01.19.09

We had such a lovely weekend. We took the boys to the children's museum on Saturday and they just caught a showing of The Princess and the Pea as we walked in the door. They got to interact with all sorts of scientific displays, dress-up exhibits, construction stations, etc. The animal room was a big hit with Benjamen and Nicholas, while Jonathan most enjoyed the play and the pulley exhibit.

Afterward we went out for Indian food at a new place that just recently opened in town and the boys all tried lots of foods that they'd never had before. They drank enough lassis to drain their college funds, but I was really happy to see them being good sports about trying new things and enjoying the majority of them. I think there was just one shrimp dish that didn't go over. I was happy, too, that Dan, who's recently gone vegan, was able to have a wide variety of dishes from which to choose.

Sunday we just ran errands and grabbed some pizza, but it was a fun day, too. The boys each spent some of their allowance and brought home toys to play with for the rest of the evening. Benjamen and Nicholas came up with a plan to combine their money and go in on a toy together. I was pessimistic and thinking that there would be conflict, but so far, they've been taking turns or playing together with it, drama-free, a pleasant surprise that reminded me to give them more credit and to stop expecting the worst.

Today we've done our day's maths (actually Nicholas took a break, so I need to finish his in a moment), watched Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on YouTube, and wrote a little bit about it afterward. I had Benjamen write a sentence for me and then we corrected his mistakes (grammar mistakes, not letter formation), and Jonathan is finishing up his essay right now:

An Essay on Martin Luter King, Jr.
By Jonathan Peter Baltzell

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who spoke up for all colored people in America. He was a Baptist minister. He made a speech called the "I Have a Dream" speech. In his speech, he said that Mississippi was the state that racism was most common in. The point of the speech was to give colored people equal rights to white people. He wanted them to be able to drink from the same water fountains, sit wherever they want on the bus and in restaurants, etc. We celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to remember that without him, colored people might still be treated badly. We also remember him because he protested against racism peacefully and because he urged others to protest peacefully. Also, if it were not for Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama would probably not be president right now. Basically, Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the United States forever.