Our Family Project

Today I have spent the ENTIRE day doing laundry and packing.  We are going over to my sister-in-law's house tonight to spend the night before our big Thanksgiving extravaganza tomorrow.  However, all of my children are out of clean clothing, and we will be driving up to Utah on Friday for the weekend.  So ..... I've spent the day folding laundry and packing. We were supposed to take a crock-pot of soup over to my sister-in-law's for dinner for everyone.  She also made soup.  So, the fact that we didn't show up there until 8:30 tonight was really okay, and no one starved because we and our soup (that I didn't even end up making because I didn't have time) didn't show up on time. And, I am so grateful today that my sister-in-law and her family, and my brother-in-law and his family were so understanding.  They didn't seem perturbed by our tardiness, and they understood that our life is not perfect; our children sometimes get messy (okay, they get messy ...

The last couple of months, on Tuesdays, we have gathered with some families from our homeschool group to learn and practice some Christmas songs in different languages.  It all started when I decided to sign "Prayer of the Children" for our homeschool group talent show.  I don't know why I wanted to be in the talent show.  Most of the moms weren't in the talent show, and I wasn't planning on it until a couple hours before the show.  But, I really felt like it was something I wanted to share with the group. The mom who was in charge, Tiffany, was so thrilled that I signed a song.  She approached me after the show and asked me to teach the group a song in sign language at her upcoming "languages class."  Originally, I'd had every intention of not attending the class because I was already feeling too stretched thin, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my love of sign language with others. Originally I was only going to teach "Wi...

My children have been on a slight piano lessons hiatus.  Their piano teacher had a baby in September and needed some time off.  (And, before you ask ... this is NOT an announcement: I am NOT their piano teacher.)  They haven't been playing the piano as much recently, and we have had more free time in the afternoon because we don't need to rush to piano lessons.  And, while it's been nice to take a break, I am so eager for my children to get into piano lessons again. Eliza has grown a lot during this hiatus.  She has challenged herself more, and she's gone ahead in some of her books; playing just because she wants to.  I love it.  She is finally to the stage in which she can read music fairly well, and she can sight read, and she can pretty play what she wants to.  (Mind you, some of the time it doesn't come out right, or she takes it really slow.  But, she is trying because she wants  to try!) It's been fun to see my children progres...

I know I've been really superficial with my grateful days entries.  But, for some reason, I felt like most of the entries from last year were really deep and serious.  And, this year, I wanted to include a few that were just little things that I am grateful for.  Turns out, I am grateful for A LOT of little things. Tonight it is Sardines. Jon and I had a really good discussion this evening.  Today was the second time in the last month that he has taken me with him to visit people in the ward.  Actually, to be more accurate, we went to visit two widows that are his home teaching families.  On the way home we were talking about his new schedule regarding church meetings and such.  He said that he had someone tell him to do as much as possible on Sundays and one other day during the week, and then leave the rest of the nights during the week for family. I told him that I would prefer that he let Sunday be the Sabbath Day and spend most of the time...

Today was a lazy Saturday.  Have you ever had those Saturdays when you are running all over the place?  Have you had more than one ... okay, maybe four or five in a row?  It seems like that's all we've had the last few months.  Until today.  We didn't have to get our house super clean by a certain time because friends would be coming over.  We didn't have to run from one event to another.  (Granted, Jon did go on a hike with the youth as part of youth conference from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., and I was at a baby shower from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)  I didn't spend all day doing laundry (like last week), or dishes.  We didn't even really do our weekly house cleaning.  Oh, and the best part was that the TV wasn't really on too much (aside from the time when Eliza was babysitting for me). Andrew and Adam spent a good part of the day working on their projects for Biz Day.  Eliza and Kate spent a good amount of time on theirs as well.  I was ab...

I know it's so cliche, but I am so grateful for Pinterest.  I found this picture on there, and I cannot wait to duplicate the four canvases and put them above my piano.  My friend, who is an artist and teaches art to our children for our art co-op said she would help me do it.  I cannot paint worth anything (at least, not since high school), but with help .... this is totally doable!  I LOVE it so much. Anyway, we have our annual Biz Day (previously Free Enterprise Day) coming up and my children have been looking for crafts to make so they can sell them.   Last year , there was too much food sold, so the moms in charge have asked that we do more crafts and items to sell in addition to any food items we bring. Personally, I want my children to do only items, no food.  So, we've been coming up with ideas.  This is where Pinterest has been so helpful!  I've found boy crafts, and girl crafts.  It's been great.  I'd tell you what we wi...

Tuesday night is my sports and fitness night.  It really is.  At about 8:30 p.m., I take off and head to the stake center for volleyball and basketball.  We have a half court for basketball, and one court set up for volleyball.  Recently, we haven't had enough women come who want to play basketball, but I'm hoping it will change soon. This last Tuesday night, there were only five of us on the court.  We ended up eventually playing volleyball two-on-two.  And, despite the lack of team members, it was a great workout!  I mean, we had to run to get to the ball because there wasn't anyone else there. Anyway, I LOVE volleyball night!  I live for it.  In fact, this last Tuesday, we finished our games and I was still ready for more!  The only thing is that we can't start playing any earlier.  The last weekend of September, Jon and I invited a bunch of couples to come and play volleyball together for a group date.  It was absolutel...

Last week at our art co-op, the younger group made mini monkey bread for the snack.  Well, they made enough for everyone, so my friend who was teaching didn't want the older the group to make it again.  She wasn't sure what to do, so I said, "Let's have them make dinner!"  Ha ha ha!  I was kind of kidding, but at the same time I was thinking, "It's almost 4 o'clock, and I still have to make dinner.  If they make my family dinner, I won't have to!" So, they made Bubble Up Pizza Casserole (to use the biscuits already bought).  One for my family and one for my friend's family.  After it was all made, we sat back and my friends said, "I love this idea.  We should do it every week; have the older group make a freezer meal for us all to take home." This week, they made lasagna .  I actually had enough ingredients to make two lasagnas (actually, my friend let me have some of her cottage cheese because I was little bit short) ... s...

Tonight I am grateful for Microsoft Excel.  There are so many things that I use Excel for, but tonight I am especially grateful for the new tracking sheets that I created in Excel for our cub scout den leaders to use. Months ago, they were given similar tracking sheets, but they were so hard to use.  I went home with the file for those sheets waiting for me in my email inbox, and I took them and reformatted them.  When I was finally finished and took the new and improved tracking sheets to cub scouts tonight, both of the wolf den leaders and the assistant den leader expressed their gratitude for such an easier form for tracking not only their achievements, but also their attendance, award, and Faith in God progress. I use Excel for all of my homeschooling sheet, all of my file folder sheets, and many, many other things.  So, I am so grateful for Excel and my rudimentary knowledge of how to use the program to make forms for me to use everyday.

Tonight, Jon and I went with some friends to a basketball game.  The theme, of course, was to recognize our veterans.  We applauded those that were present, and recognized a handful who had received purple hearts during different wars.  We stood for them, and watched three of them entertain us during halftime. At one point, the announcer said that the basketball team is defending the court and we should applaud the great men and women who defend our freedom everyday.  I thought that comparison was a little weak.  I mean, basketball court compared to our freedom?  Silly. But, I appreciate the opportunity we had to take the time to thank those who really do work so hard to protect our country and our freedoms.  I do not fully understand what they do everyday, what they have done, but I do appreciate it.  I don't know that I could leave my family for such an extended period of time, never knowing if I'd see them again.  So, I am grateful tha...

Yesterday at stake conference, one of the speakers talked about The Sabbath.  She mentioned how relaxed we've become as a people when it comes to the Sabbath Day.  She quoted someone saying how to our great grandparents it was called The Holy Sabbath Day, to our grandparents it was The Sabbath, to our parents it was Sunday, and to us it is "The Weekend." It really made me sit back and think about my Sabbath Day activities.  Most often, I take a nap, make dinner, and put the children in bed.  We rarely do anything special just on the Sabbath.  But, I realize that the Sabbath Day is a significant part of my worship of Heavenly Father and Jesus.  As I attend my church meetings, read my scriptures, write in my journal, and generally think about things that I don't think about during the week (because of distractions due to work), I realize that I am really rejuvenating my spirit for the week ahead. I read a book almost two years ago about an orthodox Jewish...

Today I've spent the entire day doing laundry.  The last couple of weeks I haven't had the time to get caught up on our laundry ... I just can't figure out where all of my time has been spent.  Most moms can say that they have been running their children to and from school, to their piano lessons, to their church activities, to their sports activities, etc.  I, on the other hand know that we have "done" school everyday the last two weeks (yay!), we've gone to group classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, we've had church activities, and singing classes.  But, I cannot account for our Monday and Friday afternoons!  Normally, I do laundry on Mondays, but I just haven't had the time to do it the last few weeks, and I have no idea why. So, today, I spent all day folding laundry and switching loads between the washer and dryer.  And, what were my children doing during this time?  Honestly, I have no idea.  I think they watched some tv ...

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and games.  As we were standing around deciding on a game, I exclaimed, "There are four of us!  We can totally play spades!" I love spades.  I love playing it with real people, and I love playing it on the computer.  It is, by far, one of my favorite face card games.  But, rarely do we have two more people with us who can play.  We had to teach our friends how to play, but they caught on really quickly, and even won.  But, the best part, was that I felt okay about being competitive (that will happen when I play with someone I've known since junior high and who knows me quite well), but not to the point that I was disappointed in their victory.  I was just so excited to play, it didn't matter the outcome.  That rarely happens with me ... maybe it was just the game? At any rate, tonight I am thankful for the game of spades ... ah, it felt good to play again.  :-)

Please excuse this very grainy, very ugly picture.  I decided that there are so many times when I am behind the camera, that I needed at least one picture of me with a child. Today I am grateful for my Miss Maryanne and her helpful attitude.  Sometimes she is not ready to be helpful, but for the most part, she does like to help.  At least, she likes to help me when I allow her to help me. On the particular day this photo was taken, the children were all being great cleaners.  We were working together going from room to room, and cleaning together.  Maryanne is always a little stubborn when it comes to cleaning, but she really wanted to help vacuum the school room.  So, I decided that was one chore she could do. She's such a cutey.  I'm so grateful that she wants to help me clean ... dishes and vacuuming are her specialties ... which I'm grateful for because those are the chores I really dislike!

Today I am grateful for a living prophet.  I'm grateful to know that as we look toward the future, we can have guidance when times are more difficult than we've ever known. I will fully admit that last night and this morning I was extremely disappointed with the majority of Americans after the election.  And, I think that's partly due to the fact that I've been a little confused.  After everything that I've read and heard about the state of our country today compared to where we were four years ago, I don't understand why we would want to entrust our future to someone whose past performance didn't really measure up to our expectations.  But, I realize that I am talking about billions of people.  And, billions of people think in billions of different ways, and have billions of different opinions. When I look at our country and the state of our country at this time, I have a certain set of expectations for my leaders.  And, other people may share those...

Today I walked over to the school to vote.  As I was standing in line, I saw a friend from church.  We kind of talked together across all the other people.  She mentioned that she saw someone else from church who stood in line for a long time.  When that friend finally made it up to the table with her early voting ballot, she was told that she actually didn't have to wait in line to turn in her ballot.  I held up my ballot and said, "So, I can just go in?"  My friend said that yes, I could.  I walked in, was directed to sign and seal my envelope and then place it in the early ballot box.  It took all of five minutes for that whole interaction with my friend and dropping off my ballot. I am so grateful I received that early voting ballot!  I really only had 30 minutes to vote, and I was done in ten!  So grateful I could vote in a very convenient way.  Really saved my day.

Today Jon showed the children a video on YouTube that shows a couple of young men in Provo canyon finding an animal that appears to be big foot.  It's still not very conclusive if it really is big foot, but my Adam was enthralled with the idea of big foot. So, he decided to dress up as big foot.  He put on his sandals, then slid his feet into my sandals (which incidentally are wedges), just so he could be taller.  Then, he layered on one Jedi robe the right way, with the another Jedi robe the wrong way.  He finished his "disguise" by pulling the hood of the back Jedi robe up on his head, and then pulling the hood of the front Jedi robe up and over his face. Adam went stomping around and didn't get much of a reaction from anyone.  Before long, he had taken off his costume and put it all away.  At any rate, I am grateful for the creativity of my fourth child.  He is always interested in new things and he wants to find a way to participate and ingr...

Today is Sunday.  We have church at 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.  At about 1:15 p.m., I found myself sitting on the couch almost asleep.  But, instead of taking a nap, we went to choir practice at 1:30.  When we got back an hour later, it was definitely nap time.  After being up late the night before (which is normal occurrance), I was all ready for nap. There are some days when I think a "siesta" law should be passed.  What is so wrong with shutting everything down at 2 p.m. everyday for an hour, only an hour, for a nap?  I wish I could take a nap every single day, but that is not on my daily schedule.  At any rate, I got to take a nap today ... and most Sundays I do. So, today I am grateful for naps.  I always feel more like myself after a nap.  :-)

Today I was able to attend Time Out for Women.  It was a pretty good day.  One of the speakers talked about how we, as women, have negative thoughts about ourselves all the time.  She said that if we were to actually say to other people what we say to ourselves, we wouldn't have any friends.  At that point, I leaned over to my friend and said, "Yeah.  You're so stupid."  She laughed.  It's so true!  I almost want to count all of my negative thoughts about myself just to see how many I have all day long. For example, this morning I was thinking that the person I'd been talking to in regards to my church calling probably was rolling her eyes and complaining about my ignorance and ineptness at what I was supposed  to be doing.  But, imagine if I were to go up to someone I work with at church and say, "Okay, when are you going to finally understand how to do your calling?  You're so stupid!  Just get your act together.  It's...

Today I am reminded of how great Jon's job is.  Yesterday, a friend was asking me about how we are adjusting to Jon's calling in the church.  I love that I was able to tell her that it hasn't been too much of an adjustment for us yet.  Granted, it's only been a couple of weeks, but I haven't felt any difference in our family life.  I'm sure this is due to two reasons: 1) This week was Halloween, so all meetings were pretty much cancelled due to the Trunk-or-treat on the 30th and Halloween on the 31st.  Plus, Jon has been sick this week, so he didn't have anything scheduled for Thursday. 2) He works from home. *This, I'm sure, is the really reason I haven't felt too much of a difference.* Jon's job is so flexible and great for our family life.  I love that he will come out of his office for just five minutes, or ten minutes, to get something to eat or just take a break.  It's ideal because we are able to see him during the day for th...

A while back I read a post my friend, Lynette, wrote about using a file crate system to keep her homeschool organized.  I did some looking and reading online and found this blog post about a similar file crate system.  I really liked how she set up her folders, so decided to do the same for me! Here's my crate ... I went and got when when they were on clearance at Walmart after the back to school sales.  I wrote all the dates on my file folders, then decided I really like the printed label look, so started to make some of those.  I have one folder for each week of the year divided into six hanging folders (two months in each). Behind my weekly folders are my filler paper folders.  This will make sense after you see the inside of the folders.  In the book Large Family Logistics , the author suggests assigning each day a specific task or focus.  I've tried to make this my habit for a few years now.  I haven't been very consistent at it,...

This is just a post of ideas that I had while listening to classes at convention. Add at least one classic to each of the children's scheduled reading for each month. Go through the Dave Ramsey Finances for Kids program as a co-op group. "The Way They Learn" - determine learning styles Google learning style quizzes Every time I add something to the schedule, I need to take something away. Have the wisdom to take a break when needed Teach in seasons 6 months = science 6 months = history Prayer Have the children make a list of gratitudes and talk about them prior to praying to help them remember to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings Spend one day a month in service outside of the family. Ask questions about everything we read. Ask Heavenly Father what the issue with Andrew is. Study character traits in the scriptures when there is an issue or a problem. I need to show the children that I read ... start reading "real" books, not electr...

More notes about doing everything! GETTING IT ALL DONE *Remember you life is broken into seasons* Streamline children's schedule: Only let them get involved in activities that strengthen their talents. Saturate the home with scriptures Place scripture verses all over the house; switch them out every so often to help with memorization. Spend only 2 1/2-3 hours on school every day. Do what works for the child. Challenge, but don't overwhelm. Plant a book in quiet time locations for the children to look at. Learn History from a person who lived it. Organize the home: Isolate frustrations/evaluate frustrations Treat frustrations as a project Make priorities Spend one month to organize Everything has a place (give children treasure boxes) (I need to find a way to organize Kate's art projects) Organize Self Use notebook to plan everything (I have a new system to blog about that is working!) Train children in organization During the summe...

Another one of my favorite classes from the homeschool convention was entitled "Busy Mom."  I figured I really needed to go to this one because everyday I'm  trying to homeschool four of my five children, trying  to keep the house clean, trying  to cook meals all day, trying to serve in the church, and trying  to get my children to all of their activities.  (Notice my key word?  Yeah, not everything gets as completed as I would like on most days.) BUSY MOM *You can't manage your time, you can only manage  yourself.* Seek the Lord's guidance in the important things Stop comparing Ask for directions Assess the Situation If racing, stop wasting time Stop wasting time Modern-day time bandits: Internet Email TV Phone Calls Worrying Develop a Plan of Action Decide to eliminate and/or reduce time bandits Write down weak areas Write down GOALS, for me & the children (do this with them) Make a to-do list Write wha...

I'm finally getting to type up my notes from one of the classes I took at the homeschool convention.  I kind of love that it's taken me this long to get to it.  Mainly because I've hit that time in the school year when I start to slack off and get stuck in a rut of nothingness.  Sound familiar to anyone else? As I've looked at my notes and thought about what I want to remember and share in this post, I have felt more excited about my upcoming week and all the things that I want to do with my children during school time.  First things first: I need to remember to set aside everything of mine for just the first three hours of the day, and focus completely on my children and their learning. So, having just said that, here are my notes from the class entitled, "Homeschooling: The First Three Years."  (Again, this post is simply because I need somewhere to put all these notes.  It's just for me so I can look back and remember.)  :-) ** I will learn mo...

I posted everyday about something I'm grateful for a couple years ago and really loved it, so I'm going to do it again. Today, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to school my children at home.  I know it sounds selfish, but love the feeling I get everyday after I've spent a good part of my day teaching my children.  A feeling of satisfaction, joy, love.  And, I've loved watching their progress.  I see it a lot in Eliza in regards to her math skills.  Before, when she was in public school, I was a terrible mom at looking at her work and knowing what she was learning.  Now I know that she is learning about algebra, interest rates, algebraic equations with integers.  I know because I've been relearning all of it with her.  And, I love it!  I never really realized how much I like algebra ... not until I started to teach Eliza the basics of it. I also see the growth in all of my children ... but, Eliza is most profound to me today becaus...

It's been many, many months since my good friend, Aubrey helped me get a clue about what to do with my living room/dining room space.  I finally  found furniture that would work for my vision! I'd been looking on Craig's List for only a few days when I found the dining table.  The seller was selling it with a patio set (love seat, 2 chair, and a coffee table).  We bought both the patio set and the dining table set for a total of $350!  Score! Then, I found one of the chairs in here on Craig's List for $20, and the couch for $350.  I couldn't be more pleased!  Initially, I was having a hard time finding a couch that I really liked for under $800-1000.  And, instead, thanks to people who gently used their furniture and then sold it to us at an amazingly low price, we got all the furniture in the rooms for what I was looking at for a couch! We still need to change out the floor lamp, add another side table with lamp, two lamps t...

Andrew got to participate in the Raingutter Regatta last week for pack meeting.  After the fiasco that was the Pinewood Derby, I was determined to learn all I could about performing well at the raingutter regatta. My first mistake? We didn't seal the trimaran until, oh, six hours before the races began. .... Did you know that polyurethane is supposed to cure for 24 hours before normal use??? I didn't. Weeks ago, Andrew brought home his trimaran kit and put his trimaran together without painting it or anything.  And, over the weekend we were so busy with extended family that I didn't even think about getting his trimaran ready. On Tuesday morning, I started to look online for tips and tricks to preparing the trimaran well.  Everything said to put the polyurethane on the pontoons at least 24 hours before the Regatta. Oops. We only had a few hours before our regatta. Oh well.  I took Andrew into the garage and we started painting the polyurethan...

My good friend, Lynette , reminded me that I have been neglecting my blog and people are still checking it for a new post.  *sigh*  I don't know how all the other homeschool moms do it all!  I guess maybe I like to read too much or something.  I finally sat down today and filled out a list of books that I've read (those that I remember reading) since the end of June.  It totaled 26 books.  I'm not counting the picture books I read to my children.  Twenty-six books!  I probably do read too much which causes me to neglect other good things in my life. At any rate, I have a lot to share, and so little time to in which to share it.  So, bear with me, I'll try to update every now and then. For today, I want to post about my new white board.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new white board!  I cannot say that enough.  It is soooooo fantastic!  We've made quite a few changes to our school room since last year: Every child has their own...

The speaker for this workshop said that notebooking is really just educational scrapbooking.  I could not agree more.  I really love the idea behind notebooking; more specifically, I love the method that the speaker suggested using.  Here are some of the things she said during her workshop that I wrote down: Homeschooling is not about patience -- it's about resolve! Education is discipleship: this is our goal. Multi-level Teaching Benefits: Biblical Integration is easy Less fragmented education Older children mentor the younger Less time consuming than teaching everyone individually In regards to Multi-level Teaching, she suggested the school bus approach.  Everyone gets on the school bus and you begin reading from your text (or teaching, or however you plan to do it).  After about 10-15 minutes, you get the littles off the bus and give them something that is at their skill level (like coloring a picture) that is also subject reinforcing.  Then,...

This workshop was most satisfying in the amount of information shared.  The speaker said that she won the award for the most frugal home in Arizona, and that as part of her application for that she itemized how much she was saving ... which totaled $18,000 a year!  She reminded us that while some of the ideas she would be sharing with us only totaled a small amount, they would definitely add up.  So, here is a list of ideas from her: WATER HEATER BLANKET Initial investment: $20 Annual Savings: $80-100 - Important: don't cover the intake air. WATER HEATER TEMPERATURE DECREASE Annual Savings: $50 Costs $500 per year to run water heater. Save 10% by turning the temperature down to 120 degrees. LINE DRYING CLOTHES Annual Savings: $195 Drying clothes in dryer costs about $0.50 per load The savings could be more or less depending on how many loads of laundry you do. HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP Annual savings: $84 Tide per year=$88 Homemade Detergent=$4 ($0.01...

This last weekend I was able to go to the major homeschool convention in Arizona.  Jon and I went last year, and I felt much better prepared this year.  Last year, I remember walking around the curriculum fair, picking up books and looking at them, not really knowing what it was I wanted or needed to find.  This year, however, I was able to pick up a book, hold onto it for a while, then set it back down and tell myself, "I don't need to buy this right now.  Wait and see if it's something we need later."  Whew!  All the stress I was feeling last year evaporated with one year of homeschooling experiences. The workshops I attended were exactly what I needed.  Last year I attended several that focused on Andrew and what I thought he needed, then I walked away with a 50 yard list of things I felt that I needed to add to our lives to help him.  This year, I mainly attended the workshops that had nothing to do with teaching methods.  For example, ...

Picture courtesy of Eliza from the backseat On our way home from the homeschool convention last weekend, we were warned of a major dust storm.  I've seen the dust storms from the windows in our house, but never really walked in them, or drove in them.  When we walked out of the convention center, I was so grateful for my sunglasses ... dust was flying everywhere! But, that was the least of my worries.  We got in my car and started to drive out of the city, hoping to stay a little bit ahead of the storm.  It was traveling west, the same direction we were going.  I kept looking out the window and thinking that we would make it.  That is, until we exited the major highway onto a state highway that was under construction. After driving for about three miles, our visibility was a few yards in front of the car.  We continued to creep along at about 25-30 mph.  Sometimes the dust cloud would dissipate for a short time and I would speed up in the h...