Pet Stores and Encyclopedic Knowledge

Window shopping education. Who knew?

We have recently discovered the educational (and entertaining) joys of window shopping at Petsmart, a fun little venture that came about by us randomly wandering through the strip mall stores in town for lack of anything better to do and essentially, because it was fun.

We have been on little excursions to pet stores before. The last time I wrote about one was when we went to this little downtown shop, over two years ago. But although our previous pet-trecks have been great fun and also quite educational, our more recent visits to Petsmart have been all the more enlightening because of one simple thing: labeling.

See, Glenn Doman believed that, if at all possible, you should give your child the most exact, precise, and clear information you can. That means telling your child that "There is a pretty robin!" not just a "bird" (or even worse, "birdy" or "tweet tweet").

Even better than telling your your child there is a pretty robin would be to tell your child that "There is a pretty bird called an American Robin [its actual name] and the pretty bird's scientific name is Turdus migratorius!" If you have that information, of course.

They both take the exact same amount of time and effort. But as you can quite obviously see, they both don't have the exact same amount of impact or effect by far.

And while browsing through the awesome variety of reptiles, small mammals, arachnids and birds in the super store, we were delightfully enlightened by such precise, clear, discreet (and interesting) names as the veiled chameleon, the red-eared slider turtle, the rose-haired tarantula, the ball python, the bearded dragon lizard, the zebra finch, and the fancy green-cheeked conure, just to name a few.

What was equally delightful was that they not only had such wonderfully specific names below each creature's cage but also little bits and pieces such as its scientific name, its habitat, lifespan, species' characteristics and fun facts.

What a splendid (and free) way to not only enjoy the turtle munching lettuce or the mice flipping each other on the exercise wheel or the parrots having conversations but also to learn so much right then and there without any effort or researching on the parent's part.

All at just a stop at the mall.

"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." 

Genesis 2:19

Hunter is 5 years, 3 months old

First Lessons in Money Management

Hunter opened his first bank account today. With about $24 from his bank we went on a field trip to the bank to open his own savings account and begin the first of the bigger steps towards financial literacy, creativity and responsibility.

If there is one thing that is big on my heart, it is teaching my son important life skills like this. You can be an intellectual genius but if you're lazy, or irresponsible, you won't get far in life.

Some things he already knows about money:

1. Names and values of US currency
2. A basic understanding of the concepts behind banks and ATMs (that is, that we have to put money into the bank in order to get it back out of the bank)
3. That you can't just "get" money but have to do something for it, i.e., work (although he still tends to mention every once in a while, "Well we'll just buy it!" as if money grows on trees)
4. That it's important to keep receipts from your purchases (he loves keeping receipts and thinks its really cool)
5. And after today, an introduction to the idea that when you keep money at a real bank instead of a piggy bank, it grows because of interest.

But, he obviously still has a lot to learn.

I think this bank account will be a great learning experience for him, talking about interest, keeping track of the account and how it grows, and having financial goals, for starters.

"For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it."

Ecclesiastes 7:12

Hunter is 5 years, 1 month old

Junior Ranger

This past weekend Hunter earned his status as a Junior Ranger at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. He is now an official Blue Jay level (five to eight years old) Junior Ranger. They let him pass even though he isn't five yet.

We were given a little booklet with different activities for different ages. One of the Jay level requirements is to either hike a trail by yourself or attend a ranger-led hike or cave tour. We went on our own hike and did one of the other requirements, a scavenger hunt.

The first section was all about rocks, and we found all of them:

• A smooth rock
• A flat rock
• A rock bigger than you
• A rock as small as your fingernail
• A rock that fits in your hand
• A rough rock
• A round rock

There were a couple other activities in the rock section, like finding a rock and labeling all the different colors you see in it. And drawing a picture of your favorite rock (he just drew circles). He was also supposed to give his rock a name that described it. He called it Robert.

We had a lot of fun trying to find everything on the other part of the scavenger hunt too. At one point we sat on the side of the road for five minutes just trying to see if that was really a bird singing that we heard so we could check it off of our list. We kept our eyes on the woods while we were driving trying to find a tree that had been on fire. And we were so excited when we saw a little bug flying out of our car, another check for the list. Of all the things we found were:

• A giant sequoia cone
• A tree that fell down
• An insect
• An acorn
• A pine needle
• A seed
• Bark of a tree
• A rock
• A pine cone
• A bird
• An animal track (we found a deer track!)
• A tree that has been in a fire
• A bird singing

The things we didn't find on the list were: signs of a squirrel, a squirrel, a mushroom, a deer, a flower, and a feather. We were also asked what was the most fun thing to find and Hunter put "a cave" (we found a real bear's cave!)

While we were scavenger hunting we were also garbage hunting, as you're also supposed to bring in a bag of recyclables or garbage that you find. We found a box, an old board, some cans and bottles, and even a large metal object that appeared to have come off of a car.

He did two activity pages, one where he drew a line from a pile of objects as either "safe for bears" or "goes in a food locker" and learned the importance of keeping food where bears can't get it. The other activity was a picture where he was supposed to circle children were doing good things to help the park (like recycling, observing birds, and storing food safely) and put an x on children who were doing bad things that harm the park (like washing dishes in the river, picking flowers, or carving on trees).

He learned a lot about rocks, wildlife, and the importance of taking care of the park, leaving things where we find them, and respecting the animals, plants, and habitats for future generations.

After we completed all the activities, we went to the ranger station with our recyclables, our filled-out booklet, and Hunter was quizzed on some of the things he learned. 

Hunter was then "sworn in" as a Junior Ranger, promising to protect the park, share his experience with others, and continue to learn more for years to come. He was so proud!

He got a little plastic ranger badge, and we bought him a Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park embroidered badge to put on a jacket we want to give him for all the places he has gone. We are looking forward to exploring many more of the amazing places this beautiful country has to offer!

"The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness... and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory." 

Psalm 29:8-9

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

How Californians Play in the Snow

How Californians Play in the Snow:

1. Pick one of the many mountain ranges and drive to it.
2. Find some mountains that are really high. You're likely to find snow.

3. Drive up the mountain. Take a lot of pictures, just so long as you aren't the one driving.
4. Find a lookout spot on the side of the road and pull over.

5. Build that mountain snowman that your kid has been talking about ever since he found out that it doesn't snow in our new home.

6. Give the snowman arms. Take pictures.

7. Check out the awesome scenery. Take some more pictures.
8. Initiate snowball fight. Repeat.

9. After a great deal of snowball fighting fun, do a bit of roadside trail trekking.
10. Drive home to the 50-some degree average winter temperatures, glad that you can visit the snow without having to deal with six months of it.

"They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter." 

Job 24:8

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

Stop, Drop, and Roll

About a week ago we had our mandatory fire safety orientation with the base's fire chief.

She came in and went over a bunch of fire safety procedures, showing us how to test the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, showing us where the breakers are, handing out some brochures and fridge magnets, etc.

Hunter, who was watching and listening (and being a bit too talkative during the demonstrations) offered his advice when she inquired what he would do if there was a fire in the house.

"Get water." he says.

We both laughed but, not exactly the answer she was looking for.

Next he offered, "I would hide in the closet."

Great I'm thinking. Can you tell that this is perhaps an area Mommy hasn't really taught yet?

But no, it gets better. Next he says he would jump out the window. (I think this kid has seen too many movies). At least, though, that is a possibility in a dire situation. I'll give him that.

I could tell I had my hands full.

Thankfully, though, this week just happened to be Fire Prevention Week, in honor of the great Chicago fire on October 8th of 1871. And there just happened to be a Fire Safety open house at the base fire station tonight. How convenient is that?

I have been wanting to take him on a field trip to a fire station for forever, so this was the perfect little coincidence (and wake up call).

It was really cool how they set up the open house. When you got there, you were given a little card with six little pictures representing the different activities to do. After you did each activity, you got your card stamped, and once your whole card was done, you turned it in for a bag full of goodies (a bunch of fire-safety themed toys - comic book, magnet, plastic cup, pencil, bracelet, ruler, fire hat... I forget what else). These are the activities he did:

Exhibit 1: Stop, drop, cover your face and roll activity (picture above)
A fireman demonstrated to the kids what to do if your clothes catch on fire, and explained why. They stuck a felt "fire" on the kids and let them practice.

Exhibit 2: Put out the fire
This was just for fun. There was a little wooden house frame they had built that had hinged "fires" in each window. The goal: "put out" the fires by knocking them down with the power hose.








Exhibit 3: Bucket brigade
They had this fun activity to demonstrate how fires were put out before the invention of the fire hose: a long, long line of lots of helpers passing buckets down the line until the fire was gone.




Exhibit 5: Fireman's hose
He got to try out a real fire hose (with some help). Boy are those things powerful! And they didn't even have it on full blast.






Exhibit 6: Dress up
He got to try on the fire suit, talked about how it protects them from the flames, talked about the purpose of the reflective gear, the helmet, etc. He also got to see how they store the suits so they can put them on really fast when the alarm goes off.







Exhibit 7: Smoke house
This was probably the best. They went inside the smoke house (trailer) and talked about what to do in a smoking building. They practiced crawling under the smoke, how to feel a door to see if it's hot (and, if so, do not open it), how to wave a cloth or similar item outside a window to signal for help, and how to properly climb out of a window ladder.






He also got to: check out the inside of a fire truck; get a good look at the inside of an the engine; watch the extendable ladder being raised; watch an actual fire being put out and how to properly use a fire extinguisher; get his picture taken with Sparky the fire dog; check out the fire station; eat cookies and lemonade; and more!

What a fun, incredible evening we had!

And, on top of all the fun, it is nice to know that he is a bit more fire safe now. (And, by the way, on the way home he told me that if there was a fire in the house, he would "run out as fast as I can" and "call the fireman".) Our "meeting place" is at the mailbox, which is a couple houses down. And we're talking about when and how to call 911. Should he ever need to.

"Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine." 

Job 18:5

Hunter is 4 years, 6 months old

Road to Imagination...

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress... the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

Psalm 18:2

Hunter is 4 years, 5 months old

At the fair (mobile blogging)

At the fair (mobile blogging)

Hunter is 4 years, 4 months old

Looking at Air Force display at the library

Looking at Air Force display at the library (mobile blogging)

Hunter is 4 years, 3 months old

Park Pictures

We went to the park, as well as an indoor play place, with Hunter's great Grandma today.

It was relatively nice out - in the upper 40's - but the park was too windy so we only stayed for a little while before deciding to head to an indoor play place a few minutes away.

He had a lot of fun and it was nice to get to see Gramma. We need to do things like this more often!

Physical movement is a vital part of intellectual development. Here Hunter works his way down the slide, which is not quite as simple as it looks!

Hunter getting brave and walking across the net bridge. He was somewhat stumped by it at first, later working up the courage to cautiously scoot across on his bottom, then finally the bravery to make the trip standing.

"But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob..."

Genesis 49:24

Hunter is 4 years, 0 months old

The "Farm"

Today we had another one of those "spontaneous field trips" when, while we were visiting a friend, we were invited to go over to the neighbor's house to visit their animals.

What Hunter was calling "the farm" was a backyard filled with all sorts of interesting animals that you would have never known were there by just looking at the front area of the property.

He got to feed goats (which he kept calling "baby lambs"), play with some dogs, chickens, and then feed a herd of ponies. And then to top it all off, he got to drive a tractor!

It wasn't that big of a piece of property, but he had so much fun. At one point, when he was by the goats, he called, "Hey, farmer!" to the owner, which everyone thought was pretty funny.

"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine."

Psalm 50:10-11

Hunter is 4 years, 0 months old

St. Patrick's Day

Today Hunter went to a St. Patrick's day parade.

His favorite part? The Irish Setters (dogs), and the candy of course.

It's not a big holiday on our list, but we learned a little history about it anyway. We read the book "St. Patrick's Day" by Dorothy Rhodes Freeman, which was pretty interesting and gave us a general idea of who he was and what he did, and how certain traditions came to be associated with him (like leprechauns, heavy drinking, and clovers).

The holiday wasn't a huge focus of ours but he had a fun day anyway.

"O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness... The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God..."

Psalm 68:7-8

Hunter is 4 years, 0 months old

First Time Bowling

Hunter went bowling for the first time today. It was one of those spontaneous trips - his 11-year-old cousin came over to spend the night and we thought it would be a fun way to spend the evening.

The place had shoes to fit little kids, but no balls that he could actually handle. The smallest size (a six) was pretty heavy and bulky for the little guy, although he did surprisingly good anyway.

Using the bumpers, he was actually ahead of some of us for a little while! I tried various techniques to help him to get the ball down the lane (since it was too heavy for him to throw it the proper way), including rolling it between the legs, rolling it from the side of his body, or doing a sort of sideways "toss". None worked all that great (the ball rolled very slowly down the lane), but by the end of the night he seemed to have figured out his own technique for getting it down there.

A few times I was afraid that with his "tossing" technique he was going to accidentally toss it into our neighbors lane (which he actually intentionally tried to bowl on at one point), which I don't think would have been viewed as humorous since our neighbors on both sides were pretty good, and pretty serious about their game.

All in all, he really enjoyed the game. At first he was pretty antsy waiting for his next turn (see picture above, of him staring at the screen waiting for his name to pop up). But after a while he was fine with rolling his ball, watching it go down the lane, and then happily skipping back to his seat for a piece of pizza.

He didn't learn all that much this night about how to bowl properly, but he did have a really fun time and learned some rules of the game (like the goal of the game [getting the ball down the lane to knock over the pins], how many points a strike is worth [which he got one time, by the way!], and courtesy rules [i.e., don't bowl in your neighbors lane, stay off the floor when it's someone elses turn, etc.]). I wish that they would have had smaller balls, so he could really learn how to play, but I'm not too worried about it since we have enough on our plates right now of things to learn! Perhaps one day, when he's a bit older and more fitted to the ball, he will be able to take up this fun game!

"And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had...And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine..."

1 Samuel 17:40,49

Hunter is 3 years, 11 months old

Museum of Science and Industry

An Afternoon at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry from joel gratcyk on Vimeo.

Today we went with our family to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We haven't been there in a long time even though we have a membership. It's a really great museum, and apparently the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere! We're so blessed to live so close to such awesome learning experiences in our community.

The main focus of our visit was to see their seasonal exhibit, Christmas Around the World or also called Holiday of Lights. Each year at Christmas time they deck their halls with dozens of Christmas trees, each tree representing one of more than 50 countries. The ornaments on the trees represent the traditions of the country and there is a tablet in front of each tree giving you information about how that country celebrates, a traditional holiday greeting (Feliz Navidad!), and other fun information.You can actually go to the link above and read about the different countries featured.

Some of the trees didn't quite represent that country's respective decorating traditions, i.e. the USA tree looked more like a Fourth of July tree than a Christmas one! But the Swedish one, on the other hand, had tons of familiar decorations, like the straw reindeer and the weaved paper heart ornaments. Hunter's Great Grandma was full-blood Swedish, and we actually have some Swedish Christmas decorations such as these that she gave us.

We learned a lot in this exhibit and read many of the trees.

Fast Forward

The Fast Forward into the Future exhibit was pretty neat. Emailing pizzas? Human-like robots? There was a lot of interesting stuff in this exhibit, which Hunter enjoyed. Below - Hunter and Jocelyn enthralled by the "magic" mist at the entrance; Hunter experiments with some sort of sound-mixing music machine; Hunter tests out a fuel-efficient car; butterflies land on Hunter's outline as he experiments with a computer that can be run by your shadow.

Chicks and Genetics

Hunter really loved the baby chicks at the Genetics exhibit. I think we all did, as we hung around there for a long time! There were a lot that were already hatched but we didn't get to see any hatching, unfortunately. Hunter and Jocelyn also really loved playing with this touch-screen controlled video presentation that takes you into life in the womb.

Trains

We briefly looked at the train exhibit. There were tons of awesome little electric trains running on over 1000-feet of track, with mini replicas of the city of Chicago and so much more.

Aerodynamics

We spent quite a while relaxing in the aerodynamics exhibit, which I would have loved to explore more with Hunter, except I spent most of the time sitting down! We were all pretty exhausted at that point - well, everyone except Hunter that is! I had a hard time keeping an eye on him as he was busily running all around checking everything out!

"And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints."

Psalm 89:5

Hunter is 3 years, 8 months old

Vote

It was Hunter's first time going to the polls today. I'm not sure why I've never taken him with me, maybe I just never thought about it before. It was a beautiful day, so beautiful we decided to walk.

The church where we were to vote was about a block away, and the whole family went together. It was a solemn walk, a quiet, thoughtful walk. After months upon endless months of fierce debate, talk, and discussion of the weighty issues that are at stake, judgment day has finally come. It seemed almost unreal, that this historic campaign would ever end. It's been an intricate part of our lives for almost two years now, but the issue will finally come to a close as people cast their votes on who will lead this nation over the next four years.

As we walked, it was so solemn because it was now obvious that, on the larger scale, everything was now out of our hands. You can put on a convincing debate but in the end, what you have concluded on the issues doesn't dictate much. We knew, today, that it is all in God's hands.

So we did our civil duty, we learned about our democratic-republic form of government, we learned about modern voting machines and about different men who want to be our leaders and why we vote for certain ones and what they stand for and why we don't for others. And, most importantly, we learned why we pray for them. "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." 1 Peter 2:1-2

That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty - that pretty much sums it up right there. We want leaders who will allow us to lead a quite and peaceable life in godliness. There is a great danger pressing, a danger of leaders who believe that the government is the dictator of our life, that children are the property of the state and all of our choices ought to be approved, monitored, and controlled by it. That, my friend, is why we vote, why we are involved in public policies and offices and campaigns. It is so vital to our freedom to worship and rear our own children, and nothing is more important than that. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

There's a lot of issues at stake, but in the end, it is all in the hand of the Lord.

"By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth."

Proverbs 8:15-16

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

Proverbs 21:1

Hunter is 3 years, 7 months old

A puddle so big you could swim in it

I am a bit of an impulsive parent, sometimes.

There are a lot of things I did as a kid which, now that I'm a parent, I think, How could my parents let me do that? Like climbing a hundred feet up in the air in a wobbly trees. Or building crazy forts out of junk. Or playing endless hours by railroad tracks.

Now, not necessarily saying Hunter will do those things but, still, I sometimes am a little on the wild side in my parenting. I want Hunter to have good, wholesome adventure in his life, and not have to go out looking for it in video games or drugs or wherever kids tend to get their "excitement" fix these days.

Which explains why, today, I took Hunter down the road to a baseball field. Which was completely flooded. Like five-feet of water flooded.

And even though at first, I was a bit hesitant (considering, we were about to go somewhere in a half hour!), I still let him go from dabbling his finger in the edge of this "giant puddle" to stripping down to his boxers and having a swim.

And in complete honesty, if it was as easy for me to redress myself, I would have gone swimming too. Just because I'm a little bit crazy like that.

He had fun. And even though it was a bit of an inconvenience, summer is almost over so might as well get what you can while it's here.

After all, life's too short to let it pass you by without doing the inconvenient sometimes. Which includes taking time to splash in the puddles. Or sometimes, swim in them.





"The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea."

Psalm 93:3-4

Hunter is 3 years, 5 months old

Hunter's First Play

It's Popcorn Festival time! It's been a family tradition to go to the Chicago Street theatre play during this weekend. They used to have performances on the day of the festival but now only have them leading up to it.

Hunter really enjoyed the play. He kept talking about the monkeys and asking when they were going to come back on stage.

It was pretty short, which was good for kids. It was cute, and had good props. It inspired me to want to read the books! We really need to finish up Treasure Island so we can get onto more of the great classics.

All in all, it was a great experience for Hunter's first play. Except our van battery dying - in the pouring down rain. But, alas, life has it's ups and downs. And thank God for friends to come jump our vehicles! But it was good fun still - I know Hunter will be talking about it for many weeks to come.

"...Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

1 Samuel 15:13

Hunter is 3 years, 5 months old