the great american road trip 2.0 - day 2

It is way too late to post anything. Nobody should spend 9 hours a day in the car - nobody . . . especially me. The kids and Rick were fine - I was going absolutely ballistic. Here are the highlights of day 2 (not many - because did I mention - NINE hours in the car?!)

• Left Fremont, Indiana, drove 1 mile north just to say we hit Michigan, then barreled through Ohio.

• Stopped for lunch in Pittsburg - french-fry sandwiches (yeah - they were as good as they sound) at Primanti Bros. Dessert at Fudgie Wudgie - blueberry fudge for Rico, Punk and Kooka, and a homemade peanut butter cup for me.

• The trip up and down the Monongahela Incline, was punctuated by Rico's impromptu performance of the Macarena in front of an unsuspecting priest, 3 goth teenagers, and a group of college kids. It was a bet, he couldn't explain himself, just perform. He was paid with a sliver of Kaia's fudge - which he insists, was worth every second of humiliation.

• Hours later, we pulled into DC - a quick dinner, a quick swim, and we are all in bed (finally) watching the History Channel.

• Tomorrow we are off to the spy museum - Kooka can't wait.

the great american road trip 2.0 - day 1

Not much to report - just a really, really long day in the car - 10 hours.

There was a quick stop at the Mouse House Cheese Shop, for candy cow pies and fresh cheese curds, and then it was three more hours until our next destination.

We had lunch at our favorite spy restaurant - Milwaukee's Safe House. Kooka was amazed at the secret moving doors, two-way mirrors, and tricks around every corner. We won't dare give away all of the secrets of this place - half the fun is figuring it out yourself, but we will fill you in on the menu: thick cheeseburgers, baked mac and cheese, pita chips with warm garlic dip, french dip sandwiches, German root beer and cold lemonade - all of it amazing!

Now we are all in bed somewhere in Fremont, IN. Eight more hours until we reach DC.

blast off

Three days until blast off.

It's been a goal of mine since Punk was born - both kids should see all 50 states before they turn 18. Thankfully, both kids have adopted this goal as their own, and are very willing travelers.

Kooka in particular has really taken this to heart, and made it her New Year's resolution to knock off another state this year. Punk followed suit, and so, in an effort to help them both achieve their goal, we are heading out on yet another road trip.

If we're lucky we'll hit about 6 new states on our way to Washington DC.

We'll keep you posted.

i'm on a horse

This has nothing to do with homeschooling, or my family, or my life in general . . . but this commercial cracks me up.

priorities

I don't have all of the answers when it comes to homeschooling.
Sometimes it feels like I don't have any.

I think we all just do the best that we can, hoping and praying that at some point our kids do learn how to throw a baseball, use hair gel, and buy new pants when the old ones come up past their socks.

When we started this adventure - back when Punk was only three, there were goals: allow our kids to explore the world beyond the classroom, encourage them to learn at their own pace, teach them the value of work, build their social confidence among all age groups and make learning fun. We still have the same goals. I still contend that those are probably the most valuable skills a person can glean from any education. However, after 18 months in the public school system, I find myself constantly second guessing the best way to achieve these goals.

Is it better to use multiplication flash cards, or to have the kids make a triple batch of brownies? Do organizational skills start with a clean room, or a well written daily planner? Do we learn geography best from a map, or cruising across the country?

Although I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, the reality is - I don't know. I won't know until Kooka is finishing her dissertation and says, "I hated when you made me write my spelling words, but I have not misspelled 'embarrass' since the fourth grade." Or when I ask Punk if he knows the capital of Colorado, and he says "Is that the place where we rode up the mountains on that really scary tram?"

Only then, will everything come to light.

So in the meantime, I'm asking my friends for assistance.

If you were to homeschool your child and had a bit of extra money after covering the basics, what would be the best way to invest in your child's education - great books and curriculum; extra curricular activities - music lessons, karate, dance class; travel experiences; or technology (computers, software, etc). Again - I assume that the best scenario is to share the wealth - spread it out a bit, but every family has their priorities, and I am curious to find out yours.

The poll is in the upper corner of the blog - it's completely anonymous. Thanks!

seriously?

I am just going to take 10 seconds in this public forum to point out, that after mocking my choice of "Teddy Roosevelt" glasses last month, Punk proceeded to choose a pair of wire rims yesterday. Wire rims that look exactly like Benjamin Franklin!

My selection was at least a century cooler. At least he agreed with me on the Michael Buble' haircut, and styling putty - at least his hair is looking up to date.

valentines day

It is a tradition at our house:

After a special family dinner, each person takes a turn to pass out their Valentines, and have them read. Then, starting with the oldest member of the family, we each receive one red or pink present.

This year was extra special - because it was the first Valentine's day that Rico shared with us. Punk's note to him was especially touching - actually, all of Punk's notes were beautiful - hand drawn charactitures of each of us, and a lovely paragraph about what he loves most about each person. Kooka's were hand-made as well - intricate pop-ups with dainty pink and red designer lettering. The kind of things I'll save forever.

Rico was the first to open his gift - a plush red, fuzzy blanket, perfect for napping by the fire. Then came me - a red crystal charm for my very favorite bracelet. Punk was next - and the look on his face was priceless.

He opened his gift to find a shirt that read "I love Mommy." There was borderline terror in his face, when I told him that I could not wait to see him wear it to school tomorrow. He didn't say no . . .he just kept saying "Thank you mom - it's great for wearing around the house." He was so polite about it, and really didn't want to hurt my feelings. "Is this homemade?" he asked with all of the fake enthusiasm he could muster. He only relaxed when I tossed him the bag of velcro letters that came with it. It was a shirt by "Shout Out!" - which is a company that sells the coolest customizable t-shirts ever.

Thankfully, by the time Kooka opened her "I love my mom shirt" she was in on the joke (though I suspect she would have minded much less about parading it around).

They both spent the better part of an hour rearranging their new gear. Punk has since switched his to read "This is what cool looks like" and Kooka's says "Almost Famous."

We finished the night with caramel brownies, snuggles, hugs, and sweet dreams.

kooka

My photo downloader thingy is broken, and I just realized that although I have tons of photos of Kooka, I have not given her her fair share of props as far as the writing goes.

So here is a quick Kooka update:

• According to her teacher's conference report, she is a "bright star in the class room." She has tons of friends, (both 2nd and 3rd graders - she's in a mixed classroom), and is reading and performing math above grade level. In her free time she likes to read the dictionary, to learn "more intriguing words."

• She has become a crazy inventor. With her box full of supplies, she is always creating something. This week is was glove with a spoon for each finger, which allows the wearer to either scrape the cake batter from a bowl more efficiently, or feed five American Girl dolls at once - take your pick.

• She went to help teach a chess class last week, and loved it.

• She is learning to play the marimba in music class.

• She is thrilled at the prospect of becoming a big sister. She sings to baby Yoda all of the time, and is keeping her fingers crossed for a girl (as long as the new baby doesn't horn in on her girl nights with mom).

• One of her goldfish, Minnow just died.

• She is very excited about our upcoming roadtrip, and the fact that she may get to see a real spy museum!

• She just finished reading The Giggler Treatment and book 1 in the Sister's Grimm series.

• She provided all of the artwork for our Valentine this year - and even compared to her brother, this kid can hold her own with a set of Crayolas.

the vet's home

I got another invitation to be admitted to the Veteran's Home today. The last one came on my birthday, and asked if I was prepared to be admitted now, or would like to defer the opportunity.

Since the closest I have ever come to serving in the armed forces was when I used to drink Shirley Temples at the VFW bar with my granddad, I decided to defer. Besides, I was six at the time - and even though I admit to suffering a little post-traumatic- shock, from being forced to listen to repeated rounds of "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Hot Child in the City" on the jukebox, eventually I got over it. Furthermore, it took the VA three decades to hunt me down, and when they did, they didn't even offer me free tickets to a pancake breakfast or anything - just straight to the home for me.

This information was a bit disturbing.

So you can imagine how startled I was to receive today's news. Today the mailman dropped off my enrollment papers. They said I had been approved to begin the process of being accepted into the home. But here is the best part: I don't even have to enroll myself. According to the forms, all I need to do is supply the name and address of myself OR the person I would like to have admitted.

Wow.

Had I known that hanging out at the VFW eating Slim Jims and breathing in second hand smoke was going to have THIS kind of payoff, I would have asked to go more often.

Needless to say, I have an entire collection of people that I am asking to have admitted: 1) a certain snarky blogger 2) the neighbor with dogs that bark at 3 am 3)the entire cast of Jersey Shore . . . I am going to need extra postage.

Do not get on my bad side until next Monday - that's the deadline for returning this thing.

my new hero

This guy on facebook cracks me UP. He is 74 years old, crochety as heck - and his son keeps track of his quips. These are some of my favorite things he's said to his grown sons: (some have been edited for language here):

"You look just like Stephen Hawking...Relax, I meant like a non-paralyzed version of him. Feel better?... Fine. Forget I said it."

"Oh please, you practically invented lazy. People should have to call you and ask for the rights to lazy before they use it."

"I need to change clothes? Wow. That's big talk coming from someone who looks like they robbed a Mervyn's."

"The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain't like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain't spitting it out."

"You sure do like to tailgate people... Right, because it's real important you show up to the nothing you have to do on time."

"You're being over dramatic. You own a TV and an air mattress. That's not exactly what I'd call "a lot to lose."

"Can we talk later? The news is on... Well, if you have tuberculosis it's not gonna get any worse in the next 30 minutes, jesus."

I hope I'm this smart when Punk and Kooka are grown ups.

careful what you wish for

"I wish I was as dumb as I used to be."

Punk - lamenting the loss of his blissful ignorance on the way to school.

roller rink

I meant to post this a three months ago - when we actually did it - needless to say, got caught up in other things.

I grew up at the roller rinks in CA, so when I finally remembered that there was a rink in the suburbs, I couldn't wait to take the kids. After a little practice, they both started to get the hang of it. They still play the YMCA song, and do those stupid race games where you can win a free soda. (Rico and I tied) I can't wait to go back! (though I'll probably have to learn to walk properly before I should put myself back on wheels)