Washi Tape.

I have had the best time using Washi Tape or Crafting Tape. Here's a few of the crafts I've made. My issues with being crafty is that my brain is very crafty, but my hands are not. I can never make the ideas in my head come to life. I usually commission that job over to The Abstract Bedouin. With the tape, however, I can make my dreams come to life. It's tape. It's not to hard to mess up and if I do mess up I can just take the tape off. I've gone from covering a few wood letters, to bow holders, and I'm at furniture right now. I am enjoying being able to give them as gifts and decorate Carlee's room as well. (since I have a slight bow addiction)

Testing. What It Doesn't Show.

We are testing this week. I despise testing with most of my energy. I understand I need to figure out where my kids are in the scheme of things. I just dislike that the powers that be, judge them from 100 some odd questions. By filling in those little bubbles, that will tell them how well they did this year.

That sterile sheet doesn't show much. It doesn't show the compassion they learned for special needs children. It doesn't show the overwhelming joy when their brother and sister were adopted. It doesn't show the many lessons they learned at Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. It doesn't show that they finally passed their swimming test or that they figured out how to fix our doorknob on their own. It doesn't show the skills the picked up redoing their sister's room. It doesn't show how they learned to measure carpet or trim a wall for paint. It doesn't show the measurements we used to rearrange their rooms. It certainly doesn't show the character lessons they learn or how they became closer to God. It doesn't show how reading their Bible has improved their reading out loud skills (something I still struggle with). It doesn't show their organizational skills. It doesn't show the amount of work and effort they put into making their tree house. It doesn't show the night he couldn't sleep because he was so excited about the new Wimpy Kid book being released the next day. It doesn't show the pile of biographies we read. It doesn't show the science experiments we made. It doesn't show their domestic skills they've learned. It doesn't show how they've learned to budget their money. It doesn't show the dinners they've made, the clothes they've washed, or the way they learned to pack a suitcase correctly.

So, Mr. Test, you can show how well the can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. You can show if they know where the quotation marks should go. You can eve show if they can do fractions, but you are pretty much pointless in showing me what they've learned this year.

Personally, I think testing is a waste of time and money, for most students. I know some kids test really well. I understand they need test taking skills for later in life. I know there are some merits to testing, but I think the cons far out way the pros. We'll take the test and giggle at some of the questions and in two weeks, we'll start our new school year. We'll be learning way more than can be scored by a scan tron machine.

 In closing, I'm adding a video from a Ted X event. I found it very enlightening. The speaker is Seth Godin. It's 17 minutes, but it's worth it. (Thanks Brandy for sharing it with me)