The Post About Brains

    
This post is about brains.

I guess I should clarify. More specifically, it's about brain development. Brain development and all its little nuances is so intriguing to me. As I've begun working again (post on that forthcoming this week) the students I am working with in the Autism program have brought this fascination back to the forefront of my mind, probably because of the more obvious and puzzling differences in brain development that I am faced with on a now daily basis.

Children fascinate me. Maybe this is why I'm a teacher by trade. Discovering the learning styles that hinge on differences in brain dominance is like a puzzle, and I love puzzles. My own children, of course, are no exception to this brain development fascination. As my boys have grown, their personalities have naturally revealed themselves, but their learning styles and brain dominance have also begun to emerge. It's fun to see how they play out in everyday situations.

The other day in the bathtub, I got out a tub of foam animals for the boys to play with. They immediately began sticking the animals to the bathtub walls, but each arranged theirs in a completely different way. Kayden lumped his all together in a pyramid of sorts. There was really no rhyme or reason to how they were arranged. As he picked each up and played with it, he just slapped them on up there on the wall. See for yourself:

Cam, on the other hand, had a very different system in mind. He was meticulous about placing each of his animals, one by one, into neat rows:

Am I the only one who thinks this is really cool?? Don't answer that. Seriously though, to get glimpses of how their little brains are working while they are still so young is just really neat to me. And it gives me insight into how I can raise them up as they learn and grow so that it speaks to their individual learning styles and brain dominance. I think this is really exciting! And maybe I'm kidding myself, but I'm betting maybe just a couple of you do too. So...I'm planning on coming up with a couple more posts on how I/we can cater to our individual children's learning styles as we raise them and teach them. Look for those in the next week or two.

I'm off to gather up my children from a gardening adventure out in the yard with their grandparents. Check back tomorrow for "Not Me!" Monday. As usual, its got a couple doozies!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

...and I think we'll be spending most of it outdoors!

The Arch

I realized today that I have about a bazillion posts to catch up on. As in, I've started them, but never finished them up and posted. Like pics from *one* of the blizzards this winter. And the jillions of pictures I've meant to share from our road trip to Texas and back.

     

So, here's another catch up post. On the way back from Texas at the end of March, we drove through St. Louis and took a break to walk around the Gateway Arch. It was about half an hour before sunset when we stopped, and completely dark when we left. I could have taken pictures there all day, I think. (And I did take a ton. And I probably posted way too many. It's okay, you'll deal.) Something about the beautifully perfect symmetry and reflection off the metal surface. I know, there's probably therapy and counseling for people like me.

Anyway....here they are. Enjoy!!

The Gateway Arch has a reflection pool. I did not know this. 

There was even a guy set up with a canvas and paints. 

Straight on it looks a bit like the Washington Monument, don't you think?

And...here are the heaps of pics I took from a myriad of angles. Sorry, I'm too lazy to compile them onto neat little "canvases" together. I don't have Photoshop (I wish!!) and that process involves multiple applications and is way too long and complicated for right now. Sorry, it's just not happening.

Walking through to the West...

Remember, it was March. It was cold. And windy.
And I had been in a car with three children for three days. Be kind.

Really, you can never have too many pictures of all of this adorableness. Well, I can't.

Yep, that's me and the boys.

Would You Rather?

I had great fun with this last week, so let's try it again! This week's question is....

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Would you rather be a hammer or a nail?

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Just scroll to the bottom of this post to comment. I'll post up tonight or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

If you have no idea what's going on, read the original post below (or click HERE for the original post plus comments) and join in the fun this week!


ORIGINAL POST:

Are there any Dr. Seuss fans out there reading this? I love Dr. Seuss. Really, who doesn't love him? I also wonder why I can't think of some hair-brained idea like writing books about complete nonsense and selling millions of copies so I can stay home with my children for as long as I want and never have to worry about money to feed them with, thankyouverymuch.

Sigh. Until then, how about a little game?? I love games. And...in another attempt to get some audience participation going on this blog, I've decided we'll play it here. Well, I will. You can play too, if you want. You know, if you're fun.

My kids have a Dr. Seuss book titled, Would You Rather Be A Bullfrog? It's definitely one of my favorites. Here's an excerpt:

Tell me!
Would you rather be a Dog...or be a Cat?
It's time for you to think about important things like that.
Would you rather be a Bullfrog...or be a Butterfly?
Which one would you rather be? 
Come on, now.
Tell me why.
(c) 1975 Dr. Seuss & Random House Books 

I love how many messages can be found in any one book, and for people of all ages, too. I've read this one to my toddlers, and used it with older elementary school children as a morning "Brainwarmer" to get them thinking and writing. The book is basically a compilation of "would you rather?" questions, and I would just pose them to my students and challenge them to justify their answers in journals. See? Higher-level thinking questions first rattle out of the box. Brilliant teaching, I know.

Now it's your turn. I'll pose the question, and you answer it. And by the way, this works best if you, you know, answer. Just to be fair, I'll give my answer too...but not until you do (and tell me why!). Here goes nothing! We'll start easy.

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Would you rather be a dog, or be a cat?

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What's on your plate?

I've been working hard lately to get our kids to try new foods and eat healthfully. I offer lots of choices and involve them in making lots of different foods, so they are excited about eating them.

But really, we aren't so inventive and "organic" every single moment of every single day. There are plenty of days when we're in a rush to get lunch on the table, are out of my first choices for lunch items, or are just plain too tired to create something fabulous.

Regardless of the fare, I stumbled upon a guaranteed way to get my kids to try more new foods and eat more veggies: I make faces out of them. For whatever reason, my boys think it is hilariously funny to eat the moustache on a clown or beard on an elephant, no matter what it's made of. And I'm thrilled. Success!!

So. What have we been eating lately? Have a look for yourself....

Breakfast:

whole wheat banana muffins, strawberry, and Cheerios

Lunch:

grilled cheese sandwich, carrot slices, raisins, and cantaloupe

Lunch:

bean/cheese/spinach quesadilla, turkey/ham, carrots, raspberries, cantaloupe, and apple slices

Breakfast:

whole wheat banana muffins, Cheerios, and cantaloupe

Lunch:

turkey, apples, cucumber, strawberries, and string cheese

(This one's my fave so far...)

So...what's on your plate??

"Not Me!" Monday

 

Welcome! Are you feeling guilty for quickly sneaking away from the baby food aisle after your toddler had an accident in the grocery store? Wondering if you're ever going to have a wardrobe that contains even one blouse that isn't "decorated" with stains from all of your beloved children? Perhaps you just gave in and let your children watch seven episodes of "Handy Manny"...in a row. No worries! "Not Me!" Monday was written just for you. It frees me up to admit my many imperfections and vent about the absolutely ridiculous things that are my everyday. Enjoy at my expense, and join in the fun by commenting below!

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I try immensely hard to be considerate. Usually, that is. I generally try to open doors for people, help others with bags, and put things back where they belong. So even after an exhausting day out with the babe, one where I spent half of my time running errands appeasing him by dancing around in front of his car seat in the cart, it definitely wasn't me who just left the shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot, disregarding all rules of common parking lot etiquette and ignoring the little cart corral a mere 30 steps away. Nope. Not me!

My children are well-behaved and well-mannered. They say "Please" and "Thank you" regularly. They cough and sneeze into their elbows. They even say "Excuse Me" pretty frequently. So it certainly wasn't my now four-year-old (Happy Birthday today, Kayden!!), the child who has had the most practice with the aforementioned skills, who wiped his snot all over the wall in the middle of the night, and pointed out all of the crusty smears to his grandmother first thing the next morning. Nope. Not my child!

Callan, our eight-month-old, has had a rough week this week. He's waking more frequently during the night, oftentimes crying loudly when he does. After a particularly sleepless night this week, he woke up crying again about 6am. It certainly wasn't me who sleepily rolled over and, annoyed, asked my husband, "Are you going to turn that thing off, or what?!" as if my baby were an alarm clock. Nope. Not this Momma!

Since I'm going back to work today, I decided I probably ought to find myself a few things that don't have baby spit-up emblazoned all over them to wear. You know, out of consideration for all the other teachers who have to look at me all day. After becoming so totally frustrated that the bargain store had very little that fit my disproportionate, I've nursed three babies, tall but not slim, my-kid-has-acid-reflux-and-it-shows, I'm-not-a-teenager-but-I-don't-feel-matronly-thank-you-very-much body...I did not give in and buy a little girl's size tube top dress to wear as a skirt. Not me!

Over the years I have discovered that my primary love language is time. This totally explains why Wednesdays are generally tough for me. Kyler leaves early for meetings, works through the day, has middle school ministry until 8:30pm and college minstry after that. He's usually out until roughly 1-2am on those nights, talking with college students, building relationships, and often having some good faith conversations with them. This week was no different. But even though I miss him and wish he'd stick around a tad bit longer on Thursday morning, I sooo did not put every pair of his jeans in the washer while he was still sleeping, thus guaranteeing he wouldn't leave for another hour (after getting in after 3am...) Not me! I totally wouldn't intentionally, selfishly sabotage my husband's schedule like that. Nope.

It was not me who totally got schooled by my three-year-old (now four-year-old!!!) on our Bible verse for the week. Oops. I mean...that was his Dad.

I don't know how, but I've managed to make through the past 31 years without a single drop of self-tanning lotion. I think I've boycotted it on pure principle. Not that I haven't needed it, mind you. Skin only comes a wee bit paler than mine. So anyway, who knows what compelled me to pick some up this week and give it a go. Turns out it's pretty mild stuff. Also turns out that the package actually tells the truth. The pigment adheres quite readily to dry skin. It totally was not me who paid absolutely zero attention to this little detail. Nope. It is not my feet that currently look as if I walked through a muddy field and forgot to wash. Uh-uh. Those splotches? I...ahem...meant for them to...uhhh...look just like that. Yep.

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"Not Me!" Monday is an incredibly fun blogging carnival started by MckMama. In a nutshell, it's where we all can be open about the ridiculous things that happen in our everyday lives. Head on over to her blog, where you can read heaps of other great "Not Me!" stories. Or, join in the "Not Me!" fun and leave a comment about all of the things you didn't do this week!

Four Years Old

Tomorrow, my firstborn son will be four years old. Four! I can hardly believe he is that old already. Where has the time gone? It seems I merely blinked, and he went from wee babe:

to an incredibly capable, well-spoken little man.

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If you haven't read it before, you can read Kayden's birth story here.

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I wrote a poem for Kayden this summer and shared it on my blog.
Here it is again:

I love your smile, your eyes, your hair,

The way you run most everywhere.

Your love for books, and your brothers too,

They make me so very proud of you.

The questions you ask every day,

Your curiosity seems to say,

"Please tell me more! I want to learn!"

I'm so pleased it's knowledge for which you yearn.

I can't believe how bright you are!

Your Daddy says it's 'cause you're a Barr.

The way you laugh, the way you sing,

Such joy to my heart those sweet sounds bring.

I love how you softly whisper my name,

 And your loud shrieks of joy when you're playing a game.

You love to jump, you love to play,

If I let you, you'd stay outdoors all day.

The "Terrible Threes" haven't been so bad,

Although it's not breezy when you get mad.

Your patience with Cameron goes beyond and above

Despite being so young, you know brotherly love

I know sometimes it must be rough,

To be the oldest, you've gotta be tough.

With a baby around, life's not always grand

And you amaze me with how well you seem to understand.

You changed our world that day in May.

I knew we'd never be the same.

And even though now, you're not the only one.

I'll always have a special love for my firstborn son.

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I love you, kiddo. 

Happy 4th Birthday!!!
     

Pockets

I almost titled this post, "Wockets in our Pockets," but decided doing so may be developing a habit of Seuss-related blog titles. Could be fun...or just odd.

Actually, that last post about laundry made me remember that I have loads to do. Haha. Loads. Really though, I do. So I started it this morning. And this time, unlike my children's jeans the other day, I checked the pockets before I put them in the washer. By the time I was done fishing through my husband's jeans, I had quite an intriguing collection. See?

Of course, there were the normal, expected things like his wallet, cell phone, and keys. 

And there were the normal things for Kyler, like the Sharpie marker and occasional pocket knife. 

There were even things that didn't really surprise me, knowing my husband and what he does for a living. "Live 4 Jesus" cards, IHOP coupons, even trash.

I mean, I did find these pants of his in the laundry this past summer. Remember this post?

But as you can see, at closer inspection, some of the contents did beg some questions. For example...

electrical wiring end caps?

 A Cape Cod Baseball League stat sheet? From 1999?!

And the clincher: cold hard cash....from Guatemala.

Seriously. When was the last time he actually wore these pants, and where the heck have they been since then?? Oh, the stories I could weave. But, I think maybe the "don't ask, don't tell" policy I've developed about laundry applies here.

So I'm curious....what do you find in your laundry??