The Results Are In!

Chris's View-
I have to say, I was excited about this, but I'm a stat geek... guess that explains my love for fantasy football!

I put out the challenge the day before Independence Day, to take the US Citizenship Quiz from the Christian Science Monitor.  I wasn't sure what kind of participation I would get from this, but I must admit, I was impressed.  I got scores from 25 people, ranging from 16-65 years old.  The results were kind of surprising to me.  No one above the age of 26 failed or were borderline (I considered anything from 60-70 borderline).  Of those below the age of 26, 3 failed and 6 were borderline failures.  The worst failure was a senior in high school (and yes, I asked permission if he minded me giving out at least this much information about his test).  The average of all scores was a 79%.  I found it odd that there was such a gap in the scores... nothing in the 70's.  There were 17 males & 8 females who submitted scores.  Last stat, before I bore ya'll to death, no female failed, but there were 2 borderline.

Overall, I think we are doing "okay" in knowing our heritage as Americans, and what makes our country tick.  There is quite a bit of room for improvement though.  For those who did not take the quiz, if you would still like too, feel free.  You can access it HERE.  I may go back and revise the chart if I get enough score submissions.

Maria's View-

We had a great mini-vacation and all of the children had a great time!  Griffin handled his new surroundings like a champ and just kind of went with the flow.  He loves people watching so there was quite a bit of that to entertain him.  He also did pretty well at the restaurants.  He still had moments when the beast within would try to break through but he did extremely well at keeping his frustrations under control.  Very, very proud of him.

All of the children loved our time at the lake, especially Little G.  Once she got over the shock of the cold water, she was in heaven.  That little girl is fearless!  Which is kind of scary.  You really have to watch that one.

Big G and I sat out on the balcony with the rest of our friends and watched the fireworks, while giving the men their own balcony to hang out on.  The 2 littles were in their pack and plays during the fireworks but Chris said that Griffin watched the fireworks through the glass door.  It was CRAZY loud because we were so close to the launch site so it was best that they were inside. 

On our last day, Big G and I were able to sneak out and have a mommy/daughter breakfast date and I just love having that one on one time with her.  I always remember the days when I was a child, my mother and I would walk a mile together after dinner.  I LOVED doing that and miss it so much, along with all of the sounds and smells of a humid Mississippi evening.  I even miss the smell of the mosquito truck.  Honeysuckles.  Crickets and frogs.  Fireflies.  Childhood.  <sigh>  Okay, focus, Maria! :-)

ANYWAY.  Our vacation came to a sudden end when both Chris and I independently felt that we should head home during the night instead of waiting until morning.  Thankfully, we were both on board because 15 minutes before arriving home from the 6 hour drive, Little G started vomiting, and she continued all night long.  Bless her heart.  I have no idea what happened but she was completely better this morning.  I'm hoping that the food she ate just didn't agree with her and all of us will be safe.  I don't have time for a stomach virus! 

I'm so proud of Griffin today.  He is signing 'more' like a champ!  I cut up 2 chicken nuggets and gave him a Mandarin cup and he signed 'more' for every bite of it... However, I had to lightly hold his wrists to remind him to sign it...but he will also sign 'more' by making my hands do the talking.  Either way, he is signing it and he knows what it means.  Doing it independently will come in time.  You should see the look on his face now that he knows that 'more' means that he gets more food.  His eyes light up every time!  There is a look of joy, mixed with control, and determination.  Love it.  It goes a little something like this:  I hold my hands out on the tray of his high chair with the plate balanced on my lap and ready to spoon something into his mouth.  He has the option to grab my hands and sign.  I hold them out there and ask, "Does Griffin want more?" and I will wait.  I'll keep asking him, and eventually it's like a switch will flip and he will grab my hands and force my hands together so that I'm signing more for him...Then I will praise him and he will light up!  OR...If he doesn't grab my hands, I will lightly put my fingers around his wrists and that reminds him to sign it.  So he usually will take control and sign it himself.  He was doing so well and I had one bite left on his plate.  I made the decision to show him that there was only 1 left so that he wouldn't think that I was punishing him or something when the food suddenly disappeared.  Well, he didn't like that at all, but I knew that I needed him to know that.  So he cried and fussed but I didn't give in to giving him that last bite until he signed 'more'.  It took a long time for him to ask for it but when he did, I praised him, and he was just as happy as could be.  Very proud of him! 

But anyway, there is a cup of fake coffee and an episode of Swamp People calling my name!!! 

Goodnight! :-)