Hi all
I haven't written in too long to say. Lots have happened. Rick works for Plantronics in Santa Cruz! We live in Scotts Valley (in the Santa Cruz mountains). My kids are still homeschooling. Eli is finishing 1st grade and Katie is finishing 5th grade!
I plan to start blogging more often now. I have a computer that I understand how to blog with! I have much more active children and I need to start documenting their life better! And I turn 40 this year!!! Yep, I'm an old lady and I love it! I am training for a 5K (I know some of you are thinking there's no need to train since its such a  short run. But please remember I'm out of shape, old, have Fibromyalgia and arthritis type stuff in my foot!).
Look for new posts and picts coming soon! This is going to be a great year!!!

Getting Caught Up

The new school year has begun. We actually started on August 15th. Crazy huh? But we started very slowly. They did some reading and math and swimming (PE!). We spent the first 3 weeks just working on how to balance both 4th grade and kindergarten at the same time! Yep. That's right. Eli is now officially in school.

Homeschooling one is hard. Homeschooling two is harder! I've had to learn to let go of my dreams of well educated children AND a clean house! My house is a mess much of the week, but my kids are learning!

Katie is reading real literature this year. We're looking at having her actually start reading The Magicians Nephew by C. S. Lewis or House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She loves literature, so it wont be hard to get into it. For math she's doing multiplication. She just learned to multiply by 10's and 100's (ie 80 x 2 = 160 or 900 x 3 = 2700)! She is a grammar wiz! I'm learning new things right before teaching it and she just gets it right away! Her favorite part is when we do Mad Libs on Fridays!!

Eli is working on reading and writing his letters. He's reading short vowel words and enjoying the short books he gets to read at least a couple times a week! Hooked On Phonics is working for him!! He is a math dude though. He can add and subtract numbers up to 5. He just flies through his work!

Together they are doing history and science. For history, we are doing Story of the World volume 2. It covers world history from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. It covers lots of Asian history that I have never heard before! They both love the story format and to answer comprehension questions at the end of the lesson. They compete to answer better then each other in complete sentences! Its fun.

For science we are doing the Apologia Human Body! Right now they are learning about cells and how they divide to cover so many different aspects of our body. This weekend we are even making an edible model of a cell (jello and candies)! They love working in their journals and talking about all the things God thought of to make us so awesome!

We are in a Co-op once a week with several friends. They are doing science (rocks and minerals) and art (various mediums like oil painting, water colors, sculpture and eventually drama taught by mom!!) They have been making many quality friendships there and I have as well. God truly blessed us when we moved to Scotts Valley last year. He gave us such a great group of homeschooling friends!

I think what I love most about homeschooling is seeing my kids play. These kids wake up in the morning anxious to talk to each other and play with each other. They spend so much time together and they love it. They really are each others best friends. I love their laughter and joy!

So that's our new school year. I promise to try to be better at blogging this year! I might even let Katie post something?!

Playing Is School

One of the things about homeschooling is the fer that you aren't doing enough "real work". I make Katie do worksheets and papers and "real" school everyday so she wont get behind. But I have been learning a new way to teach my kids. It's called playing!

Yep! That's all. I make it a point to either go outside and play or pull out some games and play every week.

I'm finding that even the most basic game is indeed learning. For instance: hop scotch is a big time learning game. I make Katie put the numbers she's learning to multiply by in her boxes (for example, this week is 6. So she writes 6, 12, 18, 24, etc.) and Eli has to write his numbers 0-9.

Another game we play that is a real learning game is Twister. Yes, you read that right. Twister. I have found that my kids still struggle to remember their right from their left quickly. They also get flustered at remembering their color, hand or foot and left or right quickly. So we practice...by playing Twister in speed mode!

UNO is another very important game for our kids. They learn color combinations. They learn numbers. They learn to read. They learn strategy. And they learn to play fair and be a good sport in winning or loosing!

As summer approaches, I highly recommend you look at your game cabinet and start playing. They wont sleep away their learning and they will have fun building memories while their at it!

Good Things About Eli

I know I talk about how hard it is to raise a boy. Eli is oh so hard compared to Katie. But today I realized some wonderful things about raising my boy!

Eli has a beautiful heart of worship. He loves to walk around the house singing songs to God! He's not the most theologically correct, but he's so passionate!

I also love how loving he is. He wants to hug and kiss me and tell me he loves me everyday!

He's always cracking jokes too! He has been working so hard at telling them, and they make no sense, but he's really trying!

I also love how he is so eager to learn new things.

He really is a blessing. I love him and he's a true blessing in my life. I thank God for him!

More cute quotes...

Katie was working on learning the 50 states. She was having a hard time remembering Hawaii and Alaska. Finally I said, "Hooooloooo.." and she'll say Hawaii. It was hard to remember Alaska until I said "Sarah Palin'sss..." and she'd yell out "ALASKA!!!" Yep, we liked that show on the TLC.

Eli was looking around today and said, "Hey Mom. Everything has color. My shirt has color. My pants have color. The walls have color. Outside has color. Everything has color! God made the world of color, not that other guy." It took me about 3 hours to realize he was talking about a commercial he saw that was advertising Disney's World Of Color show at Disneyland! And he's right! God made all the color, not Walt Disney! ;)

Charlie Browniest

This year I have not been able to get into the Christmas spirit as I have in years past. Usually by this time I have already watched every Christmas movie we own and gotten all of my gifts purchased, wrapped and sent. But this year I haven't gotten into it. I'm not sure why.

Last night we watched "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" on TV (so blessed America still allows that show on network TV!) At one point Linus says to Charlie Brown "Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest." This struck a chord in me. I'm feeling very Charlie Brown-y this year. Buying gifts and decorating and even watching movies is not what it's all about. When Linus got up and read from Luke 2 my heart was warmed.

"For unto you in born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord...

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Yes, indeed. Christ the Lord is what Christmas is all about. My heart was filled with joy and hope for this year's Christmas season once again.

Today, my son asked if Santa would bring him a present because he tried to be a good boy this year. My heart sank again. I was so good at teaching Katie the truth of Christmas. She really understood that we celebrate Jesus being born. But somehow I've missed the mark with Eli. My apathy this year may have given room for Santa to fill the place of God in my sons way of thinking. Well, not anymore. I am getting back to the basics. I'm going to take a clue from Linus and the shepherds and remember that Jesus is worthy to be worshiped. Jesus is not just the reason for the season. He is the reason for living!

Confessions

I home school my kids. You probably already know that if you're reading my blog. But what you might not know is that sometimes I am jealous of those who don't. I rarely talk about it, because all the other home school moms I see seem to love it and are doing a fabulous job of it. I, however, see my house and think how much better it might be to just put the kids in school. I get envious of the moms who take their kids to school and then have 4-7 hours to clean the house, get the shopping done, or even just take a shower in peace. I feel guilty when I have these thought and feelings because I know that homeschooling is what God has asked me to do. I know all the great benefits of homeschooling my kids; I see the growth and development in Katie almost daily at this point. I know that the messy house and lack of showers is just a season. I know all the logical things I would be telling another home school mom who is feeling this way. But knowing all the right answers and feeling the tiredness and jealousy are two very different things. All I can do is hold on to those logical thoughts at this point and know that God does indeed take all things and make them not just a good thing but a blessing in His own special way.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my great relationship with my daughter. I am thankful for my ever supportive husband, my energetic son and a God who takes my feeble efforts and makes them work together for good simply because I love Him!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fun With Adverbs

Today Katie was learning adverbs. I gave her a list of words and let her make silly sentences. Here's what she came up with...

Knights toddle mysteriously.

Dancers cry awkwardly.

Turtles leap shrilly.

Eagles lumber fiercely.

Spies battle gracefully.

Babies wink cautiously.

Some are a little more accurate than she planned, I think!

Tree House

Today I was looking out of my bedroom window and thinking how much I love my bedroom. The last house we lived in my bedroom was the biggest room in the house (Yes, the biggest in the whole house!). This house it is very small, but I love it so much more.

I began to wonder why. Why do I love this room so much? I think it's because I feel like I'm in a tree house. Growing up I always wanted a tree house. And living in my favorite house I almost had one (but it was on the ground, under the trees). Looking out of my bedroom now all I see is trees. I feel like I live up in them and that makes me think of beautiful times in my favorite house growing up.

You may be wondering why I keep saying "favorite house growing up". Well, I am 37 years old and have lived in 22 different houses. I can describe all of them to you rather simply (ie: the pink one, the attic one, the white long one, the mountain side one and etc), but in this one I am just describing it as "my favorite". It was a farm house that had chickens and ducks and horses and rabbits and more animals. And it had trees; beautiful, tall, fun trees! I loved that house.

Living in Scotts Valley I am reminded of my childhood a lot. The people up here are so friendly and laid back. The weather is warm, but has a bit of the cool, misty mornings. And the trees growing high to the sky. It's just beautiful.

I know I've written about my love for my house before, but I just realized another reason I love it. I am getting old and sentimental. This house reminds me of good times in my childhood and that makes me happy!

I was a bad mom!

This morning I had a bad mom moment. It was funny though. Let me tell you about it...
Eli got mad at Katie and yelled out "you're dumb. D. O. dumb".
Katie and I started laughing and Katie said "D. O. spells do, you dummy. D.O.M.B. spells dumb".
I said, "DUMB is dumb. But nice job trying to spell kids.". Then I walked away.
About 2 hours later realized that I should have told them to not call each names. I was just so happy they were spelling that I forgot to correct them.
I know, I know. Bad mom. But it was funny!

Eli is a big boy!

Today is a big day in our house. Eli's crib/toddler bed was taken out and a new big boy bed was brought in. He's been running around saying he's a big boy now!!! He's so proud!
We also had a visit from Katie's E.S. (the teacher who checks our progress in homeschooling every month!). Mrs. Caroline has a 6 month old named Jack. Jack loves Eli. He watches Eli and laughs at Eli. Today I asked Eli if he thinks we should have another baby in our family. He looked at me and smiled and shook his head no. I asked why and he said "I'm your baby. Me and Belle. You don't need more."
So, my baby is a big boy now, but still wants to be my baby! I love that boy!!!

PS His new bedding is gray, black and red and says "Rock Star" with red guitars all over. And since he got a new bed, we got Katie new bedding as well. Her bed comforter is black with bright embroidered peace signs all over. Both sets of bedding is TOTALLY them! I'll send pictures when I can load them on to the blog site!

My Musings on Homeschooling the Parent

Homeschooling has been a strange journey for me. I brought my child home because she was about to drown in the 30 child classroom. I saw she needed more one on one than they could possibly give. I spent the first year working on figuring where she really was, getting her caught up and getting a schedule that worked for all of us. This year she is mostly caught up and now we are getting into really interesting information.

I have learned so much information that I had no idea about. For instance, Mesopotamia means between the rivers and hippopotamus means river horse. I've also learned why chicken eggs are different colors and that a platypus is a mammal even though they lay eggs. Those are mostly useless, yet interesting, items to know, but I've also learned new grammar things. For instance, you can sit down but you set something down. I can't sit a baby in her crib, I set her in her crib. I can sit on the couch or I can set myself down on a couch. This is news to me.

I have also learned things about myself on this journey. I am not very predictable. I don't like doing the same thing everyday. I like mixing things up. I don't mind reading everyday, but does it have to be at the same time in the same place everyday?

More importantly, I've learned that I haven't dealt with all the pain my undiagnosed dyslexia had caused me in my childhood. I wanted to do good in school and be smart, but struggled with my reading so much it was impossible. Everyone thought I was being lazy and just not doing my school work to reflect my ability. Truth was, I had no idea what was going on most of the time and was just able to "perform" to the teachers liking in class. I see this in my daughter and it scares me. So, I am having to deal with my own pain issues as I teach my daughter that she is smart and I see her trying hard too! I, to this day, hate reading out loud. It's hard to do for a dyslexic. My daughter wants me to read to her all the time and I struggle (even with kids books, I'm afraid) but this too is a lesson for my daughter. She can see that a woman can be successful and still struggle with a reading difference. I think she's not going to struggle as I have. And I pray she never feels the pain of not feeling good enough as she gets older!

I know homeschooling was the right thing to do for my daughter. I have a feeling it'll be good for my son. But now I can see that homeschooling was great for the mother! Praise God I obeyed and brought Katie home for school!

Perseverance

One of the great joys in my life is when my kids actually enjoy conquering a hard task at school.
Today, Eli asked to do school. He asks to do school often, but I am usually so busy with "real" school with Katie that I give him something easy like cutting and pasting or mazes. But today I decided he needed a challenge. I gave him a dot to dot book for five year olds. It was HARD. He cried and fussed, but then when he figured it out and completed the page he did a happy dance and asked to do it again!
Katie has always struggled with writing/reading/grammar. Today we were talking about nouns ("A noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea."). To solidify the rule I pulled out an old magazine and told her she had 15 minutes to find as many pictures of nouns as she can and paste them on the page. She is giggling and searching. I hear her saying quietly to her self "a noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea...yep, this is a noun." She is having fun learning and she will REALLY know this definition by the end of the day!
My children are finding school a challenge, but are learning to persevere. I am finding homeschooling and housework and being a mom, wife, friend is a challenge, but I am being encouraged to persevere. It reminds me of the verse found in Hebrews 10:36...You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
We all have something we need to persevere in. What challenge are you facing today? Remember, the Lord promises great blessings if you fight through!

Super Powers

Katie has decided to keep her brother entertained while they do chores by making everything about a super power. She got him to clean his room in record time. She got him to help her take the laundry downstairs by saying they were evil villains and needed to be rounded up and put into the "jail" or laundry basket! He keeps saying his code name is "Super Fick Fop". We're not sure what that means, but that is what he wants his name to be. Well, Katie couldn't get her mouth to say it so she said "OK, well, I'm just going to call you FRED". When I noticed him doing the potty dance she told him to go sit on the "super throne" so he can get further instructions. She then stood outside of the bathroom and made up "missions" to do. Now, that their chores are done, she has him doing her bidding. She got him to get her a drink and put her toys away. Katie really is amazing with the preschool set when she wants to be! I love that girl!

Katie and Eli

One of the great parts of homeschooling is setting our own schedule. Sometimes we have a slow starting morning or a super busy afternoon and we set the schedule accordingly. Well, this is one of those slow mornings. The kids decided to just play while they waited for mom to get her act together. As they were playing they were doing real life math. They were sorting according to size. When they realized there were too many small and not enough big to be fair. Then they sorted by color and realized there were way too many groups to be fair. Next they decided to count. They counted 30 toys (I know, they have way too many toys) and Katie said, "I think that is an even number. Lets take turns taking one and see how many we each get!" So they each took one then another than another. Then Katie said, "lets count and be sure we have the same number." They counted to 15 (well, Eli had to have some help at #12, but she helped him and I stayed still, eavesdropping!). Then Katie says, "Mom, did you know that 15 plus 15 equals 30?" Home-school math at it's best!

As they were playing and learning together I couldn't help but think of John's writing in 1John 4:20-21. He writes:

If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love

God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

There is nothing better than when my kids are enjoying each other. I don't just want them to get along, but I want them to enjoy each other. As they grow, I am treasuring these times in my heart and praying their love for one another never grows dim. Because their love for one another is a direct reflection of their love for and relationship with God!

Out Smarted by a Four Year Old....ALMOST!

So, my son is now 4. He is very smart. Today he has begun trying to used words to trick me. The main one went like this...

M: Did you want to go swimming today?

E: Yep. I can go swimming today?

M: yep.

E: I didn't poop in the pool?

M nope, you didn't so you can swim today.

E: Cool. I can poop in the pool today.

M: Yep, you can...wait...you can swim. You can't ever poop in the pool.

E: Gotcha mom. I was just jokin'...

Another one was...

M: Didn't we tell you no throwing things down the stairs?

E: Yes. I didn't throw it down.

M: How did it get down here then?

E: I rolled it.

M:Rolled it?

E: Yep, rolled it...it's not throwing!

M: OK No rolling things down the stairs, bring it down with your hands.

E: Can we talk about this? It's easier to roll it! (Big cheesy smile to try to win me over).

M: You should be a lawyer.

E: I am not a liar!...

What will it be like when he's a teenager?

Drug Problem

Drugged by my parents

"Why Are Some Eggs Brown and Some White?"

Recently Katie and I were grocery shopping. While I was checking the eggs Katie asked me "Why are some eggs white and some brown?". I had no real idea. I thought that it had something to do with the kind of chicken or color of chicken, but really I didn't know. I decided to go home and look it up, but forgot. This is one of the only reasons I would ever get an iPhone; so I can check that kind of information and never have to skip a beat!

Anyway, today Rick was asking me if I'd be interested in an iPad (and was trying to convince me that I want one) when i remembered this question. I decided to get my computer out and look up the question the old fashioned way! Here is the answer i came up with...

Chickens lay the color of eggs of their ear lobes! Yes, you read that right. Chickens have ear lobes! If they are a white ear lobed chicken they will have white eggs. And a brown lobed chicken has brown eggs! So, it does have to do with the kind of Chicken they are. Cool!

Here are my two sources.

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/ask.asp?askid=23

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5357549

Mirror Dream

So, last night I had a weird dream. I dreamed I was in a hall of mirrors. Every time I looked into a mirror I couldn't see myself. I was totally invisible. I went to one mirror and saw Rick, but not me. Then I went to another and saw Eli, but not me. Then I went to another one and saw Katie, but not me. Then I woke up. What's up with that? Any thoughts?

Katieism

I know I've already posted today. But I just remembered a Katieism she said today and didn't want to forget to document it!

Katie was talking to Eli and said "I'm bored with anger at you". We have no idea what that means, but it was funny!