Can you raed tihs?

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs tnhak a techaer.

NO Whining!

Grasp of Truth
If you have
Enough breath
To complain
About anything,
You have more than
Enough reason
To give thanks
About something.

Mattie J.T. Stepanek - Reflections of a Peacemaker

While reading this book, I am amazed over and over again. Even as a very young kid, Mattie understood some things that most of the rest of us never seem to grasp. This particular poem really struck me. Here was a kid who could have had plenty to complain about, but he chose to enjoy the life he had and try to make a difference in other people's lives, too.

I'm going to have to start quoting Mattie around here because it seems all we hear is complaining. Is it just a teenage thing? Or are my kids spoiled? I think sometimes when you have everything you could possibly need it's harder to be thankful - because you end up taking everything for granted. Maybe if we take some things away from them, they'll be more thankful for the things they have? It's worth a try anyway. Actually, what I want is to start keeping track of everything they complain about. Then I will expect them to list the same number of things they have to be thankful about. Either they will get tired of it and stop complaining so much, or they will actually realize how much they have to be thankful for.

I'll have to keep track of my own too.

Cory's Science Experiment

Cory's Science Experiment
Originally uploaded by bcmom.

Kids are home on Spring Break this week. It doesn't feel like spring, but at least it's a break. Cory decided to take advantage of his time and conduct a science experiment. We took pictures and video so he could build a web page about his experiment, and he's planning to take all the stuff to school and do it there too. It was fun to watch, and he did it several times.

Video: My Science Experiment by bmquix

We have a book full of neat science experiments, and that's where he found this. There are also web pages to find science experiments to try. One of these is Science experiments at home.

The Brat Behind the Mirror

Behind the Mirror
Originally uploaded by bcmom.

She was looking so cute with her hair piled on top of her head and all those little braids. So I thought I'd just take a picture or two, but every time I pointed the camera in her direction, she hid behind the mirror. What a brat! Then the next day I found out that she had deleted the picture I liked best. She missed this one and another because there was a picture of her dad between them so I guess she just didn't go backwards on the camera after that. That really irritated me. I'm her mom, and if I want to take her picture, I will! I probably would not have uploaded the picture or done anything with it - well, maybe not - but since she went and made such a big deal out of it and deleted the picture off the camera, I uploaded this pic for everyone to see. How about that?

And just because I can, I'm including another picture from a few years ago - this is why she was braiding her hair, so it could be all frizzy the next day.

What is Butt Dust?

These have to be original and genuine - no adult is this creative!!

JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister. After a while he asked: "Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?"

MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn't remember any more. Melanie said, "If you don't remember you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom goodnight. "I love you so much, that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."

BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a painkiller. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a childproof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: "How does it know it's me?

SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't give me this juice again," she said, "It makes my teeth cough."

D I (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: "How much do I cost?"

MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: "Why is he whispering in her mouth?"

CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"

JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?"

TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for awhile and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget.... this particular Sunday sermon..."Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust." He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter (who was listening!) Leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?"

Oh So Comfy

Oh So Comfy
Originally uploaded by bcmom.

We got the new furniture last week, and we are really enjoying it. For the first time, Jeffrey has a nice comfy chair and ottoman. He has definitely claimed that for himself and makes a big deal to the kids about how they shouldn't sit in his chair - whether he's sitting in it or not. So, of course, they make an equally big deal of sitting in it every chance they get! Here's Cory lounging in the chair the moment his dad leaves the room.

The things that amuse us, huh?

Make your own snowflakes

I just found this fun site. You can create your own cut-out snowflake, send it to your friends, catch other people's snowflakes, and comment on them. If you don't have anything else to do, you might want to check it out. Even if you do have other things to do, you still might want to check it out. After all, that's what the Internet is all about - wasting time! So visit Snowdays to catch my snowflake and make one or two of your own.

TLC Snoliday Party

View this clip on Vimeo

The Teen Library Council had their end of the year party Friday night. A surprise visit by former volunteer group advisor, Caroline was one of the party highlights. There was plenty of food and fun. The teens were going to bake cookies but instead opted to just decorate and eat the ones that Maria had already baked. A couple of new members came to the party, giving them a chance to get acquainted. It was very enjoyable hanging out with these fun and energetic people!

more

Yeah, but is that an A?

Since Cory is in 8th grade, I thought I'd try this to see if I'd pass 8th grade math. I know I passed it the first time! And got A's, but I may have forgotten a few things in the meantime.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Now I wish they'd just tell me which ones I missed and what the answers are! I hate not knowing.

Snow Day

The kids didn't have school today. Of course they are always happy about that. It did snow off and on most of the day, but didn't really turn out as bad as they were predicting. The weather people around here always seem to expect the worst, but it rarely lives up to their expectations. Of course, the school district had to make a decision as to whether to have school or not early this morning before sending the buses out.

I went out walking at 6:00 this morning as usual. The snow was not supposed to start until later this morning, but it had obviously been snowing for a while by the time I walked out the door. The flakes were huge, and falling fast and thick. It was actually pretty fun to walk in, but I was coated with snow by the time I got back. If it had continued to snow like that all day, this "snowstorm" really would have amounted to something! By the time I got back from my walk, the television station was running school closings across the bottom of the screen, and there was our school district. Cory was already up, but Beth hadn't dragged herself out of bed yet, so we told her she could stay in bed. You know she has to like that. She's a teenager. Cory said he was going back to bed, but that didn't last long. He was back up pretty soon working on the computer designing his house. They are designing houses in school right now in FACE, so Jeffrey let him install one of his home design software programs on the computer last night. Cory really seems to be enjoying it.

Anyway, they picked a fine day to stay home from school. Jeffrey had some tests scheduled at the doctor this morning and took the rest of the day off. He had a day and a half of vacation time he needed to use by the end of the year. It was supposed to be our day, but we had to share it with kids! Oh well. Jeffrey was gone for a while this morning, and the rest of us stayed home. Once Jeffrey returned we watched a couple of the movies that Cory and I had checked out of the library yesterday. Good timing on that! We watched War of the Worlds and Stealth. They were both pretty good. Not great, but good.

Now of course, the kids will probably have to make up the snow day later in the year. I don't remember doing that when I was in school. I do remember having many more snow days than the kids ever get. It just seemed that there was a certain number of snow days built into the school calendar, and sometimes we needed them all. One winter we missed a whole week of school because of snow. First it snowed and it blowed and all the roads drifted shut. The following day the sun came out, and we spent the day digging out, and the snowplows got the roads plowed. Then that night, the wind picked up and drifted everything over all over again. And so on and so on. That got to be a little much - of course, I was one of those kids who would rather have been in school.