Zombie games and the TV show Full House

We were at the movies a couple weeks ago waiting to watch Epic. I was up buying a soda and Brady wanted to look at the arcade games. Okay, I said.

He returned after 5 minutes with wide eyes saying, "There's a game over there where a zombie's head exploded and blood flew everywhere!"

WHAT!

Turn away! Don't look!

So he stood by me staring straight ahead. Boy we were shocked. I had no idea they had games like that at a theater with kids shows. It never even occurred to me to check and see what games were there. Usually it's car driving games or claw machines or maybe a buck hunter game at the wildest.

But head-exploding blood-soaked zombies?

Now, all parents make different choices for their kids and it's no one's business to judge. But I know for my kid, games like that are NOT okay. Not ever, at least in my house. He has a very vivid imagination and holds on to details tightly. Those games would wake him up in the night. Those games would affect his mood.

Luckily he seems to realize this and doesn't seek them out (of course he's only 7, this may change in say, another 7 years). But sheesh, there it was at the movie theater!

I know I can't protect him from the violence portrayed in the world, but at least we can have a little sanctuary in our home. I told him, "Kid, I can't keep you from seeing that stuff in the world or maybe at a friend's house sometime, but we will not ever have those games in our house." I just can't do it.

And you know what his absolute, favorite, MUST-HAVE-TV-ON-AT-8 P.M. show is? Full House. That adorable little show that ran from 1987 to 1995 according to IMDB with baby twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen and John Stamos as the funny uncle. 

I love his innocence and joy when he watches that cute show. It's so refreshing in our Sponge Bob (which he does watch sometimes), zombie, special-effects world. I hope it's his favorite for a long time to come.

Food and kids as individuals

To the left is Brady's dinner the night we had fajitas. Ours of course were rolled up in tortillas with chicken, melted cheese, diced avocado and hot sauce.

The thing is, Brady can't stand melted cheese and he really doesn't like stuff all mixed together.

I know a lot of people follow the eat-what-you're-given principle and I get that. The world won't change things up for you just because you want it too.

But on the other hand, I know that I hate having to eat things I don't like or having very little on my plate I want to eat.

Also, Brady's long-undiagnosed egg allergy has made him VERY particular about food mixed up together. Until he was 4, he never knew what would make him nauseous or cause him to throw up.

So... I don't mind giving him something prepared just a little different than what we have. If I'm making shepherd's pie, he gets separate meat, veggies or fruit, and mashed potatoes, just not all mixed up. Grilled cheese? Bread with peanut butter, sliced cheese, veggies and tomato soup.

To open him up to new foods, we do Try Something New Thursdays and he helps with gardening, then loves to try what he's helped to grow. He's seen Jason hunt and is open to trying all the things he brings home: dove, deer, wild turkey, wild hog, even bull frog if Jase gets one this year!

These activities have really paid off. In recent weeks he has tried cajun sausage, pepper jack cheese, blueberries and smores. None stuck, but he'll be likely to try them again and get used to them over time.

Like I said recently, in the U.S. we have such a funny relationship with food, I hate to make it a forceful unpleasant experience. And I want him to know he is an individual with different tastes than mine and I am willing to respect that. I won't prepare a whole different dinner for him, but I can change up what I'm making to fit him.

And who doesn't want to be treated just a little bit special sometimes?

Joy when a child's prayer is answered

I saw Brady on Sunday, for the first time ever, spontaneously fold his little 7-year-old hands and pray for something out loud. Wow!

At first, I was just so touched and grateful to see that, but then shortly afterward wondered what I would tell him if it didn't happen.

We were in Colorado and had met some kids just up the road from our mountain campsite two days before but weren't certain if they would be able to play again before we left. So Brady prayed, "Dear God, please let the kids come out."

I quickly told him that God answers our prayers if He can and if it's best for us and for others, that maybe they had to go somewhere or maybe we needed to spend alone time as a family. We don't always know all the things that God has to consider.

It's another one of those difficult things to teach: Disappointment is a fact of life, but if you can still have hope you will be so much better off.

As he stood looking up the road longingly, I hoped so much for him. He finally went off and played, content in his prayer, thank goodness.

About 30 minutes later one of the kids came down and we were so joyous! And shortly after that, his grandmother came down to invite us up for a play-date that night. His prayer was answered! We thanked God and reveled in the joy of it.

Not all his prayers in life may be answered, but we'll never forget this time that they were.

Jenni & Jody blog: For parents, 3 question correction

Awhile back, I read this post on 3 question to ask when your child misbehaves from Jenni & Jody's blog and have been using it with Brady. It is working so great I had to share!

The best part is not leaving room open for "why" they did what they did. I have been asking that and, yes, they are right, the child immediately gives excuses. Asking "what did you do that was wrong" instead of "why did you do that" has made a big difference.

And making it a given that there was a different choice to be made is great too.

Check out the post and see if it might work for your kids too!

8 ways to connect kids to food in the city

Our patio tomatoes, in addition to the garden.

I am convinced a lot of our troubles with unhealthy eating in the U.S. stem from the fact that we are very disconnected from our food.

We buy so much of it processed and packaged, neat and tidy, wrapped and unrecognizable, that we don't have a tangible, personal sense of where it comes from and what it does in our bodies.

I have made it my mission to teach Brady where food, at its most basic, comes from.

We do this in a variety of ways out here in the country: we rode a combine, then collected and ground our own wheat grains; we fish and hunt; we collect apples, mulberries and other fruit; we garden.

Here are some ideas for connecting kids to food in the city:

He looks concerned, but felt proud eating a fish he caught.

Grow veggies or fruits in pots

No matter where you live, you can grow something. It can be tomatoes or peppers in pots on the porch, or even herbs in the kitchen window. Just plant a seed, let your kid see it grow and then let him eat it.

Find a community garden

At the American Community Gardening Association website, you can search for community gardens in your area. Often you can cheaply purchase and maintain your own plot if you don't have much land. Other times you can buy fresh produce from it.

Here are my results searching in the Wichita, KS area.

We made this guacamole together from scratch.

Find a U-pick farm

At PickYourOwn.org, you can find a farm where you go and pick your own fruits and veggies straight from the plant or tree.  Here are the ones I found in Kansas.

Take a farm tour

Google your state's name and "farm tours" and see what comes up. When we lived in Florida, Worden Farm was nearby. A kid gets to see just exactly what happens on a farm, whether it is dairy, animals or produce.

Go fishing

I think fishing is empowering for anyone. To be able to catch supper with your own hands is huge. And you also learn to take personal responsibility for the animal whose life is given for yours.

Cook together and talk

Brady has made biscuits from scratch, homemade (egg-free!) ice cream, guacamole and lots of other things. Learning about preparation and ingredients and mixing and baking can help a kid connect to what he's eating. Talk about why things are mixed and cooked in a certain way.

Buy things whole & DIY

We have made homemade bread crumbs, ice cream, stuffing, wheat flour, tortillas, pickled beets, applesauce, pickled tomatoes, salsa, baked potato "chips", guacamole, re-fried beans, etc. We're always willing to try to make something ourselves if we can (peanut butter is next on the list!). Kids learn so much from seeing the process of how something is made from scratch.

Supplement with the Internet

For the things you cannot show them about where food comes from, go online. There are so many videos and photos for gardening, canning, cooking and probably even for meat. Meat is the hardest to connect to, which is a good side effect of our hunting and fishing.

Pointing out real life examples of integrity

We try to teach our kids a lot of things. Sometimes it feels like there is too much.

Eat healthy food. Brush your teeth. Be polite. Be patient. Work hard. Don't give up. Be a good loser AND a good winner. Not too much screen time. Get outside. Tell the truth. Use your words. On and on.

Some things are cut and dry and concrete. Others are more abstract. This came up recently with the idea of "integrity" and I was able to use other people's example to illustrate the concept to Brady, whose school defines it as "Doing the right thing when no one is watching."

It's a good definition, but how does a 7-year-old really know what it means? Whenever you can, use real life examples of someone displaying the abstract trait or even times when they don't. This gives them a tangible expression of the word.

Here are the two examples I used, both of which he was a part of and benefited from:

Change from a car

We bought a car and had it detailed. When we picked it up, the guy gave us a handful of change including a Sacagawea dollar, about $3 to $4 worth of change. He told us they always return whatever they find in the vehicle.

We gave the change to Brady, who was with us, and then I explained what had happened. We went inside so Brady could thank the man and he told him very exuberantly, "I collect these gold coins!" After we left, I said, "That man showed integrity, didn't he? We would never have known that he found those coins. He could have kept them. He didn't have to give them to us. But he did."

Vreader from the restaurant

A couple weeks later we were in the big city of Wichita eating at a restaurant and Brady was with us. We go there for work once a week, and the next week it was just Jason and I at the same restaurant. A waitress walked out with Brady's Vreader in her hand. "I think your son left this here last week," she said.

We didn't even realize it was gone! I showed Brady and again told him, "They didn't have to give this back to us. We didn't even know it was lost yet and wouldn't have known where we left it. They could have kept it and we wouldn't have known. But they chose to give it back and that shows integrity."

Marriage: Be a team in all you do

The arrow is pointing to the 3-foot mark.

We had an eventful start to the week. Overnight Sunday into Monday morning, we had 2 inches of much-needed rain.

It came down so fast, our ditch out front completely flooded, saturating the dirt around our block wall.

Hubby barely touched the top of it with his foot and about 6 feet of the 3-foot-tall wall collapsed into the ditch. Mind you, the bottom rocks are HUGE and weigh maybe 300 pounds ore more.

We didn't know what the heck we were going to do as now our yard was bare dirt at the ditch. 

We knew this day was coming as the wall had been bulging outward (from a 2-inch thick tree root we later discovered!) but it sure was a surprise to see that pile of rubble!

We took the day off from work and along with my father-in-law, built that wall back up. Rock by rock, bottom to top. It took 6 hours, several shovels, a bucket for bailing water, a pry bar to lift the rocks, a board to roll them up to the higher levels and a wheel barrow to haul excess dirt away.

It occurred to me that this is what makes a successful marriage. Working as a team, even when the job is daunting and hard. If we can somehow remember to work as a team on everything - our jobs, child raising, caring for our home, planning for the future, managing money - we will be so much better off and so much closer as a couple.

If you're working toward the same goal, as partners, as team-mates, then you will automatically consider the other person's needs and respect the other person's contribution. The sense of accomplishment when we finished that wall was enormous. And we had done it together. Not one going it alone. Not two going in opposite directions. But side by side for the same purpose, helping each other all along the way.

That is a powerful thing. And I also love that Brady saw us working so hard together. In the mud and muck, in the heat and bugs, together.

Creamy avocado dip = awesome!

I recently got avocados for 25 cents a piece at Aldi so was excited to try this new recipe. It turned out really wonderful. We used it on chicken fajitas or it can be a dip with chips or crackers.

I changed up the recipe a bit, so I guess the following is my new creation:

Creamy Avocado Dip

Ingredients: 

2 sliced avocados
1 cup low fat sour cream (I use fat free)
1/2 cup fresh or to-taste dried cilantro (I used about 2.5 Tbsp. of dried)
1 Tbsp lime juice (I used lemon juice)
1/2 tsp salt
I also added pepper, garlic powder to taste

You could also put in diced tomatoes, fresh or jarred jalapeno, diced onions or onion powder. Mix all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Gardening tip: save rain water, teach kids reuse!

I want to share just how far collecting rain water can get you. I have estimated my down-the-hill garden (as opposed to my larger garden with a well at Grandma and Grandpa's old place) takes 10 gallons of water every other day right now.

We got 2 inches of rain a few days ago and I collected it in the old wash tub. That netted me 6 gallons of water to use in the garden.

This not only saves money on water, but also demonstrates in a real-life way to Brady the principal of reuse and recycling. You could even do this for house plants.

I just need to get more wash tubs and save even more! Below is Brady's watering can next to mine, and the milk jugs I save (more recycling!) to collect rain water.

Spelling city: Free online fun to help kids learn

Brady's upcoming 2nd grade teacher gave me a wonderful resource to help him with spelling.

It's a website called Spelling City, which has this description:

"SpellingCity is a free, educational website that enables parents to add individualized vocabulary and spelling lists. Children of all ages and learning abilities can use their own personalized lists in a variety of learning activities that help to reinforce and correct spelling and word meaning through fun learning games.Registration is free. The majority of our learning activities are printable as well - we even offer handwriting practice worksheets!"

We have checked it out and there are some really fun games. Last year during school, we worked hard on Brady's spelling based on ideas from his teacher and I am happy to say he went from 4 out of 10 mid-year to repeated 10 out of 10s. He loves spelling now.

I think Spelling City will be another good addition to our work at home.

Six ways to keep learning in summer!

I'm so fortunate to be self-employed in our family's small business and have Brady with me during the work day off and on in the summer.

It lets him see what we're doing for a living and it allows me to incorporate learning into our day. But even if you're together only at night and weekends, you can keep the learning going all summer long.

Summer's a great time to relax, but it's also such a wonderful time for parents to add to what their kids have learned during the past year at school and get them ready for next year. Brady also sees that Mom thinks learning is important too.

Here are some ways we do that just by taking opportunities during our regular daily activities:

• Nature walk, wherever you are. There is always something to be learned from nature. To the left, we were at an auction in a big city and I took us for a walk across the street to a huge drainage ditch. It was full of giant dandelions, butterflies, flowers and water. (Not to mention trash, a littering lesson!)
• Bring education materials everywhere. I have my office and home stocked with activity books for math, reading, spelling and writing. I schedule work time into our days. I also put educational stuff in a backpack I take with us on the road. 
• Set goals. We have several reading goals and we are also working on the goal of getting Brady more comfortable with drawing. What areas does your kid need help in? Set a goal, any goal, and get to work.
• Have high expectations. Brady is capable of a lot, but he doesn't always see that so it's up to me to show him. When I lay out a schedule, he just accepts it and goes along with it.
• Intersperse with fun. We carve out time for outside play, trips to the pool, indoor non-screen free play, Nintendo DS, TV or computer. Summer is a time for downtime too and if he's had a break, he is less likely to complain about work. And we do take a break from the "school" stuff on weekends.
• Talk, talk, talk, especially in the car. Brady learns the most, I think, when he and I just chat. Unless we have a very long drive, no DS in the car. He asks me about everything. I learn so much from those conversations too. You can even play games with letters and words on signs, or count things that you see.

Homemade pickled eggs

My husband absolutely adores pickled eggs, so I went looking for a recipe online to make them at home. I tried this one and it was fantastic. A nice, quick tasty protein that lasts a long time in the frig.

Ingredients:

12 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1 large empty sterilized glass jar (I used a plastic one we had)
4 cups vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 medium onions, chopped (I skipped this)
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. pickling spices

Put the peeled hard-boiled eggs in the jar. Boil the remaining ingredients together for 5 minutes and pour over the eggs. Refrigerate. Yum!

America's wheat harvest is here!

One of the things I love about hunting, gathering and gardening is that my son gets to see where the food we eat comes from. I'm convinced the more he knows about what our food IS, the healthier his relationship with food will be.

Right now we are thinking about where bread and flour come from. Wheat harvest is beginning in Kansas and I hope to document it as it goes along.

The transformation of the wheat throughout the year is amazing. It's planted in winter and little green shoots come up. They stay small in the cold and are used to feed grazing cattle.

Then when spring starts to warm things up, big green stalks shoot up. They stay deep green for awhile and when temperatures start breaking 80 and 90, a subtle golden hue starts creeping in. Then, oh my goodness, they are all of a sudden fields of wavy golden stalks.

We're there now. In the Heartland, the landscape is golden and soon it will be dotted with busy combines and grain trucks and dust floating up. It's a busy time here. An exciting time. Everyone hopes for a good yield and good prices.

Here's a photo of what the wheat looks like right now and a few photos from our combine trip last year. I hope we get to go again this year!

A neat farm I saw on a drive recently.

The grain elevator across the street from us. It will be a busy place soon.

Brady's 2012 harvest combine ride.

 

 

 

 

 

Reading success: Don't give up in summer

Summer is a great time for parents to supplement the education their kids get at public school. We have been doing this with reading and have started to see subtle results.

And some not so subtle. He's already blown past his 350-page reading goal for the entire summer and is upwards of 400 pages now. Granted, they are early reader books, but wow.

1) Brady himself told me the other night, "I'm reading better and better!" He's right. He recognizes more words immediately. His reading pace has increased. His enthusiasm for reading has picked up and his confidence is growing.

2) We stood at the pool, dripping wet, between the Men's and Women's restrooms. He used to always come in the Women's with me but he's too old for that now, but not quite old enough to get completely undressed in the Men's. 

Then Brady says, "Oh look, that one says 'Family.'" Yes! He found the family restroom I hadn't even seen. Yay for reading!

3) We parked in front of a restaurant and he asks, very perplexed, "Why does that sign say 'We buy gold?'" Ah, the mysteries of modern society. Here's what we have done to encourage reading:

Rewards

For us this includes the Reading Store that we do at home and a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for meeting his goal.

Reading programs

He likes to see his name and number of books he's read on the board at the local library and he's excited to get certificates from his school's program and the state of Kansas.

Library time

We go every three weeks and check out new books. This becomes a fun part of our routine. 

Raz-kids.com

The reading teacher at Brady's school recommended this website, Raz-kids.com and it is awesome! You find the level your kid is at and they "earn" stars by listening to the book, reading the book and then answering a quiz. There is an extensive "book room" to find titles they like.

You use the stars to "buy" equipment, accessories and even aliens to adorn a "space ship." Brady is motivated by numbers and loves the idea of earning stars. He is really enjoying this website. It is working for us. Check it out!

It's mulberry gathering time, SOOO good!

Mulberries are already coming ripe and I can hardly believe it!

We have about 4 locations that we regularly check throughout the summer and I can end up with cups and cups of these sweet dark berries.

I love this kind of modern day gathering. It's free, it's exercise, it's healthy and it's providing food for our family straight from tree to plate. No pesticides. No travel time. Just us and food. I love for Brady to see that connection whenever possible.

Here's my first harvest of the year. I soak them overnight to get out any stray buggies or dirt, then I rinse them and spread them out on a tray and freeze them.

When they're good and frozen, I snap the stems off one by one and transfer them to a freezer bag to use later. They are good on cereal, in yogurt, in muffins, pancakes or waffles, with whipped topping or in a pie. Pie pictures from last year's harvest are below. If you have any nearby to you, don't let them go to waste!

 

Church and the impact of Dads...

On this Father's Day, I am reminded of a study a pastor once referenced as it relates to fathers going to church and how it affects their children.

It is amazing the impact a father has on the direction of his family. Mothers and fathers fill equally important though different roles in their childrens' lives. We may be equal partners but men and women are not the same and each offers something unique for their child's development. Perhaps the dad is who everyone looks to, even subtly, for guidance in what path to follow.


Here is the gist of it, from the article The Truth About Men & Church:

"The question was asked to determine whether a person’s religion carried through to the next generation, and if so, why, or if not, why not. The result is dynamite. There is one critical factor. It is overwhelming, and it is this: It is the religious practice of the father of the family that, above all, determines the future attendance at or absence from church of the children."

Funny things Brady says... too many Hi's & summer

When Grandma Ruby was watching Brady this week they walked up to the local library. At the same time all the kids from the local day care were walking up Main Street for story time. According to Mom and Brady, all the kids started saying, "Hi Brady! Hi Brady!" all at once to which he said, "There's too many people! I can't say Hi to everybody!" I love our small town.

And the other day he offered me this observation:

"There are four things I don't like about summer. One, the bug bites come back."

He shows me one on his arm.

"Two, there's poison ivy around. Three," his voice saddens, "I miss my friends."

He perks back up.

"And four, it's BLAZING hot!"

Big kid bike: giving kids time to adjust

We got Brady a bigger bike for his birthday back in November, but though he liked the idea of it, he was  not ready to tackle it yet. I hadn't really thought about the fact that it would be a different process getting onto and then balancing on a bigger bike.

Plus he was just so used to his other one.

So after a few tries, he abandoned it for his smaller one. For months. Sigh.

I was just a tad disappointed but decided he'd hopefully come around in time. We talked about it off and on.

"I'll ride it when I'm 7 and three-quarters," he told me. Okay, well at least we had a goal date in mind.

The other day he made a realization about his small bike. It was starting to cause him issues. Only one hand-brake worked and not all that well. It seemed like he was crashing a lot (nothing major, just he's so big for it!).

So out of the blue he said, "I'm going to try my new bike."

As he zipped by, he said, "These brakes are amazing!"

Last night he told me at least twice, "Thank you so much for this bike. It's amazing. I love it."

After 7 months, he came to the conclusion all on his own that he was ready for it. He has such a sense of accomplishment about that.

It's hard to give them time and space to figure out new things, but I think a lot of times it's worth it.

Summer playdates keep us social!

We're working hard on reading this summer. I've heard that kids can lose ground when they're out of school for so long. But it occurred to me the other day that we need to keep our social skills sharp too!

This may be easier for parents who have family nearby with similarly aged cousins or who have lots of kids in the neighborhood where they live. We don't have that here.  

So we are trying to schedule as many play dates as we can and it has been so much fun! It keeps the kid's relationships strong and helps with the missing of friends. Brady has been mopey about missing his buddies since the start of summer.

I also like connecting with the kiddos' parents, especially since in a small town we'll be together for a lot of years to come. It gets you out of the house, helps stave off some of the boredom of summer and we all get to know each other better!


Some play date ideas:

Go for a walk or hike
Park/playground
City pool
Skating
Fountains
Mall play area
Backyard pool
Backyard sprinkler
Soccer or other sports
Zoo
Kids museum
Movies
Fishing
Bicycle rides
Library visit
Bounce house

Some things boys learn early!

Here is the entire contents of a bottle Brady drank from and put back in the frig just like this.

What I want to know is, did he drink just enough that there would be a swallow's worth left to put back in the frig instead of finishing it?

If so, that must be an innate trait they all learn early :)

And why do all guys seem to do that? There's some wonderfully complex brain chemistry at work, I'm sure. But mostly it's just funny.

Living by the rhythm of the Earth

I lived a long time in South Carolina and Florida, places where the seasons kind of run into one another and you can lose track of time pretty quickly.

Here in Kansas, you have to live by the rhythm of the Earth on her time and in her season.

To the left is the same hill back in the winter and then earlier this week. The landscape looks so different here in the winter versus the summer, and even the fall versus the spring.

The plants look different. In the winter they are flat-out brown and dead looking. In the summer, they are a deep, deep green and they tower over us.

The light slants in a different way. The color of the sky changes. And what we do changes. Right now we ride bikes almost every day. In the winter, we sled and make snowmen and eat snow cream. In the spring we plant our garden. In the fall, we get ready for winter and harvest veggies, apples and mulberries.

Brady told me the other day, "In the summer, Jase mows all the time. And then in the fall, he's always raking leaves. And in the winter, he shovels!" Even at 7 he is very aware of how the seasons affect how we live day to day. 

In the winter we can walk anywhere we want without fear of snakes, ticks, mosquitoes and poison ivy. But today, a quick foray out to the north pond sent us scurrying up the hill just ahead of a swarm of West-Nile-Carrying Mosquitoes! Boy were they loud and persistent. And poison ivy seems to be lurking around every corner.

But in the summer we can watch our garden grow and go to the pool day after day to beat the heat. And we spend very few seconds considering what to wear outside, which can be a production in the cold season.

When it's dry, our garden suffers and our ponds die. When nature is plentiful with her rain, we are fruitful and can catch fish.

I really love living this way, so connected with the seasons, the ups and the downs. It makes me feel alive and in tune with the cycles, rhythms, ebbs and flows of nature. I think it's how we were meant to live.

Teaching tool: Summer reading goals & rewards

The other day Brady got a bit frustrated with a book and said, "I hate reading books!" But it passed quickly and he finished reading the book to me.

I think the fact that we have a bunch of goals keeps him motivated beyond his frustration. I'm so happy he's such a goal-oriented kid.

These are our reading goals for the summer:

1) 350 pages for his school library's program.

2) 30 books for the city library's program.

3) The chance for one of four $25 prizes from the state's number-of-minutes library program.

4) A trip to Chuck-E-Cheese if he reaches the 350 page goal (which we are already 2/3 of the way toward achieving).

5) The weekly Reading Store from Mom. He absolutely loves being able to "buy" a special activity and treats that I won't normally supply for him like candy and pop. In fact the other day he said, "Have I read all 3 books today yet?" He wanted to make sure he did.

6) Summer school for reading. I think he wants to perform well at this too.

He's getting quicker and more confident at reading and that is the best reward of all :)

 

Smalltown U.S.A.: Our afternoon adventures

Brady went to work with me Friday which was fun but made for a long day, so after an hour or so break at home, around 5 p.m. we headed out into our small community.

First we went to his step-grandparents' house across town to see their newly shorn fluffy white dog. But on the way we ran into a classmate and her siblings. She also happens to be the niece of the after-school care director and the granddaughter of his bus driver. After a few minutes of playing, we went to see our family.

After that we went to Grandma and Grandpa Young's old place to water the garden and ran into my husband's cousin. Brady went to the park but I got to have a nice chat with her.

After the park we rode up town and got a pop and plopped on a bench on Main Street. Almost immediately another classmate and her brother (they were at the Invention Party) showed up! They were in a truck with one of the day care workers who was babysitting them and was bringing them to the restaurant.

 

When they saw Brady they both pressed their faces against the little extended cab truck window with full smiles. Sooooooo... we went into the restaurant to play Pacman and Galaga with them while they waited for their food.

Then we rode back to the park and found a bunch of kids there! Some Brady goes to school with and others we hadn't met before. He had a great time with a cute little 3-year-old and when Brady whacked his nose on one of the monkey bars (and got his first nose bleed!) the sweet little guy was so comforting. They went off to play together until it was time to go home.

I love his ability to instantly make a new friend.

We never know when we set out who we are going to run into around town. But we made sure we were home by 8 p.m. so he could watch Full House, his new favorite show :)

 

Funny things Brady says ... mom's rules

So at a playdate today Brady's friend threw some mulch from the playground and his Mom quickly reprimanded him. What does Brady immediately do? Yup, throw a handful of mulch at me.

To which I said, "Brady, your friend was just told not to do that and you shouldn't either."

He answered, "But you're a different mom, so I thought you might have a different rule."

That's my standard line when he asks "Why does so-and-so get to do X and I don't!" I tell him, so-and-so's mom may have different rules than me. I guess just like brain development, he threw that one back to me too! Good try, kiddo, but it won't work!

Summer is family reconnect time, how fun!

The best thing about summer is being able to reconnect as a family.

During the school year, there is such a hurry-hurry, keep-moving-forward momentum to our days and the pressure of worrying about behavior issues.

But in the summer we just get to "be."

And I always rediscover just how cool my little guy is. To the left here, we are at the latest in a long line of doctors over the years. We changed to one much closer to us and went through the hour-long initial appointment where I explain all our troubles again.

Brady is such a good sport at these, but mostly he loves investigating whatever new toys the new place has. He made a gear assembly he called a "clock" and then stuck a little wooden peg in it so it wouldn't turn. Ha! Little engineer.

He's also been giving the Vulcan symbol and saying, "Live Long and Prosper," to everyone. I just can't believe he really does embrace my love of Star Trek! Yay! It was too much to hope for.

But yesterday in the car, he did it with both hands and then told me, "Well, now that I've been able to do this for 3 days, we're not so impressed anymore."

Ha!

Yesterday he also befriended an adorable 2-year-old girl in Spangles and they shared a booth alone (flanked on either side by her parents and us in other booths, LOL) while they ate and he showed her how to use his Vreader. He has such a kind heart. He tells me he wants to be a teacher and I think he'd be a good one. 

And my favorite thing he's said lately as we were on the way to the office to work for the day. I bring his Nintendo DS but he isn't allowed to play it until we're at the office.

I also brought along a backpack with his Vreader, games, calculator, books, pen and paper. I told him during the drive he could pick whatever he wanted out of there or we could just talk.

He didn't miss a beat and said,"I'd want to just talk to you!"

And we did. All 45 minutes of the drive to the office. Those are my favorite times of the summer. 

Learning to hunt: Step 1, signed up for class!

So in the state of Kansas, "Anyone born on or after July 1, 1957 must be certified by an approved course in hunter education before they can hunt."

I am starting a new journey this week as I just signed up for that course. I will complete an online portion and then in August, I will participate in a 6-hour field day to complete my certification. Just in time for turkey season.

I think hunting is a very responsible way to acquire meat. The hunter takes personal responsibility for their food and sees first hand the sacrifice the animal makes, albeit unwillingly. It has lived free until becoming food for us. A child learns exactly what happens in the circle of life. We bypass the production and chemicals of store-bought meat. And if that age-old sci-fi movie prediction of apocalypse comes to pass, well, at least we have the skills to make do for awhile.

We are also continuing an ancient human tradition of hunting and providing food for ourselves independent of someone else. The tools are different now, but the idea is the same.

I'm not ready for mammals yet, but I would like to try a variety of game birds, starting with dove and wild turkey. Here are photos of dishes I've cooked in the last year from meat hubby has procured: turkey fingers and grilled-bacon wrapped dove. Yum!