A Couple More Nature Pics

Misc Nature Pics

Tyler's Birthday

Today is Tyler's 9th birthday! Thankfully today was an early release day at school, so he got out a couple hours early. We had a last-day-of-summer heat wave (91 today), so he took in popsicles for his birthday treat. They were a hit. And even better, I didn't have to cook anything extra!!



One of Tyler's presents was a coupon redeemable for one day off school. He can't use it on the day of a known test or on a day when I have to volunteer at the school, otherwise he can use it when he feels he needs it. Danielle thought it was totally unfair that he got that for his birthday!


















Tyler asked for a skateboard for his birthday, although he later confessed he never thought he'd get one. It was difficult to find one that didn't have skulls or skeletons or demon type drawings on it! As you can see, Tyler was very excited to get it. I ran out of "boy" paper and had to use "girl" paper. I wrapped it inside out, but you can still see the butterflies in the pictures. Please don't tell him - he was quite concerned about that showing up in the pictures.
















Tyler actually did very well on his skateboard. I was really impressed! It wasn't long before he could go a good way without falling/jumping off. With more practice, I think this is something he'll be able to do well. He's already looking forward to his first trip to a skate park. We are a loooong way from that!





































I made Tyler a volcano cake. I think he was pleased with it. Dry ice created a little smoke for the erupting volcano. Dry ice is just so much fun!



























I think Tyler had a good day. When I tucked him in tonight, we talked about the day he was born. He always thinks it's funny to hear about peeing on the nurse right after he was born. What I remember the most about that day is the intense, overwhelming feeling of love that washed over me when I held our tiny son for the first time. 9 years later he still has that same affect on me, although he is much more difficult to hold!

This and That

This little guy has been visiting our yard lately. He likes to explore the area under our bird feeder.

Here are my tomato plants. There are only 2 plants here! They are looking a little droopy now because the weather has turned cooler, but they were so big. I can't believe how many tomatoes we've had this year! Counting the ones I have sitting in my windowsill and the ones I used just this week, I've picked almost 50 tomatoes just this week and there are still lots of tomatoes on the plants! This is by far the best our tomato plants have ever done. Next year I'm going to plant some basil, too.

All 10 of our butterflies eclosed while we were in DC. We expected that, but it was still a little disappointing. Before we left, we had a couple small caterpillars on our plants. When we got home, we found 10 empty chrysalises and 1 fat caterpillar. The caterpillar was on a potted milkweed plant, so we brought him in the house to watch. He made his chrysalis within a day of bringing him in. We couldn't find any other caterpillars, though. Yesterday Danielle was looking out the window and noticed a chrysalis on the back of one of our patio chairs. After further inspection, we found an empty chrysalis and a beautiful jade green one underneath the playset. I can't believe how far they crawled! We brought both of them inside to watch. Since the weather has now turned cooler, I'm pretty sure these will be our last butterflies of the season. One of our metroparks tags monarchs. If we have time, I'd like to take Danielle there to tag these three before we release them.

My poor husband has had a rough week. After getting back from our trip on Monday, he started to feel achy. He was sick with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday. When he woke up on Wednesday, he felt better, but his eye was irritated. As the day went on, it became swollen. By Thursday morning, it looked like this. Not only was it swollen, but it was weepy and very sore. He went to our family doctor on Thursday, but by Friday it was even worse. He saw an ophthalmologist on Friday and got a different prescription. They think it's an eye infection, but they aren't really sure, and they're not sure how he got it. Thankfully his vision is fine, assuming he can get the eye open! The new prescription is helping, and the swelling is going down. I don't think it's as painful now, either. He had to cancel a business trip, so he was a little disappointed about that. (Glad to be home, disappointed he couldn't do something he really needed to do for his job...and a job is a good thing.) Thankfully he seems to be on the mend.

Our sunflowers are finally going to seed. The gold finches especially seem to like them.

The Gifted Learner

Tonight was the parents' introduction meeting for the enrichment class Tyler will be in this year. Our school system offers gifted classes within the classroom for students who classify as gifted in math, reading, science, social studies, art, & music. The enrichment class is for those students who test gifted in superior cognitive skills. These kids are actually pulled out of the class room for one day a week and attend a special class with the gifted coordinator. Tyler starts attending these classes on Monday, so we attended an introductory meeting tonight.

I wasn't sure what to expect but once the teacher started talking, I finally felt like I had found a teacher who might actually understand my son! So many of the things she discussed about gifted children described Tyler perfectly, including the behavior problems from being underchallenged with regular class work, not needing much sleep, and having difficulty relating to his peers.

These are characteristics of kids who are gifted in superior cognitive skills:

• Learns rapidly & easily with little repetition
• Reads early
• Asks many questions seeking causes & reasons for things
• Values learning for learning sake, likes to "know" about something
• Adept at analyzing own abilities and limitations
• Knows many things that other children are unaware of
• Takes charge of situations, is poised
• Has diverse, spontaneous and self-directed interests

The following list, though, is the one that really caught my attention. There is no doubt that Tyler falls solidly on the gifted learner side. And when I look at these, I realize that so many times when he's in trouble, it's because of one of these characteristics. This list shows the difference between a bright child and a gifted learner.

Bright Child.........................................Gifted Learner

Knows the answers....................................Asks the questions

Is interested.................................................Is highly curious

Has good ideas............................................Has wild, silly ideas

Works hard..................................................Plays around, yet tests well

Answers the questions..............................Discusses in detail, elaborates

Listens with interest.................................Shows strong feelings and opinions

Learns with ease.......................................Already knows

6-8 repetitions for mastery.....................1-2 repetitions for mastery

Enjoys peers...............................................Prefers adults

Is receptive................................................Is intense

Copies accurately.....................................Creates a new design

Enjoys school.............................................Enjoys learning

Technician..................................................Inventor

Good memorizer.......................................Good guesser

Is alert........................................................Is keenly observant

Is pleased with own learning................Is highly self-critical

I know that was a long list, and most people reading this probably don't care much. But I felt like a weight was lifted tonight. Someone else realizes my son isn't just a "bad" kid who can't get along with kids at recess or sit still in class while the teacher is talking. I know he needs to learn to control himself more, and I knew a lot of these issues were because Tyler processes things differently than others, but tonight I felt like someone else really understood all that and gladly welcomed the challenge of teaching him.

Washington DC, Day 4

This is the movie they should show before the US Capitol tour!

We visited the National Zoo for a little while before heading home. Since our zoo is so nice, we didn't feel like we needed to spend a lot of time there but we really wanted to see the giant pandas. They had an interesting bird house, too. We had a nice visit and then drove home. The kids are home today, too, so they can sleep in a little and get their homework done. It was a good trip. Sadly, I think we are done with vacations for awhile. It was a good run. :)

Washington DC, Day 3

On Sunday we started our day with a trip to the Washington Monument. Fortunately, I preordered our tickets in March. I felt bad for the folks who didn't know they needed tickets to ride to the top of the monument. By the time we finished our tour (which was only the 4th tour of the day), all the tickets for the entire day were gone.

The view from the top was pretty amazing. We got to stand near the doors on the elevator on the way down so we were able to see the states' memorial stones.

After visiting the monument, we walked closer to the White House and took a couple pictures. We got a pretty good view from up in the Memorial, so the kids opted not to walk all the way across the Eclipse to get a close up view of the front.

We spent the afternoon at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We were going to go to the Air & Space Museum, too, but never made it that far. The kids really enjoyed the museum. Everything was so well done. Danielle liked the Hall of Mammals and the butterfly exhibit. She and I paid the extra fee and walked through together. There were butterflies from other parts of the world that we would never have gotten to see otherwise. We really liked the huge blue morpho butterflies, but they would not sit still long enough for pictures. I think Danielle would have stayed in there all day if I'd let her. Tyler enjoyed the Ocean Hall and the Geology, Gems, & Minerals Hall. We got to see the Hope Diamond. Although it's 45+ carats, both kids grumbled that it was rather small. I think they were envisioning a huge cartoon-like diamond sitting on big plush pillow. Both kids enjoyed the hands-on Discovery Lab. (Yes, Danielle is holding duck feet. She also held a coyote tongue.) We had a great time exploring the museum. I think the kids would have enjoyed the Air & Space Museum, too, but we just didn't have enough time or energy to fit that in, too.

Later in the day, Tyler and I walked over to look at the Jefferson Memorial. Danielle's feet hurt, so she and Ron sat along the Potomac and watched the planes take off. (We never made it to the Roosevelt Memorial.) Once she recovered, we all walked to the back of the White House for another view. While we were there, the kids got to see a couple peaceful protesters and we got to reiterate the importance of the Bill of Rights. At that point, Danielle said, "You mean I can say anything? Like Boo Obama!?" That's one of the wonderful things we take for granted about being an American; You can stand right outside the president's home and shout "Boo Obama!" if you really want to. I'm not sure reading about all this in a history book would drive it home nearly as well as actually being there and learning about it firsthand. I'm thankful we had the opportunity to share all this with the kids. It was a good weekend.