised it's Micah, lol. And, yes, he has a vision for the future and definite ideas of what's needed for humanity.)

Then, because we're like that, Nathan, Noah and I went and plotted our results for each category just for fun. ;) (This had a nice breakdown of the different characteristics.)

Introvert/Extrovert: This one's pretty self-explanatory. On this spectrum, Noah had the highest preference for Introvert, followed by Nathan and I with our matching scores, then Asher...with Micah on the other end of the spectrum. This, folks, was absolutely no surprise.

Sensing/INtuition: This one deals with how you perceive the world...with Sensing focusing more on organizing the present and INtuition focusing more on speculating about the future. Here, Asher was furthest on the Sensing spectrum. I was a hair on that side. Going out on the spectrum from the middle toward a high preference for INtuition was Noah then Nathan then Micah. (Yeah, Micah really does worry about the future, lol.)

Thinking/Feeling: The best explanation I found for this said that Thinking is a more objective approach while Feeling is a more subjective approach. Noah scored a 100% preference for Thinking. Nathan and I were about half way on that side of the spectrum. Asher and Micah were both on the Feeling end, with Micah having a greater preference for the subjective. 

Judging/Perceiving: I don't understand where the key words for this come from but the explanation thing said that Judging folks tend to have a plan while the Perceiving folks tend to take things as they come. Given that, it comes as no surprise that I had the highest preference for Judging, followed by Noah and then Asher. Micah was just a hair on the Judging side of the spectrum and Nathan was the only one of us on the Perceiving side. 

I'm still contemplating how best to use this information...for now, though, I think just having taken the time to think about it is valuable.

So. That's us. Weirdly accurate. ;) 

Our Fourth in Four

Given my continued soreness, lol, we opted for a low key Fourth. Here's how it went down:

1. Water fight. We hadn't had one yet this summer, so I kicked the boys outside:

Unexpectedly, we had to actually remind Micah of how water fights work (mostly about not getting mad at everyone who gets you wet because, well, that's the point, lol). He still managed to have fun, though...particularly after he got hold of the hose, lol. Also, dude. Noah's big. ;)

2. Independence Day. After drying off and having sno cones, we felt it necessary to watch Independence Day. :) Really, Nathan and I would rather have watched The Patriot. But, we don't think Micah's quite ready for that yet.

3. Glo sticks. We got a sweet parking spot less than a block from the Loveland park and walked in to claim ourselves a spot.

(Sidenote: Large public gatherings are sometimes work for me...work to *not* comment on how frustrating it is to watch three adults smoke at least 6 cigarettes within 30 minutes right in front of us while watching their more than 8 kids (all under the age of 6)...on how annoying the person behind us was who kept snapping pictures of the fireworks with their full flash on (hello?! camera flashes don't help at that distance, so unless you were taking pictures of us, your flash was just blinding everyone around you)...on how inconsiderate it is to hold up an entire line of cars so you can turn left when the right turn is completely open...etc, lol.) 

Anyhow. As per tradition, I brought glo sticks for the boys to mess with while we waited:

4. Fireworks. And then we watched the Loveland fireworks show:

Aside from the incessant flashing from the camera behind us, it was good and the boys were satisfied. And then, after ditching our initial exit route (lol), we made it home in pretty good time and crashed for the night. ;)

How was your Fourth? 

Ow.

For the first time in about 20 years, I signed up for a fitness class for me. It's boot camp. It started Monday and runs M/W/F from 6-7 in the morning. 

Oh my heck.

On that first day, we did a "deck of cards" workout. The trainer went through the entire deck (1.5 times). If it was hearts, you did that number of push ups (face cards = 10 and aces = 11)...diamonds = burpees...spades = jumping split lunges...clubs = step ups (onto a bench, each leg...so twice as many really). Every so often (like five times during the hour), we got a "break" to go outside to run the length of the building and back before starting up again. Altogether, he says we did more than 150 of each exercise (so more than 300 on the step ups, which kill my knees because I'm short and that's high for me, lol). Oh. And jokers = 50 tricep dips. Awesome. He pulled three jokers during the hour.

On the "plus" side, I'm told this was one of the harder workouts and that he only does it 1-2 times a month. Lovely. Thanks for making that my first day, lol. (Everyone else in the class has been doing it for awhile.)

Btw, I'm walking/running to and from class. It's a 1.5-2 mile round trip. I figure it helps get me warmed up and stretched out and probably takes about the same amount of time that driving and parking would.

Beyond that stretching and hobbling out to buy The Stick yesterday to help, I even walked to lunch on Monday and went for a short run on Tuesday. (Yup, I'm a glutton like that. Really I was just hoping it would help loosen up my muscles.) And still, this morning I wasn't sure I could make the walk to class. ;) Also, stairs suck. Seriously, I told the trainer this morning that if he did anything with stairs I'd cry. ;)

So. We didn't do stairs this morning. But. He did work mountain climbers, forward and backward walking lunges, jumping split squats, jumping squats and resistance running into the mix. Yeah. (Oh, and most of those were done while also holding hand weights since most of the other things were designed to work the arms and abs.) Based on a very short history, then, I may not be able to move tomorrow...especially since I wasn't even sure I'd be able to move this morning so am obviously still sore from that first day.

Think of me... ;) (and while you're doing that, try not to laugh hysterically like Micah has taken to doing, lol)

Eleven

Though he informs me that ten is still his favorite number, my Asher turned eleven today. Eleven, folks. How did that happen?!

The boys have opted this year to each go for a bigger gift from us rather than a party, so our celebrations are minimal...which is welcome. ;) We did Asher's choice of dinner and cake and such last night. Today, then, will be pretty quiet. Meanwhile, here are eleven things about my Asher:

1. The kid remains incredibly flexible...still able to do the splits both ways and still often found sitting or sleeping in contorted ways, lol. (It'll be interesting to see what puberty does to that, lol.)

2. Though it may be difficult to spot with a brother like Noah, lol, Asher's actually quite the perfectionist and is very hard on himself...striving to be perfect and rarely cutting himself any slack. This often comes across as him being mad at someone else, but I've learned that it's really and truly just him being frustrated with himself. 

3. I'm so impressed with his memory when it comes to karate. The kid keeps dozens of forms/routines in his head.

4. He often gets discouraged that some things come easier to his brothers, but Asher is actually my best student...taking the time to double check answers and read the directions. 

5. He loves Iron Man and the Avengers, in that order. ;) He's also still a fan of Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter and the Mythbusters. 

6. And, even though he leaves the cooking to his brothers, he's become a fan of Alton Brown and "Good Eats"...and requested an Alton Brown Devil's Food Cake for his birthday. 

7. He continues to have quite the sweet tooth. ;)

8. He loves to read!

9. Unlike Noah (whose hand-me-downs he used to get until everything turned black, lol), Asher prefers sweat pants and jersey tops in a variety of colors...values his comfort.

10. He still enjoys playing drums and guitar on his own. Chopsticks are his drumsticks of choice when we're out and about, lol.

11. When he plays the Wii, he simply can't sit still. He mostly hops on one foot. It's entertaining. ;)

And those are eleven things about my Asher. :)

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet boy!