Perseverance

You know those motivational posters..."Leadership", "Teamwork", etc. Here's how Cosmic Boy viewed the hike we went on Sunday (Yosemite Mist Trail). Click the picture for more other (de)motivational posters.



However, towards the end of the hike, when I was dead tired and asked "You boys want to stop?", he and Philip said "No!". Here's a picture of him at the top of Vernal Falls after we persevered to the end, past the complaining, earning the reward.


We also hiked to Wapama Falls the day before (seen in the background), about 5 miles. Click the photo for some info about the falls.


We were blessed to spend some time with some great people, I should make them all superheros, especially Orla for putting it together this year. Thank God for a time of fellowship with other believers, for an extended trip with the Trembaths, and for a time for Cosmic Boy to be with Mr. Incredible on his own. For some other pictures of the trip for those so inclined, go here or a video here.

Travis Buck Bobblehead day cancelled

A real bummer for the awestruck ladies who were smitten by his swagger. The good news is that they've rescheduled the event with the A's #1 fan. Click the picture to see him dance and listen to the music!

Wild kingdom part 2

I refilled the bird feeders this morning since I'm workin' at home and enjoy a little action. I don't know what drugs the feed companies put in the sunflower seeds but the competition gets fierce. Survival of the fittest at it's best. The little birds chased by the bigger birds chased by the blue jays chased by the squirrels chased by the cat. Nobody's around now at noon, so I guess they all got their fill. Was good to see Princess chase after the squirrel, tho I think my shotgun would be more effective.

Too bad Miss Piggy isn't a superhero...

Didn't the Muppets go to outer space? Does that qualify as a superhero? Is it possible for a superhero to change their alter-ego? We haven't crossed that bridge yet, so guess she's still Dynagirl for now, but Miss Piggy could become another code name.

I didn't get to go...

A insider visit to Pixar. Or did I? Watch the hand Mr. Incredible. Who is that imposter?

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall....

...Humpty Dumpty had a big fall....Well actually it was Dash. While riding back from Alamo (Safeway, Blockbuster, Thrifty Ice Cream, yum) on the Iron Horse Trail, Dash got a little too close to Mr Incredible and fell full speed, pretty much right next to me. Now the thing about this fall is there was very little blood...a little scuff on the forearm and some minor scrapes on the side...that's because he fell straight on his HEAD, the first thing to hit the ground. This wasn't one of those wobbly falls, it was BANG-BANG, straight down. Mr Incredible was pretty impressed with Dash's bravery, a few tears and some magic juice (Gatorade) and we were ready to hit the road. Looks like we'll need a new helmet since he CRACKED this one with his head, a first for the members of this hall of justice. Hopefully the dain bramage won't be permanent! I don't think I need to add any sort of "plug" for helmets for kids, this saved a certain concussion, large goose-egg, and a probable trip to urgent care.



Now we could have gotten going a lot faster after the crash, if Dynagirl hadn't gotten a bug in her eye AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME. Now again, to add to the uncharted territory for Mr. Incredible, I've never seen a bug stuck in quite this fashion; I could see it...it was big...but it wouldn't come out. I flushed, I poked, I huffed, and I puffed but no cigar. So, poor Dynagirl cried the whole way home, probably 2 miles or so. Her little finger was able to get it out once she had a mirror (and the tears for the 15 or 20 minutes probably helped loosen it up, who says crying doesn't help anything!)

Believe it or not, I think everybody had a good time, but I think the ride started a little better than it finished :-)

No ants in my pants

Now, granted, we're not exactly in the "in the sticks". But on our 17000 square feet of earth, the homestead ends up with it's share of critters.

One of the critters that hasn't come in full force inside the house (yet, knock on wood) is the ants. Mr. Incredible remembers lots of ants in the house as a kid, but so far they haven't been a problem. It's become a family joke as to what is keeping them away. Mr. Incredible always points to the doomsday of them "coming" but so far he is a false prophet.

The Energizer, eager of course to get to the bottom of the matter, has done some research and was told that termites keep ants away; we have a lot of fun giving tribute to these destructive little creatures for keeping away the harmless ants, hopefully it's not true.

Now there have also been a lot of spiders so they're starting to get some mention as the possible defender against the tiny troops. Wonder Woman barely goes in the bike shed anymore after entering a large black widows lair while trying to get out a cooler. I thought the spider was beautiful with it's full hourglass redspot, but somehow the wonder of God's creation was lost in her eyes.

Lately, we've been running into a lot of wolf spiders. Cosmic Boy seems to be able to find them on demand, and lately I've seen them at least 1X a week. Tonite, I almost accidentally stepped on 2 of them (1 outside and 1 inside). I'm guessing sometime back an eggsack with a gizzillion of these buggers must have hatched. Last year I was able to grab one by the leg with needle nose plyers and pull him out of the wall in the garage which tells you how strong their legs are. Not quite a tarantula, but close.

So, is it the termites or the spiders? Or maybe the ants are repelled by Dynagirl's electrical powers? Maybe the asbestos is still floating around from when the popcorn was removed from the ceiling and it keeps them away? There's plenty of room for the optimist or pessimist theories, take your pick or come up with one of your own; for now, we're just happy to be ant-free.

It starts with me

In some ways that's a prideful statement, in other ways it's one of humility. It struck me last night when listening and watching a child of some friends of ours just how influential I as a parent can be. This child was a carbon copy of his father. He stood the same, he talked the same, he laughed the same, I daresay he even thought the same. Again, pride aside, it hit me between the eyes (again). I matter. My strengths matter, my weaknesses matter, my attitudes matter, my actions matter, my thoughts matter. Furthermore, I'm responsible. I'm the parent. I'm the husband. I'm the father. And yet in the midst of all the "I"s, ironically, it's not about "I"(me). Life is so many times a question of influence; who am I being influenced by and who am I influencing. When looking at it that way, the "I" quickly disappears and the sense of purpose appears. However, when I'm dealing with those everyday hall of justice issues, maybe one logical place to look for answers is in the mirror while humming a Michael Jackson tune.

Bananaman

Another superhero has been born. There seems to be a long queue to be superhero'ed, I do my best to move the queue along.

Yes, this superhero is of course tied to food, just like in real life, only receiving power when eating the right food. He "eats a banana to transform into Bananaman, a lantern-jawed adult superhero, sporting a distinctive cowled blue and yellow outfit complete with a yellow two-tailed cape resembling a banana skin. " He is "an ordinary schoolboy, living at 29 Acacia Road, Nuttytown", of course an school nerd, what else?

His powers include "the ability to fly, superhuman strength, and seeming invulnerability." However, "If he eats lots of bananas in one sitting, he quickly becomes obese in his transformation..."

He of course has an animal sidekick, his faithful pet crow, just like in real life. Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL Hall of Justice faithful superhero.

Wikipedia profile

Fun church

A few interesting exchanges regarding our church culture:

1. A couple of months ago, Cosmic Boy and I attended a local "infant" church, meeting in a local business, with only about 10 people. As a sidenote, I thought the church did a poor job of welcoming us as guests, but that in some ways added to the experience. Cosmic Boy was extremely quiet and in some ways sporting a 'tude during and after the service. When I asked him afterwards how he liked it, he gave the pat adolescent answer "It was alright". However when pressed, we had a good discussion on how a big part of our church is the social, seeing our friends, talking on the patio, laughing, etc.

2. I overheard an exchange with Ms. America's driver and my niece recently (no, I'm not picking on either of u!) He asked if church "X" was fun, and if she had made a lot of friends. She said "Yeah".

3. Yesterday, I was having lunch with a colleague. We were talking about his 13 year old boy. He and his wife don't attend church. He has a Mennonite background, but his parents rejected their religion during his childhood and he in turn really never embraced any religion either. However, he and his wife thought it would be good for their son to have a church experience so they've taken him somewhat regularly to a local church "X". Their son has enjoyed Sunday School and being in the seasonal plays. Recently tho, he isn't finding it "too fun" and "none of his friends go there". My colleague and I had an interesting conversation with me basically saying if he's going for the "fun", he'll soon end up like "you" , with no desire for the attendance. He and I have a good relationship and he laughed in essence saying "True!".

4. Our church has a sub-church, really almost 2 of them, the junior high and high school. One meets down the street in an entirely different building. I'm guessing there's 50-75% that I rarely/never see, they go to their own service with their own worship music and do their own activities.

So what is the point? Sometimes it seems like church is a great club. Good people, good conversation, good music, great activities. The history as I understand it of Matt Redman's "Heart of Worship" song, was that the music was getting in the way of worship at his church, so they took the music away. Certainly the club-like attributes of church are not a bad thing, I wonder at what level though they might need to be taken away for at least some period to get back to the heart of worship? It's something I think about.

Reality check

As parents, we're constantly asking ourselves "Are we doing the right thing?". In fact if we're not, there's a problem. In our case, since we're really so different than the norm many times, it happens frequently, sometimes daily. The farther you get a away from your bubble of comfortability, the more you feel like an alien. Since our move further into the burbs, we're outside our bubble. And quite frankly that's not a bad thing, check out the lyrics of the classic Christian rock song by Petra, "Not of this world", and you might agree that it's the feeling we should have.

So the big question we get (com'on Homeschooling families, you know this one...) is "What about socialization?". There's a really good discussion of the topic here, including a discussion of "What are you actually asking?" It's a more complicated question than you might think, and the root of the question is important to understand before attempting an answer. There's some good questions to be had, but the common root of the question with most people is usually along the simple lines of "What about friends?".

Back to the where the rubber meets the road, you might note the comments in the video about Cosmic Boy. You could bottle those and replay them year after year; "best attitude", "positive", "encouraging", "does what he is asked", "respectful", "good natured". Are all those comments because of homeschooling? Do his superhero parents take all the credit? Of course not, glory be to God. However, it certainly was encouraging to come home after his baseball season, do a reality check with Wonder Woman and be able to say, at least for now, "That's what it's all about". Is Cosmic Boy able to function in society, "Quite well, thank you very much!"

Spotlight on Dash

Now not all have you have seen "The Incredibles", so a little background on our character here.

Some quotes about the big screen version of Dash (with parenthetical comments from Mr. Incredible about the Greenhouse5 version):

"Dash has a lot of energy and a competitive spirit, so finding constructive ways to blow off steam proves nearly impossible." (Oh boy does he, but constructive releases of steam have been frequently achieved. He is a great helper for Wonder Woman and is learning how to turn on and off the competition! Can we say "chip off the old block?")

"Dash's reckless nature and one-track mind always get him in trouble with his big sister" (Wonder Woman has had to field a few "disagreements" between Dash and Dyna Girl, but our hall of justice has a unified team! When recently asked "Who is your best friend?", Dyna Girl quickly replied "My brother 'cosmic boy'". That's the one of the end goals for our family. Not too go too overboard on the The Incredibles movie analogy, but it was a good theme of the movie as the family came together in the end to defeat "Syndrome".)

"Dash hates it when Violet is in charge (in fact, he hates authority, period)" (Our Dash doesn't like his big sister telling him what to do, but what little boy does? :-) Submission at any level is a hard one for all us, God continues to give grace to our family as each learns to curb selfishness and think of others first. At Dash's age, the focus is in obedience to his parents with lots of emphasis on how by doing so he is submitting to God.)

"Dash displays superhuman speed sufficient to run across land or water at several times highway speed" (Our Dash does not like to lose, he needs no encouragement to run when competition is involved!)

"The speed also appears to affect his other limbs, as he is seen to be able to punch at speeds greater than any human." (Ouch, don't mess with Dash in a wrestling match)

"a highly competitive boy, and a bit of a showoff" (Well, Dash frequently answers the rhetorical questions aloud during the sermons at church...and he has a yearning to hang with the big boys at the pool as they do acrobatics off the diving board. So...no...Dash is definitely not one to be a fly on the wall.)
========

Some other Greenhouse5-Dash trivia. He loves puzzles, attacking 200 piecers with patience that Mr. Incredible never had and is coming up to speed with his reading. By end of summer 2008, he should be reading with the best of 'em.

Cosmic boy launches little comets with galactic stick

AKA Baseball. Cosmic Boy and the Cubs have split the 2 games with their arch-rivals. One more deciding game to go for the championship.

Here he is accepting the radioactive reward.

Hype Skype

Who's up for a little VOIP? How about some video conferencing? Wonder Woman, Cosmic Boy, Dynagirl, and Dash want to see and hear their supercousins. No iChat, Mr Incredible thinks we could probably alter the galactic interface to make it work, however who really wants to use a pistol when you could use a ray gun? Skype has been around for a while and has bowed to the mac attack by publishing software for OS X. If you build it, they will come. Push the button when you're ready (just don't push the big red one, that would be bad).

Skype

~Mr. Incredible

Here I am

Wonder Woman is BACK!! School is officially done for 2007-2008 and I am celebrating! My incredible husband (that's why they call him Mr. Incredible) surprised me today with an early (6 days) birthday gift--my own LAPTOP!! YES!! So, I am officially connected and ready to blog to the world with the rest of my superhero family. Thank you, Mr. Incredible, for my incredible birthday surprise. I even have a webcam (which Luke noticed immediately) so I will be watching all of you! Or maybe you will be watching me...stay tuned!!

Lumpia 101

I've just had one of those moments where I realize there's more to be had. Hmmm, is the correct definition to "covet"? I'm not sure that lumpia were covered in "covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.", or were they? I digress.

All this time, I thought lumpia were lumpia. Now I realize that there's many diff't types. The kind Ms. America makes seem to be "Lumpiang Shanghai" which by the way are mighty tasty. But, there are also Prito, Ubod, Turon (and more?). Hmmm, the banana one sounds gooooooodddd. I absolutely must have them.

Germany is on the map

Yes, I got my first hit from Germany this week and that visitor was the longest peruser this week, a long lost superhero who just may earn his cape in our hall of justice. Also got my international fans from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, Spain, Canada, India, and the UK. Remember I'm an "ad" free source of information. I won't cash in my "Incredible" popularity until I cross 2,000,000 hits. I managed to catch a picture of my Germany visitor using my internet web spycam (attached) so all please make sure you're wearing clothes next time you are browsing (really, it's not that kind of site, we run a clean superhero shop here, you SCALers keep on your clothes, I don't care how hot it is, I have food to eat while I'm typing)

Our little Joseph

As Mr. Incredible many times likes to pit his little superheroes against each other to "build character", I praised Dash as my "favorite" kid today at dinner since he prayed a beautiful prayer thanking God for his wonderful mommy and daddy. Of course the other superheroes were quite jealous and I quipped that Dash should be called Joseph and that he better watch out! I also commented that if he were Joseph, "Who does that make me?". Dynagirl, the Biblical scholar of the family, didn't miss a beat and quickly replied "Mary?". Not exactly what I was looking for, if you don't know the answer, consult First Andrew Lloyd Webber, verse 10.

If the media doesn't like him...

...maybe he ain't that bad. I've had a few email conversations with Mike Arata. He's a local gentleman, former teacher and coach, who has campaigned against some initiatives by our local school district. The latest was a proposed parcel tax (Measure D) above the existing one to "support our local schools". Yes, he was a close friend of the recent murder victim, Ernie Scherer, who also had similar efforts.

It's been interesting as we switched from living in a "bad" school district to a "good" one, that we are looked at very differently in our decision to homeschool. Before our move, people might reply "Oh, I see why you homeschool!" when they found out what school district we were in. Now, the response is typically one of shock since we live in "such a great school district". There's also big defense mechanism that many times kicks in, along the lines of "We paid big money to live here because the schools are so great, what do you mean you homeschool? Who do you think you are? Our schools are GREAT, how could you do such a thing?"

Our reasons for homeschooling are not one-dimensional, in other words, it's not just the academic education that causes us to homeschool. However, one point I've really become to realize, is that the public school system, especially my local one is not as good as you might think. Of anyone, I feel very qualified to have that opinion. I went K-11 in SRVUSD and found it for the most part fairly easy and I excelled. I found the instruction and competition much superior at James Logan in Union City my senior year, ironically an "inferior" school district.

So, in any case, no matter where you live, don't always believe what you read. Once again, I find the schools allow for free thought as long as it doesn't cross their beliefs. I can only imagine the scorn if I were to put up a "No on D" sign in my yard, yet the 18 year old students in the district were hand delivered ballots to sign for "D". You should read the local press on Mike Arata (see example link below). And also, if you're interested, the book "Not as good as you think", a book about middle class education in the US. Simple solutions are no where to be found, but we have to start somewhere.

Check out the assault on Mike Arata (how dare he support a "no" position)
http://www.citizensforqualityschools.net/FAQ.html

How about some reasonable facts about the school budgets?
http://www.noond.info/

Book Link
Not as good as you think

Del Valle Camping

Hmmmm, guess I'm missing pictures of the kids. Dang, knew I forgot something. Oh yeah, no pics of Ms. America and her driver either! Or the big fat smores. Geez, I got to hire me some photographers, where were the paparazzi? Well at least I got Mr R in his statue pose. Doesn't the first picture look like a camping magazine ad? I know, why the heck did I buy the big honker when I just towed the trailer w/ the Honda?

Reduced security on comments

I've had some superhero complaints that it takes an SSN, birthdate, and a mother's maiden name to leave a comment. To address this concern, you can now leave comments w/o having all these credentials. Comment away.

Kennedy is doing fine after surgery

I found this picture of what he looks like after surgery. I think it's probably normal right after surgery to try to grab something that's been removed. I really think they got all the cancer, but that's just my unprofessional opinion.

Let's go Oakland

After boycotting the season for no particular reason, the whole legion is off to the game again tonite after just going last Wednesday. Kenny Rogers is an A's killer, especially at the Coliseum, let's see if we can pull it off. Even Ms. America and her driver will be there.