Review: The Hows and Whys of Science Kit

Well, we finally opened our box, almost a week after we got it. And a busy week it has been, but I won't go into that right now.

I ended up working on the kit with my 3 year old and 5 year old, as the others were outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we were having. They loved it! There is a neat little telescope, a hand-crank flashlight (they loved that one), and some magnets, among other things. There are a lot of activities in the book as well that really look like a lot of fun, and once the weather warms back up a bit, we are going to go do some of them.

I really wish I had been able to take some pictures, but my camera decided it didn't feel like cooperating this week, so I will have to wait for a bit to get some pictures. I am very much looking forward to trying many of the experiments out though, and will be adding some activities to my kids' work boxes for school. I'm sure they'll love that idea.

My overall opinion of the kit is that it's fairly straightforward and very simply covers a wide range of topics. There were bits about magnets, soil, bugs, rocks, and a few other things. We haven't gone through everything in the book, but most of it seems very easy to do without a lot of extra work.

Curious....

Divorce Judge Orders Religious Woman's Kids Sent Back To Public School

This raises an interesting question here. As far as I can tell, this woman got involved in a religion that at first glance appears to be a cult. Her husband didn't like this new religion, and filed for a divorce, and asked that the kids be returned to public school, presumably in an attempt to help the children not be so heavily influenced by the mother's new religion.

Where do the rights fall here? Is this issue really about homeschooling or religion? Does the father/husband have any rights now in the lives of his children, or will the mother now have all the say over the children's futures?

There are a lot of issues here that could beg tons of questions in any given direction. I am a homeschooling mother, and wouldn't be very happy if I was told I couldn't do it anymore. If I were involved in a cult, I probably wouldn't realize it and would also be unhappy if I felt that my religion was being attacked. But does that make it right? Who gets to decide what is or isn't a cult? So many questions. Any thoughts?

Absolutely Sick

Abortion is something that I feel very strongly about. It is murder, pure and simple. It is the taking of a life, a human being. It should not be allowed, and yet it is fought over as a "right" of the mother. Apparently, with the fetus not being human and all, it doesn't deserve any rights, according to them anyway.

If then, the fetus is not human, why would these doctors be making such a big deal over this case?

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampa on Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The state attorney's homicide division is investigating, though no charges have been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors were nearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations at best "misguided and incomplete" in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contends the clinic's actions constitute murder.

"The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage," said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. "People all over the country are just aghast."

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations.

"It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

According to state records, Renelique received his medical training at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Interfaith Medical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstances of which were not detailed in the filings.

Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some of his office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be found and he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion, Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him.

She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raise a child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic two days later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates the cervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to the administrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She was told to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, on July 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.

The Department of Health account continues as follows: Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique. Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby.

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby - she named her Shanice - had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpractice by failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present when Williams was there, among other missteps.

The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, to permanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. His license is currently restricted, permitting him to only perform abortions when another licensed physician is present and can review his medical records.

Should prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove the baby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense might contend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts would not allow that argument, he said.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

What bothers me the most, aside from the baby being kicked to the floor, tossed in a bag and then into the garbage like some sort of waste, is this part.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

Terminally ill? Terminally ill??? That baby was just fine before these murderers decided to pump the mother full of drugs in an effort to kill the baby by premature birth. Whether or not it was supposed to be the kind of abortion where they shove a pair of scissors into the head of the baby, making sure the head stays inside the mother so it doesn't get the chance to breathe in air (therefore making it a "live" birth), the article doesn't say. It shouldn't matter. It's still a life, whether you allow that child to have air in it's lungs or not. Whether or not you allow that child to see your face, it's still a child. It has been a child all along. A difference of inches and air does not make a difference.

Home Schooler's Fed Up Wish List

This is quite entertaining, if you have a few minutes, please watch. It's a nice look into the lives of home schoolers and the asinine comments people make when they find out what you're doing.

Fish Bowl Cupcakes

I finally got hold of a copy of Hello, Cupcake! at my local library, and it is too adorable! My 4th born son's birthday is today, so I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to make one of the themes from the book. I decided on the Fish Bowl Cupcakes, and they turned out pretty cute. I went a bit too dark on the frosting though. Apparently sky blue coloring paste goes a looooong way. Aside from that, and the lack of a few key ingredients, I managed to make a pretty cute version.

I will definitely be buying this book soon. It is actually pretty inexpensive for the amount of ideas that are in there. I was quite surprised.

Wow, It's Been Awhile

I really need to get back into this blogging thing again. It's been such a busy summer. We had a nice long visit to my mom's in Kansas, which was very nice. I haven't gotten to spend that much time with her since I moved out a long time ago, and while distance has been our friend, it was nice to hang out for a little bit.

When we started out, we just barely made it through all the flooding through Iowa. The water was mere feet from the road in a few places, and they closed I80 the morning after we went through. With all the kids, plus my mom, grandma, and two vehicles, it took us two days to get there, and two days to get back. Not too bad over all. The kids weren't too thrilled about the long car ride by the end of it, but they did surprisingly well.







I managed to get a little sewing in while I was there, and made this little dress for my daughter. You can't see the details very clearly, but I tried to do something like this on the front panel, and it turned out cute. The tucks were a little too close together, but it still looks nice.



I also finished my husband's blanket (finally!). It only took over a year to do it, though a lot of that was because I just didn't want to go near it for a little while. (Long story). The picture is a bit washed out, but you get the idea. It's a really nice throw size.



We started our home schooling this last week, and the kids are excited about getting back to it. At least they were the first few days, now they're getting a little more whiney, but we'll have to work on that.

We've done fairly well this summer in the injury department too. Considering all the boys, we actually didn't do too bad. 2 staples for Ethan after he cut his head, antibiotics for Sam after a nasty bug bite that swelled his whole leg up, and split lips for Aaron and Sam, neither of which required stitches thankfully. Eric managed to sprain his ankle, too, so I guess he was feeling left out :) All in all though, not too bad for a summer with 5 boys.

Well, that's all for now. I have a few goodies I'm going to post later, but that will have to wait :)

Sooo... Would This Be A Face Only A Mother Could Love?

These would be my two middle boys, the one with dark hair turned 5 yesterday. This was supposed to be a cute picture of him, until the 3yo decided to get involved. Ah, boys. Gotta love 'em, right?

60 Seconds In The Life Of A Baby

I Feel Sorry For The Kids

You'd think the parents could control themselves a little here. I wonder what the fight was about though. One of those "My kid is better than your kid" kind of things? How embarrassing for the kids though. And the parents are banned from future events. Do you think that's just for this year, or for the rest of the kid's school careers?

Would A Muzzle Be Too Much? Or Should I Just Find A Big Hole To Crawl In?

I love my 4 year old. He has a grasp on verbal skills that none of his older or younger siblings will probably ever quite be able to match. However, this can cause so many issues, for instance like yesterday. I wanted to crawl under a big rock so bad, but I couldn't.

This past spring, as some of you know, we lost a baby through miscarriage. We never really got around to explaining it to the kids, because we just didn't know how, and they didn't really ask what was going on, so we just left it. Good or bad, who knows. But back to yesterday, the hospital where they did the d&c allows mothers the options of burying the remains (as much as they're able to save), and then having a once a year memorial service for all the lost little ones. It was on the way there that I decided to explain what was going on that day. I told the kids that I had had a baby that died in my tummy (they're all pretty young, so I have to choose my words carefully), and that we were going to have a special church service. I allowed them to get all their questions out of the way before the service so that they would hopefully be quiet during the service.

We arrived at the chapel (a very small room, maybe 15 or 20 chairs, maybe half of which were filled when we arrived), and almost right away, my 4 year old boy starts announcing why we're there. Loudly. "My mommy has a baby in her tummy that died! It's right in there (pointing to my tummy). It died and we're here for a special church service!" At this point, I'm trying to quiet him down, and explain that the baby already came out, and there was a new baby in my tummy that was alive. Bad idea. "My mommy has a live baby! Where is the baby mommy? (I point to my belly, sinking even lower into my seat) Right there! There's a baby in there!"

I have never felt so horrid, since I knew there were a few families in there who had lost little ones as well, and don't have my ability to get pregnant at the drop of a hat. I didn't know what to do other than to just keep trying to get him to quiet down. Eventually he gave up trying to announce my situation to the world, but then started up on complete strangers on the way out of the hospital. Oh my. Whatever will I do with that boy?

By the way, the service was beautiful. We took the tiny coffin to the grave site, and now we have a beautiful place to visit our lost little ones. I had never heard of anyone doing this before, but it was really beautiful, and a wonderful idea. And while the kids probably were still too young to understand what was going on, eventually they will understand, and will be as excited to meet that little one in heaven some day as I am.

My Little Girl

What a funny little thing she is. She is six, and the only girl in a houseful of boys. I recently had two different conversations with her. One let me know that she is starting to learn to listen. The other, well I'm not sure what she's learning there, but it was cute anyway.

Yesterday, after a rather difficult ride home from church (the ever popular stop-touching-me-he's-licking-me-i-don't-like-you-very-much fighting in the backseat kind of ride), I had finally had enough and offered to spank all of them when I got home. So, when we get home, my ever observant daughter had a revelation.

Ariel: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes dear?
Ariel: I was thinking. Maybe, if I don't steal, and I'm not naughty, maybe I won't get spanked.
Mommy: (trying desperately to turn this into a really good teaching moment), You're right sweetie. If you don't do those things, you won't get spanked. That's very good.
Ariel: (shoots me a little grin and runs off)

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my daughter, who has finally learned the truth about spankings. Now, if only her brothers would get the same idea!


Conversation number two. It was bath night last night. Lately, my daughter has decided that she doesn't like to be alone in the bathroom, and wants someone to sit with her. Well, in a house of boys, that's not always a good idea. So, I would sit with her for a little bit, then go do a few things. That seemed to work alright for a little bit. But then, came last night's conversation.

Ariel: Mommy, I don't like being alone with the door closed.
Mommy: What is it you're afraid of?
Ariel: I'm afraid the monsters are going to come get me.
Mommy: Hmmm. Where do you think the monsters are going to come from?
Ariel: Right here, behind the wall. (I was totally expecting the drain, but I went with it anyway)
Mommy: Well honey, if the monsters are going to come through that wall, they'd have to make a lot of noise doing it. (no sympathy here, right?) So, if you hear lots of noise, you'll have enough time to get out of the tub before they get through the wall. Okay? I'll be back in a little bit. (I was sooo tempted to go start banging on the wall from the other side, but I figured that might scar her for life, so I refrained).
Ariel: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes sweetie?
Ariel: I know there aren't any monsters on the other side of the wall. (Brilliant reasoning)
Mommy: That's right dear. So you have nothing to be afraid of then, do you?
Ariel: No, Mommy. You're just being silly.

How true that is. And all this from the reasoning of a 6 year old.

This Bothers Me

This man was accused of 2nd Degree Sexual Assault on a Child. The problem here, is that this happened more than 10 years ago, when he was 16. He had consensual sex with a 15 year old girl, and now carries the stigma of having assaulted a child. He was a child himself at the time, so how can he be charged with this? When a 16 year old boy has sex with an adult teacher, he has no ability to make adult decisions, so therefore he's automatically assumed to be completely innocent and taken advantage of. Yet, a boy of the same age has sex with a peer (which, if you've ever been to a high school sex ed class, what do you think they're promoting when they're handing out condoms?), he's labeled a sex-offender.

How is this right? The man is now being ostracized, his neighbors don't want him near their children (when he has no interest in them in the first place, since that's not even what he was convicted on), and his life is being destroyed because he had sex when he was a kid. Now, I'm a firm supporter of abstinence until marriage, but when the sex ed classes are handing out condoms, and telling kids to practice safe sex (instead of telling them not to have it in the first place), of course this sort of thing is going to happen. There is absolutely no reason to label this man as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

On a side note, part of the reason I hate this system is because I have a friend who was wrongly accused of inappropriate behavior with a student. I know this man well, and his wife was even around for some of the supposed "incidents". The girl was troubled, she hit a police officer, and then had him removed from the case because he came into the store where she worked, to return a shirt with his daughter, and basically managed to get all of the witnesses discredited in some fashion or another, so that my friend had no ability to make a case. So now, he's being harassed by a nasty case worker who won't let him so much as breathe the wrong way, and he will be labeled an offender for the rest of his life. All because some bratty little girl didn't like him. This system is seriously screwed up.

Where Have All The Parents Gone?

This is just another example of how young children are running free to the point of destruction. 12 and 14 year old boys, with enough boredom, or anger, or whatever the case may be, going to a store and destroying and stealing property. Where are their parents? Where is any influence in their young lives telling them that what they are doing is wrong? Has no one told them that destroying another person's property is a bad idea?

In my opinion, the parents of these children should be held at least partially responsible. The parents are supposed to teach the children values and respect for others. These are their children, and they have a certain amount of responsibility until those children are adults.

When my oldest son, who was 4 at the time, developed a bit of a klepto problem, we dealt with it strictly and immediately. He still does it around the house now and then, but he is punished each time. And it becomes further between each time. When he stole something from a store, we made him take it back, apologize, pay for it, and kept it from him. A candy bar once, a pen another time. We paid for them, and then threw them away. It upset him terribly, but now he is more willing to work for the money to buy these things. He is learning that there are consequences to actions, and that there are ways of getting something that is desired, without stealing. Where was that sort of teaching for these boys? Where are the parents in all this?

Does anyone else think the parents should be responsible for their children's actions?

Nature Art

Recently, I discovered that we had an abundance of mushrooms growing in our yard. They are everywhere. Now, being ever the opportunist, I remembered a craft I did as a child, involving mushrooms and hairspray. After some extensive searching on the internet, I managed to find one that seemed familiar.

Take your little white garden variety mushroom, and remove the stem. Place it gill side down on a piece of paper, and cover it with a glass. Allow it to sit over night, and voilà, you have spore art! Spray the paper with a non-aerosol hairspray, to preserve the spore art. Have the kid color the pages, or just put them on the fridge as is.


Be sure to pick mushrooms with a firm, round cap, and remove the skirt if necessary to reveal the gills. This will give you the best spore art. Also, be sure to avoid poisonous mushrooms, and I wouldn't let the kids eat them, just in case.

Alternatively, you can purchase store-bought mushrooms, with the same results.

My Sweet Baby Boy

This is my little man Aaron on Memorial Day. Such a cutie, isn't he? He just turned 1 a few days ago, too, so I am very proud of my sweetie.

Oh, and those cute little flags he's sporting on his legs? Those are BabyLegs, one of my absolute favorite Mom Created Items. They keep his little legs warm in the morning when it's still chilly, and then I can take them off a little later when it warms up.

WFMW-The Mom, I'm Bored Edition

My kids are pretty young, and I have five of them, so I don't hear this phrase too often thankfully. However, if it's been raining a lot like it has been lately, I do hear it a bit more often.

Some of the things that I have found to work for my oldest, who is 7, are these:

• I give him a picture dictionary. This is a recent one. I had some things to finish before I could start school that day, so I looked through the education books that I have on the school shelf, and saw the dictionary. I told him to look for words he liked, and then asked him about them later on, when I had more time. Now he asks to look at it occasionally on his own.
• I give him a Kids Cookbook, and let him pick something to try. This once resulted in the discovery that the kids liked Eggs in a Hole, although he prefers his scrambled in the hole.
  

For the three oldest, ranging in ages from 4-7, here are some of my ideas:

• I like to keep a box of crayons and colored pencils and a stack of coloring books available for them to work on. I also have some Color Wonder stuff, which is awesome if you ask me. I do have to keep those things up when the youngest are awake, but there is little if any boredom when those two are up, so it works out.

Other things I have tried, are having the kids do themed coloring or activities from Enchanted Learning, which is an amazing resource for parents and home schoolers. I'm planning on joining the site before too long. I've also given them precut construction paper and told them to make some designs. They like the creativity.

Don't forget to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great Works-For-Me-Wednesday tips.

Busy, busy

Light blogging lately. My son is having minor surgery tomorrow, so it will continue to be light blogging for a bit. I won't be able to leave him alone for a bit because he's too young to understand "stay still". I'll try to get a WFMW out tomorrow, but we'll see.