Learn Nothing Day & TKD updates

It turns out that I missed the 1st Annual International Learn Nothing Day.  It was held on July 24th.  I’ll have to keep an eye out for it next year.  It will be tough not learning for an entire day.  I don’t know what we could possibly do for an entire day that we would learn nothing new, but I have almost an entire year to try to figure that out.  Do you think you could learn nothing for an entire day?

And now for the TKD updates.  First, I have to say we have been noticing some changes in Tyler since he started TKD and we are extremely happy with them.  His self-confidence is growing, he’s talking with people instead of just having me answer them, his coordination is greatly improved… the list could go on.  Bottom line is that TKD has been a positive experience for him in lots of areas of his life.  Next week is testing and Tyler will be testing for his camo belt.  That means his beginner program is almost up.  Tyler really wants to be a Black Belt, but we told him that he had to prove to us that he was going to be dedicated to TKD before we invested in the Black Belt Club.  Well, he has shown his dedication and now it is time for us to reward him.

So, yesterday, I signed him up for Black Belt Club.  He got lots of great sparring gear (and I got him a bag to carry it all in), some new patches to put on his uniform, an awesome curriculum book that will help us keep track of requirements for each belt level, and a new class schedule that will start on the 11th (testing is on the 7th.)  His new regular class time is Mon & Wed 5-6pm.  There are also 2 classes on Sat mornings, when there isn’t a tournament.  Those classes are Forms & Weapons and Sparring & Board Breaking.  These classes provide extra assistance on learning the specific techniques.  Tyler is required to attend 2 classes a week, which are his regular classes and the Sat classes are strongly encouraged but optional.

He also signed up for Leadership Club.  Leadership Club will give him the skills needed to become an instructor, so things like public speaking, working with groups, teaching, etc. are taught.  Tyler says he really wants to train others and before class he has been talking with kids that are just starting out and showing them moves, so this is perfect for him.  Leadership Club has 2 classes during the week.  On Tues they have Instruction & XMA (Extreme Martial Arts) and Thurs is Gymnastics & XMA.  Leadership Club will also allow him to earn points at tournaments, which he really isn’t interested in right now, but his first tournament is at the end of Aug.  He might get really excited about tournaments after he’s been to one.  He always like to hang back and learn more about something first before he gets excited about it.  He also gets to learn another weapon and has to chose between 3 different ones.  I think he’s narrowed it down to the staff or the sword.  The gymnastics piece will teach him things that he can then incorporate into forms that he creates, and he’s excited because then he can be creative.  He also gets to have a new uniform with a different collar and his name on the back to signify that he is a leader.  We’ve decided that since this isn’t required right away, we’ll hold off until he grows out of his current uniform.

We are happy with both of these programs and we’ll be spending quite a bit of time at the TKD school over the next few years.  Tyler is happy and excited so I’m sure it will be worth it.

MN Trip

Fri – We started out early because Trent & I couldn’t sleep.  It was supposed to take 9 hours and 5 minutes according to MapQuest and it took us a little under 10 hours, so not bad.  We got to check in right away.  Then we headed down to the pool and hot tub so that we could unwind a little.  We decided to head over to Uncle Chad’s to see Grandma Blumeyer, Grandpa Blu before they went to the rehearsal dinner and Heifer (the kitty.)  Then we headed out for sushi.  Why sushi?, you ask.  Well, because the typical Midwest food consists of fatty, fried, starchy and sugary foods – need I say more? – and we don’t eat those types of food very much.  We found a great selection at Byerly’s, which is a grocery store.  We got a variety and shared.  Tyler likes the ones with shrimp and crab the most, but this time we also got one with eel and he really liked that as well.  We picked out some desserts and headed back to the hotel.  Mostly we let Tyler swim again, hung out, ate some of our desserts and went to bed early since it had been a long day for us.

Sat – We got up and headed to Panera.  The hotel didn’t have free WiFi, but Panera does.  Don’t ask me why a Marriott doesn’t have free WiFi, but I was not paying to have internet access.  Breakfast was good.  Panera now has breakfast sandwiches and I really like them.  Then we went back to the hotel to see what was going on – still no one around.  So Trent & I went for a walk while Tyler played in the room.  Then Uncle Todd, Uncle Chad & Grandpa Blu came to the hotel, so we sat around talking.  We went to lunch at Q Cumbers with Uncle Todd.  It was a really great salad bar that had local, organic produce.  Nothing wilting or bad looking.  Then, because I haven’t had one since Denver because there is none around here, I had a Jamba Juice.  We headed back to the hotel for more Tyler swimming before the wedding.  We got ready and headed out to the Arboretum.  The vistor’s center was great and we piled onto the shuttle bus to take us out to the shrub rose garden.  It was sunny and hot so we stood in the shade until it was almost time for the wedding.  The site was beautiful and the wedding was amazing.  Barry & Havalla looked so happy and in love.  Trent took pics.  Then we got back on a shuttle bus to take us back to the visitors center and headed back to the hotel for the reception.  The reception was fun.  We got to catch up with people and eat some great food.  Tyler & I left early because we promised him that he could go swimming if he was good and he was way beyond great the whole time.  Trent hung out with his family for a little while and then we all headed to bed.

2008 – Barry & Havalla’s Wedding

Sun – We went back to Panera again for breakfast and computer time.  Went back to the hotel, Trent & I walked while Tyler played in the room.  He was antsy to be going to LegoLand (this was his promised activity and he had been extremely good the entire weekend.)  Finally found out what everyone else was doing and we headed out to Mall of America.  First stop was LegoLand.  Trent took some pics of Tyler building stuff and then we did shopping.  We found out that ExoForce (Tyler’s favorite) is being discountinued, so everything was marked down.  We picked up all the ExoForce things that they had and then picked out some Mission Mars stuff as well.  He has plenty to keep him busy for a while.  Then we headed to lunch.  We decided to stay at MOA since they have plenty of restaurants.  We decided on more sushi, but this time it was fresh.  We ate at Tiger Sushi (http://www.tcfoodfinds.com/tigersushi.html) and if you are ever at MOA, you really should go there.  Of course, we all shared.  I had a Rainbow roll, which was a California Roll (with REAL crab, not imitation, avacado, and cucumber) with 7 different fish rolled around the outside.  Delicious.  Trent had a Flying Tiger Kick, which had shrimp tempura, smoked salmon, cream cheese, masago (smelt fish roe) and avacado.  The taste and texture combination was wonderful.  Tyler had the best one though.  He ordered the Scorpion Roll.  It had shrimp tempura in the roll with tobiko (flying fish roe) covering it, fried soft shell crab for the scorpion legs and a shrimp for the scorpion tail.  And the sauce, which was unagi (eel), was tasty.  Another great meal.  Back to the hotel for lots of Lego building and pool swimming.

2008 – LegoLand & Lego Creations

Mon – We drove back home.  It only took us 9 hours since there were less stops.  We went and got Hershey who was very excited to be home again.  Unloaded, unpacked, etc.  Tyler built more Lego things.  And we went to bed.  I stayed up later because Hershey was having some issues calming down and getting back into the flow of our household after being boarded.

Now I’m catching up on chores – laundry, groceries, cleaning, etc.  And trying to recover.  Overall it was a nice trip.

Cell phone for Tyler?

Well, we are thinking about it.  There are times now that we are leaving him home alone and we don’t have a home phone.  Trent has a cell and I have a cell.  So if Trent & I run to the grocery store and leave Tyler home, then we leave my cell and take Trent’s cell.  Numbers are programmed in speed dial and he knows how to use the phones so we are all good.  But the dilemma comes when Trent is at work (taking his cell with him) and I go somewhere and leave Tyler at home.  I generally leave my cell with him, but then he can’t get ahold of me.  He hasn’t ever called us (or anyone else) while we are gone because he is content to play by himself, but we leave it for emergencies.  And not that we want him to have any emergencies, but emergencies are called emergencies for a reason.  So the discussion is on the table.  It would be a phone that would mostly stay here at home for emergencies.  Right now we can’t think of a situation where he would need to take it with him somewhere, but he is getting older and will be doing more and more independently.  Besides it is cheaper for us to get him a cell phone and add a line to our cell plan than to get a landline home phone, so it’s cell or nothing.  I”m sure we will get him one sooner or later (but I have a feeling it will be sooner.)

Fair finish-up (for us atleast)

We did head back to the fair yesterday evening.  We walked through the llamas and showed Trent the 984 lb pig on our way to dinner.  We decided to support the lamb club.  Tyler had a hot dog (it wasn’t lamb), I had a lamb burger with cheese and Trent had a kelly burger (lamb burger with lamb bbq on top.)  I’ve had better lamb other places.  My burger was bordering on being dry and they just used nacho chip cheese for the chip (not really my idea of cheese.)  We did a quick circuit of a couple things: we let Tyler build with legos at the Science Central Exhibit, showed Trent the baby animals (including what Tyler decided was the exact chick that he held – how do you tell them apart when they are only a couple days old?) and the miniature horses.  We also stopped by the Exhibit Hall to show Trent the Junior Achievement Record Book example so that he can help with it next year.  Then we headed to watch the Saddle Club.  Trent & Tyler got an elephant ear to share on the way.  The Saddle Club was doing an event where they ran their horses down, circled a cone and then ran them back and stopped them in a designated area.  I’m sure it has an official name for the event, but I don’t know what it is.  I love watching horses.  However, I’m very particular about how I view the riders handling the horses.  No, I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination.  But I do know what I like to see.  I like to see the riders who work with their horses and treat them nicely.  I understand making a horse that is acting up actually do what it is supposed to do.  But I will never like the riders who whip their horses or ride them really rough.  There was one guy last night that I hated watching ride.  He just handled and rode his horses roughly.  Those are the times I wish the horses would throw their riders, but I’m sure they’ve learned the hard way not to do that.  We finished up the evening by walking through the horse barns and looking at the ones that weren’t in the competition that was still going on.  We also got to listen to Kellie Pickler.  Now I was not a fan of Kellie’s before last night because we do not watch American Idol.  And I have to say that I am still not a fan of Kellie Pickler’s.  I don’t think she’s a very good singer, she is mostly just a yeller.  Again, I am only an expert on what I like, but it didn’t seem like she had much range and I didn’t enjoy listening to her.

We are done with our jaunts to the fair now, unless we decide to go listen to Hootie & the Blowfish tomorrow evening while watching the horses some more.  Some have asked if I was a fair junkie, but I am not.  See, we had a good reason for going to the fair so much.  Tyler is in regular 4-H next year and that includes the opportunities presented in all the livestock clubs.  I am livestock clueless except to know that it is just like having another baby or pet.  Trent is the expert since he showed dairy cows every year and pigs a few years.  With animals you basically have to live at the fair because you have to keep your animals clean, their pens clean, fresh food and water, etc, etc, etc and you have to be there to show them.  So even though Tyler thinks all these animal clubs sound exciting, we thought we’d show him what fair is really like for a few days.  He thinks each club is exciting when he first sees the animals, but usually he reconsiders.  Like he thought it would be neat to feed the baby goats from a bottle, but he doesn’t want to do any of the other work associated with taking care of goats.  Last night, he decided that horses looked really neat and that maybe he should do Saddle Club next year.  So when we took him into the barn area, we showed him the big poops, how he’d have to haul food and water, how they get surprise visits from the judges that grade how clean they are keeping their pens and their animals, how some horses wear things to protect their tails so the owners don’t have to brush their tails so often, etc.  I don’t know if we succeeded or not.  Time will tell.  There were times he was ready to leave the fair forever, but then there were times he was sad that we were leaving.  I guess we’ll find out when it’s time to sign up for projects and clubs.

Fair again today

We headed to the fair today because today was the day that Grandpa Randy wanted to take the grandkids to the fair.  So we met Grandpa Randy, Grams, Trenton & Taylor at the fair.  We walked around looking at the sheep and goats before I had to head over to the Exhibit Building for my volunteer time.  I was basically walking around the exhibits making sure people didn’t touch them.  Frankly, I never considered how many people would want to touch other people’s stuff.  Adults and kids alike.  Is the concept of “DO NOT TOUCH THE PROJECTS” (as was put on signs all over the place) so hard to understand?  Obviously, or else they wouldn’t need so many volunteers to watch over them.

While I was volunteering the rest of the group walked around looking at other animals and then met me at the Exhibit Building so they could look around.  It was perfect timing because it was just starting to rain.  So we wandered around for awhile.

Then we picked up Tyler’s ribbon.  It also included a comment card and a certificate.  I included pics of them here.  Remember, he’s in Exploring 4-H so everyone gets a participation ribbon.  They weren’t being judged like in real 4-H.

2008 – Fair (Tyler awards)

Then we headed to the commercial buildings to wait out the rain and the lunch rush.  We succeeded in both.  Then it was off the the Old MacDonald Farm where the baby animals were.  I LOVE baby animals.  The baby animals included a cow, rabbits, ducks and chickens.  Tyler & Taylor both got to hold a chick.  Tyler was excited because the feet of the chick left little (and I do mean little) scratch marks on his hand.  He was excited because then he could prove to his dad that he held a chick.  We also looked in on the miniature horses that were in the stalls under the reconstructed barn on the Old Homestead.  Taylor made a friend in Flash.

Next was the Marcan Tiger show.  It was GREAT!!!  We learned about the 4 different colors that Bengal tigers come in: orange with black stripes, white with black stripes, golden (orange with ruby stripes) and snow (white with light gray stripes).  Some tiger tidbits: there are only 30 tigers with the snow coloring in the world and we saw 3 of them today; there haven’t been any golden or snow ones seen in the wild in over 100 years; just because they are white does not mean they live in an area where it snows, they still live in India in the forests; being a white tiger does not make you a Siberian tiger; obviously, their populations are declining very rapidly due to habitat loss and poaching.  The tigers and trainers were amazing to watch.  They worked together so well.  I also loved how they tied all the educational stuff in with the program.  Tyler came away reciting lots of facts.  Gotta love hidden learning.

We stopped for snack of ice cream and elephant ears.  And then went to find the 900+ lb pig.  We found him and it is 984 lbs.  All it did while we were there is sleep, but what else does that big of a pig do.  Well, I suppose at some time it must eat or it wouldn’t have gotten that big.

Now we are home taking a short break.  Tyler & I are headed back to the fair in about an hour with Trent.  I still need to see the horses, poultry, llamas.  Not sure what all Trent wants to see and what Tyler wants to show Trent from today.  And Kellie Pickler is in concert in the Grandstand tonight.  Don’t really want to go to the Grandstand for it (even though it’s free), but we could head over to the Saddle Club Arena, watch the horses and listen to the music.  More later…..

Fair Parade

We took Tyler to the drop off point at 12:30 this afternoon and left to go get seats at the Grandstand (the ending point of the parade) at 12:45.  They were entry #120.  We got to the fair and got great seats and waited and waited and waited.  We watched the road race people finish and almost watched the entire parade before we saw him.  He finally crossed in front of the Grandstand at 4:45.  He was hot, tired and sweaty but seemed to have had a great time.  I have pics of a lot of things during the parade, but I’m only posting pics of his TKD school here.  Also, they got 3rd place in their category.  Congratulations!!!!

2008 – Fair (Sun – Parade)

Big day at the fair

We woke up early this morning so that we could get out to the fair for the 20th Annual Balloon Chase.  We thought it started at 7:15, meaning the balloons were taking off at that time, so we scheduled to be there early to watch them set up as well.  We didn’t need to, the set-up started at 7:15.  We sat in the grandstands and watched all the activity.  We also got to see some people warming up their horses for the harness racing that was taking place later in the morning.  I took a bunch of pics:

2008 – Fair (Sat – Balloon Chase)

Then we wandered around and tried avoid the mass of people and vehicles that were bringing animals to the fair.  We finally took a break and ate some mini donuts.  Then we headed to the Old Farmstead to see the old tractors.  We didn’t realize that they were doing a tractor pulling contest (AKA the Strongman/woman Contest).  Trent took these pics:

2008 – Fair (Sat – Tractor Pulling & Tractors)

We still had time before the exhibit hall opened up, so we watched the tigers while they were cleaning out their trailer.  There are tiger shows daily in the afternoon and evening.  We got to see them fill up the back of a pickup with boxes from meat.  There were 7 tigers so they eat a lot!!  Here’s the pics I took:

2008 – Fair (Sat – Tigers)

Finally the exhibit hall opened up and we wandered around in there.  I took lots of pics of projects that won grand prize in the categories that Tyler is interested in for next year, but I won’t bore you all those.  I will show you a poster of the Exploring 4-H day camp on which is a picture of Tyler, Tyler’s project and Tyler’s cousins’ projects.

2008 – Fair (Sat – Projects)

It had been raining since we were watching the tigers and now it was lunch time, so we headed over to the Pork Producers stand for some food (mainly because it was the closest place to eat that had a roof).  Tyler & I had the best pulled pork sandwiches that we’ve had anywhere since we left Knoxville.  Trent had a bite of mine and agreed.  Tyler’s putting it on his list of places to eat at the fair in case he’s there at lunch time any other days.  Me, I’d rather sample a wide range of things than keep going back to the same place.  We decided it was time to head home so we wound our way through as many buildings as we could since it now pouring down rain.  We had one spot where I carried Tyler across a running river (as he called it) since the water was so deep it was up to my ankles.  We ended up soaking wet, but we did have a good time.

Wishful Unschooling Thoughts

I don’t really have too many updates right now.  I’ve been trying to catch up on reading blogs that I follow and that has lead me down the path of wishing I would just unschool and then I wouldn’t have to worry about all this curriculum stuff and making sure it gets done and worrying about when plans change that I have to reschedule the school day stuff.  Some things would be easier, but I also worry if that is the right way to go.  Oh, the dilemmas.

I do want to direct you to this post over at “the parenting pit”.  It’s a cute one from a homeschooling dad about before he had children. http://theparentingpit.com/2008/06/15/before-i-had-children/

School work, more 4-H and cleaning

Yesterday, Tyler took his Spelling pretest and got 17 out of 20 correct, so no test for him on Friday.  He was excited.  Spanish (which was actually a leftover from Tues that we didn’t get to) was really hard, even for me.  We were learning about “You” casual and formal, but there is only one version when it is plural; how they don’t really have a translation for “it”, like in “It is on the table.”; and how to conjugate verbs.  The verbs were just for the masculine, feminine, plurals and for use with you in the present tense.  They made a big deal about that so I’m going to assume that they conjugate differently for past and future tense as well.  We also were learning that some verbs are exceptions and totally change their spelling from the infinitive.  Not fair.  I’m really good at understanding the patterns, but not so good when it comes to the exceptions.

Then, because this is just the way that I am, I printed out the 2008 4-H Handbook for the regular 4-H (what Tyler will be in next year.)  Yes, there is a method to my madness.  See this 4-H is hugely different that what Trent did, so I can’t rely on him as my source for 4-H stuff.  So I must learn this stuff in order to explain it to Tyler.  The other reason is that it would be a really good idea for Tyler to take a look at the projects this year that he might be interested in doing next year so he has an idea of what is expected.  I don’t think next year he’s going to get away with spending 20 minutes on a model and that’s it.  Most projects also require experiments or logs that have to be put in a notebook that has to be turned in before the fair (like at the start of the month, so no waiting until the last minute either.)  He looked through it yesterday.  Here is the list of things that he is interested in: Aerospace Club, Fine Arts, Cake Decorating, Collections, Entomology, Fishing Club, Forestry, Geology, Home Environment, Junior Achievement Record Book, Models, Photography, Recycling, Rocket, Soil & Water Conservation, Veterinary Science, Wildlife, and Wood Science.  He has his eye on some others as well, but those start at a later age, like the Mission to Mars is for 5th graders and up.  He also wants to do some of the workshops that they have down at Purdue, but he’s going to have to wait for those until he’s in high school.  Trent & I are talking about limiting his number of projects to about 3 the first year so that he can get a feel for things without being overwhelmed by everything.  We also have to decide on a club to join for next year.  See he has to have a regular club where most projects are completed, then other things have their own clubs (like livestock, Aerospace, Fishing, etc) that you join, in addition to your regular club.  So during the fair this year we are going to look at all the projects for the list above and see which ones he is really interested in to start narrowing things down.

And now for cleaning.  Tyler’s toys have been sprawling again – he’s sure they do it on their own, and we’ve been letting him because some of the games he’s been designing take up a lot of space.  He has toys on the dining room table, in his room and spread out downstairs.  Yesterday I told him that he needs to pick up everything and have it put away nicely in the bins and cabinets before we go to MN.  His first response was, “why, the dog isn’t going to be here to mess with it.”  I want it all put away so that the house is clean and we come home to a clean house.  Second response was negotiation, “well, I’ll put it away except for x and y.”  No, it all has to be put away.  Third response was still negotiation, “then I’ll just take them to MN with us.”  No, it won’t all fit in the truck.  Response, “That’s not fair.”  You’re right, but that’s life.  So this morning he is trying to negotiate when he is actually going to do this cleaning because he knows I don’t want him waiting until the last minute.  So he suggests Mon and Tues.  I remind him that Mon he is going to be at the fair most of the day.  So he tells me that it is all my fault if it doesn’t get cleaned up since I agreed to let him go to the fair with his grandparents and cousins.  Nice try but there are plenty of other days when cleaning could take place.  Right now he’s supposedly trying to figure out what days those are while he makes more cards for some new game that he is designing.  I’m sure it is hard for him to decide since I’ve given him a week to do this and he knows he still wants to play with said toys some during this week as well.  But I do have to say that his negotiation skills are improving.  Before he would get too upset after the first response to go back and forth with me.  Now he is getting a little quicker on his feet.  I’m proud of him, but the toys will still be put away before we leave for MN.

4-H Memories & Start of 2nd Week

We got Tyler’s 4-H project dropped off yesterday.  It was a mad house there with everyone else dropping off various projects.  I also got signed up for my volunteering time.  I get to hang out in the Exhibits Building on Monday for a little over an hour to make sure people aren’t touching the projects.  All this fair talk led Trent to tell us stories about when he was in 4-H and went to the fair.  Some of Trent’s memories: their fair was 4 days long, Thurs to Sun; the projects were turned in the first day of the fair, mostly in the morning at assigned times because they were judged during that time; the animals (cows and pigs in Trent’s case) weren’t due at the fair until the afternoon on the first day; Trent lived at the fair every year (which means starting around age 8), yes, they had dorms and everything for the kids; he got locked out of the dorms at night a lot, his story is that they locked the doors on the dorm before the grandstand events were over so that was just stupid of them, so he slept in the stock trailers a lot; and he ran around the fair constantly without adult supervision, he was supposed to check in every few hours or so.  He wishes that Tyler could have some of those experiences, but since we don’t live on a farm, I don’t see him showing cows or pigs.  Maybe we could look into something small like rabbits.  We’ve also figured out that going forward 4-H for Tyler is going to be way different than it was for Trent, in structure of the clubs, how things are presented, etc.  So it will be a learning experience for all of us.  Last night we sat down with the fair schedule and looked at the events we would like to attend.  So far, we’ll probably be there on Sat morning to see the balloon chase and look at the livestock, Sun afternoon Tyler is in the parade; Mon morning I volunteer and this is the day that Grandpa Randy wanted to take the grandkids to the fair and Kellie Pickler is in concert in the evening, Tues evening Little Big Town is in concert, and Wed evening Hootie & the Blowfish are in concert.  Trent would really like to see some cow judging, and he might get to on Sat morning when they have the 35th Annual Northern Classic Beef Open Show (Heifer Classes/Steer Classes).  Don’t know what all that means, but I’m sure it means something to Trent.

As for school work, Tyler is off to a great start to this week.  His spelling words this week are: care, because, cover, record, brake, Kansas, track, pocket, snack, attack, photo, alphabet, dolphin, elephant, stiff, muffin, giraffe, enough, laughed, and rough.  Challenge words are: cuckoo clock, freckles, sheriff, autograph, and headphones.  He did some work with possessive nouns yesterday in the singular and plural forms.  His cursive letter yesterday was I and today it is U.  Today in Spanish we are going to learn about action verbs.  He’s also had some free reading, science and math thrown in to round things out.