Kitty's Scratch Pad

Grand Canyon June 2007

Grand Canyon June 2007 006,
originally uploaded by kittysaysmeow.

Our first trip of the summer. We arrived in Kingman, AZ around 5:00 and tried to get some rest before our 1:15 a.m. wake up time. We tried to quickly organize and get on the road. It was 2 more hours until we would reach the Hilltop of Havasupai. Everyone else took off ahead of us to secure a campsite and we finally got our start at 5 a.m. It is 8 miles into Supai, the small Tribal Village that maintains all of the tourism for the area, and we arrived by 9 a.m.. We stopped for a breakfast burrito and then made our final push the 2.2 miles to camp. At around 11 we finally found the rest of our party and we all relaxed for the rest of the day in 100+ degree weather. Luckily, the river that runs right through our camp was very cool. The next day, Alex took off with others to hike to the Colorado River while we stayed back and relaxed at the campsite. We took one short hike down to Mooney Falls and it was amazing. It was also at least 20 degrees colder from the spray of the waterfall. The next day we decided to bail and took a helicopter out instead of hiking. Sort of the lazy route but what the heck. It was a six minute ride instead of a 5+ hour hike. I am sure Fen could have made it but it was fun to do. We spent the next two nights in Vegas and finally made our way home.

The Bad News Bears

We had our second to last game of the Fall Soccer Season and the Speedballs finally won!  Technically at this level, we do not keep score but ask any parent on the sidelines and they will tell you - except when we have been scored on so much we lose track.  On the bright side, Fen has decided that he really likes playing goalie and this gives him a LOT of play time trying to protect the net..  Not a huge surprise given his history in playing team sports.  The funny thing is, most of the kids don't want to play goalie.  I am not sure they like the idea of getting hit by the ball when blocking. 

Up until now, we have been the Bad News Bears.  Except our attitudes are a little better.  Up until now, the boys have had nothing to celebrate except for the rare goal which would only decrease the bloodletting slightly.  Yesterday's game had a whole new team.  The kids were smiling when they played and they were having fun.  The score (not that I am counting) was 3-2 and Fen had one of the goals.  He also had a shutout first half!  It was pretty cool...

Here is the footage of his goal... 

Download fens_goal.wmv

First Day of School...

So I am a little behind.  Here is the first day of school photo...

Anyone seen a kid around???

A great friend of mine has been managing a community board I belong to for all of my outdoor pursuits.  It has been a huge task that he has paid for himself and is now considering a revamp.  I am planning to post some old trip reports in order to log my previous adventures.  This is more for me but some of them, although long, are sort of funny...

December 9, 2005

I have lost Fen before - twice actually at REI. It is a little disheartening to turn around and find that you have completely misplaced your own child... It isn't really misplacing them. Especially at REI. He finds something more interesting than standing by me while I try to make a decision about whether hiking socks are better than skiing socks. Both times he immediately found the first "official" looking person and told them he was lost. Both times I got that dreadful yet relieving page over the loudspeaker, "Kat Korab, please come to the register in shoes". I frantically hurried to find him chumming up to the cute girl who turned out to be the one he reported to. Typical...

This time was really no different except...we were at Mt. Baker. So the playing field was a little larger and the elements were definitely colder. This time I was a little more panicked than before. I was sure he would be found in a tree well (where we generally find him playing by the way - he uses them as forts so he can launch snowballs at unsuspecting strangers in the lift ticket line) but this time he would be a little icicle man. We were up with some friends of ours and their son is beginning to snowboard. Just as good for Fen because we cannot seem to get him off of Chair 2 right now. I tried this time to branch out and head under the chair and around the back so at least we could look at some different scenery. Louis took a little time strapping in and Fen was losing patience. He took off but apparently didn't follow our direction and went the usual way. When I realized I had lost him I wasn't sure which way to go. Did he listen to me and go under the chair? Of course not - why would he? He went the normal way. Louis was doing a good job linking his turns but I wished we could go faster so we could meet Fen at the chair. I was worried. The lifts would be closing soon and who knows what then? We got to the chair and there was no sign of Fen. We went up again and this time we looked everywhere. We could sort of see this kid hiking up the far hill back to the lodge with skis on his back - maybe it was Fen? I sent Louis to the lodge and just then Alex came down. I told him Fen was lost and he took a run to find him. As I started walking toward the crest of the hill I looked to the right at the rope tow. There was this kid who looked very familiar going up and down it. Hmmmm... Just as I started walking toward the rope tow to investigate and ask the lift ops if they had seen the booger they asked, "are you Kat?". Thank goodness!!! Fen did not see us at the lift line so he hoofed it back up the hill to find someone. He stopped at the rope tow and told the guys he had lost his mom. They kept him there and there is where I found him.

After a humiliating visit to the office to cancel the dispatch for a lost mom - we took off back down the mountain. I guess walkie talkies are in order...

Rules of Life

I cannot claim fame to these rules.  My dear friend Rory came up with this system while caring for the Booger when he was two or three.  I do however feel that we should not limit these rules to only boys before the age of four- they could be the keys to success for many grown men too.

Rule #1 - NO WHINING

Rule #2 - No crying unless you loose an appendage (try to get your toddler to say appendage - it's funny...)

Rule #3 - Only go potty in the big boy potty

Humpty Dumpty Had a Big Fat Head!

The first time your son gets stitches you are a mess.  I blamed myself over and over again.  I was convinced I was nothing but a terrible parent.  It was 4th of July weekend and Fen decided to climb around on the trailer that was holding a stack of five rafts.  Needless to say, when my back was turned, he fell off and cracked his melon open.  Ten stitches later he was fine but I was a total mess.

Luckily today, I wasn't there to see it happen.  I did however get the call after I had been stuck in a meeting for over an hour.  I finally picked him up and sure enough, he needed stitches.  3 exactly.  This time was a little more scary for Fen.  He was nervous about the pain.  This time was the same for mom.  I was nervous I would pass out from the site of blood and needles.  Luckily the Doctor was super nice and brought me some juice and a barf bag... 

I guess boys will be boys and if I can make it through 13 stitches I can make it through anything!

Happy Birthday Fen!!!

9 years ago I was totally knocked out and apparently, a team of doctors and medical professionals yanked an 8lb 13oz baby out of my belly via emergency c-section.  I remember waking up after the general anesthesia wore off for just a minute and looking over in his bassinet.  There was this little old man wrapped up in a blanket and he had an entire head of jet black hair.  I remember nodding my head and telling myself, "holy s!@#, he's mine."  Then I passed out again.  I missed the first three breast feedings to sleep but I was told he was a great eater. 

We took Fen to breakfast and he ate 1 "flap jack", bacon, eggs and toast.  Then we opened presents.  We picked up Fen's friend Jack and all headed to the baseball park.  The M's lost but the game was close and very exciting.  We went to Boeing field to check out the Blue Angels and we also stopped by to see some of the stunt planes.  Fen met one of the pilots who got the entire pilots lounge to sing him happy birthday.  We had dinner at our neighborhood hangout, St. Clouds, and they sang to him as well.

The best part about Fen's 9th birthday for us was to see him finally learn to confidently ride his bike.  He got a brand new Schwinn right before he left and he is now hooked!

Here are some photos and here is a video...  Download bike_riding.wmv

Geneology

I have been researching geneology for a while now.  Fen's dad was adopted and from what we understand, his birth father was Native American.  He always thought that he was with the Apache tribe.  It is really hard to go back when you have so little to work with.  I have no name, no specific tribe, no REAL information.  One thing that has come up more recently is genetic testing.  You can now do a genetic test to find out more about your ancestory.  It is a science but it isn't perfect.  Most tests cost between $100 and $200.  There are some companies that say they can test for specific Native American heritage but the reliability is still in question.  I did find some information from the Dept. of the Interior's website http://www.doi.gov/ancestry.html which was super helpful.  At this point, what we might do is administer a genetic test for piece of mind and look into the process of obtaining adoption records.  It seems that without a name it is next to impossible to register Fen.  Better yet, without an actual tribe it is hard to do anything.  The Apache tribe has many different tribes that spread across AZ, CO and OK.  At this point I think we are trying to learn more about who and where Fen came from.  Obviously, there may be additional benefits if we can get him registered but it seems like a stretch.

According to Wikipedia here is the gist of Biogeographical Ancestry:

Autosomal DNA testing purports to determine the "genetic percentage" of certain ethnicities in a person. These tests examine SNPs, which are locations on the DNA where one nucleotide has "mutated" or "switched" to a different nucleotide. These tests are designed to tell what percentage Native American, European, East Asian, and African a person is. These tests are controversial—their validity has not been independently confirmed—and the results are often disputed.

My kid isn't smarter than yours...

At least not on paper...  Today was the last day of school and I ran from work at 2:00 straight to the Starbucks in the Convention Center to pick up some last minute gifts for Fen's teachers and Principal.  Yes, the same individuals I have been battling with all year long.  The oh so lonely high road I despise so much!  Apparently this Starbucks isn't part of the normal corporate gig and they were moving so slow.  I finally got my four mugs and coffee cards and ran to my car.  I got to the exit in the parking garage only to have the machine eat my parking ticket so I had to go to the station to speak with a human about the issue.  Apparently no one really cares that I am late and she leaves to go and retrieve my card.  I promised her cash - a tip - anything!  Just let me get out of here!  She would have none of it and finally sauntered back to the booth and let me pay.  I got to the school around 2:45 - only 25 minutes late...  Fen was able to pass out most of his gifts and we were off for our annual last day of school tradition of porking out on Cold Stone ice-cream.  Fen somehow manages to pick out the most disgusting flavor combos - think chocolate chip mint with strawberries and gummy bears...  This time it was Watermelon ice-cream with gum balls and sprinkles on a chocolate dipped cone.  So nasty.  We finished up and headed back to the house.  On our way I noticed Fen's report card and decided to take a gander...

Here is the gist - we have been struggling all year to get him up to speed.  I have been spending close to $300 a month on a private tutor for reading and writing which has helped tremendously but he still isn't at grade level in most categories including the majors like reading and writing.  I was sent a notice that he was recommended for summer school and oh by the way, the hours are from 9 until 12.  That is just perfect since we have already forked out tons of dough for all sorts of camps including Zoo Camp, Science Camp and Soccer Camp with the Seattle Sounders.  Honestly, the summer school thing sounds good but there is no way it will work for our schedule.  We have decided to take matters into our own hands and will be attempting to run a modified home schooling set up for the summer.  He will still continue to see his tutor twice a week for reading and writing and we will have to work on math and other skills at home.  I am gathering a bunch of paperwork and will be trying to put together some sort of lesson plan beginning next week.  I am also hoping that his computer will help as well.  I imagine there must be tons of software available to help with all academic skills including technology... 

Part of me feels guilty for not doing the summer school but the other part just seems to think that socialization and free-time are important too.  I just hope we can find a good balance and get his scores up for the beginning of third grade.  I have a feeling this will be a crux year for him and it will be super important that he regain some traction.  What I am very proud to say is that there has been decent improvement during his year.  He went from a school with 30% lower achievement scores to a fairly competitive academic environment - that is tough.  Then throw in all of our struggles emotionally and it makes for a hard go. 

Here are some sites I have found useful in putting together the summer lesson plan:

http://www.homeschoolpotpourri.com/

http://www.brightmindsathome.com/

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/index.asp?grade=0&strand=0&engagement=0

One thing I am finding is that some "homeschooling" sites are a little scary...  e.g. super christian and a little too much religion for my liking.

Booger Jokes

Download fens_jokes_0206.mp3