February AYM and Photo Scavenger Hunt

The AYM topic for this month was English. I challenged the group to use a sentence diagram as their title. Not everyone complied, but many did!! Just check them out below.

"I have learned through the years that non-verbal communication is just as important as the spoken word, if not more.  You can tell a lot about a person by their non-verbal cues.  I have been told many times I wear my feelings on my sleeve. I apparently have many facial expressions- these pictures have captured some of my classics. The "pouty pictures" are taken when I was about 4.  The other picture is of me pitching a softball in junior high.  Perhaps this "pitching face" is where the nickname Stamminator was born from. So, while I'm not speaking in these pictures, my face is sure saying something!" 

It always amazes me that our children learn the English language, and that they are able to communicate from ages just over 1 year old when I struggle to remember just one word of another language.

These are a few of my favorite stories about the cute things my three biological grandchildren have said to me.

Adrian is the oldest and since he was just a few months old, he loved my clock.  It plays a song from 6 different songs every hour, but what is really unique is that the clock divides and spins revealing all kinds of working parts.  As soon as he would hear the music he would yell, “Clock, Grammie, clock”.  We would watch the workings of the clock every hour. 

Sadie found us November 11, 2009.  She was a stray that wondered into our yard and decided to stay.  She is a great dog, but can be very vocal.  Being a bird dog must make her think she can sing like the birds, however, her voice can be very deep or very high. Mariah Carey has nothing on her.  But some of her best “words” are unspoken.  She’s been with us for over 4 years and we discover more of her words every day.  Most of her sentences end with an exclamation mark- that’s why she’s so sassy. Melodye

AYM/Science

I finally took a picture of my own layout.

The title of my page is "My Contribution to Science." Here's the story:

My Contribution to Science

I never really liked Science. Well, maybe I liked my Gilbert Chemistry set when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. I liked getting the little red volcano to erupt. But that's about it. I did my share of science reports---never liked ‘em. And when I got to high school, my only memory of science was having to go in during the Christmas holidays to clean the biology lab for having too many “gum fines.” I definitely hated the Science Fairs. It was supposed to be an optional activity, but instead, our teacher made it a requirement.

I had all but forgotten that experience until Stephanie came home in the 7^th grade and said she had to enter the Science Fair. OMGosh---the hell began. Science Fairs at Overbrook were serious business. The first thing we had to do was have a family meeting to decide what the project would be. Then, Stephanie had to submit “our” idea in writing to her teacher for approval. She was rejected 3 times. There were strict guidelines. You had to bring your own card table---we didn’t have one which meant we had to borrow, pick up and drop off one from a friend. Said table had to be delivered to school on a particular day and time. It had to be picked up on a particular day and time too. I’d say that’s where the trouble began. But it really began at the beginning. After the whole thing was over, I made an appointment with the principal, Sister Mary Charles. It went like this:

“Sister, if this project was meant to bring families closer together, it was just the opposite for us. There were just a lot of tears and fighting at our house as each idea was rejected---including an award winner for a couple of kids in St. Louis. My husband travels. I can’t build anything. I don’t sew either. I can’t draw or paint. You can see where this is going. With little help from me, Stephanie was left to complete her project on her own---and it looked like it. Next, the card table. Not only did I have to hunt one down to borrow, but on the required pick-up day, I managed to lock my keys in the car with the engine running in the MIDDLE OF THE HOOK UP LINE. You may recall the massive delay that caused. I was not too popular that day!”

I stopped and took a deep breath and stated the reason for my visit, “Sister, I hated science when I was a kid. I’ve already done all of my homework and reports. I don’t’ want to be involved in my daughter’s. PLEASE, please, please go back to making the Science Fair project optional for those kids that want to do it. And then, let them do it. I’m pretty darn certain that not a single kid in this school could build a fully functioning heart or light up the stage with their home-made waterwheel electricity. It just makes the projects truly done by the kids look lame in comparison.”

As I relayed our “family” experience, Sister Mary Charles chuckled throughout. She assured me that when the Science Fair rolled around next year, she would pray for our family. Of course, that’s what nuns do!

Anyway, lo and behold, the next year, the Science Fair turned out to be completely optional! I guess in a way, you can say that I made a contribution to science after all!

Photo Scavenger Hunt/January