World Maths Day

World Maths Day is a cool thing. My guys are going to participate, it's good practice and it's (hopefully) fun. I'll even give them a break from 'regular' school work, provided they're actually playing the games.

My title/banner

For those that don't know me, or that don't know my pets, I thought I'd take a moment and introduce the beasts across my banner. Starting in the upper left corner they are: Sydney (Nanday Conure); Dodger; Buzz (Leopard Gecko); Dickens (rip); Lil' Bit (escaped). Bottom row - first picture is Shadow (rip), Sierra (Smooth Coat Collie)& Nik (rip); Max (Blue & Gold Macaw); Oliver; Nik.

ATLNEWF is short for Atlanta Newf, or Newfoundland, as in the dog. It's also my tag on my car (called my Minnie van).

Now back to your regularly scheduled Friday. Have a good weekend!

Georgia Aquarium

My kids' school descended on the Aquarium this morning in droves. Somewhere around 600+ people came to visit as part of a school excursion. To say the least, with our crowd and those from other schools and the general public, the Aquarium was packed. I did manage to find a chance, though, to grab these pics as we went through.

These guys are out and about town, I believe. They're done by local artists in anticipation of the new dolphin exhibit that opens April 2nd.

Garden eels from the Tropical Diver gallery

Upside down jelly from Tropical Diver

Penguin from Cold Water Quest

Yellow Seahorse, new exhibit in Tropical Diver

Sand Tiger Shark from Ocean Voyager

We were lucky enough to hang out with my son's teacher from GCA. After a bit, we were also able to hang out with one of his classmates. My daughter caught up with a friend from a lower grade that goes to Summit Academy with us on Wednesdays.

Random

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Metal Mouth!

My boy went and got his braces yesterday. He didn't start putting on his bands until this morning (he at least had that much of a break). The metal is a memory-metal so he's drinking cold water on a regular basis to give his mouth a chance to relax. The metal was kept cold to be malleable. When warm it tries to go to it's original shape. Pretty cool stuff. He picked out blue for his braces, not that you can really tell in this photo.

Orthodontist figures he'll have these for about 1.5yrs, then go to a retainer. Yippee fun. As an fyi, we use Dr. Silver in Snellville. He did both my and my sister's braces back in the day. It felt kind of weird referring myself to my own orthodontist, but it's what I did.

Fun: Fail

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More Kitty Babies

My daughter and I visited yesterday (son stayed home). We played for a good while and noted some of the kitties from our last visit (Kamin, Fang) are still there, but we met some really sweet new babies too.

This was an adorable picture. My daughter was playing with kitties in one room, when the kitties in the neighboring room decided to watch. It was like watching a tennis match with the kitties in the window wanting that string mightily. :) Fang (from previous post) is the grey kitty on top in this photo.

This is Morgan. He's a sweet heart of a lap cat. He curled up in my daughter's lap and his motor box was loud enough to be heard across the room.

Marcellus is a sweet boy. Damage from his brother to his eye is permanent, but he was still determined to play with the string my daughter had.

Tigra enjoyed the attention we gave her, though I didn't try to take her down from her 'high perch'. Very sweet seeming girl.

You can find out more info on all these kitties at the furkids.org web site.

Review: Dragons of the Valley

Dragons of the Valley by Donita Paul.

This is actually the second in a series, however it stands by itself very well. It is a book about a group of friends in the country of Chiril. A peace loving land that has lost its way and its connection to its creator, Wulder. It is now being invaded by another King determined to make Chiril his own. Tipper, a young princess, grows in confidence and maturity as she journeys around the country with her friends to protect a trio of sculptures, the cornerstone of the country and its link to Wulder. Bealomondore, an artist turned warrior, discovers that even though he prefers to create art, he is capable of much more. Tipper and Bealomondore are assisted by two wizards and a Paladin, their guides to both victory over the invading army and to Wulder.

With wizards and dragons, kimen and other creatures, it is a wonderfully crafted fiction book that is suitable for both tweens (and up) as well as adults. It is a Christian-based book and the similarities are easily seen and understood.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Hmm...

My husband is convinced I'm "impossible to buy for". I'm not, really I'm not. Anyway, we haven't had one of these since some time last year when our last one caught fire on my daughter. We've been talking about getting one for a while, just hadn't done it. Hubby decided that Valentine's Day would be a good time to replace it for his wife as a gift.

He's so romantic. :)

It's that time of year!

I've been selling at this off and on for quite a few years. This year, I'm a seller but I have no need to buy. Quite a concept for me. both of my kids actually have plenty of clothes to last them a while. I may very well have to get something for them come fall, but for right now we're good. They even showed me how to use some of the toys that were sorted out to be sold. Now I just have the 'remainders' that are on my dining room table to get rid of.. as a result I'll have pulled out 4 garbage bags of toys, 3 tubs of clothes and misc. other stuff to be gotten rid of from my attic. Woot!

Happy Valentine's Day

Student Advocacy Day

I talked with my eldest after we had finished the day out. He was pointing out what he thought was most fascinating (and what he took notes on). The first is how much each county spends on each student to give them their education. It's a good thing he's interested in this as it will definitely affect him as he grows.

The second fact that he took away was something an unexpected speaker gave us. He was quoting facts/figures from the Fulton County Jail. I may have some of the numbers wrong, but they're approximately correct. One - approx. 89% of the inmates are african-american males. Of those, approx. 80% did not graduate high school. Of those approx. 70% read at a 3rd grade level or below. It reinforced in my son's mind the importance of a good education. The question it raised for ALL of the kids there, is WHY do they drop out? What can they do about it? Maybe one of these kids will be the one to figure it all out. Certainly the rest of the adults haven't been able to.

What pulled my son in to both of these, though, is that both had facts/figures/statistics to back them up. It was very interesting to see what he pulled out and what he will retain.

Student advocacy & visiting the Capitol

A friend of mine is very involved in PTA and is a legislative liason. Through her, I heard about a program called "Student Advocacy Day" out at the capitol. It was a chance for middle/high schoolers to find out more about what's going on legislatively that affects them as well as their rights. We were among the first to arrive, though we weren't long waiting for the others. There were around 300 students there. Not only did they have several adults speak, they had kids from various schools talk as well. Presenting information on HOPE, illegal immigration, funding for education, bullying and more. After the talking was done, we adjourned for lunch over at one of the government buildings. We then wandered over to the Capitol itself. We had planned to sit in on one of the sessions (either Senate or House), but they had broken off into committee meetings by that point. True, we still could have stayed, but after looking around, the kids were ready to go home. We'll arrange to go back another day to listen, or listen in through the web.

Princesses on Parade

My daughter's AHG troop was invited to a Princess Party by one of the Explorer level groups within the troop. Most of the girls dressed up either in a nice dress or as a princess. The girls seemed to really enjoy themselves. They started off the evening by making valentine's day cards for vets, which will be dropped off at a local VA hospital this week. They then played 'princess' games such as "Walking with book on head" and "Pin the crown on the Princess". Several were also caught practicing the royal wave.

My daughter with one of her 'bestest buddies' (in blue) and a couple of other girls.

The McLure princess herself

Screaming Wallet

My wallet is screaming at the knowledge that next week my son goes to an orthodontic surgeon to get teeth removed. The week after he goes back to the orthodontist to get his braces put on. UGH. As if that weren't enough, I was given the heads up that we'll get to repeat the process in August with my daughter.

For the fun of it, I tried to scan the xray image of my son's mouth, but I haven't been able to get it right.

Super Bowl Sunday

Just so there's no confusion..

Go Packers!

Sad realizations..

1 - I do not love my bank. Unlike the commercials, my bank gives me no reason to love it. We're still trying to get the house refinanced.. because they've taken so long they now have to 'recertify' the appraisal (which killed our house value when we got it). Since then one house in the neighborhood went up for sale as a bank-owned foreclosure and another for significantly less than ours was appraised at. MAKE IT STOP!

2 - I have to monitor my son more closely than I thought with school work. 'Nuff said.

3 - Volunteering at the Aquarium while schooling at home is very difficult.

4 - I worry about people I don't know. Waiting to figure out of a soldier I sponsor is ok as one package I sent came back unclaimed. Waiting to see if the rest of it comes back. Only good side is that he's not listed on the DoD site as deceased (not that that's a guarantee).

5 - I love my work out classes, but they're not enough to get me back in shape. I've even changed my diet. Gotta make more changes.

Okay. Self-pity party over (for now). I think I'll go have a chocolate martini.

Fernbank Science Center

I've been going to Fernbank's Science Center since I was in elementary school at Stone Mountain Elementary. Over all it hasn't changed a huge amount, but it has changed some. When I first started going, the displays were primarily static.

Now they've added a science/space lab, have displays that change, and have even added live animals.

My kids and I went out there Monday with a group from the Georgia Cyber Academy. We saw one of the current planetarium shows (not one of my kids' preferred ones) and then had a scavenger hunt with some of the other students. THAT part my kids enjoyed. My daughter even decided that she needed to be the first to finish (and she was).

If you've never visited, it's worth the effort to get there. The center itself is free. The planetarium show has a small fee (about $3). You can spend a couple of hours exploring the center and the attached Forest (with trails). We didn't do the trail due to rain, but still had fun.

Ground Hog Day!

Repticon

This past weekend, Repticon was out at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds. I was there for a while on Sunday as a volunteer for the Aquarium. It was a great day for people watching...

and for checking out some of the animals on display.. this one is a monacled cobra

But mostly there were snakes, lizards, frogs and spiders for sale. There was also a lot of supplies. I ended up taking advantage of the lower supply cost while I was there and purchased 200+ crickets for my kids' lizards.. they should be set for a while.