How to entertain 9 year olds

Our oldest two grand girls are visiting us this week, and we are having a blast with them! We've taken them a few places and we've played in the sprinklers and played games in the house, and badminton outside, and it has just so far been a wonderful time for all of us.

But I think if you asked them, they might say that the best fun they have had is cutting cardboard!

It all began Sunday night when they decided to make houses for their hot wheels. The did that using scissors and scotch tape, but then they had left over cardboard, and that is when the hot wheels went to the wayside, and their obsession has been with the cutting of the cardboard!

The first picture is the little pile they had accumulated by Monday morning, the next few pictures are what they had accomplished by Tuesday morning.

They've pretty well cut up everything we can find for them. I don't know what we're going to do, but we may have to send grandpa to the grocery store to get them some more boxes!!!






And here is a picture of them and grandpa standing and sitting on the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Heritage Museum here in town. It is a very small museum, but I know both the curators there, and Mr. Keller spent a lot of time telling the girls about the things in the museum all about Abraham Lincoln. He even let them touch and hold things so that was really special!



And, here is just one of several shots I took of them playing in the water on the patio. They went out twice yesterday once before lunch then again after and they really got a kick out of the mud they made, Rachel especially enjoyed squishing the mud between her toes.



I have city council tonight, so they are going on a very special date with Grandpa. He's going to take them out to supper at McDonald's, then let them play in the playland area (if it's air conditioned).

I won't be there to take pictures, but I'm going to load up my little camera that the girls have used in the past and let them take it with them.

Grandpa thinks this will be a great thing, just him and his girls, and they are looking forward to it too!

Highlights of the Logan County Route 66 Celebration

This past Friday and Saturday were the Route 66 "37 Miles of Smiles Garage Sales" in Logan County.

But in addition to the garage sales and flea markets there were a lot of other things going on as well.

For example, Friday afternoon we had the HOG's (Harley Owners Group) of Illinois come though town and make a stop at The Mill restaurant. The Mill just a few short years ago was destined for demolition, but there was a revival of sorts, and now it is being refurbished, and hopes are that by this time next year, it will be opened as a routte 66 heritage museum.

Thus far it has gotten new windows, a new sale, and some fresh paint on the front portion of the outside. Inside walls and floors are in the process of being refurbished.

The HOGS stopped in and listed to an explanation of the Mill and the roll it played in route 66 history, including being at least once a hideout of sorts for the one and only Al Capone.

Saturday afternoon, the Route 66 Motor Tour Association of Illinois made a passport stop in Lincoln on the square. The group was headed to Springfield, where they will have a big dinner and during that time, The Mill will be induced into their route 66 Hall of Fame.

The first picture is of "Baby" the green iguana, who attended the car show.

The others are just some of my favorites, out of the total of 315 pictures I took in the last two days!






This picture I took Friday morning around 6. I was out to get pictures of the folks setting up their flea market booths. I just think it is a neat pic.



And, I also had to hit Broadwell and Elkhart as they too were having sales.

This pic is the south side of Elkhart hill, the John Gillett Farm.

How does the garden grow

Well, I realize it has been a while since we updated the tomato business. So, I thought maybe you all would be in the mood for some green tomatoes!



We have had so much rain, that just walking outside is like walking on a sponge, and up here that is rare. Soil ususally drains well, so well, that generally be now Rich is having to do a little watering, just to make sure everything grows.

The plants are doing well, and as you can see he has maters on every bush.



He decided not to hang them this year as he has in the past. Last year we had some trouble with the plants being so heavy they pulled the metal cross wires down, and then he had to work to keep everything from getting tangled.

This year he's going with horizontal tying, where that he runs baler twine the length of the row, then clips the tomato plants to the twine.

We ran out of clips, and believe it or not, it lead to another landmark event for the hubs.

Rich hates to computer, but he will stand behind me and look at the screen while I navigate. So, out of clips, what to do? EBAY!!

Believe it or not we found clips at auction on eBay, and he after much debate decided we should bid on them.

So, long story short, the last 10 minutes, I sneak in and place a winning bid. Then we wait. Well we won, which to me is no big deal because I do a lot of SELLING on ebay, and I'm just like oh well whatever. But he was quite pleased. In the end, he even figured out that he had saved money, so that made him really happy.

So does this mean eBay has a new victim? Hardly! As soon as the auction was ended he backed away slowly from the pooter, and I don't really expect him to return to it any time soon!!!

Contact me

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If you want to talk to me directly about a subject I've posted, click on the "contact Nila Smith" and you will be directed to an encrypted email account I have through Searchwarp.

Adding this allows you to contact me without going through the "post comment" where your question becomes a permanent part of the blog.

I can also reply to your emails again without going public.

Regional Office of Education ROE 38 articles posted

I’ve added the four part series that I did for the Lincoln Daily News regarding the Regional Office of Education for Logan, Mason, and Menard Counties as a separate section on my sidebar.

This series was the result of a nearly three hour interview with Regional Superintendent Jean Anderson.

Those of you, who know me, know that I inherited my children after they were adults.

Therefore, I didn’t have any first hand experience with kids in school, except to draw from my memory of what it was like for me and my sister.

So, the first thing I have to say, is that even though Anderson is heads and shoulders above me in Education, experience, and sophistication, she was very approachable.

She didn’t get the least bit frustrated over what may have been elementary questions on my part. She never once made me feel like I was inferior in any way. And, I can assure anyone who might want to speak to her, that she will treat them with the utmost respect.

The series of articles covers quite a bit of information, and I could have written at least four more, but in the world of news, we have to cut, edit, cut, edit, and cut again.

So, there is a lot of good stuff in the series, but there is also some stuff that got left out.

One of the items that touched me most, was personal observations from Anderson regarding the life of a teacher.

Teachers have become not only educators, but also guardians on the whole of their students during the class day.

As such, they have to know each child, understand their behavioral issues, and deal with any emotional problems they may be having, plus be a nurse, a disciplinarian, and sometimes a substitute mommy.

And, their support system is very faint. Most teachers don’t get the chance to interact with other educators daily or even weekly. They can’t always talk about what they hear and see going on in the classroom with people outside of the school, so they end up isolated.

For example, if little Janie has developed a knack for hurting peoples feelings with her harsh words, that is an internal problem that the teacher has to deal with alone for the most part.

He or she can’t go home and talk about what a terrible little child Janie is. And while a talk with the parents may be warranted, and may actually happen, there is no release for the teacher in doing so. As a matter of fact, that may increase the stress level of the teacher, as now little Janie’s parents think the teacher is “out to get” their darling daughter.

Of course, there are exceptions. If they suspect a child is being neglected or abused, they are mandated reporters, and have to talk to their supervisors about those situations.

Once a teacher becomes a teacher, the education process for them is really just beginning.

They are required to do ongoing studies, which means many of them attend classes during their summer break, they take online courses during the school year, or perhaps even attend night-classes.

Parents who believe that teacher’s works from 8 to 3 are simply put; dead wrong. There are many teachers who between their work day, their classroom homework they have to do, and their course studies for ongoing education work 80 or more hours a week.

Plus high school teachers are often class sponsors, club sponsors, and chaperones for extracurricular activities.

Since public schools began, there have been ongoing complaints about children having too much homework. Kids and parents think that the teachers make enormous assignments just out of spite sometimes. But, what parents and kids alike need to know, is that when a teacher gives homework, they are also getting it themselves! Consequently, if they didn’t feel it was necessary, they wouldn’t do it.

Another thing that Anderson and I talked about that didn’t make it to the article was the new testing programs that are a part of the “No child left behind” act.

“Response to Intervention” is a classroom assessment program that uses a series of benchmarks to chart a child’s progress throughout the year.

The assessments are designed to identify how much the child has learned and retained during his or her class time.

Children who show a lack of progress are given additional assistance. This assistance may be extra one-on-one time with the teacher, a tutor, or whatever else is deemed necessary to get the student up to speed.

Anderson spoke highly of the program, even though it is not something that the Regional offices are involved with (which is why it didn’t make the articles).

The RTI is successfully identifying the needs of the students, without stereotypically sticking them into special ed classes. This has got to be a good thing!

If a little extra effort on the part of the teacher, parents, and child, can prevent the student from being dubbed as a special education case, is that not what we all want?

The program is identifying problems that in the past have been overlooked.

Anderson explained this and offered an example of how the testing is benefiting not only the students but the teachers; “this is a state wide initiative that I think is going to be tremendous as its already showing some significant positive change particularly in our elementary schools.

“I was on a school visit recently and the principal was talking about their kindergarten students and how they have made such gains in their achievement level since the first of the year.

“The school has used simple testing procedures with the children to determine their level of maturity. In every class there is a possibility of age gaps that affect a child’s ability to comprehend. These age gaps are most noticeable in the younger children.

“Conducting these tests enabled the teacher to identify which children were more advanced in the knowledge and maturity, and which were in need of more individual and personalized attention.

“The end result was that after a period of time, all the children were performing on the same level.

Anderson concluded saying; “I think that RTI is going to make a huge difference in education in Illinois.”

As I said there was much discussed, and even now I am only touching of a few points.

We talked a great deal about how home life affects child behavior.

This was a topic I would like to have put in the articles, but really couldn’t work it in as well as I wanted to.

With the loss of employers in this area, the increased cost of getting to work due to gasoline prices, and such, there are middle class families, who in the past have not needed assistance, and now they do.

Even though this sounds a bit stereotypical, it is founded in fact. People who have lived their life in poverty have a network that they can rely on. They know where to go to get rent paid, food, medical assistance, child care, and other essentials to survival.

The new breed of financially stifled families doesn’t have that experience. They are less informed about what they can get help with and what they can’t.

In addition, they are more hesitant to ask for help, because to them it is a stigma.

The end result, parents are taking on new burdens and with no support group so to speak to assist them.

Anderson said that this is translating to additional emotional and behavioral problems in the classroom.

For the most part, good parents think it is their job to protect their children from the trials of life, so they are talking in private, whispering their concerns, and doing all that they can to spare their children from the bad things that are going on.

The problem is, in their effort to protect, they are leaving it to the child’s imagination to figure out what is wrong.

Younger children especially, will let their minds carry them away, and may be envisioning a situation that is much worse than reality.

Anderson said that parents need to include their children in the discussion.

The financial situation at home may mean that there will be no family vacation this year, or that fun activities have to be cut out of the budget, and nothing more.

However, the child putting two and two together on their own may be thinking that the family can’t buy food.

The bad situation may lead to giving up a home and moving back in with a parent or sibling, while the child may consider the end result of loosing a home means they will be living in the park and sleeping in a car.

When creditors call, and parents try to be vague in their conversation, they are leaving children to imagine what kind of threats are being made toward their parents.

These are real situations, and parents need to be aware that they are causing worry and stress in the child’s life by omitting them from the conversation.

The end result of all this, is that their worries at home are going to the classroom, and it is causing lack of concentration, moodiness, and even conflict with other students or their teacher.

Now I’m not suggesting that you sit down with your seven year old, and show them your bank statement and all the bills you have to pay, but don’t try to hide from them that your struggling.

Tell them that mom, dad, or both have lost their jobs, but that doesn’t mean they are going to go hungry, that the family is okay, but that some of the fun things they like to do may have to be put on hold for a while.

If it comes to making a move, let the kids know that leaving this house doesn’t mean they won’t have a home, only that they are going to have a different home for a while.

If a parent has to leave town in search of work, don’t leave it to the child’s imagination as to why they are going, because they may wonder whether or not mom or dad is ever going to come back.

And finally, parents; know that you are not alone in this. Hundreds of thousands of families all across the nation are suffering from a bad economy. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and you and your children need to realize that.

If by the grace of God, you are not a family suffering, there are a few things you can do to help those that are.

First pray for your friends and if you are led to offer help, do so in a sincere, non-patronizing way.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is don’t speak about those you know who are suffering in a derogatory way, and teach your children not to do that either.

Well, I guess that is all I have to say for now. I hope you will read the articles on the ROE, and know that while they were written with this area in mind, much of the information there will translate to anywhere in the state of Illinois.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

Well, it is hard to believe, but today around noon, Rich and I marked 16 years of married life.

It’s hard to believe because in spite of the struggles, the moves, his near death illness, and everything else under the sun, it seems like only yesterday that we made the trip to Wycliffe Kentucky to visit a justice of the peace.

I remember it so well. It was a warm bright day. We dressed in the best we owned. I wore a pale purple dress with a white jacket; Rich wore his black dress pants and shirt.

We drove down to the small town, just over the border at Cairo.

We got our license but were told that we’d have to wait a bit because the judge slash justice was busy.

I remember the building was old, old, old with wooden floors and my heels clacked loudly when I walked. We went out into the center of the building, and sat down on a wooden bench.

We all know that in a small town, news travels fast, so I can only imagine that the recorders office was a buzz telling everyone there was someone here to get married, because we saw a constant parade of people. They were all passing by, staring and giving us silly Cheshire cat grins, like they knew why we were there.

Then again, maybe everyone in Wycliffe smiles like Cheshire Cats at everyone they see, who can say for sure.

We finally got in to see the judge, who was also a Gideon, and after he preformed the ceremony, he gave us a little Bible with our marriage documented in it, and we got back in our truck and headed home.

On the way home, I kept trying to examine myself and see if ‘being married” made me feel any different, but in truth it really didn’t.

The reason it didn’t was because getting married was really just the final step for us. I had committed myself to Rich and him to me nearly two years earlier, and we never looked back.

There were no bridal showers, or receptions, we simply got married and came home.

My mom gave us a gift the next time she saw us of Pillow cases that said “Mr.” and “Mrs.” on them and we were very pleased. My grandmother Ruby sent us a small glass dish as a gift, and Rich’s mom sent us a card. That was it, no other gifts, no other acknowledgments, but that was okay.

In 16 years of marriage, we’ve only had two arguments. Pretty remarkable I think. The first one was a childish, silly event not too long after we actually said our “I do’s” and it was soon forgotten.

The second one was a little rougher, a little harder to get past, but we did. In our defense though, I know that the anger we were both feeling at that time was at the circumstance we were in, and not at each other.

It was during the time that Rich’s sister was dying with cancer. Rich and I were doing all that we could to watch after Hazel, and we were tired, end of story.

I think with nerves on edge the only people we could yell at and know we would be forgiven were each other, so that’s what we did.

At the time, we had no clue that dealing with Sherry’s illness and eventual death was going to be just the tip of the iceberg for us.

After Sherry passed, Rich’s mom just couldn’t take it. She had for a long time suffered health issues of her own, especially pertaining to her heart, and diabetes.

Within two weeks after Sherry was buried, Hazel was in the hospital, and Rich and I were the ones who needed to take care of her once again.

I have not one regret that we did what we did for Hazel, and neither does Rich.

In the long run, it made both of us stronger individuals, and stronger as a couple.

And, the spat we had while Sherry was ill was all but forgotten except to say that it taught us that we needed to be very patient with each other sometimes, and to remember that if we were going to go through this kind of trial, we knew of no other person we’d want holding us up and giving us strength than each other.

My mom once told me that the things that Rich and I have gone through would tear most marriages apart, but that it has only served to makes ours stronger.

I find comfort in those words, and remember them every time something happens in our life that seems to push us to the edge. Somehow or other we always manage to talk each other down off the ledge, and we move on.

And, we’ve had some remarkably good times together. We neither one require much in the way or worldly goods, or costly entertainment.

Time spent with family is precious to us, and doesn’t come along often enough.

We can entertain ourselves in the simplest of ways.

We sometimes turn out all the lights in the house and stand in the windows watching our crazy neighbors doing something weird and theorize on what they are up to. Which by the way, we’re convinced that the ones across the street are on some major medications and have somehow gotten them mixed up because they are loopy most of the time.

We used to love to fish and mushroom hunt together, but up here it isn’t something we get to do much of anymore.

But here we have the balloons! We both love the balloons, and do all that we can to make every lift off and fly in of the weekend.

Rich really introduced me to the stock car racing, and it is something that we can share in. I have become a big fan of NASCAR, and almost know more about the teams and drivers than he does, almost.

We are not however fans of the same ones. I have several that I am a fan of, and he tolerates that and doesn’t say bad things about them in front of me at least, and once in a while when one of my drivers is in the lead, he’ll even root for them a bit.

And while farmers market does make us money, it is also something that we enjoy doing together.

When Rich was doing the greenhouse in Mason City, he would always tell me what he was doing, how he did it, and if he had learned anything new.

When we started going to the farmers market, I ended up being the “talker” most of the time (imagine that!) and would give folks complete details of how he did things at the greenhouse.

On day I overheard him say that I knew every detail about the business, and that he was really surprised that I’d paid that much attention.

And maybe that has been the key to 18 good years total, 16 today as husband and wife. We have always paid attention to each other.

We discuss all our decisions, even down to what’s for supper.

He still opens doors for me when we go places, and people who know us well, know that we never part company with out a good-bye kiss.

Right, wrong or indifferent, he is my greatest defender, protector, cheerleader and best friend, and I am his.

We never really do much to celebrate our anniversary. It always seems that there is something else that needs our attention, or our money (house payments, car payments, the electric bill, groceries, you know what I mean) so it usually ends up with us saying “Happy Anniversary to us” and that’s the end of it.

Last week Rich came home, and he said, “I’ve got a little problem here. I broke my wedding band.”

He and I are rough on stuff no doubt. I’d broken my wedding bands years earlier and was wearing an inexpensive gold band that matched his as closely as possible.

His was broken clean through. He told me he thought he could super glue it back together if he could just get it off without bending it too badly. Rich is the king of super glue, so if anyone could glue a wedding band back together he could. The problem was he couldn’t get it off over his knuckle! By the time he got it pried off it was a total wreck, I mean a real mess; so, so much for the super glue.

With our wedding anniversary only a week away, I got to wondering if we could find a set of bands that would match for not too much money, and lo and behold, Wal-Mart to the rescue!

When I was doing my regular shopping, I stopped by the jewelry department and saw that they had titanium rings that looked respectable for $38 each, which on our tight budget, was just what I needed to see. Gold bands were much higher, so I decided that it would just have to be titanium.

So today, we made the trek to Wally World and picked out new bands.

Mine feels a lot different, and will take getting used to because it is wider than the old one. With my big ole hands, I didn’t want a dainty ring, as I felt like it would look silly, and besides, when you buy inexpensive you have to choose what you like around the sizes available, and of course the price tag.

And, I think we about drove the sales girl nuts, because at one time we had a total of 9 rings lying on the glass counter. She would on occasion ask us if there were any she could put back, and of course we had to say no not just yet. Rich finally told her “we’re not trying to waste your time here; we are going to buy something before we leave this counter”. I think the main problem for her was she was worried about keeping track of everything that we had lying out.

So anyway, we finally made a decision that we could both be happy with, and as we say every year; “Happy Anniversary to us”!!

Are you Homeless? -- a must read for parents

Not too long ago I attended a meeting between Community Action and Habitat for Humanity. The two groups are joining together to do a rehab project where that they will purchase homes that have been foreclosed on, refurbish them, and offer them up for sale again.

In the course of the meeting, it was revealed that Logan County has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state of Illinois.

For the month of June this year, Habitat identified 15 homes that would go through foreclosure and be candidates for this new program.

I have mixed emotions about the program because I believe that instead of making the homes new again, and selling them, Habitat and Community Action should be trying to figure out how to keep the original owners in the homes, but that is not the true purpose of this article, so I'll get to it.

America on the whole is facing a rough economy. Young families pursuing the great American dream of home ownership, entered into agreements that now they find themselves hard pressed to fulfill.

I sympathize with these families, who are trying so hard to make a good life for their children, and have found themselves in some really bad situations.

As foreclosures rise, families are left homeless. They may have some alternatives that include low income housing through HUD, or they may be able to afford rent on a home that is perhaps not the one they would really like to raise their family in, but none-the-less it is a roof over their heads.

Some may find that they have to take temporary residence in a motel while they re-organize their lives and try to figure out how to get back on their feet.

And, there are some who are going to find themselves in a position of calling on family for help, specifically, merging their house hold with that of a parent, or sibling.

According to the McKinney-Vento Act which was first established in 1987, and reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind act of 2002, children who live in motels and those who are in merged families qualify as homeless.

However, especially in the case of moving in with grand parents, if is often overlooked as a homeless situation, simply because the family is more stable than they were previously.

However, as these struggling families work to get back on their feet, they need to be aware that there is assistance available to them through the public school districts under the McKinney-Vento Act.

Today I have an article in the Lincoln Daily news, part two of a 4 part series, based on a very in depth interview with the Logan-Mason-Menard Regional Superintendent of Schools. Part one ran yesterday and parts three and four are schedule to run tomorrow.

While the stories focus on this tri-county district, there is information included that applies to all school districts throughout the State of Illinois, and I would encourage every parent to read the articles so that they might better understand the processes of education.

I am emphasizing the article that is running today, because I feel strongly that when a family is trying to rebuild their lives, they should be exposed to every form of help that is available to them.

The section in today's article explains the liaison, and talks about what is available to assist families.

Additionally, when a family is in this kind of transition, it is important that teachers are aware of it. Children are going to be feeling some anxiety during this transition, which may cause them to shut down, or act out. Teachers need to know that there is an underlying cause, so that they can act accordingly.

Hopefully, you'll read the articles, and pass them along to anyone whom you think might need a better understanding of homelessness, and other issues affecting our schools, and our children.

Today's article: http://www.lincolndailynews.com/News/today052209_roe38b.shtml

Thursday's article:http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2009/May/21/News/today052109_roe38.shtml