Name That Candy Bar!

I had so much fun taking this quiz that I wanted to be sure to share it! This quiz was on Grandparents.com and it is a quiz to see how well you identify candy bars.

I went through the quiz and got 9 out of 10 correct! I think that score was a dead giveaway that I am a chocoholic. Actually, any sweets are a weakness for me. Heaven help me if I ever become a diabetic!

I do practice moderation though...but I do tend to binge on occasion...like when someone gives me a box of dark chocolate covered cherries and I eat ALL of them in one sitting. There's only 10 little pieces in those boxes, aren't there? Okay, I am ashamed....

I called Drew over to my side and asked him if he wanted to take the quiz. "Sure!" he said with an air of confidence. I GAVE him the first 2 answers! Then, he was on his own. He ended up with 4 out of ten correct and I lean towards the other 2 answers he got correct were lucky guesses because he made all his selections with a question when he took the quiz (Butterfinger? Snickers?). If it were not a multiple choice quiz, I don't think he would have been able to even come up with the names of any of the candy bars.

This is a good thing! Good for him! I feel that the times that I would "sneak" a piece of candy or chocolate behind my office door so he wouldn't see me eating candy is paying off. Ouch! My halo is on too tight again.

Hope you enjoy the candy bar quiz !!

Mai

Food Rules

I like to try to read our local newspaper online as often as possible. Maybe I don't particularly enjoy reading the news for the same reason I don't like watching the news on TV...not enough good news. Sigh.

However, I went to the Milwaukee Journal online tonight and read a very interesting story from Mukwonago about some students that boycotted the school lunches to voice their objections to the new federal school lunch rules. In case you are interested, here's the link to the story.

I am aware that this is not the first time the federal government has set rules and guidelines for school lunch programs. Personally, I think that ketchup should never have been considered a serving of vegetable ( I believe this was the case quite a number of years ago). So some good can come from guidelines. But shouldn't common sense have told us that ketchup doesn't count as a serving of vegetables?

So, it seems that the school lunch program has to consist of healthier food choices, a lot less fat and "age aligned calorie intake". Wait a minute. Age aligned calorie intake? Seriously? For some reason, a scene from Oliver Twist flashed through my mind where Oliver Twist, with an empty bowl in his hands, asks for more food. Okay, it's not that drastic but my mind seems to work in mysterious ways sometimes.

Drew is not a large kid. However, there are kids his age that are larger than him. And I don't mean larger than him because of obesity...there are kids that are bigger than him! We all know how kids seem to grow in spurts (and sometimes sputters). Therefore, it's not uncommon to see a fourth grader that is bigger than a sixth grader. So how will this "alignment of calories" work for them? Drew's school also sent notices home that said every child taking a school lunch will need to take 1/2 cup of vegetables and 1/4 cup of fruit. The notice also said that the children are not required to eat the veggies and fruit but they must take them. I don't know if this is required in all schools but I can't help but wonder how much is going to the trash containers. Drew is pretty good about eating a variety of food but I know kids that flatly refuse to even have vegetables or fruits on their plate (yep! Some of them are relatives!).

I may seem naive about this. In the end, I think that the new guidelines are really well intended but I think that good nutrition really needs to start at home. Maybe more PE time would have been a better solution? I packed a lunch for Drew tonight. I hope it passes muster! ;-)

Mai

Math and Mai

My daughter has taken some vacation time this week. Therefore, I am on "vacation" from caring for Drew after school. I guess this is a good thing since it gives me the chance to cross off a few things from my "things to do list". It's amazing how many other "must deal with this right now" things crop up when I am trying to tackle the regular "things to do" list. I feel like I have spent a lot of time doing a lot of things that my Mother would term "busy for nothing".

One of the things I still hope to spend some time doing this week is learning "new math". Has anyone else noticed the difference in how math is taught today? Or is it just me?

Making sure that Drew gets his homework done is a caretaker's duty I take very seriously. There are times that his math homework really stumps me though. Math has never been a strong point for me. But elementary math is not a problem. That is, until Drew started bringing home math homework. There are a few times that I have looked at his math homework sheet and had no idea what he was supposed to do. Thank goodness that he knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

Drew and I would spend a little time everyday doing "homework" during his summer break. I noticed that he struggled with some simple addition and subtraction. He clearly understood the concept of addition and subtraction. He just seemed to have a problem putting the concept into action to solve the problem. So, I carefully explained the role of the "tens " and the "ones". I even brought out the old flash cards. He did so-so to okay after this.

After a little investigating, I found out that his class uses something called a number grid for mathematics. A number grid?! What is a number grid?! Quick search and I find this:

Number Grid

I printed one of these and had Drew practice some math problems the next day. Zip! He's finished and all the answers are correct. I also learned about something called a "number line".

Number Line

I am open to new teaching concepts. I must admit that I don't always agree with all the concepts. My worry is that I could end up totally confusing my grandson when I, out of total ignorance, am assuming that he is learning his lessons the same way that I learned my lessons.

So, I will insist that his teachers share their teaching methods and will persist in learning these new methods so I can help Drew if necessary. I have to confess that I feel ancient at times. I had a young kindergarten teacher look at me as though I were archaic when I asked her what "sight words" were. This was not a term that I knew from my time (a long, long time ago according to Drew and his kindergarten teacher!) ;-)

I should write a blog about the school I attended in my elementary years in the future. It might be a valuable history of ancient teaching methods! LOL!!!

 Mai

The Bittersweet Week

Labor Day weekend has ended and Tuesday rolled in on a bittersweet note for us.

Drew started his first day of the new school year as a second grader. He was so excited! We made sure everything was ready on Monday night. New backpack, new jeans, new sneakers, new lunch box and trusty old scooter were lined up with care ready for Tuesday morning. Mom walked him to school and a new adventure begins!

Mom and Drew first day of second grade!

 Haba and Mai's day started with  taking our pet terrier/chihuahua mix, Kirby, to the veterinarian. Cataracts, hearing loss, inability to walk more than 3 steps without falling and the inability to get back up made us realize that Kirby was having more bad days than good days and it was time to let him go to a better place. We got to hold him close and say goodbye to him as he slipped off to a place without any bad days. We have had him for over 18 years and he is now with his litter mate brother, Napoleon, that we said good bye to last year. It will take some time to get used to not having a dog sharing our home with us and we miss him terribly but I like to think that Kirby and  Napoleon now are in a place where they have their "terrier energy"  and all their days are good days.

Our 18 year old Kirby

When I picked Drew up after school on Tuesday, I found him with the biggest smile and sweating so much that his hair was plastered all over his forehead with his face flushed pink. It was a warm day but I was wondering what he had been doing to show such exertion! Then I noticed his classmates were all showing similar signs of exertion. I quickly found out that PE class is held as the last class of the day on Tuesday and Friday this year. I like the fact that on these days I will be picking up a grandson that has already burned off some of that seven year old energy before coming home.

I decided that this year I would try asking him about his day in school in a more "creative" way. Instead of the usual "what did you do today at school?" or "what did you learn today?" (which gets the usual answer of  "not much" or "you know, the usual") I would ask him more specific questions. So, I asked him if something funny happened at school today. It worked. He told me about how a classmate made everyone laugh when he waved very energetically to everyone while they were lined up in the hallway. Then he told me about the class library, the class "folder system", that he had "homework" for his Mom (a sheet she needed to fill out) and that he played a really fun game in PE called "toilet tag". I understand that it is a variation freeze tag and he really had me laughing with his dramatization.

I did tell Drew about the loss of our pet, Kirby, later that evening. I was determined not to cry in front of him when relaying this news to him but, I failed.  Of course, Drew was very attached to Kirby and we had talked to him over the summer about how Kirby would probably be joining Napoleon soon since he was so very old and tired.

His eyes welled up with tears and he tilted his face up to try to keep the tears from falling. He left the room and I could hear him mumbling "where did my Mom put the kleenex?". He was back in a few seconds with a handful of toilet paper and proceeded to wipe my tears and give me a hug. He spent the next hour bringing out Lego sets and some games. I realized that he was trying to distract me from feeling sorrow when he asked "Mai? Am I helping you to forget about what happened this morning?". I had to laugh and tell him that "yes, you are indeed helping me. Thank you Drew.".

So, a bittersweet day passed. We miss our pet and we miss having Drew around all day with us. And Drew has reconfirmed what I already knew...there is a very wise, old soul that dwells within the body of  my seven year old grandson.

Drew and Kirby

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Hope everyone is having a last Hoorah! for the summer!

We are trying to get a few of our many, many ongoing projects done (or at least closer to done!) this weekend. Haba is busy working on the growbeds in the greenhouse. Thank goodness it is breezy and cool today! It gets really hard to work for long outdoors when it's in the 90+ degree range.

Drew and I started working on the "winter quarters" for the hens (and rooster). The young hens we got this past June seem to not waste any time running out of the coop in the morning and head straight for the barn. So, we decided that we will create a winter coop for them in the barn. Still have some work to do but we still have a little time before winter...right?

We don't know if the three "queen" hens will go in the barn with them though. They are rather set in their ways. Guess they are entitled to their old coop but I hope they will winter in the barn too.

We are still building our nesting boxes for the young hens. We decided to use plastic pails that can be washed out easily. We mounted three of them to an old workbench and we will have to go to the bakery to get some more pails to complete the "Egg Factory". We'll keep you posted on our progress! Meantime, here are some pictures!

Drew's sign for the hens

The Egg Factory!

The hens checking out the construction site.

They love free ranging!