St. Francis Academy

What's Working...

Goodness, it has been over a month since my last post.  How time flies!

I was going to continue my series on "multi-level learning", but I thought it important to say a word about some of what is working for us right now since we are starting our sixth week of structured schoolwork. 

This year I purchased the Good News planners for the three oldest kids, plus a teacher planner for myself.  The oldest two have decided they don't like working with the planners, so they have elected to go back to the daily checklist method that we adopted last year.  I like the teacher planner because it has lots of extras to help celebrate the liturgical year all in one place.  The third oldest, for whatever reason, has elected to stay with the planner.  I think it might be because it is dated, has monthly calendars in the front, and has lots of reference in the back.

My main reason for getting the planners was to have some assistance or motivation to do some sort of religious education here at home, especially since Julia and John are not in our parish CCD program this year.  However, since they're not using their planners, I needed to come up with something different!  Fortunately, I came across the Dominion Family blog, which has an excellent series of posts discussing the use of what the blogger calls "Morning Time." 

I mention this because I'm using our morning time to cover several areas in a timely manner since our other approaches weren't working that well.  We start off reviewing the Baltimore Catechism and prayers for religion.  On Fridays I read the coming Sunday's Gospel.  IT helps us all pay better attention at Mass when we've gone over the Gospel beforehand.  Then, we review in several other areas.  For instance, I've been reading to the kids those Ruth Heller books on the different parts of speech for our grammar study, but we didn't do the pretty notebook (or main lesson book) pages that were suggested in the Serendipity plans online.  So, instead of making the grammar books a main block that takes a lot of time, we're just reading and reviewing as a part of our morning time.

I also had elaborate, multi-level plans for history and science that are sort of going by the wayside.  Well, I'm not totally ignoring them.  They are serving as frameworks for our studies, but I'm not letting myself be tied to how they were written!  For our history morning time, I'm reviewing basic dates for the time period we're studying, using the 8th grade history dates list from Laura Berquist's book Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.  We're also covering a geography topic on the globe at the beginning of the week, review throughout the week, then follow up with a map at the end of the week.  Lastly, I'm reading aloud from a few books: The Story of Europe, The Story of Mankind, and Famous Men of the Middle Ages.  Usually the kids have their own related historical fiction they're working on, or they may be assigned some readings from other books (I'm hoping this helps with retention for ds 12).  Our art and music are history-related.  One day I'll get a post up with some fabulous links that provide you with a school year's worth of FREE art and music history.

For science, we're taking a more living books and hands-on approach, which seems to be appealing to all ages.  I came across wonderful digital editions of some classic natural history books: Jean-Henri Fabre's Story Book of Science and Fabre's Book of Insects, Arrabella Buckley's Life and Her Children, and Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. I just print out the sections I want to read, then we follow-up with a project or a lab.  Right now we have an ongoing earthworm project on our kitchen counter, although we're "technically" moving onto insects and looking at the parts of various insects under the microscope.  We haven't done any kind of morning time review for science, but I think it might be an excellent time to start with the classification system of the "Tree of Life", working our way from Kingdoms all the way down to Species.

I'm also sneakily working into a study of Shakespeare as part of our morning time read aloud.  Right now I'm reading the kids "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" from Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare.  Lest you think that reading a child's prose adaptation to a Shakespeare play may not be a proper study of good literature, I suggest you take a look at the links I've provided here.  The language in this "child's" version is quite complex, so much so that even I occasionally stumble through some of the sentences!  My plan is to then move onto the actual play, reading our way slowly through it for the rest of the term.  I'll also rely on these great teacher notes for our study.  Lastly, we will most likely watch a DVD of the play.  It has been a while since I've watched Mel Gibson's version of Hamlet, so I'll need to pre-screen it before the kids see it.

 

School's out...

OK, so maybe not quite yet for the local district, but WE ARE DONE.

I decided to not plow foward through summer w/the medieval history plans after testing several weeks of Year 2 Unit 1 from Tapestry of Grace.  Medieval/Renaissace history is just too controversial to totally trust to a Protestant curriculum provider, and the expense is just not worth it when considering how much "tweaking" would've needed to be done to the original plans (this is especially true for TOG's Y2U2, ugh). 

So, I'm back to looking at a more secular approach and supplementing w/the various levels of Catholic texts we have.  My decision was made easy with the recent addition of downloadable e-Books for History Odyssey from Pandia Press!  With the downloaded files I will be able to combine Levels 1 and 2 in the sequence I like.  I will also be able to utilize the spines we already have!

So, anyway, back to my initial train of thought...we're done with school.  I called it quits last week after starting an impromptu lesson on Ancient China, backtracking a bit from our brief foray into Medieval times.  We learned a bit about the Great Wall of China and the Terra Cotta Army, but after that we were done.  I was initally going to try to tie up loose ends during the last two weeks of the district's year, but at the last minute I decided not to force it since there are just way too many baseball tournaments and a travel schedule to deal with.  The kids were relieved...and so was I.

And being the planner that I am, I've welcomed my newfound "free time" with open arms, giving myself permission to start focusing on (and budgeting for...new concept, ha-ha) next year!  As the older kids get closer to the high school years, I'm finding it to be important to consider new things, like being at a certain level in math, for one.  Word has it that enrolling with a correspondence school like Kolbe or Seton makes the NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse process easier for the homeschooled student-athlete.  So, while our potential D-I-bound student-athlete is only in 6th grade, it's not too late to make sure he gets on the right track BEFORE he hits high school!!!  Ah, yes, my new hat is now "guidance counselor."

Another part of my planning has been developing a multi-level life science curriculum for K-8 for us to use next year.  Again, I have relied on a downloaded e-Book, Microscope Adventure, as a springboard for studies.  I figured it was about time we added a microscope to our homeschool tools and I will be weaving the different units from Miscroscope Adventure into the 11-unit study.  I'm trying to make use of the materials we have on hand with the addition of only a couple of new items (microscope and slides), following the different age-level suggestions in The Well-Trained Mind.  Focus will be on studying animals for 20 weeks, the human body for 8 weeks, and plants for 8 weeks.  There will be heavy emphasis on getting out in the field for observation, plus labwork with the microscope and a couple of dissections.  Home Science Tools has some really reasonably priced kits, so check them out! 

I'm still trying to work out how to sequence through science for high school in order to meet college requirements while still keeping my sanity and ensure the younger kids aren't neglected in this area.  Hopefully I'll be able to weave the current multi-level plan together with the syllabus available from Mother of Divine Grace.  I'm really trying to avoid much of the young earth creationist viewpoint that's prevalent in Christian publishers that cater to homeschoolers, like Apologia, while maintaining respect for our religious tradition by avoiding a completely secular, atheistic approach.  We'll see how I do.

The Next 4 Weeks

Well, our first day back after the 3-week break went as well as could be expected.  We (the two oldest and I, that is) spent an hour on a math concept that has been a struggle for the past year and I think the lightbulb may have finally went on!  Hallelujah!  It was a concern of mine that they wouldn't "get it" before the baby was born and I would be doomed to the frustrating task of hand-holding through the early postpartum period.  We'll see how it goes for the rest of the week.

In the afternoon I decided to get back to working on the assignment plans I had started to develop before the break.  I want to make postpartum schooling as simple as possible for me, which means having copies at the ready for everyone as well as the weekly assignment checklists.  I had made copies for math for the three oldest for four weeks, but I hadn't finished the assignment sheets.  I did that yesterday, making note of which videos we'll be watching for history, what books we'll be reading from, and what we'll be doing for science.  I'll be relying heavily on videos for science and we'll spend the next several weeks learning about the human body (trying to continue this theme I started back when we watched the video on prenatal development).  I also added a list of science activities they can choose from to keep themselves "busy" for the rest of the month. 

And to make things even easier, I have a shelf in the den devoted to the materials they can work with, including a binder that has relevant issues of Kids Discover magazine and some Montessori-ish materials I created a couple of years ago.

I printed out the assignment sheets and placed them in a binder for the three oldest kids, along with their math worksheets and other necessary items.  I still need to print out plenty of addition worksheets for the two little boys so they can be kept busy.  In addition, I updated our Netflix queue so we will hopefully get a good selection of both educational and entertaining DVDs to watch on a regular basis.  It's my hope that this will help things flow smoothly once the baby is here.

Beautiful Day for a Nature Walk

Today we went to Sycamore Park in Batavia to take part in a program on animal habitats done by one of the park naturalists.  We've been to a few programs done by the Clermont County Park District, but this one was new to us.

The naturalist engaged the kids in learning what animals need in their habitats and what types of animals live in different habitats.  On hand he had a deer skull with antlers still attached as well as a deer hide that the children (and moms!) were able to handle and examine.  Then he brought out a box turtle and let the kids handle him as well. 

It was perfect weather for a day out in the park...not too cold that we would have to be bundled up, but not so warm that we'd be sweaty at the end of our nature walk.  The naturalist led us on the "new" trail (which is a couple of years old, but "new" to most of us).  On the walk, we discovered many things that animals need to survive, including food sources and shelter.

The kids found all sorts of nuts, including Black Walnuts (which Lizzy is showing here), hickory nuts, and acorns.  The naturalist pointed out some invasive plants, such as the non-native honeysuckle bushes.  Although the bear berries in the fall and winter months, they aren't well-liked by most birds.  Those birds which do like the berries assist in propogating the bushes by dispering the seeds inside the berries.  The naturalist claims that these bushes aren't very beneficial to wildlife, but I disagree.  The birds in our back woods find them to be good shelter during the spring and summer months and on into the fall, probably because they provide a hiding place from our cats!

Julia was in charge of the camera for the day, and she took some nice photos along the way.  I believe this one is of one of the streams feeding into the East Fork of the Little Miami River, or perhaps part of the East Fork itself.  I'm not sure.

She also took photos of really large leaves (Sycamore and Paw Paw, I believe) as well as items of interest to her.  This is one of part of a structure.  I wonder what it used to be before the land was purchased and made into a park???

And all I can say is, thank goodness for big brothers willing to carry little sisters!  John is at the front of the line with Cate on his shoulders, while his friend follows behind toting his little sister on his back.  And, yes, that's me, pulling up the rear.  Don't you love my lumberjack flannel maternity shirt?

Funny thing, Drew, upon arriving home, announced that we hadn't done "school" today.  I explained to him that our nature study at the park was our "school" for the day.  He argued that it indeed was not.  I guess in his mind school=pencil+paper!  Ah well.  We all had a great time. 

Later in the afternoon, I heard a rushing sound that was similar to windblown leaves.  However, to my surprise it was a large flock of Starlings (and perhaps Cowbirds?  Grackles?) that flew over the house, settling on the two vacant lots at the end of our street.  I sent the kids running up there to stir up the birds so that I could get this photo of them flying.

Our Patron Saint

Today is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of our little homeschool here.  This year, the St. Francis statue is surrounded by the twisted vine of a self-propagated gourd plant that is proving to have a bounteous harvest.  At last count, we have about 10 gourds of varying sizes growing on the vine, plus another that we plucked a couple of weeks ago that has totally turned orange on our windowsill!

Last year I started the tradition of having the day off in honor of our patron saint.  This year we are continuing with the tradition.  The morning started off we my heading to the OB for my monthly check-up and a blood draw for the glucose tolerance test (GTT).  I had forgotten how long it had been since I had to down that nasty, sweet orange stuff!  My last 3 pregnancies that got this far were with midwives who either didn't do the GTT at all or had their clients do a post-prandial draw.  Anyway, it wasn't a big deal this time around, and I passed just fine (plus I'm not anemic)...so that's out of the way.  The big surprise to me is that I will now be starting to go for visits every 2 weeks!  I can't believe how quickly time has passed me by.

Following my appointment, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things, most especially dishwasher detergent.  I ran out yesterday, which means that last night's supper dishes sat in the dishwasher overnight...ugh.  I had forgotten to buy some stuff when I took the kids to soccer practice, and there's no way I was going to hand wash all those dishes!  (I'm terribly spoiled, I must say).  So, once I got home, I unloaded and put away the groceries, got lunch started, got the dishwasher started, etc.  I think I finally got to sit down about five minutes ago, once everyone else had been fed and I decided on what I was hungry for.  Turned out it was a tortilla w/homemade refried beans, jalapenos, olives, salsa, cheese, and a dollop of sour cream on the side.  Yum!

So am I getting to a point with this post?  Ummm...maybe.  For some freakish reason, we are expecting a high of 92 degrees today, which means there's not much of a chance that I will be hauling my pregnant body anywhere if I don't have to, least of all on a nature walk.  I told you before, I'm terribly spoiled. It would really be nice to have it be fall weather for real, rather than this tease of cooler-windows-open weather and then HOT just in time for the weekend games.  Dang it, I want to watch my son play football while I'm snug in my Bulldogs sweatshirt and bundled in a blanket, not sweating in shorts, huddled under an umbrella and spraying sunscreen on every unclothed spot.

So, that's this year's feast day in a large nutshell...we're not doing a thing, except perhaps tuning into EWTN to watch whatever programming they have today for the feast of St. Francis.

Nature Notebook Cover

Well, this afternoon, after a long while searching for a pre-made nature notebook cover (for a binder with a slip-in see-through cover), I decided to go ahead and make my own.

I use Photoshop Elements for these sorts of endeavors, relying on free downloadable brushes to create the natural elements you see in the background.

Of course, my personal copy includes a text box that says it is our family's nature notebook.  I left this example blank so that you can download the file for your own use below.

I forgot how much I enjoy creating images like these on PSE.  I hardly ever have the time to tinker around, though.  I hope the download of the jpg file doesn't take too long.  Click on the link below to download and either save or print out.  I think I have it to the correct size so that if you print from the image online (PC: choose File/Print) it should fit onto an 8.5x11 piece of paper.  IF you have trouble, drop a line in the combox.

View this photo

Masterly Inactivity

By now you know that I'm eclectic in my approach to home education.  I like a little Classical, a little Montessori, a good heaping of Charlotte Mason...all of which boils down to what is called "Real Learning."

One of the aspects of the Charlotte Mason approach that I find very attractive is that of giving the children plenty of free time in the afternoons, during which they can explore their own interests.   Today the bulk of their children took off into the woods for their own self-directed nature study.  This is where masterly inactivity comes in to play.  I decided to link to someone's post about the topic, rather than to Ms. Mason's writing itself (there is a link within that post), since the blogger offers some good insight.  My children's learning is enhanced when I remember to step out of the way and let them make their own connections.

So, with camera in hand, the troops marched forward to capture some photos of what's going in our woods.  The more pregnant I get, the more difficult it becomes to go down the steep hill to the woods, so I'm very thankful to my oldest for her photography efforts. 

First up was the giant shelf fungus (be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the photo of someone's incredible mushroom artwork...wow!). 

This photo almost makes me want to haul my pregnant body down the hill just to see it up close!  Almost...

Julia, the oldest, had discovered it the other day when she was down there exploring the woods on her own.  She was excited to go back down with a camera, and equally excited that the photo turned out so well.  Nice job! 

Here is another shot, I think from the other side of the tree or perhaps on another tree.  Fascinating stuff.

Connor, our resident "bug dude", is seen here next to a giant spider web.  The kids tell me it was strong enough to hold a rock, though they didn't say what size rock!  I suppose that doesn't matter.  Spider silk is strong stuff!  I'm glad I wasn't the one to find it.  I still have flashbacks from childhood morning encounters, walking into the spider webs that would span between the hemlocks on either side of the walkway and my parents' home.  I learned early on to walk between trees with my hands up near my face!

Despite our recent rainfall, the creek at the edge of our property is still quite dry.  The kids joked that now the knew why they call it "Dry Run" (though this creek is actually Sugar Camp Run)...because it was so DRY!  The water line usually comes up to about the base of the tree in the middle of the photo.  It has definitely been a dry summer.

And our tale of a nature walk would not be complete without a photo of the kids' intrepid companion, Roscoe the cat.  He loves accompanying anyone who ventures into the woods.  He's seen here on the tree that fell over a rain gully this spring.  It makes a perfect bridge for crossing over the gully to get to the "ridge."

We're so glad the weather has cooled off a bit so we can all spend a bit more time outside in the fresh air.  Another sign that fall is right around the corner.

Homeschooling in Survival Mode

There is a term you hear time and again in homeschooling circle, namely, that of homeschooling in survival (or crisis) mode.  Essentially what this means is that you do the very basics in home education, or, perhaps, even resort to "unschooling" for a while.  Many reasons can contribute to the need to homeschool in this matter.  Here is a listing of just some of them:

• moving
• job change
• pregnancy-related (usually first trimester exhaustion, extreme morning sickness, or bedrest)
• birth of a baby
• postpartum depression
• miscarriage/pregnancy loss
• death of a loved one
• family crisis (caring for an ill family member, child illness, etc.)
• etc.

As you can see, there are a good many reasons why there is a need to slip into survival mode from time to time.

We are entering into our seventh year of homeschooling, and there are a good number of these things that we have experienced in that time period.  It's no wonder that I feel like we've been homeschooling in survival mode from the beginning.  Let me list what we've experienced:

• 2001: we started homeschooling the end of August, and 2 weeks later was the tragedy of 9/11.  This changed our philosophy drastically.
• 2002: birth of a baby! (November)
• 2003: DH got laid off; new job in August; got pregnant in November
• 2004: birth of a baby! (July)
• 2005: another job change?
• 2006: moved to new house; miscarried in September
• 2007: new pregnancy!

OK, so most of that was related to being pregnant and having a new baby. :-)  Still, that hasn't kept me from planning away for most of August each year, with the best of intentions for starting out right.  I think that planning is a good thing to do and I no longer view it as possibly being a waste of time should we need to go back into survival mode at some point.  Having a plan with an end-goal in sight gives us a sort of road map to help us find our way when the path isn't as smooth as we'd like.

I anticipate that many of my plans will be put on the back burner with the arrival of our newest family member in January.  Obviously we will all have an adjustment period.  But planning ahead, or at least having some less mom-intensive ideas available for that time period will make that adjustment period go a little more smoothly.

Week in Review

There have been so many things I've wanted to blog about this past week, but haven't had the time, or perhaps the inclination, to post anything.  Thus, I'm forcing myself to just plop all these random things together into one post before I set myself to doing the things I ought to be doing to prepare for our trip to Cooperstown.

On Wednesday, feeling unusually energetic and not terribly nauseous, tired of just sitting around the house with the kids idly spending their time in front of the computer or TV, I decided on an impromptu visit to Crooked Run Nature Preserve.  For some reason, I was thinking it wouldn't take us too long to get there, forgetting that we now live in the northwest corner of the county and that there is no easy direct route to the southeast corner where the preserve is located.  After a 45 minute drive, the kids were relieved to see the playground by the Ohio river and ran from the van to play as I unpacked the picnic bag and staked a claim on a nearby table in the shade.  After some play time and a snack, we went on a walk on the preserve trail.

We first visited the overlook at the river, but didn't stay long enough to observe any waterfowl.  Little Cate, though, was sure she saw a whale in the river.

Then we stopped at this meadow overlook and observed the numerous nesting boxes placed in the meadow as well as the Red Wing Blackbirds that were flying all around.

The best part of our hike, though, was on our way back when we got to see this little fellow:

If you click on the photo you will see a small, scared rabbit trying to hide from our rambunctious bunch.  It had crossed our path on the way back and I was sure it was lost to us.  However, we came across it again when we came to the bend in the service road.  It scurried off into the brush but was kind enough to stay still long enough for me to take the picture.  It would've stayed there longer if dear Drew hadn't yelled at it and scared it away!

On Thursday the whole gang accompanied the two oldest girls' Girl Scout Troop on an outing to Trammel Fossil Park in Sharonville.  The boys were relieved that it was to be a much shorter drive than the day before.  The best part about this park is it is free admission and you are able to take home the fossils that you find.  Other places where we have taken part in fossil programs have not let us do this, so the kids were very excited about adding to their already large collection of fossils (most of which were found here at home at the creek).

Connor was thrilled to discover over 20 "giant fossils".  These were actually just large pieces of rock which had numerous bryozoans, crinoids, and brachiopods embedded in them.  The two little ones were content picking up just any old rock, though most of them had some sort of fossilized creature inside.  John set out to find as many bryozoans as he could find.  He likes these because they are easy to find separate from rocks.  Lizzy was successful finding some large crinoid stems (looking like stacked pennies or a roll of ring-shaped candies).  The rest of the bunch found mostly embedded brachiopods.  We came home with a large bucket full of fossils, which have now found their home with the others on our front porch.  If you're local to Cincinnati, or if you will be visiting sometime, be sure to check this free, awesome place out.  It was well worth our time!

Thursday through Sunday was filled with T-ball and baseball games.  The little boys played a game on Thursday and then again on Friday.  Friday afternoon, John's team played in an 11U tournament to prepare for the differences they will encounter at Cooperstown, namely, longer baselines and the pitching rubber being set back a couple of feet.  They performed well, having been placed in a highly competitive bracket, but it was not a surprise that they didn't win any of the pool play games.  On Sunday they played a consolation game and won.  That also was John's 11th birthday, so he was pleased with the win.

Yesterday, Monday, was my appointment with the new OB.  I actually saw the nurse practitioner this time around, and most of the visit was spent speculating the reasons for my past miscarriages as well as things that could be done testing-wise.  Two reasons we talked about were chromosomal translocation (which was one reason proposed after our second miscarriage) and antiphospholipid syndrome.  In the first case, it is a genetic problem which cannot be cured.  Testing, such as nuchal translucency screening (specialized ultrasound) can determine an increased risk for certain chromosomal problems.  Still, this in no way would prevent a miscarriage from occurring.  Thus, I have opted for only a general ultrasound.  For the second case, which I feel is not my condition, since it's more common with consecutive, recurrent, earlier miscarriages, some options to decrease the risk of misacarrying include a regimen of low-dose "baby" aspirin or heparin.  It was suggested that I could take the baby aspirin, since it wouldn't hurt anything.

That said, I was surprised when the nurse practicioner suggested we could "take a peek" at the baby to find the heartbeat with the office ultrasound.  What a wonderful sight to see that little heart flickering on the monitor!  Here is the 9-week image:

The black space is my uterus, and the fuzzy gray on the left side inside the black space is our little bit.  As I mentioned before, I have opted for a general ultrasound (to measure for dates, make sure there's only one, etc.), which will take place in two weeks.  Three weeks following that I will be meeting with the doctor and will likely have all the usual GYN stuff done.  I will be 14 weeks at that point, which is the beginning of my personal "worry time." 

Tonight is the last T-ball game and a mandatory practice before the big boys go to Cooperstown.  Tomorrow will be a big-time packing day and tidying up the house.  Thursday afternoon we take off for Cooperstown and will be gone for the better part of the week.  Thus, it's not likely I'll be posting again for some time.

This-n-That

First off, here's a photo of the latest excitement around here.  I'm sorry it's so dark, but it was late in the day, there was so much shade from the surrounding trees, and was fixing to rain when I took it.

I'm sure you recognize the dead trees.  The one in the background is the nesting site for our resident Pileated Woodpeckers.  I'm happy to announce that their babies have hatched out.  It was quiet in the nest for a long time, so much so that I was beginning to wonder if the nest may have been raided.  But, nope, the babies were there, sticking their heads out to be fed by their mama.  Mama is much more timid than papa, but she seems to have gotten used to us coming out on the deck to check their progress.  I've seen two little ugly pileated heads poking out, but the oldest boy says he saw three.  However many there are, they certainly making a lot of noise, rasping when their parents approaches the nest at feeding time.

Next I thought I'd share a photo of our little chirp, Cate.  She is the only on of our girls to walk around in a pull-up, shirt, and rubber boots.  All of our boys have done this at around her age, but the older two girls never did anything like it.  It probably comes from watching the two little boys run around in boots.  Anyway, I thought it was a funny picture, and, well, she's just so darn cute and very willing to pose!

I recently won an auction for Math-U-See's older Intermediate Mathematics on eBay.  The books arrived yesterday in excellent condition.  I hope the videos will arrive soon so I can plan a course of action.  My intent is to use these materials to get our oldest daughter up to snuff with her math facts (something she still struggles with), help our oldest two to grasp the concept of multiple digit multiplication, and introduce our middle daughter to multiplication.  This level of the program introduces much more material than that (fractions, division, measurement, etc.), but the areas I mentioned above are what we need to work the most on.

This weekend was great baseball-wise.  The boys were really on and it showed on the field.  Their first game on Sunday was against a team to which 7 of last year's team (that John  was on) went to play for.  Fortunately, we replaced those players with even stronger all-around players for this year's team.  Our boys won the game 13-1 in four innings.  Our 10u league plays six innings, with a "run rule" (or mercy rule) of 10 after 4 innings, meaning the game ends after 4 innings if a team is leading by 10 or more runs.  The second game was a win against a team that was a nasty rival last year.  They traveled to the CABA World Series last summer and came in fourth.  Since that time, the rivalry hasn't been nearly as bitter, and we have even been invited to their team picnic this weekend.  I'm glad things have improved since last summer.

Lastly, I finally decided which route this pregnancy is going to take.  I made the call yesterday to schedule an appointment to see an OB.  I've known about this guy for many years, and he has a good reputation for being a natural childbirth supportive OB.  After much thought, I figured this would be a good way to go for a few reasons.  First off, the nurse-midwives who practice in Cincinnati are now either part of a very large OB practice, or they do births at the two hospitals I'd rather not go near.  I would much rather see one doctor throughout this pregnancy, then bounce around from doctor to midwife to doctor.  Also, with my history of miscarriage, this last one being rather traumatic for me, I want the reassurance of ultrasound.  Lastly, I'll admit it: I'm not getting any younger.  I know the OB will place the label "Senile Grand Multipara" on my chart, indicating that I'm over 35 and have given birth to at least 5 children.  Still, it's time to humble myself somewhat, and submit to more invasiveness that I would have in the past.  That doesn't mean I'm going into this with blind trust.  I know which tests are necessary and which ones have high false positives; I also know that I need to be sensible about my health and that of our baby.  My appointment is on Monday the 11th, so I'll post about that next week.