Other Exciting February Happenings

We had probably our best- and longest- colloquium this past week where we discussed John Gatto's book above. Mr. Gatto was a public school teacher for 30 years and discusses some of the problems with the institution of compulsory schooling, and his ideas on how to "educate" verses how to "school." For my teacher friends out there, I'd love to hear what you have to say about this book. It's a quick read- about 100 pages- let me know if you agree, disagree, your thoughts, etc. I thought it was fascinating to see an inside opinion on such a topic. And what an important topic it is! Whether you home school, private school, or public school, this book will help open your eyes to some ways you can get more involved in your children's or grand children's educational journey.

Savanna had a colloquium this week as well. Her youth book group discussed "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor. A great book about perseverance and overcoming all odds. She also began meeting with our Bishop who is a builder/contractor. He is mentoring her in architecture and design which is one of her main passions right now. He designed and built his current home (among many others), and took her around the entire house, pointing out design features, efficiency features, costs, and overall functionality. It was really fascinating. He is planning on teaching her how to read blue prints, and she will be able to help him out with an upcoming project building a client's custom home. How cool is that?

I took the kids to the Symphony the other morning where the Santa Maria Philharmonic was putting on a presentation of Peter and the Wolf. The music is classic, and was accompanied by a narrator. Surprisingly, Ben was absolutely riveted. He kept saying over and over, "This is awesome!" Brad and Savanna seemed a bit bored. I thought it was great, but the best part was before the actual show when the maestro had each musician come to the front of the stage and play their instrument alone, tell the children the name of it, and little bit about how to play it. The boys' favorite was the double base.

As you can tell, the last couple weeks have been much more busy and interesting than the last couple of months. I am still having a bit of sickness in the morning, but can function fairly well the rest of the day! The baby is now 14 weeks along, and I am officially out of the first trimester! She is a little over 3 inches now and, according to my pregnancy diary, her bones are hardening and she weighs about 43 grams (which is about the weight of a letter).