A Poem from Gehrig

Dear Mom,

You are as sweet as hunny,
and a little bit funny,
You are better than money.
Thanks to Dad who was the iron, thanks to you who was the magnet. I have brother sister youngest brother and I have Dad and you my mother.

You son,
Gehrig

(PS Gehrig said he spell honey that way b/c of Winnie the Pooh's honey pot. He knew it was wrong, but thought it was fun.)

A Child's Perspective on Parenting

I hesitate to post this because it makes me look so bad, but I guess I'm not out to prove anything to anybody. I just want to learn from my mistakes and even from my children. These are some of Gehrig's thoughts for me today. . .

And I'll admit, I asked Gehrig several times today for his help with my parenting and he was more helpful and obedient. Maybe we have something here. . . (FYI, Gehrig turned 9 last month.)

More from Gehrig

We have this great map of the United States on one side and the World on the other that is laminated, so I keep it in the middle of our table to refer to periodically (any chance I can get for teaching opportunities). This morning as we were reviewing the different continents, I pointed out that my ancestors were from Europe and Lou's ancestors came from Africa. Later this evening, Gehrig came to me and asked me if I knew any stories of his ancestors that I could tell him. Unfortunately, I don't have any by heart, but I was able to pull out a couple of histories that I had for him to read. He found that his great-great-grandfather wrote beautiful poetry. He was so excited about that and told me that he came from a "rich heritage." It inspired him to write another poem. It's in the second half of this paper he wrote and I love it!

God's Garden by Gehrig Harris, Junior

In God's garden I do truly live.
Endlessly I'm learning.
Endlessly I'm living.
And so doth God live.
In my mind and heart.

My love, Gehrig Harris Jr.

The part he circled cracks me up. He wrote, "I found an Indian spear tip. NO SERIESLY, it looked like this." And, truth be told, he actually did find a real arrowhead. His Papa is making a shadow box for it and we're hoping to visit a friend of his that might be able to help us know how old it might be, etc. It is a VERY exciting find for more than just a cute little eight year old!

Gehrigisms. . .

I went to check on Gehrig before I went to bed and found this cute little display in his bedroom. He is VERY excited about rocks right now. I love his little museum display!

On another note. . .we were at Walmart this week doing a little grocery shopping and I asked him and Damian to pick something up on the next row and bring it to me. Damian made it back to me, but Gehrig must have wandered off. I was almost finished with my shopping and a little ticked off that he didn't come right back, but didn't get too worried. When we started calling his name and didn't get a response from him, I began to get a little concerned. He lost me once before and went straight to the parking lot looking for me (which was exactly what NOT to do). Luckily, he must have remembered that experience because this time, he actually went to the friendly Walmart greeter and asked for help. I found him at customer service. In the car, he found a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote this clever poem:

I have never been so glad to see you,
Your purse of black, your eyes of blue.

We've been learning about rhyming couplets in Language Arts and I think this is a great example, written by my own little poet!

Home Sweet Home

Gehrig ripped a piece of his lunch sack at the park today to draw this cute picture. Of course, he had to find a real feather to add to it. I love the baby birds with their mouths wide open and the mother delivering the food--and the father on the lookout. He cracks me up!

Speaking of Gehrig, yesterday he asked me about an amoeba (some specific question I had no idea about). So. . .we checked it out on the internet. I began reading a bunch of terms (more words that I would have to look up to understand), my eyes glazed over with boredom (sorry, science isn't my thing) when I heard expressions from Gehrig that made me turn my head to look at him. His eyes were bright with wonder and excitement (like a child on Christmas morning) and he said, with great enthusiasm, "Thanks Mom!" He never ceases to amaze me with his inquisitive, active mind!

Gehrig made up this beautiful poem while on a walk between cabins in West Yellowstone.

Of the flowers and the roses

And of the nectar sweet.

Nature is sewn together

In everlasting peace.

Gehrig's Comic Strip

My cousin's husband was attacked by a grizzly bear last week near West Yellowstone. Gratefully, he survived, but with many injuries. I wish I had more details on his health right now. Not to make light of such a serious situation, but I guess with the talk about the attack, it's been on Gehrig's mind. This is his take on the event.

I hope you can see it. The top says, "One day he turned the corner. YIKES! Grizz came out and. . . . . . "Oh, oh!" Tickled him. At the docters! Slightly mad. Oh, oh, oh. Seems like it. Oh? Aaahh! Aaaww (this is where the doctor is working on him). I'm done? (big smile on his face). Yes dad (his son). Yahoo!! Then. . . " (He said the grizzly bear came back. The end where they're hugging, the bear is actually his wife.

A Sampling of Gehrig's Journal Entries

April 15, 2009

Today me and Damian have named our clubhous The Gorge Washington Carver Science Club. We have a lot of scienc in it. Tomorow we will dedacate it in honor of Gorge Washington Carver. Then we will present the glass spear (he accidently broke a picture frame and managed to keep a piece to connect to a stick with a string to make a spear--I didn't realize what he was using it for when I discovered it and threw it away--poor guy, I guess his mother is a stick-in-the-mud). In the dedecation it will say. . .In honor of George Washington Carver we dedecate The Gorge Washington Carver Science Club.

April 16, 2009

We've just goten past the gaurd mandroids! Now to the castle! 1 minut later. Irene stay quiet and hold your fire. Cock your guns. The race is on.

Back to real life. I was jumping down stairs when Damian came up the stairs and to my disbelief I jumped right over him!

I have planted some organic Apples. Don't know if I will ever have apples but what I do know is they will probobly sprout!

Isn't he too cute?! I love reading his journal entries. His mind goes in so many different directions. I tried to keep his spelling and punctuation the way he wrote it. The spacing, I added to make it easier to read. He doesn't put much space between his thoughts! :)

Is this boy for REAL?

Gehrig brought these writings to me today. It's hard to imagine that a 7 year old came up with these things on his own (although the handwriting and spelling might give away his age somewhat--not bad for 7 though!). The next 3 pages are a story that he wrote. (Lou says the tiger story is a recreation of an old story he's heard.) Anyway. . .isn't he great? What a clever little guy. (PS Check out the small picture at the bottom of My Speech. He's drawn himself with a bunch of microhpones in front of him.)

Gehrig's Creative Side

I found this note on Gehrig's door
.

In case you can't read it, it says, "Author and Illustrator's Room. Only! Please come in only if givin permition!" In the past month, Gehrig has decided that he wants to see himself published. :) He told me that he plans to write at least 8 poems and have them published. He gets much of his creative inspiration after he should be in bed (go figure!). He is also setting some of his poems to music, but I haven't had time to help him get it written. I have recorded them on video though, so we can write it later. I LOVE to see how much he loves to learn. He's not just a sponge--he actually figures things out himself and loves it! Here are a couple of samples of his work.

Nothing Out of the Ordinary. . .

It's been a while since I've updated and I have several random pictures and a few sets of pictures to update. So. . .here goes. . .I just thought this was so cute how the kids were playing so well together outside. Isaiah was there too, but by the time I grabbed the camera, he was gone. The boys were writing furiously and playing with their animals/babies, etc.

Isaiah LOVES to climb up on the tables, counters, anything he can climb (yep, he's another little monkey in the Harris monkey family). He was getting a kick out of the fish tank.

This is a cute little sculpture Gehrig made for me. I thought it was pretty clever!

I can't help myself. I found this little dress at DI and couldn't pass it up. Doesn't she look cute in the bright green fairy princess dress?I love to see our children reading. Sometimes, Emma will sit for long periods of time and "read."

We have a night owl on our hands! One night, I woke up around 1 AM and found that Gehrig was still up reading. It was fun to see him this way the other night with his book propped up, sounds asleep. By the way, the words were on the other page. He was reading Romeo and Juliet (luckily, he hadn't made it to the end--he might be too young for that one). I love how his finger is in his mouth and you can see his CTR ring that he wears faithfully every day!