Abby wanted to take a picture of me cooking too.
Despite the little girls blowing our cover, we still managed to surprise Jim because we celebrated on Monday instead of Tuesday. :)
10 years ago
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Jim's Birthday
Jim's birthday was on Tuesday and we wanted to surprise him. So, last week, I took the kids shopping at various times, and we planned a special meal, decorations, and dessert. While Jim was camping with Logan over the weekend, we made chocolate chip cookies in preparation for making ice cream sandwiches. I'd been telling the kids to keep it a secret, so when Laurel was on the phone with Jim that day she said, "We're hiding your birthday!" Then Abby took the phone from her and said, "She wasn't supposed to tell you that!" LOL
Abby wanted to take a picture of me cooking too.
Despite the little girls blowing our cover, we still managed to surprise Jim because we celebrated on Monday instead of Tuesday. :)
Happy Birthday Jim! We're so lucky to have you!
Abby wanted to take a picture of me cooking too.
Despite the little girls blowing our cover, we still managed to surprise Jim because we celebrated on Monday instead of Tuesday. :)
Overhauling Our School Year
Since we moved into town, we are much closer to everything. With this came the realization that Logan could participate in band at the local middle school. We'd considered it last year, but it would have been too much of a time commitment since we were living in the country. He started a couple of weeks late, but has caught up and is enjoying it.
As we attempted to start our school year, things weren't going well, especially for Logan. He's been struggling with a lot of things (emotionally) for a long time and we've been praying to know how to help him. The answer for this year was unexpected; we needed to put Annie and Abby into school full time so that I could give Logan a lot of one on one time.
Annie was nervous and a little excited to go to school for the first time ever, and Abby was all excitement. I was all tears, but I knew it was the right decision for this year.
Abby loved her first two days of school, but after that the honeymoon was over. She was appalled to realize that she'd have to go every day. Ha ha! Aside from being sent to the office on her third day of school for hitting someone, she's doing fine, though. I'm really happy with the teacher she has. I miss having her home with me, but I've also realized that she is by far my loudest and most rambunctious child! Things are so quiet when she's at school!
Public school has been a huge adjustment for Annie (and me). Since I never assign busy work at home, she isn't used to doing worksheet after worksheet all day long. Plus she's really struggling with the environment in general. We've had an unbelievable amount of tears every day and hours of homework every night. So stressful! It's good for her to work on her time management skills, though. She's always struggled in that area and is famous for dragging her feet on her work at home. I think this year will allow her to develop some better habits.
The boys are doing amazing this school year. Since I'm just working with two of them, I've made some changes to our routine for this year. It's been so much easier to focus on their needs during school time and Logan has been making great progress with his emotional issues. My happy boy is re-emerging and it's incredible! I've missed that part of him so much.
With all of the changes to our school approach this year I kind of feel like the rug has been pulled out from under my feet. I know the changes are necessary and good, and that everyone will benefit from them in the long run, though. While I've always been aware of the differences between public school and homeschool, I'm actually grateful to be able to compare the two in this way. The last several years have been so hard for our family that there have been times that I've wondered if it would be easier or better to put the kids in school. There have been times that I didn't *want* to homeschool anymore and times when I questioned if we were really succeeding. This experience so far has boosted my confidence in our homeschool approach. It really is easier *for us* and the quality of academic learning in our home far surpasses what I'm seeing in the girls' school. (Again I'm talking *for us*. I firmly believe that there is not one *right* approach to school, that public school has many merits, and that education is a personal decision for every family based on needs, abilities, and desires. There are positives and negatives to every approach.) I'm grateful that the academic level is easy for Annie, though, since she is having such a hard time making herself do so much book work. It's also been good to see where we have some holes in our approach so that we can improve at home. On the flip side, having so many quiet hours at home with just four of the kids has been really wonderful for addressing their individual needs and our school time has really improved.
As we attempted to start our school year, things weren't going well, especially for Logan. He's been struggling with a lot of things (emotionally) for a long time and we've been praying to know how to help him. The answer for this year was unexpected; we needed to put Annie and Abby into school full time so that I could give Logan a lot of one on one time.
Annie was nervous and a little excited to go to school for the first time ever, and Abby was all excitement. I was all tears, but I knew it was the right decision for this year.
Abby loved her first two days of school, but after that the honeymoon was over. She was appalled to realize that she'd have to go every day. Ha ha! Aside from being sent to the office on her third day of school for hitting someone, she's doing fine, though. I'm really happy with the teacher she has. I miss having her home with me, but I've also realized that she is by far my loudest and most rambunctious child! Things are so quiet when she's at school!
Public school has been a huge adjustment for Annie (and me). Since I never assign busy work at home, she isn't used to doing worksheet after worksheet all day long. Plus she's really struggling with the environment in general. We've had an unbelievable amount of tears every day and hours of homework every night. So stressful! It's good for her to work on her time management skills, though. She's always struggled in that area and is famous for dragging her feet on her work at home. I think this year will allow her to develop some better habits.
The boys are doing amazing this school year. Since I'm just working with two of them, I've made some changes to our routine for this year. It's been so much easier to focus on their needs during school time and Logan has been making great progress with his emotional issues. My happy boy is re-emerging and it's incredible! I've missed that part of him so much.
With all of the changes to our school approach this year I kind of feel like the rug has been pulled out from under my feet. I know the changes are necessary and good, and that everyone will benefit from them in the long run, though. While I've always been aware of the differences between public school and homeschool, I'm actually grateful to be able to compare the two in this way. The last several years have been so hard for our family that there have been times that I've wondered if it would be easier or better to put the kids in school. There have been times that I didn't *want* to homeschool anymore and times when I questioned if we were really succeeding. This experience so far has boosted my confidence in our homeschool approach. It really is easier *for us* and the quality of academic learning in our home far surpasses what I'm seeing in the girls' school. (Again I'm talking *for us*. I firmly believe that there is not one *right* approach to school, that public school has many merits, and that education is a personal decision for every family based on needs, abilities, and desires. There are positives and negatives to every approach.) I'm grateful that the academic level is easy for Annie, though, since she is having such a hard time making herself do so much book work. It's also been good to see where we have some holes in our approach so that we can improve at home. On the flip side, having so many quiet hours at home with just four of the kids has been really wonderful for addressing their individual needs and our school time has really improved.
Early October
We found several of these huge (thumb size) marbled orb weaver spiders this month. Pretty cool!
I needed to wake Brig one morning, but he was sleeping so soundly. He likes to sleep with his blanket over his head.
Cute boys.
These two are my gigglers.
Mmm...spaghetti!
"Mom, take a picture!"
Slowly, but surely, I'm still making progress on the house. I finally put up the girls' decals last week.
Much better! (Though I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to properly make beds...LOL.) We just need to hang their lights and put up curtains in their room and it will be finished.
This little guy is so cute and so funny. He giggles all the time. He managed to open a sippy cup of water and was enjoying the mess.
I needed to wake Brig one morning, but he was sleeping so soundly. He likes to sleep with his blanket over his head.
Cute boys.
These two are my gigglers.
Mmm...spaghetti!
"Mom, take a picture!"
Slowly, but surely, I'm still making progress on the house. I finally put up the girls' decals last week.
Much better! (Though I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to properly make beds...LOL.) We just need to hang their lights and put up curtains in their room and it will be finished.
This little guy is so cute and so funny. He giggles all the time. He managed to open a sippy cup of water and was enjoying the mess.
September
Once we arrived home from our trip I dedicated a couple of weeks to unpacking and errands. It's incredible how much there is to take care of during/ after a move!
We have a little creek that runs right next to our house. We'd had some heavy rain while we were on our trip, and when we returned home Alex informed us that there was a big fish stuck in the creek. He'd bloodied himself and was going to die, so Jim scooped him out with a net. This thing was huge! We held it up next to Laurel (age 3) and it was as long as her, and about as wide.
Jim initially started walking into the house with the fish, but when I asked him what his plan was he admitted he didn't have one. That thing was NOT coming in the house! Ha ha! We had a friend whose son needed to gut a fish to complete a merit badge, so they took it from us and managed to get seven or eight fillets out of it. (Turns out it was a grass carp.)
I couldn't wait to fill our built in bookcases in our living room, so this was one of the first areas I unpacked.
Annie spent a day making cookies as thank yous for our fabulous friends who helped us so much.
Cute little girls. We have a family room that is just three steps down from the kitchen, so the kids constantly climb through this railing.
The kids stole and lost my camera. When we found it a few weeks later, this was evidence.
We have a little creek that runs right next to our house. We'd had some heavy rain while we were on our trip, and when we returned home Alex informed us that there was a big fish stuck in the creek. He'd bloodied himself and was going to die, so Jim scooped him out with a net. This thing was huge! We held it up next to Laurel (age 3) and it was as long as her, and about as wide.
Jim initially started walking into the house with the fish, but when I asked him what his plan was he admitted he didn't have one. That thing was NOT coming in the house! Ha ha! We had a friend whose son needed to gut a fish to complete a merit badge, so they took it from us and managed to get seven or eight fillets out of it. (Turns out it was a grass carp.)
I couldn't wait to fill our built in bookcases in our living room, so this was one of the first areas I unpacked.
Annie spent a day making cookies as thank yous for our fabulous friends who helped us so much.
Cute little girls. We have a family room that is just three steps down from the kitchen, so the kids constantly climb through this railing.
The kids stole and lost my camera. When we found it a few weeks later, this was evidence.
Vacation Part 2
On our second day with my dad, we hiked the Y (the kids thought they would DIE), and I gave my dad and kids a tour of my favorite spots at BYU (including the library...kids did NOT want to leave...ha ha!).
On Labor Day, we spent the afternoon with family; we went out to eat, had a mountain drive, and then hiked a bit. That evening we saw some old friends, and drove past several temples (but only took a picture of one...silly us!).
Laurel waving her hands at me, "I clean!" Me smelling something suspicious, "Can you show me?" Laurel, "I not want to." Me, "I want to be clean too." Laurel, "Okay!" It was nail polish! Thankfully, she didn't get it on anything at grandma's house! Later that day, we visited the paleontology museum and Bean museum at BYU.
Logan turned 12 while we were in Utah, so we were able to have him ordained a deacon with lots of family around. (I forgot to take pictures that day.) Then, a few days later, we were able to take him into the temple for the first and second time. This was such a special experience for him and us.https://www.lds.org/topics/aaronic-priesthood?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/topics/temples?lang=eng
On the second to last day of our trip, we visited the Provo Center library (formerly Brigham Young Academy), randomly found the coolest playground ever, and visited my old roommate and her family. Our kids hit it off like they've been friends forever!
The last day of our trip, we squeezed in some time at Thanksgiving Point (wish we'd had more time!) and a final visit to Josh and Karen. We ended the night with some hilarious shoulder angel action. (Logan was actually successful, but I didn't get it on video.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Z9XBCwKzY
Our kids were so exhausted on the drive home that I recorded the chaos. Going home is always harder.
On Labor Day, we spent the afternoon with family; we went out to eat, had a mountain drive, and then hiked a bit. That evening we saw some old friends, and drove past several temples (but only took a picture of one...silly us!).
Laurel waving her hands at me, "I clean!" Me smelling something suspicious, "Can you show me?" Laurel, "I not want to." Me, "I want to be clean too." Laurel, "Okay!" It was nail polish! Thankfully, she didn't get it on anything at grandma's house! Later that day, we visited the paleontology museum and Bean museum at BYU.
Logan turned 12 while we were in Utah, so we were able to have him ordained a deacon with lots of family around. (I forgot to take pictures that day.) Then, a few days later, we were able to take him into the temple for the first and second time. This was such a special experience for him and us.https://www.lds.org/topics/aaronic-priesthood?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/topics/temples?lang=eng
On the second to last day of our trip, we visited the Provo Center library (formerly Brigham Young Academy), randomly found the coolest playground ever, and visited my old roommate and her family. Our kids hit it off like they've been friends forever!
The last day of our trip, we squeezed in some time at Thanksgiving Point (wish we'd had more time!) and a final visit to Josh and Karen. We ended the night with some hilarious shoulder angel action. (Logan was actually successful, but I didn't get it on video.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Z9XBCwKzY
Our kids were so exhausted on the drive home that I recorded the chaos. Going home is always harder.
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