Wednesday, June 1, 2016

May

Partner Author for this post: Seth!

That's Sethie!

It's a fire! (We are cooking out each Monday, and technically it's not a fire, but I told him it was super hot and not to touch even after the initial lighting of the coals, so I'm impressed he remembered!)

It's blocks on the fire!

The breads! (Scones!)

I'm going that way outside the house. 

We're eating them. 

The temple!

Uh... I don't know what that is. (It's a sourdough bread starter =o])

That's the water play place!

That's Sethie in the water! I like playing in the water!

That's your scriptures mom. 

I don't know.

I don't know mom!

That's Natalie standing by the piano. 

It's a puppy!!

We cleaned the basement! That's Jenna!

That's Caleb's soccer game. 

We're eating lunch! Mommy I so hungry right now!! That's you mom! 

(From fb: Happy Mother's Day! I am so grateful to be a mother! I learn so much from my children and as I try to teach them to be their best I grow in ways I couldn't on my own. I love them with all my heart!!)

I don't know about that. 

Natalie! I don't know where she is. That's the temple! 

(From fb: I am so happy for Caleb! Today he and his friends wanted to swim in our neighbor's pool. I tried to dissuade them by making them pull weeds in her yard to earn the privilege but they filled a pail without complaining. So then I expressed my real concern that I didn't think he could actually swim in the deep end and didn't want him to drown (I didn't want to embarrass him, but I also didn't want to babysit them back there with so much yard work of my own to do!!) and told him that he could swim with his friends if I pushed him in the deep end and he swam to the side. He said he could. So we went back there, he got a running start and jumped about a third of the way across the pool and then swam to the opposite corner!!! I was so surprised and so happy for him to have learned this life skill! I ran home and got my phone so I could get some pictures of his accomplishment! I love watching my children grow!)


(From fb: I just finished my study of this highly recommended book The Anatomy of Peace. I think The Arbinger Institute has nailed it on the head yet again! As with their previous book (which I also found helpful when I read it in college) Leadership and Self-Deception, they set up a fictional situation to introduce and discuss life changing strategies for resolving conflict and creating peaceful, practical solutions in our relationships. This is my favorite diagram from the book. We should spend most of our time in the bottom sections of this pyramid, and when there is a problem in one level, we go to the level below it and make goals and spend our time and energy there to stabilize the situation. Genius!!! I am so grateful for inspired people who share their ideas so the world can be a better place! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to study the topics of my choice, so that I can apply them to myself and live a better life!)


That's a game!

That's a big water! We are swimming!!

(I did this detox cleanse thing with a friend and just take a good look at all the nasty stuff that came out! The water was clear when we started people. I think we don't even realize the stress our bodies are under trying to process all the junk we eat, drink, and breathe into them!)

(Natalie took a turn too =o])

(From fb: We are loving our Monday night cookouts!! I want to improve my outdoor cooking skills and also see if we can make our favorites without conventional means! 
 Today was an old family standby, Chicken Divan. I must say using the Dutch oven adds a rustic flavor I wasn't expecting! But it turned out well and so did the rice. It was only the broccoli that I tried to cook on the side in a separate tinfoil wrap that got overdone. 
Here's to a summer to come of fond memories and a dozen transformed recipes!)


Mom! (I got my hair chopped off shorter than it's been since college! I feel FREE!!)

Natalie at the water again!

Natalie and the tomato. Don't eat the green ones. 

We are playing mickey mouse cars! 

Caleb's soccer team!

He's playing soccer!

We got to watch a movie! Star Wars!!! (Thank you VidAngel!!)

We're eating popcorn!

Corn! Am I crying? ...no. Laughing! 

We are climbing way way up higher!

(You guys, Seth is adorable. I wish you could hear his little voice saying all these things =o])

May Homeschooling

Partner Author for this post: Natalie!

We painted some animals. 

Here are Jenna and Seth in the airplane. I wonder what they are doing??

Jenna is doing a strange play. I was backstage. 

This is us doing the Friday Friends book club! 


This is the set up for the American Girl book club that I am in! We hosted it at our house!

Here is me dutifully reading my 50th book of the year! 
(From fb:I am so happy for Natalie! At the beginning of this year she made a goal to read 100 chapter books in 2016. The book she is holding is number 50! She is assigned one chapter book a week as part of school, but the rest she is doing on her own. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to educate my children. To nurture their talents. To support them in their goals. To grow together!) 

Jenna in the dinosaur museum. 

Us with the little cute dinosaur we call Spike!

Us watching the movie about the meteor impact that could have killed the dinosaurs. The animation was so fake!

Us at the farm country. We were trying to feed the animals with grain spilled on the ground. They went crazy when we put the food in their enclosure! 

Us waiting to ride the ponies. 

Ah Seth is so cute!

Jenna wasn't scared about it!

Caleb enjoyed it!

And I did too!

Caleb waiting for his dinosaur volcano to crack open. It was strange. 

This is my American Girl book club! 

This was a fun opera show that we got to go to! It was funny!!


There is Seth attempting to draw my mom's hand. 

Jenna playing on the teeter-toter. 

Jenna and Caleb climbing the jungle gym. 

Jenna by the flowers. She seems to love the color pink, as you can see. 
(From fb: I am so happy for Jenna! Because...well...because I am just happy for her. I mean, look at her. I felt so happy for Natalie with her reading goals and so happy for Caleb with his swimming feat, and today as we walked through the discovery gardens at Thanksgiving Point and I saw Jenna by these beautiful flowers in her adorable "dance class outfit" that she insisted on wearing today even though she doesn't have class and her messy hair and her apple slice she dropped in the dirt but was eating anyway and her pink-lemonade-crocs and I just felt so happy for her that she is who she is and no other reason. It was such a fulfilling feeling that I had to take a picture to help me remember it. I feel honored and blessed to be a mother to these souls who have been entrusted in my care. I am in awe of them. I pray every day to be a good mom, to love them as He loves them, and to nurture them in the ways they need it most. It's a wonderful life!! ‪#‎livingthedream‬)

The hop and balance garden! That one was fun! 

Caleb playing in the sand garden. It wasn't really a garden, but a box. 

Me reading a very interesting book about rocks on the way home from the museum. 

Caleb got his own library card! 

He was thrilled!!

Us getting ready for graduation! I made the hats! (The kids really wanted to do a graduation so we went for it! I'm so glad we did and I'm sure we will continue the tradition for many years to come!)

Me in purple, Caleb in blue, and Jenna in pink, obviously. 

Us at Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate the graduation! 

Seth earned his scroll! (Kent was so creative and played the classic graduation music on his phone for the ceremony, and taught the kids about moving your tassel from one side to the other and then throwing your hats in the air. I am so grateful that he gets into stuff like this because he thinks of things I wouldn't and just makes it more special!)

He graduated from toddler school to preschool!

Jenna got her scroll! She graduated from preschool to T-Kindergarten!

Caleb earned his scroll and is popping his kindergarten balloon! 

He is moving from kindergarten to 1st grade! 

I earned my scroll and popped my balloon! I am moving from the 3rd grade to the 4th grade! 

This is us doing the hats in the air ceremony!

And this is our graduation cake! (Again, thank you Kent! He surprised us and brought it home. Even though he would never have dreamed of pulling our kids out of traditional public school as an option, he is SO SUPPORTIVE of our homeschool now and it means everything to me! And the kids were obviously beyond thrilled!! It was an awesome day!)

This is us at the Field Day with the (now called) Anyday Friends! 



(This was my favorite part- the moms vs. kids tug of war! Just seeing everyone laughing and playing together made my heart sing! I am so grateful to get to associate with these like-minded women- they are AWESOME and SO MUCH FUN!!!)





Us with books from all the author/illustrators we studied this past year! (I am so grateful we did this study! The contributions made by these people to the world are immeasurable, and the joy and learning they have brought to our family in the past year is too. Hooray for family unit studies! Now on to the next year of literature comprehension curriculum plans!!) 

I'm excited for the summer vacation to come!