We originally were looking at a 90 cc for him but ended up getting such a good deal on the one we bought that we got it....125 cc. It's big enough that I can ride it...I did last night. We turned the screw all the way down and it also has a remote cut off switch so if he gets out of hand we can cut the engine on him. It is a 3 level shifter on the pedal with a hand brake and a foot brake. He is getting the hang of it and Maddie rode it last night with Daddy and really had a good time. We made him watch the safety video that came with it and we keep making him go through a safety checklist every time he starts out. We are going tomorrow to get his helmet, gloves, goggles, and boots so that if he wants to go to the dirt track he will be set once he learns the basics.
He is doing really well and did his journal writing without any problems today. He kept looking at me and saying..."I did my schoolwork well didn't I mommy?" Killing me. I really want to thank Britesea for the journal suggestion cause that was wonderful. Today he copyed three sentences to start his journal that I helped him with. One about his name, one about where he lives (town name) and one about something he likes. I left plenty of room for him to draw and told him that he can draw whatever he wants as long as he writes something about each picture and he was really cool with it. I told him that we were going to do it every day and he said "okay mommy this is fun". We also started a chart of this week's weather.
I am reading a book by Grace Lewellyn called Guerilla Learning and it is giving me a whole new perspective on "schooling". She is writing for all school situations, not just homeschooling and giving suggestions on how to keep children engaged and excited about learning something every day, even if they have to get mediocre grades on some areas. She also discusses how, in her opinion, grades should not be the main focus of education and that the process of learning and the discovery of things should be what is important. The process is more important than memorizing facts and spitting them out on a test. She also suggests that we talk to our children about our values and why we value education and what education means to us. She also suggests that we talk to our children about how every person can contribute to society and earn a living even if they don't get perfect grades or go to an ivy league school or make lots of money at their job. She asks that parents teach their children that trade skills are valuable and that if you are truly interested in something you can turn it into a career with hard work and dedication, especially in this country where entrepenuers are valued members of society. I am really finding some useful stuff in here and I can really identify with a lot of what she is saying. She is not against public schools but she is against some of the ways information is taught in that setting. Like letting children do something but then when they really get into it and are enjoying learning about something...she discusses a friend's daughter learning about science and another's son doing an art project...making them stop and go on to something else without being able to finish completing the process they were into. She gives tips to parents that use public school on how they can enhance their children's education both in and out of school.
I am totally going to use the ATV to help my son learn how to maintain it and learn some mechanical skills with his daddy. The guy we bought it from said to bring it back in 30 days and he would check all the systems on it and tighten the chain and change the oil and show us how to do some of the basic maintenance all at no charge to us. I totally would go to this guy again if we were to buy another one. He sold us a better machine at 1/3 of the price of the other one we looked at AND he let Tyler test drive it and 2 others to see which one he liked best. He also told us what we needed to do if we wanted to get him into racing them.
Today we are going to gymnastics for the first class and I really hope they like it. I think they will....Maddie has been standing on her head and turning flips for 2 weeks in anticipation.
I'm hoping to get to shoot my gun later this week but I have a guy coming to buy a pair of indian runners tomorrow and a lady coming friday to get the 3 youngest ones. That will bring me down to 6 ducks and help cut my food bill for the winter. We are also trying to figure out what to do about the meat birds. I don't want to raise any for anyone else...I just want to do 35 for us and be done with it.
It will cost us more but we could finish them faster. 65 was a bit much for our size tractor and if we went over that number we definitely would need another tractor.
Yesterday crazy cake lady called and asked my husband if he would come over and mow her yard. WTH?? Are your legs broken? Her husband is work 7-12hour days and evidently she is too lazy to mow the grass herself. Uh, no. Today hubby has to go down and mow our friend's yard down the road....she actually needs someone to do it for her. She is in her 60s, doesn't have a lawnmower, lives in a duplex and her neighbor was mowing the entire yard until they got into an argument about a cat, and she has diabetes and gout and couldn't mow it herself even if she did have a mower cause her feet are so swollen. He's gonna take our trash and hers to the dump today too before gymnastics.
Got 3 loads of laundry done...changed all the bed linens and yesterday did 2 loads of towels before we did the bees and went out for the day. I may take the kids out to get some leaves for their nature books too later. Gotta get a move on it or they'll all fall off the trees before we get it done!
. I did ask for a plucker but its not going to happen this time. 
