Our Evening in Puerto Rico

OK, so we really didn't spend the evening in Puerto Rico! But we had a real treat last Friday night when Lillian and Raymond Isaac (natives of Puerto Rico) invited us over for some traditional food. I had been talking to Lillian about how to cook plantains, and it seemed a little complicated. I told her she'd just have to demonstrate, and I'm glad she took me seriously! Caleb was also very interested in the cooking process.

We had sweetened plantains (you use very ripe ones for this):

From Puerto Rican Food

And we also had double-fried plantains (made with green ones and served with a sauce for dipping):

From Puerto Rican Food

We also had a salad made with avocados that Raymond had actually brought from Puerto Rico (you can legally bring in certain kinds of fruit):

From Puerto Rican Food

We had roast pork:

From Puerto Rican Food

and rice with "pigeon peas":

From Puerto Rican Food

We also had pina coladas:

From Puerto Rican Food

and pineapple flan:

From Puerto Rican Food

We also had a little birthday cake that I brought along since it was Terry's birthday!

From Puerto Rican Food

Besides all the great food, we had a great time visiting with our new friends. We have known the Isaacs very casually for years, but this year Lillian and the boys are participating in the TEACH Co-op, so we've been able to get to know each other much better. They live less than five minutes from our house. We are trying to figure out what to cook for them. Any suggestions?

Weekend Getaway

Terry and I spent this past weekend at a cabin near Gatlinburg. Terry's parents kept the kids in Knoxville, so we didn't have to worry about the subtitle on this sign when we hiked to Charlie's Bunion.

From charlie's bunion

I don't know who Charlie was, but apparently he had some pretty bumpy feet.

From charlie's bunion

We also hiked to a spot called "The Jump Off." I was tempted, but Terry talked me out of it.

From charlie's bunion

You could see Mt. LeConte from both the Bunion and the Jump-Off. Mt. LeConte is the second highest peak in Tennessee and infamous for the hike we took there without a trail in 1992.

From charlie's bunion

All in all, we hiked for about 10 miles.

We're Back!

I decided to start putting content on our regular blog again. I'll still add some to our China blog, but we are actively "living life" here in Johnson City, and I thought it my be time for an update about that.

Today we decided to get out and enjoy the fall color. We headed to Erwin, Tennessee and went to where the Nolichucky River intersects the Appalachian Trail. We hiked about 3 hours on the AT. It was a beautiful day - warm and sunny! Here are some photos:

From nolichucky hike

From nolichucky hike

From nolichucky hike

From nolichucky hike

From nolichucky hike

Our fall has been a busy one so far, but we've been trying to get outdoors and enjoy the weather. Earlier this week we took a group bike hike on the Creeper Trail. We've been going to lots of soccer games (Rebecca, Nathan and Caleb are all playing). Co-op is in full swing and Rebecca and I are both teaching classes this semester. Rebecca is also learning to drive! Caleb and Noah were both chosen for parts in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at the community theatre in Kingsport. They start rehearsals this week, but fortunately the soccer season is coming to an end, so we will pretty much replace soccer with theatre.

We're Moving!

Well, we're not really moving - we're just moving our blog - temporarily.

Panasonic asked us to create a special blog about our trip that keeps the same feel (and much of the same content) as our original family blog. So, I will probably not post on this one for a while and will spend some time today moving content to the new blog which can be found at www.seamansinchina.blogspot.com.

Unfortunately, I can't easily move comments, so please don't feel slighted if you made a comment that doesn't show up on the new blog.

The Challenge

Our kids have really been wanting to get the Olympics Wii game that is out right now. I thought it might be fitting to get it - especially for our boys that are left behind. Anyway, I gave them a challenge on the first day of school and said I'd buy the game once they all completed the challenge. They had five things to memorize (the Olympic motto, creed, oath, and two passages of scripture) and two reports each to do (one on an Olympic sport that they didn't know much about and one on a country).

Well, it's taken only about three days for them to all complete everything. Nathan chose to do a report on fencing, Noah chose beach volleyball, Caleb chose cycling and Rebecca chose the paralympics. Last night they made some powerpoint presentations when we hooked up our laptop to the plasma TV. Here is a picture of Noah getting ready for his presentation.





They are getting ready for the new game by making lots of new Olympic-athlete "Miis" for the game. They've had to do quite a bit of research as they're trying to make sure to get things like the eye color right. By the way, Michael Phelps has brown eyes, but his Mii just doesn't look right without a Speedo.

Here are the two passages of scripture that the kids have memorized. Even though they're "done" memorizing them, we can continue to glean spiritual insights from them as we discuss them in light of the Olympics.

1 Cor. 9: 24-27

Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Hebrews 12: 1,2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of our 08/09 school year. Some years we have a special breakfast or take photos. This morning we simply had toast and sat in front of the TV watching the Today Show's coverage from Beijing. It was so cool thinking we would see those places ourselves in just 14 days!

Today we spent some time learning the history of the modern Olympic movement and practicing the Olympic motto, creed and oath. Last year the boys enjoyed (yes, they really did enjoy this, believe it or not) learning Greek and Latin roots, so probably the most interesting thing that they learned today is that "gymnos" means "nude," so gymnasium really means "a place for naked exercise." In the true fashion of 8-12 year-old boys, they talked about this over and over! We also learned that the word "stadium" is based on the "stade" which was the length of the foot race in the original Greek games, but somehow this did not bear repeating as much as gymnasium.

Each of the kids chose a sport and a country to prepare a report for to present tomorrow night to the family.


We did a few experiments from our "Sports Science" book - learning how the brain is the most important body part when it comes to success in sports. Our experiments were on reaction time (which involved dropping and catching a ruler with a partner - it turns out that Rebecca had the best reaction time)



and learning about balance (Nathan won the balance challenge!).



Probably the biggest thing that I learned today is that shots hurt!



Nathan, Terry and I had our hepatitis shot in preparation for travel. Since Rebecca has traveled to China before, she got to skip this ritual.

Speaking of ritual, we are watching a documentary tonight called "The Real Olympics" and learned that the first Olympics started with the ritual of animal sacrifice. I'm glad that won't be part of the opening ceremonies this year!

Ready, Set, Go!

Here's a picture of Rebecca with all the stuff we got in a recent package from Panasonic. We are excited about getting to trade pins with the collateral they gave us - it will be a great conversation starter. And I love the fancy luggage tags!

We also had a phone conversation this week with Panasonic and found out many more details about our trip. These are the events that we're going to be seeing:

Men's Beach Volleyball
Men's 200 M
Men's 50K walk
Men's Basketball
Women's Softball
Platform Diving

I'm probably most excited at this point about Platform Diving as Rebecca and I have been fans of Laura Wilkinson since the 2000 Olympics. I'm also pumped to see the Men's 200 M as I'm sure some former Razorbacks will be competing.

We also found out about some of the specific sites we'll see in Beijing - I'll post more about that a different time.

We also got a package from amazon this week - several books and videos to complement our unit study that we'll start next week. I've also put a ton of books on reserve at the library!



To change gears . . .



Rebecca and I have completed eight weeks of training and will be competing along with a great family friend, Laura O., in a sprint triathlon next Sunday. We did a mock run of the race this week. As soon as we exited from our swim in the lake, the heavens broke loose in a downpour. We decided to risk a lightning strike and just go for it! It was better than running in extreme heat and humidity at least. We are not competing as a team - but we'd do better if we did - Rebecca is the best swimmer, Laura is by far the best biker, and I am the best runner. But the good news is, we all finished within our goal time. The bad news is that I have not lost a pound. I do feel pretty good, though. Our families are traveling to Chattanooga with us to cheer us on.



I'll end with this picture. We took it for the latest HD challenge - we're supposed to be taking some pictures that could end up on the side of a truck. We'll take few more tomorrow as I'm not sure the ones we have are that good. Anyway, this picture sort of reminds me of how I feel right now. My family is in a photograph, and it feels both fun and scary to have your family on display.

In The News

Here's an article that came out in the local papers about our family. It has a bit of misinformation as it implies that we were chosen out of thousands to attend the Olympics when we were actually just chosen from among the HD families. The main reason to look at the arcticle is that you get to see my new haircut! I was sort of bummed that the kids were out of town when the reporter came by. They would have enjoyed being in the paper.

Article

Karla and Paul Gately have given us some ideas of places to go in Japan. One is
Karuizawa and the other is a Torchbearers site at the base of Mt. Fuji. Panasonic folks in Japan are also providing us with a sample itinerary.

We have our passports and tickets now (we'll be flying on American Airlines to Chicago and then on Japan Airlines the rest of the way). The visas are in process.

Lotsa Stuff

First of all, check out this video that Nathan made. He built the set himself - he loves to make booby traps.



This week our kids are at "Cousin Camp" in Knoxville. I understand that the boys built a go-cart yesterday with Poppa - I'll be anxious to hear how that went.
Here is a picture of the T-shirts Rebecca made for all the cousins. I thought they turned out cute. They say "My cousins are nuts from the same family tree."



Lastly, I thought I'd give you an update on our Panasonic Trip.

Right now we are set to fly out at 7:13 am on August 18th. We will be connecting through Detroit and then Japan. Once we get to Detroit, we will be traveling with lots of Panasonic folks. Panasonic is a big Olympic sponsor and is sending lots of their execs. These are the first Olympics to be broadcast entirely in high definition. We will be staying the first three nights at the Kuntai Royal Hotel in Beijing and will then be moving to The Grand Epoch City resort - which is a resort built to look like the old city of Beijing. The first place is closer to the Olympics, and the second place is closer to sightseeing.

On the way back, Panasonic has given us permission to layover in Japan at our own expense, but we have to decide by tomorrow. So we're looking into things to do and places to stay in Tokyo if we decide to do that.

We're Going to the Olympics!

I almost don't know what to say! Rebecca says that I am so excited that I am spastic! God has been so good to us, and we will be going to Beijing on August 18th to see 4 days of Olympics (including the closing ceremonies) and do 2 days of sight-seeing. It will be a whirlwind, and we will need to be documenting everything on film and video in order to produce material for the Panasonic website. What an adventure!

I feel bad for the families that didn't win, but Greg told us that they were going to do something for all the families that applied. What a great bunch!

Here's the version of our video that we sent to Panasonic along with our application.

James and Allison's Visit

Carter's Fold has bluegrass music every Saturday night, and we had a great time. Caleb and Noah had enough fun for all of us. They were tearing up the dance floor!





Allison learned to ski!



More jumping!

Last night we played "Ticket to Ride" and watched a sci-fi movie. Today we're planning on getting out on the lake again as yesterday's trip was cut short by a thunderstorm.

What We've Been Up To

We've been busy the past few days!


Below is a link to a video we're sending as an illustration for our Olympic contest entry. Be sure to watch the whole thing. After the olympics, it's got some great "claymation" movies that Rebecca made the past two days. We've been having lots of fun with stop-action photography, and I think the ones Rebecca did are really sweet! Be sure and turn the volume up - there is sound!

You Tube Video

More Jumping Pictures

This time with the whole family! We grabbed these frames from the HD video camera.

Jump into Summer!

My kids have recently discovered they love jumping in the lake! We found a dock that's been for sale for a long time right in the cove where Terry likes to ski. It's a great place for the kids to hang out while Terry skis (getting them out of the boat reduces the wake), and they finally got brave enough to try jumping in. I love these pictures! The older guy is Mike Baker, a Moody Aviation grad that we befriended years ago and who recently came to town for a visit. Rebecca jumped, too, but not with the camera!

Summer Plans

We decided not to take a trip this summer. Check out my very first blog entry to see where we went last year. Our kids were totally overwhelmed with that trip, and they begged for a summer closer to home. I guess it is sort of hard to want to leave when we have a lake and a pool down the street! Anyway, this decision was made long before gas prices started inflating like crazy, and now it seems to make even more sense.

Even though we aren't taking a family vacation, here's what we're looking forward to:

• hosting a marriage retreat this weekend
• visits from James and Allison and from the Kevin and Krista Rideout (and a last minute visit from Mike Baker who is actually arriving tonight)
• Nathan's birthday party next weekend
• 4th of July with neighborhood fireworks
• "Cousin camp" - one week with our kids in Knoxville and one week with the kids here in Johnson City - eight kids ages 7-15 - we are planning lots of activities and even T-shirts!
• Caleb going to Doe River Gorge Camp
• Rebecca going to Worldview Academy at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC
• the rest of us visiting two good friends in North Carolina while she's there
• camping at South Holston Lake
• Rebecca and I competing in a sprint triathlon in Chattanooga on August 10th with my friend, Laura O'Bryan (we all started a nine-week training program this week)

One optional thing is that Noah is trying out for a part in the Beauty and the Beast (the part of "Chip") next weekend. If he gets the part, it will mean lots of trips to Abingdon (a 45 min. drive) and a pretty big life-change from August until the play is over right before Thanksgiving. There are eleven weeks of performances. We are just praying that he won't get the part if our family isn't up for it.

Anyway, if you're not interested in all that, check us out on the new "Living in HD website" (link below). There are videos of us and everything now! Don't you think we're the coolest family on there? And really, all of you guys should sign up where it says "Join Now." They are giving more stuff away!

http://www.panasonic.com/livinginhd/community.htm

Happy Birthday, Carol!

Well, I decided that instead of sending a card, I would write a blog entry that everyone could see. Not to mention that it's cheaper and you don't have to plan ahead as much!

Carol, I remember that day when you were born 38 years ago. How badly Ann and I wanted a brother! What were we thinking?

Fortunately, God knew better what I needed, and I can't imagine life without my little sister. We have shared so many great memories. I miss getting to be around you all the time and getting to know your children better. You are a great Mom and a wonderful teacher. I have learned a lot from you.

Thanks for always being my friend (you really didn't have a choice about the sister thing). I hope that God will really bless this coming year and all the years to come.

I love you,

Susan

P.S. Wish we could go to Rick's to celebrate.

Way to Go, Rebecca!

Today we had a visit from Greg Harper, representing the Panasonic Living in HD program. We had a great time talking with him, learning some more cool things about the products, etc. He took one look at the photos Rebecca had taken in the past week that we've had the products and was very impressed. He wanted to shoot her giving a tutorial to put on their new website (launch date is May 28th), and he said that he would probably recommend that Panasonic give her an SLR and several lenses to develop her talent! He also thinks an underwater video camera would be great for our family. Isn't that cool?

Smart Dog

Jingle is now learning to use the laptop! Seriously, she is a very bright dog and a lot of fun. I thought you might want to see how she has grown. She should be about full-size now. She's about as tall as a cocker, but she is longer and skinnier. We had to send ten pictures to Panasonic of our family members using their products, so we decided to include Jingle.

Our Stuff is Here!

The last few days have been very exciting for us. The stuff we won in the Panasonic contest arrived and we have spent lots of time playing with it all. It definitely seemed like Christmas as we spent the day trying to put things together, played with our new toys and stepped over piles of boxes and styrofoam. The kids are really enjoying the HD video camera and still camera. We were given 9 memory cards - several with 4 gigs of memory - and we have used them all! With our new TV we can stick the SD card right in and watch our HD home movies. One of the things we got is even our own green screen, so the kids are excited to do a weather map and special effects. I am excited to have my own laptop!

Greg Harper (see http://www.harpervision.com/) is coming next Wednesday to train us in how to get the most from all these products. He was originally coming this Friday, but his plans changed. I'm glad to have more time to clean house before he comes and more time to use the products so we know what questions to ask.

Terry and I are really trying to make the most of this opportunity with the kids. We have even been asking ourselves - what does it mean spiritually to be "high definition?" When you think of high definition, you think of a picture that is really clear and really "real." You must be receiving a high definition signal which requires lots of band width. I often feel like I am receiving signals from the Lord with a measly antenna and broadcasting his love to others in fuzzy black and white.

It is getting late, so that's a spiritual as I'll get for the night. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Our stuff arrived on Tuesday morning . . .

We had lots of fun opening boxes

The boys are excited about the Blu Ray DVDs we got. We watched Pirates of the Carribean in high definition surround sound last night. It's not my favorite movie by any means, but it had lots of action and noise!

Today we decorated the driveway and our neighbor, Bob, took Terry up in his small plane to take video. Noah went along for his first plane ride. Since Terry didn't have his reading glasses, he couldn't focus. All the circling trying to take video while focusing made him sick. He has gone to bed early.

My Turn

It has been interesting reading all the family reviews on this movie. Terry, Rebecca and I finally got a chance to see it on Friday night, and now I’m wanting to chime in.

First of all, I should say that I recognize that I am neither a scientist nor a philosopher, so I am simply writing from the viewpoint of someone who has followed the politics of this debate with much interest for over twenty-five years. I actually wrote my high school research paper on the subject and entitled it “Academic Freedom.”

Perhaps because of this more political point of view, I didn’t go to the movie expecting lots of scientific content. I think the point of the movie was not to support ID itself but to reveal the lack of freedom on this issue in the scientific culture – particularly academia. I actually see the film as having three main messages with which I agree wholeheartedly:

1. There is a lack of freedom in discussing ID or the problems with evolution. There may be a shouting match in the popular literature, but there is no shouting match in academia because one side is muzzled.

2. Belief in naturalistic evolution leads to atheism. It obviously does not make everyone an atheist, but the connection is there. Stein gave several examples of this. I can also give several examples of folks I know, plus I can attest to my own struggle in this area.

3. The theory of evolution has social implications. That’s the main reason I care about this issue and think others should as well. Our society is reaping the benefits of a population that has been educated to think that there is not a God or that He is irrelevant. The de-valuing of human life is a natural outcome of an unquestioned belief in evolution. It may not always present itself in as extreme of a fashion as what the Nazis did, but I think we can all see the connection. Stein himself said several times that not all evolutionists were Nazis. He was simply trying to show that this subject does make a difference in human behavior!


I don’t know what the outcome of the film will be. Perhaps it will just make evolutionists mad. At least it will be better-received from an actor like Ben Stein than it would be from an evangelical. It’s hard to see how this movie could result in less freedom than we have now because right now we have next to none.

And I just don’t buy that we can’t discuss ID because it’s not science. Lots of things are discussed in school science classes like birth control (a social issue) or the latest current events. Some times classes are even let out for a pep rally (gasp!). Why can’t ID be discussed even one day of the school year? If not actually discussing ID, why can’t problems in the evolutionary theory be pointed out without someone fearing they will lose their job? Why do Christians in scientific fields feel like they have to keep their mouth shut on this? Isn’t it just a bit ridiculous?

If this theory didn’t make any difference as to how people lived their lives (like most of the scientific theories we take for granted), then we could just let it go. But this one matters! Christians who don’t speak out (especially those who are respected scientists) share some culpability in the descent of our culture into atheism.

Collision!

Last Tuesday night (after dark), the boys were playing "Capture the Flag" with some friends who were visiting from out of town. Then Nathan came running in with blood flowing down his face saying "Noah bit me!"

I'm thinking "Wow! He must have bit you hard! And why would he bite you on the forehead??"

Then Noah comes in with half of a permanent tooth missing. Fortunately, he just missed severing the nerve, so he was not in much pain.

The boys simply collided in the dark. Noah was coming from uphill - otherwise it would have been pretty hard for his tooth to be on the same level as Nathan's forehead.

We used superglue and butterfly bandages to fix Nathan (the cut was quite deep), and our dentist fixed Noah. Noah will have to have a crown on this tooth when he is an adult, and it may require being fixed several times before then.

Nathan did not want to have his picture taken, but I thought the event was too "classic" to go undocumented.

Aargh!

The Seaman pirates on a treasure hunt at Cape San Blas!

Flying the stunt kite

a little sunscreen goes a long way!

Rebecca and Sara

Rebecca and Hannah

We had a great time on our trip to Florida. We stayed at a beach house on Cape San Blas that Terry's parents had rented for all of us. It was a beautiful place. While Terry's extended family was all at Cape San Blas, my extended family had gathered at St. Andrews State Park near Panama City, about an hour and a half away. We spent one day with them.

Our trip mainly consisted of long walks on the beach (at least an hour every day), reading, scrapbooking (me), talking, eating, learning to fly Terry's new stunt kite and watching NCAA basketball. The kids spent time on the beach (including the cold water) but also tried to max out on playing on the computer and watching videos. We are now returning to reality, and it is harsh!

You're Not Gonna Believe This!

The kids and I are running around screaming our heads off! We just got a phone call telling us that we have been chosen as a Panasonic HD Family. I entered this contest in January by writing an essay and telling how we would do the assigned scavenger hunt if we had the HD products (this was another part of the contest).

We won over $15,000 of HD equipment plus a crew of folks to set everything up for us at our house and teach us how to use it! We won a large plasma TV, a laptop, a home theater system, an HD video camera, two cameras, a printer, a Wii and games, blueray videos, etc. plus a year's worth of subscription to HDTV from our local cable company. I understand that ten families from across the US were chosen in this round. As a result of winning, we have to participate in "challenges" where we make videos, etc of our family that are put on the web.

Here's part of the original news story about the contest:

The “Bring Back Family Time” advertising campaign is part of Panasonic’s integrated Living In High Definition program. The program also includes a nationwide multi-truck tour that is bringing consumers a hands-on experience with Panasonic’s suite of High Definition products, and an experiential program, in association with researchers from the Center for Urban Research and Policy at Columbia University, that will explore and document how High Definition technologies can enrich the American lifestyle. As part of the program, as many as 30 families will be awarded a $20,000 suite of High Definition products including Plasma HDTVs, Blu-ray Players, HD Camcorders, Digital Still Cameras and other products and services.

NASCAR Motel

For the fourth year in a row, we are operating our home as a B&B for folks attending the NASCAR race in Bristol. This weekend is the "Spring Race" - which is not as big of a deal as the race in August, but we are still running full. This weekend we'll have an interesting mix of folks - a recently-deployed serviceman from Maryland and his 6yo son, a retired couple from Florida, a father and two sons from California and a few others from somewhere I can't remember. We will be sleeping in our camper in the backyard.

I've always thought it would be fun to own and operate a B&B. This lets me do it just two weekends a year. We will make $1700 this weekend. Sure, I have to do lots of house-cleaning, but I need to clean up the house twice a year anyway, right?

Haven't Done This in a While

Though it seems weird to now after several days of spring-like weather, we actually went snow-skiing last Thursday. It is hard to believe that there is this much snow only an hour's drive from our home. We had about 1/2" back home (enough to close county schools), but there were about six new inches at Beech Mountain, North Carolina. They were also taking advantage of the cold temperatures to make snow. This snow-making is very noisy and makes me appreciate the quietness of snow-skiing in Colorado.

Nathan and Rebecca were unable to come because they had play practice to attend, but Noah and Caleb both learned quickly - completely bypassing the bunny slope. In fact, after just one trip down, Caleb got back on the lift and went up himself.

We could have made lots more pictures, but it turns out my camera does not operate well at 18 degrees.

Yesterday's Lunch

Most of my family has heard me talk about Five in a Row - the first homeschool curriculum I ever used! It's also the online message board that I've had as my home page since 1999.

So it was a big thrill for me to get to treat Steve and Jane Lambert, the creators of Five in a Row, to a long lunch in Johnson City yesterday! An unexpected treat was to also meet a young couple, Heidi and Jay St. John, who are working to create First Class Homeschool Co-ops all across the country (and even in England) and are also working with the Lamberts to do marriage seminars specifically geared to homeschool couples (who have some pretty unique stresses). I really felt a kindred spirit with Heidi and Jay and got the extra treat of spending some time yesterday evening with all of them again.

I have a lot to think about now as to how I might be involved in helping host a marriage seminar in this area or if/how we might align our existing co-op with First Class.

We like Mike!

Today we took a "field trip" and went to a rally for Mike Huckabee at the airport. The kids were very excited that they got to meet both Governor Huckabee and Chuck Norris! It was a very enthusiastic crowd and apparently much larger than was expected.

We are going to be praying for Mike tomorrow and praying for the future of our country. I hope that more and more Christians will get involved in the political process and stand up for what they believe in. My kids were certainly inspired today!