The one that got away

I've been meaning to post this since my last entry.  Later that same day I was cleaning up the kitchen and glanced outside, same view as the computer, and saw the lone survivor of my four year olds maurading ways.

What a brave girl!

Let me try to paint a picture for you

As I sit here on my computer, if I look to my left, I have a perfect view of our backyard swingset.   I'm watching my 5 children enjoy their time in the cool breeze (ok it's really a wind but breeze just sounds much more poetic) after a long record breaking heat wave.  The grass has perked up to a beautiful green hue and the leaves are rustling in the eucylaptus tree that  hangs over the swing set. 

Doesn't that sound peaceful?

Now, keep that mental image in your mind. 

As I happily watch my little cherubims at play, I can't help notice my 4 yo, who happens to be a boy (just in case you might have forgotten that point).  He's up in the fort portion of the swingset merrily playing w/ a stuffed animal and a stick.  I can hear him talking but I can't quite make out what he's saying, besides it being something loud.  That, in and of itself, is not unusual as he says everything very LOUD.  As I watch him a little longer, I notice the stuffed animal is being held very lovingly over the cross piece of the fort.   The stick, which I'm guessing this time is being used as a sword, is being employed as an incentive to the stuffed animal to defy the laws of gravity. 

After much showmanship and loud gesturing, the stuffed animal goes flying from its previous perilous perch and lands somewhere in the yard.  To which the aforementioned 4 year old revels in glee.  Blackbeard himself would have been proud to witness the atrocities that befell that little stuffed cat and my sons delight in inflicting such sorrow.

In the meantime, my three girls were pushing their baby brother in his swing or quietly swinging themselves without a pirate or hostage in sight.

Which leaves me with one question, what are those, who don't believe in gender differences, thinking? 

Callisto

 

Time for another Greek tale:

Callisto

as narrated & illustrated by E., age 10

Callisto

Callisto was a really beautiful girl. She had a son, and everyone who knew her would stare at her beauty. But Juno, who was a goddess, was jealous of her (Juno was not so pretty herself).

 

Juno Turning Callisto into a Bear

So Juno turned Callisto into a bear and said, "I have taken away that beauty with which you have captivated my husband!" and she left.  Callisto, although she was a bear, was afraid of the other bears. She hated to sleep in caves like the other bears.  One day, her son was out walking, and saw his mother, but he thought she was just another bear.  He almost shot her!  Callisto almost hugged him, but she stopped herself!

Callisto and Her Son are put into the Sky

Just then, Jupiter, Juno's husband, grabbed Callisto and her son and put them into the sky as the Big bear and the Little bear.  Juno was so mad that Callisto had been honored that she ran to the ocean, to ask Oceanus and Tethys not to let the two constellations go into the ocean. Being in the sky was an honor, but being in the ocean cleaned them, and Juno did not let them be cleaned.  So Callisto and her son whirl around at the top of the sky, and never sink into the ocean.

Bookstore buys

Last night after dinner we ran to the bookstore.  I was looking for a few, specific Thanksgiving titles, which I had no luck finding.  Just ordered them from Amazon and pray they will arrive before our bookclub at the end of the month.

Instead of bringing home Thanksgiving books, I did bring home some books I'd been mulling over for the past few years.  These are the books I purchased:

Kids in the Syndrome Mix

The Out-of-Sync Child has Fun

love & logic for kids with special needs

The Gift of Dyslexia

All cats have Asperger Syndrome

And on a lighter note:

101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12

I think the book titles are fairly self-explanatory so I don't need to give details as to what they are about.  Can you tell what areas I'm trying to work on, again?

I don't know why God chose me to be the mother to several kids with a "Syndrome Mix".   I laugh to myself when my mother and one of my sisters tell me how easy I have it because my wonderful husband helps out so much.  I do have a wonderful husband who does help out a lot.  What they miss in my "easy" life is what life is actually like, day to day, parenting and teaching these precious blessings God, for what ever reason, chose me to parent.  If I didn't have a wonderful husband, I probably would have lost it a long time ago and I don't mean my patience, that I lose on a regular basis. LOL

So, I will read my new books that will, hopefully, help me gain some more insight into the brains of my children who think very differently than I.  I will read them with the hope that I will become a better parent and teacher as I unravel the twists and turns of Aspergers, Sensory issues, Tourettes, Dyslexia and Obsessive Compulsive disorders.

Now back to my easy life.

Cephalus and Procris

My daughter is reading through Bullfinch's Mythology book for part of her school work.  Right now, we're in the Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes.  I like the way this book presents the material, so far, for her age.  It's not watered down but it's not as graphic as I know Greek Mythology stories can be.  It's a good balance. 

Sometimes for her narrations she likes to draw the scene, then tell me what happened using her picture as a guide.  For this story, I encouraged her to draw a few more pictures to tell the whole story.  She did a great job so I thought I'd share them here. 

If you're unfamiliar with the story of Cephalus and Procris (I was) here's a quick recap. 

Cephalus, who was very handsome and loved sports, was out and caught the eye of Aurora.  She instantly fell in love with him and wanted him to marry her.  Cephalus, however, was madly in love with his lovely wife, Procris and told Aurora "No."  This angered Aurora and she told Cephalus, as she let him go, that he would rue the day he ever set eyes on Procris. 

Aurora dismissing Cephalus with displeasure

Procris was favored by the goddess Diana.  Diana had given Procris a hunting dog and javelin that would never miss it's mark.  Procris, in return, gave these presents to her husband, Cephalus. 

Cephalus would go out hunting, alone, and when he was fatigued, he'd sit down in the shade to rest.  He would talk to the breeze that cooled and comforted him.  Someone happened to be walking by one day when he was talking to the breeze and mistook him to be talking to another women.  This person immediately went and told Procris, who wouldn't believe it until she heard it with her own ears. 

Cephalus talking to the breeze 

So, Procris hides in the bushes and waits for her beloved husband who happens along at that time.  He lays down and once again talks to the breeze sending up thanks for the comfort he is receiving.  Procris hearing her husband talking thus, thinks he is indeed talking to another woman and makes a noise.  Cephalus thinks the noise he hears in the bushes is an animal so he throws his javelin, which never misses it's mark, at the noise.  His aim is true and in true Greek tragedy style, his beloved wife is struck w/ a deadly blow. 

Procris is hit by Cephalus' Javelin

As he cradles her in his arms, grief stricken, she begs him to not marry "that odious breeze".  To which Cephalus now understanding what she is saying explains to her there was no other woman.  The breeze is just that, the breeze.  Procris dies in his arms content knowing that her husband loved her and was faithful.

So ends another fun Greek Mythology story. :)  I could actually see this as a Shakespeare play.  Of course, for all I know, it is a Shakespeare play. LOL

Remember that little girl

Remember that little girl I posted pictures of eating her watermelon at the beginning of October?  Well, here's some of the work that same two year old, now 8, produces.

 

This is a search and find.  She'd like to know if you can find the following items:

• 
  
  three butterflies
  
  


• 
  
  fish
  
  


• 
  
  apple blossoms
  
  


• 
  
  pollen
  
  


• 
  
  scorpion
  
  


• 
  
  two baby tucans
  
  


• 
  
  monkey
  
  


• 
  
  banana
  
  


• 
  
  sun
  
  


• 
  
  feeding frenzy
  
  


• 
  
  two snakes
  
  


• 
  
  two girls
  
  


• 
  
  jaquar
  
  


• 
  
  birds flying
  
  

It's been one month since I last posted

October always does that to me.  We had a busy month, oldest turned 10, we celebrated our 12th anniversary and we traveled to Boise.  Ever since we were first married, we talked about how Boise would be a place we'd like to live, even though we'd never been there before.

So, after 12 years of talkin' 'bout it, we went and we loved it. 

Boise Skyline

Capital Building

Thunder Mountain Railway

Train ride

to the Pumpkin Patch

Showing off their haul

Fall in Boise!

Park along the Boise River

In the mountains along the Payette River

Campground along the Payette River