Valentine's Party 2010

Dane and I talked about him having a few friends over for a movie night and pizza, and before I knew it, I had Austin and Cassidy inviting a bunch of their friends, we had games planned, decorations organized and it was a full-fledge Valentine's shin-dig!

The wee ones had a little visit in the beginning and then headed upstairs to their own quarters to hang with their dad and have a pizza and movie for themselves.



It was a lot of fun and a big hit with the tweens and teens!

Dane and I had a game plan of what would happen when they came over. Most of the kids knew each other, but for many it was the first time that they would be mixing ages. We had youth here from 9-16. As it turned out later, I heard one mum tell me that her daughter said in almost a baffled tone, "It was so much fun. It was weird cause it really felt like family."

From what she said, her daughter didn't realize how much fun she could have with such a variety of ages. The sad thing is that the world misses out on the interaction of their siblings with each other and their friends; there is such indoctrination of 'age segregation'. I think part of the reason the party was such a success was because it broke down some of the rules of socialization.

Because we wanted everyone to feel comfortable we had a few things 'planned'. Planned meaning, if the youth walked in and seemed awkward then we had a backup plan. But as it turned out we certainly didn't need that. They took over and had a ball.

The girls did a fabulous job of getting into the theme and came thoroughly dressed up. The boys were a little more low-key, wearing their black clothes with spots of red. *smile* I think Dane was a little shocked at the girls. You see, when I suggested to him that he call his friends and give them the heads up that it was a Valentine's Party, he thought it was a silly idea. Meanwhile, the younger two boys cheerfully called their friends and told them to come in red, white, or pink.

So when the girls showed up looking like this..... Dane realized his mother wasn't so nuts after all.

Actually, I scored a few points for my generation in a number of ways. *grin* I also told him that the kids would likely want to use the juke box and the karaoke machine. He told me there was *no way* they would do that! (you know those teen years when it is important to do things 'right'.)

YMCA

Well, he was partly right. The boys didn't. *grin* The girls were very entertaining, though!

They Loved the Juke Box!

The Guys Found Other Things to Do

My plan was to break the fourteen youth into two groups. Group 1 would make their pizza first, followed by Group 2. Also, when they played the game of Babble they would divide again. I broke the group up in such a way to introduce one set of kids to another and it worked wonders. What a racket they made!!


The concept of the game is to read all the names on the card out as loudly as you can to be heard above the rest of the group of up to eight people. Basically they were yelling or screaming. You have two cards, so you are whipping through about 12 words one after the other. You are listening to the others read their cards as you call out yours, hoping to hear one word that matches one of yours. If they match, the game stops and the group checks the match. You roll a dice and one of the two people win the cards. You can imagine what an ice-breaker this very loud game can be!! I may be posting some short videos at some point...

When this game was over the kids just naturally rolled into the game of charades. Well, that was funny!! Some were more natural at it, having played many games in their families.


The older boys were the last to get involved, but yes, they finally did and had a good time.


PIZZA TIME: It was interesting when I called the first team into the kitchen and informed them that *they* would be making their pizzas from scratch. They kind of looked a little unsure and dithered around a bit. I stepped in and showed them the sauce, peppers, onions, meats, and cheeses and said if they needed me to give me a shout. It was funny cause shortly after Dane came to find me and told me he didn't know what to do with the oven.

Funny. Why? Because we make pizza every weekend and each of the kids makes their own. I think in the madness of the moment he just forgot. *smile*

So, I went back in the kitchen and commandeered a girl that I could see looked like she knew what she was doing, and suggested she take charge and delegate. She jokingly took on the role and began dispensing orders. I then turned to a boy near me and said, "Jesse, how'd you like to cut up the green peppers?" He immediately stepped up with a smile and took over.

And the rest is history. They just needed a gentle shove.

The results were interesting. I would hear a request, "Mrs. L. is it okay if we put pretzels on the pizza?"

Hey! It's your pizza. You gotta eat it!! LOL!! And so they did. And potato chips. And some of the pizzas were very oddly made: a few pieces of meat strewn on one side of the pizza and nothing else. Others were more elaborate.

The Final Results

The Feast

During the course of the evening, I fell across this Valentine lying on the stairs. I knew at once that some small boy wanted to give this card, but didn't have the courage. *smile* The night before the children had all been making Valentines, and this was the one that was made for someone other than a sibling, thus rendering one child without a card from their brother.

By the evenings end, he had worked up his courage to gift his little friend with his sweet card. Austin is a very loving boy with a big heart. Ever since I can remember his life's goal has been to get married and have children. It frequently comes up. Actually, I remember specifically over four years ago, when he was six years old, him telling me, "I can't wait til I'm a daddy." That came from the pleasure he received from his baby brother, Briton.

This desire has not waned, and I have full belief in it, because ever since I was a tiny child that was my life's goal, and look where I am today! God will give us the desire He puts in our heart.

After the pizza time, I let the youth know that they were responsible for the cleanup. Probably another surprise! *grin* There were no complaints, as they moved into the work. But what was the most surprising was the who actually did the work! The guys! The girls did a minor amount and then headed off to the TV room to romp and wait for the movie, while the men did the work. After a fashion....

Ever seen a counter cleared with a dustpan and brush? Hey, it did the trick! It was nice to see Dane in his element. He is my kitchen dinner man, so he knew exactly what he needed to do and he roped in his male counterparts. You can see him at the sink clearly at home! LOL


The kids all found seats in our smallish TV room - on top, beside, near a friend, squished or otherwise.

Dane had bought a few movies, so I figured I was good to go. It was 8:00 PM, and I figured it would be relatively peaceful for rest of the evening. The little ones were now in bed and the teens were being picked up at midnight. My chaperoning was done, and all was quiet. Or so I thought!

Naive Me sat down in the livingroom to watch a Walton's episode by myself. Ha Ha! That lasted all of an hour or so. They decided they weren't keen on the movie choice. They discussed it further, took a vote, and decided to ride it out for the ones that did like it.

As they emerged from the TV room at just after 9:00 pm, I thought in a mild panic, "What am I going to do now?"

You HAD to see these hyper teens in the 5-8 PM slot when they were bouncing off walls, furniture and each other! LOL!! And you all told me BOYS were noisy!!! Seriously, it was the GIRLS!! I have never heard such squeals and silliness.

It was all good and they were just awesome, but seriously. All you adoptive mums who signed up for girls, because you thought they were calmer. Okay, so you may be right when they are little. But watch out for those teen years. Oh my goodness!! LOL!! The boys were extraordinarily calm, standing around chatting, playing games, and the girls were... well, you saw the photos up above! *grin*

So you can imagine why I had a mild panic thinking WHAT will they do from 9-12??? LOL Thankfully, they quickly figured it out when they decided to go out into the dark night and jump on the trampoline, climb in the treefort, chase each other around the yard, and play hide-and-seek. All things that I had no clue they would end up doing. They did this until 10:30.

At which time they came in and decided to arm wrestle in my fancy livingroom. *grin*


We then moved on to icecream sundaes, and this evolved into another movie. As it turned out boys and girls don't always want to watch the same type of movie, thus the girls took the TV room in the garage, and the boys took the TV room in the house! But all were happy and they played and watched TV until 12:30 when they were all picked up.

It was a roaring success, and I am hoping to do another one for Easter. I figure a Back to School Party and a Christmas Party would also be great themes. My plan though, is for the next one to be more of an outdoors party complete with hotdogs and bonfire...
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Sitting on the Edge of the Nest - part 5

This is part 5 of a five part blog writing that I have done. It is about the teen years and a choice that I have been mulling over for one of my sons. If you want to read Part 1-4 - please follow these links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

So now we have a boy with his own space to take care of, and the beginning of projects rather than simply paperwork. It will take time I know, for him to loosen up. When I first told him I was releasing him from having to do a required list of lessons he was a little unsure of what to do.

He will have to complete his last two classes for the year. But now, rather than worrying about credits and a government diploma, Dane is working towards a Portfolio.

So what is a Portfolio?

It is a 'container' that holds evidence of an person's skills, ideas, interests, and accomplishments. It is a tool that can be used to tell what has been learned and what steps a student has taken to master a subject. It shows evidence of what a student may or may not have had difficulty with and how they might have conquered those problems.

It is a self-assessment for the student themselves, to assess what they have accomplished over the years of 'highschool'. The timeline within will show how the student's interests have changed and grown over time, and it will also provide other people an opportunity to look into a young person's world to see where their interests, abilities, and talents lie.

For instance, Dane loves airplanes. He has had an interest in planes since he was 18 months old. As well, his knowledge of World War II is extremely extensive.

When he heard that the local highschool's aviation class was working on building an airplane at the airport, he called the teacher and asked if he could assist in the construction. The teacher was happy to have Dane, even though he is not a student of the school.

A few days ago, when he was up at the airport helping a teacher drill holes in the wing of the aircraft, he overheard a student mention a Social Studies test he had coming up. A question that was mentioned as possibly being on the exam: How did the Japanese get onto Wake Island? The boys at the airport were throwing out all possibilities of the answer. Not one of them mentioned the correct answer.

When Dane came home, he told me of this question and proceeded to tell me the whole situation of what was going on on the island, how the Americans were protecting the island and how the Japanese managed to get on land and it was surrendered to them.

Dane has a fascination with World War II and knows so much about it. He has read every book and seen every movie that he can get his hands on. He has also written, illustrated, and self-published an amazing story of self-sacrifice and heroism of a Canadian soldier during World War II. People who have seen his artwork say he is very talented.

Because of this interest in World War II and airplanes Dane wrote an aviation program for himself this year.

I met a girl last year through my blog, whose husband was interested to hear about Dane. When this man was a boy he did everything he had to to work his way up in the flying world. He hung around the airport and watched planes. He became known by the men and soon got a chance to clean out the airplanes for people. These pilots eventually offered him to fly with them. He then worked his way up through his licenses, until now he is flying a 777 from Vancouver - Hong Kong.

Well, this kind man inspired Dane last year, by sending him an amazing care package full of pilot books, tools, and paraphenalia. Dane has taken the main text (Transport Canada's Flight Training Manual) and is using this book to learn to fly... in the kitchen!

This is the very text that he would be using in a Private Ground School course!!

Everyday, he reads a chapter of the book and then proceeds to do the lessons on the Microsoft Flight Simulator that hooks up to his computer.

This is Dane's passion. Do you think I have to push him to learn all he can about World War II or airplanes? No!

By the time Dane takes his pilot's license he will know that textbook inside and out! And he will have had hundreds of hours of experience flying through a simulator.

And if you remember, when I took Dane to California two years ago, he went in a flight simulator. The people there were so impressed with him that they gave him an extra hour for free. They said his hand-eye coordination was outstanding.

So, back to the Portfolios.

Reviewing a student's portfolio can show a much wider picture of their aptitudes, talents and abilities than a traditional bubble test. In a homeschool, a portfolio can reflect homeschool activities, social activities, and self-directed learning projects that might not be part of a standardized test. Dane will show evidence in his portfolio of the hours he has put into the simulator and his knowledge of the textbook. He will show photos of himself working up at the airport building the airplane.

When I stop to think of what Dane has learned by spending a week on board a sailing boat! That was learning that could not take place in a classroom or at a computer desk. And this opportunity of learning would not have taken place if I had not listened to Dane's interest in experiencing sailing for the first time.

He will now see if he can get on board another of these sailing trips - this time for a two week period. From there he will have the chance to get his Level 2 tall-ship certification.

All of the things he learned on the sailing trips will go in his Science section of his portfolio. He has taken many photos of his trip, written notes on what he has done and this will now be added.

And all of his knowledge and experience in World War II history falls into: Social Studies and airplanes: Science: physics, aerodynamics, Newton's Third Law of Motion, meteorology, the Laws of gravity, mechanics, mathematics, map and compass and so much more

Research shows that students see assessments of their work as being something that is done 'to them' by other people. Outside of the letter grades and percentages, corrected grammar and math questions, students often are not really aware of what it is the teachers are evaluating them for.

On the other hand, making a portfolio is something that a student does as a self-examination/evaluation. Through the course of their highschool years they take note of what they want shown to college admissions professors or prospective employers. Examples of work that they have done in the key topics: Science, English, Math, and Social Studies will be put into their binder/dvd portfolio.

Research has also shown that students benefit from being aware of the strategies and processes involved in writing, solving problems, researching topics, analyzing information, or describing their own observations.

At the end of the day, when Dane is done, he will have a dvd compilation that is so much more than a piece of paper with letter grades on it. Because honestly, just how much value are there on letter grades, anyway?

My oldest son was in public school grade 10 English. The teacher did not have time to teach the segment on Shakespeare and poetry, as she spent so much time on learning how to write paragraphs. Each evening, she had them write three in-depth paragraphs from each chapter of The Chrysalids. By the time he was done, my son had written 51 paragraphs. Do you think he knew how to write a strong paragraph? (sarcasm) That is what is called busy-work.

When it came time to do his Provinical Exam in English 10, he had no clue what the Shakespeare and Poetry questions covered, as he had been too busy doing 51 paragraphs! Suffice it to say, his exam mark was below what it should fairly have been. That particular teacher was like any other teacher - doing her own schedule. There are no guarantees that a letter grade is fair or a class well-taught!

So you see, Dane will continue to learn, but now he will learn in a more interest directed way. He will gather evidence of his learning in his portfolio for if he wants to go on to higher education and he will be able to show his passion for what he has learned. He will not remember the last three years of 'school' as being forced to learn things that are not relevant to his life. He will be encouraged to explore anything and everything that piques his interest.

By the time he is ready to enter the real world he will have an idea of what he wants to do with his future, because he was given the opportunity to explore while he was still young. Instead of doing it the other way around: study and then when he is eighteen go out and have experiences and try to see what he wants to do with his life.

UPDATE: This post was written in April and not published til October. Therefore, there will be a new updated post on what Dane is doing at a later date. When I have time...
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Need Wood?

Recently, our boys had the job of splitting a huge stack of logs that were cut down last winter. Ray kept waiting for time to do it himself and I asked him why? Why didn’t he just get the boys to do it?

I am so used to delegating that I can’t believe he wouldn’t think that way himself. To me, delegating is a very important job. If you do not delegate jobs then you are not training your children, and you are setting yourself and them up for them to enter the world with less abilities!

Everytime one of my children learns a new skill I am pleased. It is like a checkmark in an invisible book of life. One more thing that they are capable of.

The boys all vied to run the machine and so they all took turns.

And you should see how strong my boys are.

Cooper Helps Out

Even the tiny ones like Austin! He may be the size of many seven year olds, but he is one strong little man! I was trying to wrestle him to the ground the other day *smile* and I could feel the strength in his arms! Having your boys haul and stack logs all winter long is a simple weight lifting real life activity. And it’s free!

I had a little laugh when I saw Austin’s attire when he was told he needed to have goggles if he wanted to run the machine. Swim goggles!

The boys won’t be very pleased when they find out that Ray is going to chop down a few more trees in the back yard this year!

The Finished Product

I like the free firewood and the labour it produces for testosterone filled boys! When my boys are full of energy, testosterone, or negative attitudes they run laps, do pushups, or haul logs.

And it pays off.

Our boys don’t think anything of running 4-6 km a day. It is routine for them. And the pushups have been happening since they were about five years old. It suddenly occurred to me the other day that Colt, who made it to Para, based on physical fitness that is mainly made up from pushups and running, was training since he was five years old! While other boys might have been jumping on furniture my boys were running laps. Ever since we moved to the country we have had a ‘lap track’.

In our old home there were four trees that created a square. Our boys ran however many times around the track. They’d hear, “Go! Five laps!” And they would come back much more ready to sit and do their lessons. Boys can’t be still. They have so much energy and as they get older it becomes aggressiveness. And not always negative. More often that not they are simply wrestling or rough housing. But not in a house! So now, in our present house the bigger boys hear, “Take a run! Two blocks!” We are fortunate enough to live on a street that borders two ‘circle loops’, so my boys can run in one direction in a circle, check in, and then run the other way. From the air it would look like a figure eight, with us in the middle. Each block run is about 2 km.

And when they learn to cut through the woods to shorten it, you learn to give another block run when you catch them or if you suspect it! *smile* They don’t often try that trick anymore! And when they are inclined to walk instead of run, you put time limits on it to make sure they are back in a reasonable time, or they end up getting given two runs. As it stands, it makes a fabulous PE program, because just our big boys do it. The older boys report their runs to a PE teacher, along with their pushups, and get credits for it. They also get the chance to get in shape by working in construction for their dad when they hit about age eleven. When our oldest son went into school for a year he went up against kids in arm wrestling. He beat them all. Though he is thin, he is wiry and strong.

The younger ones are in training, so when they hit grade 7 and up they will be quite fit. Right now, the middle-sized ones run laps around the perimeter of our property. One of the first things I noticed when we bought our property was how perfect a track it had on the fence line. Of course, the boys weren't impressed that I noticed. *smile* And the littlest two aren't far behind. Their training includes running driveway laps.

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Dane's Mural

I am most impressed with my son. He created his own Aviation course for 4 credits at school this semester. One of the things he said he would do was to paint a mural. He took a picture of a scene from World War II (he main interest) and had to scale it to the wall size. The picture was 3 inches by 5 inches, and he had to turn it into a 3 foot by 5 foot painting.

Dane has never painted before, never done a wall drawing, and never used scale on such a large proportion. As I watched him working day by day, an hour here or an hour there, I was not disappointed. I am sure he was delving into something that he was not that comfortable in, and I am pretty sure that he will not do a painting again, but I think he did a fabulous job for someone that does not like art.

And the irony of that statement is, the boy is an artist! He is a born illustrator. He has always had his own style, going back to birthday cards that he has always made, since he was very small. Dane has illustrated two short stories that he and his brother wrote. And when his principal of his distance education school saw his illustrations, she said that his pictures were like that of book illustrations. I told Dane that See! I was right. I had always told him that he could illustrate for books, but he is not interested. I have also told him that I am going to try and see if I can find somewhere to send his World War II fiction short story, complete with illustrations, because I believe it is well worth sending to a publisher. But first I have to find someone.

Now painting is not pencil work, so the style is nowhere near his pencil drawings, so sometime I will upload his pencil work, so you can see his finite detail. In the meantime, here is his mural.
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Sitting on the Edge of the Nest - part 4 - Manly Projects

The following week, after I had chatted with my friends (who have sent eight young adults out into the world between them), Dane began helping his brother with a treehouse. He honestly was not thrilled at the prospect. He has always been a hand-eye coordination guy who didn't have a lot of interests other than flying airplanes and reading/studying about World War II.

Dane has been in his brother's shadow for too long. It is time for him to gain his confidence and realize that he can do just as much as his big brother. Maybe not the same things, but certainly he can do what he can do - just as well!

Cassidy and I had chosen a treehouse in a book by David Stiles called How to Build Treehouses, Huts, and Forts, that I felt the Cassidy and Dane were capable of building.

Cassidy had photocopied his material list from the book, called two different stores and told them that he would be faxing in the lists and When could he have the quotes from them?

They told him a couple hours. Later that day, he received his quotes back and they were within ten dollars of each other. I figured, just pick the cheaper quote. Cassidy, putting more effort into it than me, decided that he could save a further $20, by picking and choosing from each store.

The next day, he and his dad went to the lumber stores and Ray stood back, while Cassidy did his transactions. When they got home, the boys got to work.

First, Dane had a small tree to chop down. He took the hatchet to that pretty quickly. The other children quickly got involved in helping.

They had to remove a rickety pile of wood that they had made into a funny little makeshift fort.

Then the little ones got to work digging the hole. It had to be 3.5 feet deep.

There Was Work For Everyone!

Lumber Hauling Crew

Installing the Post into Concrete

They had to mix concrete in the correct ratios and install the 6"x6" x 16' post. This would become the third post as two trees would support the rest of the fort.

Braced and Ready For the Floor

Austin Helping Dane Build the Floor

All Hands on Deck While Cutting Beams

They had to do it the old-fashioned way. No power saws! The boys thought I would allow it and I said, No! This is about using your muscles and learning to do things without fancy tools!

Using Power Tools

Each of the two main older boys that were building the treehouse had the use of the power tools. Here they are drilling holes into the tree. They will be attaching 2'x6' beams to create a triangular frame base.

The treehouse was turned to a different angle than the book had called for, (creative control of the boys), so the boys had to figure out how to get the frame up onto the frame between the trees.

Ray came to the rescue and helped them figure out the problem.

DAY 2

Dane Nailing Down the Plywood

Dad checking to make sure Dane is doing what the book says.

Even visiting friends were put to work! And honestly, I think this boy enjoyed himself! Dane thought it was work and who'd want to work when they could be playing!? But I told Dane that building treehouses is actually boys' fun!

Dane Cutting the Post Holes

Dane came to the house and asked where his dad was. He wanted him to come out and help him with the post holes on the fort deck. I asked him why he didn't do it himself? His answer? Cause I thought Dad would need to. I told Dane that he could do it and off he went. It has been great to see how he has embraced learning the new skills on this fort.

DAY 3

Austin Sawing Siding

Ray was called in to do the peel and stick roofing material.

Mighty Austin - With Who Behind Him?

Boys!!! As I was taking this picture I could see Cassidy creeping up the ladder behind Austin just ready to scare him.

Enjoying the Near Finished Product

That night the boys spent their first sleepout in the fort. It was snug - just under 4' wide by 8' long, but it was adequate. It has a nice finished over 4' wide porch. Cassidy has built a little table and it is set up with their deck chairs. A perfect little get-away fort where the little ones can get to.

This book that the boys used is fantastic! It was written for children to understand. Once in a while, though, the boys called on their dad to clarify things and I taught them how to do siding. Surprised? LOL! I was the Fort-Making Queen in my childhood (with my brother).

But really, the boys get 95% credit for building this treehouse!! We are so impressed at the effort they put forth and the quality of the treehouse that they already have plans to build two more. Stay tuned! Swiss Family Robinson is moving in!

to be continued - part 5
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