CelestialFamily

One of the reasons I really enjoy rock climbing is because so much of what you learn on the rock carries over into our daily activities. Maybe this is just me but hear me out for a little bit.
A few weeks ago I guided a small group of boys form our church on a rock climbing trip. We went to a place that I know better than any other climbing area, Mount Yonah near Cleveland Georgia. After spending half the day climbing some relatively easy stuff a few of the guys wanted to do something harder. So I took Aaron and another boy, Alex, up to help me set up a few top ropes on the harder stuff. They had both shown considerable interest in learning how to safely set up the anchors. In order to get to the anchors for these routes we had to rappel off of the top of the rock which was over 200 feet tall and down to a ledge in the middle of the rock. I let Aaron rappel down to the ledge first since he had a little more experience than Alex. Alex would go next and I would come down to the ledge last. That way I could inspect everybody’s set-up before they rappelled.
So Aaron gets his rappel set and heads down to the ledge with no problem. That’s when all the drama started. You see the ledge was home to hundreds of biting ants. They were big red things with black abdomens. No sooner than Aaron got on the ledge and they were attacking his legs. It also seemed that the death of their sisters brought out even more worker ants to join in the attack. As bad as the ants were Aaron really had no choice but to stay on the ledge until Alex and I could get down to him, bring down the ropes and rappel the rest of the way to the ground.
So we did just that. Alex, knowing full well what he was getting into, rappelled down to the ledge, safely clipped into the anchors and proceeded to help Aaron slap off the ants until I could get down. I followed as quickly as I safely could and set up the ropes to get us off the rock. The whole process took about half an hour and we all had quite a few ant bites when the event was over.
I was very proud of Aaron and Alex for keeping their cool. It was a very stressful place to be. My biggest concern was that in spite of the ants they would abandon the relative safety of the ledge, unclip from the anchors and try to go over to another ledge without as many ants. They both realized that the ants were annoying but they weren’t deadly. Yet unclipping from the anchors to get away from them could be deadly. It’s in exactly these types of situations that it is even my important to do things correctly. Both the boys realized this and did everything they could to help me set up the anchors as fast a possible yet also as safely as possible.
As their guide for the trip I regret that they had to learn this lesson in such a stressful way but I’m glad that they learned that some things in life just aren’t worth the gamble. Many times in life what may seem like the quick and easy way to solve a problem may in fact be risking a whole lot more than if you patiently solved it the correct way.

:::::::Zoo Trip from Last Week:::::




























:::Book Reviews::::


Some bizarre and interesting facts mixed with some conjecture about creatures we live with on Earth. Some amazing adaptations and some that are rather freaky make me think that being human is not to shabby.
A sad, but necessary cautionary tale of human intervention in Florida has to do with people putting an abundance of bird seed out to encourage birds to visit their gardens, but it causes the birds to produce young too early. The adults can eat the seeds, but the hatchlings need grubs and larvae, so they often die of malnutrition.
One of my favorite stories was about the male lyrebird from Australia. The lyrebird's ability to mimic sound has me in awe!
Another great story is about sheep not being all that dumb. There are sheep in Yorkshire, England who would run and then tuck and roll to get over the cattle grates to raid the farmers gardens.
Another interesting fact that no eels have been witnessing reproducing in captivity. Eels...who would have thought they would be the masters of restraint?
A quick and enjoyable read.

::::::


Paul Yeager injects a lot of personality along with his informative book about weather. He dispels many weather inspired myths and clears up many queries on why the weather does what it does. He explains that though we Southerners perceive humid air as heavy it is actually lighter than dry air. He states, "It just feels heavier because we feel warm, clammy, and disgusting." (He speaks the truth about that perception, indeed). He also dispels the myth about "heat lightning"...(hint: there is no such thing). A great gardening tip from p. 198, "water the garden after it rains". This promotes deep root growth and conserves water. Yeager states that if you are certain on a light rain will fall you can water while it is still raining, "Ont only will it have the same effect on the garden, but it will give the neighbors something to talk about." A wonderful book for understanding our world.


:::::::::Piano Lessons:::

Eve is enjoying her piano lessons. She is experiencing some frustration with reading the notes consistently. The pattern is the same as we see with her with reading books. I have taken to sitting with her during her practices and trying some different strategies. I have her tell me what note she sees. I have her tell me what notes to play. Then she plays the piece. She goes through it about 3 times to play it consistently. Part of her reading problem has her recognizing the note immediately, then forgetting the same note a few measures over. I think it is part confidence part developmental delay. She gets claps, hugs and kisses with each success. I am having to remember the lessons I had as a kid. I could never get my left hand to play staccato correctly with my right, so I gave up lessons. Michael is our fallback since he reads music.
Eve also picks up Aaron's guitar... (it is a lonely guitar and likes the gentle stroking). Michael and I plan to trade it in and get a 3/4th size guitar for Eve as a Christmas present.

:::::::::::Dr. Who::::::::


Just wanted to give a shout out to Matt Smith for being, yet another, enjoyable Dr. Who. His take on the Dr. is pretty cool. Our entire family like his portrayal. We also like his companion, Amy Pond. Their was a collective sigh of sadness when Rory was absorbed into the crack in space.

Later, gators!

...at least this kind is fun!

::::::::Drama Camp:::



The theme for this year was Myths, Legend, Monsters & Heros. The title of Rachel's skit was, "The Golden Apple".
It's Basically a mixed up version of the Story of the Golden Apple. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite are attending their friend Thereus's wedding when Eris the Goddess of Discord throws an apple at Thereus's head. Written in it's skin are the words: For the Fairest. The three Goddesses fight over the apple and turn to Zeus. Zeus doesn't want to be given the responsibility of choosing the fairest amongst his family so he gives the burden to a handsome sheep herder named Paris. Who is tricked by Eris to pick her as the fairest causing Aphrodite the one with the biggest ego of the three stays behind crying. Thereus comes in and tells Aphrodite that life isn't fair.

~Rachel Taylor

Rachel T.:Hera, Julia B.: Narrator, Thereus, Brenna M., Charles: Paris, Camille G.: Eris, Sabrina F.: Athena, Lydia P.: Aphrodite, Lauren S.: Jupiter. Counselors: John Fiscian, Alexis Osenga.

Rachel, Alexis, and Brenna:


Rachel and Lydia:


Julia and Rachel:












Sabrina, Rachel, Lydia, Lauren, and Brenna:





The finale:


Aaron congratulates Alexis on a good performance:


Michael having fun behind Rachel's back:


Alexis teases Noah:


We drove to Steak and Shake for a celebratory lunch. Rachel got chili cheese fries. Noah loved his chicken tenders and wanted to order more, but we said no. On the way home he was playing his dsi in the back seat. When we pulled into the driveway he got out of the car went up on the porch, turned around a puked over the railing. He had gotten car sick. He is so calm when he is sick. My other kids cry out, not Noah. He is rather matter of fact about things. He was able to rest up before cub scout camp. He had a great time. Lesson learned for the day...Noah can't read or play games in the car without it making him sick.


I love reading this series out loud to my family. It is a great one to read to yourself, as well. Michael Buckley's flawed heroines and hero, two young girls and a funky (I mean smelly) boy fairy take the reader on quite a bumpy ride through the Book of Everafter to save the girls' baby brother. There are fairytales familiar and unfamiliar, but different characters are called on to explain each tale so no one is left in the proverbial dark. There is even a scrapbooking reference that I found hilarious. The dialogue is quick and clever and the descriptions of the settings and characters are rich. I was so happy to see the phrase "...to be continued" at the end of the book. YEAH!

::::::::::Plans for Saturday:::::::

I hope to be able to give blood tomorrow. If you would like to donate and live near Tucker send me an e-mail and I can get you the details to donate too.

Smiles!

Life with Evey:

This morning Eve was telling jokes, which she found quite amusing.
I told her, "You know you are a legend in your own mind."

Eve replied chirpily, "I know. I hope I get a statue!"


::::::::Here Comes Science:::::::

The verdict is in...we love it! The cd is fun all by itself, but what a cool addition to have the dvd. The dvd has cartoon drawn characters to segue to each song. Noah sings the Palentologist song the most. Eve can be heard singing about Photosynthesis, Roy G. Biv, and the blood mobile. I love the shooting star song. I like that they included a follow up song to one they did about the sun that had new scientific information.

We are off to see Rachel and the other Drama Camp performers at Parkview. I will post photos soon. Time to go get celebratory flowers!

We put the motor back in in about 30 minutes. We need to practice a little more.

Grandfather Mountain Yellow Flowers

Eve and Noah were arguing, Eve at the base of the stairs and Noah in his bedroom. From what I could tell Noah refused to help Eve find a website on the computer downstairs. She was trying to harangue him until he helped her. Then I heard in a whiny, shrill voice, "MOM, Noah called me a brat!"

Noah yelled from upstairs, "I said it loud enough so mom can hear!"

Well...so much for blackmailing the older brother!

::::::::::::They Might Be Giants::::

I just got the cd & DVD of "Here Comes Science". I'll let you know what I think after I finish listening to it. My, preliminary, guess is that it will be pretty cool.


Smiles!

This book created a surprising amount of anxiety for me as a read through the politics involved with several dissident Tories collaborating with Labour and Liberal party members to remove Neville Chamberlain shortly after the start of WWII. It was akin to watching a movie where you know the ending, but somehow the outcome might be different. Lynne Olson does a fabulous job explaining the social and psychological aspects that underlay the decision making machinations in British politics. There is the system of peerage, what school you attended, and ties through marriage to consider when making any decision. It is rather dizzying and frustrating. It was this same peerage system, the separating of the classes, that led to several in the upper classes to be sympathetic to Hitler's cause and allowed the reports of Germany ramping up its military to be left unheeded. There was also a distinct hatred of communism over fascism. The press was censored and largely a government machine, as well.
I was surprised to learn that even though Churchill wanted to be Prime Minister and get things ramped up for the war effort early on he did not get directly involved with the men who eventually put him in to power. He, in fact, thought of them negatively. By the time all the wrangling for a confidence vote came around the British were being hit hard by the Germans and Churchill was Lord of the Admiralty. He felt loyalty to Chamberlain, even when Chamberlain was always for appeasement to the Germans. Chamberlain was always certain that Hitler could be reasoned with some how. Once Churchill became the Prime Minister he kept many of Chamberlain's people in positions of power surprising, and disheartening, the Tory rebels. Churchill saw them as conniving and traitorous. He did give out a few posts in government, but not the welcoming positions the rebels expected. Ultimately assigning one of the rebels, Harold Macmillan, to Algiers as Minister in Resident allowed Macmillan to become an integral part of negotiations with the U.S. Eventually Macmillan returned to acclaim in Britain and later became the Prime Minister during a period of severe economic downturn. Macmillan turned things around during his tenure.
I was thoroughly fascinated and awed reading this book. I was counting my blessings to not have the upbringing in a classed society. I find the machinations, back biting, palm greasing, and politics in general a distasteful business. I suppose I'm a history gawker, or rubbernecker though. I still want to read and find out what happened and why. Lynne Olson has an engaging writing style that brings history alive. I look forward to reading some of her other work, as well.


An Atlanta family decides that they can downsize their lives and sell their mansion and take half of the proceeds and donate it charity. Hannah Selwan's parents already had a history of giving through Habitat for Humanity and other charitable work, but through Hannah's desire to do more the family made some changes. Realizing that the collecting of stuff was not what they wanted to teach their two children the Selwan's got behind their daughter's push to do more. Every person in their family had a voice when making decisions, which was a vital aspect to a life long change.
The family was criticized for some of their choices. Many were upset that they chose to donate their funds to The Hunger Project, with the money going to Ghana not doing something in their community, or the U.S. Many thought they were showboating because of their wealth.
As I was reading I found a family who sincerely wanted to give service, which they did through Cafe 458 (a place for feeding the homeless), Habitat for Humanity, blood donations, and The Hunger Project. They weren't putting on hairshirts. They maintained their affluent lifestyle, but not to the extent they had before. There were several setbacks to funding their charitable desires with being unable to sell their house in a timely manner due to the economic downturn.
This book is great for families and teens who want ideas on how they can contribute to a better world. One of the key things I learned in the was the negative impact that mission and service trips have in communities, "Mission and service trips often have a negative long-term impact on the very people they are aiming to serve- not positive, not even neutral, but negative. It may be hard to believe that people of goodwill aspiring to help those in need can have a deleterious effect. But they do."
The problem is the fostering of dependence as opposed to self reliance. The best efforts are when supporting the work that their community is doing. A very eye-opening and well thought out book.


A series of vignettes about summer vacations with a sturdy, independent grandmother and two city grand kids from Chicago. The children never seem to move past their grandmother's veneer. They do get glimpses that there is a compassionate and clever woman who feels safe behind her gruff exterior. Never straight forward, but rather enjoying machinations and manipulations of the vanity of others the grandmother achieves her purposes. I realized in each chapter there was a little gem that the kids could take away, but the ending was book felt rather flat with a surprising uptick at the end with the touching farewell.

::::::::::Drama Camp and Twilight Camp:::
Yesterday Rachel started Drama Camp and Noah is doing Twilight Camp with the Cub Scouts. Both kids came home tuckered out, but had a good time. I'm looking forward to the drama performance the kids will have together on Thursday.

Smiles!

Grandfather Mountain Bluets

Morning Daisy on Grandfather Mountain