FIELD TRIP - HENRY DOORLY ZOO

Today was perfect weather to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Laramie loved the carousel. The brightly colored animals made it difficult to choose which one to ride on.

The llama did not seem to be too interested in us and certainly did not seem to appreciate my attempts at finding words that rhyme with llama. (Silly momma!)

The baby goats were adorable. Just two months old. Laramie was fascinated at how they ate straw right out of her hand.

Miracle Seeds

Every night I read the same easy reader book to my six year old daughter. Each week we pick a new word sight word for her to learn. One of the larger words in the book is 'miracle'. Typical for a six year old she asked me what a miracle was. I had to think about that. How do you explain a miracle to a child? Doing the best I could I explained to her that it is something only God or Jesus could do. We conversed for a short while about what is (parting of the Red Sea) and isn't (baking a cake) a miracle.

Obviously the lesson was not lost on her as few days later we were driving in the historic Old Market District of Omaha when she spied a large , vibrant mural. Very excited to use a big word she proudly pointed out the huge miracle on the side of the building. I hated to dim her enthusiasm but I explained that while God did give us life and talents to use in our life that people had painted the mural. She accepted that pretty easy and it didn't detract from her appreciation of the enormity of the painting on the side of the building.

Yesterday we were talking of the weather and how the snow is pretty but we are ready for Spring. Warm weather, green grass and planting a garden. I said that Grandma would come over and help us plant flowers, lots of colorful flowers such as pansies, petunias and marigolds.

"Miracles!" My daughter gets excited when she hears this. '' I am going to plant miracles with my Grandma'' she proudly says nodding her head. Watching her sweet face and her head of bobbing blonde curls I couldn't correct her. Unmarred faith that only children have and believing that everything that is wonderful to her is a miracle is nothing less than a miracle.

Field Trip!

There are many positive reasons to homeschool and definitely one of them for me is taking field trips. This past week we went to the annual auto show at the Qwest Center in Omaha. The very nice gentleman at the ticket booth didn't charge me for my sweet smiling six year old so I just had to pay admission for Luke and I. Being sixteen Luke enjoyed the day more than Laramie and I but we all had a great time. We sat in incredibly small vehicles and Hummers. Ooohed and ahhhhed over the Mercedes and BMWs. It wasn't just a good time, we learned about sticker prices and options and the difference between economy and luxury cars. We enjoyed speaking to the representatives of the Smart Car and hybrid cars. The current economy has greatly affected the automotive industry and many of the representatives held different opinions as to where it was headed. Only one dealer questioned why mine were the only children there that day. When I explained to him that we homeschool and this was a field trip he asked if he could show me a minivan. I guess many people have that stereotype of homeschoolers as the uber-evangelicals with a passel of conservatively dressed kids.

So we learned about more than cars that day, we learned how funny and inaccurate stereotypes can be.

Andrew Wyeth July 12, 1917 - January 16, 2009

How sad that Andrew Wyeth passed away today. Famous American realist painter, his works even hang in New York City's Museum of Modern Art.

In our homeschooling my children and I are studying artists and plan to go to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha for a field trip in a few weeks. How fortunate that they house one of his works. We will have to make a special point to view the painting of Wyeths that is on display there. Half Bushel was painted in 1959.

A fact that many people do not know is that Wyeth was homeschooled and viewed it as a ''great opportunity''. What a terrific view of homeschooling and a valuable lesson for our homeschooled kids. You can be anything you want to be even if you are not on the treadmill of the public education system.

My Support of Public Schools

I got a parking ticket on our latest venture into Omaha. I didn't even notice the meter. I was cold so I rushed into the store and didn't give it another thought. I obviously should have. Much to my dismay I had a parking ticket on my windshield when I returned to my car. Bummer. I was sure that it was going to cost me an arm and a leg. I have only received one other parking ticket before and that was years ago at an airport. That one cost me $25.00 so I had a sinking feeling that this one was going to be a whopper. Wrong. $16.00. That isn't too bad. Of course I could have avoided it by sticking a couple quarters in the meter but I was relieved that it was under twenty dollars. The ticket comes with an envelope and states I have two weeks to pay it. As I was writing out the check today I noticed the instructions indicate to make checks payable to the Public School Fund. I chuckled at the irony of an avid homeschooler such as myself has to pay a ticket that benefits the Public School Fund.

IMPERIAL NUTCRACKER

Last week the kids and I took a field trip to Omaha to see the Imperial Nutcracker at the Orpheum Theatre. The theatre itself was worth the trip. Built in 1927 and later restored in 2002 the Orpheum is breathtakingly wonderful. Gorgeous velvet curtains, ornate lighting fixtures. What a grand theatre. Its beauty just adds to the experience.

While waiting for the performance to begin I took the opportunity to discuss the architecture with my son and daughter. I wanted them to see and appreciate the difference between the Orpheum and the typical cramped movie theaters they are more accustomed to.

We enjoyed the Imperial Nutcracker very much. The set designers did a fantastic job and the costumes were perfect. We were all enchanted with the dancers, their costumes were a perfect compliment to the set and storyline. We had a fantastic experience that afternoon, one we won't soon forget.