Bye bye birdies?

For the last 2 or 3 years, McKay has been interested in birds. He eats, sleeps, and breathes birds. He reads about them, writes about them, and spends countless hours studying and recording their behaviors. He has done hundreds of drawings of birds which are displayed throughout the house. He even knows what most of their calls sound like and their latin names. We spend a lot of money on bird feed and sugar for the hummingbirds. It's great to see him so passionate about something, however I have a very hard time inspiring him to want to learn about anything else.

When we studied Iceland, we studied a little about volcanoes but I didn't really think anything of it. The primary chorister in our ward has been holding a senior primary choir practice every Wednesday morning. Well yesterday, he stayed an hour extra at choir practice, and when he got home he had a book about volcanoes in tow and was just bubbling over with excitement. It turns out that the primary chorister is a geologist and she showed him a bunch of pictures of volcanoes, and books about volcanoes, and totally inspired him to learn more. As soon as he got home, he asked if he could go to the library and I let him go even though he didn't have his chores done because he was so excited. So, he went to the library and came back with loads of books and videos all about volcanoes. Since that time, he has spent every spare moment with his nose in those books and has been spouting facts to me all morning.

I am so ready for him to move on to a different subject. I love birds and they are fascinating but after 2 years I am ready for a change. I have figured out that he is passionate about one subject at a time and that is how he loves to learn. Before birds, it was geography for about two years and even when he was a little boy, he would go through phases where he loved one type of toy and that was all he played with. For instance, he went through a diesel phase, a horse phase, and a tractor phase and they all seemed to last for an eternity. I guess he is a depth learner. When he is finally satisfied with his knowledge of a subject, he moves on to a new one. So, we will see if he changes subjects or if this is just a temporary thing.

Here are a few pictures of the hundreds of birds he has photographed, and one example of a bird drawing poster he made.

Summer Reading Program

Our neighborhood library is having a children's summer reading program and the theme is bugs. McKay and Elena decided to sign up for it, and every time they read a certain amount of minutes they get a prize. There is a possibility of 5 prizes, and Elena got her first prize in two days. She had to read 180 minutes. McKay did the program last year and I guess the novelty of prizes has worn off because although he has read plenty, he has not recorded a single minute.







Alexia is not yet an independent reader so she could not sign up. However, this year they decided to do a family program on the same theme. We read books and do projects together as a family, and then at the end get to put our name in some sort of drawing. This is fitting into our school perfectly. One of our projects was to make and submit a bug poster. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully, this will help keep us busy all summer.

Maria chapter one verse one

Warning! This post is my rantings about a book. It's my thoughts and opinions so feel free to skip.

Last night a few ladies and I discussed Animal Farm by George Orwell. I had read this book before, but didn't really remember it because at the time I probably didn't really care. This book and the discussion inspired me to learn more about Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and the whole history of communism. It was amazing to learn that this story was allegorical to communist Russia. This book is very informative, but revealing of the path we are now headed which invoked a bit of fear in me. Orwell does a great job of revealing the evils of communism, and I believe socialism as well, although I don't know if that was his intent. The book never resolves though and left me in a bit of a vacuum. What do I do next? Maybe someday all of my studying will actually teach me how to think. What a concept. I did come away with the resolve to learn how to think and get a great education so I am not so easily duped into slavery by wicked, intelligent men.

We all decided to read The Hiding place next, which is about the holocaust. It is more of a healing book though because it resolves at the end, and inspires hope, while revealing the evils of fascism simultaneously. What an educational journey I have been on the past few years! I have so much left to learn! I have actually read this book before, but am excited to read it again. It was transformational the first time I read it.

Well that is the end of my rantings for now! I'm grateful for a place to record my thoughts and opinions, because that is another thing I have yet to learn. How to really express my ideas in writing to make an impact. Bear with me while I learn.

The Baptism

Elena's baptism went great, thanks to friends and family who took part in the program. The only problem was that most people were late because it was a hard address to find and I did not include directions in the invitations. So we got started about 15 minutes late. Thank you to everyone who was able to come. It was great to be together for this special occasion.

After the baptism, we had a lovely luncheon/get together. It was a lot of fun. I did not get very many pictures due to the busyness of the day, but here are a few of the kids and Elena. I dare not post any pictures of other family members without their permission.

Car trouble and chaos.

Yesterday morning, my niece was married in the Bountiful LDS temple, and I missed the whole thing due to car trouble.

I was on my way to Cedar Hills to drop off the kids at my mother's house, when I noticed that the LOW COOLANT LEVEL light was on. We knew we had a leak because we had been having to fill up the coolant every few weeks or so and had procrastinated getting it fixed. However, my wonderful husband who had to be at work at 6:00 AM that morning, filled up the coolant for me before he left, so I thought I was good to go. When I got to my mother's house, I called my husband at work, and he told me to lift up the hood, and told me where to look. Well, there was wet coolant sprayed all over under the hood so he told me not to go to Bountiful and to take the car to the mechanic right away. The mechanic said I had a blown water pump but he can't get to it until Monday, so I am without a car the whole weekend and our pocketbook will now be $200 lighter, but the worst part is that I missed the wedding and the reception. Will that teach me not to procrastinate? I hope so.

So, Pam and Janet, I hope you can forgive me. Congratulations, and I love you!

This morning I found out that Elena's baptism time has to be changed from 10:00 to12:00 due to an overscheduling of the Stake Center, so I have been frantically calling all of my family. Luckily, all I have talked to so far can still attend. But, oh the stress. What a wonderful and understanding family I have. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly tomorrow. I guess the up side of the time change is that it has given me a little more time to prepare. Which I sorely need.

Clutter

We are taking a week off of school because Elena is getting baptized this weekend which means lots of people over afterwards. My living room has been serving as a sitting room/family room/school room/computer room. My kitchen is just as bad as kitchen/dining room/junk pile. It is definitely time to declutter. The living room is going to be dejunked and rearranged, and the computer is going to find a new home upstairs. There is just too much stuff in this one room. The kitchen will also be dejunked and the junk pile probably relocated to the basement. Atleast the stuff worth keeping. And hopefully I will have time to deep clean everything simultaneously. Not to mention all the food preparation which will have to take place. So wish me luck because I am going to need it now that I have procrastinated this for so long. And here I sit blogging because it is so much fun. Who knew I would actually enjoy it this much. Certainly not I.

Glasses

I finally have a child who has bad eyesight like me. McKay now gets to wear glasses. I had hoped that they would all take after Clarence. But it is not to be. He is actually far sighted though, so he only has to wear them to read, work on the computer, play piano, etc. I think he looks very handsome with glasses and he says it makes a big difference for him. We got Elena and Alexia checked also and they are slightly far sighted, but not enough to wear glasses. Hopefully, their eyes won't get any worse. I was not even aware that kids could be far sighted. I thought only older people wore reading glasses. Crazy.