Test run…
Posted by The Inspector on July 30th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
We received notification that the cyber charter school that one of my children attends is doing a trial run of issuing iPads to students. This year they are only issuing them to a handful of students but are hoping to expand the use of them once the trial is over. I have to admit that I don’t know much about the product but am intrigued by the idea. My son is already reading everything imaginable about them including the ipad warranty and user’s manual in order to be prepared for if and when he is issued one. I think it is pretty cool that the school is fearless when it comes to technology and is willing to try anything to make learning more accessible and interesting to their students. This is one of the reason why we think cyber education is leaps and bounds ahead of the traditional public school system.
Farm dreaming…
Posted by The Inspector on July 30th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
It is funny how a wee bit of success can begin to drive your dreams. We planted a couple of gardens this year for the very first time. We had tried container gardening in the past with little success but that was mostly due to lack of enthusiasm. This year our gardens have flourished! Seeing the vegetables grow has been a great family activity. We are now planning to expand our gardens next year and hopefully double our crops. Our long term dream would be to take the hundred or so acres owned by my in-laws that were once farmed and begin farming it ourselves. It is a ton of work but honestly it seems like a doable goal considering the area and what we already have going for us. My in-laws still have a great deal of farming equipment and the land is already prepared. We are a long way off from putting seed in the ground but it is fun to dream about.
Too much baking.
Posted by The Inspector on July 22nd, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
When I came home today I expected to find my family lounging about in the living room. Much to my surprise they were all out and about for the afternoon. I did however find our kitchen stocked to the gills with fresh baked goodies. My wife must be buying stock in irvingia gabonensis supplements or something because she is trying to fatten the world up. She baked several loaves of cinnamon bread, dozens of rolls, brownies, and at least 5 pounds of granola. The house smelled amazing and I couldn’t help myself. I am pretty sure my dinner consisted of brownies, cinnamon bread, and granola followed by a large brownie sundae. I am going to have spend of serious time working this off this weekend. My wife is going to have to spend less time in the kitchen in the comingdays if we are going to stay at our current weight for the foreseeable future.
So delightful.
Posted by The Inspector on July 22nd, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
A couple of months ago we had our satellite television service turned off. It simply had become ridiculous in both price and programming. The fees had become almost double what we had originally paid and the children were watching videos most of the time. Last week my wife signed up for Netflix and started streaming videos to our Wii. We also had our internet upgraded from DSL to cable. The cable speed is about 8 times what we were getting with the DSL. I have to say we are absolutely delighted with the increase in speed and bandwidth. Being able to find tons of the shows the kids love that are free of commercials and stream them to the Wii is just short of awesome! Paying $9 a month for stuff we really want to see is a value that I didn’t expect.
Fun new stage.
Posted by The Inspector on July 15th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
For a long time I wanted to have a big family. Over time it became clear that my wife and I were not destined to have that particular dream. A couple of years ago we permanently closed the doors to the wonderful world of prenatal vitamins, newborns, and sleepless nights. Most men won’t admit it but I was little sad to know we would never had another baby. I see things differently now and realize that my children are gifts. I am growing to appreciate them right where they are in life. Now that my younger son is starting to really be interested in the world around him it is amazing to see the world through his eyes. He will turn 4 in a couple of weeks and shortly thereafter will start preschool. I cannot wait to see how he grows and changes as he begins his life a student. I realize that starting school ends one phase of his life but another is just beginning which undoubtedly will be amazing.
He begged.
Posted by The Inspector on July 15th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
It is really cool when your children love to read. For awhile I wondered if the reading bug would ever hit our youngest son. He simply had no interest in sitting to have a book read to him. Slowly but surely I have seen a change in his attitude about books. He no longer just picks the same book to have read to him over and over and over. I am so thankful to not have to read the “Cars” book 20 times a day. Now he wants to have several different books read and is beginning to know words by sight. This week he has begged me to take him to the library. Tonight we did just that and you would have thought I was taking him to an amusement park. He said “I love the lie-berry”. I love the way he says it like it was two different words but I really love that he is beginning to recognize that books and reading are a wonderful thing.
Busy boys.
Posted by The Inspector on July 15th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
We learned this week not to give our children free use to print whatever they like on the computer. Apparently they decided that every single thing that interested them online needed printed. I now have a stack of scrap paper 2 inches deep to use because of all the paper they used for printing. I also need to track down some new ink for the printer. First, I need to figure out what kind of ink to buy. For some reason I remember it having a serial number along the lines of 108r00727 but I am not sure. Usually the school they attend provides us with ink but I feel like we should buy it since they used up the school ink printing nonsense. Maybe I should have them earn a portion of the money to buy the ink they use for printing stuff unrelated to school?
Mowing at break neck speed.
Posted by The Inspector on July 15th, 2010 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
Did you ever get a wild hair? I don’t mean like having a bad hair day. I mean just a reckless feeling like you needed to kick up some dust. Well, I did just that and it felt good. You see I needed to mow the lawn as well. It occurred to me to combine the two needs into one activity. My riding lawn mower usually only sees life at 1st or 2nd gear. I decided to mow the lawn in the highest setting and see what would happen. Well, I felt the wind in my hair and kicked up a great deal of dust. My wife laughed hysterically at me and then proceeded to give me a lecture. She made me promise not to do it again. I suppose she didn’t appreciate the example I was setting for my children nor the fact the neighbors were staring at me curiously. That was the most fun I have had mowing a lawn in a long time. For now I will stop but the next time everyone is out the house you can bet what I will be doing.
Interesting~
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