Your Predictions?

Homeschooling parents obviously are not enamored with the public and private school systems. But if you look around, there are lots of blogs written by teachers and parents who are also not happy with what public schools, especially, are providing. Private schools do have to face some competition, and so I think there is a bit more catering to "the customer," which ultimately, I believe is the parents of the children being educated. But even in public schools in wealthy suburban neighborhoods, parents are not always pleased with the curriculum chosen, the way the school communicates (or doesn't) with them about what happens within their walls, and a myriad of other things.

But will this dissatisfaction with public schools ultimately lead to anything? Some parents who can't or don't want to homeschool are fighting the system by expressing their concerns to principals, superintendents and school boards. In the meantime, well-off and well-educated parents can afford to plug the gaps in their children's education with afterschooling or tutors. But these parents eventually leave the system. School boards can be voted out if enough parents are dissatisfied, but principals and superintendents can always hope to ride out the malcontents until their children move on.

So what will happen to schools in this country? Will public schools eventually get left to only those children whose parents are not educated enough to help them, or who are too busy to work for better solutions, or too poor to provide alternatives? Will parents who are already fighting from within, and homeschoolers who vote, manage to get some sort of competitive program, with vouchers or something similar, created, or will homeschoolers continue to be on the outside, and parents in the school system just give up once their own offspring are through?

You see, I'm seeing a real growth of unhappiness with the way education works in this country. And the internet enables us to link up with like-minded parents not only in our area, but all over the globe. I see real potential for change, but wonder how long it might take to reorganize such a large system so entrenched in many of our childhoods. Perhaps it will take the current generation of homeschooled, afterschooled and tutored children to grow up and make things different. What do you think?

Vanity, Vanity

One of our vehicles needed a new license plate, so my husband took care of it one day while coming home from work. He surprised me by getting a special "vanity" or custom license plate just for me. Check it out!

Doesn't he spoil me? :) I guess I can't quit blogging now!

Festive Fall Weekend

On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch. We went on a hayride, Mr. Evil Genius and the girls made it through a corn maze, and we bought over 70 pounds worth of pumpkins, some for carving, some for painting, and some for making pumpkin pies later.

We also brought home other some local produce: corn, apples, tomatoes, and yummy apple cider.

We had a big pumpkin painting party when we got home. Mr. Evil Genius cleverly created a "reverse" pumpkin.



Then yesterday we went down to the Akron area to celebrate my sister-in-law and her husband's 25th wedding anniversary. They were included in a special Mass for people who had been married 25 years or more. There were over a hundred couples there; one couple has been married 71 years!

After the Mass, we went to a lovely restaurant. It was nice to enjoy the weekend and forget about baseball. :(

It's Probably 'Cause I'm a Mom

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Baseball Talk

I thought some of you might be interested in Paul Byrd's take on being a Christian in the major leagues, and the personal struggles he's faced. He's got a book coming out and I might get it; it sounds interesting. This is a nice article about Byrdie too. He may not be our ace, but I hope he's earned some respect for his pitching ability.

Also, I just discovered on Let's Go Tribe that first baseman Ryan Garko has a playoff blog. He's had some interesting quotes during the playoffs, so check it out if you want one Indian's perspective on what they're doing. How can you not like a guy who says, talking about what he did before the last game they played in Boston, "I spent my day at the food court eating chicken fingers with my cousin, Corey “Big Body” Erb." :)

Cat Magnet

How many of you out there have that big cat magnet attached to you, the one that draws all the hard luck feline cases your way? The biggest cat rescue we ever pulled off was when a feral cat gave birth to four kittens in our back yard. We managed to snag Mama Cat in a humane trap, got her spayed and got her a round of shots, and let her loose at the local grain elevator, with the blessing of the owners there. Two of the kittens went to a good home, and the other two went to a shelter where presumably they found good homes as well.

We've been living where we're at for about four months, and I guess it's taken that long for the "Cat Signal" to come on, because tonight a beautiful black cat showed up at our door. Using our extensive cat knowledge, we discovered that a)it's a girl and b)she's in heat. So she's spending the night in our garage, safe from any boy kitties that might happen to be around, and away from our four kitties in case she has any sicknesses, or fleas, for that matter. We figure she's about seven months or so, and this is probably her first heat. We're also guessing that her owners got tired of her caterwauling, and dumped her. Those kind of people disgust me. Hopefully we can get her to the local no-kill shelter tomorrow.

Wake Me Up When the Game Starts

I really hope the Indians finish up and win the pennant tomorrow, because all these late night games are making me tired! I took a nap today; that's the second one in about a week. I think Scottius can commiserate with how I feel, since his Cards took the Big Enchilada last year. So here's for winning against Boston tomorrow, and sweeping the Rockies in the World Series! Go Tribe!

Truth or Dare

So I've been tagged again, and I need to come up with seven true things about myself. Since when has an evil genius ever told the truth? Well, you won't get the Whole Truth (grins evilly)!
1) I've waded in the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, but not the Atlantic Ocean. Need to rectify that with a trip out east sometime.
2) I enjoy bicycling. Too bad there's not a lot of suitable area for it where I live.
3) I love buying fabric.
4) I love buying and selling on ebay.
5) The longer I homeschool, the easier it gets and the more I enjoy it.
6) I enjoy lots of quiet time.
7) I need to work on getting things around my house organized.

Um, now I'm supposed to tag seven people, and tell them I did. So, who should be my chosen victims?

1) Presbytera, 'cause she hasn't blogged in ages.
2) The Mom. Same reason.
3) The Young Explorer. Again.... And because she's my daughter and I can make her do it.
4) The Elephant's Child. Because she did the other one I gave her so promptly. :)
5) Scottius. Because it'll be great to see what he comes up with.
6) Des Moines Girl. She's got a great sense of humor.
7) Blonde Moment. She's fun.

For All You Princess Bride Fans

Since I know there's several of you, I'm putting the URL here on my blog. Which one of you will get the URL? :)

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20071014

Full Weekend

A fun Friday night started off with picking up my husband from work. As we were pulling out of the parking lot of his building, which is definitely in an urban area, although close to a park, we saw two does.

Wildchild, my husband and I went to Jacobs Field last night, along with several thousand others, and watched the Indians play on the big screen. It was a little chilly, but a fun night, except for the fact that CC was off, and we lost rather decisively. Oh well. We had a good time, and we were bundled up well so we didn't get too cold. Even Wildchild's doll, who came along to keep Wildchild company, wore a lovely hat and sweater.

Then today Wildchild and I met some friends at a farm park in Lake County, where there were activities such as pumpkin painting and cornhusk doll making. We had a fun time, and dinner afterwards with them was nice as well.


I think Sunday after church will definitely be a day of rest!

They're Coming to Take It Away

A little background first. Metropolitan Cleveland occupies a large area; like many large cities it now occupies more than one county. The city of Akron, south in Summit County, is arguably a suburb of Cleveland. Metro Cleveland expands eastward into Lake County, all the way out to Painesville. And on the west side, everywhere out to the city of Lorain has become a suburb of Cleveland. I feel especially well qualified to talk about the west side of Cleveland, because I've lived there for most of my life. I spent the first twenty-four years of my life living in Bay Village, a suburb of Cleveland at the very edge of Cuyahoga County, the same county the city of Cleveland occupies. For the past six years we've been living in Lorain County.

There's lots of housing being built in Lorain County, especially in the cities closer to a)the lake and b)the city of Cleveland. Shopping and restaurants are popping up like mushrooms at one exit off of the interstate in Avon, OH. And there's been talk for years of building another freeway exit in Avon, a little further east. All this is good for Lorain County, whose mainstay for years was and to some extent still is automobile plants. As we've seen lately, these plants aren't reliable places to base an economy on, and in any case these jobs will likely become more obsolete as automation takes over.

Now to the interesting stuff. There is apparently a regional planning group called the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) which votes on measures concerning the local interstates. As I wrote above, Avon would like to build another freeway exit. Fortunately for Avon, the Cleveland Clinic wants to build a family medical center there. Unfortunately for Avon, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County mayors want their cut. For 10 years. And those in Cuyahoga County on the NOACA are threatening to veto the freeway exit proposal, even though the city of Avon and the development group that owns the land currently would be paying for the project.

From my point of view, Cuyahoga County's demand for money is nothing but unmitigated greed. When the neighboring city of Westlake (in Cuyahoga County) was growing like wildfire along the interstate, did they offer to "share" their profits with neighboring cities? I would guess not. And mind you, this growth has occurred not only within my lifetime, but a great deal of it has taken place within the last twenty years. Does the city of Westlake owe the city of Rocky River tax revenue from its swanky and flourishing shopping development, Crocker Park? After all, the recent shopping and restaurant development in Westlake may very well have helped put the final nails in the coffin of Westgate Shopping Center in Rocky River, which is now a distant memory. For that matter, if Avon is "sharing" taxes with Cuyahoga County, does that mean that Avon residents could be allowed to use the city of Bay Village's lovely pool, or Westlake's fancy recreation center? Both of these are currently for city residents only. If Avon is paying taxes into these cities' coffers, shouldn't Avon residents be able to take advantage of these cities' benefits as well?

Yes, the city of Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County, are bleeding. They're losing hundreds of thousands of people, and losing jobs. However, instead of trying to reach out and grab what others are getting, perhaps they should take a good look in the mirror and try to fix their own problems. No, they'd rather just take from an area that is doing better. You know, this whole scheme sounds very familiar. I'm not surprised that the city government of Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County Commissioner are all from the same party. You guess which one.

And If the Last Quiz Wasn't Nerdy Enough...

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Via Pauli.

I Can Haz Free Healthcare?

I guess we've been doing it wrong all this time. My husband should quit his job, become a woodworker, and then we too can live in a 3,000 square foot house, drive SUVs, send our kids to tony private schools, and get free healthcare for our kids off of you sucker tax payers. I guess we can drop our auto insurance too. Yeah!

Michelle Malkin has a pretty thorough run-down. Don Surber chimes in also.

It Can Happen Here

So I was just about to post about my own trivial little happenings when I see that yet another school shooting has taken place, this time right in Cleveland. I'm glad to have my kids at home with me right now, and I'm glad there seem to be no fatalities from this, apart from the shooter. Although it was of course wrong to shoot people, I'm sorry the young gunman seems to have taken his own life. I'm wondering when we'll start hearing about how this kid was never in trouble, etc.

I suppose the mayor will now call for stricter gun laws, or security at the school building, or something similar. I would want my children to hide from someone running around with a gun, but I would also want there to be someone similarly armed who could protect my children in a dangerous situation. Here's some great quotes: "Schools are supposed to be a safe place." With all the shootings that have happened in schools, can we really think like that anymore? Also, one parent says about security personnel that used to be in the school: "To take away the only source of protection is just not right." Well, if they allowed teachers who had a concealed carry permit to carry a firearm during the course of their work, there would be another source of protection, and without the cost of extra security. Isn't it time that politicians and school boards learned that simply forbidding guns in school will not keep guns out of schools?

Okay, So I'm Bored

How much of a nerd are *you*? Huh?

Natural Consequences

Of course it makes sense that a woman who shoots herself in the stomach and killed her unborn child may not be charged for murder. After all, she could have just had it sucked down a sink without any consequences at all, right? At least, no *legal* consequences. Ironic that a woman is being charged for drowning her two children in the bathtub at the same time. She should have just killed them before they were born. Then she wouldn't have to deal with all this.

Yeah! It's Friday!

I notice that I've been posting quite a bit on learning-related matters lately. I don't want this blog to become a strictly homeschooling blog; I like being able to talk or rant about whatever is moving me. At the moment, teaching the girls and planning their lessons is taking up a lot of my time and interest. I'm also fascinated by the egregious failings within the public educational system. Of course, I can afford to find it fascinating because I don't have children whose educations are being ruined in the system. In the big picture, though, it is not good for our country's future to have children receive such poor educations. But then, I can't do anything about our country's system of education, and I certainly don't have all the answers in any case. All I can do is make sure my own children are learning, to the best of my ability and theirs.

Frankly, the political scene right now is rather discouraging to me. It seems as though there is a lot of cheating, back room deals, lying and everything else being brought to light, but nothing is coming of it. Ah, well. The wheels of God grind slowly.

Still waiting to get our van back. I'm tired of driving the old beater I'm in right now. Thus, I hate going anywhere.

Mr. Evil Genius had asthma as a child, and it now appears as though some of the things he's suffered from as an adult stem from that. His doctor is starting him on some asthma medication. It's discouraging to be tied to medication and pills, but we're hopeful that he can improve his physical state now that this has been diagnosed.

I Don't Think So

It's bad enough that parents who have their children in public schools may have to have them tutored to help them understand the material, or tutor them themselves. It's sad that some parents are afterschooling, teaching them what they want them to learn outside of school, like art or music, or even afterschooling to cover gaps in the public schools learning curriculum. Now it's cool for a teacher to assign parents to read what their children are reading in high school, and have the parents comment on it? Um, no. Read about it here; use Bugmenot if you don't want to create a log-in yourself.

This is not to say I don't read things myself. As a matter of fact, in some areas I feel I've given myself a better education than even college gave me. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Buccaneers for leisure reading, just for examples. But if I'm going to, or have to, go to the trouble to read everything my child reads and discuss it with her and comment on it, I might as well just teach her myself. I can tell you there wouldn't be any "hip-hop poetry" in my dream high school curriculum. And “I take it as giving back to the teacher what he is apparently giving to our kids, a lot of attention and a lot of requirements.” Um, wouldn't that be called "doing his job"? Maybe not.

Via kitchen table math, the sequel.

The Joys of Homeschooling

Having your daughter come in to show you her latest art project while you're in the shower.

(Yes, this does sound rather like The Joys of Mothering. But then homeschooling is a lot like mothering, which is another one of The Joys of Mothering.)

Doll Discussion

Wildchild is ready to "move on" from Bitty Baby and get an 18" (or so) doll. I'm not sure I want to get her an American Girl doll, both because I feel the American Girl company under Mattel has gotten into political advocacy through the dolls, and because it's my understanding that the dolls are made in China now, and the price is rather high for that. However, it seems that some of the other high quality doll makers, such as Götz, have gone out of business, and there is not much of a selection out there other than American Girl. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Update: Apparently Götz was rumored to have gone out of business, but hasn't. Now if I could find a dealer, and if Wildchild likes the dolls...

A Project Completed

Yeah! Wildchild's ballet bag is finally complete! As a special touch, I put in a cross-stitch design of every little girl's favorite dancing mouse, Angelina Ballerina. My little ballerina will be so happy to carry her things in it to ballet class tomorrow.

LOL Cat Meets Lord of the Rings

From here.

Weekend Roundup

So, let's see... bought the cord I need to make Wildchild's ballet bag, and the fabric I need to make her Halloween costume. She's going as Tinkerbell.

Refreshed my educational supplies with a few books I needed, and also a little specialty paper, the kind with ruled lines and some space above for a picture. I want to write some cute little stories for Wildchild to read. Maybe I'll let her illustrate them.

Bought shoes for both of the girls, although one pair needs to go back. Wildchild wasn't with me, and they didn't have her size, but the salesperson said they ran a little big, so we tried the next smaller size. They didn't work.

Made a new skirt for each of the girls, which they wore to church this morning. I should try to finish Wildchild's ballet bag before her class on Tuesday. I desperately need more clothes. Mr. Evil Genius could use some more clothes as well. It's wonderful having clothes especially made to fit you, but right now I have a lot in the "to do" pile.

Kept my husband and Wildchild company this afternoon as my husband found his 100th cache. Now my husband is off with the girls planting his very first cache (that he is responsible for maintaining.)

Looking forward the baseball playoffs this week, school, and sewing, sewing, sewing!

Cure for the Friday Blues

As I've gotten more into homeschooling, both increasing the scope of my teaching, and teaching the girls at higher grades, I'm realizing why Friday happy hour is popular. :) Not only am I tired, but my tired mind tends to focus on what I haven't achieved during the week, and what needs to be accomplished over the weekend. Fortunately, there is a couple with whom we go out to eat a couple/few times a month, and tonight was one of those times. I got some adult time, a good meal, a tasty sangria, and Mr. Evil Genius just ran out to the ice cream store and is bringing home a chocolate-with-hot-fudge sundae for me. I think I'll survive another day.

Jumping the Shark

I'm just minding my own business, doing one of my favorite activities, cruising around the 'net, looking at the wealth of educational materials for my girls. Today I'm looking specifically at reading material. Haven't been at Scholastic's site in a while; go to check it out. See nothing but Democratic presidential candidates on their front page in one of their flash pictures. Have flashbacks to when I discovered that Dorling Kindersley had John Kerry on the cover of their U.S. Presidents book. Getting a Bad Feeling about Scholastic. Decide to go over to the Scholastic Store anyway. See The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon. Okay, it's official. Scholastic has Jumped the Shark. I mean, Laurie David, who helped produce An Overblown Inconvenient Truth! Who got busted by Newsbusters when she pushed her, you know, very, you know, important book on the Today Show. Who lives in a huge house in Martha's Vineyard (language warning for the sensitive). Check here for some good humor by Jules Crittenden to get a good laugh, if you need it.

Aww, Scholastic kid reporters covered the Democratic debate on MSNBC. Wonder if they're going to cover any Republican debates? (crickets chirping) Holy cow, the questions and answers are so freakin' ridiculous! I really think you ought to go read for yourself. Okay, these are kids, and school is one of their biggest concerns right now, but someone ought to tell them that the federal government ought to get *out* of schools! Personally, I think we ought to vote for Mike Gravel. He says, and I quote: "I will end wars and you will have a world in peace. I will end the whole problem we have with the environment. We are cooking ourselves off the planet, and we've got to solve that problem now and we cannot do it with the leadership we have." Gee, can you also fix everyone's eyesight without that bothersome Lasik surgery, cure cancer and give everyone in the U.S. a flying car while you're at it, please?

I'm thinking of writing my own children's books. There's too much slop out there right now. Anyone want to join me?

Youth Movement

Gotta love the kids. In preparation for the playoffs, and since we have a doubleheader today against the Seattle Mariners, manager Eric Wedge is resting some of our everyday players and playing some of our second-string. We're currently up 9 to 2 in the first game. Veteran Victor Martinez is the only one on our squad currently without a hit, although he has drawn a walk, and has an RBI. In the "odd" category, we are the "home" team in this first game in Seattle, to make up for that last snowed-out game back here in April.

In a somewhat-related-in-my-own-head story, my indentured slave labor daughter made the mashed potatoes for dinner completely on her own. Well, her younger sister did help a little with putting in butter and mashing. I love having kids old enough to help with stuff. I've always hated making mashed potatoes, but I LOVE eating them! The Scientist also made cookies today, another thing I love to eat. :)

Creating a Pattern

We're settling into a routine here in Evil Genius Land. Wildchild has had her first Brownie meeting and is taking ballet and jazz dance once a week. I was gratified to hear Wildchild's new leader say that my daughter, homeschooled since kindergarten, fit right into her new troop. I'm hoping she'll make a friend or two in the troop. She's much more social than her sister (perhaps a second-born thing?) and she doesn't play as well alone. Just as moms are so busy today, so girls of eight are busy with schoolwork, homework, and innumerable activities.

And speaking of activities, I've been making phone calls trying to find a 4-H club for the Scientist. She tried Girl Scouts, but with her serious and studious nature, and love of animals, I think she'll be happier in 4-H, despite the fact that she can't do any animal raising where we're at right now. I found one 4-H club in the area whose leader has miniature horses. She'd be in heaven with that. Hope that works out, as we're experiencing much frustration with vehicles. Our minivan finally made it into the shop for a new (to us) engine, only to have to go back after a few days. I want my minivan! (sniffle) Horse stables and tack shops seem to generally be quite a drive from where we live, and Mr. Evil Genius and I don't trust the beater I am currently driving to make it that far. Meanwhile, the poor Scientist is chomping at the bit (ha!) to take horseback riding lessons.

Not content with three projects on the table, I started a fourth, one for which I've had the materials for a while: a ballet bag for Wildchild. This one should be done fairly quickly, being pretty straightforward. I hope so!

Oh, and of course there's school! I'm not getting as much German taught as I'd like, but we're not doing badly in the other subjects. We're doing ancient history right now, and I am jumping around a little bit more than I'd like in that. So many early civilizations started around the same time. I think I'll have the girls help me with a timeline to tie it all together. I'm happy with the girls' art curricula this year, where I felt I had a gap there before. Everything else, I have a direction I'm heading in, which is half the battle. Heck, that pretty much describes my life right now: everything is not exactly where I want it to be, but I know which way I'm going.

Nobody Will Win This

At least that's my take on the current strike by GM employees. Retirement and salaries seem to be driving American car companies into near-bankruptcy, and yet those things are under debate, as well as keeping jobs in the U.S. Yes, let's make sure auto workers are paid enormous salaries, that funding autoworkers' retirement is a significant part of the selling price on a new vehicle, and that auto manufacturers cannot try to save money by taking jobs someplace where labor is cheaper. I amend my blog title. Car companies competing against GM and the UAW will be the ones winning this. And the job markets and financial health of Cleveland, Youngstown and other cities will probably be losers.

Championship Baby!

The beer and champagne are still flowing hard in the clubhouse. Hee hee! Our mascot slider has his raingear on! Trot Nixon is going full out with the buckets of water. And our GM got the pie in the face today. Go Tribe!

Post in Search of a Title

If I could have typed telepathically yesterday, I would have put up a post. Thoughts were swirling around in my brain, but I was apathetic about typing them out onto a screen. Even the Indians game last night was not really noteworthy. Fortunately, our magic number is down to one just the same. Would have liked to have gone to the game, but Husband is not feeling well. Hopefully the Indians will do well today and not have to depend on the Tigers to lose for them to clinch at home.

I finished a shirt yesterday that's been in the works for a while. I've kind of put the quilted purse aside temporarily. The pattern calls for folding the raw edges of the quilted straps over and pressing them down. I've already discovered that doesn't work so well with the quilted material, so I've kind of dreaded putting the straps on, which is the next step.

I'm hoping we'll be able to take a little trip or two to enjoy the fall weather and the colors of the leaves. I think fall is my favorite season of the year, despite the fact that it predicates winter's chill.

I'm Cranky

Say what you like about public and private schools, but at least they give you a chance to meet lots of people in your own peer group. Why is it so hard to make friends once you leave school? In today's world, with so many mothers working, it seems even harder. Half the girls in my daughter's ballet class are ferried there by a grandmother. Knowing people online is nice, but I'd like to have a few pals in this area to do things with.

Three Is Our Magic Number

Since the Indians just beat the team right below us in the Central Division, our magic number goes down to three.

Five

After beating the Detroit Tigers tonight, the Indians magic number is down to five!! For those of you who are not baseball fans, that means the Indians only have to win five more games to clinch the American League Central Division championship. The Tribe is also only 1/2 game behind Boston for the best record in the American League. Hey, Hey, Hey, Let's Go Tribe!

Math?

Up for discussion: Why You Should Choose Math in High School.

My point of view: my girls are in the grade school years now, but I want them prepared to study more difficult mathematics in high school, and be ready, if they wish, to study even more advanced mathematics in college. Both of my daughters currently seem afraid of math, but they can both do the work when it is explained to them. Concentration is a problem for them, but that is the case in all of their subjects. The Scientist is already starting to doubt whether she can do the work required to get through veterinary school, and I *do not* want her to have these doubts!!

In my own experience, I believe the teacher I had for the first two years of high school math, Algebra I and Geometry, was not the most effective. When I got a different teacher for Algebra II, I "got" math much better. He actually suggested to my mother during a parent-teacher conference that I might have a future in mathematics as a career. My mother's reply, "She hates math!" Sigh. I did not get the best parental support at home, either. At least my mother showed up for the conference.

I also wonder what on earth I studied through eight years of grade school mathematics that I was not ready to take algebra until high school. It seems that at least some students are starting algebra in the grade school years now. Mathematics in the younger years seems to be a lot of repetition and I'm not sure all students need it.

Eating Our Way Through Little Italy

When your in-laws are Italian, you can't go to just any Italian restaurant. All the food gets compared to the way "Grandma used to make it," and Grandma used to make it from scratch. My husband turns up his nose at most Italian chain restaurants. But we always enjoy getting together in Little Italy, a section of Cleveland. Yesterday we gathered with my in-laws to celebrate our nephew's 18th birthday, and ate and talked with family for ages.

Then we visited two of the bakeries in Little Italy, and ate and talked some more. My husband loves Corbo's bakery; the cookies there are just like the ones all the women in his extended family used to bake when he was growing up.

My nephew decided to take advantage of being 18 by doing one of the things he's legally allowed to do now.

The Deeper You Dig, the Worse It Gets

So how did the education system get to be so poorly implemented in this country? Some of it seems to be about power. The teachers, principals and administrators with their education degrees and teacher's conferences see themselves as the guardians of information, and as we can see here, they can be very loath to give it out. Reminds me of the mainstream media in that they feel they have the knowledge, and the authority, and you are only worthy to receive what they deign to give out. Why someone should enjoy being the tinpot dictator of an elementary school is beyond me, but as we can see from the woman quoted here, educators are perfectly comfortable deciding what your children should learn, despite what feelings those who pay her salary might have on the matter.

But just like bloggers are taking away the exclusivity the mainstream media once had on information, parents are using the internet, and finding like-minded parents in their own community, to exchange notes and share options. Not only is homeschooling growing, but parents who for their own reasons do not have homeschooling as an option, have created afterschooling, filling in the public education gaps during afternoons, evenings and weekends. Parents can get immediate information on a curriculum used in their child's school, and also get immediate information on what might be useful to close any knowledge gaps.

It is sad that parents have to spend their own time and extra money beyond what they are paying in taxes, to make sure their children receive an adequate education. It's wrong, with the amount of money schools are receiving, that those children whose parents are not putting in the extra effort (and dollars) will be stuck with a poor education; see here and here. Of course, parental involvement matters, has always mattered. Even in Farmer Boy, Almanzo Wilder's parents did not play educational games with their children, give them worksheets or art projects, but their parents did expect them to behave properly and mind their teacher, and Almanzo's father even gave the teacher a little help with disorderly students. But for schools to fail so dismally at their basic function indicates a serious problem.

We were among the parents who thought to themselves, "Those homeschooling people might be on to something." We got tired of the arguments and tears from the Scientist while she struggled with homework, after a long day in school. We didn't like hearing that the private, Christian school we were sacrificing to send our daughter to, was about a year behind the upper-middle-class public schools in the same city. We wondered why the school that promised an individualized education for every student could not give our daughter the more advanced work that we requested, and that they admitted she could do. We wondered why the teachers with all their special knowledge and education could not help our daughter with her problems with concentration, beyond telling us to "work on it with her at home." We definitely wondered why a private, Christian school should be in the socialism business, taking all the students' colored pencils and distributing them out randomly. This meant, of course, that some students grabbed all the popular colors, and my daughter had to fight to get what she needed. I suppose she did learn something about socialism there, after all.

The waste of time and treasure in organized schools, however, is sad and discouraging. And it will continue until enough parents, and most likely enough of the parents whose children the schools are failing the most today, ask for some choices and take power back into their hands.

My Days Are Filled

Wildchild has two dance classes a week and I'm getting her back into Girl Scouts. The Scientist has Latin once a week at our pastor's, will be starting horse riding lessons, she wants to volunteer at a local animal shelter, and I'm looking into getting her in 4-H. Plus I have teaching the two of them. We don't have as much of a school routine as I'd like, yet, but I'm feeling more on top of things than I have for a long time. I'm getting better at giving them work that doesn't bore them, and they're getting better about doing work.

I'm trying to fit sewing in where I can. Haven't really made a lot of worthwhile progress. Maybe over the weekend?

Commercial Commentary

The Indians game was on ESPN last night, instead of its normal station Sports Time Ohio. I was repulsed by a series of commercials by Chevy for its new line of electric vehicles, that I hadn't seen before. First of all, every commercial featured the same man talking to the standard multi-ethnic group of children. Does this mean Chevy sees us as children, that must be schooled in the wonders of the new vehicles?

Secondly, one commercial touted the car in question as "vegetarian." I don't really remember the logic for that one, but what I do remember is the man asking the children how many of them were vegetarian. About four out of eight children raised their hands. Puh-leeze! Drop the preachiness! And isn't vegetarianism generally not recommended for growing children?

Lastly, electric vehicles don't use gas. Well and good if you're talking about not using oil purchased from countries that hate America and seek its destruction. However, electricity generally involves burning coal. Coal mining can be dangerous, and environmentalists fight coal mining as hard as they fight drilling for oil and creating new refineries in our own country. Burning coal creates pollution. California is already suffering from high electric prices and electricity shortages because the state government is prohibiting new electric plants from being built. I'm not sure how electric cars would compare in cost savings to gas-powered ones currently, although I'm sure once enough people started using electric cars, the greater demand for electricity would make the price of said go up. So what's the great advantage to an electric car?

On the Indians game: I think we need to fly Travis Hafner *and* Ryan Garko's parents in for every game now.

I Love Crayons

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

via Jau.

Whaddya know. A genius. Hee!

The State and the People

Clayton Cramer, who is a fan of The Fred's, makes some remarks now that Fred's in the race, and discusses how federalism, or leaving decisions up to the states, means that some people may not get everything they want. Now I think states should be allowed to make their own decisions on a lot of things, but I'd like your opinion on one thing Cramer said: "If you don't like the particular policy decisions that your state makes, moving isn't so difficult." I realize that a lot of people in Ohio are already "voting with their feet" and moving to other states, and the economic policy decisions our local legislators make may be behind a great deal of it. However, I would say that moving can be very difficult for a family, for example, with younger children. Moving out of state can be an enormous expense as well, one our family just isn't prepared to take on the moment. Not to mention my husband is currently blessed to have a job he is comfortable with and he'd like to build up some seniority, not start over fresh someplace else. I don't know, the comment just seemed a little flippant. For that matter, aren't there already people fleeing more liberal states because the socialist economic policies are bringing the state down, but wanting to keep their liberal ideas, in essence trying to recreate life in their old state? What if you do move to another state and then the voting make-up of that state changes within five years or so? Move again?

And while Cramer sees reason in allowing states to have their own laws on partial birth abortion, he finds the idea of cross-breeding humans and animals at the embryonic level disturbing, although to be fair, he makes no comment about whether it should be legal in this country or not. Well, I find the practice of sticking a sharp object into the head of a perfectly viable, feeling human being extremely disturbing. Aren't there some things so beyond the pale that we as a entire nation should be able to decide against them?

An Advantage to Homeschooling

I am, while my husband is away, the guardian and gatekeeper of the home, and so I don't have to worry about who shows up around my children while they're learning. When you are responsible for a large number of someone else's children, I suppose there can be a fine line between overreaction and necessary caution. As so many news blurbs do, this article doesn't allow for much of an accurate assessment to be made, but I would hate to have had a warning letter sent home about me if I had been visiting a child I knew while they were at school.

Bier Trinken

This past Monday, Labor Day, we were looking for something fun to do, so we took a trip to the Oktoberfest at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. We had a good time, although the German culture was mostly represented by all the beer. :) The dancers that impressed me most were the Verlezza Dance company. They were *smokin'* hot! Also lots of flirting going on, flipping the edge of the women's skirts, etc. Those Italians!

I didn't take the camera with us. My shoulders were a little tired from having my purse on one and the camera case on the other, on Saturday. You can see lots of pictures on the official website, if you're interested. But in honor of the Hofbräuhaus they had set up, I'll share a picture of my husband and I, before we were married, at the real Hofbräuhaus in Munich. We were visiting a friend of my husband's, who went to high school with my husband for one year. Yes, the place is touristy, but we had fun, and neither my husband nor I are too fond of beer, so we wouldn't have appreciated a place that served "better" beer anyway.

And here's a beautiful shot in the Nymphenburg Park in Munich, which we also visited.

Bringing teh Funny

Via Betsy, for all my women readers: Porn for Women.

Nightmare

Via Don Surber, a case where a woman in England may have her baby taken away from her at birth, due in part to the prognosis of a pediatrician who has never met the mother, that the woman is likely to suffer from Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy. Miss Lyon, the mother in question, has had mental issues and has been under a psychiatrist's care, although this very psychiatrist says that Miss Lyon is at no risk of harming her child or herself. This story seems like something out of an alternate universe sci-fi horror movie. Can this really be happening?

Surber also links to a story that is all over the blogosphere, that John Edwards' proposed government health care plan would require mandatory annual physician visits.

This is all just wonderful. If you ever do suffer from any sort of depression or mental issues in your life, you're going to have to hide it. Heaven forbid you share with your doctor at your mandatory annual check-up that the lack of sunlight this winter has you feeling a bit down. Your kids will be taken away by social services before you get home.

Cleveland Underground

Today our family got a glimpse of Cleveland's past, taking a tour of what remains of the W. 25th subway station, and walking part of the subway tracks. This tour is only open twice a year.

A trolley car, coming around a bend.

A subway wall.

Underground tracks.

Walking along where the tracks used to be, underneath the current Veteran's Memorial Bridge. This turned out to be a little more dicey for me than I would have thought. There was a metal grid, with steel girders every 24 feet or so. There were pieces of plywood on top of the metal grid to walk across, but where the steel girders were, the metal grid did not quite meet the girder, and there was a few inches that were open, straight down to the river below. For some reason, it really bothered me to cross over the girders and the empty spaces. I'm not normally afraid of heights, although usually when I'm up high, I'm nicely buckled in to a roller coaster car!

Here's a view looking down through the grid.

Looking at a bend in the Cuyahoga River.

Where the Cuyahoga meets Lake Erie.

A view of the Westside Market (the tower) from underneath the Veteran's Memorial Bridge. We stopped at the Market on the way home and bought lots of fresh fruit.

A trolley car you could walk through. Not really different than a bus, on the inside. There were lots of pictures to look at in different areas around the station, and even a couple of movies showing the old subway system in use. Some pictures showed older looking, horse-drawn trolley cars. It would be fun to ride in a horse-drawn trolley today! Well, maybe not so much in the winter.

International Baseball

Yes, the world has gotten smaller; I know this. I still find it humorous (or humourous!) that today, as the Cleveland Indians take on the Seattle Mariners, the rotating ad board behind home plate at the top of the first had an ad in what I can only presume to be Japanese. Presumably this was to take advantage of all of Ichiro's fans. A Japanese ad in a ball field in plain ol' Cleveland, Ohio. Wonder if the ad said anything about punching yourself in the face? Ah, well. I'd rather have Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera anyway.

Also in the kind-of-funny category: this game is yet another in the make-up series between Cleveland and Seattle to make up for all the games we were snowed out during the beginning of the season. Just another day in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio. :)

And before I got a chance to post this, they showed one of the big planes, here this weekend for the Cleveland National Air Show, cruising along the skyline of Cleveland. Suh-weet!

Update: We came up with a big dose of Rally Pie in the ninth!!

Sewing with ADD

So, I have at least three sewing projects going right now: capris for me, that I cut out all the pieces and now I actually have to sew them together, doll clothes that I'm designing myself, and a purse that I have some of the pieces cut out for. I'll keep you updated on their progress; it's helping me actually buckle down and I'm hoping to finish all of these!

I was thinking that the title of this post might also be a great title for one of those sewing shows on TV. Could you see it? "Okay, today we're going to learn how to use your rolled hem foot on your machine. Oh, great, I can't find the foot. Where did it go? Oh, look, here's that pair of pants I started last fall and never finished! Well, fall will be here again soon, let's work on those. Just let me find the right color thread..." I imagine it would look something like this old but good YouTube video featuring the ADD shopping network.

Speaking of ADD, did you know I saw a mama doe with twin fawns right across the street from my domicile the other day? :) Here's a pretty good picture of one of the fawns, and you can just make out the other one behind it. I also got a picture of Mama, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous.


The Laughing Frog had a deer sighting recently too.

Turning Inward

A lot of my attention lately has been turned toward things in my own home. Homeschooling has been the biggest attention-getter. We started on a light schedule last week and will get more focused this week. I'm glad both of my daughters are still enthusiastic about homeschooling. They really like being able to learn at their own pace and being able to take breaks when they need them and get out in the sunshine, and they enjoy going over a book with Mommy on the bed.

They're also going to get involved in activities where they can hang out with other kids and hopefully, make new friends. Wildchild will be taking ballet and jazz dance classes. I'm trying to get the Scientist into a local 4-H club, but I'm frustrated because nothing I've found online gives good contact information. I've got several other activities in mind that I'd like to get the girls into, so it should be a busy fall!

In the meantime, the outside world continues on without me. Somehow, nothing seems as important as my home and my family and my own little projects right now, and that's a good thing. I still need to stay aware of the wolves outside, though.

History in the Making?

The remains of the two missing children of Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra may have been found. It would be nice to finally put an end to the story which has captured imaginations for decades if these bodies really are found to be Alexei and Maria or Anastasia. Also hopefully a positive identification of one of the earlier bodies found can be made, since there were debates between the forensic scientists involved as to whether one of the bodies was Maria or Anastasia. Without the fourth daughter's body, it was difficult to tell for certain.

Fini!

Here are the capris I made for the Scientist. They're a little baggier than I like them, but she likes them that way, so... Also the fabric is a little stretchy; it has some Lycra in it. I wish I could remember where I bought the fabric; it's very nice.

Next, I need to work on my pair. They'll take a little more time, being more fitted with a waistband and zipper. I just made pull-on ones for the Scientist; she needs more clothes so badly I wanted something I could throw together quickly.

We've done pretty well on homeschooling this week. The Scientist is in 6th grade this year, Wildchild is in 3rd. I suppose they'll get bored soon but for now they're almost glad to have something to do. It's so terribly humid outside that they don't really want to be out playing right now anyway.

Contest!

My friend is having a contest to show off the cool new purses she is making. Go find out how you might be able to win one! Or just cross your fingers for me! :)

You know, I remember when purses made out of placemats used to be the cool thing, back in the 80's. Does anyone else remember that? I wonder where my old one got to?

Talking about contests, the first game of the double-header between the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles was no contest. The Rangers won, 30-3!! That's the most runs scored in a game in 110 years. Ouch!

Computerless in Cleveland

More or less. My laptop is acting up, or more accurately, locking up. Grrrr. Until my computer guy, AKA DH, can get it fixed, I'm using the daughters computer, sitting on the floor, holding the keyboard in my lap. Not conducive to long diatribes on the state of the world, the Cleveland Indians, the local economy, or anything else.

We're easing our way into school, partially because the girls are getting bored with summer vacation, partially because I'm eager to get started using all the cool stuff I found. It won't hurt to get a little ahead of the game, as we're apt to fall behind at some point.

Work Continues

I made some more progress on the capris today, getting the pattern pieces cut out and several pieces cut out of the fabric cut out as well. I'm loving this fabric; it's a stretch twill in a baby blue, with a lovely sateen finish. I'll have to see if I can get any good pictures of the fabric. I'm going to work on some capris for the Scientist out of this material too.

Had breakfast this morning with my sisters-in-law, their husbands, and my nephew. They were passing through, driving the nephew up to college. It's his first year. Sniffle! I bet the Presbytera and her husband would have liked the omelet-with-feta-cheese-and-gyro-meat that my husband and his brother-in-law had. Might not have liked it with tabasco sauce as brother-in-law had it, though.

The food was good, but we did get into a discussion about silly ways restaurants cut costs, based in part on my nephew's recent experience working at one. One thing that came up was a restaurant by us that serves some off-brand soda, neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsi. Bleah. I'm afraid the restaurant we had breakfast at is prey to the same thing. Does this kind of thing bother anyone else? I'm one of those people who can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, and I can definitely tell if you accidentally give me a diet soda. Actually, among some at church, I've acquired the nickname "The Pepsi Snob" because I can't drink canned Coke. Just can't stand it. So we always stick a few cans of Pepsi in the car when we go to a social function, just in case. Hope it's not seen as rude. But then my other favorite beverage is milk, and that's getting to be on the expensive side, so...

Oh the Pain

I'm having a so-so day after spending a good bit of yesterday groggy, slightly dizzy, not feeling well. I think it is a reaction to whatever pain medication the dentist used on me when I had a small cavity taken care of on Wednesday. I don't do well with pain medication. I'm allergic to codeine. Oxycodone makes me start to lose my grip on reality. I forget what meds they gave me right after I had my tonsils removed and some other work done (in my 30's!) That stuff didn't make me sick, I don't think. I was kind of out of it for the first bit after the surgery. Feeling pain isn't that hot either, unfortunately. As someone who's delivered two children, one by c-section, I can say this.

I worked up a muslin today for a pair of capris I am making. A muslin is a test garment, so called because it is generally made out of inexpensive fabric, like muslin. When you're making something that's a little more fitted, like a pair of pants or a fitted dress, it's good to make a muslin first so you don't destroy your good fabric if the pattern isn't just right. Fortunately, I've gotten pretty good at tinkering with pants patterns to get the fit pretty close. Wearing clothes that were made just for you can be pretty addicting. I've spoiled my kids into getting used to it as well.

Speaking of pain, my daughters are psyched up about High School Musical 2 tonight. At least one of them is going over to a friend's to watch it.

"Free" Education?

One of the things that irks me about homeschooling is having to spend my time and money to teach my children at home, *while* paying taxes for the purposes of education, that we don't get the benefit of. However, I was surprised to see the figure of $1,200 given as what to expect for parents sending their children back to school this fall. Of course, I'm not entirely sure what is included in this figure. One sentence says that this figure is for pencils, paper and activity fees. For the money-saving website they recommend, they talk about kids' clothes. I wish they said what all this figure entailed. Clothes for kids can add up quickly, even when you make them yourself, as I do. However, I managed to get school supplies and school *books* for my children for less than half of that figure, with the help of a little judicious buying of used books on ebay. I don't know that clothing should really figure in here, unless your school requires uniforms. Kids need clothes for fall in any case. We don't always do homeschool in our pajamas. :)

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Happy Left Handers Day!

Today is the day to celebrate all that is glorious about those of us in our right minds! Famous lefties include my favorite Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy Brett, perhaps the quintessential Phantom, Michael Crawford, Brent Spiner, Bruce Willis (yippee-ki-yay), Judy Garland, Douglas Adams, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Beethoven, Queen Victoria and a bunch of King Georges, Winston Churchill, Sam Adams (have a cold one today!), Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Michelangelo, C.C. Sabathia and of course, me! :) For my friend the Quipper (aka Rick), Bela Fleck is. For my husband, Wil Wheaton and Alan Turing are/were, too.

On the other hand, neither Inigo Montoya nor Westley are.

For more information, see here and here and here.

Something Rotten in the State of Ohio

You can imagine how I feel after reading that people in northeast Ohio are overpaying millions for sewer projects. This, after heavy rain allowed raw sewage to flow directly into Lake Erie, but we are supposed to be encouraged by tunnels that will be built to keep this problem from occurring again. The problem is, how much will we overpay for them? And how can we get public officials we can trust, to keep an eye on things? I can not ever see myself running for public office. I would hate it; it's not where my gifts and talents lie. And I wouldn't want my husband to tackle it until our two daughters are older, if he even wanted to do so. What can honest people do?

Forget a Dog, We Need an Owl

Addy the owl is recovering from a dislocated leg after biting and scratching the thief that tried to steal her so that he threw her from the getaway car, then crashed it. The thief has been caught.

Pondering the Idiot Box

It started with a little back and forth between Jonah Goldberg and Andrew Stuttaford at NRO's The Corner. Goldberg admires those who can ban all television from their children's lives, Stuttaford is afraid this will "ensure a certain degree of cultural illiteracy." Now others, like the Headmistress at the Common Room, are weighing in.

I've been turning the idea of "to watch or not to watch" over in my own head, especially since reading the Headmistress' dismissal of Stuttaford's fear. At the risk of appearing to be an improper mother, or even a lowbrow, knuckle-dragging Philistine, I'm afraid I tend to lean more towards Stuttaford's way of thinking.

I do limit my children's television watching, both their choices and the time spent watching. I also try to keep a watchful eye on who my children play with. However, the latter can be a little harder than you might think. At least, it is if you are like me and don't have the intestinal fortitude to tell a six-year-old at your door, "Sorry, my daughter can't play with you. You watch too much television." My daughters, at least, know that their choice of movies and television watching is more limited than some of their friends, and judging by their honesty in telling me when a friend was going to watch a movie they weren't allowed to watch, I believe they are still following their parents' restrictions, for which I am thankful.

Now, I was allowed to watch very little television as I was growing up, and you could describe my parents' television choices as, well, prudish. I wasn't, for example, allowed to watch The Facts of Life, because of the title. I managed to survive into adulthood, although I would never have been voted Most Popular. As a matter of fact, I had few friends all the way up through college, and was often the butt of jokes. Of course, this was for a variety of reasons. At my college, not getting trashed on the weekends and not having sex made me a real oddity. And during that grade school period when kids find anything funny, I laughed when kids quoted lines from Saturday Night Live without having any clue where the lines came from. It was only later, when I'd happen to catch a retrospective on, yes, television, that the light clicked on. "Oh, that's where that line came from!" I still wonder if that little divide from my peers, that grew into a huge divide, came in part from being extremely, and perhaps overly, sheltered as a child.

However, I see television all around me. This week on my confessional-Lutheran-homeschooling-Moms email group, several moms were chuckling over a television show from the 1960's. A family at church watches American Idol and 24; their five-year-old daughter, one of Wildchild's best friends, named one doll Kellie Pickler and interrogated another doll with "Who do you work for? Who sent you?" And Wildchild was just invited to a party at the house of a friend in the neighborhood, complete with snacks and games, for the premiere of High School Musical 2.

We may pine for simpler times, or "When I was your age, kid, television was called books!" We may long for the days of Carney's House Party, a book about "Deep Valley," or Mankato, Minnesota, in 1911, where Carney is glad her father had read the "new novel," Queed, which her Vassar College roommate had just read on the train. When Carney's beau, Larry, gives her The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam for her birthday, she mumbles, "Thank you. Everyone at Vassar is reading this." Nowadays, I suppose he'd give her the Season Four of 24 DVD set. Of course, Carney and her friends also danced to ragtime and did the Turkey Trot, seen by some back then as vulgar, seen now as "quaint," I suppose. We may see television as vulgar, as insidious, as tacky. But for good or evil, it's part of our culture.

Breezing Through

Just popping in quickly. I've been running around like crazy the last couple of days, doing mundane, humdrum things like going to the dentist and getting routine bloodwork taken. I'll be back to my fun, entertaining self later. :)

Staying Indoors!

It's very hot and humid today. Although the temperature is not the highest of the summer, the humidity is, I would think. It *feels* about as close as you can get to 100% humidity. I looked at the 5-day forecast, and thunderstorms are predicted every day. Fun. Oh well, the crops around here can use some rain from what I've read.

I'm going to take advantage of air conditioning and stay indoors working on things. There's a lot to do, since we spent both weekend days with friends. Yesterday we had lunch (and later ice cream!) and hung out with some college friends. It's nice to have people in your life that you've known for a long time, and can feel comfortable with them even if you haven't seen them for quite a while. Saturday was also fun, though. :)

Beautiful in Bay

Well, we haven't gotten to the beach this summer, but we did get to the lake!

Last night since we were in the area, we did a geocache in Bay Village, where I grew up. The easiest and most convenient one to do was in the Bay Village cemetery, which overlooks Lake Erie. If you like old cemeteries, this one is nice. A few of the men interred there fought in the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812. There is an unknown soldier from the Civil War.

The cache was a "multi-cache." We had to get dates from the historical site marker and a few gravestones in order to find the exact coordinates of the cache. Wildchild found it, under a rock by the back corner of the cemetery.

Chick Quiz!

You scored as Elinor Dashwood, As Marianne's older sister, Elinor lives at the other end of the emotional spectrum. She rarely reveals her intense feelings and is more concerned with being honest and loyal than having what she deserves. Even though her intentions are pure, she sets herself up for loss by constantly placing other people before her own needs. Overall, Elinor is gentle and rational but is just as capable of radical emotions (despite her withholding them) as her sister. Elinor Dashwood 75% Elizabeth Bennet 66% Emma Woodhouse 63% Marianne Dashwood 59% Jane Bennet 56% Charlotte Lucas 47% Lady Catherine 47% Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!! created with QuizFarm.com Via the Wide Awake Cafe.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I finished up these skorts today for Wildchild.

Now the Scientist wants a pair, although out of different material. At least both of my daughters like them. This is very important after putting your hard work into sewing something!