Happy Birthday, Ethan!

April 19th...8 years old!!

We had so many kids show up to the birthday party at Whispering Pines on Sunday that we were able to have a great game of Flag Football! I put Dan in charge of all that, of course. All the brave Dads who got out on the field made it a great time for the kids!

The Yellow Team...

VS

The Red Team...

The kick-off...

It's caught by the Red! He goes for touchddown!

Logan taking charge

"You're entertaining the thought of getting past me?!"

Dan and Stuart had as much fun as the kids!

Jacob and his dad( in red) and Jaret.

The most competitive guys on the field...(other than Dad)

Daniel and old pal, Josh

Even girls in pretty pink dresses weren't afraid to get out there!

Maddy and Jane...

The cheering section...

Only Publix will do...

The wind was blowing so the candles were tricky...

Presents!!Maddy and Cooper

Jane, Jacob, Ethan, Jaret and Cooper
Big Sis, Bari

Jacob

Jenny and Joshua(Jacob's new brother!)

This was one of Ethan's gifts!

He had to put it up as soon as we got home.

Everyone's had a turn sleeping in it already!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the party! Ethan said it one of the best ever!

We've come to end of the track...

Well, it was a beautiful ending to a great Track season. Daniel really enjoyed running for Inverness Middle, he gave 110% and he thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of victory. IMS was undefeated throughout the season; they won all five meets. The final meet, the Conference Championships, included 7 schools and IMS won by a "mile".

Daniel's 1st place times at the Conference:

1600m....5:26

800m...2:22

4X400 Relay 4:05

Even at the track...he can't get his mind off of football...

Daniel and Austen
This is Daniel's Relay team. They ran the 4x400 in 4:05!

John, Eric, Daniel and Brandon

This is actually Daniel's final lap of the season...he was the final leg in the relay.

Daniel was finally able to grab hold of the trophy for a second as the team ran a wild and crazy victory lap with it held high; hoopin' and hollerin'.

Daniel made some good friends on the team. Mom really likes the friends that Daniel got together with to pray before they ran the mile! Those are keepers!

Hiking Trip!

Our 4H group, Nature Coast Investigators, went on a hike in the Northeast part of the county on the ECO-Walk Trail.

Before we took off for hike, the boys made their own backpacks out of old blue jeans! We then packed it full of the appropriate hiking essentials!The kids had a great time. We kept our eye out for what critters we might find. We know that turkey, deer, snakes, hawks or even gators could be around. We were'nt lucky enough to see any of those but we did see hundreds of butterflies, a few caterpillars and very hungry mosquitos!

When we got to the very mushy marshy areas, the mosquitos were out in full force!

We had a nice surprise when we bumped into a couple of park biologists who were checking on things. They showed us several kinds of fish that feed on mosquito larvae.

Ethan pointed out this tree with excitement. It reminded us of the story we just finished called "My Side of the Mountain". An adventurous boy lives by himself in a hollowed out tree in the Catskills. Great book!

This is our great bunch of guys!

County Champ

Middle School Track & Field County Championships

Citrus High School

April 10, 2008

Competing Schools:

Inverness Middle

Lecanto Middle

Crystal River Middle

Citrus Springs Middle

Daniel Gandee #45

1st place-1600m(1 mile)

1st place-800m(1/2 mile)

1st place-4x400m Relay

Inverness Middle School Wins County Championship

Daniel takes the lead heading into the 2nd lap of the 1600m

Daniel wins the County Championship boys 1600m!!

Coach giving some congrats and tips...

Daniel takes a must needed rest with Grandpa.(My dad)

Daniel and two other guys from the team are getting ready for the 800m.

And this is the hand off during the 4x400 relay.(4 guys each run 1 lap which is 1/4 mile for a total of 1 mile. Daniel was the last leg.

They already had a good lead and he kept it that way til the end. ------Next week------Conference Championships------

Another Favorite Regan Clip

Clean comedy?! No way...

Gather the whole family around for this guy. He's hysterical and completely safe for the kids. Daniel has pretty much memorized most of his stuff and he entertains us long after we've logged off. We've been watching all of his clips on YouTube for weeks and we can't get enough. But I warn you...you'll be hooked.
Brian Regan

The Invention of the "Teenager"

http://www.therebelution.com/ **A Teenage Rebellion against Low Expectations**

..."Coined by G. Stanley Hall, who is often considered the father of American psychology, ‘adolescence’ identified the artificial zone between childhood and adulthood when young people ceased to be children, but were no longer permitted by law to assume the normal responsibilities of adulthood, such as entering into a trade or finding gainful employment. Consequently, marriage and family had to be delayed as well, and so we invented ‘the teenager’, an unfortunate creature who had all the yearnings and capabilities of an adult, but none of the freedoms or responsibilities."

Wow....
I have been reading for 30 minutes now and the more I read, the more excited I become. I'm hoping that my first born son will soon be just as excited. If I can only distract him from football for a second!!
I've been learning about two 19 year old kids who have created a blog, written a book and who are now touring and speaking throughout the country. Their names are Alex and Brett Harris. They were home schooled kids who, somewhere along the way, became fed up with the myth of "teenage rebellion", "adolescence" and overall low expectations of America's youth. I have been entranced by their excellent writing and communication skills and their yearning to reach the kids of this generation. This is a quote from their blog...it cannot be said any better:
American society, with its media-saturated youth culture, not only follows trends and fads, but it creates them. Classrooms, TV shows, magazines, and websites, are not only addressing us at the level of social expectations, but they are in fact dictating those expectations. They tell us how to act, think, and talk; they tell us what to wear, what to buy, and where to buy it; they tell us what to dream, what to value, and what to hate. We are being squeezed into a mold where there is no room for Christian character or competence. And as the famous proverb goes, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”

I heard an interview with these guys on Moody radio this morning and since I'm such a late-comer to the blog, I have started reading from their posts that date back to 2005, when they first began. This is what I first read that got me hooked...
http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2005/08/myth-of-adolescence-part-1/

I'm even thinking about adding it to Daniel's required reading.

Special Guest

Gotta love the Florida wildlife!! Living near the water gives us the opportunity to get up close and personal with a lot of different critters. This gal stopped by yesterday for a bit and put on quite a show that none of us had ever seen before. For some reason she thought that the best spot to lay her eggs was right in our yard just 10 feet from our front door. We thought this was odd but we figured that she must know what she's doing so we gave her some privacy and watched from the window.

I'm trying to figure out exactly what kind of turtle this is, but they look so similar. I'm guessing just a Common Cooter or River Cooter. She's a beauty.

We watched as she first dug a hole, then layed about 16 eggs and finally gently covered them up. This all took about 20 minutes and then... she was off and running again.Jaret and Ethan had some bonding time before saying goodbye.

We may see some hatchlings 60 to 90 days from now!
thinking. If a turtle can find its way up into my front yard, then what's stopping the alligators!! :)

This whole thing brings back sweet memories of our little guy we called "Turkey". He was a Red-Ear Slider that we had since it was a baby the size of half-dollar. By the time Turkey reached this size(after a few years), caring for him became extremely difficult...very messy. It was a hard decision, but we found him a good home and I vowed never to do the turtle thing again!

I'm officially freaked out...

so I've been researching for a bit and I do find some poisonous mulberries in Michigan and North Carolina. But I've also found sites that show me pics of exactly what we were munching...here's a few:

http://www.willisorchards.com/product/Black+Beauty+Mulberry+Tree

http://www.aaronsfarm.com/product/Mulberry+Plants
http://henryfields.com/product.asp?pn=08578

Did I metion the tiny little bugs that we saw on the berries after we feasted ? So between the poison fear and the critters, we won't be going back for seconds...

Mystery solved

Mulberries!!
Thanks Tab! I checked it out and it's a match.

Linda, I assumed they were some kind of blackberry, too. Check them out here...Red Mulberries

Eating wild berries!?

The boys and I just finished a great story called "My Side of the Mountain" about a boy who decided to live in the Catskill mountains all by himself and live off the land. I highly recommend it; but be careful. You may find yourself living on the wild side.

Driving home one day, the boys and I witnessed some folks eating from a tree on the side of the road. With curiosity getting the better of us, we stopped by that very spot later to see what they were feasting on. As it turns out, the boys had enjoyed these little purple clusters over at a friend's house a few months back. They said they were absolutely sure that these were the same little fruit. So, we tried some! They were quite tasty so we had quite a few! We're still here to share the tale, so we know that they're safe to eat! I'm still trying to identify the little guys, though. Obviously, some kind of blueberry or something. Does anyone know what it is?

This is another great fruit that we found! It's called a loquat and there's a great tree up by the Citrus Co. School Board office. I pull in the parking lot and climb up on the truck to reach them while the kids are overcome with emabarrassment!

Hey! It's a government building...and I pay my taxes!

There she goes bragging about her kids again...

Daniel has been having a blast running track for Inverness Middle School.(Yes! Homeschoolers can participate in sports!) Today was the 2nd track meet and Daniel did awesome! Between last week and this week Daniel's times are good enough to get him to the state level as far as I can tell. His time for the 400m(1/4 mile) is 1:01. His time for the 800m(1/2 mile) is 2:27. His time today for the 1600(1 mile) was 5:23! He placed first overall for the mile and in the end IMS won the meet.
Daniel was just a tad disappointed, though. At track practice he ran the 800 in 2:15 which is faster than the school record of 2:18. Unfortunately, it doesn't count at practice...So that was his goal today at the meet. He tells me that he coudn't do it because he didn't crack his neck!(???)

***Anyway! He's giving us homeschoolers a good name!!***

Some shots from today's meet at Crystal River:

Here's Daniel coming up to the finish during the mile run.

This was right after the mile. The guys were wiped out.

The Shamrock 5k results...

Run over to my running blog to check out the latest race results! Click on the right!

So, you want to hear about the Rabbi?

If you want to see an extremely moving portrayal of the relationship between Jesus and Peter, you must run to Orlando Easter weekend. The title of this live, acoustic musical is "The Rock and the Rabbi".

It's difficult to put into words how much this show touched us a few years ago when we saw it for the first time. The music is amazing, the writing is excellent and it is not only entertaining but life changing.

Now, it's not a play or anything. It's not a lavish Broadway musical. There's no costumes and no sets. It's simply narration and live music telling the story. It's like nothing I've ever seen.

This time we're going to take the boys to see it. They have been listening to the cd for years and know all the music so they'll just go nuts when they realize where we're going.(I'm trying to keep it a secret to the very end!)

Check out the web site, read the reviews and maybe we'll see you there! We're trying to get a group together to go from our church. It's a great night out!

http://www.therockandtherabbi.com/

Sunshine Cup Champs!!

Daniel, front left, with a few of the guys.
This is the whole clan of champions! Daniel is all the way on the right.
Here's Daniel accepting his well-deserved trophy. He played awesome this season!

Daniel gained a few good friends on the team.

This guys is also on the track team with Daniel at Inverness Middle.

We're so proud of Daniel. He just blows us away with his many talents!!

Homeschooling under Attack

I'm not shocked one bit by the recent ruling in California. The question is not "if" homeschooling will one day be illegal in this country, the question is "when"....so I carry on, enjoying the freedom I have today, but I'm not so naive as to believe that my homeschooling bliss will not one day be shattered by someone sitting on a bench.
Mr. Judge is not saying that homeschooling is now illegal in the entire state of California. I would be breaking the law, however, because I don't have a four year college degree, the necessary "credentials". Look around...those kids being taught by those with "credentials" are just flourishing in those government institutions, aren't they?
I know some really great teachers. I know some extremely brilliant teachers who give their lives for the kids. I know they're underpaid and under appreciated. But I also know that no matter how educated the teachers are or how much they care, the government has final say over what they teach and how they teach it. Ultimately, I believe and always will that children belong to their parents and not the state. Parental Rights.org I am fully responsible for my child's education and upbringing.
But this is not so much about parental rights or their "credentials" or skills as a teacher. It's about money...everything is. The more butts they have in the seats, the more money the school gets.

You can read the story here: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=58137

Here's the response from "Home School Legal Defense Association: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ca/200803060.asp

As I continue to read this morning ...and neglect my children's education... no, wait a minute... pull up a chair kids. Let me show you what's really going on in the world and know that you're the lucky ones. The kids in the public schools won't be informed of the freedoms that are being taken away from them every day. Then again, most parents and teachers with all those "credentials" don't even know.

I praise God for the freedom I have this day to be mom and teacher and to enjoy every minute that I have with my kids. It'll all pass too soon.

Sunshine cup-Here we come!

What an exhausting weekend! We had to be in Hudson for 2 games on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. Daniel's team won all 3 games which means we go back to Husdon next Saturday for the championship games. We're just 2 games away from the big one! Here's some action shots...

Plaster Party

Does everyone know about the new place in Inverness called Plaster Paradise? Apparently it's been open for a few months but I live under a rock...

Anyway, we recently attended a birthday party there. The kids were able to pick any plaster creation and paint it. Of course, pizza and cake rounds out any party. The selection of molds was great and the kids had a super time. We don't break out the paints at home often enough, that's for sure, so it was great fun. Thanks to the Dovis for the party!

All the guys picked cars to paint...naturally.

The party is geared towards the younger crowd but Daniel had fun creating this "Gator Bug".