Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at my crazy house!

Another Thanksgiving come and gone! Well, not quite. We have several feasts due to the large size of out extended family. But the actual day of Thanksgiving feast at my house with all the parade watching, cleaning, cooking, and cleaning up again has come and gone.

This year we had a whole lot of fun! A whole day of eating and playing. It was perfect. Can't really describe the goings on though. Hmmm. Watched Animal Planet shows that were very odd. I watched the parade on and off between cooking and cleaning. The boys impressed their Uncle with stunts in the back yard. All the food was cooked on time and was actually good. If you look in the picture you will see my boys on each side of my brother, the favorite uncle. Let's just say there was no peace at THIS table.

And now I'm knitting! I'm going to take down my Thanksgiving Fall decorations and slowly put up my Christmas decorations while we celebrate the Advent. That should be fun. I love dragging all the Christmas stuff out. Next week I'm going shopping with my friends. THAT is my favorite night of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope yours was as blessed as mine!

The Great Toy Clean Up 2007

Every year my boys and I (ok, just me really) have a Great Toy Clean Up in November in anticipation for Christmas. It sounds terrible, I know. But it needs to be done. We go through all the toys in their rooms and around the house and throw out broken and unused toys. Our house is getting crowded and some of these toys that they never play with just have to go. The ones that used to be favorites get boxed up and put away. Who knows what kind of treasure they may become in the years ahead? The ones that are broken are thrown out. And the ones that some other child may want to love goes to the thrift store. This part really helps my five year old who gets very sad at the thought that no one loves that toy. I totally understand, because I feel the same way!

So...I'm a little bummed that I didn't think of it earlier and take a before shot, but here is the (almost) end result of the cleaning out of the boys room.

Ok, no the beds aren't made and yes they sleep with all those pillows and animals on the bed every night. I don't know where they fit in!

This is what happened downstairs while I was upstairs.

This is all the army stuff I told them to take downstairs. It is all part of my plan. As we clean up this mess, I throw away broken bits and pieces and consolidate the pile. Sometimes they have all this stuff spread all over the living room in a mock war. You can't even get through the room.

The weirdest thing is that, while standing in the bedroom or the living room, or any room in my house, I think "Man this place is cluttered and crowded!" but in the pictures it looks so spacious! Why?

A Little Of What We've Been Up To

First of all, last week was a pretty low week for us. It isn't a homeschooling issue and I don't want to go into it, but sometimes I just hate not getting my way! I have been trying to remind myself every day of something I tell the kids all the time. "Life is NOT fair!" But we are blessed in many ways and I should remember to be thankful for that. ANYWAY!

Here is a picture of the boys busted in act of being sweet!

Jake recently figured out how to read and now we can't stop him. He is seen here with his new favorite pastime. He reads pretty quickly and when he doesn't know a word he says "boing" like his reading computer games. Very cute!

Tom wanted to buy something with his birthday money while we were at Target and guess what he found? A "Soda Pop Kit"! It leads you through steps to make your own sodas. There is awesome stuff about chemical reactions, documenting recipes, and marketing. We had fun! But here are some pictures of the reactions to the taste!

Here is Jake taking a taste. You can see his brother in the background trying not to give it away that it tastes terrible!

And last but certainly not least! A great friend of mine (TIA!) suggested making a list when I was complaining about how much I had to do and my lack of organization. I thought, SURE! But it worked!

We have a new routine. I get up at 5am and sit and stare at the tv and drink my coffee. At 6am, I get my breakfast and sit with a piece of paper and a pen. I make a list of what I NEED to get done and what I WANT to get done. AND I make a short list of "to-do's" for the boys as well. At 6:30am, I wake up Nikki and Tom. Jake is always up at 6am all by himself. I get in the shower, get dressed, make my bed, and start a load of laundry. I make breakfast for the boys at around 7:15am and we sit down and talk about our agenda for the day. I call it our "Morning Meeting". They add things or clarify what needs to be done. Then I take off at 7:30am to take Nikki to school. While I am gone, the boys complete their list. It is short. Breakfast. Shower. Make Bed. Brush Teeth. And some other chore like dust the tv, put the laundry in the dryer, etc. And guess what!? It is working! I get home at 9am and they are up and ready for their day. Some things are already done for me and we can get started on our Bible Study right away. It is awesome!

So, that is what is going on around here. We are now waiting for Poppy (My Grandpa) to get here and we are going to California Adventure! Yay!

CHOC WALK at Disneyland!

We joined our homeschool team at the CHOC WALK this year and I had to tell you all how much fun we had!

First of all, when we signed up I didn't realize that we would have to be there at 6:30 in the MORNING! The boys were all excited to be getting up and out of the house before the dawn!

This is us walking from the parking structure over to the park in the darkness! It was a little bit cold, but we warmed up quickly.

This is the crowd on Main Street while we were waiting for the start. There were so many people there with signs and pictures of children helped by CHOC or families that had lost children to disease. It was a beautiful sight. So many caring people. At one point, we had to cross over this crowd to get to our team. I thought we were in for it. I've crossed crowds like this in the park when the fireworks were starting or the parade was ending. It is always a pretty mean bunch. This crowd just parted the way and tried to help keep of party together. It was very strange to me!

Here are the boys! They wanted to wear their Homeschool Day Tie Dye shirts instead of the CHOC shirts because they had a pink balloon on them. Crazy boys! They don't do pink! As you can see, the sun is starting to come up now.

Our cool team leader made us these awesome buttons! Thank you!

"And they’re off!"

This is the crowd making its way down Main Street. This was the beginning of the fun part! We walked all the way around Disneyland and California Adventure. All the way there were characters and cast members cheering us on. There was music and the boys danced along the walk route. It was a 5K walk and my husband did not believe that the boys would make the whole thing. I knew they would. There were no rides to go on and some people did not believe that the boys would be cool with that. Walk all the way around both parks and not ride anything?! But they understood the plan. They were awesome about it. And we went back later in the week to go on rides. It isn't like they never get to go!

Here is our team! Yay, for HOMESCHOOLERS WALK!

Next year I know we WILL have more walkers. This was the first year we did this. Next year I will be expecting more of you to join us! :) It is $25 to join the team and then you go around collecting donations and the more you raise, the more prizes you get. The boys got a t-shirt and a pin and they were happy. They enjoyed dancing along the route and talking with their friends. It was very enjoyable and it was a great way to help other kids. Please come next year!

What are YOU reading?

This will be one crazy entry! Are you ready? I'm reading three books right now.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, which I don't like so far. So sue me! I'm reading it for two reasons. I am taking the Face to Face with Greatness Seminar with George Wythe College and it is one of the books I need to read before the next seminar. AND we chose to read it with my new book group.

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. I've been meaning to read this forever. Now I have it riding along in my book bag. When I have a moment to myself, I pull it out and a read a bit. It is awesome and bit disturbing. I've also been watching an interview with him online.

And (can I hear a drum roll please)

How Capitalism Saved America - The Untold History of our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present by Thomas J. DiLorenzo. I've only gotten to page eight and I'm saying "Yes!" in my head over and over. Government control! Ahh! That IS related to home educating, let me tell you. How can you learn about Freedom, Democracy, and Independence while you are forced to sit still and listen to hours of disjointed lecture on everything but. This is nuts to sit and move when a bell rings and regurgitate facts that have no connection what so ever! This is what we need...REAL education. Where you pick up a book, read it, talk about it and relate it and its background to your life and your country. How can we keep a country running when we leave these public schools knowing more about the secret sex lives of famous people, than about our own economy?

So...my study time is over! I got to get all excited about the book I'm reading and share it with my sons. I know they are only 5 (AND A HALF) and 7. They don't understand what I'm talking about, but they do see how excited I am about what I'm learning. And that is what is most important in home education, inspiring the children in your home to learn for themselves.

Ok, I'm tired now. Wish I could get this fired up about physical exercise!

I Made This!

Ok, it isn't the hardest thing in the world to sew, but I did it! Yay!

My Mom has been trying to get me to sew things since I was little. My Aunt gave me a simple sewing machine and a box full of thread and stuff (they call these things "notions" don't ask me why). But sewing drives me crazy! Something about a pattern scares me. And that machine, simple as it may be, gives me heart palpitations. But I had this fleece, my Mom left the patterns with me, a year later...you have a poncho and a matching hat! Jake likes it. He says he will wear it in the morning to stay warm when he eats his breakfast! Ha! I told him it was mine! :))

Tom is 7!!

Today is my oldest baby’s birthday! Yay! I can't believe he is already 7 years old and such a little man. I know he is going to do great things in his life. Jake is really enjoying his brother’s birthday this year. They both finally grasp the fact that since they are so close in age and their birthdays are 6 months apart, they really get two birthdays each year. They wear the same things and play with the same toys!

God Loves Tortoises!

First let me say that is does NOT rain in Southern California in September!! But it did this year and I don't mean the drizzle that we sometimes get at night.

The weather man has been saying "there's a storm coming!" for several days now but I didn't believe them. Friday was beautiful, clear skies, warm air, just gorgeous. Late in the afternoon a wind began to blow, a cold one. I thought maybe I should bring the tortoise in just in case. He (or she we aren't sure) has been living in the back yard in a nice burrow he made under the driveway. But he is an African Spurred Tortoise so he does not fare well in cold or wet weather and we need to bring him indoors or make him an above ground house with a heater for the winter. We haven't done that yet because IT DOESN'T RAIN IN SEPTEMBER! Well, I went to bring him in, but he was already way back in his burrow and it is very deep. I certainly wasn't going to go get the shovel and dig him out. And I figured if it did rain, it would only be a little bit.

We went to bed. Around 11pm, I woke up. I heard rain...hard rain. I worried a bit about my hard shell friend, but tried to go back to sleep. What could I do anyway? I couldn't sleep. Finally, around midnight I got up to look out in the yard. The water was coming down in sheets off the garage roof, right into the place where his burrow is. That is when I really started to worry. I went out into the yard in my PJ's and a blanket over my head. We don't even own an umbrella or rain coats that are handy! It was pouring and the yard was flooding. I went over to the burrow and kneeled down to feel inside. It was wet and puddled in front. The burrow goes down from there, not level with the ground, so I knew that the water was running down to the bottom of her house. It was cold, too. I started to cry. I knew he would be cold and not be able to move out of his hole and save himself. He was going to drown and it was all my fault. I ran back inside crying and stared out at the yard and the rain for several minutes trying to figure out what to do. I prayed out loud to God. "If you love tortoises please save this one. Do something!" I stood there trying to figure out what to do for awhile longer and then went back out into the rain.

There I was, standing in the yard in the middle of the night in my PJ's with a blanket over my head crying. I felt inside the hole and now the water was running in a river from the grass into the hole along with the water from roof. I stood up and yelled "Come out Lucky!!" When I looked down at my feet, there was Lucky poking his head out of his hole and looking up at me!! I couldn't believe it! I snatched him up from the ground and yelled "Praise God! Thank you!" and run into the house with him. We were both muddy and cold, but we were safe. He would warm up in the house and live to eat grass and harass the dog another day. I cleaned up and went back to bed, praising God for his small miracles!

Angels Baseball!

We went to the Angels Homeschool Appreciation Day! I was worried because it has been so hot and I knew we would be up high because the tickets were so cheap. But there was nothing to worry about. I also worried we would be the only ones there, but we filled at least two sections! Yay!! We got there before the game started because I wanted the boys to get a snack and hear the National Anthem. It was so perfect. I could have stayed the whole game. I forgot how much fun it is to watch a live game. We were in the shade the whole time and there was a nice breeze. Perfect baseball game weather!

Jake wanted to leave at the second inning. He was bored. Tom was pretty interested though. If it were just the two of us, we would have watched the whole game. We did stay until after the 5th though. I got them ice cream to bribe them to stay. I tried for the 7th by telling Jake there would be singing and stuff, but he was not impressed. Oh, well. Maybe next time. :)

Here is a picture of the boys with their noise maker tubes. Oh my goodness, those are annoying!!

Fun Science!

At the CHN Family Expo this year we heard the writer of Real Science 4 Kids series talk all about her new books. We fell in love with the idea and ordered "Chemistry Pre-Level 1" when we got home. It is for kids in the age range of K thru 3rd grade. By the way, that is one thing I love about the Expo each year. There are always homeschooling families that are using their expertise to help other homeschoolers and that is what this woman is. She and her husband are scientists raising kids and didn't like the way they teach science in schools. They did it their own way since they were homeschooling and decided to share it with others.

Today we read the chapter about molecules and their rules and then we did the experiment. The idea was to show that the rules limit the atoms to create only certain kinds of molecules, otherwise there would be chaos.

Below is my step-daughter, Nikki, jumping in to make molecules, too. She goes to public school and has one more week of summer vacation, but she loves to learn right along with the boys and help out.

Jake has a "flat friend" in town visiting from Canada. He sat in on our science lesson!

This is Tom's creation. The rule was that the candies could only have three toothpicks in them. Leave it to all three of my little "out of the box" types to come up with some ways to use more and still follow the rules of the experiment.

 

A Quick Book Review

Ok, I don't have a lot of time, but I thought I would try to get this book review in.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

I was given this book as an assignment before I take my first Face to Face with Greatness seminar from George Wythe College. I love when I am assigned books to read because I have rarely been given a bad one. This book was wonderful. I couldn't put it down.

It is a story about a Jewish boy in Brooklyn during and after World War II. It follows his life through high school and college with a close friend that he never would have thought would be a friend. It shows so much of what Jewish life is like in two very different sects. It shows some of the history behind these sects. It showed two very different father/son relationships. It showed the Jewish reaction to the holocaust in Germany. It showed the beginning of a Jewish state in Palestine. There was so much to learn.

I will love to come back to this book again some time and really go through it more. I would love to learn more about the events it describes. But for now I have to hold it in my mind and move on because I am way behind in this assignment and still have two more books to read before September 14!

It Can't Get Cuter Than THIS!

Our homeschool group goes to the beach once a week during the summer. I am not a fan of the beach...heat, sun, sand = yuck to me. But the boys love it. They inherited that from their Grandma Shelly. It has been SO hot, so I decided to escape, bring my big umbrella and let the boys have their day. And I was glad I did. They enjoy the water and sand so much, it is hard to deny them of it. We were there for almost 3 hours. All they do is run from waves, lay in the sand and let water (and sand) rush up their pant lets, and scream when they get wet. They came back for a sip of soda and a pretzel, but that was it. We went home with pants full of sand! I'm serious, I think I dumped about two pounds of sand out of Tom's shorts. Next time, we wear shorts with NO POCKETS!

Another Day...

Ok, maybe not DAILY, but I’m doing the best I can. Sometimes I can’t find a minute to sit here and write this out and other times…well, the day is so boring, what could I write about? Today was not boring!

This morning we got moving. The boys do so much better when we have our lessons in the morning and then spend the rest of the day playing. So I got up and got my chores done and got on the lessons. Bible study, Reading, Copy Work, and then the DHL guy came with our cool new science book and the boys HAD to have science NOW! We got Real Science 4 Kids – Chemistry Pre-Level I. It is great! Today we described two objects while just looking at them and then we got out the magnifying glass and took a closer look. Once again the boys showed how different their personalities are. Jake had many descriptive words, including ones about taste. He ate the apple, felt the apple, looked at the apple, all the while telling me all the different things he noticed. He even drew a picture. Then I went to Tom. “What do you mean describe it? You can see it?” he says. So I start asking questions to get him to really think. He traced both of his objects. He wanted to read the book. So we did. It told us about atoms and what they are. He was delighted. They spent the rest of the day asking each other what things were made of and when one answered “wood” or “metal” the other would say “no, atoms!”.

We went to our weekly park day with our group and that proved to be beneficial. It was hotter today than yesterday, but the clouds had gone away, so it was nice. Every time I got hot, the boys would run over and squirt me with the sprayer. We were there almost 3 hours today!

When we got home the boys jumped in the pool as usual. When they got out we finished our Math and Literature lesson (we are reading and re-telling Aesop’s Fables). Then Dad came out of his office and we ordered Pizza! Yay! We watched Mythbusters and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. The boys had to go out to the yard and hang from the tree some more while I watered the plants.

Now Jake is on the front porch because he is drawing something that he needs to see the front of the house to do. Tom is playing Ping Pong with the TV, crazy game. Me? I’m ready for bed, but it is too hot upstairs to even think about it yet. Yuck!

Cotton!

Check out this website www.cottonsjourney.com I came across this today. I am totally going to plant some cotton in our backyard! And then I'll find someone to help me spin it!

CHN Family Expo Reflections

My husband and I were talking on the way home from the Expo on Saturday afternoon and he mentioned that the Expo seems to be smaller than when he went last year. He was right, it did seem that way. The past few years, I believe the organization has been experimenting with different venues to see if they can’t make the Expo more intimate and friendly. I don’t know what the attendance or membership numbers are, so I can’t say if that has changed or not. But I do have a story to tell.

When my first son was born, my step-daughter was starting 1st grade in the local public school near her mother’s apartment. It was in a nice neighborhood and one of the better schools in Orange County, better meaning more money was spent there with fewer children attending public schools. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like that she was already reading fluently way above her peers and had to sit through phonics lessons. I didn’t like that she was bound to a classroom from 6 to 7 hours a day. And I didn’t like that she was forced to homework way beneath her level of understanding for an hour each evening. I knew that the situation would only get worse as she progressed through the grades. She was put into GATE classes in second grade. I assumed this meant work at her level, but really it translated to a greater amount of the same work. Besides, some things she wasn’t more mature at, like organizing her thoughts or class work. That was when I began looking into alternatives for my own children. Private schools were too expensive and the more I read the more I like the homeschooling idea. I couldn’t change what my step-daughter was going through at school. That is up to her mother. But I do support her and help her through as best I can from where I am now.

Fast forward a few years. I find California Homeschool Network and read up. It seems pretty straight forward. My boys were not of school age just yet, so I had plenty of time to research. I’m also lucky enough to have a husband who completely supports me in my decisions about the children. We talk about things all the time and consult each other, but his philosophy is he takes care of the outside of the house, working, and the money. I take care of the children, cleaning, feeding, and general indoor stuff. Oh, and the garden, because he hates that. Anything to do with power tools is out of my league, but I digress. It works out great. Because he trusts my judgment and I trust his, we get along so well, it is frightening to others.

A friend of mine, who was also looking into homeschooling, emailed me about a Family Expo in Riverside in a couple weeks, hosted by CHN. I signed up and since grandparents are free, take my grandpa along with me. We were both amazed. He was amazed at the number of people that were there. I was amazed about the information being thrown at me. We were both amazed at the friendliness and warmth of the people and the number of children with their parents that we saw. Kids running from their parents, parents either completely ignoring the behavior of their children (as if they are not theirs) or yelling and threatening them to behave, are the family scenarios I typically see. This was not the case here. And I wanted to be like them. I was convinced. I went home and started working on HOW we were going to homeschool.

Our styles and theories have changed over the past three years. My husband and I went to the next years Expo together and this year we brought along the kids. We liked having the weekend to regroup ourselves for the coming year, so next year I think we will go it alone. We do so many things together as a family that sometimes it is nice to just be the two of us, as greedy as that may sound.

And now I come to the point of my entry! We were discussing CHN membership and what it means. I wondered what the benefits of membership were and if those benefits matched the cost. My husband was more on the side of supporting an organization that helps so many people see that homeschooling is feasible in California. I think he hit the nail on the head. No we may not get a discount at the student store, or tickets to special events, or a flashy magazine each month, but we do have the peace of mind that there are people out there that are trying their best to keep homeschooling simple and legal in California. The Expo is a celebration of that. I would hope that my $30 combined with so many others would help people with young children start homeschooling before they find out that they cannot work within the public school system. I hope that it helps parents that have children struggling in public school realize that there are other options and you don’t have to be rich or super smart to utilize them. I would love to see CHN at more education related events, like OC Parenting and Book Fairs. That would be my dream. To see the private homeschooling option right up there with the super expensive private school and the public charter that boasts of higher test scores if you use their program.

I hope that someone that reads this in California decides that it would be nice to send in their $30 to CHN and become a member each year, not because they need to be a part of a group or we need to band together. I want people to support a group that reaches out to others so that they will know their options. I want to support a group that helps others be better parents. I want someone out there helping others to be as happy with homeschooling as I am. And I want to support a group that watches our government like a hawk to protect the private school laws as they stand and watch for changes that may affect all parents of small children.

Ok, I’m stepping down now. I hope I made someone think a little. California Homeschool Network is the reason I homeschool today. If it weren’t for this organization, I don’t know how else I would have gotten started. There are other groups. But this one, I feel, serves the general public without offending any of the other parts. (I don’t have the vocabulary for this sentence, sorry.) This group is for ALL homeschoolers, not just one kind or another. And I think it is for all parents that want what is best for their children.

Oooo! An Entry Two Days in a Row! Wow!

I should have started this entry earlier in the day because now I have to go back in my mind and retrieve it. I kept trying to, but I found Nikki listening to music she is downloading whenever I had a chance.

My chores today were to clean the upstairs bathroom and do the boys’ laundry. And it got done! We forgot to take the trash cans to the curb last night, so now the yard trash did not get empty. Luck for us they don’t come for the house trash first! That one is always full.

This morning I wrote some emails I had been meaning to get to. I talked my Aunt several times and we are now on the same page about having a family get-together more often. This is what we did for “school” today.

Bible Study: Read a passage from the Bible and draw a picture of the story.

Copy Work: Both the boys are working on their penmanship. They copied a line about Washington that is on a plaque at Mount Vernon. It made me cry! Jake traces nicely and Tom’s is getting so much neater and quicker.

Reading: Tom finished reading a DK book about the race to the moon and told me all about it. Jake got half way through “Green Eggs and Ham”. He is really reading well. We started reading a few minutes each day from a book he picks. He has picked up a lot of speed in the past three or four weeks.

Math: Jake and I worked on counting by 5’s. We are going through the last half of Right Start Math Level A. When we finish with it, I will get the next level and work more with Tom again. This level is just too easy for him and Jake hasn’t learned it yet so it make him crazy to see Tom understand the lesson so quickly.

Science: We went to the Natural History Museum in LA. They gravitated to the bird section and we spent about an hour in there. I have been carrying around their “science notebooks” for weeks now. Jake asked for it today so that he could write something down. He made a “Bird Guessing Game” and drew a picture of the ocean birds diorama that we were looking at. Tom drew the same diorama. They looked awesome and they spent quite a bit of time on it.

History: We listened to our new CD by Jim Weiss on the way to the museum. It is about the Scottish kicking the English out of their country during the 13th century. It is a great story. Tom was riveted and he did notice that the story was much like Robin Hood.

When we got home the boys went swimming for a while. Now they are out and Dad is out of his office and I’m off to make dinner!

Tom convinced Dad to get out the electric guitar while I was making dinner. Wow, what a racket! Nikki and Dad can actually play things, but Tom THINKS he can and just makes so much noise. Dad told Jake he was still too little and it about broke his heart. He was comforted by some time on the computer with Dad, so he lost interest. Tom left the guitar laying on the couch and I saw Jake walk over, pick up the pick, and pluck a few strings. Then he says to himself, “It’s not what I thought.” and walked away. He didn’t worry about the guitar anymore.

After dinner we played Star Wars Trivia DVD, under duress! Jake insists on playing that game and we are all bored. Nikki is the only one who knows any of the answers! The boys got their pj’s on and then we watched a show on National Geographic about Atlantis. Tom liked it. We talked a lot about exploring. Jake lost interest and built things with the Knex.

When we went to bed, the boys hadn’t finished getting their teeth brushed and putting away their laundry like they were supposed to BEFORE the came down to watch tv with me, so we didn’t get to finish “A Journey to the Center of the Earth”. They were bummed, but seriously, how much do I ask them to do! I was bummed out too because I really want to know what happens!

What DID we do today?

This past weekend we spent at the CHN Family Expo in Ontario. That wore us out. Ok, it wore me out! So today I was pretty positive when I got up that we would be taking the day off from any formal “lessons”. We had donuts and milk for first breakfast and washed down an hour later with pizza left over from Saturday night. I was determined to work in the back yard this morning before it got hot, so I pulled weeds in my so-called garden (it only has a couple strawberry plants and a scraggly cucumber plant). I cleaned up my containers and talked to Dan about moving them somewhere else and then moving our 100 year old grape vines to that sunny spot. Our neighbor who bought the house next door built up his new house so much that the place they were in no longer gets enough sun for the poor vines and I would hate to lose such an heirloom as these plants. Dan looked at me like I had spiders in my nose, but I know he understands the value of the plants and will attempt to help me with the project.

The next project I started was to clean out a cubby between my back door and my MIL’s. This spot gets nasty because the dryer vent is there and all the bikes and other toys accumulate there because it is under the eaves. I cleaned it all out and threw away a bunch of toys, washed what was left and reorganized a bit. It looks ok. Don’t you hate it when you clean up and sweat and work and it doesn’t look much better than before? At least the whole thing isn’t covered with dryer lint anymore!

You are now probably wondering what my kids were doing. Well, Nikki was in her room working on her guitar and reading. She is reading 1984 and telling me all about it. I get to read it next and I wish she would hurry up! Jake and Tom were in the pool most of the time. We just have a little blow up pool about 10 feet across and 2 feet deep. It was the best $40 I have spent this summer. They will be in that thing for hours, day after day.

Now it is lunch time, more pizza. I told you, I’m not in the mood to be super Mom today!

We read some of a new book about George Washington called “The Story of Mount Vernon” by Natalie Miller. We bought it at the Expo on Sunday for a dollar. Tom looked up where Maryland and the Potomac River was on the map. We need to get a new one! Jake listened while he was playing with the roller coaster track. The boys and I put together the Time Machine from National Geographic that my aunt bought them. That was fun. We put different things in the tubes to see if they would work for the battery. Tom put together the Ph levels he was checking at the Huntington Gardens Rain Forest Conservatory a couple of weeks ago and the Ph levels of the liquids we were using for the batteries today. The higher the number, the lower the acid level. It was neat. We checked the Ph of our spit.

I am reading another book that I got at the Expo called “Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?” by Richard J Maybury. If you ever want a great explanation of economics, check this out. I love it! I have almost finished it and I feel smarter. I can’t wait to read others in the series.

Tom is building Lego structures. Jake and Nikki are playing Battlefront on the Xbox. And I’m writing this. Don’t you wish I’d go on forever? It’s 4:30. I’m going to wait a bit before I post this. I might have more to tell. Tom and I are making a dinner that he thought of yesterday while we were at the grocery store. It was so cute because he saw a can of sweet and sour sauce and he wanted to make the recipe on the can. I said sure and we went around getting all the ingredients. Finally, I said, “Let’s get Hawaiian bread!” And he said “Mom, are you sure we can afford all of this?” Too funny, he wouldn’t ask that if we were buying some toy he “needed”. That led to a great discussion about why I say I won’t buy something because it is too expensive. It isn’t that we can’t afford it, it is that it isn’t a good buy for us.

Oh! And I finished Nikki’s laundry and mine. 

Dinner is over! Tom helped me make the dinner he planned. He cut up the carrots, peppers, and experienced the cutting of an onion. That made me laugh because I always tell him that the onions make me cry and he never understood. Now he does. He made the rice too. I told him that you put one cup of rice with two cups of water, but we need to double it. He says right away, “So two cups of rice and four cups of water?” We had dinner and it was great. Jake helped me with the dishes.

After dinner, Jake wanted to do a show with his Lego things and a flashlight. He had been “experimenting” with a flashlight, paper, and many of his toys on and off all afternoon. So now he has this show. He has Nikki be the light and Tom helped him with the characters. It was so funny! Grandma came in to watch.

Now they are out in the back yard. They wanted to wrestle some before it gets dark. Nikki is upstairs trying to finish 1984 before school starts again in a couple weeks. It is sad that she has to put away books that she wants to read during the school year. L

That is it for today. I’m going to try to get these guys to bed early. I’m reading a great book called “A Wrinkle in Time” that I also got at the Expo. I think that was the best part, buying all those used books. I love books!  AND now Dan is reading "What Ever Happened to Penny Candy?"

Definition of "Hero"

If you would like to read something that will bring tears to your eyes, please go to Jim Weiss' website and read the whole page! http://www.greathall.com/jimwrites.html

We first heard Jim speak last year at the CHN Expo in Southern California. We were amazed by his story-telling and were inspired to use some of his tellings in our homeschool and attempt to teach them to re-tell their favorites as well. Every time I go to his website, I come away with some new bit of inspiration. I beg you to check it out for yourself!

What Started the Vietnam War?

I know you are wondering how in the world I got stuck on studying Vietnam, but there is logic to this. My grandfather and I were debating the other day and I realized that I had absolutely no information about that subject to draw from. That is sad! Another reason to understand what happened in Vietnam is to understand why people compare what is happening today in Irag, to the war in Vietnam.

So here it goes. I read a website that gave me a basic timeline to the war.  Also, I borrowed a great book from the library called "America's Vietnam War" by Elizabeth Becker. Not being a huge history buff, I really liked reading this book cover to cover. I found it easy to read and I remembered many details just from reading it once through. Now I'm going through it and taking notes, mostly to answer questions I gave myself after reading the first time.

This was the first question. What started the Vietnam War?

The Indochina War started as a war of independence between France and the Viet Minh in Vietnam and ended with the United States fronting 80% of French war costs to stop communism from taking over Asia.

1920's & 1930's Vietnamese oppose French colonial rule (since early 1800's)

1940 WWII - Germany occupies France and sends Japanese ally to establish bases in all French Indochinese colonies.

1945 Ho Chi Minh works with United States to oust Japan, atomic bomb dropped, Japanese surrender, British allies return  Vietnam to France (pre WWII conditions), Roosevelt had condemned the idea of colonialism as a cruel and ancient practice, but Truman was more worried about communism in France. France viewed as a country mostly likely to elect a communist government, it was the most unstable after WWII.

1946 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) formed to fight Russian communism. France basically blackmails US by refusing to help NATO unless US funds their colonial war.

1950 US views Ho Chi Minh as part of Soviet Russia's attempt to expand communism all over Asia. Ho Chi Minh downplays communism ideas and stresses independence to gain support from his country.

1953 Eisenhower, now President of US, pushes France to plan a larger battle. France builds garrison at Diem Bien Phu thinking they could beat Viet Minh in a classic battle. Viet Minh don't attack head on, gain high ground, and bomb French until they surrender in May 1954.

May 1954 Geneva Conference with France, Great Britian, United States, China, Soviet Union. France agrees to leave Vietnam and split country into North and South until and election can be held in two years. Russia convinces Viet Minh to take deal and not confront United States directly. Ho Chi Minh feels cheated that his country is split in two.

So that is what I know as of now. I do know that the US helped set up a democracy in South Vietnam and helped set up elections for the whole country. That never happened because the South Vietnamese government knew that North Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) would win elections because the whole country believed that he had rid them of the French. The US did not want another communist government in Asia so it backed up the South Vietnamese.

More to come! :)

Benjamin Franklin

Hey everybody! I just finished reading Ben Franklin's Autobiography. You have to read this! What an amazing testimony to self-reliance. The man was brilliant and taught himself from books he read (and there wasn't the local library or amazon.com), all while he worked to keep himself alive.  What amazed me most was his determination. His reputation among his fellow man was so important to him. He regretted every mistake he felt he made and tried his best to make amends each time. He listened to others when they found fault in him and tried to fix those faults. He also spent his entire life trying to make the world better, not just in his own back yard but everywhere. You have to read this book if you are homeschooler.

Skirball Cultural Center

Yesterday we went to the new Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles with Poppy. These are the days that I marvel about how wonderful it is to live in Southern California (the other days I'm grumbling about it)! The exhibit was awesome! I have few pictures because I was playing too much, sorry!

 All the animals are made out of recycled, excuse me "repurposed" materials. The kids had more fun trying to figure out what each animal used to be! Jake was in love because there was a room full of stuffed animals. And Tom spent most of his time trying to figure out how things worked and how he might be able to make it at home. Nikki just walked around making jokes. My comedian!

 If you are any where near LA, I highly recommend that you come see this place!

The Old Man and the Sea

I know this is a book most people read in High School, but I don't remember reading it. I was too interested in the theatre to do any of my homework AND what I did read on my own was mostly horror novels. So here I am catching up with the classics!

I loved this book. It only took me three nights to read. I usually read while the boys go to sleep in the evening and I can only focus on reading for about an hour before I start nodding off. This is my second Hemingway book and I think I like him. His writing is simple, but it holds my attention. I didn't want to put down the book for fear that the old man would lose that big fish while I was away!

Fahrenheit 451

My step-daughter brought a book home from the library a few weeks ago and while she was reading it she told me to read it. What hooked me what this quote, "Being with people is nice. But I don't think it's social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk, do you?" This a young girl talking of her school. Also this one, "You can't rid yourselves of all the odd ducks in just a few years. The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. That's why we've lowered the kindergarten age year after year until now we're almost snatching them from the cradle." A man talking about that same young girl after her sudden death.

So I read it. I'm sure you are probably going, "DUH! Everyone knows that book!" But I didn't. And I couldn't put it down. Crazy part, it was written in 1953 by Ray Bradbury. And it is fiction. It is a book about the future where firemen burn books because they are illegal to read. People have no personal contact. They don't talk to each other. They just sit in front of their whole wall tv's and listen to idle pratter from people they call their "family". Go check it out!

I'm IT!!

All right, here are the rules.

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

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Oh, this is so fun....NOT! “Not” jokes are hilarious to me right now because I watched "Borat" the other day.

1. Up until I met my husband....I hated kids! I never would have dreamed I'd have a house full like this.

2. Oh, I get so angry! Especially at inanimate objects like the ironing board or the washing machine. So bad after my second was born that I ended up on Effexor and now Zoloft! Oh, by the way, I got off all that stuff and have been completely successful at controlling my own temper!

3. I hate power tools! I used to work in theater, that is common knowledge, and using power tools and heavy machinery came with the territory, BUT, I hate power tools. I am afraid! Now, if anything needs more than a power screwdriver, I pass it to my MAN!

4. I love to fill out forms. You know, scan-trons, surveys, etc. It is a sickness. I love checklists too!

5. I've had the cops barge in and arrest me for attempted car-jacking and armed robbery. Not a pretty year in my life. No, I didn't do it and I would be the last one to steal anything. I was falsely accused by a crazy man and a stupid and lazy police detective. Life changing event, seriously.

6. I'm secretly in love with Thomas Jefferson. I know he's dead!

7. I love classic country music AND heavy metal!

8. I swore I must be a vampire when I was 15-16 years old. I mean I think I seriously believed it!

Those Silly Surveys

My friend sent me this by email, but I thought it would be fun to post my answers here.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?   Hmmm. I think that every girl born from 1970-1973 was named either Michelle or Jennifer.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?  Last night, damn movies!

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?  Yes...sometimes.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Bologna...it is yummy AND it is spelled funny.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? I don't have kids, I have small people, 3 of them. Score so far, 1 girl, 2 boys.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Oh, yes!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?   Insert curse word here, NO!  

                                                                    
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cheerios and bananas!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, they are slip on in the winter and I rarely wear shoes when the temperatures rise above 70.
                        
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? 

Physically, yes. Mentally, definitely not. Actually, I would say yes. Depends on the time of the month, I guess!
 

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Frozen

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?  Their manners.

15. RED OR PINK? Pink is for GIRLS!  RED

16. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?  Yes! 

17. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?  I'm so lazy and fearful at times. Oh and I really love food.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Grandma Sylvia.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?  If they want to.

19. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? Snowman pants and Dan's T-Shirt.

20.  WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?  Peanut Butter Toast and Coffee

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Jake asking me how to wrap a present...again.
   

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?  Purple

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Rain in California!

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? I can't remember, but I instant messaged Tia!

 

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?   Well?! JK, of course I do! One of the greatest people I know, and one that I would invite to live at my new compound in Montana!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?  Jake and Tom swimming sports.

27. HAIR COLOR? Strawberry Blonde. Otherwise known as red.

28. EYE COLOR?  Hazel

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?  TACOS!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Scary!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT A MOVIE THEATER?

I can't remember, but we saw Spencer's Mountain last night.33. Coffee?? Cream & sugar or black? Coffee, just a bit of sugar.

34. WINTER, SUMMER, SPRING OR FALL?    FALL

35. HUGS OR KISSES? BOTH 

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?   Something from Cold Stone!

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Ben Franklin's Autobiography. Love it! Everyone in America should read this book!

40. WHAT I S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?   A monkey screaming at a computer!

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? “Spencer's Mountain” with Henry Fonda in it.

42. FAVORITE SOUND?  Birds, Mountain noises...at night

43. ROLLING STONES OR TOBY KEITH?  The Stones Man!

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM WHERE YOU ARE NOW? Cabo San Lucas on our cruise.    

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I think I am a good Mom!

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?  Anaheim, CA about a mile from where I live now. Sick isn't it?

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?

48.  FAVORITE ANIMAL?  Hedgehog, they are so cute!

49.  BIRTHDAY? I refuse to answer this! 

50. ZODIAC SIGN?  Sagittarius

51. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE LIKE YOUR SIGN?  Definitely, but I try to disregard the negative side of it!

52. GREATEST GOAL IN LIFE?  Raise my kids to know Jesus as their savior.

53. GREATEST FEAR? Losing my husband.

54. ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF? A bit strange.

In Memory Of...

Believe it or not, I don't have a picture of my little friend, but...

Hammy the Ster

Joined our family December 3, 2005

Died this day July 16, 2007

She was a beloved pet and friend.

Furry and warm and always happy to roll in her ball.

She was afraid of nothing, not even the dog,

and lived life to the fullest.

She went quietly, in her sleep, last night.

She will be missed immensely.

My Boys' Strength

I have to boast in amazement of my children's strength! Yesterday we went to Irvine Park. We took the bikes and road around to some of their favorite places. Then we came back to the truck and got our lunch. After eating we went over to the playground and they went back and forth on the monkey bars and the "hold on and slide across" thing several times. We came home because they were hot. They wanted to swim. They swam around in our little pool for about two hours. When Dad was done working, we wanted to go to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The boys had won free kids meals from the library summer reading program, so now we could actually afford to eat dinner there! So we walked to Downtown Disney, had dinner, and walked back. They were tired, but I had promised Tom a game of Othello. THEN we went to bed.

I looked it up on Google Earth. They rode their bikes almost 2 miles at the park and then walking to Downtown and back in another 1.5 miles. That is 3.5 miles AND swimming AND monkey bars (which would have killed me for the whole day alone) for a 6 and 5 year old! They are amazing bundles of energy!

Bible Study Notes

I'm reading “Putting On a Gentle & Quiet Spirit” by Elizabeth George right now. Appropriate, I think! This is what touched me today.

"Remember that a gentle spirit does not cause disturbances, and a quiet spirit does not react to the disturbances caused by others."

Also, "True love is...slow to suspect, condemn, offend, expose, reprimand, belittle (big one for me), demand, provoke, hinder, or resent."

I'm going to write these on a piece of paper and tape it to my fridge!

Charlotte Mason

I've been looking into Charlotte Mason's theory on Education the past few weeks. So far, it looks great. Funny that just when I think I am alone in my thinking, I find out it is already a "movement" among others. When my sons were born, my husband and I raised them as we saw most fit and most comfortable for us. We did things very strange...like pick them up when they cried, every time, sleep with them so that they weren't scared at night, never let them cry themselves to sleep, etc. It turns out that is called Attachment Parenting! Crazy!

I didn't want to send my boys off to school when they turned five, so I started finding a way to get around it. It turns out it is called homeschooling and is very popular in our area. As for how, it looked easy enough to continue teaching my children the way we did when they were babies, talk to them, answer their questions, read to them above their level, show them the world around them, follow them, and answer their questions. It turns out there is a theory for that too! Some of the things I've found in Charlotte Mason's ideas are things that were not fitting into our "schooling" the way I was doing them. They were things from my school life that I was trying to make fit into our new ways and it was not working.

So here I am with a ton of books and website, taking notes, and making models. I've already begun working on the boys' narration a little at a time. We have always read to the boys, a lot. Now I ask them more questions about it and they have tons of answers. I also have started a nature journal of my own. This is going with the same reasoning as how we got the boys interested in books. We love to read and they always want to do what we do.

The boys both wanted to take a break from their "school" during the summer, like their half sister does from public school. So I have plenty of time to keep reading, researching, and making plans. I think this will be a great fit for us. I had first thought that I would buy a set up lesson plan and books from someone. Now I'm realizing that with a little extra effort, I can do this myself. Sounds like fun!

Anger

Ok, this isn't a surprise to many, but I'm an angry person!  No, really. It got so bad after Jake was born that I started taking the largest dose of Effexor available. It really helped. I swear that is saved my marriage AND my life. I take things so personally. I get angry at the slightest provocation. And I can't let the anger go. It takes forever for it to go away and by then I've made everyone around me angry too.

A couple years ago, I ramped down off of Effexor and started Zoloft. This past year I have been taking only a half of the minimum dose every other day. Last week, I ran out and decided not to go in and get more. So here I am a week later. ANGRY! I explode with anger over anything and then take forever to stop. I feel out of control. Not true though, because I just thought of something. I don't explode at the people in front of me at the grocery store, or at the park. I only freak out on my children and my husband. The poor things. Then again, we are around each other 24/7. Right now I'm calming myself over the fact that they were all in the living room watching Twilight Zone while I slaved away making the beds back up after I had washed the sheets. Even medicated, I get angry about some things. The fact that I feel like I'm always working and everyone else gets a break. The other one is that my husband does not take into account my feelings on things. Right now, it is fireworks. I hate fireworks. Actually, I love them, but they are illegal in our city, but not in the next and he insists on buying them and lighting them in the yard or driving down the street and lighting them in front of someone else’s house. It causes me great stress. I just don't like it! Ok, there is no smiley for a tantrum! 

I'm starting to calm down. Maybe writing this out HAS helped! :) Yay! I really realized something back there for the first time. I do have control. I just choose not to use it in front of my family!

My Thoughts During Church Today

I was so reluctant to go to church today! I have been trying to get off of Zoloft for anxiety and try to control my moods with Gods help alone, now that I have a full nights sleep each night. This is day 5 without medication and I was feeling pretty ugly today. Here was the prayer I wrote while I waited for the service to start. 

"Lord, I know that you can take this demon of anger and frustration off my shoulders. I give my feelings and emotions to You Lord, not a drug made by man. In Jesus name, Amen!"

We had a whole bunch of patriotic songs this morning. I love those! This was the thought I wrote down after those songs.

Our country is behaving like the Israelites out of Egypt. God helped bring our nation to maturity with the help of our founding fathers. Now that we are established, we behave as if we don't need Him anymore. Until we support and elect Christian leaders (that lead lives like ours, not just at election time) and attempt to bring our nation back to God, we cannot expect God to bless our nation with His help.

We started at Acts 18:24 today. These are the thoughts I wrote down during the service.

There is always someone or something to forgive, only Gods gifts can help us do that. Only the Holy Spirit can overflow our cup so that we have love to share with others. All the power we have in our lives comes from that Holy Spirit, not our knowledge of the world, the Bible, or our training at school.

I have also thought that I should try writing out my own testimony, how I came to believe in Jesus as my personal savior. I will attempt that soon, but not today. I have spent enough time at this computer tonight!

Jake's Drawings

"Jake's helicopter that has guns all over the place. At the bottom there is an American base."

This is Jake's latest drawing. He picked up a book at the library last week called "How to draw Machines". The kid loves to draw. He has whole books drawn with pictures. His newest addition is to add captions in the pictures. He spells phonetically and only asks for help with words that are too long. I will read them and ask if I cannot understand and he is happy to help me out. Yesterday I told him that people put spaces between each word and that helps them read it, so now there is a dot between each word. Jake is the child that has to do things differently!

Once there was a blue berry man. He went to the fair and he saw Almonzo (from Farmer Boy) and the Wonder Pets and in the parking lot he saw the Wonder Pets Fly Boat.