Teaching Headaches

Home schooling has been an awesome experience for my family, but recently one of my students has become very oppositional. This student has a very strong will and would get an 'A' on the debate team (if we had one.) The word, "why" is a favorite with this student and the statement, "I've decided that" usually follows after I've attempted to explain a lesson. It's always been a challenge for me to understand the views of this student, but today I was looking over tomorrow's lesson and now I too am beginning to wonder. Okay, where do I start?

There is no egg in eggplant, no ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write and farmers farm, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?
You can make amends but, not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? How is it that people recite a play and play at a recital; ship by truck and send cargo by ship; have noses that run and feet that smell? Why drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? Your house can burn up as it burns down; you fill in a form by filling it out and an alarm goes off by going on. When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick?" How can a vote be invalid and a person in a wheelchair be the same?

So maybe my student isn't so oppositional, maybe he or she is a genius. And maybe I'm nuts for thinking that home schooling was a breeze.

The Zoo

Our visit to the zoo was part of the bribery (yes bribery, I am 100% for any and all forms of it.) that I used to keep everyone happy during my business trip to Portland. The kid's got much more from the deal then I had expected.

To start, there wasn't any parking at the zoo, not even in the overflow parking area. So I was forced to park 2 miles away (no joke) and push (pull, drag, carry and shove) a stroller with a 50 lb kid, 12 water bottles, extra large tub of antibacterial handi wipes, 8 lb purse, snacks, picnic lunches, 2 umbrella's, 4 raincoats, extra large bottle of sunscreen, camera with extra batteries, change of clothes for Hudson and an extra shirt for me for when Hudson undoubtedly spills his drink on me Again and Again. I was somewhat thrilled with the fact that it was an all downhill walk to the zoo. My attitude changed completely when we left the zoo and somehow managed to add an extra 10 lbs in zoo gift store junk to the stroller and then walk back to the car, which by the way I think had been moved another mile further up the hill by some sicko who was probably watching me nearly kill myself heaving this thing up the hill. Next time double parking will be worth the possible key scratches and traffic tickets.

Once inside the zoo I had to unpack the stroller and all of our bags for a weapons and alcohol search. Apparently there had been a few death threats sent to Herman the giant sea lion and now anyone entering the zoo was subject to a full body search.

Next came the long LONG lines for the mini train ride. The zoo folks are pros when it comes to trapping animals/ people in small area's. The line for the train looked more like a cattle branding drive as people were forced (shoved) down tiny pathways which were marked off with ropes. Everyone was trapped there in fear of loosing ones place if they should exit the line, which could only happen if you were brave enough to really upset the other trapped train riders as you pushed your way through them dragging that 100 lb stroller and 3 exhausted kids all of which have heat stroke. Luckily, Savannah was small enough to free herself by crawling under the ropes and between the legs of the other cattle (train riders.) She managed to locate a pop machine and was about to buy a few lemonade drinks when she noticed that the price for one small can of lemonade was $3.00. So she crawled back to me for more money and then back through the cattle to obtain our only means of thirst quenching liquid gold. Three dollars for one can of soda? These zoo people are really sick in their heads. And by the way, the train ride sucked!

In the end I don't feel so bad about the fact that Hudson filled the sleeping goat's ear with pea gravel at the petting park. Or the fact that he purposely reached into the sea life aquarium exhibit and turned all of the starfish onto their backs. The punishment of "Hudson" was well deserved to anyone or anything at the zoo that day. And one more thing... I lied when I said that I was an Oregon resident and saved .25 off of each ticket. So ha-ha!

Stick Heaven

What did Hudson like most about his visit to the zoo? Duh.... the sticks. He was in heaven when he found a large bamboo stick laying in a pile with a dozen others. Sadly one of the zoo keepers explained that the bamboo sticks were for an exhibit that they were building. Hudson couldn't understand why we just couldn't pay the lady off and keep the stick, he was ready to pay an excessive amount of my money for the stick too. Somehow he managed to find my wallet and pull out a handful of money. I braced myself for the meltdown that I knew was about to come, but then the heavens opened up and saved me from complete embarrassment as Hudson noticed that the entire ground in the play area was covered in tiny sticks. Heaven!

Best Friend's

Addy & Savannah are only 16 months apart in age and I wouldn't want it any other way. It was a little crazy when they were both toddlers, but seeing them today as best friends makes it worth all the craziness. Surprisingly they both have completely different personalities, but somehow they seem to balance each other out. It's comforting to know that they will always have this closeness that only sister's can share.

Savannah the Shark!

Savannah had an awesome swim meet tonight. She took second in the 100 meter breast stroke and fourth out of eight in the freestyle event. Savannah takes swimming very serious and she can sometimes be overly critical of herself. No matter what place she finishes in, she will always be a winner to me.

Addy took 2nd place

Addy had an overall great swim meet tonight. She took second place in the 100 meter breast stroke and fourth place in the 50 meter butterfly stroke. She swam last in the final relay and managed to catch her team up and went on to take second place. We are so proud of her. She hates to do the butterfly stroke (who doesn't?) and she had to swim it tonight. In the end she was dead last and while the other swimmers had already finished, Addy was still in the middle of the pool. She knew that all eyes were on the "poor last place swimmer" but she gave it her all and finished with her pride intact. She never gave up. She could have swam to the side and gotten out, but she went all the way. As I stood watching her I felt so proud of her determination. Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to love her even more then I already do. She's an amazing young woman.

Hudson was a little uneasy about the whole river thing. After learning how to balance on a floating dock, he jumped on board and let the wind blow through his hair. As with the train ride a few days ago, He continuously yelled out, "Faster Faster." He enjoyed staring out the back of the boat as his mommy or siblings were being violently jerked through the water and sometimes face planting into it. I can only imagine what he thought as he watched everyone purposely endanger themselves in the name of fun. He would yell out, "Go Taylor, Yay yay yay... uh oh, Taylor you okay?" Then he would look at me as if saying, 'I'm so disappointed in your parenting skills. My brother is being dragged behind a boat and your doing nothing about it.' This will probably be one of those childhood memories where we have to constantly remind him that things were not as he remembered them to be. (No Hudson, we never tied a rope to your brothers feet and dragged him face down in the water behind a boat!) not yet anyhow.

Addy

This was a great confidence builder for Addy. She is so excited about how well she did today and we are proud too. Addy doesn't want much for next Christmas, she would just like to have her gift early. What gift? A boat!

Savannah

Savannah took to knee boarding like a fish in water. She got up on her first try. She had a blast today and made some wonderful memories that will stay with her forever.

Best day of his life....

Taylor had a blast today out on the river, all thanks to some very generous friends of ours. He hasn't stopped talking about it. Thanks Scott and Nicole!

Splash Park

We also had a nice picnic lunch at the park. Savannah helped me to make sandwiches and snacks and pack up no less then a dozen bottles of water. Hudson was fully occupied when he discovered that the park grounds were covered with small sticks. He carefully collected as many as could be shoved into the bottom of the stroller and my purse. After enjoying our train ride we headed over to the splash park to cool off. As you can tell by the pictures, I desperately tried to get a picture with everyone in the picture smiling or at least looking in the right direction, but it failed. In the bottom picture, Hudson, who has his foot over the water hole, thinks it's pretty funny to control the water from shooting out. He had complete control for another 2 seconds after this picture was taken and then just as he removed his foot the water came shooting out at full blast right into his face. He was only a bit startled, but became upset when the sunscreen began to run into his eyes. Lessons learned can sometimes be difficult!

J&S Express

Today we punished ourselves and went to the park of dreams in 100 degree weather. Luckily we had a chance to cool off during a 15 minute train ride through the park. The train is called the J&S Express. It was created in the memory of Washington State Trooper James E. Saunders who was tragically killed in the line of duty on October 7, 1999, in Pasco, Washington.

It's great fun for the kids and at .50 for kids and $1.00 for adults it's a great deal. Gage was asked if he wanted to sit up front with the conductor and blow the whistle, he of course said, Yes! His smile stretched across his face so wide that it looks like his eyes are closed in the picture (top.) Hudson had a blast and continually yelled out, "Hey Buddy, go faster." I wouldn't be lying if I said that I was a little white knuckle on this kiddie ride. I honestly thought we might tip over with some of the tight turns and everytime we hit a bump (every .2 seconds) I thought that the little cars might become unconnected. Hudson of course loved it all. If the conductor had driven us straight into the river, Hudson would have cheered louder.
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R.I.P. Grandpa

I still can't find any words to express all of my sadness about Grandpa passing away. For once in my life I am speechless. It's not that I can't think of what to say, but rather there is so much I want to say and it would take a year to write it all down. It seems selfish of me to only write a paragraph or two about how much Grandpa meant to me when there are so many more wonderful things about this man. Maybe in a few weeks I will regain my thoughts.
ALTON HAYMAKER

Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home

Alton Haymaker, 82, died peacefully on July 2, 2009 at Kadlec Medical Center with his family around him. Al was born on August 10, 1926 in Everett, WA. After graduating from Everett High School he joined the Navy and served 2 years on Guam during WWII. He ran a carpenter crew of Japanese prisoners of war, and when he left they gave him many presents they had made. He attended Santa Monica Technical College in CA, and became a Journeyman machinist. He met and married his wife Joan in 1947.His main love was farming, having spent his summers on his uncles' wheat farms in Waterville. He bought his Block 15 farm in 1954 where he grew many crops before planting his first cherry orchard which later became 'Columbia River Cherries.' He was honored for his conservation practices. The 'Eleventh Commandment' hung on his wall. It said that you never really own land. It is only entrusted to you, and you must leave it in better shape for the next generation. The family farmed for 50 years before he retired at 75 and leased his land to 'J&S Orchards.'Al always stayed close to his old school friends and cousins. He could talk to any stranger he met. He loved to read, to learn and to explain things to his granddaughters. He enjoyed doing research on the computer and corresponding with his email buddy, Sarah. He taught his children good work ethics which they are grateful for today. They always had farm chores and he kept their hours in a little book. They got paid only after the crops were in. He sometimes held down 2 jobs so the family could live a little better. Al is survived by his wife of 61 years, Joan, his son Craig Haymaker (Marlene); daughter Gai Larsen (Bart); and three granddaughters, Mary Simpson, Laurie Devine (Richard) and Lisa Gibson (Robert). His great-grandchildren are Kylie, Taylor, Haylie, Addy, Brandi, Levi, Savannah, Devin and Hudson. Also surviving are his sister Harriet Koster (John), sister-in-law Nancy Bowland (John), nieces Cheryl Yeates (Charlie), Kai Scheerer (Bill), several Ludeman cousins and his cat 'Cuddles' who sleeps on his bed, recliner or desk. He was preceded in death by his son Gary Haymaker, his parents Alton C. and Mary Ludeman Haymaker, a step granddaughter Virginia Atkins and a daughter-in-law Carol Haymaker, and many Ludeman uncles, aunts and cousins.We want to thank the many doctors and nurses who cared for him at Lourdes and Kadlec Hospitals. Kadlec Medical Center made our final day with him a very comforting experience. Also special thanks to Dr. Jim Campbell who took care of him over many years, and a hug for Lluba and Amber. Granddaughter messages: Thank you for teaching me the names of the stars, I loved your stories even if I've heard them before and I'll look for a sign from you. Following Al's wishes, a private family service was held on Sunday, July 5 at our granddaughter's home. For anyone who would like to remember Al, he would have liked for you to give to a cause that you believe in, or to the American Heart Association.
www.muellersfuneralhomes.com.
Published in Tri-City Herald from 7/7 to 7/8/2009

Hudson plays T-ball

Hudson finds a red baseball glove. Now he can play ball.

Hudson wants to play. He will throw the ball to the coach. Oh' no...

Coach said, "No Hudson!" Too late. The ball hits coach in the head.

Hudson is mad. Hudson is sad. Mommy says, "Come here."

See Hudson get mad? See Hudson throw his Red Baseball glove
on the ground. Hudson is naughty. Hudson will NOT play T-ball
if he is naughty. Mommy says, "Do you want to go home and play
no more T-ball?" Hudson says, "Yes, I want to go home."
1 point Hudson********* 0 points Mommy