Politics

It's just been so busy that finding time to update this blog, not to mention even turning on the computer, has been difficult.

This past Thursday was the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Since Channel 12 (KBDI - PBS in Colorado) prefers to talk, analyze and comment above the speakers and entertainment, we decided to put on Channel 6 (the other PBS station) for Thursday's broadcast. It was a little fuzzy so we got out the laptop, hooked up speakers and streamed in the convention direct from the DNC's site. We (Doug, me and son Weslee) sat there for close to 5 hours, getting up to dance when Stevie Wonder sang, or fix dinner in between speeches.

Very powerful. Perhaps the Democratic ticket will pull in more than the McCain ticket (will the addition of Sarah Palin really balance it?).

My 11 yr old son isn't supposed to get into detail with civics this year (6th grade) but because this is a historic Presidential election, and because he's showing interest in the topic, I've searched our local school supply store (Bank's on Irma in Northglenn, CO) and found several books to use in my self-created lesson plan. We'll watch campaign ads, discuss government overall, and election basics, and track election results the morning after. This will be an interesting school year!

Vikki www.newviewgroupllc.com

8/11: Weslee's Letter: Disney's Atlantis

To: The World

In 997 AD, somewhere off the coast of Iceland, a viking ship was attacked by a huge sea serpent, killing everything on it. It destroyed it and then disappeared. The only thing that didn't get destroyed was a book called "The Shepherd's Journal", the key to finding Atlantis, the Lost Empire. Most of Atlantis is submerged under water. Even more sadder is that most of the people died during the tsunami but the legend that Plato described will live on forever. Maybe you could find it someday.

Weslee Lawrence

08/11/08

Copyright (c) 2008 Weslee Lawrence

Note: Weslee is fascinated with Atlantis and loves Disney's version of what happened. He would love to find the real Atlantis but meanwhile is somewhat content to watch the movie, read books and use his paragraph-writing time to think about it. Vikki

8/08: Weslee's Letter: Teeth

To: The World

You need to take care of these: Your Teeth. Brush for 2 minutes, then floss, and you can use Kid's Anti-Cavity, Inspector Hector and Smart Rinse to keep your teeth extra healthy. Health teeth is more important than having whiter teeth. Take care of your teeth 2 times a day.

Weslee Lawrence

08/08/08

Copyright (c) 2008 Weslee Lawrence

Note: this paragraph was written as part of his schoolwork, assigned by his Mom. Notice by looking at the picture that he prefers Tom's of Maine toothpaste. You can't really see the Wal-Mart glow-in-the-dark flosser in his left hand.

8/09: Harvest

Here's what we picked today: roma tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, another pickle-cucumber, 2 thai pink tomatoes, and 4 purple tomatoes that we think are razzle dazzle (I cut one open so you could see the inside). Weslee picked all of these plus the beans. I'm thinkin now the beans might be black turtle beans instead of soy beans just because some of them are starting (on the bush) to turn purple, including the bean inside. I said it before and I'll say it again: patience!

We still haven't had any more rain since that downpour a few days ago, so today we got out there with the hose and did our duty. We plan to get into the corn beds tomorrow and get rid of the weeds, plus untangle the green beans from the corn. Several of our corn plants are showing silks so we think they are actually producing ears of corn! Of course, it would be nice if we knew what we were doing, but as we keep telling ourselves, this is our experiment year.

Our black-seeded simpson lettuce bolted a few days ago, so we'll be cleaning out those "beds" tomorrow too. Next week we're gonna start the seeds for spinach, buttercrunch and iceberg lettuce, and maybe some carrots (fall harvest).

We finally have enough cherry and roma tomatoes to dehydrate so I'm also going to be slicing those tomorrow or Monday and putting them in the dehydrator. Plus we're working on the websites feverishly to get them up and running next week: ( http://www.backyardgrocery.net/ and http://www.kidwhispers.net/ )

Today we made our once-in-3-months trip to Vitamin Cottage to stock up on supplements, nuts and seeds, and while we were there, noticed a home-school supply store in the next shopping center. Came away from there and Best Buy with lots of good workbooks and software for Weslee's coming school year. Vikki

8/01: Weslee's Letter: Homework Supplies

Picture above spells out: " I love school" and note the rainbow of erasers to the left. Weslee loves his school supplies!

To: The World

School's back out of summer. If you want to staple paper, use the Crayola stapler. I just thought of a tip: always be prepared for school. It's a good thing to be prepared. Summer took school off, then let go. That was when shops were loaded with, what else, homework supplies!

Weslee Lawrence

8/1/08

Copyright (c) 2008 Weslee Lawrence

Note from Vikki: Weslee does his school work at home and just took a tiny break for summer. He loves schoolwork, which we sometimes call homework. Writing these "paragraphs" a few times a week is part of his schoolwork.

7/31: Weslee's Letter: Balls

To: The World

Balls are everywhere. Our sun is a ball. Balls have also been around for a long time. Cavemen discovered rock balls. They used rock balls to make fire. There are 25 cool ball games and more. There all kinds of balls: baseballs, basketballs, footballs, tennis balls (the classics), etc. As I said, balls are everywhere. EVERYWHERE YOU CAN THINK OF!!!

Weslee Lawrence

7/31/08

Copyright 2008 (c) Weslee Lawrence

7/24: Weslee's Letter: GreenEarth

To: The World

Let kids explore more, go places more. You never know when you might find Atlantis or a giant, pixies, nixies and more. Play more games and activities with kids, and use the recycle.

Weslee
7/24/08
Copyright (c) Weslee Lawrence 2008

7/3: Getting On With Life

Can't let the Code people bother us. So instead of staying angry about the notices for our weeds, dead grass and trees, and tire planters, I worked on a solution. Several landscapers will be here next week to give estimates on landscaping (CHEAPLY) our front yard. Plus, this weekend, we'll attempt to hack down the dead trees, kill more weeds with more Roundup, and re-seed the lawn with something we haven't yet tried (or bought).

Meanwhile, while Doug worked, Weslee and I did our one day of errands. Bank, post office, thrift store (school books and summer clothes for Weslee), dollar store, Sam's and Wal-Mart. After we got home and put most of the things away, we got down to business.

School-work/curriculum planning: before we register for his private school, I need to plan his 6th grade curriculum. He loves workbooks, so we gathered everything I had purchased for this year, in addition to reference books (incl "How to Write Your Best Book Report") and all of the fiction books. He's reading: Sorcerer's Stone, Prince and the Pauper, Red Badge of Courage, Borrowers, Bridge to Terabithia, The Secret Garden, and The Iliad. And more. So much to cover this year, and since he still doesn't really get math, I'll be hiring him a math tutor in September.

As to the garden, it's looking good. Lot of tiny tomatoes showing up (we've had flowers for a while). Tiny eggplant. One pepper starting to turn colors. Harvested more radishes yesterday and lots more blueberries and lettuce. Tossed the cabbage to the compost pile because it had too many cabbage worm holes - more holes than leaves. Hoping to resurrect the cauliflowers and cabbage. Beets need another few weeks. Didn't water today but it just started raining so yippee!

Have been so busy with gardening and schoolwork and family that I haven't done much writing lately. Soon. Very soon. V.