Limericks

We've been playing around with a lot of different poems lately, and it occurred to me that we hadn't done any limericks in ages. 

The only problem with reading limericks, of course, is that then you want to write limericks!

There once was a Frenchman named Mace
Who was running a Highlander's pace.
"Is my lead big?" he cried.
"Wee." a Scotsman replied.
So he slowed, and, as such, lost the race.

There was a young hero from France
Who just couldn't learn how to dance
He'd gotten the fame
After saving the dame
But he still lost his chance at romance.

There once was a monster, gargoyle
Who personally felt in turmoil.
For he had been shot
Then stuffed in a pot
And now was beginning to boil.
 
There was a young lady from Spain
Who always drove in the same lane.

She drove on the right
With clear Spanish sight
But in England, she created
much pain.

Wordless Wednesday: Adventurers, Air and Space Part 2

Choclo Crossed Over!

 Choclo crossed over from being a Cub Scout, to being a Boy Scout!

 He received his Arrow of Light, which is like Eagle, but for Cub Scouts.


And then he crossed over from Pack 740, to Troop 740!


Most troops have you cross a bridge to symbolize the transition, but Troop 740 is kind of special.

 They have a giant flaming wall to cross!

The point is that it's too big to do on your own. 

The whole troop comes together to lift and pull you to the top, then help you climb down the other side.



Congratulations, Choclo, and a big thank you to all who helped him
come to this day!







This actually happened in June, a day or so before I got sick, but it's still a big accomplishment, and I didn't want  to let it slide.  And that means I'm all caught up with my blogging!

Anatomy and Physiology

Sassy Starfish

 Here's something that got lost in the shuffle: I'm already six weeks into my Anatomy and Physiology class!

This is my favorite class to teach!  It was also my favorite class to take in both High School and College.

Also, it is what I consider the second most important class you ever take.

The Emperor argues that English is the second most important, since you will always need to communicate, but I disagree.  You can move where no one speaks English, but wherever you go, you'll take your body with you.

The most important, of course, would be theology, since you'll need that even when you've moved where you don't take your body with you!

Jazzy Starfish

At any rate, I have six great teens taking the class, and we are having a great time learning about the human body.  We meet twice a week: once for lecture, once for lab.  We should finish up the A & P around Thanksgiving, and then we will add on a 4 class Bioethics course in December.

And we are doing a lot of dissections!  So far we've done a worm, crayfish, grasshopper, clam, fish, and starfish.  We will finish our frogs this week, then move on to individual organs (cow eye, sheep brain, kidney, heart, lungs), and finish up with fetal pigs.

Poem of the Week: Fall, leaves, fall

Fall, leaves, fall

By Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

HT: Poetry Foundation 
Image: The People Equation

Happy Birthday, Zorg!

Zorg turned 17!

We went out for Italian food with Pop, then came back for this Metroid cake. 






If you're into that, you could probably tell already that this dark chocolate cake looks exactly like Dark Samus' helmet, right?

Anyway, he had a great time going to his college class (Information Technology) and then hanging out at home with family.

17 Great Things About Zorg
1. He working on his Eagle!
2. He sings with amazing emotion.
3. He's really good at gaming.
3. He's a loyal friend.
4. He's always willing to lend a hand.
5. He's very honest.
5. He's really good at math.
6. He's always up for some fun!
7. He can climb pretty much anything.
7. He's very good at puzzles.
8. He tells great stories.
9. He is always overflowing with ideas.
10. He really cares about other people.
11. He really supports his family and friends in whatever they are trying to do.
11.He has gotten into role playing games in a big way.
12. He's the Senior Patrol Leader for his Scout troop.
13. He's rocking the moustache!
13. He has a very small beard.
14. He's really funny, he's always making people smile and laugh!
15. He is doing a lot of driving nowadays.
15. He's having fun with college.
16. He's very friendly, as in makes friends everywhere, all the time.
17.  He's a very loving son!

Seven Quick Takes: All the Stuff

1. Still catching up from being sick over the summer!

The older kids went to Brick Fair.

It's amazing having kids old enough to do this kind of thing on their own!

This was my favorite.

2.  In other news, I gave up and gave the younger boys haircuts. 

Some kids liked the results.

And some kids didn't.








3. Maybe it's the cooler weather, but I have been knitting obsessively maniacally compulsively    a lot.

I did a giant scarf (and matching hat) for my sister in North Dakota.

Then I did sets for my other sister's sisters in Seattle.  It's not super cold in Seattle, unless you're from Ghana.  Then you want a nice warm scarf.



4. My sister sent me this beautiful picture called Our Lady of the Forest.

Really, she sent it for Leena because she is Queen of the Squirrels, and there are many many squirrels in this picture.

I'm torn between "I love it!" and "Aaaaaah!  The squirrels are attacking Baby Jesus!"

I think I'm going with "I love it!"

 5. This picture is everything I liked about growing up in NJ (besides the lake, ice skating, and my actual family of origin).

6.We made marshmallows!!

I have no idea why this impressed me more than making jam or cheese, but it did!

Maybe because marshmallows are so technical looking?

 At any rate, they came out looking, tasting, and feeling like actual marshmallows except a little fresher and tastier!

It wasn't hard, but it does have to sit overnight unless you want marshmallow fluff.

7. My dear FIL brought me over some magazines, as he often does, and I happened to notice we had Science, then Popular Science.

Huh, I thought, all we need is Unpopular Science.

The next one was Sierra, all about climate change and vegan ice cream.

( IMHO, climate change is real, but not vegan ice cream, unpopular and scientific as they both are.)

I think I may be all caught up! Now I just need to clean my house.  Or... I could just take a quick look at everyone else's takes with Kelly.

Have a great weekend!

Awesome American History Returns! 1858-1870

We actually started two weeks ago, but did I remember to take pictures during the first class? No, I did not.

But I can tell you about it!  That class was 1858-1863 and covered Abe Lincoln, the Civil War, and Abolition.  We did a fun Underground Railroad activity in which the kids were escaping slaves (or conductors/guides) and the adults were slave catchers.  They all made it safely to Canada!

We also had a nice art activity with quilt squares.  Quilts were sewn by slaves (from scrap fabric) and often had symbolic references to freedom and escape advice.


Our snack was gingerbread men, a popular treat at that time.


These two weeks covered 120-140 in The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong.

The second class was 1867-1870, Cattle, Railroads, and John Henry.

We did a neat "Cowboy Moon" art project with coffee filters and liquid water colors.

They dropped colors onto the filters, then we dried them with a hair dryer and glued them to construction paper with silhouettes.

This was a quick and easy project with beautiful results, and I'm already thinking of how it could be adapted to other projects (Halloween Moon?).

Our active activity was roping.  I learned how to make a lariat here, and the kids practiced roping water bottles.

The key here is to success with a wide age range is to start right next to the bottle so you can see how it works, then gradually move back.


I wouldn't say we got good at it, but, by the end, some of the kids weren't bad at it.  And everyone had fun!

Our snack was Cowboy Cookies.

Wordless Wednesday: Adventurers, Air and Space Part 1

Poem of the Week: First Anniversary, With Monkeys

First Anniversary, With Monkeys

By Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Periyar Nature Preserve

There is no crumbly frozen cake to thaw.

Today, we are in the jungle. I mean mosquito. I mean

 

tigers and elephants sludging their way

to the lake for a drink and Don’t make sudden moves

 

or snakes startled from an afternoon nap

will greet you fang first. I think we are lost. Too hot

 

for any cold confection to survive. Even my tube

of sunblock is as warm as a baby’s bottle. You get

 

to those places I can’t reach, those places I dared

not even whisper before I walked down the aisle

 

in white. You never worried if our families

would clash, if they would clang like the clutch

 

of pale monkeys clanging the thin branches of the treetrops,

begging for our trail mix. You never worried

 

about my relatives staring at your pale, muscled calves—

things not usually seen outside of the bedroom. You wore

 

hiking shorts anyway. And still, they lavished ladle-fuls

of food on your plate. I think we are lost. My eyes are dark

 

and wet as that wild deer that walked right past us,

a little off the trail. I think we are lost, but for once

 

I don't mind. Eventually you turn us back to a place

not on any map, but I know I can trace it back with my finger

 

if we ever need it again. We made it one year

without a compass and we’re not about to start now.

HT: Poetry Foundation
Being away all weekend (working on the retreat) with my husband reminded me how many unexpected places in life he's taken me. I guess my poem would be 27 1/2th Anniversary, With Dominicans!

Poem of the Week: Difference

Difference

By Stephen Vincent Benét

 

My mind’s a map. A mad sea-captain drew it   

Under a flowing moon until he knew it;

Winds with brass trumpets, puffy-cheeked as jugs,   

And states bright-patterned like Arabian rugs.   

“Here there be tygers.” “Here we buried Jim.”   

Here is the strait where eyeless fishes swim   

About their buried idol, drowned so cold   

He weeps away his eyes in salt and gold.   

A country like the dark side of the moon,   

A cider-apple country, harsh and boon,   

A country savage as a chestnut-rind,

A land of hungry sorcerers.

                                              Your mind?

—Your mind is water through an April night,

A cherry-branch, plume-feathery with its white,   

A lavender as fragrant as your words,   

A room where Peace and Honor talk like birds,   

Sewing bright coins upon the tragic cloth   

Of heavy Fate, and Mockery, like a moth,   

Flutters and beats about those lovely things.   

You are the soul, enchanted with its wings,   

The single voice that raises up the dead   

To shake the pride of angels.

                                                 I have said.

HT: Poetry Foundation