Our Visit to the Exploratorium

We spent the day at the Exploratorium in San Francisco today. Everyone of my kids loved it.
The children got to feel what Alice must have felt like when she drank her "drink me" bottle and ate her little cakes as they played with visual perception.

They had fun bouncing metal marbles at just the right angle to get them to go through hoops at varying distances.

The saw the different patterns that differently shaped rods would vibrate in.

A favorite of the older children was the high voltage electricity that skipped through the air from one rod to another.

Sethy's favorite was the water. In this exhibit the children got to place objects in a continuously flowing stream of water which had foam on top and so made foam trails around what they placed. Sethy also decided it was a cool place to drive the car he was carrying in his hand.



There were many more hands-on exhibits, including cow eye and sheep brain dissections. My daughter was fascinated by these, but I must confess that like my son it made my stomach turn.

Visit to a Waldorf Charter School

I got to observe in eight classrooms at a Waldorf Charter School this week and then sit down with the principal and ask questions for about an hour. I was not in any classroom more than twenty minutes. For those who know me they know it is hard for a public school to impress me, but I was impressed. I have been in a few charter schools that are supposed to be following a specific method and for the most part I have found them to be poor quality compared to private schools that follow specific methods. I have not visited the private Waldorf school in the area, but I plan to observe there soon. I have, however, read their curriculum, philosophy and seen videos of their teachers teaching specific lessons. These schools are very different from your regular school. They have different goals, methods, curriculum, and hopes for the children. This charter school has an exemption from the district, so the only rule is that they have to meet all of the standards by the end of eighth grade, but not in any particular order, and the kids have to test yearly from second through eighth grade. This frees them to follow the traditional Waldorf curriculum, which makes the school look much more like a private school.

The first class I walked into was a first grade room. The students were sitting at their desks with their five note recorders in hand (at least they looked like recorders to me, though the teacher had flute written on the board). The teacher would tell the kids a song and they would play it in unison. She alternated these with vocal songs. Every child had a small wooden basket on his or her desk for the flute and for handwork of felt, beeswax and finger knitting. A beautiful chalk drawing was on the board and the students single color watercolors were on one wall.

The chalk drawings and watercolors are characteristic of this method of education and were found in every room. All of the chalk drawings were beautiful and done by the teachers to accompany some lesson. A sample of a full board one is here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBAi29Fy6yg. The students do a guided watercolor painting every month from first grade through eighth. The younger students do paintings of only one color, then as they grow they add another and another until they have finally built up to painting with the whole palette.

In a third grade class I went into all of the desks had been shoved to the side of the room and the children were doing a walking dance in two circles. The inner circle went one way while the outer went the other. They then recited a very long poem/lesson about the history of the Jews. Then they did a math lesson in which they made their circles again and with their steps created all of the ways to make 9. They went forward 9 and back 0, then forward 8 and back 1 etc. When they went forward they counted and when they went back they stepped silently. After they were done with this the eurythmy teacher came in and the children put on dance shoes and acted out a story from Jewish history with their bodies.

I then observed a class at recess. This school has a typical jungle gym and then a garden. All of the kids were in the garden, playing tag, digging or sitting and talking. These students are never stopped in their outdoor play. If it is pouring they still go outside and they dig in the mud if they want to. Rubber boots are provided for each child.

I then went into a 3rd/4th combo class where the students were just talking with the teacher. The conversation meandered. A couple of the boys were finger knitting during this time. Apparently the children had recently gone on a field trip to Sutter’s fort and this was part of the conversation. There was a beautiful chalk drawing of California on the board along with a willow tree. After awhile, a boy asked if they could go run now. The teacher said okay lets go take a run. They asked if they should do the obstacle course or the run first and the teacher said run and then obstacle course and then the students were off. There was an amazing amount of respect for what the teacher said. The relationship was very different and you could feel it.

These teachers start with a group of kids in first grade and then move up with the kids all the way to eighth grade, so the kids and teacher get to know each other very well and in some of the older classes an underlying playfulness, like siblings might have permeated the classroom. For instance, the eighth grade class was on the blacktop practicing a sword fight dance. It got rough at one point and then everyone started laughing. They then went on to a circle tag game, which looked a little like duck-duck-goose, but way more vigorous. This was played enthusiastically by all and often rang with laughter.

I went into a 5th grade room which was doing a math lesson. The teacher was using a Saxon book, but she was reading different problems out loud to different groups of students. These students were writing the problems in their mainlesson book. None of the students have or use textbooks through sixth grade in this school. Instead, the teacher orally delivers all of the material, often in a whimsical manner to the students, who then create beautiful beeswax drawings in their mainlesson books, which is usually just a blank book of some sort. They then write about what they have learned.

I then went in to the sixth grade room. This one was talking about explorers and the teacher was giving the students a very typical public school assignment-make an advertisement as if you were looking for young boys to take on an exploring expedition. This is the only room that I didn’t see a marked difference between the traditional methods and the Waldorf methods. As I watched I could almost tick off the traditional seven steps of “Essential Elements of Instruction” that traditional teachers use.

I then went and talked to the principal and a Kindergarten teacher. The kindergartens were not open to guests that day, but she explained how everything was taught through play and storytelling. They did not usually read to the students instead the teachers told very long, up to a half hour story with expression, whimsy and body movements and then they let the children respond to the stories. They also did handwork and movements, interspersed with play with hand made objects. I also learned that it takes about 2.25 years past the teaching credential to get Waldorf certified and takes about another $20,000.

I now want to go back and observe the kindergarten and I want to see the private school, also. I also ordered a few ideas online and have begun reading some more of the method. I don’t think I could give up reading tons of books to my children, but I do want to learn how to tell them stories from myself also. I think we are also going to dabble with water coloring, felt work and form drawings this summer. I’d love to teach some music in this way, but that would require that I learn how to sing, so that will be awhile. We can do the recorder more though. Did I mention I really enjoy guiding my children to try so many things in their education? It’s so fun for me.

What Have We Been Doing For School?

We've been acting like animals during drama games as we wait for scripts to be handed out.
We have been created dioramas of the animals on the African savannahs.

We have been boarding airplanes and checking out cockpits,
and usig models to see how the planes fly.
We have been making books on Harriet Tubman,
and Abraham Lincoln.


We have been learning to lead horses,
and to ride them.
And we have been hole punching little butterflies and begging for our work to be photographed.

I Made a Rug

I have been wanting to try latch hooking for awhile, but don't have the time to learn it right now. When I saw a crocheted rug, I figured I could do that instead. I love the colors in this rug. I still need to add a nonstick backing. But I'm toally seeing scarf possibilities as well.

New Year's Eve

I was downloading pictures and realized I never blogged about New Year's Eve. It was so fun I just have to tell about it. Our friends from Logan, Utah came and stayed with us for two nights. We all love this family. The adults talked and talked, while the kids played. New Years Eve the adults were talking and watching a movie and we realized we hadn't heard from the kids in awhile. They were all in our room/garage. We went to check on them and they had a full fledged New Years Party Eve going on. They had rolled out a carpet for everyone to walk on and they had gotten a Cd player and then the CD Jars of Clay, which is an alternative Christian group to play rather loudly. They then got a light bright without the pegs which they set on a chair that they spun so that the little circles would flash around the ceiling and walls of the room, which made a cool disco effect. They had written 2008 on a big piece of paper and then ripped it all up and welcomed in 2009 and then danced. I tell you, I am letting this crew plan my next party.

Kevin's Work and My School

I realized I have not updated everyone in awhile on here. We have been blessed with a new job for Kevin two days before his old one was supposed to end. He is now a technical editor for a company that analyzes enerygy usage for large companies and government agencies. It pays pretty well and is a full time permanent position with benefits including retirement that have already started. The best part is that it doesn't look like this company is going to go under or lay off anytime soon (like the last three). They just got a really, really large three year contract. Big sigh of relief. We are so blessed to find this position in this rough economy.

He has also been working on the side for his dad. This is great, but I sure miss having him home by six. It makes it hard for me to do homework, but I'll make it. I am in the last week of my last class, except for student teaching which I am supposed to start in three weeks, but have yet to find a placement for.

What about college? And Yuba City Homeschooling

Another homeschooling question and my answer, thought I'd share because others have asked similar questions.

"Thanks for all the great info! Your kids are doing such great things. I wish all children could experience pursuing their interests to their hearts delight, it sounds wonderful! I think one of my biggest fears is failing to teach them things that they will need to know when they go to college. I have also heard that it is difficult for homeschoolers to get into major universities. I know that this is changing as it becomes more the norm, and schools and employers are seeing home schooled young adults as great assets to their schools/companies. If you don't mind me asking, what are your plans for getting your children into college? Will you have them take an SAT or any exams when they approach "high school graduation"?

All of the programs you describe sound wonderful, but I fear living out here in Plumas Lake I will have to do a lot of driving to offer my kids these kinds of activities. You sound like you have a lot of neat "supplies". Do you go through a charter school and where do you order most of your materials from?

One other thing I wonder about is how well I will be at committing so much time to now educating my children on my own. I know it can only benefit them and me but with how I can't seem to get done all the things I would like to get done in a day...it's intimidating to think of spending 3 hours a day sitting down and teaching the children. It sounds like your kids are a bit self-motivated. Is that their ages or just because they've been doing it so long?"


I think you are right to be concerned about preparing them for college. One thing many parents are doing is taking a few community college classes with their students when they are still at home, at 15, 16 or 17 to help them prepare. You can also do a few college prep classes within a charter school or just teach them to take good notes on Sacrament talks and how to pass clep and SAT tests.

As far as Universities accepting homeschooled students, I don’t think that is an issue anymore. BYU, Yale, Harvard, William and Mary etc. all have homeschool submission departments. They want to see portfolio’s of the students’ work and test scores along with lists of areas they have studied. Of course, if you go with a charter school you will have a regular diploma, so it won’t really matter-the college won’t even know the students were taught at home unless they research the type of public school. If you do a private school affidavit then you will also issue a diploma just from a private school.

I completed my AA at a local college, then got my BA from Ashford University and am almost done with my teaching credential from Rio Salado, none of these are top schools, but I was never once asked about being homeschooled in high school, they all just wanted to see if I could pass their entrance exams. It was honestly never an issue. We may do something similar for the kids. We may have them stay home for their AA’s (Kevin really wants these completed before their missions), clepping out of part of it and then transfer to a University after that (when they get home from their missions). Also the charter schools will pay for any college you want to do before the student is 18, which may be a benefit in saving for the university. If the SAT is still used to evaluate students I will have them take it, it is being called into question by many universities right now, so we’ll see what happens with it in 10 years.

I am with a charter school. I completely understand the issue of accepting money from the government and allowing them into your home to dictate how the child is educated, because that is why so many of us pulled our kids out of school. But I have decided for me that the pros outweigh the cons, mostly because I will be done with my teaching credential and intend to be a supervising teacher with one of the charter schools=). That way I can still control a lot of it and make money helping other people set up their homeschools, which I totally love to do. I also have three school aged kids and get $4500 a year from the school towards supplies and classes, that is a lot of fun products and activities. I am with South Sutter, so there are hundreds of places we can purchase. Rainbow Resource is the cheapest and largest. Others are here http://www.sscs.cc/search/search_vendors.php.

As far as activities in your area. There is a large very active and very supportive homeschool group up there. They are awesome and I so miss them. Some of the moms do classes and they have weekly park days with about fifty kids. They do public speaking activities regularly and they have a lot of ideas. You can find more info on them here http://homeschool.meetup.com/532/ . They also do regular field trips and art classes at the library. Many of them also joined the gym in Marysville which offers two homeschool sports days a week for the kids and is paid for by the charter school. Others are in the youngstersinc gymnastics which is in Yuba City. There is also swimming, drama, horseback riding, golf, tennis, voice and piano in your area that is paid for by the charter schools. Once you get hooked up with the group you will find more activities locally than you will really want to do.

As far as the time thing, I am not going to lie. It does take a lot of time in the beginning. At this point I can get away with a lot less, but I really worked on my older kids independence from me in their studies, because I knew I would be student teaching this year and I wanted them to continue. Kindergarteners through about halfway through second grade or until they are reading decently are pretty dependent, but they don’t require as much time so it is okay.

The other thing that counteracts the time spent teaching the kids is that they are there to help with the household chores-I take full advantage of this and fully expect my kids to help with almost all of the cleaning, some child care tasks and even cooking. Also I am not running the kids to school or doing homework with them. I am living with my sister-in-law and all of the time she spends directly on these activities is about the same amount of time I spend directly teaching my kids and she doesn’t have the household chore help of having her kids around. Of course, my kids do study without me also. They study on their own because the choice of activities are things to study and they have helped develop their learning goals and the older two have just begun to really enjoy studying.

Okay, this is turning into a book, so I’ll stop, but let me know if you have any other questions.

The Kids Daily Schooling "Schedule"

I was asked by a mom who is thinking of homeschooling, mainly because her kids are so busy with school and homework that they are not having enough time to play, what my day looked like. Here it is:

Right now it varies, because I am working in an elementary school two days a week, which gives me the perspective of seeing both first hand. Typically, though, I wake at 6ish, make my husband lunch and get him off etc. by 7:15 then I bring the older children on to my bed and we read and discuss books for about an hour. Then Kamron and Aubrey do their independent work. We usually eat in the middle of this work. Kamron is somewhat assigned, becuase he just preferred that I assign it to him and every time I asked him if he had any ideas he typically said no I like what you are doing, but when he does have a suggestion we usually try to incorporate it without letting him "study playing" all day. Aubrey has very minimal requirements of a math page and a couple chapters of reading each day. That's her only requirement, because she adds all kinds of things to this. She has several things she has put in her backpack that she calls her backpack work. This includes journal writing, spelling, four reading books, which includes right now The Book of Mormon Reader, History for Little Pilgrim's, McGuffy Third Grade Reader, My Father's World (science), a collection of worksheets she asked me to copy and a composition book. They do most of this work on their own unless they want my help. They bring me their work when they are done and we go over it and they often correct or redo anything that is not done really well. Kamron often is working until a little after lunch, while Aubrey is done by about 11 a.m. and then she sometimes does a class with her three younger brothers, where she does some songs, reads to them and makes up other activities. Sometimes we skip all of this and do an activity or go on a field trip.

Then they will pick what they want to study. For awhile Aubrey was doing science experiments everyday and Kamron was playing piano. Kamron still does a lot of piano, but now they are both really into this really good art computer program which has some great lessons about art topics-it's called Creativity Express. Kamron also does a lot of music theory through computer programs. Aubrey will often do art projects, too.

While the older two kids are doing their independent work I do a reading lesson with Brennen, he does a handwriting page and a math activity and then I usually read two or three things to him. Sometimes we do a piano lesson and often he does a computer program. It takes about an hour. The younger two are playing or joining in with Brennen typically.

The kids also do classes. Kamron and Aubrey are in a science club that does one science field trip each month and one huge science project each month (they built the entire digestive track last time and watched how it worked). They also joined a Science in the everyday environment class at the library. Kamron does voice lessons once a week and scouts once a week. Aubrey does a drama class at the Sacramento Theatre Company once a week, she is taking riding lessons and has activity days every other week. Brennen is taking riding lessons and all of the younger three kids are in a kindermusic type class that is done as an enrichment class down here each week. All of these classes are either free or paid for by the school. I don't typically recommend doing this many classes, but in our circumstances it worked, partially because I am not driving them to some of these and since I am busy they can go and do them without me really being involved.

So that is basically our schedule as it pertains to the kids school. Not very scripted or set in stone. I have done it more set, like 8-9 we do this and 9-10 we do that, but right now this is working better for us.

25 Things About Me

I've been tagged and asked to write 25 things about myself.

1. I am working on getting certified to substitute teach this week.
2. My son is taking voice lessons, partially because he is musical and partially so that I can sit in on the lessons and try to learn how to sing-something about directing the voice to the center of the face, which is called the mask and is a natural microphone,--and there is something about quacking like a duck.
3. My cat ate ALL of my neighbor’s fish this last week.
4. I lost a baby in December.
5. I am 29 and already going gray, even my father-in-law began plucking out my gray hairs the other day, sigh.
6. Last Saturday I sat downtown trying to study while waiting for my daughter in her acting class, but instead I began creating a list of what I could possibly do for the homeless people-anyone have extra flannel or batting?
7. I’ve only dyed my hair once, but I may do it again-see #5.
8. I had to have a no boyfriend conversation with my daughter last week, as she cried and proclaimed her devotion to a rather chivalrous young (young) man. I even drew diagrams of how the relationships progress when one is boyfriends and when one is friends for a long time and then grow into other relationships if it is right, like after 18. My daughter understood a little, but bewailed the length of time that would be-she is 8.
9. I am currently living in a very cozy garage in my sister-in-laws house. It is heated and carpeted though, so it’s actually pretty nice.
10. My five children are living in the house and sharing rooms with their cousins.
11. I am 5 months away from my teaching credential, but am not intending to teach full time in a classroom.
12. I was surprised to realize that I actually really enjoy teaching in a classroom during my practicums.
13. I have to figure out how to get a large stain out of my daughter’s pants, because the above mentioned chivalrous young (young) man dropped her when attempting to carry her over a puddle.
14. I get to start teaching the wolf scouts, 8-year-old boys, next week.
15. My husband’s job ends next week with the factory closing, anyone need a computer desk top support person?
16. I am a regular at yoga class.
17. My husband loves me a great deal and I take great joy in being able to help him when he is stressed, yet I haven’t found the magic spot to kiss and make-it-all-better.
18. My son is practicing the piano, again, in preparation for a special musical number he is playing in Sacrament meeting next month. I never thought I would actually ask him to stop playing for awhile. I need to switch him over to the keyboard, and find headphones=).
19. My youngest son cries if you change his diaper, and continues crying from five minutes to one hour after it has been changed-he is my least consolable child.
20. We own four laptops, and we use them all.
21. My oldest son has decided to use a headphone microphone so that he will not ever have to repeat himself, and he has been at it all morning. By the way he narrates his life, “so if I sit at this desk and…”
22. My fourth child has decided he has now gotten big enough for school and requests work and “projects” and then sits down and studiously does them-or not.
23. I find a great deal of satisfaction in creating things and have become a halfway decent crochet artist.
24. I tend to read about six books at one time, all nonfiction, and I read whenever I get a spare minute, which means I have been on the same six books for about a year.
25. I occasionally get very homesick for the country and have been known to drive for three hours just to see fields and real farms. I have also been known to sign up two of my children for pony riding lesson just so that I have an excuse to visit a ranch once a week-they start next Tuesday, yeah!


If you are reading this post, consider yourself tagged. Write 25 things about yourself on your blog and leave a comment on mine with a link.

Press and Release Schooling

I was asked for help with a little boy who is learning to read, but has suddenly started resisting anything to do with it. She asked if she should continue to press him, or play hardball and make him do the work she wants him too. She is part of a homebased charter school and so has to submit reports of the work they do and so has that added pressure. They have recently moved and had all of the holidays etc.

My response to her is below;

"I have been there before. With Kamron I forced the issue and made him read and brought him to tears many times. It took several years before he started to enjoy reading again (he's ten and just informed me the other day that he likes reading almost as much as piano-which is saying something, but this took a long time of me backing off). So, no I wouldn't push him to read if he is just refusing. I would instead focus my energies somewhere else that is still educational. For instance, a good bug unit study, like the one at www.handsofachild.com, which is an approved vendor, or a creation of a family tree with a timeline of lifespans to help him to begin to put history in perspective may be good. If I were you I would go with a project that is tangible, but unrelated to reading, that way you will have something to show the ES, and he will feel like he accomplished something challenging, had fun and learned at the same time. I am not sure what you are using for reading, but you may want to adjust that. I really like the Leapfrog ABC video as two of my younger sons learned all of their basic sounds from it and I didn't even need to be involved. You may want to step back to just play verbal games for awhile, rhyming, same beginning sounds, even writing out the alphabet and play a game where you each have to think of an animal or a food that starts with each letter, this will also help him learn his sounds.

The only time I would play hardball was if it is very obvious that he is just disobeying, he's not tired, hungry or stressed he is just refusing to do something that he is fully capable of and you feel is necessary to his proper growth."

I have found so much of our studies to be this way. It is a matter of knowing our children well enough to know when to press and when to back off. This year I pressed my son hard in writing. I taught him how to write a basic five paragraph essay and then required about three per week until he really got it. This was really hard for him, but I felt it was important for him so that he could begin researching and reporting on almost anything in a format other than the basic narration-which he had mastered. He really go these essays and then I backed off writing to concentrate on other areas of study. We have done the same thing in many other areas. For instance, my daughter got to the point when she was done with math, so we took off two months and then picked it back up a step below where she had been before, she then quickly grasped her lessons and moved forward. So much our studies are this way, press in a subject, release that subject, press somewhere else, release and eventually come back to that subject when they are ready. A key to keeping the love of learning alive is to keep the challenge appropriate and not press to the point of breaking. I hope all of that makes sense.

Cottage Industries and New Law

Just an update for those trying to save their cottage industry businesses. A class action lawsuit is being filed by those who work from home making products for children. The link to this is here http://reformcpsia.org/2009/01/class-action-lawsuit/.

This issue is hugely important and should not be ignored. By denying family businesses the right to make and sell goods we are shifting the central principles of our society even further from the family and to the individual who works for a large corporation. If we want to keep the family as the central unit of society we have to fight for it.

Within the lecture on the depth phase of education at this site http://www.tjedonline.com/audio.php is a really great discussion of the principle ideas and shifts in them and the current shift that we are in, family vs. individual working for the corporation. I encourage everyone, homeschoolers and others alike to listen to this lecture and be aware of what they are educating their children and themselves for. Is it so they can grow up and get a job or do they have a real purpose in being here, a noble purpose, a God-given purpose?

The Government is Here to Take Care of You-No Need to Think for Yourself, Don't Worry the Highly Incompetent Lawmakers Will Do it For You

In one swoop the government has closed down the cottage industries, such as Hope Chest Legacy, which I love, most small businesses geared towards children, such as both my sisters' who have made and sold children's products from home, the children's department in Goodwill, which will be tossing all of their children's departments into the landfill before the February 10th deadline, and it looks like the children's section of the public libraries as well.

I don't have a problem with a law saying things should be labeled and then let the consumer decide, but to say we will give you no other choice but to purchase from large retailers, new items, that will now have to pay for all of this testing which will increase your costs, is tyrannical. I'm sure it will help our ailing economy, too.

The real question is where are the statesmen in our government-not the reactionaries, that have no core principles to judge their decisions by, and come up with stupid hasty laws that create bigger messes than the ones they were trying to fix in the first place? We need people who get the fact that in order to be free me people need to be free to make their own decisions even decisions viewed as dumb or unhealthy by others. We should not be making laws against every dumb decisions, so that noone has any choice, but to make what the government deams a good decision.

Perhaps, this is part of why so many of us homeschooling moms have felt prompted to collect and store really good books in our homes and to not rely on the public libraries to have them.

For more links you can go here:

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/Cpsia/cpsia.html

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6627969.html

--Update--
The law was added to to say that resellers did not have to test their products, but if they sold anything within the lead limits they would still have to pay the fines, so they will be taking on a large risk if they sell certain catergories of items, but it is up to them.

There has been nothing to address the unique cottage industries yet.

Personality Type

My sister just did a blog entry on personality. I replied to her and thought I would also put it here. If you are familiar with the color code at all-I am a red, with some blue and white and absolutely no yellow. What that means is that I am drawn to and motivated by accomplishment, relationships, peace but not at all fun. Pretty sad, huh? When I first got married and Kevin wanted to do something spontaneous it would drive me up the wall, but I am learning to adapt and I think I have probably gained a little yellow, but not enough to outway the planner, thinker, leader part of me. I consider a day well spent when I have checked almost everything off my list. The only way I can consider an amusement outing well spent is if I learned something, my kids learned something or I got something done on the ride over there. This is why, don't tell my husband, but I hate going to the movies-what a waste of time and money (yet, he loves them and I love him, so we go monthly).

For me, an ideal date is some type of cultural experience where we can walk away with a new idea or perspective and then can talk about it and analyze it. We visited an art museum a little while ago and sat in on a lecture about art history and the use of mirrors to create the proper perspective in Jan van Eyck's paintings-you'll notice it in the chandelier of "The Wedding of Giovanni." They showed a slide of a guy who had taken a wharehouse and put up art prints by time period and then studied this perspective and the shine in metal in paintings-oh, it got my wheels turning. You will probably see a room in a future house with all of the paintings we are collecting in chronological order during the children's youth years. To me this was an awesome date. Notice, how fun doesn't really enter the picture for me. Oh, well, these types of experiences create memories too.

There may be hope for me, though, because I still actually enjoy roller coasters and I can't see a single red or white thing about them.

If you want to, go here http://www.colorcode.com/, take the test and tell me what color are you?

Crochetted Presents

My mother always made so much of our Christmas presents with her hands. To me this was always part of Christmas, because it is more of a giving from self. As Christmas got closer this year and I was so busy I bought all of the presents, but then felt an irresistable urge to make something. My daughter was getting an 18" doll and so I wanted to make an outfit. I found a pattern for a long sleeved doll dress, but because I am terrible at following directions it became a short sleeved sweater, which I liked better. I then made a matching skirt. I also made her doll the necklace too along with two others and gave her all of it in a little hope chest.








My niece also has an 18" doll, so I decided to make her a long coat, hat and muff. I kind of did follow the pattern for this. I found it online, but can't find it again. I'll post the link when I can find it.








My other niece was getting a 15" baby doll, so I decided to make her doll a dress. I used this pattern for a 9" doll and tweaked it as I went. http://www.crochetnmore.com/nineand1halfdolldress.htm I love this dress. I think the ribbon adds so much and it has little rosebud buttons on the back.






After I did all of this I realized that my daughter was getting a horse for her doll, but would have no pants so Christmas Eve I made a pair of pants for her too.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was my favorite part of Christmas. We got together with my husband's side of the family at his Aunt's and Uncle's house. We ate ham and many, many goodies as we caught up on all of the news with the extended family. Then we dressed the children for a Christmas play.








Before the play began my older three children along with two of their cousin's put on a preformance. It began with Justin playing Jingle Bells and the other for children singing adding an additional fun ending of their own to it. Then Kamron and Justin played a self created duet of We Three Kings. The Aubrey and Savannah sang a pretty and animated version of Silent Night. Then Kamron wrapped it up with Jolly Old Saint Nicholas on the piano.



Of course, after this several other cousins had to preform various Christmas songs. These less polished versions, were darling sung by two-year-olds that forgot half the words and trailed off and then jumped up and down while clapping.
After this, Devan and his dad, Uncle Steve read Luke 2 while the other children acted out with occasional pauses for the whole family to sing several songs.








After the children were done, Uncle Steve played Mary Did You Know on Guitar, while Aunt Kelly sang. It is so much fun to hear them sing. This was followed by everyone singing several songs, including the traditional 12 Days of Christmas with a twist. We got to make up our own gifts for the day we had and then everyone had to sing with us on the next time around. We had kissing near the mistletoe, 5 babies crying, and 8 candy canes. Kevin, Kamron and I chose 7 lego sets at Kamron's rather strong suggestion.


After the songs the children sat on the rug while Great Gandpa Larson read The Night Before Christmas and then we sang a Santa song and Santa walked in the door bringing a gift for each of the children.




After a white elephant exchange set to a story about Rudolph going left and right as the presents went left and right, we opened gifts to each other, hugged everyone and headed home. Yes, it was late when everyone was finally tucked in---very late.

Apple's Under the Table

We walked in and saw this one day last week.

Cutting Down the Tree

We try to cut our own tree down each year. Since our cousin's don't have a strong tradition here they went with us. Our tradition goes back to my childhood of wandering around the tree farm, trying to find the best tree. After a few trees are selected as possibilities Mom decides which one is to be The Tree. In our case, after I have decided, Dad then tries to change everyone's mind, but eventually Mom gets her way=).

The boys took awhile, but they cut the tree down completely by themselves.

Logan's Vespers

I read Logan the story of The Three Little Pigs the day before yesterday. He must have been thinking about it, because last night he prayed,

"Dear Heavenly Father, bless us that our house will be made out of bricks, and that it will be full of children...and food ... and books, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Amen.

Math Practicum

I started my math practicum at the Montessori school. It makes me glad that my kids are home schooled=). There were 39 kids in the class with two teachers. The kids are combined almost all of the time. I was there for three hours and not once did the kids use any manipulatives or hands-on materials and this is a 2nd/3rd grade "Montessori" school, which is supposed to be very hands-on. They did 4 worksheets and each read silently alone. The teacher sat them down and went over roman numerals for awhile, which could have been good had the teacher then followed it up with a check for understanding. At one point there was a kid hiding under the table, others drawing on white boards, kids leaving the room and a constant amount of talking with the teacher yelling across the room to hush everyone. ANd I thought our house got loud with a few toddlers. She told me at the break that she had been looking for a new job, just because these kids were so awful. By the way, this is not an inner city school. Of course, there are a lot of awesome teachers out there, but may I suggest, once again, making sure the teacher your child has is awesome, and if he or she isn't find an alternative-and there are many. I get to observe another Montessori teacher team next week-I'm really hoping for a good example of the method.

My daughter-the photographer

My daughter has been playing with my camera lately. I can see the artisic talent bubbling forth, can't you?

A portrait of one of her mother's very common looks.

This one is entitled "The Blue Chair."

Very strong teeth, no?

This is a study on drool. Seth is the reigning champion and A.J. is taking the victory photo.

Look Who Got a New Bed

Logan's bed was too big for the room he is sharing with his cousin and brother, so he has been camping out and sleeping with Kevin and I for a couple weeks. I knew this situation had to be remedied after talking to him one day. He said he wanted to go back to our other house, and I could tell he was feeling like he didn't know where to go part of the day. So we got this little bed for our Thomas fan and he was so excited. He cuddled down into it and said, "Now, I have my very own spot." He later told his brother that Christmas was all done, because he already got his bed present. And then he said, "So I'm four now." Hmmm.

Thanksgiving Firsts

I had two firsts this Thanksgiving and both left my body very sore. First, my oldest son and I, along with my sister-in-law and her son and some other friends ran the 10k turkey trot. I was rather proud that Kamron kept going and going. He was funny though, because he has no middle. He either walked really slow or ran fast. We kept trying to show him how to do a slow jog and it was not working. In the end we bribed him with a new small lego set to keep his motivation up. When he got the set he declared that the run was totally worth it. We made it in 1 hour and 24 minutes. My older kids are doing a fun run marathon where they have to run 27 miles in 6 weeks-and this one knocked out 6.5 of those, so that was pretty awesome.


Before the run

And after

My other first was that after dinner with my husbands family we played football, and I scored a touch down. Okay most of the players were less than three-and-a-half feet tall, but I did actually catch the ball while running (which is probably a first in and of itself) and then I ran with through the correct tree and pole thingy.
At one point in this game I was talking to my toddler when I turned around and saw my husband chasing my brother-in-law who had the ball, I realized that if I ran I could tag my bil, so I did and I tagged him, unfortunately so did my husband and then we collided---hard. We hit the ground hard and my ribs are still bruised, along with my hip and my knee and ... I think I'll just let the guys play next year because I have this sneaking suspicion that I don't really know what I'm doing.

What I am Thankful for

So I thought I would start a list of the things that happen that I am in thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving. Here is my list from yesterday and today:


The silliness that comes when we have stayed up too late
A little niece that sneaks into our room before bed and cries when she has to leave "Aunt Sissa"
A princess who prays with me and then wants hugs
Laughter
Kind friends who take my children on wonderful, worthy adventures
That wonderful age when you have no idea what the next statement your child is going to make, “Well, I need a security belt too, then I will stick my head in the ice chest.”
Having to flex my creativity muscles so that I am able to reply to such statements
A mother-in-law who comes over “for just a few minutes,” and then leaves hours later with several kids in her car
Vacation days, when I hunker down and read …a novel
The accomplishment when my son plays the piano and the toddler walks in and says, “that song is from rocket when he was flying allegro” rocket is Little Einstein’s for those who are currently not hanging out with the toddler set
Fairies, and the little girls who love them
Books on tapes
Kids who love books on tape
Pretty music
The less than pretty music my children make…
The feeling that you know something is going right when your kindergartener jumps up and down, because Mom promises him and his cousin a piano lesson this very afternoon
Family who is welcoming and willing to sacrifice just to help
Cozy quilts on cold nights
Laptops
Library internet connections
Buying Christmas presents for children and the anticipation of when they will open them
Knowing what I am going to get my husband… I think
All-inclusive science kits and a daughter who loves them
Motherhood
Family game night
Chocolate chips in my morning oatmeal
That my children are all safe and well
That my baby, and toddler cry when I leave and they all run and hug me and then cling for at least two minutes after I get back
That yoga doesn’t stop with the gentle level
That the gym provides daycare
A really neat old gnarly oak tree at the park
Baby kisses
Irish pennywhistles
That I don't have to look very far for examples of awesome people that I want to be like
That I currently do not have a dog
The creative choices my son uses when he selects words in essays and that he is progressing rapidly in the writing department
Garages
That craigslist had a toddler bed that included Thomas Bedding on the day I was looking for both—and noone had snagged it first
Naps
Winter
That the principal from the Montessori school finally said I could come observe in her school
That bears have very long tongues and I got to watch a delighted five-year-old discover this
That people are ticklish
The knowledge that God is in charge and all will work out in wonderful ways in the
end

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Update and A.J.

We are settling in again at my sister-in-laws house. I have been so blessed with such a giving family. My sister-in-law is one of those people that loves people around and most of her kids have taken on this trait. Kamron and Brennen are sharing a room with their cousin Justin. They are thrilled about it and are absolutely inseperable-to the point that Kamron has even gone to Justin's soccer games, piano lessons and scouts. They are also very pragmatic and Kamron told me the other day "we just agreed that we would be perfectly equal and agree on everything." And amazingly they do. Kamron has always been easy going and Justin is slightly mature in his understanding of relationships so it has worked really well. They are both doing their homework on my bed right now. They are both in 5th grade but working through different math programs so sometimes one will know something before the other and they will teach each other. Justin goes to public school and is gone most of the day, but since Kamron starts math at 7 a.m. he gets to help him before he goes every day.
My daughter Aubrey Jewel is not fairing quite as well with her cousin who is two years younger. They love each other and play a lot together, but they also both have daily emotional roller coasters going on. Girls. We went to the new ward at church the last two Sundays, and then I took Aubrey to Achievement Days. When I picked her up one of the girls asked me who I was and I said I was Aubrey's mom. She goes we don't have an Aubrey here. When we left all of the little girls go, "Good-bye A.J." Then I get stopped in the hall and am asked when is A.J.'s birthday for the records. A.J.? Yes, my daughter has introduced herself as A.J. to the entire ward. Yesterday, she also informed us that her name will now be A.J. even to the family and she will no longer respond to Aubrey. We are trying to accomodate her wishes, mostly because it is so amusing. At least she is not introducing herself as Kim, which is what she used to tell strangers at the park.