"Winter" Semester

Winter out here is so mild.  It's cold just long enough to get in the Christmas Spirit, then the blossoms arrive and we all get allergies for four months!  The price of living in the nation's fruit basket, I suppose.  

Here are some highlights from after Christmas through the end of the school year.  I realized I didn't take many school or school-activity pictures this semester.  I was pretty burned out and struggled trying to find a balance with homeschool in the mix.

Sam got CLUE for Christmas and we stayed up late playing it one night he was sick with hand, foot and mouth disease.  All of the kids got it but showed varying symptoms. Michael threw up and Sam and Anna had horrible itching that kept them awake at night.  We all got a kick out of the new game though and Sam even BEAT ME!  The reigning Clue champion of the universe!  He was so happy!

We got a play structure so the kids could spend some more time outside swinging and hanging upside down and boy did they!  It's in the only shady spot in the yard and I can hear all kids of adventures taking place on it.  This was great because with homeschool in the morning and a napper in the afternoon, there wasn't much time to make it to the playground.  

Nate did adorable baby things.  He was so sweet to keep himself busy while we did schoolwork after breakfast for a couple of hours.  We got into a good routine, at the end of the year, where the boys helped clean up the kitchen by sweeping and wiping down the table, then they got dressed and made their beds while I finished up.  We started school with reading out of the New Testament and doing some grammar together, then they got to choose what they wanted to do independently by pulling post-it notes off of the fridge.  "Math" "Piano" "Read for 30 min" "Journal" etc.  They really enjoyed the freedom to choose.  Then they could play or watch a little t.v., usually later while I made dinner.  It all would have worked out if I hadn't felt so much pressure and if we had made it a little more fun but that takes time as well . . . 

Sometimes the house was clean and we had a fun lunch together when Anna came home from preschool.  These are fun memories.

Dressed up for a walk on a "winter's" day!  Anna wouldn't wear her jacket.  Sam and Michael must have been at cub scouts.

 In January my incredible Dad turned 80!  We had a small family dinner and a big birthday party that I hardly contributed to.  I think I pleaded insanity, or I mean homeschool.

It was a major shot in the arm for everyone to be together and remember the strength we share from the experiences that made us a family.  The mission in Sweden was a real turning point.  I hope my own family is blessed with events that draw us together for a common purpose.  Our parents' lives are the gospel and their examples have taught us so much.  AND they're so much fun!  We had a blast staying up way too late eating birthday cake around the same table we shared meals at for years.  It was priceless.

Oh look, a school picture!  We read a fun book called "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling C. Holling about a toy canoe that goes from north of Lake Superior all through the Great Lakes and out into the Atlantic Ocean before catching the currents to France.  It was a detailed Geography lesson and was a lot of fun as we traced his journey on our map.  We did this in the afternoons with Anna while Nate slept.  It took us the entire school year to finish it!  

Ah, blessed Tuesdays when Sam and Michael were at the co-op learning anatomy and Ancient History.  Anna had Tuesdays off of preschool so it was my morning alone with her and Nate.  We had to run errands but she was always a good sport.  This is our favorite tree outside the library.  We like reading together and have read "A Little Princess" and "Alice in Wonderland" and a lot of chapter books about fairies this year.  We love our "Girl Time!"

The Pinewood Derby.  Man, I hope no one ever moves out of the ward!  These guys have some serious fun together!

Things picked up for Josh at work in December and he started traveling a lot again.  I have a hard time getting everyone to bed when he's gone.  Exhibit A: the bedtime variety show you see here.  They spent so long practicing it and putting together costumes!

In April we traveled to Salt Lake because Josh's grandpa passed away.  We treasured his friendship and have been telling our kids a lot about him.  I love to see them learn about who they are and the family they have been born into.  They are very impressed with his life-long love of music, his work ethic, and his love of people.

Skip ahead to the end of May and Anna graduated preschool!  She was blessed to have a friend move into the ward right before preschool started last summer and they enjoyed being together with their incredible teacher Miss Judy.  She taught them the reading, handwriting, science, some Spanish, and some patriotic songs.  She loved going all year long!

 Anna has also recently begun letting me do her hair!  Shout hurray!  

We let our homeschool pay for swimming lessons, below, and art classes, not pictured.  

While Josh had the boys on a father/son camp out I took Anna and Nate to the nature trail nearby.  I love watching little kids learn about the outdoors.  We skipped rocks and saw a big turtle.  This bridge goes over a real creek with a waterfall.  It is like a gateway into a magical land.  

And, some more pictures of Anna!  Outdoors . . . 

 and out on the town!  

I did take a picture of the co-op.  This was the Olympics on the last day.  Sam was so excited he wanted me to come watch him win!  And he did!  This was "Greek" sharks and minnows.  

The last day of school came and I slowly unwound to the point that I was laughing at Josh's jokes again, until I hurt my back this week and have been in too much pain to laugh.  But it will get better and we have a fun summer ahead and oh, the things I am learning!

No Time Like the Present, and the Past

 My beautiful baby.  Here is Nate at three weeks old in March 2013.  It's about the last time I wrote a blog post.

This afternoon while I peeled potatoes Michael looked through the old blog posts and asked me to do some new ones.

 Since Nate arrived on the scene we have been busier than ever but with fun things like Half Moon Bay for Labor Day 2013.

 Sam and Michael did two soccer seasons.  Josh coached the first year.

Anna got her tonsils out and changed her name to Aurora for ONE SOLID YEAR!

 Sam and Michael completed the first grade at John Adams Academy at the top of their classes.  Michael's teacher like to have the class play "Stump Michael" and try to come up with a word he couldn't spell.  They only found one: guitar.

Everyone adores little Nate.  He is the friendliest and sweetest brother we could ask for!

See?!

Josh spent a year as the Cub Master and the boys in the ward had never had so much fun at pack meetings!

 Anna had a big princess birthday party when she turned four.

Pinterest cake and all.  She helped me sew the new Happy Birthday banner and assembled the party favor bags.  We had a tea party afterward with her new tea set.  Those were nice afternoons with just Anna while Sam and Michael were at school and Nate napped.

In May 2014 I got to participate in a choral workshop in Palo Alto with my friend Amanda.  We spent the day learning Mack Wilberg songs and performed our concert in Stanford University's Memorial Chapel that night.

In July 2014 we took a two week trip to St. Louis and  Nauvoo!  It was so fun to be with Grandma and Grandpa and visit cousins.  Here the boys are reading about the Blue Morpho butterfly at the Butterfly House in Faust Park.

They all loved our day in Nauvoo.  Anna spent two hours dressed up like this doing laundry and making oatmeal in her pioneer kitchen.

Nate was a good traveler and would have looked adorable as a pioneer!

What I need next is to make some oatmeal for our breakfast . . .

Grandma and Grandpa helped us show the kids around(and keep track of them!)

Back in St. Louis we took the boys downtown for a Cardinals Game!  They couldn't believe the crowd or the noise and ended up in a cotton candy and Ted Drewe's sugar stupor!

We did a lot of fun things with Lisa and her kids who know how to have fun in that city!  Here is the Botanical Gardens.  Have to go back there for sure to the kids forts and general store!

Lisa was baptized, no pictures, and then we saw her again in Utah in August for Matt Lowe's wedding.

The week of Labor Day we rented a house at Lake Tahoe with Josh's sister and her family.  Words cannot describe the beauty and relaxation and fun of being together in that place!

Sam asks me about once a week when we can go back there.  They had new adventures each day at the beaches and hiking.  And there was a Packman consol in the rental house.

Anna was so happy to be around some other girls!  Can you blame her?

She and Kate really hit it off!

We hiked to the top of Castle Rock and the kids all did a great job.  Josh carried Anna back part of the way and she sang "I Believe in Christ" as they walked because she was so grateful for this beautiful world He created.

Baby in a backpack.  Maybe the first and last time all in one photo.

 Adorable.  He liked going out in the kayak with Aunt Sarah and singing "Row Your Boat."

 Then we got back to life and soccer practice and locked the keys in the van one day in 100 degree heat.  We had fun in the shade waiting for Daddy to come get us with the second set of keys.  Then he took us out to Cheesecake Factory!

I made a last minute decision to homeschool Sam and Michael this year for second grade.  That's our timeline on the dining room wall with names and dates of historical people we come across to put it all in perspective.  I debated the choice from Spring Break until the last day possible to sign up with our homeschool charter school but couldn't fight the feeling that it was the best thing to do for the kids happiness this year.  Their stress levels went way down.  Mine however . . . 

Ah, this was fun.  We were supposed to meet one of Josh's mission friends in San Francisco but their plane was delayed so we spent the evening in the city by ourselves.

We discovered the beautiful destination of Golden Gate Park and this crazy Japanese fondu place where you cook your own meat and vegetables in a pot of boiling broth right at your table.  Even had red bean ice cream for dessert.  Two bites.

Homeschool took a while to decide on a curriculum.  Sam  said NO WAY to this 3" thick math book!  Sam is so fun to have home all day.  He misses the social aspect of school though and will be a great leader in his third grade class next fall.  

Michael has enjoyed it the most.  He does his work quickly and without nagging and has tons of extra time for important things like LEGO creations and studying dinosaurs. He is also getting a lot more sleep and quiet which he really appreciates.  

Some days I shower.  Some days we read books in our pajamas and then change real fast before we have to pick up Anna from preschool.  Most mornings you can find us on the couch reading and narrating or summarizing back or memorizing a list of helping verbs to a chant.  We read about a toy canoe that traveled from a mountain north of Lake Superior all throughout the Great Lakes and out into the Atlantic Ocean where it caught the currents to France.  We discussed diphtheria when we read about Jamestown and the structure of the Catholic church when we read "A Door in the Wall." The boys could be heard outside saying "I'm the Pope and you have to be the Archbishop."  We cried when - spoiler alert - Robin Hood died at the end of the unabridged audio book and they have learned all about human anatomy and ancient history at their once a week coop.  

Best of all has been having them home all day to play with little Nate.

And make projects like aluminum foil tin work when we read "Farmer Boy."

Somewhere in there I've been teaching preschool ballet to Anna and her friends.

We did normal things like pick apples in the fall.

Michael discovered doing research on kids' Wikipedia.

We went on a nature hike and picked samples of plants to draw or paint when we got home.

One rainy day while Anna was at preschool I was tired of being at home so we took our grammar and math books to Panera and did homeschool over hot chocolate and enormous pastries while Nate climbed over and under everything in the restaurant.

Anna has been at a wonderful preschool that teaches her the letters and reading and about all the holidays.  She has five best friends at preschool!

We decided to make a new tradition and cut down a live Christmas tree.  

 It looked pretty good in the high ceiling living room.

 Christmas was hard and fun with the homeschool element this year.  If I ever do it again we will take a break from the subjects I have to teach during December and have more fun.

Mama's helper.

I'll have to do this year so far later.  So far I've been really burned out and have tweeked our homeschool a lot but things are looking good for the summer and next year.  It's such a great idea if only there were more hours in the day ...