Strawberry Mama

Of New Beginnings

2012-02-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Leila!

2012-02-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

Of Sweeeeet Honey

2012-02-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

Report on Boot Camp

2011-12-26T22:06:00.000-08:00

This is what the kids woke up to this morning.

As soon as I got up and announced to the kids that we would be doing "Momma's Boot Camp," Arden burst into tears and ran back into his room.

Wow. Apparently my reputation preceeds me! I had no idea the kids even knew what a boot camp was!

Arden was fine when we finally convinced him to come out, and he realized Mom's bootcamp simply involved eating healthy foods and picking slips of paper out of the boot with fun, active ideas on things to do throughout the day written on them.

Boot camp went o.k. until our neighbor sabotaged our efforts by bringing over a big plate of goodies. It was all over then. Curtis apparently decided that since he had already messed up, he might as well go whole hog, and dug around in the closet until he found the junk food bag.

Sigh. This will definitely be a process. Can't wait for my family to get here tomorrow so they can help get rid of the goodies!

Richard Eyre

2011-12-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a lecture given by the man in this photo--Richard Eyre.

He and his wife have nine kids, they founded the popular "joy school" program, have written numerous books, including the New York Times' bestseller "Teaching Your Children Values," and travel worldwide lecturing and teaching parents how to become better parents and raise responsible kids who have strong values.

Anyway, after hearing what he had to say about kids and entitlement, I was fascinated, as entitlement in any form (other then God-given "entitlements") is one of my pet peeves. Immediately after the symposium was over, I went to his book signing at Barnes and Noble and bought his book, The Entitlement Trap.

Again, an AMAZING book. I love his humorous stories, and his down to earth style of writing. Not only was it a fun read, but it was chock full of wonderful ideas. As I read, I marked the things I really liked, and after finishing the book, wrote down an entire page of ideas from his book that I would like to implement into our family life over the next year. So...be on the lookout in blogs to come for some great ideas from Richard Eyre and his lovely wife! If you just can't wait, I would highly recommend just purchasing his book. It is one of those buys that I feel is worth every penny. Even if your kids are still really young, it might be nice to get a jump on things. One of the things I do love about his book, though, is that it is geared towards training grade-school-aged kids. Get 'em while they're young!

The Practically Perfect Plan

2011-12-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Remember a while back when I longingly mentioned how I would love to have my children be like the happy toilet-swishing kid pictured on the front of Marilee Boyack's book, The Parenting Breakthrough?

Well guess what, guess what?!!! It has come to pass! Maile actually begged me to clean out the toilet the other day. Wow. Hats off to me. Well, and the authors of the wonderful books I get my inspiration and ideas from. I have no problem giving credit where credit is due!

I loved what Marilee says about how frustrated she would get that the most important job we do in life--being a parent--didn't have an instruction manual or a plan on how and what to teach our kids! To remedy that somewhat, she and her husband came up with a list of all the skills they thought were important for her kids to know before they left home, and divided it year by year.

Click here to see Marilee Boyack's Plan

Based on her recommendations, I came up with a system for my kids that is kind of halfway between the Personal Progress Program our church's Young Women participate in, and Marilee's skills list. It has been working great thus far. The kids get to pick what goals they would like to work on, who they would like to train them in that particular skill, and then once it is passed off, they get to pick a treat from our big treat basket.

Yeah for instruction manuals!

Momma Boot Camp

2011-12-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been pretty much a perfect Christmas day, other then the fact that I ate exorbitant amounts of candy, chips and chocolate and way too many greasy fish sticks. I feel slightly bloated and gross at the moment. This evening I surreptitiously went around the house digging in everyone's Christmas loot boxes for all the junk food, which I put in a big grocery sack and hid in a closet. I am hoping out of sight, out of mind.

Tomorrow, I have decided we are going to start "momma boot camp."

I am ready to get a "running" start on things with some healthy bran muffin batter in the fridge, ready to pop in the oven for breakfast, then we are going to eat as healthy as we can all day, and do lots of different exercise-y type things. (I am pretty sure that is a word.)

Well...that is my vision anyhow. Hopefully it will go over o.k. with the family! If there is any complaining, "Drop to the ground and give me 10! Grrrr!"

Of Koala Cash

2011-12-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you can tell what this is from my photo...it is a little koala bear.

Curtis had a business trip to Australia a couple of years ago and brought a bunch of them back for the kids. Ever since we've gotten them, the kids and Curtis and I have had this ongoing game where Curtis or I will hide them somewhere in the house, and when the kids find them, they get a reward. We have hidden them in some pretty intense places, and sometimes it takes the kids a few months to find them, but they always seem to get found, somehow or another! This one was underneath the piano in the far corner.

I have no idea how Arden found it, just out of the blue. My favorite was the one Curtis hid inside his computer. (He has one of the boxes with the mostly clear side with the lights and stuff...you know what I am talking about.) Anyway, if you ever come to visit us, keep your eyes out for one of these little buggers, because there is cash and prizes for anyone who finds one!

Of Historical Illumination

2011-12-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

One of the goals I set for myself over this Christmas holiday was to listen to all of the Glenn Beck University history lectures. So far I have only gotten through the first three lectures, and can I just say, I am impressed. They are AMAZING! I love that everything that Professor Barton says is backed up by original documents--he's not just spouting his opinion. I would invite all Patriots to take the time this year to watch these wonderful lectures, especially considering 2012 is, of course, a big election year. I know you will be inspired, and the things you learn may very well change your life.

(They have a free two week trial, if you want to do a "marathon!")

Maile's Bird Trap

2011-12-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

What is this creation?, you may be asking yourself. I will tell you. It is Maile's bird trap. The plan is that the birds will be lured to the string of cranberries under the box, and then they will slip on the soap in the cups, the box will come crashing down, and the birds will be trapped.

Clever, very clever.

Neighborhood Gift Idea

2011-12-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

For my LDS readers, I wanted to post this gift idea for Christmas next year. All of our neighbors got one of these lovely "Book of Mormon baskets" this year, and they were well received, I think.

On a personal note, I have always loved the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, but I would like to publicly thank my amazing institute teacher, Sister Shupe, for her inspiration and her contagious excitement for the Book of Mormon. It has been wonderful coming to understand better the Book of Mormon's application to me personally under her instruction, and I can't thank her enough.

What a blessing we have in this marvelous book. Everyone needs a copy!

Gingerbread Mansions

2011-12-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

Check out this bad baby! Curtis is always so creative when it comes to gingerbread house making. Last year he made a five story outhouse complete with pigeons on the eves. This year I think his creation includes a pool, hot tub, slide, pumpkin patch and several other amenities I am not quite clear on.

Maile and I were a bit more traditional with our house. Arden is following in the footsteps of his father, and unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo of his creation, but suffice it to say, his was wonderful also.

This year I bought a cookie cutter house template that seemed to work really well.

A trick I learned from my sister-in-law for getting the pieces together, was to just pour some sugar in a saucepan and let it melt over medium heat. It makes a fabulous "cement" that dries in about two seconds, so it is way easier then using frosting to try to stick everything together. The only trick is, it is SUPER hot, so if any gets on your fingers before it has hardened, I guarantee you will be feeling it for a while. Probably best for an adult to do. Preferably your spouse.

Christmas Dodgeball!

2011-12-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ooooh. I am a little sore today!
We had a most delightful evening last night with several other young families that work with Curtis. We all brought soups or salads and desserts and went over to our church building and had a great little potluck. Afterwards we had a rousing game of stuffed animal/sock dodgeball in the gym (hence the reason I am sore--just from being somewhat out of shape!), followed by Christmas carol singing and a brief sharing of favorite holiday traditions. It was one of those sweet evenings that are just so enjoyable and laid back. We are so fortunate Curtis works with such wonderful, down-to-earth people!

Maile Baile!

2011-12-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Kayla to Maile: "Maile, I like your pajamas!"
Maile: "Thanks! They match my blog!"
(Yes, my kids both have blogs. Before you are too impressed though, I think there are one, maybe two entries in each of them. We'll get better at writing when they are a bit older!)

Dad to Maile: "Boy, Leila is sure being a whiner!"
Maile: "I know, Leila is a 'whine-bibber.'"

Good to know she is getting something out of scripture study.

Maile to Arden: (She was mad about him taking something) "Arden, get your dusty hands off of that!"

I love how she hears phrases and gets them just a little bit off!

Maile (with great excitement): "Christmas is coming as fast as a weasel!"

Uhhh...does that mean it is coming fast or slow?

The kids and I were going for a walk a week or two ago. On one side of us there was a large hedge, and then a bare spot in the hedge where someone had planted some small bushes. Maile stopped, went over to one of the little bushes, and fluffed it up, remarking, "I'm trying to make it more comfortable."

Isn't Maile just the cutest thing ever?!

Oh, in big news for her, she lost her first tooth last week! Well, the first that came out naturally anyway. (A couple got knocked out when Maile was two and decided to test out gravity to make sure it really worked by leaping from her chair at the table.) The tooth-fairy was lame-o and didn't even visit for like three days, but finally came and left a note and some extra moola, saying she had been so busy with all the kids that were losing teeth lately, she was running behind schedule!

Of My Awesome (if I do say so myself) New Haircut

2011-12-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

After about 20+ years of having more or less the same hairstyle, I have finally taken the plunge and gotten it chopped. Yes, it's gone. I am a long-hair girl at heart, but I am loving the change!

You will also notice (or maybe not if you're used to me wearing contacts) that I have no glasses on! Yes, I also got LASIK this last week!

I love not having to worry about contacts or glasses, but I feel so guilty spending that kind of money on myself while so many others I know of have pressing needs. Gah.

Poinsettia Challenged

2011-12-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

I have inherited my mother's love of plants, but unfortunately not her green thumb to go with it. Curses.

I must have bought about eight or nine poinsettias this season, because I love how beautiful and festive they are...until I kill them off one by one.

Maybe I will get fake ones next year.

On Repressed Kids

2011-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

In the car on the way home from church today, Maile was complaining that she NEVER EVER got to do anything she wanted.(I know, our kids are so repressed!) I sympathized a bit with her then told her she could look forward to going to college where she would be free to do whatever her heart desired. Arden said, "I'm glad I get to go to college first so I can do whatever I want!" Maile's angry response: "Arden, stop rubbing it in!"

The World Needs More Cheerleaders

2011-11-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

As we go through life, we will all encounter many opportunities to criticize or chastise people for incompetence, stupidity, rudeness, mistakes, bad customer service, or a host of other things. Many of these criticisms are even justified! Whenever I get frustrated with someone and I get tempted to respond to my frustrations in a negative way, I bring to mind this quote I heard years ago. I have never forgotten it:

The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”
― Margaret D. Nadauld (former general Young Women's President)

I think to myself, "you know, Anna, you don't know what their life has been like. You don't know if they just had a terrible day. The world has enough hardness in it. Be soft. If someone needs correction (and some people do!), that can be someone else's job (and many people are happy to oblige). Your job can be to do your best to help them feel loved." So that is and has been my goal. I am not perfect in it, but it's the ideal I am working towards, and it's some advice I'd like my posterity to thoughtfully consider. We need to be each other's cheerleaders!

Every Time We See Something Gross, We Each Get a Mint

2011-11-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Kay, couple of cute "kid-isms."

So, our five year old Maile has an enormous vocabulary for her age and loves to talk. She says the cutest things sometimes, and keeps us smiling. I especially love her prayers. They are so thoughtful and sweet, and I often feel like hers put mine to shame!

Anyway, the other day I asked her what she had talked about in her primary class at church. Her response? "Today we learned about keeping our bodies clean and pure. We are supposed to eat tomatoes and other vegetables and take baths!"

Today out of the blue Maile said, "I am so grateful that Heavenly Father gave us five fingers! It's just the right amount."

A week or so ago, Maile did a job to earn some money to buy tic-tacs with. She got them and hoarded them carefully for several hours. She then came inside briefly from playing outside with Arden and told me her plan for how she was going to eat them. She said, "Every time we see something gross, we each get a mint." Arden and Maile must have seen a lot of gross things, because the mints were gone next time I saw the container!

So, a quick thing Arden did that I thought was so sweet. Tonight I was tucking him in bed (Maile and Dad had crashed early) and Arden asked if he could stay up a little longer with me. We had just played several board games together, and I told him he needed to get to bed so I could finish cleaning up and get to bed myself because I was so tired. He said, "Mom, just leave the table--I'll clean it in the morning for you." I told him thanks, but I'd probably go ahead and do it, since I don't like waking up to a mess. He said "Mom, I get up before you, I'll have it done by the time you wake up!"

Man, it's things like that which make me think we must be doing something alright as parents! This from a seven year old kid! I love it!

Are You an Experienced Parent?

2011-11-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

How to tell if you are an experienced parent:

When a minor crisis occurs, do you grab your camera or your kid?

(courtesy of Richard Eyre!)

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

2011-10-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

After years of kind of "muddling through," we have finally figured out a morning routine that works well for our family.

Me-up between 5:30 and 6:30
Catch up on e-mails, blog, journal
Personal scriptures and prayer
exercise

Kids-up (around 7:00), breakfast, family scriptures and memorization
Curtis off to work
me and kids-chores
"Mad Movie"
school

Here were my challenges: For chores, Arden has always responded well to chart systems with rewards for accomplishing certain kinds of goals, while Maile has not. Nor do most bribes or threats really work for her, so I needed something that would work for both of them. (I found that one of the few bribes that worked was movie time, so I decided to exploit that and work it into my schedule!)

I needed something that would be a little bit flexible, so if the kids (or the parents!) woke up later then normal, or if we lingered a bit over scripture study or breakfast, we could still carry out our routine and not "feel behind."

Maile is a dawdler. Big time. I hate having to nag, nag, nag, for her to get things done, so I needed some sort of deadline and some way for her to self-direct.

I needed the kids to get into good habits without me having to remember to remind them every day...brushing teeth, making their beds, etc.

I needed to have some time in the morning for myself--to shower, get dressed, etc., since as soon as I get back from exercising, we make breakfast and do scriptures, so we can get Curtis off to work in a timely fashion.

Here is what I came up with that has been working splendidly.

I wrote both the kids' jobs and things they needed to accomplish in the mornings on index cards. (I drew pictures on Maile's cards). I had some popcorn bags laying around the house which I labeled with the kids' names.

When each of them accomplishes the task on their card, they have me check it off and insert the card into their popcorn bag. When all of their cards are in their bag, they get to watch "Mom's Mad Movie." This is always a (short) educational show. (Lately it has been "Liberty's Kids" on Netflix.) Maile is a very visual person, so she likes to see the cards so she knows what she is supposed to do. It is also nice for her to see the cards going one-by-one into her bag, so she doesn't get overwhelmed by her tasks, and she can see how little she has left. Arden knows the routine well enough he doesn't need the cards any more.

To solve the time issue, I created a fun itunes playlist with lots of "working songs." It starts with The Teeth Brushing Song, when we all dash into the bathroom to brush our teeth, then goes on to the rest of the playlist with songs such as Happy Little Working Song, Spoon Full of Sugar, High-Ho, Clean Up, Whistle While You Work, etc.

The kids know that the movie starts right after the last song, so if they've dawdled, as soon as they hear the last song on the list begin, they get busy real quick! It eliminates my nagging! I love it!

Their movie time is just enough time for me to take a quick shower and get dressed.

Then we start school.

So, that is our routine. We've been doing it for a couple of months now and it has worked better then anything we've tried thus far. I even got a "Mom, this is fun!" from Maile when we first began it!

Of Freedom and $$

2011-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Two years ago by happenstance, I came across some lectures on CD by this man, Dave Ramsey.

I had heard my good friend mention his name, so I picked up the CDs and Curtis and I began listening to them in the evenings as we cleaned the kitchen. Not only was he humorous and fun to listen to, with lots of good anecdotes, but we felt he had great advice as well! We began implementing many of his suggestions into our financial dealings, and I can say that we have drastically changed the way we do our finances because of his advice. I'll be honest--it's been sometimes a challenge to be disciplined, and we've had to put off a lot of things we would have liked to purchase, but the rewards have been great.

This last month has been a very exciting month for us, as we are now COMPLETELY DEBT FREE!!!!! BOY does it feel good! No car loans, no student loans, no medical bills, no house loans...we are FREE! And we hope to stay that way! (With MAYBE the exception of purchasing a house within the next couple of years--with a substantial down payment!)

It's kinda neat too, because as we have been doing this, it's somehow gotten brought up with old college roommates and friends, and I have been surprised at how many people I come across who are also doing his method!

Copied and pasted from his website, here are Dave's seven baby steps to financial security.

Baby Step 1
$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on and on. It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen.

Baby Step 2
Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates unless two debts have similar payoffs. If that’s the case, then list the higher interest rate debt first.

Baby Step 3
3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Once you complete the first two baby steps, you will have built serious momentum. But don’t start throwing all your “extra” money into investments quite yet. It’s time to build your full emergency fund.

Baby Step 4
Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
When you reach this step, you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth.

Baby Step 5
College funding for children
By this point, you should have already started Baby Step 4—investing 15% of your income—before saving for college. Whether you are saving for you or your child to go to college, you need to start now.

Baby Step 6
Pay off home early
Now it’s time to begin chunking all of your extra money toward the mortgage. You are getting closer to realizing the dream of a life with no house payments.

Baby Step 7
Build wealth and give!
It’s time to build wealth and give like never before. Leave an inheritance for future generations, and bless others now with your excess.

Of Painted Ladies

2011-10-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

For Maile's birthday, one of the presents she got was a little butterly habitat from Insect Lore. She is such a critter person, and loved watching the little catapillars turn into chrysalises, and then emerge as beautiful painted lady butterflies. She had fun carrying the last one of the five around the house before she let it go.

Haunted San Diego Tour

2011-10-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Friday night we took the kids and some of their friends down to Old Town San Diego, which is, believe it or not, known as one of the most haunted towns in the USA. We learned a bit about the history of many of the "haunted" buildings that were built in the 1800's, saw the old graveyard on San Diego Ave., and saw several other houses that are purported to be haunted. We even saw a page mystically turn on an old book, a few ghostly people floating about, and, creepy, our car, which was parked across the street from the cemetary, had it's dashboard lights flicker all on their own until we were well away from the cemetary.

I love the power of imagination.

We ate some yummy Halloween treats, as well!

If any of my local readers would like me to e-mail them my research notes and a map of the different buildings, send me an e-mail!

Of Delicious Fall Treats

2011-10-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

If anyone is in need of a great fall treat, may I recommend two of our favorites? Apples with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top, and hot cocoa with a couple of scoops of ice cream in it. YUM! The hot cocoa with ice cream is such a fun contrast between hot and cold.

Sadly, I will not be drinking any 'til the middle of December, as I am doing THE GREAT SUGAR ESCAPE with Kayla until then. (Still trying to lose the five pounds I gained on vacation!)

The Best Handbook for Life

2011-10-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

So, about three weeks ago, I began attending an institute class on the Book of Mormon taught by the wonderful Susan Shupe. Her classes are just amazing, and I learn so much from them. She has a way of getting one excited about the Book of Mormon, and helping one see how the stories and teachings apply to nearly every aspect of our lives. She very appropriately calls the Book of Mormon "A Handbook for Life." Truly, this is an amazing book with much to offer. Read on!

For those of my readers who may not be familiar with The Book of Mormon, briefly, it is a compilation of thousands of years worth of fascinating historical and spiritual records of the people in the ancient Americas. The Bible mentions these people in John 10:16. Mormon, a prophet/historian living back in the day, compiled "the cream of the crop" from these records just for us, as he forsaw our day (Mormon 8:35, pp 483). The Bible actually refers to the Book of Mormon in Ezekial 37:16-19, with the sticks of Joseph and Judah referring to the Book of Mormon and the Bible respectively, and the two becoming "one stick," or one testament of Jesus Christ.

Anyway, last week in an e-mail to my family, I shared some of my notes, then I got to thinking I should post my notes on my blog for my extended family, my posterity and my dear other readers. So, here you are. Enjoy!

From President Benson, 5 Reasons We Have the Book of Mormon:

1. It prepares us for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

In 3 Nephi 1:8 (pp. 407), righteous believers in the land were about to be put to death by the wicked if the signs of Christ's birth prophesied by Samuel the Lamanite didn't happen by a certain day. The time was drawing near, and this verse records that the people, as you could imagine, were watching "steadfastly" for the promised signs (the star and "the day and the night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night"). Here are a few thoughts applying that story to our day.

First of all, we, too, should be watching steadfastly for signs of Christ's second coming so we can be spiritually and physically prepared, and help prepare our families for what is to come. Serious readers of the Bible and the Book of Mormon can see these signs in abundance! Pretty scary stuff! Some suggestions for us to be prepared: Be where we are supposed to be, when we are supposed to be there. When Christ appeared to the people in the Americas after his resurrection, where did he come? He came to the temple, where the people had gathered. We need to "stand in holy places" and be frequent temple attenders.

One more note our teacher pointed out about this preparation. In the Book of Mormon, the Book of Helaman is where we are in terms of politics and what is going on in the world nowadays. If you will recall, there was a lot of corruption going on in the government, and people breaking the law and going unpunished because they were able to bribe officials, among other things...sound familiar?! So we are in the book of Helaman, and of course, the following book is 3 Nephi, where the Savior appears. Since the Book of Mormon is "a type and shadow of things to come," we have an exciting time coming, but again, a lot of scary times coming before Christ comes again.

2. The Book of Mormon teaches us the dangers of materialism.

The main danger of this, I think we determined, is that "stuff," including money, can easily distract us from the things that are most important. We've got to be careful to have good balance in our lives.

3. The Book of Mormon teaches disciples of Christ how to live in times of war.

There are a lot of wars that occur in the Book of Mormon! I often wondered why those were included, and now I know. Read on!

We will probably be involved in physical war throughout the world until Christ comes again, and most surely in spiritual warfare, so this is very pertinent to us. How we build up our defenses...defenses for our families...these are all answered here in the Book of Mormon.

As an aside, conference was amazing, as always. I was struck by the frequent mention of how we are raising our children in enemy territory, on a battleground. WOW. If that is not a wake up call, I don't know what is. Scary! I listen to some of my young women tell about things that happen in high school and I am just appalled by things kids are doing nowadays. Truly we are in a battle with evil and we need to have our defenses in place. "Shields up!" as Curtis would say!

4. The Book of Mormon teaches us how to be missionaries.

In our family reading, we are near the beginning of Alma, where Ammon puts his life in his hands to go teach the gospel to the Lamanites, and is captured by King Lamoni. The kids are loving these chapters--they are so adventurous!

As I was thinking about why missionary work is such a prominent part of the Book of Mormon, it occurred to me that as members of the church, we have such great protection for our families that most of the world doesn't have and desperately needs! I think of the promises that are made in the temple, and the protection that is found there. I think of the spiritual protection that has been promised to our families and children just for reading the Book of Mormon daily. I think of how comforting it is to have a prophet of God who gets revelation for us--our day--and can warn us of things to come that we need to prepare for. What a blessing! I think of the counsel of prophets in years past to get out of debt, and to have an emergency food storage in place as well as 72 hour kits. Having these things in place is so comforting! Anyway, again, great protection from living the gospel, and we need to share with others!

5. Finally, the Book of Mormon helps us draw nearer to God.

Check out this cool little fact (courtesy of Susan Easton Black). In all, there are 101 names/titles of Christ that are collectively presented 3,925 times in 6,607 Book of Mormon verses. That would average out to Christ being mentioned about every 1.7 verses. Cool!

Anyway, more exciting things to come! I have some great notes to share on what the Book of Mormon teaches us about relationships, as well as how to have successful scripture study as a family, and some interesting things we should consider about pride.

Of Curtis' Company in the News

2011-10-16T06:56:00.001-07:00

So Curtis just got back from a prestigious conference in Washington D.C., and their robotics stuff (5-D Robotics) was on the front page of Defense News! Take a look!

I am so proud of him and his excellent team.

Trek Part Two

2011-10-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Trek Part One

2011-10-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it has been a long time in coming, but here, FINALLY, are photos of our trek this past summer. What a wonderful experience this was, with many poignant moments that gave one a great appreciation for the hardships the early pioneers went through. In reading through one of Curtis' ancestors' accounts of the trek, one thing that impressed me was his mention of all the fun times they had and humorous moments, despite having to leave their homes to trek across the western frontier, and many of them starving and freezing to death. I think a great lesson can be learned from this. Certainly our trek was no different in terms of humorous moments! We only had to endure dust, wind, mosquitoes, and a few blistered feet and sore muscles, but fun and good times abounded. Sticks pulls, square dancing, fun river crossings, kidnappings, etc.One thing that was especially neat to me was to see how much the teenagers stepped up and really were the backbone in getting our handcarts to our destinations each day. Lots of other things I could write about, but before I get on to the photos, many thanks to Anona for taking little Leila (that was a HUGE blessing for me!) and to Aunt Joan for organizing this wonderful trip!Oh, and by the way, look for us as "extras" in a video about a South African lady in between sessions of next April conference!*********************************************************************************And I am related to these hooligans?! I thought it was funny how the kidnapping attempt petered out pretty quick after the kids started fighting back with sticks!

I think the kids are so cute in their little outfits.

The Carlsbad Dandies, Pt. 1

2011-09-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is with me, but lately I have been craving being in the mountains! I think Enoch must have worn off on me during his stay at our house or something. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the perks of living in a large city, particularly the excellent libraries and museums, but I miss the serenity of having mountains nearby, with ample opportunity to escape the hub bub of everyday life. (Does this mean I am getting old?!) I guess what I seek could be summed up in the phrase "simple abundance."

We returned Monday last week from a most amazing and rejuvenating vacation to the Sequoia National Forest. It was the epitomy of simple abundance--the meals were simple (I didn't have to cook them or clean up!) and the food was abundant! (I gained 5 lbs. in a week!) Also in great abundance were hiking trails through breathtaking scenery, large, VERY large trees, and lovely memories that were created with my sweet family. We were fortunate to have my parents-in-law join us, which made it that much more wonderful.

Following are some of the photos from our trip. I will apologize right now for the sheer amount--I know no one but our family cares that much about them, but, as I believe I have mentioned previously, this is eventually going to be printed for our family scrapbook, so without further ado, Enjoy!

Bob was kind enough to take some family photos for us.

This is the lodge we stayed at.

We were pretty secluded off on the far side of the lake in Dandy's Cabin. (Did they put us there for a reason?!) All the other lodgings were across the lake from where we were.

Here is a photo of the cabin we stayed in. It was very picturesque, and had a wonderful view.

Here are our wonderful grandparents.

We were so excited to see several bears throughout our stay!

The lodge had lots of fun things to do, including a rifle range (which I loved!), archery, horseshoes, canoeing, a pool and hot tub, a trampoline and playground area for kids, and horses. Because we went in the off season, we pretty much had the run of the place. All the staff were really chill and pretty much let us do what we wanted. In the evenings they would have a big fire and roast marshmallows for s'mores.

The following are two of my favorite landscape photos. The first is of the lake in the morning, with the mist rising off of it, and the second is a view from atop Moro Rock, which we hiked our last day there. Talk about a spectacular vista!

Here is a photo of Bob and Arden, walking through one of the sequoia trees which had fallen across the path.

Me and Maile by some gnarly tree roots...

Me clearing boulders out of the way so people could pass by to see Tokopah Falls.

Carlsbad Dandies, Pt. 2

2011-09-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Many of our evenings were spent curled up on the couch in our cabin in front of the fire listening to Bob and Curtis tell stories. They are quite the storytellers! The kids loved getting to stay up late, too!

Here is Arden outside the lodge where we had all our meals.

They had a kids' program which Arden and Maile participated in the first day we were there and enjoyed very much. "Whammy" was in charge of it and took the kids canoeing on the lake, played on the tramp with them, and a few other things.

Here is a photo of Leila in the kid's area.

Here are the kids playing on the tramp with Whammy.

Here we are walking straight down the middle of a hollowed out, overturned Sequoia. Very cool! It was like walking through a little cave!

Family photo op by the roots of aforementioned tree.

We spent some time in the lodge in the later afternoons and evening playing games, ping pong, fooseball, and putting together puzzles.

Grandma suggested the kids work on becoming Junior Rangers, which they did! They were very proud to receive their badges from a park ranger.

Scenery....

Scenery...

Again, atop Moro rock...

Maile got a little nervous being so high up with minimal railings!

Another photo of our cabin. It was so fun, because there were a little family of deer--a momma and two little ones, who must have lived right near the cabin, as we saw them several times.

Here are Grandma Gay and Grandpa Bob with little Leila in the canoe.

Here is Dad, king of the kid stuff!

Family canoeing on the lake. Arden really loved canoeing, which I am so glad about! He is going to be my canoeing and hiking buddy when he gets a few years older!

Here are a few of the horses they still had at the lodge. The other ones were done for the season. We didn't actually get to ride them, but they were fun to look at!

Just about everything of importance one needs to know can be learned from nature!

Here is the General Sherman Tree trailhead. (Bet you couldn't have figured that one out!) The General Sherman tree we learned, is the largest tree by volume in the world. This tree, and the other huge sequoias are truly an awe inspiring sight. Arden remarked that he felt "eensy" next to the trees.

Of Sushi Smells

2011-09-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Overheard from the kitchen while making some sushi rolls:

Arden: Maile, I dare you to go in the kitchen--it smells so bad.
Maile: Ewwwwww!
Arden: You have to plug your nose when you go in there.

(enter Maile with plugged nose)

Maile: Mom, what is that stuff?

Me: This is sushi. Want some?
Maile: No way! You should feed that to the ducks!

(Apparently this is the ultimate insult for my cooking, which, in my humble opinion, while clearly unappreciated by my kids, is generally not all that bad!)

After wandering around the house with their noses plugged for some time, the kids both decided to sequester themselves in their rooms and take their rests early today.

More sushi for me!

Of Harry Potter

2011-08-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

So, I am officially a nerd, I guess. Yup, that's me, Tonks, with the red hair and leather pants at the midnight premier of Harry Potter. Kayla was Beatrix Lestrange, and Jen was Moaning Mertle. Fun times, fun times! My favorite was when we were all just chilling in our seats waiting for the movie to begin and some dude with wings on his back dressed as a snitch came in and started running around the theater. A few of the audience caught on pretty quick and started chasing him, finally catching him and tackling him to the groung. I love it!

On Making Mistakes

2011-08-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

My Dad recently sent me the following e-mail from a techy website he subscribes to. I thought it was a good message for all. Yesterday in Young Women's our lesson was on forgiving ourselves. Often even after those we've wronged forgive us and God has forgiven us, we can't let things go and forgive ourselves!

Read on. (Sorry--I just copied and pasted--I'm not going to format it to make it beautiful, as I have a gajillion things to do this morning before my kids wake up!)

10 immutable laws of mistakes
By Alan Norton
August 2, 2011, 2:11 PM PDT
Takeaway: Mistakes are inevitable. But as Allan Norton explains, certain laws govern how we deal with them, learn from them, conceal them, and even profit from them.
For something so certain, so common, and so potentially destructive, mistakes remain a mystery. Why do we make them? Why do we repeat them? These 10 laws will give you a better understanding of what mistakes are and how to best deal with them.
Law #1: Everyone makes mistakes
“Everyone makes mistakes. That’s why there is an eraser on every pencil.” — Japanese proverb
This amusing yet clever Japanese proverb reminds us that there is something innately human about the mistakes we make. It also wisely implies that we have the power to correct our mistakes.
Corollary: Nobody can change law number one.
Law #2: Not all mistakes are bad mistakes
“The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Mistakes are going to happen, but that is not always a bad thing. The person who makes no mistakes isn’t taking any risks or living life to its fullest. By playing it safe, you may miss out on some of life’s greatest rewards. Wise men and women seek perfection but allow themselves the luxury of making mistakes.
If you still believe that all mistakes are bad, consider this question: How can a mistake be considered bad if more is gained than lost? There are many examples of serendipitous mistakes that have led to great discoveries. Penicillin, for example, was discovered by Alexander Fleming when he accidentally left a petri dish open. And how about those mistakes that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? My favorite, the Inverted Jenny stamp, was sold in November of 2007 for $977,500!
Law #3: Mistakes not seen by others are not mistakes
“When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is near by to hear it, does it make a sound?” — Charles Riborg Mann and George Ransom Twiss
If a mistake is made and no one knows about it, is it a mistake? Okay, to you it is a mistake. But if no one else is aware of your mistake, it isn’t a mistake — assuming, of course, that you correct your error before someone else does see it. It’s not necessary to proclaim every mistake you make, especially the stupid ones. Why unnecessarily damage your image and possibly your
career? But you can pass on the lessons you have learned from your mistakes and still be a hero for a day.
Law #4: Ignorance does not excuse your mistakes
“Ignorance of the law excuses no man…” — John Selden
Likewise, not knowing a system feature or behavior that leads to a mistake cannot be used as an excuse. I learned VB transaction processing to speed up the loading of data into a remote database. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the consequences of processing large numbers of transactions before committing the records. The network crashed and I owned up to my mistake. It may have been an unintentional mistake, but pleading ignorance wouldn’t have changed the fact that I was responsible for crashing the network.
Law #5: Mistakes occur at the very worst time
“If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.” – Corollary to Murphy’s Law
I have always appreciated Murphy’s Law and its corollaries, including Murphy’s computer laws. Perhaps that is because there is a certain amount of truth in them. It is no coincidence that frequently, the worst mistakes occur at the worst time. End-of-project mistakes happen due to stress, time pressures, and fatigue. A deadline often leads to mistakes in the scramble to complete a task. Less time to recognize and fix mistakes is often the genesis of what can and will go wrong.
Law #6: Mistakes beget mistakes
“Desperate people do desperate things.“ — Anonymous
Your heart is racing, beads of sweat are forming on your brow, and your stomach feels like it has both butterflies and moths. You have just made the kind of mistake that can be career-ending. How will you proceed? You decide to quickly fix your mistake before someone else sees it. But this is no time to make another mistake. First, take a few deep breaths and ask yourself several questions:
• Will I take unnecessary and dangerous risks to correct my mistake?
• Am I in over my head and need help?
• Can I fix this problem without making it worse?
You are more prone to make bad decisions when under a large amount of stress. The last thing you want in a career-defining moment is a comedy of errors. Stay calm, remain levelheaded, and take the time you need to avoid additional mistakes.
Law #7: Mistakes made with computers propagate faster and cause more damage
“Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand guns.” — Mitch Ratcliffe
Oh, the power you wield as an IT professional! You have the power to damage so much with the smallest of mistakes. Use an OR instead of an AND or put a decimal point in the wrong place, and all kinds of bad things can happen. The work you do is “supercharged” once it is run on a computer. The pressures to produce perfection are enormous. Since we all make mistakes, the only reasonable course is to take great care in the proofreading and testing of your work before turning it on to the world.
Law #8: Mistakes of inaction are mistakes nonetheless
“I never worry about action, but only about inaction.” - Winston Churchill
As you get older, you begin to realize the mistakes you have made by not asking out your high school sweetheart, not fighting for what is right, or any number of other what-if situations. Similarly, you may second-guess not getting that certification, not taking that project lead position, or other decisions of inaction you have made on the job. The tragedy is that these decisions are often life-altering. Equally tragic, whether they were mistakes or not may become obvious only in the clarity of hindsight. Other mistakes of inaction are clearer to identify as true mistakes:
• Failing to communicate
• Failing to research in detail
• Failing to analyze thoroughly
• Failing to test all possible outcomes
• Failing to perform root cause analysis
Law #9: Failing to own up to your mistakes is a mistake
“You may make mistakes, but you are not a failure until you start blaming someone else.” — Mary Pickford
If you can’t quickly fix your mistake, hiding it is almost always a bad idea. Finding the humility to admit your error ASAP will allow others to come to your aid. More knowledgeable members of your team can help determine the full scope and impact of your mistake and help in the remediation process. You compound your mistake further if you blame someone else or a peer is implicated for what you have done — and no one with a conscience wants to live with that.
Law #10: Failing to learn from your mistakes is a mistake
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” — John Powell
It has been said that life is a journey, not a destination. Mistakes are part of that journey, and it is an opportunity lost if we do not learn and grow from those errors we encounter along the way. But learning is not enough. We must also put into practice what we have learned or we have learned nothing at all.
The bottom line
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” — Rita Mae Brown
If it is true that you learn more from your mistakes than your triumphs, I must be a genius. And yet I am no genius. More than once while walking along the path of life, I have failed in the learning process. I’ve caught myself making the same mistake over and over and not fully understanding why.

The “learning from mistakes” process
When you make a mistake for the first time, you either recognize it or you don’t. If you recognize it, you fix it if you can. It’s a fairly simple process. The second time you are presented with a similar situation, you must first recognize the situation, remember the mistake you made, and then change your behavior. Fail at any of those three decision points and you will repeat the mistake. That is a more complex process and the reason why we repeat our mistakes.
My favorite mistake is the intentional one. Navajo rug makers include a small imperfection called a “spirit string” to allow the “spirit” that they have put into the work to escape and because only God is perfect. Lest we forget, this is perhaps the greatest “mistake” quote of all: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” — Alexander Pope. And the world could use a little less human and a little more divine right now.
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Of Advice for Newlyweds

2011-07-07T06:24:00.001-07:00

You know how sometimes at weddings or bridal showers they have the guests write down bits of advice for the newlyweds? More often then not I can not for the life of me think of anything worthwhile to write down (until after the event is over!) so I usually end up writing down something kinda lame.

Well, after much thought and reflection, here is what my advice would be.

Bridal Shower advice: Make a deal with your soon-to-be-spouse that you will change any nasty diapers if he will take care of any barf. (You have to make this arrangement before you are married because your spouse may not agree to it once you have tied the knot. Note--you can get away with a lot at this time!) Before Curtis and I got married, I made sure we were clear on this one issue. (I like to plan ahead.) It has stood me in good stead many times over the years we have had kids, and oh, how grateful I have been for my foresight! I don't mind changing poopy diapers, but even when I look at barf I start gagging. Blah.

Wedding advice: You know that saying that one should never go to bed angry at one's spouse? Worst advice ever. It sounds good in theory, but in practice, it is not. Arguments tend to escalate and degenerate when people are tired. I believe it is much, MUCH better to sleep on it. I would say that about 90% of things people disagree about won't even matter to them the next morning, and the problems that do matter are much more easily solved when both parties are well rested.

So, that is my advice for the day.

Spicy Honey Chicken Recipe

2011-07-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

O.K. I have not posted a recipe in a while, so here is one we found recently and absolutely love. (Well, at least Curtis and I love it. The kids love...pasta. Plain. That's about it. Well, no not really--they love fruits and veggies, thank goodness!)

Tonikaku...here's the recipe.

Spicy Honey Chicken

(Recipe by Our Best Bites)

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 2lbs
(The creators of this recipe insist that thighs taste better in this recipe then breasts. I have tried both and actually prefer the chicken breasts sliced fairly thin)
2 t vegetable oil

Rub:
2 t granulated garlic
2 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t coriander
1 t kosher salt
1 t cumin
1/2 t chipotle chili powder

Glaze:
1/2 C Honey
1T Cider Vinegar

Combine the rub spices in bowl and mix well.

Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Pat dry. Drizzle oil over chicken and rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces. Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! Grill chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it’s not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2T honey glaze for later. Take the rest and brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling.
I’m gonna warn you that this can make a hot mess, literally. It’s sugar, and it’s gonna drip. But the smelly smoke is worth it for a minute or two. Just leave your grill on for a few minutes after the chicken is done to burn off any excess glaze. It’s totally worth it once you taste this stuff.
If you don’t have a bbq, try it on an indoor grill pan or use your broiler. Just be sure to open a window in case you burn your glaze!

Remember how I had you reserve that extra couple tablespoons of glaze? Ya, drizzle that on top now. Your taste buds will thank you.

This chicken is also great sliced on a salad. I made up an extra large batch of rub so I don't have to repeat that step next time I make this!

Look out, the Slug Monster Approaches!

2011-07-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Aaarrggghh! Here comes a seaweed slugmonster! Look out! She is coming to get you!

We actually learned a cool fact about seaweed. You can use it to predict the weather. Apparently, when rain is looming on the horizon, the seaweed gets fatter, I assume because it absorbs moisture from the air. Conversely, when the weather is supposed to be nice, the seaweed gets thinner. Interesting, huh?! We should keep a swatch of seaweed on our back porch so we can predict what the weather will be like. Oh wait, it is always sunny and beautiful here, about 75 degrees.

Just kidding. We do get some rain here on occasion, thank goodness. As an aside, it is highly amusing to me to hear the locals apologizing for the weather to out-of-town guests when it rains!

Of Army Guys and Giant Lizards

2011-07-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Some time ago for Family Home Evening, we made these little habitat thingys. They turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself, and if you look close, you can see army guys fighting dinosaurs and giant lizards, frogs by ponds, and even an attempt at a waterfall!

Of Climbing Kids

2011-07-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our little Leila is going to be a rock climber for sure--I can't keep the kid off the table!

Here she is helping herself to some orange juice.

Of Berries Worth Their Weight in Gold

2011-07-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Carlsbad, the city where we live, is well known not only for Legoland, but also for it's strawberry fields. Kayla, Adrianna, the kids and I, along with my youngest brother Joseph, who was visiting at the time, decided to take a trip to some U-pick fields nearby for a strawberry picking expedition. I had visions of coming home with oodles of sweet juicy berries to make loads of jam and pies with. We got there to the farm, super excited, with lots of bags to put our loads of berries in, and went up to the counter to check in and get instructions. Imagine my shock when I saw the prices they had listed--a one pint container was...get this...eight dollars. EIGHT DOLLARS! We're talking about a cup and a half's worth of berries here, folks. I tried to stifle my gasp of shock (keep in mind I had been buying a pound of berries at Wal-mart for .88!), gulped, and so as not to disappoint the kids, told the lady I would take a pint. On the up-side, I was happy to find out that they did allow as much taste testing as one wanted, so I told all the kids to eat hearty! They were delicious berries--amazingly delicious, and thank goodness for Joseph's help. He certainly did his part to help us get our eight bucks worth of berries, as you can see in the photo at the bottom! (On second glance, that particular picture might have been Kayla's bucket--she got the two pint bucket!)

More Cute Photos

2011-07-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

In order of appearance...
Leila, Enoch, Maile, Enoch, Arden's head, Leila

We are at Mermaid Lagoon in Never Never Land.

Just kidding. We are at La Jolla Cove in, you guessed it, La Jolla.

BTW, this cove is a popular snorkling place and I happen to have two nice sets of snorkling equipment that anyone is welcome to borrow! I would love for them to get used!

Of Ships and Cannons

2011-07-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Did I post pictures of this already? I can't remember. Before school let out for the summer, we got part way through our history unit, and we talked a lot about ships and navigation. This is a fun cardboard ship we made out of a box, complete with a working cannon. (I know it works, because I was shot with it multiple times.)

The middle photo is a ship Curtis and the kids made out of K'nex. I am constantly amazed by the intricate creations they come up with using blocks, legos, K'nex, etc.!

Of Fire and Love

2011-07-04T13:43:00.001-07:00

This fall, we have a family trip planned to the Sequoia National Forest. The kids are so excited and have already started coming up with their lists of things to bring. Maile created her list in the picture below based on a food storage catalogue that had lots of little squares on the cover with photos of assorted foods in them. I loved her two additions which you can see in the upper left of her drawing--fire and love. Awwwwwwww....

Of Random Photos

2011-07-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

O.K., here are just a few random pictures I am throwing in.

Here are Maile and Ivana (upstairs neighbor) who have turned themselves into...mosaics. Very cute.

Here is a turtle Ivana and her family found meandering across a road near our house. They were kind enough to rescue it before it got squashed, and donated it to the local turtle association.

Here is just a picture of Maile I thought was cute.

You probably can't tell from this next photo, but this creation is a treasure map with all sorts of fun little details, including a volcano, palm trees, parrot, compass, and even a shovel. (We love FF magazine!)

The butterfly in the photo below is another Family Fun project we thought turned out great. They were oober simple to make, yet looked spectacular, especially when we had several of different colors on one plate.

Welcome Inklings Academy

2011-07-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling as a kid, I remember my mom always having a fun "graduation" for us at the end of every school year, with little diplomas, report cards, gifts, and treats. Mom did such a good job of making that a special event for us. I decided to do the same kind of thing for my kids this year as well. They loved it! (Note my choice of treat in the pictures!)

Although I started out homeschooling in January (through a local charter school) somewhat skeptical as to whether or not I would like it, I've found that it is a great outlet for my creative bent, and I LOVE learning right along with the kids. I don't miss the stress, busy-ness, soliciting, and time constraints of public school AT ALL! I love homeschooling, and I think we are in this long term, or until the kids decide they want to do something different!

This coming year, I have decided that we will do our own thing rather then go through the charter school. I know lots of parents who love the charter school, but it wasn't quite the right fit for our family--we're just too doggone independent, I guess! I am so excited for this upcoming school year, though! I have oodles of fun ideas to do with the kids!

Welcome, Inklings Academy! (Not to brag or anything, but I thought the name I picked out was quite clever, wouldn't you agree?!)

Of Padres and Pretzels

2011-07-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Curtis and I bought a little upright piano for $150 off of craigslist a week or so ago. When we went to pick it up, the lady we bought it from offered us free tickets to a Padres game that was the next night. Incidentally, it happened to be "Mormon Night at the Padres." I have only been to one or two major league baseball games before when I lived in Boston, and Curtis had never been, so we took the lady up on her offer. It was delightful. We got there a little later then we had hoped, as we didn't factor in the traffic, but the seats were great--right near the front. Unfortunately, the Mormons must not have been praying hard enough, because our team got smoked, but it was fun, nonetheless!

Thou Shalt Not Steal Fish

2011-07-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

We had a delightful (if too short) visit a couple of weeks ago from Curtis' brother and his sweet little family. We drove up to Newport Beach and spent the day there, followed by a yummy pizza dinner outside. The kids (and adults, for that matter!) were very entertained by this pelican that was just meandering along the pier, waiting for a chance to snatch a fish or two out of some unsuspecting fisherman's bucket. He would even let the kids get close enough to pet him! The high excitement of the day was when this pelican attempted to steal a fish right off of a fisherman's pole! Yes, the pelican got stuck on the hook. Luckily, the fishermen were able to free him without too much trauma to the bird, as he came right back a few minutes later!

Of Rules for High Class Entertainment

2011-07-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

We have this darling little neighbor girl, Ivana, who comes over to our house nearly every day. Her and the kids decided to put on a 4-D play for us last week. Myself and Ivana's Mom were the audience. We were asked to wear our "4-D" sunglasses, so we could experience the full intensity of the 4-D special effects of the play.

The kids apparently felt the need to put some rules in place for us Moms, lest we get too wildly out of control:

No screaming
No yelling
No interruptions
No fighting

...and my personal favorite,

No going "Boooo" at the end.

We will try to control ourselves.

You'll note the price for admission. It has gone up significantly since I put on plays as a kid! The kids and Ivana are always trying to come up with ways to earn lots of money. They wanted to invite all the neighbors, especially the two little girls who live next door. I informed them that the girls' dad was in school, so they probably couldn't afford the high admission rates. Without any hesitation or consultation with each other, all three of the kids enthusiastically decided that they would donate all the proceeds of their play to this little family. Sweetest kids ever.

Of Crabs, Crusts, and Corn on the Cob

2011-07-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Leila has discovered the joys of those little corn-on-the-cob skewers, and enthusiastically experimented with different positioning. It kept her entertained for most of dinner.

For Father's Day, we got a little creative and made these little crab sandwiches we saw in our FF magazine for lunch (no reflection on Curtis' temperment, of course!). We filled them with chicken salad, or peanut butter and jelly for the kids.

We had some guests over for dinner the other night. The kids are getting really good at stacking their plates after meals, and when I went to clean up the kitchen after guests had left, this was on Maile's plate that she had stacked. Apparently she does not like the crusts.

Disaster In Da' House

2011-06-02T12:20:00.001-07:00

Don't you just love those moments as parents when you know your kids are wreaking havoc throughout the house, but they are having so much fun that you can't tell them to stop? Right now Arden and Maile are enthusiastically emptying their drawers and toy chest and putting all their clothes and belongings into baskets, which they are moving into another room. They are also gathering every pillow, blanket, sheet, and quilt they can find, with the intent of blockading their doorway so they can no longer sleep in their room. Their plan is to set up a tent in the study and sleep and live there.

I'm already having nightmares about the cleanup and it's not even night time.

Just overheard: Arden to Maile: "Mom says we have to clean this up by Saturday." (Their original plan was to leave it until they were 18.)
Maile: "How come?"
Arden: "I don't know, she's just weird that way."

All That You Do...

2011-06-02T06:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days where I was lucky I didn't strangle my children. It seemed like they were bickering with each other and whining at me most of the day. I was cranky too, because it was grocery shopping day and I don't particularly like shopping--I feel like I pretty much waste half my day. I know we need to eat though!
Usually when the kids are cranky, I pretty much assume that it's more or less my fault because I am not being creative or engaged enough with them. If I take time to sit down with them and really give them some good attention, they usually are just fine.

It occurred to me that part of my problem is that I try to do too much at the same time to the point where I don't give many important things in my life (my kids!) their due time and concentration before jumping to something else. I'm not saying multitasking is bad--Mom's HAVE to be able to do that--but I think maybe I do it too much.

I remember a particular family home evening my parents did back when I was a kid. My Dad had somehow sawed some coins in half, and Mom had torn a dollar in half. They stuck these "half" pieces of money on a poster with a little poem that read, "All that you do, do with your might. Things done in halves, are never done right." They were teaching us the importance of not doing "halfway" jobs. I think it applies to many things in life. If I'm going to take the time to do something, I need to devote my whole attention at that moment to what I'm doing, rather then jumping from thing to thing, or thinking of all the other things I could be doing.

Of Palm Leaves and Chocolates

2011-05-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

I definitely miss having Enoch around!

Dear God

2011-05-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Dear God
~Author unknown

Dear God~
So far today I've done all right.
I haven't gossiped.
I haven't lost my temper.
I haven't lied or cheated.
I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent.
I'm very thankful for that.
But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed;
and from then on,
I'm probably going to need a lot more help.
Amen.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

2011-05-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep--A Tired Mother's Prayer
~author anonymous

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my sanity to keep.
For if some peace I do not find,
I'm pretty sure I'll lose my mind.
I pray I find a little quiet
Far from the daily family riot

May I lie back--not have to think
about what they're stuffing down the sink,
or who they're with, or where they're at
and what they're doing to the cat.

I pray for time all to myself
(did something just fall off a shelf?)
To cuddle in my nice, soft bed
(Oh no, another goldfish--dead!)

Some silent moments for goodness sake
(Did I just hear a window break?)
And that I need not cook or clean...
(Well heck, I've got the right to dream)

Yes now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my wits about me keep,
But as I look around I know...
I must have lost them long ago!

Of the Bubonic Plague and $100

2011-05-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Time for some fun "kidisms."

We pay high compliments to each other in this household.

Maile to Arden: "Arden, you look as cute as a chicken!"

Our kids' prayers are always so heartfelt and sincere.

Maile in a prayer at Uncle Tab and Aunt Carolyn's house: "Please bless Tab and Carolyn that they can stand it."

Our children are also smart.

Maile to Arden: "Hey Arden, I have an idea. How about I play while you work?"

AND we have taught them excellent business principles.

Arden to Maile--they were selling small ziplock bags of popcorn to the neighbors for .10 a bag: "Maile, how about I get the first $100 and you get the second $100."

They are very loving, as well.

While discussing the bubonic plague in England with them, I tried to illustrate how many people died (3 out of every 4) by telling them it was like Arden, Dad, Enoch, and Leila dying from just our family. (A little off, I know--it was easier that way!) Maile piped up and said, "Mom, how about you die instead of Dad, 'cuz I like Dad."
Thanks child. I love you too.

We haven't heard many quotes from Leila yet, for the simple reason that she can't really say more then a couple words, but here is a little update for her.

She is not walking yet. Our upstairs neighbor--a big, tough black guy--affectionately calls her "Crawly Crawly" and is always telling me she should be crawling already, and asks why she isn't. I told him we would be sure and have him down to our house for a demonstration and celebration as soon as it happens! Personally, I am not encouraging Leila walking, because I know once she walks, well, it won't be walking, it will be running, then I will have to be doing a lot more running as well!

She has also picked up this awful, loud screech, which she likes to demonstrate in the middle of church.

She loves baths, so much so that the other day after I had gotten her bathed and dressed for bed, she went back into the bathroom to puddle in the water while Maile finished her bath. She got so enthusiastic in her splashing, she flipped right over the edge of the tub into the water, fully clothed! She got a second bath that day.

We love our little ones and find so much joy from their (mostly) delightful little personalities.

Of Dealing with Trials in the Lord's Way

2011-05-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

This being Sunday, I thought I'd share some notes I'd taken from one of our Relief Society lessons. It was a lesson from probably nearly a year ago, back when we were in Rexburg, but it was really meaningful to me at the time, and brought me a lot of comfort. We had been trying everything we could think of to get our house sold, and it was getting to the point where it was getting to be very stressful, knowing we would be moving soon. On top of that, the bills from Leila's birth and prenatal care had continued to flood in, along with the attendent calls to insurance to clear various things up, doctor's offices, etc., AND Curtis in the midst of trying to start a company. It was a stressful time, which we are glad is over!
I wish I had more then my little edited "jottings down" to share, but hopefully my notes at least it portray the main idea.

On Dealing With Trials

1. FRET NOT
Do what we can and then don't worry. Worry makes it so that we can't enjoy the moment.

2. TRUST IN THE LORD
He loves us, His children, more then we can comprehend.

3. DO GOOD
We are followers if Christ. Our actions serve as a living testimony of our discipleship.

"As we are to those in need, so will our Father in Heaven be to us."
~Joseph B. Worthlin

4. IN TIME the Lord will bring about answers to your prayers, sometimes in ways you could never possibly have imagined.

We need to be completely humble and willing to do whatever it is He wants us to do.

If we know our desires are righteous, pray with confidence.

5. COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD
Cleave unto light and truth.

6. REST IN THE LORD
He has his own timetable, and we may not like it or understand it, but His timing is always perfect.

A Little Bit of Inspiration

2011-04-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

"We too often get bogged down in the thick of thin things."

"Mediocrity is not in fashion. Excellence is the order of the day."
~Thomas S. Monson

"I know I'm somebody 'cuz God don't make no junk!"

"Try to forget yourself in the service of others. For when we think too much of ourselves and our own interests, we easily become despondent. But when we work for others, our efforts return to bless us."

Our Greatest Fear
—Marianne Williamson

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

Grab A Purple Hat!

2011-04-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

A Woman's Lifeline
Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a Queen

Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella

Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an "ugly duckling" ("Mom I can't go to school looking like this today!")

Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she's going out anyway.

Age 30: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she doesn't have time to fix it so she's going out anyway.

Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too think, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but says, "At least I am clean", and goes out anyway.

Age 50: She looks at herself and sees "I am what I am" and goes wherever she wants to go.

Age 60: she looks at herslef and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see
themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70: She looks at herslef and see wisdom, laughter, and ability and goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn't bother to look, just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the worldl

Moral: Maybe we should all grab that purple hat a little earlier!

Taken from the book "Daughters of God" M. Russell Ballard

Tasty Starfish

2011-04-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Latest trip to the tidepools. Didn't find as much as we usually do, but were happy to at least come across a few tasty morsels.

Of Rohan and Apple Cherry Pie

2011-04-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we enjoyed a delightful visit from Toshi, who had a short break from school before his next semester begins. We decided (we being Enoch, Toshi, Curtis, myself, and the kids), after much heated discussion on the relative merits of going rafting and snorkling in the ocean (the raft only had a tiny hole--I was all for it, but was outvoted), to go check out the town of Julian, which is about an hour and a half away from us. Julian is famous in these parts for their apple pies and beautiful scenery. The countryside up there was indeed beautiful! Lots of trees and greenery, a quaint town, and yes, delicious apple pie, which Curtis was kind enough to treat us to--we all grabbed a fork and just dug in--much more efficient the bothering with plates, and slicing and whatnot. After our DELICIOUS apple cherry pie (did I mention it had cherries in it? Well it did.), we drove to the library where we got the insider scoop on good hiking trails. And was the one we tried ever good. Easy hike over gently rolling hills...trees and the occasional boulder surrounding us on all sides, and even a picturesque little stream off to the side. Enoch said it reminded him of Rohan from Lord of the Rings. We only had a moment or two of angst when we had to traverse through a herd of cattle, which included a bull standing off to the side nonchalantly munching on the grass while pretending not to notice us. I could see his eyeballs following us and sizing us up though, trying to determine if we were worth the amusement he could offer his herd by chasing us down. He must have decided we looked like more bother then we were worth, because we made it through the herd safely and on our merry way.

Anyway, it was a lovely little hike, and I can't wait to go back. I hope to someday live in a place like that! What a dream.

Of Beauty All Around

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

California is beautiful in the spring. My kids are beautiful, too! How I love my little sweethearts! They truly bring so much joy to our family.

Of Egg Decorating

2011-04-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our Easter Egg decorating party.

Such emotion...

Such intensity...

Such creativity...

Such delightfulness and beauty!

Of Easter Delights

2011-04-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Easter this year was delightful. We started it off last Saturday by coloring eggs (thanks again to Kayla for heading that up) followed by a wonderful potluck and Easter egg hunt at Ben and Kayla's new house with some other family friends. As an aside, I also got to meet B. and K.'s neighbor, who filled us in on all the local neighborhood gossip. He assured Ben that he was well educated and therefore an accommodating and communicative neighbor. (He is one of two or three people in the country to have a graduate degree in casino gaming.) He seemed like a right decent chap. He also informed us that he grows his own pot--purely for medicinal purposes of course--some occasional neurological issues, I believe he said. He should be a fun fellow to get to know!

Back to Easter. Friday for our school snack, the kids and I made the little pastry balls pictured below. A sweet neighbor friend gave me the idea. The crust is actually refrigerated crescent roll dough with a large marshmallow wrapped up inside and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on the top. As it is cooking, the marshmallow completely melts, leaving the inside of the pastry hollow. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, the crust represents the tomb, the cinnamon represents the spices and ointments used to annoint Christ's body after he died, and the disintigrated marshmallow represents, of course, the ressurected Lord--no longer in the tomb. Anyway, it was a quick, easy, and yummy activity--just the kind we like here at our house! This same dear neighbor (who is also LDS) also gave us some little Christ/tomb cutouts, where the kids could color the stuff, and then cut out a rock, put a brad in it and affix it to the tomb, and then roll the rock back and forth. (Did that make any sense at all?) We had them color that on Sunday while Curtis read the resurrection story from the Bible.

And finally, my favorite part of the secular aspect of Easter--hiding the baskets! Not to brag, but my skills in hiding Easter baskets are unparalleled--ask any of my relatives who have been to my house over Easter! I will admit, it helps that our Easter baskets are rather small--we have a tradition in our family that we make little "nests" out of rice crispie treats, complete with green tinted coconut "grass." (I also like them because they don't fit a lot of candy inside! Don't tell my kids! Or husband!)

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to mention my fruit bouquet. In my attempt to create more healthy traditions for the holidays, I thought it would be clever to make one of these cool edible bouquets one sees advertised around holidays. How hard could it be, anyway? Just a few pieces of fruit on skewers. Well, let me tell you, this is one tradition that will not be repeated. Not if I want to survive with my hands intact. As it was, I got punctured by those darn skewers multiple times. So did Toshi, who was assisting me. I can see why the companies that make these things charge $80 a pop! It is hard trying to stick all those sticks into floral foam without the fruit slipping down and the stick...well...sticking you in the hand!

On the bright side, Toshi and I's efforts were duly appreciated, which I am grateful for.

Mingei

2011-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from our recent foray to the Mingei International Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego. I feel so cultured!

School Update

2011-04-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

So, it occurs to me that I have not done a homeschool update for some time. So, here goes. First off, I am happy to say, I have found a fantastic curriculum that I positively LOVE. It is from a little home-based Christian company called Homeschool in the Woods. It is primarily focused on history, but also includes a few science experiments, penmenship, writing, etc. The kids and I are having a ball with all the many hands-on projects! And I love it, because we can go at our own pace without worrying about trying to stick to a daily schedule. (AND it's only $30 per unit--on CD, plus your cost of printing!)

We are currently doing a unit on New World explorers. The top two pictures are of the kids tasting lime juice. As probably most of my readers are already aware, one of the best ways the old sailors avoided scurvy was to squeeze limes and drink the juice. For that reason the sailors were called "limeys." We have also enjoyed learning how the sailors slept--in their "hamacas" and testing one out (which I had picked up at a yardsale for a couple of bucks), tying various knots (which the kids tested out on poor unsuspecting Enoch), cooking Spanish empanadas and spice cookies, making our own boat (with a cardboard box), making a captain's log, and taste-testing various kinds of foods the sailors would have eaten, such as "salt horse" (jerky), dried fruits, and hard tack (Mom's homemade wheat bread--Maile kept referring to it as "heart attack." Not sure how I feel about that.)

Anyway, that is all in week one of this curriculum's schedule (which actually took us about two weeks.) So much fun. I love how laid back school and our schedule has become. I feel like I am learning a lot too! For math we usually do a couple pages a day, and same with letters and numbers for Maile. I have decided since we are spending so much time on history, we are going to take an entire week every month and a half and focus on science and English.

We continue to go to museums here and there, and listen to lots of books on CD. We just finished Hatchet and Dr. Doolittle.
Life is good!

Of Lizards and Leila

2011-04-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

Imagine the start I got when I rounded the corner of the dining room table and got an eyeful of this little bugger! (Please ignore the Cheerio in the upper right.) The only way I can think of that he would have come in is from the back deck (I frequently leave the screen open so Leila can crawl in and out), or possibly through the front door, the screen of which is invariably left open by members of the household who shall remain unnamed.

Which leads me to a rather embarrassing moment. (I will blame Curtis for it!) The other day, my upstairs neighbor paid me a very kind compliment and told me he thought I was a great mom. Not 10 minutes later, there he was at my door carrying Leila, who had escaped out the front door (which someone had left wide open, of course) and scooted up the stairs as fast as her little legs could go. In my defense, I had gone to the bathroom and had put Curtis in charge, but how are you supposed to tell that to the neighbor? "Yeah, thanks for bringing my kid back. It's all my husband's fault. I really am a good mom, I promise!"

Of Skaterboy

2011-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

So, I don't claim to be much of a photographer, but I am definitely a wannabe! Check out these cool photos I took of Enoch at the skate park. Sweet, huh?! (No, he is not a skater--these were staged--sorry Enie, I can not tell a lie (-;)

Of Legoland Fun

2011-04-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

We have been very much enjoying our Legoland passes! These pictures are from one of our family outings--we had a great time bringing Enoch along on this trip! Much to the kids' sorrow though, this trip was probably one of the last of the season until school starts up again. Momma doesn't do lines and crowds!

Of Bonfires on the Beach

2011-04-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, I think I pretty much have the greatest family ever.

These pictures are from a fun evening that Kayla planned for us. (Thank goodness for Kayla, or our lives would be extremely dull!)

We went to one of the few beaches in the area that allows bonfires, had a fire, roasted marshmallows and enjoyed tin foil dinners.

The cool black pipes provided some neat photo ops.

Of Easter Faces

2011-04-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again, I am woefully behind on our family blog. So yeah, we...somewhat recently...like two months ago...dug out the face paint from our Halloween box and the kids and I had a ball painting each other's faces. Yup! Arden is an Easter egg and Maile is the Easter Bunny. We like to prepare for the holidays well in advance.

Don't worry, I'm not planning to quit my day job.

Of Pesky Speed Limits

2011-04-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

Seriously? Are they for real?!

This is the speed limit sign in the parking lot of Arden's little charter school learning center.

Of Mud-Slinging Spendthrifts

2011-04-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

I am also in the middle of Glenn Beck's book, Common Sense. It is based on Thomas Paine's Common Sense, but advocates peaceful revolution. Can I just say that that book infuriates me? Don't get me wrong, I love the book, it's just that the things he brings up are so maddening! I am only a few chapters in, but the few chapters I have read make me so angry at the spendthrift ways of our government, and how their debt is putting us as a nation in bondage. Our poor kids are going to have to work 100 hour weeks to even have a hope of keeping up on the interest of the debt that our nation has accrued. It makes me angry that so called expert economists advocate spending, spending, spending to make our economy thrive. I get the idea of what they are saying, and it makes logical sense, but what they are forgetting, is to encourage people to spend money the HAVE, not money they DON'T have. It's just common sense, something I wish our government officials had more of. The sad thing is, I don't really feel the average American has much of a voice any more. Even if we did, there is so much corruption in politics...it seems that everyone has an agenda of some sort. I wish we just had honest, God-fearing people who loved their country and wanted to make it a better nation in office. Heck, I'd even start by voting for the first person that wasn't a mud-slinger! That is so childish! Why do politicians feel they have to stoop to that?

O.K., I need to get off my high horse, especially since I am not a politician.

Of Economics

2011-04-19T21:22:00.001-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that I love economics? Well, I do. Economics and British humor. I find them both immensely fascinating. I love how logical economics is, and I love how snide British humor is.

I have read two interesting books lately on economics that have been recommended to me- well, correction, I am currently in the midst of one of the two. Predictably Irrational is the first one (VERY interesting, although for those of you with delicate sensibilities, be warned about chapter four-- it will give you some good ideas on how to more effectively teach about sex to teenagers and young adults, though!), and Naked Economics is the one I am currently reading. It talks about some very interesting issues. For example, why requiring car seats for infants on planes is a bad idea (because of the extra expense of an extra seat, more people will opt to drive, thus increasing their liklihood of dying more then ten fold over what it would have been had they flown), why eliminating "drive-by births"--where mothers are in and out of a hospital in a day-- is a bad idea (it results in higher insurance costs, which makes it so those on the margin can no longer afford health insurance), why we should keep sweatshops in third world countries (those working there typically earn double the normal wage for the area, and until we provide a better alternative, that is how they feed their families), and a host of other fascinating tidbits to consider. So interesting.

Of Service Scavenger Hunts

2011-03-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

We had the cutest bunch of young men over the other night. They were doing a service scavenger hunt for their mutual activity. What a fun idea! They folded a bunch of my laundry, watered my plants, and even combed out Maile's hair after her bath. The little guy who did it was so shy about it...it was really cute! Maile loved it and was sad when they left. I was sad when they left, too!

2011-03-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

I realized I never posted photos of Leila's birthday. Isn't she a sweet little thing?!

2011-03-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

We made these cute little bookworms last week out of rice crispie treats. Yum! (Thanks Family Fun!)

Of Fruit Salsa

2011-03-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Check out this AMAZING fruit salsa I made. The tortilla chips were super yummy too! We cooked up fresh tortillas, brushed them with butter, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, and baked them for a few minutes until they got kinda hard and crispy. It was a big hit!

OF Tuna and Cucumbers

2011-03-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

The other day we took a spontaneous fieldtrip on some trails nearby our house. We were hunting for the tops of cactus, which we learned are called "tuna." I have always wanted to try them. Apparently one can make all sorts of things with them--syrup, juice, candy, etc. We found several juicy looking ones, and despite minimal injuries and perhaps a small amount of blood, we managed to bag seven or eight of them.

Enoch de-spiked them....

cut them up...

boiled them with sugar and attemted to make cactus candy. We have yet to try it, but it looks yummy!

Enoch also found this interesting looking bit of flora, which we identified as a wild cucumber, if our internet sources were correct. (Not edible...well, according to most of the sources we read, anyway.)

Of Enie

2011-03-06T11:13:00.001-08:00

My brother, Enoch, is staying with us until May. We have so very much enjoyed having him here, and we're not sure we can let him go when the time comes! He is so good with the kids, (they call him Uncle Enie) and man, he can make a mean batch of fries! We're not talking your quick dip-in-the-oil type of fries, we're talking your take-a-nice-relaxing-bath-in-the-oil-for-an-hour type of fries. Yummy unhealthy deliciousness!

We are also currently trying to find him a short-term job so he can earn $500 for a humanitarian trip to Mexico after he leaves here. The problem is, he is somewhat limited because of a lack of vehicle, short duration of stay here, and age. (Under 18) We have tried to think of some creative ideas, such as starting a day camp, but there is some worry about liability issues. So far our best idea outside of a regular job is to become professional garage salers, buy stuff cheap, then try to resell it on Craigslist. Hmmmm....any of my readers have any better suggestions? Please comment!

Of Mean Parents

2011-03-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Apparently Curtis and I are pretty mean parents. At least, Maile is sure to inform us of that fact that several times a day. Yes, it is true, AND our kids are deprived because we have never before bought them tickets to an amusement park. Nope, if our kids want to go to an amusement park, they have to EARN it. Anyway, sometime after we moved here to Carlsbad, Curtis challenged the kids to read 1000 books. The reward for achieving that goal was season passes to Legoland, which is conveniently located in the city we live in. Of course, anyone who knows of Curtis' love of Legos will know that it wasn't really for the kids' enjoyment, it was for his, but, I digress. Well, we finally reached our goal a few days ago. We read 1000 books as a family, and we got the tickets! We've been twice so far, and the kids love it.

I am undecided as to whether I enjoy it or not. To me, the lines and crowds and $$ spent on silly things epitomize the rat race, which I hate. However, it is fun to see the smiles and hear the laughter on kids' faces, and it is a fun family activity. Anyway, I'm sure the kids will enjoy it!

Of More Prisons then Grocery Stores

2011-03-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Last week, the kids and I trucked over to our little Coastal Academy (our homeschool "umbrella"), where we got to view many different displays from American History, presented by the young teenaged kids from said academy. We also got to sample some foods from different cultures at the "immigration station," and watch a few little plays the kids had put together of various battles from history. It was quite delightful, however, the highlight for me was getting to hear from a black lady that had actually been heavily involved in the civil rights movement. It was so interesting and touching hearing of her experiences, and I'll admit to becoming a little teary eyed during parts of her narrative. She said she had been in more prisons then the kids had grocery stores, she had been shot at, spit on, dragged through the streets...Wow! The kids and I had just been listening to the American Girl books on CD of Addy, who was a (fictional) black girl who had escaped slavery and gone to Philidelphia for freedom, only to discover that "freedom ain't free." There was still great oppression, even being in a "free" society. I am so grateful for people who have had, and still have, the courage to stand up for what is right, even if it causes great personal pain. I hope I am that kind of person, and I hope I can teach my kids to be that kind of person, because I can pretty much guarantee there will be political conflict again in their lifetimes, and because of our personal beliefs and values, my guess is that they probably won't end up being on the politically correct side.

Of My Little Scroungers

2011-03-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Arden is definitely his father's son. (Bet you were all wondering--glad to clear that up!) He goes to some little school classes on Thursdays so I pack him a lunch. Last week he came home complaining that he had to scrounge food off of people because he couldn't find his lunch box in his backpack. The only other thing in it was a notebook. ONE notebook. Sigh...

Leila, Book, BBC

2011-02-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

O.K., Leila update...the doctor did not seem too worried, so I will not be too worried. He even said to go ahead and put her back on cows milk. I personally think I am going to give that a little more time--we are going to stick with almond milk and formula for a while longer to give that poor little tummy time to feel better.

Also, the parenting book I am reading. It is...AMAZING! I can't hardly put it down. I love the ideas she presents. I am almost halfway through the book thus far. I'll write more about it later...

BTW, I love BBC movies. Why is it that British cinema is so much better the American Cinema? Sorry, I know that was way random.

Of California Poodles

2011-02-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

Conversation between Arden and Maile while on a walk.

Arden: Look, it's a poodle!
Maile: It's a FRENCH poodle.
Arden: No it's not, it's a California poodle.

Too funny!

Time to Whip My Kids Into Shape!

2011-02-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

The parenting breakthrough : a real-life plan to teach kids to work, save money, and be truly independent
Boyack, Merrilee Browne.

The above is the title of a book from the library that I have just begun reading. The author is a San Diego gal (also an LDS chick, it turns out!). The book appealed to me because the cover had a photo of a happy 10 year old swishing out a toilet with a bowl brush. I want my kids to be that happy toilet swishing kid, but we have a LOOOONNNG, and do I mean long way to go to reach that point!

So far I am loving the book. The author is so down to earth and humorous...and she lets her three year old kid make his own sandwich...on the kitchen floor...and she is O.K. with that!

I am so excited to see what her plan is to get kids to work, as that has been on my mind a lot lately. I've got great kids, but I am ready to be done with their ingratitude for all that we do for them--I think if they participate more with chores and learn to be more independent, they will appreciate things more. Maybe I'll just have Enoch crack the whip when he comes out here for a couple of months! Yeah, that's a good idea!

Progress report to follow!

Of Lifting Burdens

2011-02-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

This morning, early, as I was sitting on the couch reading my scriptures, the kids both came in and snuggled next to me under the blanket. I have been studying about the atonement the last couple of weeks, and for the kids' enjoyment, I went to youtube to see if I could find anything that might be of interest to them on that topic. I found the following beautiful video. I love in the middle, the piercing words of Jeffry R. Holland, then especially Dieter F. Uchtdorfs words at the end. How blessed we are to have apostles and a prophet to rely upon for council and revelation in these troubled times of the world. It gives me great comfort to know that these men are in communion with the Savior, and will guide us as needed, to strengthen our families and protect us from the adversary.

2011-02-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Mounds of Chocolate!

2011-02-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

What a great Valentine's weekend it has been. We had a delightful party on Saturday with some wonderful friends and neighbors, loads of good food, and great games for the adults and crafts for the kids. A huge thanks to all who helped make that possible!

Last night I invited all the neighbor kids over to make chocolates. (Did I mention, we have the best kids ever in our neighborhood? Well, we do!) It was so fun to pull out all my chocolate molds and do that with them. For the centers, I had made homemade caramel, Resees Peanut butter filling, and truffles. YUM! The kids had a ball, and we all stuffed ourselves with chocolate! I was hoping we would have a chance to go doorbell ditching with them to give some to our friends, but it got a little too late. Oh well, maybe next year!

Today has been a lovely Valentine's Day. I guess not the ultimate in romantic terms, but wonderful, nonetheless. I woke up just after 5:00 to make breakfast for a gal who is divorced--she has to leave every day for work at 6:00--eeks! I got back in plenty of time to read my scriptures for a bit, and go for a long walk before coming home to a lovely breakfast that Curtis made for that family. Last night Curtis and I made some fun Valentine's baskets for the kids, which we left on the table for them along with their Valentines from each other. It was so fun to see the joy and excitement on their faces when they walked into the living room and saw the table all decorated and pretty, with beautiful baskets waiting for them.

Oh, and did I mention, I have the most AMAZING husband ever? He is so sweet and good. This morning I found several love notes scattered throughout the house from him. He is so good to make me feel like a million bucks, even though I feel slightly frazzled most of the time, and just a step or two behind the game. He is never negative or belittling about things though. What a great guy I married.

How I love my sweet family. They bring me so much joy and happiness.

Of Families Forever

2011-02-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

There is a saying in our church that when a boy leaves on a mission he comes back a man. It is so true. That two years spent as a volunteer serving people and serving the Lord, and teaching others about Christ in their own language really does something to one's soul. Where most 19 or 20 year old guys would be off partying at college, young men in our church are out serving, constantly thinking of others, helping out in many, many ways. I have a brother who is currently serving a mission in the Phillipines. He is there mostly on his own dime (with, I think, a little help from the folks!), and it is amazing to hear his stories, and hear about the spiritual growth he is experiencing. His stories of the natives also put me in awe when I think of our relative circumstances, and how very little the Phillipinos have compared to us. It makes me want to serve more and be better, to show my gratitude for all that I have.

My Dad sent the following e-mail out to the family last week,(I have edited out all the basketball news!) and I wanted it to be posted on my blog to be archived for my kids to read when we print this off. It is a beautiful reminder of what is important in our lives, and brought tears to my eyes when I read it. The talk is from a Phillipino lady--she gave a devotional recently at BYU. Anyway, enjoy, dear readers, and take a moment to ponder her message and it's significance for you, personally.
Here you are:

There is one more journey that my heart holds dear. It happens to be a story within a story, my family's journey of conversion. In the Book of Kings is an account of faith by a widow in Zarephath, who, in time of drought and famine, gave up her family's remaining food for the prophet Elijah:

...As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse...16

The gospel came in our lives at a time when we had been sufficiently humbled by trials. The most that we could literally offer at the altar was not even a morsel of bread for we had none, but our very faith. It was all that we had. Thus, I liken the widow at Zarephath to a widow in the Philippines, the widow of Tondo with seven children. She is my mother. Let me tell you our story....

Without a stable breadwinner and with seven children left to a mother without a job nor a college degree, our finances were tenuous. We grew up in poverty, not just income poverty, but also a scarcity of opportunities. We were too poor to get an education, but my mother persisted in her dream to have each of her children complete a college degree. She believed in the power of education to enlighten and transform lives, to equalize social standing, and as the vehicle out of our dismal circumstances. She borrowed money even at high interest rates to keep us in school. I remember rejoicing in being able to take exams (Yes, those were joyful not dreadful moments) because it meant that my mother was able to pay our tuition. Eventually, the only way for us to go beyond high school was to qualify for scholarships....

Four years after my father died, two young American men knocked on our door looking for my mother. They introduced themselves as missionaries. Behind them was a throng of Filipino children, fighting for their attention and calling out, "Hi, Joe." Under the sweltering Philippine heat, these young men stood out in their white shirts, and ties, and black briefcases that for us they looked like a toss-up between James Bond and CIA agents. I was about to tell them that my mother told me that she was not home when my mother's friends and their children, who came with the missionaries, showed up. My mom overheard and motioned to me to let them in. I quietly asked myself, "What are we getting ourselves into?" To invite these Americans was social suicide as my mom was known in our community for her staunch devotion to the dominant faith....

To our surprise, our mother listened to the missionaries. She even attended an area conference at the Araneta Coliseum presided by Pres. Spencer W. Kimball. That was an act of boldness to go against the predominant religion. This was the 70's. People's minds were strongly averse to changes. It must have exacted much willpower from my mother to stop drinking coffee and to stop smoking just because two foreigners, barely in their 20's, said so ---at a time when nicotine patches were unheard of. It must have taken real faith to part with a widow's mite for tithing....

What did the missionaries offer? They offered us the opportunity of knowing that families can be together even beyond death, ---something my father had always hoped we could be. The missionaries taught us that we have a Heavenly Father who knows each of us by name and who loves us dearly, ---a concept so foreign, for the God that we knew lashed out punishments and heard only memorized prayers. The missionaries taught us that our bodies are sacred. They taught us the value of preparedness, temporally and spiritually. The missionaries taught us where we came from and where we were going. The missionaries offered a message so sweet that it was most desirable above all things. It filled us with joy, not just momentary bliss, but peace and radiance that continued to sustain us through difficult times....

(Me again) That was the excerpted version--I am guessing the while talk is archived on the BYU website. Beautiful though.

Costco Again

2011-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else find it mildly insulting that Costco associates have to check your receipt every time you walk out the door? I know of no other store that does that.

Billy the Book of Mormon Bandit

2011-02-06T21:32:00.001-08:00

For the last several months, any time Arden prays, he is sure to pray "that our scriptures will be safe," despite Curtis and I's assurances that no one is going to waltz in to our house and kaif our Bible or Book of Mormon. We stand corrected. Saturday morning, we found a note on our table from "Billy the Book of Mormon Bandit." Can you believe the nerve of that guy? He actually STOLE our family Book of Mormon! Thankfully he left us a trail of clues to follow around town to get our Book back. We had to go to the beach, the park, the mailbox, and finally, to Chick-fil-a, where we recovered our BOM in the children's playplace. Since we were already there, we decided to enjoy a nice family breakfast while we were at it.

Fun times!

Maile's prayer today--that Billy the Book of Mormon bandit wouldn't come back and steal our scriptures again!

Of Red Lanterns and Red Crosses

2011-02-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday was such a delightful day. Midway through the day, the kids and I decided to host a spur-of-the-moment Chinese New Year's party for a few neighbor kids and friends. Nothing too fancy, but we had a good time with it. I pulled out my bin of Japanese stuff for decor (Hey, Japan is close enough to China, right?!), and we made a grocery run for fortune cookies, chocolate to dip them in, stuff to make pot stickers, and stuff for a do-it-yourself sushi bar. YUM! We read books about the Chinese New Year and learned about some of their customs, and we made a couple of crafts, including Chinese lanterns, and some oregami. (Not entirely sure the oregami is Chinese--obviously we are not too authentic!) It was fun. Thank goodness sweet Kayla came over a bit early to help us pull things together!

Right after that, I zipped over to our Relief Society activity thinking to at least make an appearance. It was great. We had a little first aid review of what to do in various emergencies, then we assembled 72 hour kits. I actually have pretty comprehensive kits already (although I need to update them and swap out some of the food and diapers!), so I just visited and ate yummy food (Cooked from a sister's food storage!). I have to say, I love my Relief society homegirls! I love that not a meeting goes by (including our Sunday meetings!) where chocolate is not brought up. Usually there is some sort of chocolate involved! Definitely chicas after my own heart!

You Read Too Much Interesting Things Without Me!

2011-02-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

We have been reading this book about the Revolutionary War together. Maile had missed a few pages because of joyschool, and when she discovered that we had read a bit without her, she stomped off in a huff, saying angrily, "You guys read too many interesting things without me!"

I love it! So, homeschooling update for anyone who cares. I feel like I am finally starting to figure things out a little. I am realizing that I need to back off a little and not try to cram too much into one day. SO, what worked pretty well for us last week was a little math each day, a lot of daily reading, and one other subject per day. (ie; geography, science, art, history, etc.) We've still got bugs to iron out--it's definitely a work in progress, but we are improving! I hear from many people that the first year is the hardest.

So, school the last little bit:
Geography: Unit on Alaska, made an Alaskan flag with blue paper and glitter paint.
California unit: Rode the California Trolly (in the living room!). Made a California mission out of salt clay, went to Mormon battalion event in San Diego and participated in rag doll making, panning for gold, making bisquits on a stick, rope making, quilt square making, story telling about Indians native to CA, heard live bands, gunny sack races, tug-of-wars, and more. Very fun.

(Of course, all of this is accompanied by tons of subject related books! We love to read!)

History--kind of went along with California geography, but also have continued our study of the Revolutionary War era. I don't know how many times Arden has asked me if the "Patriots" were the good guys or the bad guys. I think he finally remembers it, though! Also read about Paul Revere, George Washington's Spy network, the Boston Tea Party, and much else, including a book on George Washington's teeth, or lack thereof! (Made us grateful for good dentists!)

English: Made a big wall mural and stuck pictures cut out from magazines under the headings of either adjective, verb, noun, or plural. Did a bunch of mad libs. The kids love those. Still trying to figure out how to incorporate spelling and handwriting practice. Will work on that. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Math: Introduction to fraction action, involving cinnamon toast cut in to different fractions, and discussed numerators and denominators. Pulled out the measuring cups and talked about fractions as it relates to cooking.
Also learned how to tell time on a non-electric clock.
Introduction to multiplication/math wars game with multiplication tables.
Worked a bit on map reading skills with a map of the botanical gardens which we went to with our dear friend Mandy, and her boys. AMAZING PLACE!

Art--lots of Valentines stuff/Chinese New Year stuff.

Science: Library story time with gal from the Fleet Science Center. Talked about different forces (gravity, drag, friction, etc.) and made our own rollercoasters (marble runs using styrofoam tubes cut into halves.).

Read "Why the Sea is Salty, made "spotting scopes" out of two liters, and visited the tide pools.

P.E. Tons of bike riding, park time, etc. A bit of night jogging by the beach on occasion.
Anyway, all is going well!

Inspector Hector Makes House Calls!

2011-01-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

We have needed to "brush up" (Ha! Ha!) on our tooth brushing, so guess what? Inspector Hector, Plaque Detector came to our house IN PERSON, informing the children of proper tooth brushing protocol. (I wish you could see his great teeth--the picture is kinda hard to see!) Their mother asked Inspector Hector to make occasional follow-up visits. Inspector Hector also encouraged us as a family to cut way down on the sugar, so we have been using a lot of xylitol and stevia as substitutes. (The only two sweeteners of the several I have researced with very favorable reviews.) Thanks for the help, Inspector!

Of Things Come and Gone

2011-01-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, in my quest to be healthier, greener, and more frugal, some things come, and some things go. The important thing is though, that I feel like I am making upward progress in general.

Some things that have come:

I am recycling! Rexburg didn't have much of a recycling program, but they have a pretty good one here. It feels nice not to be as wasteful.

I make all my yogurt homemade. I have never liked yogurt before, but I do like homemade. I have gotten to the point that I can whip out a gallon batch while I am cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Way cheaper, and way yummier, not to mention it doesn't have the loads of sugar the store bought kind has.

I am more aware of where my food comes from and what is involved in it's production. We still like meat a lot, but I am o.k. paying a bit more for humanely treated, hormone and antibiotic free, grass fed meat. (To be completely honest, I don't buy it all the time, just most of the time) Because it is more expensive, we eat less of it (probably better anyway), and because of the gross looking filler most fast food chains use in their burgers (see Food, Inc.), we hardly ever go out to fast food places anymore, with the exception of an occasional In-N-Out, which doesn't use fillers, and raise their own beef. (Just an aside, no worries, I am not out-of-control about this. If you put a nice piece of steak in front of me that is not grass fed or antibiotic free, trust me, I will still eat it, and I will enjoy it very much.)

We have started our garden. Container gardening this year because we have no yard, but hopefully it will be great!

We have pretty much switched to using xylitol or stevia for our sweeteners. A couple of us have teeth that are very susceptible to cavities, so this is a good change for us.

Things that have gone:

I have been not using shampoo the past couple of months because of the potentially harmful chemicals in it (I have made my own, or used a baking powder/water paste and a vinegar rinse), but I think this one will go by the wayside. There is a cost/benefit to all these types of choices, and to me, the benefit is not worth the cost. I like the yummy smelling shampoo, hate the vinegar smell. I don't like the effort of mixing up the baking powder stuff--I am lazy I guess, and just like having my little bottle of shampoo right there. For me, I think normal shampoo is cheaper too, because although baking powder is cheap, I go through boxes faster. My shampoo lasts me a long time.

Cheese making: Curtis and I got all excited about making cheese after listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on CD. We made a decent batch of Mozerella, but when you get into any of the hard cheeses, it is really not that cost effective unless you have an unlimited supply of milk (ie; a cow). Also time consuming, because you have to let it age a long time. That will probably not be something we will pursue. We also tried making pasta, which we may continue to make on occasion, as it is pretty easy and tasty.

Sugar: Yup! While not completely gone, it is rarely used in our house anymore, as mentioned previously.

Anyway, things are coming. We are becoming a little healthier and a little wiser. Here's to even more progress in 2011!

Of Papers in a Jar

2011-01-16T11:29:00.001-08:00

So, I occasionally hear or read about families that have great dinner conversations and use that time as a good learning tool. It has made me feel like our dinner-times are sadly lacking. We talk about...well, really, nothing! I am trying to feed the baby, the kids are usually complaining about the food, and Curtis and I are just trying to eat in between all that, not really thinking about much other then getting the kids on to bed so we can clean up and have a bit of time to ourselves. SO, in an effort to remedy that, last week I thought we would make a "conversation jar." I got on the internet and found like 15 pages of journal topics and questions. I printed the list off, then cut all the questions into strips, which I placed into a jar. Each night at dinner, we get out our jar and each person picks a strip of paper out of it which they, and anyone else who wants to, answer. It is a fun way to find out more about each other, especially the kids. We think we know them from spending most of our time with together, but it is kinda neat to hear their opinions on things we would never think to ask them about!

Of Dates with the Kids

2011-01-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

One thing Curtis and I started doing several months ago that we have really been enjoying is taking turns having weekly dates with the kids. It is so nice to have one-on-one time with them to just giggle and talk about things they are interested in, and find out how they are doing. Usually we just do something inexpensive--Jamba Juice or ice cream somewhere, the pet store, a walk or bikeride, computer games, or pedicures in the living room...sometimes it is grocery shopping, although we try to find a fun treat to eat at home in bed while snuggling and reading a book...

The hope is that if we can continue this (and I think we can--both the kids and their parents LOVE it!), when they are teenagers, (or even younger) it will be a good venue to discuss issues and concerns they (or we) might have.

Of Old Testament and Lessons Learned

2011-01-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

I am often not very good at setting and accomplishing long-term goals, but I was proud of one that I did do this past year. I finished the Old Testament in it's entirety. I've read it once before as a teenager, but it had been a while, (o.K., a loooonnng while!) so I thought I would give it another go. I don't think I will do it again though, at least not with a time limit, or while my kids are little. I found that I had to read so much each day that I didn't have the time to ponder some of the really beautiful and meaningful passages that I could have spent days on. (I will admit too, there were many of the "drier" sections that got skimmed!) I also, because of the fast pace I had to maintain the entire year, didn't have much time to read any other scriptures. Consequently, I think I limited my spiritual growth this last year for the sake of accomplishing my goal. Oh well, lesson learned. This year I have decided to study topically. I am excited to learn a lot!

Of Candles and Ties

2011-01-16T11:14:00.000-08:00

We were cooking a "nicer" dinner the other day and for a change in pace, I told the kids that we should get our stemmed glasses out to drink with. Arden glommed onto that idea and wanted to go whole hog and have a fancy "restaurant" dinner. I sent the kids off for baths before dinner while our halibut and yams were cooking and made up fancy menus on the computer. Arden wandered in from his bath, and to my surprise, he had put on his white Sunday shirt, and gotten all decked out in his tie, vest, and slacks as well, all of his own accord! I decided if he was going to go to that length for dinner, I'd better change out of my teeshirt and exercise shorts, too! Anyway, we all got dressed up and had a delightful dinner. I was the waitress.

Of My Soon to Be Non-Socialized Kids

2011-01-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

So, some of our big news this last little bit is that we have decided to begin home schooling. It was an agonizing decision, considering that Arden attended a wonderful school with a great teacher, but I kept feeling like I needed to pursue that avenue for whatever reason. After visiting with many, many people, both home schooled and public schooled, we decided to give it a shot for the remainder of this school year. So far it has been wonderful! Before I go too much further, let me hasten to add that I don't think homeschooling necessarily makes kids turn out better or worse then their public schooled counterparts. I mention this because I have noticed that when I tell some people that I homeschool, they immediately go on the defensive, assuming (I would guess) that I do it because I think my kids will turn out better. That is not the case at all. I have two main reasons that I am doing it. The first is that I want my kids to grow up loving to learn. I had been volunteering for Arden's class grading papers for the teacher, and I couldn't believe how dull the paperwork was! I even fell asleep a couple of times in the middle of helping Arden with his homework, and it was then that I thought surely, they could make this more interesting! So, that is my quest with homeschool--I want to make it super fun, so my kids love to learn. Secondly, I really do enjoy being with my kids! I love doing crafts, science experiments, snuggling and reading to them, playing at the park, cooking with them, etc., and...well, once Arden got home from school and got his homework done, I hardly had any time to do those fun things with him and the girls before it was time to start dinner. Not cool in my book.

Of course, there are pros and cons to homeschooling, the same as any other major decision. There is definitely something to be said for a rested mom who has had time during the day for herself. I won't get that with homeschooling. There are also lots of fun assemblies and extra curricular opportunities at public school that my kids won't get to do. To me, that's not a really big deal, because you make other opportunities. For example, we are doing a day a week at the nearby charter school where Arden is signed up for some fun science classes, the Lego league, Literature, and a craft class. We signed him up for gymnastics as well. We are still in search of a good service project we can do....lots of fun things available for homeschoolers!

The biggest question I get from skeptics when I tell them that I homeschool is the one about socialization. It always surprises me that that is such an issue because that is the least of my worries with homeschooling. Sure, you can isolate your kids, and perhaps some homeschoolers do, but in general, homeschool kids are among the most "socialized" kids I know, simply because they have more opportunities to interact with people of all different ages, rather then just kids around their same age that they see at school every day. Not only that, but I know there is a lot of drama that goes on in the public school that is silly, but easy to get caught up in. I remember this from my experience in second and third grade, although I suspect it is multiplied in Jr. High and High school! How nice to just avoid that altogether, if possible!

Anyway, so those are a few of my thoughts. I don't claim to be a better teacher then someone whose profession it is, but hopefully I can make up for it in the time and attention I am able to give my little kiddoes. Again, we'll see how it goes the rest of this year, and if we decide to continue, but so far, so good.

So, we are done with week two. I am still trying to figure out how much structure to have, and how to organize things. It is coming, though. I've got lots of fun books on order that will hopefully come this week or next, so we can finalize our curriculum. In the meantime, we have been getting tons of books from the library about all sorts of things.

Our most recent trip to the library...I think we had 89 items checked out. Eeks! The kids had to put a limit on my book-checking out, because I tend to go crazy at libraries.

For geography this term, we are studying the states. We went for a little train ride this last week, complete with peanuts and pretzels! We visited Alabama, where we learned about Rosa Parks and a little about the Civil Rights movement. We also made a quick stop at the Huntsman Space Center and learned a little about stars and solar systems.

In history, we have been learning about the Revolutionary War. We have read a lot about the Boston Tea Party, George Washington and his spy efforts, the war, and the issues that were involved. We checked out the "Felicity" books on CD and listened to all of those, which are a fun way to introduce the issues of the day, then we read a little more about them in books that are more specific to the events that happened.

In math, Arden learned how to tell time on a normal (not digital) clock. We also have been working on adding multiple digit numbers and money, and we have had a couple of "stores" where the kids have been able to buy things. It is great practice, and Arden is great at counting out $$ and adding sums together, while Maile is getting good at counting the coins and telling me which are dimes, nickles, etc. We have also found some fun math games on the computer which Arden really enjoys.

For writing, we started a "Fortunately, Unfortunately" story, which we are also illustrating, and have written letters to people and a postcard from our Alabama train ride.

For science we have done a few science expiriments, which I will include photos of later if I get to it. Right now I need to wrap up this blog, so I have time to write a few more things.

If anyone has some neat ideas for projects or fun ways for kids to learn things, please pass them along! I would sure appreciate it!