last day of school!

Brigham's gap-tooth smile-- isn't he adorable?



Joseph's response to my question bout how he feels about school being out. Hmm, thumbs down, but a huge smile on his face?



Quilt. Don't look too closely at the placement of the various squares.



Closer view



Hello there, Snakey!



He's not sure about being captured by humans.



Now he's REALLY ticked off! He really hated my camera and kept striking at it.


Hi everyone,
Yes, I'm still here! I just haven't been on top of things enough to be able to update this week. Mosey loves the computer and he seems to monopolize it during the day, and at night, I'm just too tired!

We had a fun week. Last Saturday the boys found a garter snake in the backyard. They kept it Saturday and Sunday, and wanted to keep it longer, but it is hard to keep garter snakes because their normal diet is small amphibians, and it's hard to provide all the nutrients they need in more accessible pet foods. They really loved that snake, though, and have been asking all week if they can get a snake. Um, no. Now is NOT the time for another pet! And while the boys loved the snake, I'm just not really a snake person. I don't hate them, I'm not really afraid, I just don't *like* them.

I think I was kind of sick over the weekend. Or having residual symptoms from the spinal tap, I just had the worst headaches Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which my usual headache remedies wouldn't touch. Sunday morning it was so bad, I was actually feeling nauseated, so I stayed home from church. Seems to be better now, thank goodness.

Monday was Memorial Day. In the morning I took the boys to see Prince Caspian (the new Narnia movie). We LOVED it! Joseph didn't want to go at first because he wanted to see Indiana Jones, but I made him go, and afterwards his words were, "That was the BEST movie EVER!" :-)
I loved it too. It was fabulous. The boys have just finished a "castle" unit at school, learning about castle life and knights and everything, so this movie played right into that. Brigham is so funny, during the intense scenes, when the music is loud and intense, I would look over and he would be standing up, kind of bouncing on his feet and sort of singing/shouting "Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun," sounding like the soundtrack to Jaws. He was just so engrossed, he couldn't help but contribute to the intensity himself.

We got a medium popcorn and sprite, which was so huge it was enough for me and the three boys. In fact, more than enough. Mosey probably drank more of the Sprite than anyone else (Mosey can drink more than most adults), and sure enough, 3/4 through the movie, he had to go pee. I did NOT want to take him. First of all, I didn't want to leave the movie! Second, walking is just hard, and I knew I had to make it all the way out of the theater myself, and didn't want to push it by traipsing to and from the restroom. So I did a completely uncivilized and digusting thing. I told him to pee in the empty drink cup. Mosey of course thought it was hilarious, and I didn't have to leave my seat! I think 4 years old it sort of pushing it for antics like that. But I don't think anyone saw, and even if they did, I guess they just have a good story to tell now. He ended up having to go AGAIN before the end of the movie, and by the time he was done, that huge cup was probably halfway filled again. At the end of the movie, Brigham picked up the cup, but I grabbed it back from him and told him he couldn't drink it. He asked me why, and I sort of hissed at him, "Because there's pee in it!" People were filing out of the theater around us, and of course Brigham practically yells, "What? Why is there PEE in the cup??" So I'm trying to shush him, saying I'll tell him later, and surreptitiously throw the cup away, trying to make sure it remains upright in the trash can. So anyway, that's pretty disgusting. What kind of kids am I raising anyway? :-)

We had some friends from the ward over in the afternoon for a barbecue. The kids all stayed out in the pool almost non-stop from 3:00 PM until 7:45 PM. The boys LOVE the pool. They come home from school, go straight out back and pretty much get straight into the pool and stay out there until I make them get out.

This was the last week of school for the boys. On Thursday they had a "Beach Day." They stayed outside pretty much the whole day, playing water games and eating lunch. They've been bringing home all their artwork and school work and supplies. Hard to believe this year is over! They'll be home in about 40 minutes and that's it for 1st grade! I sent them to school with a disposable camera so they can take pictures of their friends and teachers.

Joseph helped me make a necklace and bracelet for his teacher, and I made a baby quilt for Brigham's teacher (she's having a baby in July). Brigham had a vision for the quilt, and I tried to reproduce it as well as I could. He came with me to the store and helped pick out all the material. It's the first time I have made a pieced quilt. Not intricately pieced, just squares. It was really fun, but lots of work. You have to buy and wash all the fabrics, iron them, cut out the squares, sew the squares together, iron again, and then assemble the quilt. And I'm a little neurotic about stuff and I had to sit down and mathematically figure out how to arrange all the color squares so that I didn't end up with two of the same fabric on the same row, or have too many of the same color clustered together. And even then, I still messed up. I didn't think about rotating the quilt 90 degrees, but when I did, I suddenly had a few rows with 2 squares of the same fabric. Oh well! Next time I'll do better. My sister-in-law Angee makes the cutest baby quilts, and she told me she doesn't duplicate any fabric squares! Wow! My quilt was 6 across and 8 down, so 48 squares. As it was, I had 7 types of red, 7 types of blue, and 6 types of white (July baby, so a red, white, and blue quilt). So I had at least 2 or 3 squares of the same fabric. It was fun, we'll see if I can go back to my regular tied quilts after doing a pieced quilt.

On Wednesday night, the Priests and Laurels from our ward came and painted our deck! Can you believe that? They did a great job. We used a latex-based stain and it looks great. Now it's all set for our party tomorrow morning. I think tomorrow will be fun, it's supposed to be HOT, so I think I'm going to have to stay inside most of the time.

Joseph got invited to ANOTHER party at Inflatable Wonderland, and I just couldn't take the inequity anymore, so I called the mom and told her about Brigham and asked if he could go too, and she said of course he could. So I told him this morning that he was invited to Dalton's party too! He just stood there silently for a minute so I asked him if he was excited, and he said, "I'm so excited, I can't even talk!!!" So he's going to get to a party this year after all.

Oh yeah, Brigham lost one of his top front teeth. Did I tell you Joseph lost his other top front tooth a couple weeks ago? It got really loose after being head-butted by Mosey, and fell out in a few days. He lost another one of the teeth on the side, so he had three missing across the top. He was pretty cute and funny looking. His two front teeth are starting to come in now. He's going to look so grown up! So anyway, Brigham was feeling a little down about not losing any of his top front teeth. Then last week Joseph "accidentally-on-purpose" paid it forward and punched Brigham in the mouth. Brigham was crying and very upset, until he realized that the punch knocked one of his front teeth loose. Then the tears magically stopped, and he actually started saying, "Thank you for punching me in the mouth, Joseph!" Funny boy. So he was really hoping it would fall out before school was out so he could show off his missing space to his friends. I guess a missing top front tooth gets comes with major bragging rights in the first grade. Destiny was smiling on him, and he lost it as he was eating his cereal on Wednesday morning. So now he has a gap-toothed smile too! He's so cute.

Have a great weekend everyone. I was asked to give the closing prayer at Stake Conference on Sunday. I'm a little nervous, but a prayer isn't too stressful I guess. Plus, we get reserved seats at the front of the chapel so we don't have to get there 30 minutes early.

Welcome home BENJAMIN! It was SO great to hear your voice last night. I hope you're catching up on some sleep!

Houston chronicles

I'm back from Houston! My quick one-day trip turned into a two-day trip, so I was there Wednesday and Thursday. Late Monday night I got an automated email from MD Anderson with my schedule for appointments on Thursday. What? I have appointments on Thursday? No one told me! So anyway, a quick change of plans and it all worked out. The nurse from MD Anderson did call the next day to tell me about the appointments, so all is forgiven. Actually, I wasn't upset at all, just glad to get these things out of the way!
Ben was going to go with me on Wednesday since we thought it was just a one-day trip, but instead he stayed home with the boys and I went out there by myself. I finished my steroid course on Tuesday and I was already much better-- able to drive and walk short distances, so I figured I would be ok by myself.
So I left Wednesday morning and got into Houston just before noon, in time for my 12:00 appointment with the neurologist. I had to have a lumbar puncture (a nice way to say "spinal tap," even though spinal tap is actually a much better description of the actual procedure). In MS, there is a classic pattern of protein banding in the cerebral-spinal fluid, and the study protocol requires these results, just for completeness. I've never had a spinal tap before, since my other MS symptoms and diagnostic tests have been so conclusive. The procedure is similar to having an epidural placed-- I sat on the exam table leaning over against a table. The doctor inserted the needle in the lower back, below where the spinal cord ends so there's no risk of nicking it. Then the spinal fluid just dripped through the needle and the doctor collected it in a couple of tubes. It really is like tapping the sap out of a tree, which is why "spinal tap" is a better term than "lumbar puncture." The needle wasn't painful, but as the procedure went along I got a really terrible headache. Apparently this is pretty common, and is just the result of the loss of fluid. As soon as he got all the fluid (32 cc's) and took out the needle and cleaned up my back, I could lay down and the headache immediately went away. I guess sitting up, gravity kept the reduced amount of CSF in the lower part of my back, leaving my brain a little low, which is what causes the headache, and once I lay down, the fluid could get back up to my brain. The doctor told me your body replaces all the CSF 5 times a day, so it doesn't take long to replenish what was lost. I lay there for 20 minutes or so, another nurse came in and took blood, and then that was it! I don't have to go back to that office until after the transplant.
I went straight from Baylor to Texas Children's Hospital for the MRI. I got there at 3:00 and my appointment wasn't until 4:45, so I had a while. I don't like Children's Hospitals. They are too sad for me. I sat there in the waiting room watching all the parents with their kids waiting for an MRI and just wondered what all of their stories were. It did help to remind me, though, how grateful I am that it is ME going through this stuff, and not one of my boys. It would be a million times harder if it were one of my children. The MRI machine was decorated with Mickey Mouse, though, which was a lot cuter than any of the other MRI machines I've been in!
The MRI itself was fine. It was just a brain MRI, so it took just a little over an hour. Spine MRI's take a lot longer. The only bad part was placing the IV. You have to get an IV because half-way through they inject you with this contrast dye stuff. I had just taken out my IV from the steroids the night before! I should have just kept it in. Anyway, I don't mind getting IV's, I'm pretty used to it, but on the first attempt the nurse "blew out" the vein. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it HURT. And then I had to get another one. And the next day I had to get more blood drawn, so in the course of 48 hours I had 5 holes poked in my arms. Waaahhh...
I stayed the night in the Sheraton which was nice! I got a pretty good deal on Hotels.com. I am tired of staying in cheaper, crummier motels, and I figured if I have to go out there all by myself and do all this unpleasant stuff, I'm going to treat myself and stay in a nicer hotel! And it was nice, I'll probably stay there again. And it was really only like $30 more than the crummy Days Inn, so not too bad.
Thursday I had an appointment for lab work (i.e. blood) at 8:15, so I was at MD Anderson bright and early. Then I had an EKG at 9:00. Last time I did these tests, the Cardiovascular center was not busy, so they just squeezed all my appointments in together and I was done in like an hour. But yesterday was really busy (getting everything done before the long weekend), so no such luck. My next appointment wasn't until 1:00, so I went downstairs to this nice waiting area with couches and chairs and tried to sleep a little. I went back up to the waiting room at 12:30, and told the lady at the desk I was back. She was a little confused because I had already checked in, but I just wanted her to know I was back in the waiting room!! And then I waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally at 2:15 (remember, my appointment was at 1:00), after seeing a bunch of people who got there AFTER me, getting called in BEFORE me, I went up to the desk again to ask where I was on the list. The lady was confused and went back and talked with some people and then assured me I was "one of the next patients." So then I waited for 25 more minutes. Finally I get called back for the echo cardiogram. The technician asks if I've already done the respiratory test. No, I tell her, my echo was supposed to be at 1:00, and the respiratory test was supposed to be at 2:00, but I haven't even done the echo yet. She acts really confused too, and said that there was a note on my chart saying I'd already done the respiratory test. What? No, I hadn't! Then we pass by the white board in the hall where they have all the patients names, and I see a note next to my name which said, "Not in waiting room." That really ticked me off. What, I'm supposed to wait in that stupid tiny waiting room for FOUR HOURS?? Of course I wasn't in the waiting room. But I told them as soon as I got back, and I was back 30 minutes BEFORE my scheduled appointment! Anyway, I guess they had an earlier slot available, and called me, but I wasn't there, and then just crossed me off the list, in spite of the fact that I had an appointment already set at 1:00. Anyway, the echo tech was really nice and she made sure I got right into the respiratory place after the echo. So I guess I could have been done earlier after all. Next time I'll be sure to ask if there is any chance of getting in to an earlier slot, and if so, I won't leave the waiting area!
So I finally got done about 3:45 and was on my way home. But traffic leaving Houston was horrible. I didn't even get past the tollway (runs in a big loop around Houston) until 5:30. I never want to live in Houston, I've never driven out of there, at any time of day, when the traffic hasn't been bad. So a 3 hour drive back turned into a 4 1/2 hour drive back, but I did eventually get home.
Ben had taken care of things nicely. The house was cleaned up, the boys were happy, it was all good. The boys were happy to see me, which was very heart-warming.
So today was Mosey's last day of preschool. He came home with an alligator hat that they made out of green construction paper ("see you later alligator") and he hasn't taken it off all afternoon. It's been really HOT here (upper 90's), and I guess Mosey spent most of the last two days in the pool, and this afternoon was no exception. I just can't stay out there for too long before the heat gets to me, so I have to sit in the couch and keep my eye on him through the kitchen window. He's getting tall enough that he can actually touch the bottom of the pool, and he wears this floaty half-wet suit thingy so he's pretty safe, but still. I hope he learns to swim this summer.
Joseph lost another tooth last week. So he has three in a row missing on the top. He's so cute and funny-looking. His two front teeth are just starting to come in, so he won't be toothless for too much longer. It's a little sad that he's getting those big grown-up teeth. Kids really lose that baby look once the adult top teeth come in, I think. Brigham's still got all his top baby teeth, though. They're getting so tall, though. Even just being gone for 2 days, I come back and it hits me how BIG my boys are. Brigham came and curled up on my lap, and he hardly fits anymore!
Ok, that pretty much chronicles the past couple of days. I haven't taken any pictures in a few weeks, so I'll try to take some this weekend to post.

No Internet access

I've been without Internet access for a week, and I'm not sure when we'll be getting it back (I'm at a friend's house now). The cable coming into our house was broken, and AT&T is having a very hard time getting it fixed. They've been out 3 times this week so far. Now they're saying they'll have to splice from a cable out behind our property line. Ugh!
So, that's where I've been, and I'm not entirely sure when I'll be back on line. I hope soon!
Good news, I got my MRI and lumbar puncture scheduled for this coming Wednesday. And I'm starting another 5 day course of solumedrol (IV steroids) this afternoon. I can't walk at all anymore, and I don't want to show up at the neurologist's next week completely unable to walk, since I'm supposed to be in that 3.5-5.5 EDSS range. They've told me I'll still be in the study regardless, but I'm pretty wary because of some of the weird stuff that's happened.
Also, it's just really a pain to do anything when you can't walk! :-)
I'm nervous because it's a little scary to see where my new "baseline" will be. It goes down every time I have to do these stupid steroids. But, whatever will be, will be, and I'll adapt.
I'll be back blogging about boring stuff pretty soon I hope!

The Spicewood Elementary School Wall of Shame

So Tuesday was the boys' Gallery Night at school. This is an evening when parents are invited to come to the school and peruse the hallways where the students' artwork is displayed. It was very nice. We enjoyed seeing Brigham and Joseph's print creations:


then we walked over to the library to admire their clay frogs:





Along the way we saw many other very nice art projects. Spicewood Elementary School really does have an exceptional art teacher, and art is far and away the favorite class of both of my boys. She does lots of really great projects, and I could tell her students really have learned about art.


As some of you may recall, last year I was a little, um, shall we say "amused" to see the high percentage of displayed artwork under the theme of environmentalism (see this post). This year I was pleasantly surprised not to find any artwork at all that could reasonably be connected to environmentalism or any other political agenda. Maybe the school is outgrowing that little obsession?


Well, we were about to head out back to the car, but Joseph and Brigham wanted to walk over by the gym just to make sure there weren't any other displays that might have some of their work. Mosey had sort of had it with gallery night, and Ben made his way over toward the entrance to wait.


As we were heading down the last hallway, I saw a large mural on the wall at the end of the hall. At first I couldn't tell what it was. It seemed to be a giant globe with black splotches all over it. As I got closer, I saw that the black splotches were actually footprints. Curious, I went right up to the wall and saw that each footprint was inscribed by a different student. And then it hit me. These black footprints were CARBON FOOTPRINTS! And each was inscribed with some terrible deed that increased the carbon footprint of the corresponding child.




It was hilarious, but it was also sort of horrifying. I mean, the wall may as well have been some sort of twisted confessional, where the students publicly confessed their "sins." The shame implied in each statement was really amazing. My words cannot fully describe this "Wall of Shame," so you'll have to click on the picture to see it large. Make sure you read what is written on each footprint. There were dozens and dozens of these footprints, encroaching up from the bottom of the globe, as if steadily covering the earth with filth.


I sat there reading the footprints for a good long time until Brigham and Joseph were thoroughly impatient with me. I was appalled, yet at the same time, it was just too funny. Just soooo predictable. People say environmentalism isn't a religion? Really? This "confessional" seemed pretty religious to me. I couldn't help but just chuckle under my breath the whole time.


I told Ben about it, but he was not amused. In fact he got really mad. I tried to show him the pictures I took, but he wouldn't even look at them because he didn't want to get more upset.


Now on with my usual disclaimer, I have NO problem with effective, well-reasoned efforts to conserve our earth's resources and to preserve the beauty of God's creation. We have the responsibility to be good stewards of this beautiful planet, and I take that very seriously. I try to teach my children to be respectful of the earth. To never damage or destroy unnecessarily. Never to harm animals or bugs, unless they they pose an immediate danger, or the bugs are trying to invade our home (my philosophy is, we'll leave you alone if you leave us alone. But if you try to take over my home, watch out!). I think this sort of "conservative conservation" is part of being a good citizen and a responsible human being.


But Spicewood Elementary (and I suspect most other public schools) take it WAAAAAAAYYYYY too far. To induce shame and embarrassment in children for the most ridiculous of reasons (eating WHEAT??????), particularly when these little kids are not in charge of the choices their parents make (what sort of car to drive, whether to drive or walk to school, how high to keep the AC, etc., etc., etc.), I think is really very wrong.


And it is so indicative of the confused values of public schools. I kept thinking the whole time how great it would have been to have a "Character Wall." Each student could cut out a handprint and write something that they can do to be a better person, a better friend, more honest, more trustworthy, more helpful.


Anyway, there is much more I could rant about, but I really think the picture speaks for itself.

Dangers of boys in the house

Make sure you click on this one to see it full-sized. I came to my computer yesterday night and found this. Seems Mosey was trying to purchase some items from the Starfall store. I imagine this would have been the largest order Starfall has ever seen!! I'm just glad I didn't have my credit card on file with Starfall...




Just so you know, this is a very bad combination.
A week or so ago, Mosey asked for a drink. I told him to go get a cup and a drink, and I'd pour it for him. I had seen his sippy cup in the hall bathroom, so I told him to get that one. He brought it to me, and I poured him some rootbeer. I noticed it foamed quite a bit, but you know, it was rootbeer, so I didn't think much of it. Mosey took one sip, made a face, and said, "This rootbeer tastes funny, mom!" I was sure there wasn't anything wrong with the drink, so I took it from him and told him I'd try it. I took a sip and nearly lost my dinner. It seems that one of the boys had, for some unknowable reason, pumped some Panrosa Rose Scented Hand Soap from the hall bathroom into Mosey's sippy cup. Rose scented hand soap and diet rootbeer are decidedly NOT a good combination. I had to eat 2 pieces of bread and a whole glass of milk to get that taste out of my mouth. And I can't use that soap anymore, because the smell of it completely nauseates me. So a word to the wise. Don't make soap rootbeer floats for yourself or anyone else!




Brigham made himself a "snack" last Friday after school. I discovered it, partially eaten, in the freezer. I asked him what was in it, and he told me he mixed pancake syrup and sugar and spread it on the tortilla, but then it was too drippy, so he put it in the freezer to try to harden it up. Now I have drips of syrupy sugar all down two shelves in my freezer... At least he's showing initiative by making his own snack, right? :-)

Nickel Jars

We have begun a new chore incentive dealie here at the Turner house. We were doing star charts for quite a while. Each star was worth $0.05, so every couple of weeks, we'd count up the stars and the boys could go to the dollar store. This worked pretty well for a while, but started to lose its effectiveness, so now we're doing nickel jars!

I got 3 little jars at Hobby Lobby which the boys decorated last Monday for family home evening. Each night, just before bed, we go through our chore/responsibility list, and the boys get to put nickels in their jar. I got $50 worth of nickels at the bank (and wow, 1000 nickels are really HEAVY!), and put them in the "big mama nickel jar," that the boys can draw out of.

I think it's working pretty well! They get 2 nickels for chores they do without me asking.

I'm happy that at 4 and 6, the boys still think a nickel is a lot of money. One of these days, they're gonna wise up, and then I'll be in trouble! :-)

Proxy Baptisms

There is a blog I like to read, www.timesandseasons.org, and while I read lots of the posts, I also like to read the "notes from all over" section on the right (when you scroll down). It is a list of links to various articles, blog posts, etc., that are of intereste to various members of times and seasons. I read one yesterday that I thought was worth sharing:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDU4NDgzYTdjMzE5NTJmYTk5YWMyYTMwMTg2MmRiMGQ=
This is a great article basically about the hypocrisy of the public schools in resisting "abstinence-only" in sex education, while embracing other "abstincence only" teachings.

There was also a regular posting on T&S about the following article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2010359/posts?page=1
Apparently the Catholic church has recently instructed all their dioces not to make church historical records available to the LDS church. This is disappointing. I found the comments to be very interesting. I boiled down the opposition into four categories:
a) Baptisms for the dead is an "insult to the memory" of deceased Catholics. The evidence for this is given by several commentors who asked "wouldn't LDS people be insulted if other people used LDS historical records to nullify ordinances (or other variations on this theme)?" I thought this was just a silly question. Of course I wouldn't be insulted. I sincerely can't think how I would care in the slightest. I really can't think that people are really so outraged by this "proxy offense" alone, at least, not if they had even the slightest understanding of what proxy baptism really is.
I have to say, I think the concept of being insulted on someone else's behalf is bewildering. And also the root cause for the political correctness that is strangling this country. I highly doubt my deceased ancestors are "insulted" by anything happening on this earth right now. Saddened, maybe, happy, sure, but insulted? I doubt it. I think they probably have a little broader perspective than we do by now. So why on earth (or in Heaven) should I be insulted on their behalf, by anything? Especially for something that I think is completely meaningless?
b) Giving the LDS church access to these records for purposes of proxy baptisms is in effect giving legitimacy to the church and its practices. "Encouraging" us if you will. The only way I can see that this would be a real sticking point for anyone is if they really just plain don't like Mormons. I personally think this is at the real root of the opposition. No logical reasons, just plain antipathy. They don't like us, don't like our teachings, and don't want to give us anything to feel good about.
c) By performing proxy baptisms, the LDS church is essentially saying that other faiths "aren't good enough," and that is insulting. Well, of course this is true! I'm not sure why this is such a shock. It's not exactly a secret that we believe we are the only true church, and that ordinances performed by the priesthood as restored by Joseph Smith is the only way to salvation. It's sort of the whole point of the restoration, the whole theme of the Joseph Smith story. Other religions should be insulted just by our existence (and I think many are), not necessarily by proxy baptisms.
But the shoe also fits the other foot. The Catholic church has said that LDS baptisms will not be considered valid should a previously LDS baptized person wish to join the Catholic church (although the Catholic church will accept other protestant baptisms). The same is true for other (all?) protestant churches. So... shouldn't we have just as much right to be offended as they say they are by our proxy baptisms?
d) The LDS church agreed not to perform proxy baptisms for Holocaust victims, so what's good for the goose should be good for the gander. The church should therefore not perform proxy baptisms for ancestors of any group of people who proclaim to be insulted by the practice.
But the reasoning doesn't apply to other groups. I can understand why the church has agreed not to perform proxy baptisms for holocaust victims-- the emotions of the families of these victims are understandably raw. Even though they really don't have anything to be offended about, we should show respect for the sensitivity the victim's relatives have regarding anything to do with their loved ones who died under such horrific circumstances, and for their religion, no less. We don't want to add to their pain in any way, even if the pain they would feel was based simply on a misunderstanding of our intentions.
However, this reasoning simply does not apply to other groups.

For the time being, I think the Church should definitely respect the Catholic church's wishes (as if we have a choice). And try to maintain good relations, and hopefully in the future there will be enough communication and understanding that the records will once again be made available.

I know the LDS church is widely misunderstood. It's still distressing to see the extent to which we are misunderstood.

Expelled

(I don't really know why this is the graphic chosen for the movie's promotional materials. It actually doesn't reflect the tone of the movie at all. Ben Stein is a funny guy, but the movie wasn't at all comedic or irreverent)




Ben and I went to see "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" which was shockingly being shown at a local Austin theater. It was really interesting and I highly recommend it to everyone. Check and see if it's being played where you live, then go and see it! It was very well done and very interesting stuff.


It is a documentary looking at the issues of academic freedom in American Universities and scientific institutions, particularly in regards to research into the Intelligent Design theory of evolution. The movie wasn't particularly pro Intelligent Design, or anti Darwinian Evolution, but primarily focused on academic freedom.


This may sound like a boring topic to some of you, I don't know, but it wasn't boring at all.


I actually have one of Richard Dawkin's books (The Selfish Gene) from an animal behavior class I took at college, so it was particularly interesting to see him in the film. I thought his book was amazing, by the way, it is one of the few books I actually kept from those days. I've also read 3 or 4 books on intelligent design, and I have to say that theory is a lot more compelling to me. And not just because I happen to believe in God! In the movie, there are several scientists who talked about their "deconversion," how delving deeper into science, and particularly into Darwinian Evolution, caused them to lose their faith. I found the opposite to be true, myself. The more I learned about cell biology, biochemistry, and then my dabblings into quantum mechanics, the stronger my faith has grown. Maybe this is because as a Mormon I have a slightly different view of God than most other mainstream religions? I'm not sure.


Anyway, it was great. Everyone go see it!

Mostly about Joseph

(click on the picture to see it bigger)


I've had a better week than weekend, thank goodness. I think I've been too busy to feel sorry for myself!


The boys are now in their final stretch of school. They turned in their last 4 book reports this past week. They have a field trip today, two half-days next week, and things are generally winding down.


Joseph has been having some trouble with school recently. I can't quite figure out what is wrong. He is not a morning person (neither am I), and it's always been hard for him to get up and moving in the morning. This year was better than last year because I just moved our whole morning routine up a half-hour, so we'd have a little more time. But still, a few times the past few weeks, Joseph has really not wanted to get up, and has really not wanted to go to school. Then I got a couple notes sent home because Joseph was acting "lethargic" and was sent to the nurse's office. He's stay there 45 minutes, then go back to class and be ok the rest of the day. His teacher told me sometimes he'll just put his head down on his desk and not want to do his work.


On Monday he had a bad morning. It took a long time to get him to come downstairs, and then once he did, he announced he wasn't going to school. In the past, I've tried to just cheer him up, and send him to school anyway, but on Monday I could tell that if I did that, he would not have a good day. I just knew that if I made him go, he'd put his head on his desk and shut down. Some kids can be distracted, and Joseph can to a certain extent, but I just knew it wouldn't happen that morning. I asked him what his special was that day, and he said P.E. which I know he likes. So I told him he could stay home until his special, but then he had to go to school. And I told him he would have to do exactly what he'd do at school while he was at home. So Brigham went off to school, and Joseph sat down at the kitchen table and did some journalling (every Monday they write about what they did over the weekend), and then we worked on some math worksheets.


He did great! He was happy to do his work, and then happily went off to school at 8:45.


I have no idea what that was about. I know he likes his teacher, and I know she likes him. He likes his specials, he has good friends, he's doing fine academically. So I'm stumped.


On Wednesday he pulled the same trick, but I told him he had to go to school. He can't stay home and go to school late every day. I got really mad, mostly because in the mornings I just don't have time to deal with it! It took him 2o minutes to come down the stairs, and then he refused to get dressed. I'm trying to get lunches made, kids fed, scriptures read, and backpacks ready for school, and I just didn't have time to sit there and figure out the right words to make him go to school. Finally Ben took over (thank goodness, I was doing more harm than good at that point) and Joseph told Ben that he wanted to be homeschooled, that he didn't want to go to school anymore. Well, I'm kind of glad to hear this, since I want to homeschool the boys anyway, but I sure wish I knew what was upsetting him so much about school. Ben talked to Joseph for a while and told him he can't make a big decision like this in one morning, so he had to go to school for the rest of the week, and then next week he can try homeschooling if he wants, to see if he really does like that more than school.


So I guess the plan is that next week, Tues-Thurs (Tues and Thurs are half-days anyway) the boys will stay home and we'll do a trial run for homeschooling. I told Brigham he could go to school, or stay home and homeschool, whatever he wanted. He said he wanted to "do school with Joseph," so I guess he'll stay home too.


I'm tired of fighting battles with Joseph. Especially over school, when I'm not too thrilled about sending him to public school anyway! Kind of ironic that me, of all people, would have to force my kid to go to school. We only have 4 weeks left, though, and I really just want him to finish up the year with a good attitude.


The other battle I've been fighting with Joseph is Tae Kwon Do. On Thursdays they have two classes in a row, the regular class, and then the black-belt club. It is a long afternoon, 4:45-6:15.


Joseph has been saying the past several weeks that he doesn't want to go to black belt club. Well, Brigham does, so if Joseph doesn't go, he has to just sit there and wait! So he may as well participate! Plus, Black-belt club is sort of a "fun" class, where they learn extreme kicks, grappling moves, weapons (they're learning nunchucks right now), and I hate for Joseph to miss out.


Anyway, last week and this week he's been saying he doesn't want to do TKD anymore. I don't know what to do about this. I don't think I should force him to do a sport he doesn't really like, and I don't expect him to do TKD for the rest of his life! But I also don't want him to quit just because he's a little bored, or TKD's getting a little hard. Plus, Brigham really likes it, and I can't leave Joseph home alone. And I like TKD for lots of reasons. It's great discipline, good exercise, good for their brains (they have to memorize "patterns"), and Mr. Fisher, their teacher, I think is a really good male role model for the boys. And little boys need all the positive male role models they can get. And I'd feel bad withdrawing Joseph from class for no good reason. I think I will pull them out over the summer, since they're going to be gone for so long, and maybe after he's had a few weeks off, he can go back and make a decision if he wants to continue or not.


Sigh... Six year olds are so complicated! :-)


Everything else is going ok. No news on my MRI yet. I talked to Dr. Hutton's nurse this week, and she said they're still trying to schedule the MRI, and that Dr. Hutton was going to talk to the TCH people to see what the hold-up was. That was on Tuesday I think (that he was going to talk to TCH)? Well, she hasn't gotten back to me yet. Now I don't know if I should bug her again, or just wait. I hate that. I wish they would just keep me informed, even if there is no news. Just so I know I'm not being forgotten. I hate to be a pain in the neck, but I also really don't want to be ignored! I think I will send her another email today.


Brigham and Mosey are doing fine. Joseph sort of monopolized my thoughts this week.

TV ponderings

We got a new cable service last week, going with AT&T instead of Time Warner. Cheaper, we get a digital cable box for both TV's instead of one, a regular phone line instead of a digital phone line, and faster more reliable internet access.
When the guys were done installing everything, they showed me how to work the remote and showed me all the bells and whistles with their cable program.
It was pretty impressive, really. There are tons of movies you can "rent" ($4 for 3 days or something), free games, you can program in your favorite websites to be able to view them on the TV, there is a photo-slideshow program where you can upload photos to the AT&T website and then view on your TV, plus digital recording (like TiVo) where you can record up to 3 shows at the same time, and up to 120 hours, and other functions I can't even remember!
It was cool, but at the same time depressing. I mean, you could really just sit there on the couch and never move. I was surprised there wasn't a function that would make a snack for you.
There were so many functions that you could seriously spend ALL your free time watching the TV.
I'm reading (actually listening to) this great book called "A Short History of Nearly Everything." It is sort of a history of scientific thought in the Western world, and is really funny and completely fascinating. But I can't help but wonder if some of the amazing, genius leaps of scientific understanding could have happened if TV existed during those times. Maybe so, maybe people with genius brains aren't interested in TV anyway. But still I can't help but wonder what great thoughts the rest of us more average folk might be missing out on because we're so distracted by the TV.
I'm not saying this because I am so righteously above TV-watching. I'm saying this because I know what a temptation TV is for me. The reason I don't watch TV is because when I start watching it, I get completely sucked in and pretty soon my life is controlled by TV shows that I "have" to watch.
Joseph seems to have overcome his TV addiction for the moment. Probably some of that is because I can't figure out how to make the cable box in my room work. I need to call AT&T to figure it out. Or maybe I won't. Whatever the reason, I'm happy not to have to fight that battle.
Anyway, this post is neither here nor there. Just meandering thoughts on TV.