Midpoint

HALFWAY POINT: We're on Day 3 of the Hunger Challenge. Annabelle had a bit of an appetite this a.m. She (uncharacteristically) asked for a Pop Tart first thing, so that's what I gave her. That seemed to sit well so a bit later we divvied up a pound of strawberries between the three of us.

When I told CJ the berries were going to cost him 50 cents, he groused, "Why does it have to be so expensive?"
And I could understand his dismay. He'd had a Pop Tart that was just 12 cents, but these berries (which he wanted less) cost nearly 5 times as much. I explained to him that produce is often expensive because of the cost of growing it, harvesting it and transporting it.

One thing I've been thinking about during this week when we're watching our grocery budget closely is the fact that while you can readily find coupons for crap (sugary cereal, cookies, chips and such), you almost never see coupons for produce. That's why I shop the big sales for produce. Pretty much the produce we eat each week is what a given store's "doorbuster" is for the week.

Today's family total: 20.73, only 1.17 under budget. A close call!
CJ - Daily total = 4.22
Pop Tart = .12
Strawberries = .50
Cheese stick - .20
Cheez Its = .28
1/2 Corn Dog = 1
Cheetos = .43
Chicken wings & rice = 1.69
Annabelle - Daily total = 4.44
Pop Tart = .12
Strawberries = .50
Cheese stick - .20
Cheez Its = .28
1/2 apple = .22
1/2 Corn Dog = 1
Cheetos = .43
Chicken wings & rice = 1.69
Christian - Daily total = 7.97
Coffee = .60
2 eggs (.16) + chipotle chile (free, expensed 2 days ago) = .16
Corned beef & cabbage = 2.69*
Chicken wings (1.50) , hot sauce (.30), salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese, .90) = 2.70
2 Copper Hook = 1.82
Me - Daily total = 4.10
Coffee = .30
Yogurt = .57
Hard boiled egg = .08
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 piece bread and peanut butter = .15
Cheetos = .10
Chicken wings (1.50) , (.30), rice (.10), cottage cheese (.20) = 2.70

SHE SPEAKETH THE TRUTH: This morning we read "Only Passing Through," a biography about Sojourner Truth, a woman who was enslaved for the first three decades of her life before fleeing to freedom and going on to work as an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.

Born Isabella in 1797, the story told in the book basically kicks you in the gut and rips your heart out from page 1, where as a 9 year old she's being auctioned off. She only spoke Dutch at the time, and because she didn't understand her new master's language and orders, she was beaten viciously. At age 9. Just a touch older than CJ. Two of her siblings, ages 5 and 6, were literally stolen from the family home by slave traders, and never heard from again.

Isabella was bought and sold several times and at one point her last master promised her freedom in a year - but he reneged. At that, one morning she fled his residence (leaving her children behind) and found refuge with some abolitionists. Soon after, she found out her 5 year old son had been sold to an out of state slave owner, which was against the law in New York, where they lived. Isabelle went to court to get her son returned to NY, and she won- an unexpected and unprecedented feat for an African American woman in that time.

After a dream she had compelling her to share her story, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth and traveled thousands of miles, always sharing her story with others as she went, until her death in 1883.

I asked the kids how they'd describe Sojourner. CJ said "generous" and Annabelle said "brave."

The only thing the kids weren't inspired by was the book's pictures. "I thought the illustrations were kind of creepy," said Annabelle, and I couldn't disagree with her. The paintings were a bit abstract and Sojourner's face was distorted and mottled. Also, she had huge, out of proportion hands for some reason. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think all heroines have to look like a Disney Princess, but I think the book (and, therefore story) would have been more engaging with less abstract pictures.

Here's a real life photo of Sojourner
FYI - Sojourner wasn't able to read or write, but I found an autobiography she dictated, "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth," first published in 1850, online through the University of Pennsylvania. Gotta love the Internet.

WATER BOY: Today we watered our seeds for the first time. CJ had the honors.
I sure hope something sprouts next week!

LEGO LOVERS: Frankly, the kids have been too sick to do much cooperative play together for the past few days, but today, they rallied and were back at it. I found it interesting that so much of their play today involved them buying from and selling items to one another (for LEGO currency they'd invented). That was a first. I have to think the Hunger Challenge math influenced that. Annabelle was quite the salesperson, always pitching a "special offer" or "limited time only," trying to pour the pressure on. She must have been working on commission. :)

OUT IN THE FIELD: We did NOT go to science class this afternoon as that class often involves a lot of handling and sharing items and the virus has certainly not cleared Annabelle's system entirely. I really didn't think it would be cool to expose others to it. So, I emailed the teacher, and she responded, thanking us for not coming and telling me that they'd be doing more rock-related studies, including observing how rocks looked dry as compared to wet. That was all the inspiration I needed.

Desperate to get out of this germ filled house and out into the sunny, warmest-day-of-the-year-yet weather, I decided we'd have our own science class on the shore of Puget Sound. We drove the half mile to Magnolia Village and down a road I knew led to a rocky public beach that's always darn near deserted. We parked the car and from a half block away, I couldn't see the shore, but I could smell it. "Wow, it smells strongly of salt water today," I said to the kids. When we got the the beach I could see why. It was a super low tide - the lowest I've ever seen there. So, bonus for us. There was about 500 percent more beach there than usual!

The first order of business was a lunchtime snack.Their Cheez-Its and cheese stick set them back 48 cents, but the view was priceless! I couldn't help but think that any food tastes better when eaten with a magnificent view.
After that, we ranged the beach for awhile. CJ and Annabelle made friends with an (apparently) owner-less dog.

They also spent a few minutes trying to dig an old garden hose out of the sand.
Eventually, we set up a rock study camp and the kids collected specimens. They sorted them by appearance, and gave them interesting names. For instance, the black and white spotted ones were Dalmeggtians, because they were shaped like eggs. No doubt remembering last week's science class, when the teacher told the kids that geologists often break rocks open, CJ used larger rocks to crack smaller ones. That kept him busy for a good half hour.

We also talked about the rocks' properties (colors, size, shape, patterns, texture and so on).

In addition to studying rocks, we also got to survey a number of different types of water vessels today - everything from ocean going freighters to tugboats to tiny skiffs.
All in all it was a lovely afternoon out of the sick ward and we got a lot of learning in, too.