Review Extravaganza: The Finale

The last three months of 2011, were pretty darn good. In October: I had this unique thing to say about home school:

Homeschool in the community is just soso. I have had two different experiences. Ruth and Kate are taking a Shakespeare class in Salt Lake. They are with a group of teens that are good and nice and talented. They like it. The moms involved are sociable and pleasant. I wish I could be sure that we would have interactions with this same group post Shakespeare class. I have not yet been able to find anything very social for my younger kids. I tried doing a park day in our area for young kids-- that failed. I tried do a teen night out for older kids in our area-- that failed. I have tried to join two different co-ops-- both of those have failed. We have gone to a party and two field trips with homeschoolers in Davis county. (See we live just on the Davis County and Salt Lake border. So the Shakespeare class is pretty equal in distance to most of the Davis county events.) I can hardly get anyone to associate with me or my children at field trips and parties. With the acception of two women, I can't even get the mothers of homescchooling families to associate with me. I go up to them. I introduce myself and my children. I try and find things to talk to about with them-- but nothing. In many cases I feel like they just wish me to go away. In one way my experience has been weird, in another way, I feel like I am dealing with an HOA when dealing with the homeschool community. I would completely think I was  socially retarded and the fault is all on my side except that I have not had these experiences with public school moms while volunteering in school and planning parties. I have not had these problems with my neighbors or my fellow church members. Socially, homeschool has been very unique.


Also in October, I wrote this personal story and had a lot of interesting commentary, which prompted me to do a week of faith, with guest writers in November. So in November I had a whole bunch of amazing things written about faith. You can find all of those awesome articles under the "Scripture Musings" tab.





Also in November, one of our vehicles broke down twice, so I wrote about how I deal with stress.

December, has been fairly quiet. We chose to be a one car family rather than spending all of our Christmas money repairing a car. We had a great Christmas and will get the car looked at in January. So 2012 will begin the decision to fix a car that has been breaking down a lot, or buy a new one.

 

Christmas 2011

1. We had a very nice day with the Robertson's on Christmas Eve. We had a great rib eye roast dinner, sang carols,read stories, and just had a wonderful time with brothers ans sisters, Moms, and Dads, Aunts, and Uncles, and cousins.
2. The kids woke up at 7:29, confessing that they didn't sleep much that night.
3. We dumped out stockings and saw what Santa brought. Most kids were very pleased.
4. We opened presents.
5. We played with our new stuff for a while, and then began the Christmas cleanup.
6. We halted the Christmas Cleanup to get ready for Church.
7. We went to church with only about 20 other families, my brother Seth and his fiance, Marie.
8. We came home, put sweet potatoes into the oven, and relaxed for 20 minutes.
9. We made an easy but delicious Christmas dinner of salmon, rice, sweet potatoes, and salad. We also had some amazing dark chocolate, and smoked gouda cheese.
10. We cleaned up dinner, and hung out with Seth, Marie, and my sister Amy. We played games, and did puzzles.
11. We had some chocolate cake. 
12. We cleaned up the rest of the Christmas mess.
13. We read about the wisemen, and sent the little kids to bed.
14. We chatted with Seth, Amy, and Marie until they left.
15. We sent the big kids to bed.
16. We had a great time playing the game John got for Christmas.
17. We had a great Christmas without going into debt. We are very blessed with wonderful family, friends, and faith.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

When all through the house, I take a picture and realize, I didn't clean like I thought I had. But, with the help of a secret Santa, Santa came through and we didn't go into debt at all. Thank you, secret Santa and Grammas and Grandpas. We love you!

Review Extravaganza: Part III

I am late this week, but not too late. I was busy all day finishing the Christmas Shopping. It is all done. Whew! Can't Wait for Christmas!

 In July

I tried to get pictures of all of my kids together, and realized that was probably asking for too much cooperation, especially from a teenager.

 

We gave away our first set of kittens and the kids were good with that. The cat went into heat again, the very next day. (Why is it called in heat?)

AND...

 

 Our very best friends from Wichita came to visit. 

In August:

We took our whole family camping, and began our first try at Home Schooling.

In September:

Joseph informed us about what's scary. And I have plenty more to say about Home Schooling.

Conversation with Joseph

Joseph playing with two pairs of scissors.
Me: Joseph, are you cute?
Joseph: No, not cute.
Me: Joseph, are you funny.
Joseph: No not funny.
Me: Joseph are you hungry.
Joseph: No, not hungry.
Me: Joseph, do you love Dad?
Joseph: No mom, I am just Joseph.
Me: Are you Joseph?
Joseph: Mom I am just playing with 2 scissors.
Me: Joseph, are your scissors talking.
Joseph: Yes, scissors talking.
Me:Joseph, I hate to tell you this, but that means you are cute.
Joseph: No, NOT CUTE!

Santa at Our House

Santa Claus at our house is complicated with a variety of opinions floating around, and quite the history. I doubt many families have as much Santa Claus drama as our family seems to have. I will start from the beginning.

When I was pregnant with Ruth John's parents told us how important Santa Claus was, and how people who say telling your children about Santa Claus is lying to them are not seeing the big picture. They said that children need to know that everything they get doesn't come from their parents. They concluded that teaching about Santa Claus is akin to teaching your children about the Savior. Because children need to know that Salvation comes through Jesus Christ. Santa is a good way to illustrate this. I believed my in laws knew everything back then, and while I thought their opinion was a bit strong, I had no problems with doing Santa Claus.

One year later, John and I excitedly took Ruth to the mall to see Santa Claus. As we sat our baby daughter on the Santa Claus's lap, she looked at us like we are abusing her and immediately began screaming. The Santa Claus just looked annoyed and handed her back. Oh well, next year we think.

Another year goes by and it is time to see Santa Claus again. This time, Ruth won't even go into the same room as Santa Claus or any man with facial hair for that matter. We sit 3 month old Kate on Santa's lap, snap a few pictures and feel disappointed that Ruth thinks Santa is evil.

Less than one year later, I start telling Ruth that if she wants to get dinosaurs for Christmas, she has to be brave and ask Santa Claus to bring them. I wanted to prepare her not to be afraid. When the time came, Ruth walked to within about 5 feet of Santa Claus and yelled, "I want dinosaurs!" Kate, would not even look at Santa Claus, not even from 5 feet. Ruth leaves feeling more brave than excited about Santa bringing dinosaurs for Christmas.

The next year, Ruth is 3 1/2 and Kate is 2. I bring them to mall the to visit Santa Claus like usual. We walked around the amazing singing reindeer display in New York. We talked about what they wanted for Christmas. I told them they did not have to sit on Santa's lap. They just needed to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. I sat on a bench with Ruth and Kate near Santa Claus so they could build up their courage. (I really wanted them to be excited and to like Santa Claus.) After watching Santa Claus for a while, Kate turned to me and very seriously declared, "I do not like presents anymore." I felt TERRIBLE! We went home and we did not visit Santa. I promised Kate I would talk to Santa Claus for her, and that she could get a present that  she would like.

Another year later, John and I were a lot less interested in our kids being excited about Santa Claus then we were interested in knowing if they were still terrified of  him. We went to the mall again. Our 41/2 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old all cried before we even got into line. I tried having them watch Santa Claus movies to get them to like him. Nothing doing. Any man with a beard was a bad guy period. At this point John and I were pretty confident that teaching our children about Santa Claus was nothing like teaching our children about the Savior.

After Christmas this year, I had a very unique conversation with Ruth and Kate. We sat down to the table to paint. I asked what they wanted to paint, and Ruth said we should paint magical things. Kate chirped up with, "Ruth, don't you know there is no such thing as magic." Curious, I asked what made Kate say that. Kate replied that while she saw magic in movies, she had never seen magic in real life, and had therefore concluded that magic was not real. Kate then stated that if magic was not real then fairies were not real, and Santa Claus was not real because they did magic and she knew that magic was not real. I was actually impressed with my very cynical/logical three year old. Kate did not end there. Kate declared that Heavenly Father was not real because she could not see Him. I asked her if she then believed in Jesus, and Kate said yes because she had seen Him in movies with real people. (Okay, so her logic was a little flawed.) I bore testimony that Heavenly Father is real, and that he is the father of her spirit and that she would see Him again. I said no more about Santa or fairies or magic. I think this is the most memorable conversation I have ever had with a 3 year old.

The following year. I pretty much gave up on Santa Claus. We did take the kids to the mall, and this year, Kate who was not sure Santa was real anymore was not longer afraid of him. Kate grabbed, Ruth's hand marched her up to Santa Claus and said, "See he is not scary." Then she pulled on his fake beard, and said that he wasn't even real. Ruth was no longer terrified and decided it was OK to believe in Santa Claus now.  This whole Christmas season, Kate asked me whether or not Santa Claus was real several times. I just told her that she could believe he was real if she wanted to, but if she did not want to that was fine too. Ruth really did believe that Santa Claus was real, but this was the only year.

The following year, at the very beginning of the Christmas season, Kate now a big kindergartener, came to me and very solemnly said, "Mom, I need to know the truth. Is Jesus real? Is Heavenly Father real? Is Santa Claus real?"  I told her the truth. Yes, Jesus is real. Yes, Heavenly Father is real. No, Santa Claus is not real, he is just pretend. A day later, Ruth came to me crying. She told me that Kate said Santa Claus was not real. Before I could talk to Ruth, Kate said, "Mom, you cannot lie to my sister." Okay, Ruth Santa is just pretend. Would you mind not telling anyone else? Then Kate brought me Johnny and told me that I needed to tell him the truth too. Kate then told Dad the truth who declared he was glad not to be lying to our children anymore. Kate also told her entire kindergarten class, but they did not believe her. (FEW).

That summer Kate told her 7 and 9 year old cousins "the truth". I had a very angry sister in law that told me my kids were not mature enough to not believe in Santa Claus. (Well, I did try). But I was no longer in league with my husbands family and their opinions on Santa Claus. My kids were good, and happy and religious and didn't believe in Santa Claus. I had a good counter example.

A couple more years went by, and Adam just from watching TV and playing with his cousins believed in Santa Claus. Kate brought him to me to straighten him out, but no. You can not tell a child that believes dogs talk and monsters are real, that there is no Santa Claus. Good, I didn't want another tussle with sister in laws. Kate would get no presents if she told her cousins. John thought I was being rather harsh. Oh well, we made it through with no lies and no telling those who should not know.

The next year, last year, Johnny told Adam that Santa Claus isn't real. Well, Adam believes everything  Johnny says. If Johnny says something that is proof of the truth of it. Adam goes ahead and tells his kindergarten class. They don't believe him.

Now this year, a strange thing has happened. Rachel is 5. Rachel has as strong of a personality as Kate. Rachel believes in Santa Claus no matter what Kate, or Adam, or anyone says. I think this is partly due to Rachel wanting "everything" for Christmas. I had a conversation with Rachel at 5 about as interesting as Kate's at 3. Rachel came to me and asked if we could visit Santa Claus. I kind of gave up on that all together the past 5 years. Rachel wanted to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. So sure. Yes, we can see Santa Claus. We make a plan to see him. A few days before the scheduled Santa visit Rachel comes up to me and says, "mom, when I visit Santa Claus, if his beard is real, then I know that you are wrong and I am right. And when I visit Santa Claus and his beard is real, then I am the one telling the truth and you are the one telling a lie." Okay, then Rachel, sure, let's check the beard. I was curious to see what would happen. On the way to see Santa, John thought he better educate our younger children on what they should do. He told each of them that they should tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. John asked Rachel what she wanted. In Rachel fashion she confidently declared, "I want everything in the world." A little shocked, John asked Rachel if that was very fair and shouldn't she be more realistic. John eventually got Rachel down to 10 and then 2 Polly Pockets. While they went to see Santa, I took the baby and the older kids to Claire's. John said it was "delightful" watching Rachel, Anya, Joseph, and even Adam going excitedly up to Santa and telling him what they wanted for Christmas. When I met back up with them, Rachel said she pulled the beard. It is real, and she is right. Santa Claus is real and she is definitely getting polly pockets and maybe everything in the world for Christmas.

Now, John and I aren't being exactly one on the topic. He thinks we need to start things afresh with our younger children and do Santa Claus more thoroughly. I am not on board with that. Probably because I still feel terrible for trying so hard to get my terrified little daughters to believe in Santa Claus.  I don't mind that Rachel believes in Santa Claus and loves him and wants everything in the world from him. I don't mind that Anya and Joseph like Santa Claus because Rachel so thoroughly loves him. But I WILL NOT compare Santa Claus to truth, and sacrifice and certainly not the Son of God. I will make the books I read and the conversations I have with my children about Christmas mainly about the Savior. We can do Santa and snowmen crafts. We can visit Santa in the mall. We will hang up stockings and one of the three presents we get for our kids will be unwrapped and sitting below their stockings from Santa Claus. But when my kids ask, I will tell them Santa is not real, but he is fun to pretend about just like fairies, and magic, and ninjas, and scooby doo, and bionicles.

One more note: Kate has decided that she is going to homeschool her kids and never even mention Santa Claus. So they will never know about the "Santa Lie." And I bet Rachel's kids will all love and believe in Santa with their whole hearts and souls. Christmas with all of the different families being raised from my different children should be very interesting.

Review Extravaganza Part II

In April, Rachel decided that all of her dreams come true. Here are two of our dream conversations:

Rachel asked, "Are we having just candy for dinner? I dreamed that we had just candy for dinner."

I answered, "No. I am afraid that only happens in dreams."

A little while later, Rachel said to Kate, "I do not have to pick up the living room because I dreamed that I did not have to pick up the living room."
Kate said, "Sorry Rachel. Dreams don't come true."
To which Rachel replied, "ALL MY DREAMS COME TRUE."

Mom, Dad, Kate, and Ruth echoed, "Rachel, clean up the living room."  

And as much as we did not want it, we were still getting snow.

 

In May, I am still finding the weather annoying enough to blog about it. I had to decide whether Joseph was really a devil or an angel.

 

And Rachel and Anya had their really cute dance recital.

 

In June, I got together with two of my old college roommates. That was so much fun! (I've lost 10 pounds since then too, Hurrah!)

And the weather finally decided to turn to summer, so we took advantage of it!

What Home School Looks Like at Our House

Johnny reading. He is only allowed to spend an hour on reading during school time. So he sets the oven timer.

Rachel sits on the floor with a pile of papers, markers, pens, and crayons. She is currently completing an addition worksheet. Anya is sitting beside Rachel doing her preschool pages or "reading books".

Ruth works in the same spot everyday at the end of the table. She is doing an online school.

Kate cuddles next to the fire everyday. She is reading Huckleberry Finn. Joshua likes to hang out next to Kate. He can often be seem climbing on top of her. If Joshua is fussy and I am busy helping someone, Kate will put Joshua in her lap.

Adam works in several different spots throughout the day. Currently he is sitting on a stool at our kitchen island working in his workbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am usually found beside a child doing math or reading or just answering questions. If I am not there, check the laundry room. I try and keep the laundry going throughout the day.

I have found some really great websites with printable worksheets. I thought I would share them here. Some are great for public school and preschool families that like to give their children a little extra outside the classroom. I always did.

Super teacher worksheet site This is a great website. You can get anything here from lined paper to beginning algebra.
Dotted lined Paper This is from the super teacher worksheet site, but is a little difficult to navigate to. This is just plain lined paper for kindergarten and preschool. I use it to help my kids learn to write their names.
Lined Paper with Space for Picture This is also from the super teacher worksheet site. It has a box for a drawing at the top and dotted lines for a story or a sentence. Adam and Rachel use this for their journal. They have to write one or two sentences and then draw a picture about what they wrote. When I am good, I keep them and  put them in a little book.
Spelling Words This websites has spelling words through the eighth grade level. I use it for Kate and Johnny who do the 7th grade spelling words. For Adam, I use the super teacher worksheet site for spelling because they have worksheets to print up with the spelling list.
Grammar and Puncuation Worksheets This is an awesome website for older kids. I can get good worksheets for correcting punctuation. There are advanced reading comprehension worksheets. All of the parts of speech are covered. With this website, I have one warning. I always read the story before giving it to my kids. Sometimes I think the stuff presented for reading comprehension isn't good.
themathworksheetsite I have been using this one for years. I love the 5 minute drills. They have been a great way of helping my kids learn their math facts quickly.

Christmas at Temple Square

This year, despite two bathroom trips, was the best Family Home Evening Trip to Temple Square yet. With coats, hats, and gloves, we were comfortable outside for a couple of hours. That made it so much easier for the kids to enjoy the Christmas lights and the great Nativities. Everything was beautiful and comfortable, and everyone behaved.

Shakespeare Christmas Party

Ruth and Kate had their Shakespeare group over for a Christmas party. This was probably the easiest party my girls have thrown. All of the kids were good and kind and responsible. They all got along really well. I am glad that Ruth and Kate have been able to join up with a good, fun group of home school kids.

Review Extravaganza

I am linking up with Grumpy Grateful Mom for Review Extravaganza. What you do is chose a few favorite posts or photos from older posts through 2011. This Friday is January thru March. Next Friday is April thru June...you get the picture.



In January, Joshua arrived! A few days later Kate won the science fair even though we chose a lame, but fun project so she would not win.

 

A few days after that, our dryer broke down, and a few days after that our dish washer broke down. Happy January to us.

In February, Ruth and Kate made these awesome Valentine's for school because they were sick of giving mushy Valentine's to everyone.

 

And In March, 

 

 I became the parent of a teenager,

Joshua started smiling for us, and Anya discovered her artistic talents.

Crazy Hair Day

The kids want to have some home schools spirit days. The one day they all loved and all wanted to include was crazy hair day. So we did it on Wednesday. We started the day by giving everyone crazy hair!

First Candy Cane

I think this boy is just adorable!

Colors

My children have color issues. They have to HAVE the color they want all the time, but they aren't necessarily consistent.

A long time ago, Ruth liked green. She had to have her dishes and crayons and such be green. Then she decided yellow was a better color. Everything needed to be yellow. Until, her friend told her that yellow was an ugly color. Of course, she could not have anything yellow at that point.

A few months later, Kate turned two and loved blue. Kate had to have everything blue. Blue, clothing, blue dishes, blue crayons, and markers-- nothing but blue. After a couple of days of Kate having to have everything blue. Ruth declared that it was not fair because she liked blue too. Now Ruth had to have EVERYTHING blue. Every morning there was a war over the blue sippy cup. Eventually, I just bought all blue dishes, extra blue paint, crayons, markers, etc., and mainly all blue clothes for both girls-- not that easy. This settled things except Kate switched back and forth on which was the best shade of blue.

About a year later, Ruth decided blue was not the only color. She liked all of the colors. When people asked Ruth what her favorite color was, Ruth would respond, "rainbow". Nice. Now I had to have rainbow things around to avoid the "wrong color breakdown".

As Johnny got older, he decided all colors were good to like. Ruth did not like this. "All of the colors" belonged to her. Eventually, Johnny settled for black, brown, and green, but he always had to have blue dishes. At least he would wear multiple colors of clothing without much trouble.

When Adam came of age. He chose yellow. Everyone was okay with this because it did not infringe on anyone else's color choices. Later, Rachel chose pink. We were good as long as some one didn't set the wrong color of dishes at the wrong person's seat at the table.

Over a year ago, we began having color problems again. First Anya chose pink as a favorite color. Rachel was miffed. Pink was HER color. However, Anya didn't care about what Rachel thought. She liked pink. Anya had to have all pink clothes, all pink dishes, all pink crayons, and any available pink food. Rachel rebelled. She no longer liked pink. Rachel had to have everything blue. If you gave Rachel anything pink, she would have a "wrong color breakdown". Kate was unhappy again because Rachel was taking HER color. Kate was 11!

At the same time, Adam started kindergarten with a whole slew of yellow shirts. After about 3 weeks of kindergarten, Adam decided yellow was not his favorite color anymore. Adam had a to have blue. So now, I had 4 kids that would cry if they did not get blue dishes. I had to buy more dishes (I had to anyway, but still.)

Now, one year later, Anya does not like pink anymore. If you give Anya anything pink she will have a "wrong color breakdown". So what do you think? Rachel suddenly likes pink again. If you do not get Rachel the pink plate you are in trouble. Anya now has to have yellow or green. Most of our yellow and green dishes had become cat dishes because no one else would eat from them.

We have had one more change too. Since Adam has been home schooling, guess what? He likes yellow again. Only this time, he does not call it yellow. He calls it "gold".

Indeed, my kids have color issues. As a child, when I would do something that bugged my mom, she would say, "I can't wait until your kids do this to you." I haven't felt that much, but, I won't mind my grandchildren getting revenge for me on this issue.

You Know You Needed To Gocery Shop When...

1. It is Christmas time and your 3, 5, and 7 year old children are sitting together looking at the grocery add and alerting you to all of the food that is on sale.
2. You finally go grocery shopping for a few things, and like it is Christmas your children cheer: Yeah, bread that squishes! Yeah, oranges! Yeah we have chicken and bananas!

I Am Starting to Wonder...

if I know what causes it. The night, I woke up with the burnt apple crisp, I couldn't get back to sleep. I kept thinking, "my period should have started 2 or 3 days ago." For me, that is a BIG deal.  I remembered that I had a pregnancy test (expired?) from one and a half years ago when I bought a duel package to test for Joshua's pregnancy. So at 4 am, when I couldn't sleep, and was shocked that I had to "go" for a second time that night, I closed myself into the bathroom, and took that test. At first, I breathed a sigh if relief-- one pink stripe. I set the test down and cleaned up. As I was leaving the bathroom, I glanced at it again, and there were two very bright pink stripes.

What????? I thought we were suppose to wait this time. We were using condemns. I start to wonder, "Other people have asked me, but do I know what causes this?"

I wasn't going back to sleep. I went downstairs to pray, to think, and to read. Then I crept back into to bed, asked my sleeping husband if he was awake (Duh?) and then told him my little story. Now, my sleeping husband was awake.

Three days before this, I had some spotting. (I thought my period would be bugging me the next day.) The day after, I had a lot of cramping. Maybe, this will be a miscarriage? I have had spotting and cramping with a miscarriage and with a full pregnancy. I don't feel particularly sick. But I have had sick pregnancies and non sick pregnancies. I never felt sick with my two miscarriages. It's too early to tell.

How am I feeling? Well, I know without a doubt this is the will of the Lord. And THAT is comforting. If I have a baby about 18 to 19 months after Joshua, I know that is the will of the Lord. If I have a miscarriage, I know that the Lord wanted me to go through that at this time.

I also feel humbled that the Lord would entrust another little soul to me at this time. I feel anxious about how we can even possibly pay for this baby. I feel tired just thinking about 9 months of another pregnancy. I feel sad that I will not be able to go to girls camp with Ruth and Kate. I feel sorry that I finally lost my 20 pounds that I wanted too, and was hoping to tackle the last 10. I feel like well, I am 36 and my biological clock is ticking. This may be my last opportunity. I feel like I can do what the Lord requires.

I know, as with every pregnancy, I need to trust in the Lord and His plan for our family. So I will. The entire day after the burnt apple crisp night, the words from Come, Come Ye Saints kept coming to mind.

Why should we mourn,

Or think our lot is hard?

Tis not so.

All is right.

Why should we think

To earn a great reward?

If we now,

Shun the fight.

Gird up your loins,

Fresh courage take,

Our God will never us forsake.

And soon we'll have,

This tale to tell. 

All is well,

All is well.

A New Kind of Potpouri

I made 3 pans of apple crisp last night. Before, I went to bed, I said, "I wonder if the oven is on? It is strange that the house still smells like cooking apples?" I rolled over and went to sleep. I awoke at 3:45, and smelt cooking apples still, although the smell was less pleasant. This time, I got out of bed, and found out that I forgot to turn off the oven and take the last pan of apple crisp out of the oven. YUM!